Friday 17th April 2026
Blog Page 1100

The Oxonian Dandy

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The contemporary dandy must, as has been well established, dress for himself. However, one must bedeck oneself in habit appropriate for occasion and circumstance from time to time. With the truly oceanic array of event and jamboree for attending at this diverse university, there comes the opportunity for a great depth in outfit. A depth in outfit is not synonymous with wardrobe content, however. A man with a few cotton articles and a kingly imagination can create an ensemble tenfold more splendid than a man with 100 silken articles and a lacklustre mind for fashion.

With this in mind, this week let us consider the ways in which the Oxonian squire can gather together the youthful folds of his attention to collate an outfit from his existing wardrobe for the occasion which calls for what many would call ‘smart-casual’. The cornerstone of fashion transcendence is a prudent adaptability in clothes-choice. Once again the dandy can approach the problem presented to him with flair and panache simply by opening his mind to the endless posSibilities at hand. He need not purchase an entire new selection of clothing nor indulge in any fancy couture.

With smart-casual, the combinations are endless. A jacket should always be close at hand, and trousers of the variety jean, corduroy, chino and flannel can all be slipped on. All manner of shirts and shoes can be worn with this outfit category, too. Some gents will even venture to accoutre themselves with a pair of trainers in this modern era of experimentation and progression. Indeed, footwear of a sort more rugged can certainly be a sensible choice: one wouldn’t want to venture to a garden party in a pair of Turkish slippers – the lace might be irreparably smirched.

Often one will find that the most important element of a smart-casual outfit comes with a decent top-layer. A sports-jacket often works well. (It should be noted, here, that the nomenclature for jackets and coats is interchangeable. A friend of mine often as- serts that “only potatoes have jackets.” This is nonsense: many of the most esteemed tailors will refer to these garments as either jackets or coats. Name the item as you please.) If you do have a particular design to purchase a new blazer or sports-jacket, then be bold in colour choice. While a navy or steely blue works well in many smart-casual settings, surely these colours do not match the audacity of a hot colour! One can really make a statement with a mauve or a citrus.

Indeed, one of my fondest fashion memories was while watching Henry V at the Old Vic. I was then myself furnished in finery which would certainly fit the category ‘smart-casual’. I wore a pink blazer with white piping. The stage was set for a royal scene – not for the play itself, of course. All eyes were on me as I sat in the boxes. As the actor playing the king was about to deliver his “once more unto the breach” speech, the lighting changed, and I gleamed, dazzling in the rays, resplendent in my hot pink glamour! Next week, we’ll have a look at nightwear.

Clunch: St Catz

As English students well acquainted with the Oxford English Dictionary, we decided to peruse the OED for what ‘clunch’ really means (leaving aside the definition of its near-homophonic counterpart). Our findings revealed it to be a “lump; a heavy and unshapely mass”, and when we signed up for this, we didn’t think that such a ‘clunch’ would be what we actually got.

As we were led into the kitchen, we realised it that it isn’t just the architecture of Catz that was brutalist. Passing through the heart of the means of production, we left with our product: a jiggling triangular ‘clunch’ of egg. We’re still not sure what to call what we ate. It seemed ‘nutritional’ though, and some of our fellow undergraduates suggested that it could be referred to as a “pancake”. Stuffed with relatively bland butter beans (yet creamy nonetheless) and juicy sweetcorn, it tasted of little more than the chive garnish.

Our opinions were split on the carrots: were they worthy of the description “aggressively al dente”, or were they undercooked enough to be desirably crunchy? These are the big questions that life at Oxford makes you ask yourself.

We were split on the decor too: Anora was hesitant about offhandedly dismissing the college’s post-modern premises (into which the ‘anti-art’ appearance of the meal fit perfectly). Indeed, she thought that Catz’s hall still didn’t measure up to the architectural elderliness of some other colleges. In contrast, Eli thought the “hanging tapestry things” were “cool”. Either way, although very spacious and comfortable, the hall felt more like a gymnasium, and its poor concrete to glass ratio let in little of the day’s sunny splendour.

