Sunday 26th April 2026
Blog Page 1065

Hilary Boulding elected next President of Trinity College

Ebere Nweze
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Hilary Boulding elected next President of Trinity College

In a statement released this afternoon, the governing body of Trinity College announced its decision to elect Hilary Boulding as the next President of the Oxford college. The Principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama will succeed Sir Ivor Roberts as the institution’s President on 1 August 2017.

An alumna of St Hilda’s College, Ms Boulding studied Music at Oxford before embarking on a successful career in the arts and broadcasting. She produced and directed Music and Arts programmes for BBC radio and television, before becoming Director of Music at Arts Council England in 1999. Ms Boulding took up her current role as Principal of the Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2007.

“I am honoured to have been offered this important position at one of the leading colleges of Oxford University,” she said in her official statement, “Trinity is well placed to build on its significant achievements during the presidency of Sir Ivor Roberts and I look forward to playing a full part in its future development.”

Outgoing President and former diplomat Sir Ivor Roberts welcomes the decision: “I welcome the election of Hilary Boulding as my successor and as the twenty-eighth president of Trinity. I wish her every success and look forward to working with her to ensure a smooth transition.”

Trinity students also seem to be optimistic about the new appointment. “I’m looking forward to see which direction she’ll take Trinity College in the future, and especially how she might develop the arts scene in college.” remarked WeiKheng Teh, a 3rd year Engineering student.

University pioneers robotic eye surgery

Stephen Hawes
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University pioneers robotic eye surgery

Surgeons at John Radcliffe hospital have performed eye-surgery using a small robot operated by joystick. The procedure, the first of its kind, took place on 9th September,  when a device was used to remove a membrane one hundredth of a millimetre thick from the patient’s right eye, restoring his sight.

The robot was operated by Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford as well as a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Oxford Eye Hospital, who described the procedure as ‘a vision of eye surgery in the future.’ He was assisted by Dr Thomas Edwards, a Nuffield Medical Fellow.

The device, known as the Robotic Retinal Dissection Device (apparently referred to as ‘R2D2’) was being trialled in a series of experimental procedures funded by the University, the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs John Radcliffe.

The patient in this procedure was the Reverend Doctor William Beaver, a 70 year-old Oxford resident and Associate Priest at St Mary the Virgin, Iffley. Until last year, he had been the chaplain to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. In July, doctors had discovered the membrane growing at the back of his right eye, damaging his vision by creating a hole in his retina. Dr Beaver described the procedure as ‘effortless’ and a ‘godsend’.

R2D2 was developed by Preceyes, a Dutch company linked to the Eindhoven University of Technology which specialises in producing precision surgical equipment. Their technology has improved the effectiveness of micro-surgery by limiting the effect of surgeons’ hand-tremors, which can include movements as small as a pulse. Preceyes have claimed that the movement of their devices is precise to within the thickness of a human hair.

Surgeons hope that using robots small enough to fit into the human eye will allow for a greater number of intricate procedures to be carried out successfully. Professor MacLaren said that robots may soon treat blindness using gene therapy and stem cells placed under the retina.

“Butt out” at open days, head of UCAS tells middle-class parents

Tony Diver
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“Butt out” at open days, head of UCAS tells middle-class parents

Mary Curnock Cook, the chief executive of the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), has told middle-class parents to “butt out” at university open days and stop providing a “30-year-old out-of-date” vision of higher education.

Her comments came at the inaugural Festival of Higher Education, held at the University of Buckingham on the 8th and 9th September. Oxford will hold its next open day on the 16th September.

She said middle-class parents often asked so many questions at open days that admissions staff could “not hear a word” from students themselves. She was keen to stress that the opposite was true for first-generation university students whose parents may be less keen on the idea of university, and that “persuading parents that it’s the right thing is a really important part of making a child feel comfortable”.

Speaking at the event, Oxford director of admissions Samina Khan acknowledged that colleges sometimes put plans in place to give prospective students a little space. 