The NUS beyond the conference

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Student campaigns, in Oxford and beyond, are now fighting a political context which attacks those struggling the most. They cannot fight it alone. I approach this referendum first and foremost as a disabilities campaigner, and in this respect it is important to note the crucial work that goes on behind the scenes.

In 2014, the National Union of Students formed a huge chunk of the resistance to proposed Disabled Students’ Allowance cuts. Students could take pride in their campaigning and lobbying of MPs when the changes were subsequently thrown out, and we cannot understate the NUS’s role in providing students and activists alike with information on the proposals, as well as coordinating a nationwide response to a nationwide problem. The problem is, though, that the government is still intent on slashing DSA, and even now the NUS are at the forefront of working against this matter.

Campaigning to remain in the NUS is thus in the interests of so many disabilities campaigners, not to mention activists working on other campaigns. This referendum will place pressure on groups such as OUSU’s Oxford Students’ Disabilities Community – disaffiliation would do this even more so. And as a member of their committee, I think it fair to say that we are already overstretched in providing the services and communities that we do.

The point is that the NUS provides a critical link between the higher and further education institutions across the UK, giving a united voice to students who want change. Our JCRs, MCRs, and OUSU cannot perform a similar role alone. Because Oxford is in the NUS, it can send representatives to the NUS Disabled Students’ Conference, and others like it. It is here that, while students won’t agree with every decision made, we find a common voice and common ground.

The NUS stays connected with Oxford all year around too. I sit on the OUSU Executive in a part-time, unpaid position as Academic Affairs Officer. The work I and others do on this executive committee is greatly enhanced by the resources the NUS has to offer. It was partly through the NUS, for example, that colleges across Oxford could introduce consent workshops in the past few years, and the importance of positively rethinking and reshaping the problems of sexual violence on campus is of great importance to so many of us.

Beyond leading the campaign to stop cuts to the DSA, the NUS has done so much more to help. It is among the most significant national organisations conducting research on the interests of students as a target group. Just one example of this is the new Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Guide, where new research was conducted into improving mental health services across campus. This was picked up by major national newspapers and given as evidence in Parliament, on top of the advice it gave to us campaigners here in Oxford. The NUS will now fund two PhDs for research in the causes and prevention of student suicide. If it sometimes feels like the NUS is a soapbox or a friendship group, hopefully you now realise that this is a problem rooted in misinformation, and one we can fix. It is not an argument to leave it.

Losing our NUS membership would seriously damage the ability of Oxford students to campaign for change. Just this Wednesday, when the referendum was decided, some of us had to rush straight from OUSU Council to deliver a talk with Rethink Mental Illness on responding to our mental health crisis. This is only the beginning; it would be a shame to expend our energies on an NUS referendum when we have degrees to do, campaigns to work on, and ourselves to care for. I can only hope that our situation does not get worse, and that we do not end up without the aid so required from the NUS.

Review: Eye In The Sky – a warning about the costs of war

A thriller led by veteran British actors Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman, along with Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and Academy Award nominee Barkhad Abdi, is on paper a recipe for success. And it does succeed, thanks to its powerful performances, remarkable direction from Gavin Hood, and the highest levels of cinematic suspense I’ve seen for a long time. The problem is, I can only really say those things about the film’s final act, which is exceptionally good. So good, in fact, you will probably leave the cinema forgetting how distinctly average much of the film was.

Colonel Katherine Powell (Mirren) is the commander of a mission to capture Al-Shabaab extremists in Kenya, but ultimately changes her plan to killing the targets rather than capturing them when she realises a bombing is imminent. This causes conflict between herself and her legal advisors, her superiors supervising the mission in London (including Rickman’s Lieutenant General Benson), and politicians including the Secretary of State. A conflict ensues comparing the tactical advantages of releasing the missile as proposed, with the potential collateral damage of innocent lives, plus its accompanying negative publicity. The concluding act sees the multiple voices in the operation conflicted as to whether to fire the missile as the situation becomes increasingly difficult.

But for the most part, this is a thriller film without the ‘thrill’. It’s rather an adequately made action-free war film which provides a remarkable insight into an often overlooked aspect of conflict – drone warfare. The conflicting political, military and, ultimately, moral ideologies lead to a tense final act in which the cast’s powerful performances succeed in raising the emotional stakes and suspense, to such a degree that you will forgive much of the movie for its blandness.