Dr Khan said, “Parents are always welcome but, sometimes, let the child talk. We’ve developed programmes where we separate them: the parents go off, have a cup of tea, and we take the students elsewhere. We find that does work, that it helps students speak for themselves, which is what we want.”

Ms Curnock Cook’s remarks have been criticised in some quarters, with one parent remarking, “As a parent of a child who has jointly attended several Open Days during this university application cycle, I find it disturbing that such a clearly sanctimonious and supercilious person as Curnock Cook has any role to play in the university admissions process, since she is clearly divorced from the realities that most families and their children jointly face when applying to university.”

The discussion came as part of a wider question on UCAS’ system of university admissions, which was to have a radical overhaul in 2012 and include post-exam university applications, until plans were blocked by schools and universities.

Curnock Cook said that the current system would “probably” not change now, although UCAS staff would investigate it, and instead stressed changes that could be made to open day procedure.

YOLO, vom and human bean make it into the Oxford English Dictionary

Marianna Spring
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YOLO, vom and human bean make it into the Oxford English Dictionary

Moobs, YOLO and Vom are among hundreds of words newly added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

Moobs is used to describe prominent breasts on a man, whilst YOLO is an acronym for you only live once and vom a colloquialism for the word vomit.

Other words added or updated include cheeseball, clickbait, gender-fluid, yogalates, fuhgeddaboutit and Westminster bubble.

FOMO, meaning fear of missing out and deffo, meaning definitely, also made the cut.

There are several new entries related to Roald Dahl to coincide with the celebration of his 100th birthday and the publication of the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary.

These include Oompa Loompa, scrumdiddlyumptious, witching hour, human bean and golden ticket.

The chief editor of the OED, Michael Proffitt, told BBC News, “The inclusions reflect both his influence as an author and his vivid and distinctive style. For many children, Roald Dahl’s work is not only one of their first experiences of reading, but also their earliest exposure to the creative power of language.”

New words and phrases are typically added to the dictionary when editors have found enough evidence to demonstrate their continued historical use.

The dictionary is a guide to the history, meaning and pronunciation of almost 830,000 words, senses and compounds from across the English-speaking world.

It is different to the online Oxford dictionary, which has a lower threshold for accepting new entries and lists current definitions of English words.

Magdalen scientist wins prestigious Lasker prize

Tony Diver
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Magdalen scientist wins prestigious Lasker prize

Sir Peter Ratcliffe, a biologist at Magdalen College, has won the Lasker research prize for his research into the way in which the human body regulates oxygen levels within individual cells.

Ratcliffe will share the $250,000 (£188,000) award with two US scientists, with whom he worked on their groundbreaking discovery. The research has spawned a number of experimental drugs which change the body’s supply of oxygen by simulating a high-altitude scenario.

Ratcliffe and his colleagues were researching the existence of a system that monitors oxygen levels in each cell of the human body. Their discovery shows an enzyme in every cell which becomes active in line with the level of oxygen there.

The enzyme then turns genes up or down within the cell to help it respond to changing oxygen levels. This process takes place at high altitudes, where the air is thinner and oxygen more scarce.

The Lasker Prize has historically been seen as an indicator of future Nobel prize laureates, with more than 80 Lasker winners going on to take the biggest prize in science. The scientists’ discovery could change the way we treat some of the biggest diseases, including heart disease and cancer. The ability to regulate oxygen levels using drugs may allow doctors to stimulate the boy growing more blood vessels, said Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe said that his first reaction was to have “a nice party” with his winnings. “But maybe it won’t all go on the party,” he added.

US Defence Secretary visits Oxford

Tony Diver
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US Defence Secretary visits Oxford

Ash Carter, US Defence Secretary, visited Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government last Wednesday. Carter, who studied at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and obtained a PhD in theoretical physics, spoke about the future of the UK-US ‘special relationship’ and the post-Brexit international order.