It’s commendable to make a war film which prioritises its powerful message about the potential costs of war, rather than mindless action and explosions. The problem is, it would seem that the final act was the initial idea of the film, which resulted in the rest of the film being, more or less, exposition and setting up the final act. Thankfully, the final act is so good that it’s not an issue. Particular praise should be given to the performances of Barkhad Abdi and Alan Rickman. As the latter’s final (live action) film, it’s a performance he no doubt would have been proud of. His frankness and realism as a veteran soldier powerfully present a character who knows too well the cost of war. Helen Mirren is impressive, yet there are other more memorable showcases of her talent, and her performance here seems merely ‘adequate’ by comparison.

Overall Eye in the Sky is an unusual and compelling entry into the thriller and war genres, which goes from ‘good’ to ‘great’ in its final section.

Oxford researchers look into cure for blindness

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Clinical trials of gene therapy for inherited blindness have shown promising results. Research from the Oxford University, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has shown promising results for the use of gene therapy in treating choroideremia, a rare form of inherited blindness affecting around 1 in 50,000 people.

Choroideremia is caused by the mutation of a gene inherited from parents. It almost exclusively affects males. The trial involved inserting the correct version of the gene into the patients’ DNA using a virus. The virus, modified to carry and insert the gene in the correct location, was injected into the back of the patients’ eyes. Only one eye was treated for each participant, with the other serving as a comparison.

Although Gene therapy is the subject of much research, difficulty frequently arises from ensuring that the viral vector is delivered to the correct place and ensuring that the new gene is successfully incorporated into the patients’ DNA.

“Optimal design and the viral vector was delivered into the correct place using advanced surgical techniques.”

Robert MacLaran.

The viral vector used was the common adeno-associated virus but according to Professor Robert MacLaran, the lead investigator in the study, the success was down to “optimal design and the viral vector was delivered into the correct place, using advanced surgical techniques”.

The promise of the investigation is largely due to the fact results of the trial were achieved over a three and a half year period. Maclaran, who has a patent for ‘AVV – a vector for use in gene therapy of choroideremia’, has commented that“There have recently been questions about the long term efficacy of gene therapy, but now we have unequivocal proof that the effects following a single injection of viral vector are sustained.” While this trial is far off providing unequivocal proof, it does provide some hope for the future direction of similar trials.

A potential limitation of this trial is that choroideremia is a rare disease with a relatively simple pattern of inheritance. Whether, as reported elsewhere, this offers much hope for treatment of far more complex diseases such as muscular degeneration is uncertain.

Nonetheless, for some of the participants suffering from this disease it has improved their quality of life. According to the Daily Mail, Joe Pepper began to lose his sight in his early teens. After receiving the first injection at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford he is reported to have said “For the first time in my memory, I read on and on. I laughed and shed a tear. I will remember that day for the rest of my life.”

Student runs marathon…on a treadmill

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While many were still lying in bed students to sublet their rooms, Unlease is helping students make back looking forward to May Day, Somerville student Tom Dillon ran 26.2 miles on a treadmill. Beginning at 10am on Saturday 30 April in the Somerville Gym, Tom finished shortly before 2pm, completing his first marathon in under four hours, which is a time widely considered to be the benchmark for a successful first attempt.

Running for more than pride, Tom also raised publicity for Unlease, a peer to peer platform allowing students to sublet their rooms more easily, by tearing up 26 fixed long-
term letting agreements along the 26 miles.

Unlease co-founder Mags Chilaev commented, “Tom Dillon set himself the challenge of completing a marathon in under four hours to highlight the plight of students who are stuck in rigid 12-month contracts and who waste thousands of pounds in rent each year.

“He was unlease-ing, so to speak, his potential in the same way that Unlease Hosts unlease their rooms’ potential by subletting, instead of instead of letting those rooms stand idle each holiday.” Chilaev explained, “As a result of recent changes in legislation which make it a lot easier for thousands in rent which they would otherwise be wasting on an empty room.

“The marathon idea started as we were sat having coffee, and Tom, in his delusional mindset, claimed he could run one easily with no training.”

Jack Cottom, Tom’s friend

“The average student in Oxford wastes about £2,500 in rent each year when their room is empty during non-term time every Christmas, Easter and summer holidays – that’s almost half of the yearly rent. While their rooms are standing empty, there are a tonne of other students in need of medium-term accommodation either because they are visiting Oxford for a research project or simply getting kicked out of their college rooms. Unlease matches up people looking for medium-term accommodation with students who need to sublet and in doing so utilises all that empty accommodation, in a city which has one of the worst housing crises in the country.”

Tom’s friend Jack Cottam told Cherwell how the endeavour came about. “The marathon idea started as we were sat having coffee, and Tom, in his delusional mindset, claimed he could run one easily with no training. The challenge was taken up, and wagers were placed between the two of us. “Cut to two weeks later and the marathon had spread via small talk, to the point where there was no going back. The Facebook event was made and interest was decent.”

Initially, Jack was doubtful about Tom’s chances, “Tom’s previous training had consisted of two runs – the longest being 15 miles, after which he couldn’t walk for a day. So, when the day came, and Tom was eating his athlete’s breakfast of porridge just 20 minutes before the ‘race’ began, I was sceptical. [Bearing in mind I never wanted him to succeed, his lack of stretching beforehand reassured my belief that Tom would injure himself – or worse – after an hour. But Tom’s persistence became clear, and where he lacked in ability he compensated for with financial incentive, and pro-digious peer pressure.]

“The last half hour was intense, as Tom was visibly weakening (so it seemed) and his legs were getting heavier – he had been relatively comfortable before then. But, as the gym started to busy with spectators, the peer-pressure (and financial reward) forced Tom to complete the run.” Jack grudgingly conceded,“Although I lost a fair bit of money I can see he’s done alright. He’s still not an athlete though.”

Tom agreed with Jack’s assessment, “Whilst I think I was more dignified than Paula Radcliffe, he’s probably right that I am far from being an athlete”. Unfortunately after enduring the marathon, Tom was unable to endure to May Day. “I went to the pub after the race and was written off by two pints because I think the blood was pumping so hard – after disgracing myself, I collapsed in bed”. However, the experience hasn’t deterred Tom, as he told Cherwell, “I might do the London Marathon next year, or at least run outside”.

‘You’ve not read this article?’

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You have to read The Catcher in the Rye before you turn 18. To Kill a Mockingbird is essential reading for all GCSE students. If you’re tanning by a pool in the South of France then it really has to be Fifty Shades of Grey, or, a few years ago, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. What do you mean you’ve never read Jane Eyre – do you even like books? If you’re an avid reader, it can often feel like you’re drowning under a series of literary rules, the books you absolutely have to read, no matter what.

Everyone has an opinion on the essentials and, it seems, everyone has a set of standards by which they judge others. My yardstick is The Great Gatsby. Whenever anyone asks me about books, it’s the one I instantly start talking about. Partly it’s because it’s the one I remember the most quotes from, so when I talk about it everyone thinks I know what I’m talking about, partly it’s because it really is my favourite book, and partly I just like talking about it.

The issue is that when someone tells me they’ve not read it, to my shame I recoil in hor- ror, and I don’t know why. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying people shouldn’t recommend books. The best thing about being an avid reader is the community spirit, the sense of being part of a group of people trying desperately to navigate the excessively large amount of available content by any means necessary. It’s the literary snobbery that gets me. There seems to be some idea, permeating through society, that there are certain books you have to read in order to say you enjoy reading with your head held high.

This wouldn’t be an issue if there was an actual list, a tangible body of texts that we can work through, with an end-point. Except there’s not. It’s an entirely subjective thing and although a teacher might judge you for not reading the complete works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, your friends could be equally disgusted by the fact that you’ve never picked up a John Green book. It feels to me sometimes like I should just collapse under the sheer weight of it all, give up and read only what I want to.

Surely, we should just surrender to our own subjectivity. If you can’t read it all, you may as well dig tunnels that take you to places you want to visit. If you like Romance then naturally you’re going to steer towards Austen, Gaskell and Green. If you enjoy violence and intrigue, then these would point blank be the worst authors you could possibly read! I don’t believe that one book is inherently more valuable than another, or at least I certainly don’t think we get to choose that. It’s important that we engage with books on our own terms so that we get the most enjoyment out of them.