He stressed in his speech that “the United States has no stronger ally, no closer ally, than the United Kingdom”, particularly with respect to the issues of “Russia’s aggression and ISIL’s barbarism”.

The Brexit vote, he argued, “doesn’t change the fact that the United Kingdom will continue to have a rich relationship with countries across Europe, economically, politically and militarily. And it does not change at all that the United Kingdom and in particular its military, (…) all it is doing at home and around the world. It doesn’t change that.”

Carter also joked that he was “disappointed” not to be able to visit the Lamb & Flag, having got to know the pub during his studies at St. John’s in the 1970s.

Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said that the Brexit vote had raised key issues in Secretary Carter’s speech, and that she was delighted he had visited.

Carter is the second high-profile member of the Obama administration to visit Oxford this year, after Secretary of State John Kerry’s address to the Oxford Union in May.

Westgate Centre to have “transformative” panoramic rooftop

Tony Diver
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Westgate Centre to have “transformative” panoramic rooftop

The Westgate Centre, currently under renovation, is to have a large rooftop space from which visitors will be able to enjoy views across Oxford’s famous rooftops.

The original shopping centre, built in the 1970s, had no such rooftop area and a number of shops. But the new building will contain 100 stores, 25 restaurants and cafes and public spaces in which developers expect public performances and art displays to take place.

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said “the Westgate is going to be more than just a shopping centre, so this will be really significant to the development of this quarter of the city. It could be an exciting area for performances and art, as well as a great public space – which is something we need more of.”

The plans feature a grass “quad” with retractable roof, which could be used for performances, if plans are approved. The £440m Westgate project is part of a wider development of the west of Oxford, which also includes development of the Park End Street area and closure of nightclubs.

The completion of the shopping centre may help to allay concerns over the balance of shops and restaurants in central Oxford, which led to concern from Graham Jones of traders’ group Rox in July.

“There is feeling that perhaps there are enough restaurants and cafes in the city at the moment – maybe we have reached the limit for them all to be viable,” he said.

Review: War Dogs

Thomas Player
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Review: War Dogs

I wasn’t really sure what to expect as I sat down to watch War Dogs (Dir. Todd Philips). All I knew of it so far was by the description of a particularly verbose Wikipedia editor, as a “biographical crime war comedy-drama”. I was curious to what this entailed.

The film is based on a Rolling Stone article about two high-school friends who become international arms dealers, landing a massive Pentagon contract to equip troops in Afghanistan.

Miles Teller and Jonah Hill play the two leads. David Packouz, played by Teller, is an everyman masseur from Miami on the brink of last resort – having ploughed his life savings into a failing business. Contrastingly, Efraim Diveroli, taken on by Hill, is his long-lost best friend who has just rolled back from L.A looking for someone to join his lucrative gun-running endeavour.

The films is set during the Iraq War when all military equipment orders had been placed on a public website for anyone to fulfil. With the aid of contextual timing, the motivations of these two characters – one desperation and the other quick-business – set off the action of the film. David and Efraim set out to seek the ‘little’ arms orders, overlooked by the ‘big businesses’ despite their million-dollar-making capacity and, soon – sure enough – they’re raking in the big dollar. The plot twists and turns around the obstacle that David and his girlfriend are strong objectors to the war. Soon enough, the increasingly risky and illegal lengths to which David and Efraim go to fill their (increasingly large) contracts place a strain on David’s comfortingly safe home life.

However, although alluded to, the moral conflict of the film is never really at its forefront; it’s more “Look at what crazy things these guys did!” rather than “Should they have done them at all?”. Plenty of bark – not so much bite. This moral vacuity has garnered plenty of criticism, but I found the detached way in which the events are presented refreshing. They allow us to make our own minds up about these dubious anti-heroes and their actions.

This open-ended approach to the interpretation of the ethics surrounding the films content also serves to stimulate questions on who exactly is to blame when it comes to such business. Was David and Efraim’s shady business acumen responsible for their considerable back-handed success, or should more blame be placed at the door of the US government who supply the demand for such business to be successful in such a way?

To my mind, however, those are not really the questions to be asked to grasp the point of the film. What this film represents is a fascinating insight more generally into how ambition and greed brings individuals to find themselves caught in a rising bubble that’s bound to pop eventually. It’s merit also comes from the fact it’s really funny. Although, some would say it’s not really the best topic for comedy and that the film ignores the darker side of the trade these men exploited, that doesn’t change the fact that there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to be had.

Jonah Hill deserves special mention for his love-to-hate portrayal of Efraim. His high-pitched fluttering laugh steals every scene it’s in. Minor roles were also filled and directed successfully. Bradley Cooper (as high-rolling dealer Henry Girard) was particularly memorable, if sparingly used, and showed us another facet of his impressive versatility. The film carries artistic successes on its production side as well; the score is brilliantly appropriate throughout. The mix of pop songs is exquisitely fitting (if not always particularly original) and on several occasions the lyrics provide the moral judgement the film perhaps – lacks.

My only real criticism would be that this film never really settles into a compelling rhythm – it may be absorbing in its action-packedness but not in its story. You come away feeling flat and empty rather than shocked but enthused. Largely, because it is hard to engage properly with the film when you’re never quite sure whose side you’re on. Of course, that is what real life is like…it’s just not like the movies we’re used to. Yet, I feel this film was intended to be far more dry, satirical and thought-provoking than it has been received. Leonard Cohen convinced me of this further as his voice draws the credits to a close – “Everybody knows that the dice are loaded, everybody rolls with their fingers crossed, everybody knows that the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost”. Who the good guys are – well, that’s up to you decide.

“No one wants to join” Bullingdon Club

Cherwell News
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“No one wants to join” Bullingdon Club

The Bullingdon Club may be on the verge of extinction with as few as two members left, according to Oxford sources published in the Daily Telegraph today. It is understood that even close friends of last year’s president did not want to join, and that the club’s reputation is deterring potential members.

A variety of students and recent graduates have claimed that the club is struggling to replenish its membership as incoming students turn down offers because of the club’s reputation. One source claimed that “Every reasonable person thinks it is a joke. People think it is elitist and exclusionary and if anyone is ever mentioned as being in the Bullingdon the instant reaction of everyone hearing it is, ‘what a loser’.”

It was also suggested that the rise of social media has deterred prospective members, with the same source stating, “People are worried that it is too much scandal and then their name will be in a student paper. No one used to care about that but now because it all goes online, all it takes is a Google and everyone is quite scared about that. It’s definitely a big fear.”

One Oxford graduate interviewed by the Daily Telegraph claimed to know “at least one person who has turned down the Bullingdon this year”, and said, “If you knew who was in it, you would see them around but you would never see them as a group smashing stuff up. They were just normal people in a pub, never in their tailcoats smashing up a pub.”

Typically formed of twelve members, the Bullingdon Club has known periods of unpopularity before. In 2009, Cherwell reported that the club had rebounded to have twenty members, after having only four in 2006.

Train trips

Vivian Darkbloom
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Train trips

Amtrak trains have tracks that stretch across America’s West Coast all the way from Seattle to San Diego. Views of pristine coast and wild, beautiful places slide by out of the windows – but I’d booked the train from LA to San Francisco because it was cheaper than flying, and all I knew was that I had twelve hours of sitting to get through. I brought books. I bought salad and gum at a train station convenience store. I hoped there would be wifi. What I got instead is a seat next to a guy in his mid-twenties who offers me a crash course in how to buy cocaine on the deep web and a sketchy connection to his phone hotspot. Also candied edibles. Welcome to California, I think, and chew. I don’t catch his name.

It hits when I’m halfway through my beer. Suddenly the words on the page I’m reading begin to shatter backwards through the paper as their edges light up, gold-rimmed. The first time I’d gotten seriously high, it had felt like there were flies in my forehead – little popping feet tapping around in there. I’m past the flies this time: everything slows and disconnects, as though I’m a sticker that has been removed from a book and put down in a slightly different place. Sounds echo, and so do my thoughts, spewing a debris of noise and spawning further thoughts in their wake. My hand feels like it’s cutting through putty as I raise it to my face. My face doesn’t feel like my face; it’s too cold and too smooth. All of these thoughts crash and reverberate around my head with searing speed, leaving jagged coloured patterns that take a while to fade.

I look outside, but all of the cacti outside the window have turned into fractals with white, accented edges and they won’t turn back. It’s too bright, and suddenly the sun isn’t hot any more. I look down. The words pulse on the page in front of me, and their blurry backwards squirming makes me feel sick. Moving through jelly, I shut the book and try to put it away. I see the guy next to me raise his hand and hear the disconnected sound of chips being crunched in his mouth. Thoughts begin to crowd in way too fast, as though I see a chain of thought appear all at once; paint splattered over canvas, and I know the answer to every question I pose, and that’s terrifying, and suddenly it’s very cold, and how do I know that what this man sitting next to me gave me was edibles candy? I’ve just taken drugs from a stranger on a train in a country where I know nobody. But the more insidious, paralysing thought slides in with a chill: I can’t get back from this weird echoey world.

My mouth begins to taste like iron; a coca-cola twang in my jaw that adds to the alien colours and sounds around me. As everything slides further out of focus I try to control my voice:

‘I’m panicking right now. This is too strong.’ I couldn’t focus on the guy’s face.

‘Nobody ever died from weed, dude,’ he reminds me.

‘How long will this last?’ 

‘Three, four hours max. Don’t sweat it.’

By the time he finishes his half-baked reassurance I’ve already asked – and answered – this question:

‘What does hell look like?’

Hell looks like being trapped somewhere cold and dark with a window. You can see out of the window, but everyone around you is a stranger. It wouldn’t even matter if someone you knew was there to hug you, because you wouldn’t be able to feel it. It would just be you and your thoughts, knowing the answer to everything at the same time as you ask yourself the question, smearing your thoughts across the walls loudly and forever. That is what hell would be, and being trapped in it for any length of time is an unbearable thought; no opt-out, no purgatory. Taut agitation passing through me in cold, sharp spikes of emotion, I hold my phone tight on my lap and my bag between my legs, and I try to shut my eyes and pretend I’m asleep. The man in the seat next to me has slid out of his skin and is hovering just beside me, but I can’t let him know I’ve noticed.

I phase in and out of something like sleep. I lose my hearing and then I lose my sight, weaving in and out between jagged dream-worlds and shattered sunlight. I might be hallucinating, or the images might be what was actually going on in the train around me – I’d lost the ability to tell the difference. Voices filter through weirdly sometimes, and the same with colours or light. The blurred form next to me, alternately a man and a disembodied hovering, chews and chews endlessly; train conductors announce in garbled train-language; they announce, chitter, their laughter is spikes of sound their voices are puzzle pieces not fitting the grating the seats are grey cells in a beehive and the water outside has blended with the sky I can’t touch any of it even my own face my jaw is cement my heart is mallet-tapping soon it will trip and stop beating but at least that will stop the thoughts that hide the windows like leaves in a thick jungle. And I learn that hell is something else too; it’s complete disembodiment; it’s a lack of touch, of physical reference-points.

Two things stand out to me from that train ride. I can remember clearly the moment when I realised the world looked like geometry; cactus-fractals, blazing white and shifting against a blue Californian sky – and the feel of the shower water against my skin the next morning, just as soon as the cacti had begun to look normal again. I turn the nozzle too far, and for a moment the heat stings my skin – but I quickly push it back to warm again as the steam curls upwards to touch my cheek.

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