The classics and high literature are, obviously, wonderful but they’re far from the only options. It’s not about ticking items off a list or proving yourself by reading the hefty tomes of Hugo and Tolstoy. It’s not about reading One Hundred Years of Solitude in the original Spanish because “you miss so much in the translation.” No, it’s about having fun. It’s about reading the things you enjoy, the things you can curl up at night with and have long, exciting conversations about. It’s about finding something that speaks to you. That is, unless you choose to study English Literature for a degree, in which case the very joy of reading is crushed by a titanic list of books you never wanted to read and probably never will again.

Christ Church rejects Fairtrade

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Christ Church JCR this week discussed a motion to amend a Standing Order in an attempt to require the Food Rep to support Fair Trade. To amend a Standing Order, there must be a two-thirds majority. The motion did not pass, with 11 votes for, 16 abstaining and 9 against.

The discussion ‘Make the JCR Fairtrade compliant’ was held on Sunday at Christ Church JCR’s first general meeting of Trinity term. In order for Christ Church to retain their Fair Trade status, the college had asked the JCR committee to encourage Fairtrade in the JCR.

According to the General Meeting Agenda issued before the meeting, this would involve putting on Fairtrade events such as Welfare Teas, the putting up of Fairtrade posters as well as coming up with some new ideas. The agenda also noted, ‘Previous Food Reps personally have not supported the idea of Fairtrade, and have therefore done little to help College in this aim.’

The JCR made their stance clear in wishing to show their support for College in its aim to retain Fairtrade Status. The JCR offered to resolve the Standing Order referring to the duties of the Food Rep, proposing the modification, “Support the Steward’s position on Fairtrade and promote such a position in the JCR.”

The motion, which failed to pass, comes after Michaelmas term’s JCR acceptance of Meat-Free Mondays.

Fifth-year Engineer graduate student Diego Granziol told Cherwell, “I’d say it’s pretty typical of those in a position of privilege not to consider the human and environmental cost inherent in the supply chain.”

It is thought that the reason the motion did not pass was because the JCR was unsure of the benefit that Fairtrade actually generates. Some students felt that they would prefer to give the money they would have spent on Fairtrade to a more efficient charity. Christ Church JCR and the Food Rep were approached by Cherwell but declined to comment.

University rejects petition to revoke Rhodes scholarship

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A petition to revoke Ntokozo Qwabe’s scholarship or to “initiate disciplinary action” has been rejected by the University after collecting over 41,000 signatures. The petition was started after a controversial Facebook post about a comment made to a waitress in a South African cafe.

The petition was less than 10,000 signatures away from its set goal of 50,000. At that number, the petition would have been presented to Oxford Vice-Chancellor Professor Louise Richardson. Nonetheless, it has continued to attract attention even after its rejection.

In a statement officially rejecting the petition, a spokesperson for the University said, “Our duty of care to all members of the University means we do not discuss individuals.

“Oxford is a place where non-violent speech, however objectionable, can be expressed and challenged. Our students may voice opinions which others believe to be misguided or which they find offensive. “

They have a right to do this, but in exercising it we expect them to respect other people and the law,” the spokesperson added. The Rhodes Trust and other concerned institutions have equally stressed the importance of student confidentiality in this case.

London-based South African Jan Hendrik Ferreira, the launcher of the petition, wrote in its online description, “Mr Ntokozo Qwabe and friend violated a person’s dignity, publicly degraded and humiliated her, and created a highly offensive situation.

“Mr Ntokozo Qwabe has since taken great pleasure in narcissistically boasting over her reaction across social media.”

The petition description continues, “Mr Ntokozo Qwabe clearly does not uphold the values expected of an institution such as Oxford University and his actions have ultimately brought your educational establishment’s image into disrepute.”

“I will continue to ask you to rally to empower you to rally to empower and recognise the black nation.”
Zibu MaSotobe

Countering this initiative, Zibu MaSotobe started a petition to stop the revocation from happening. This was based on the academic merits of Law student Qwabe, stating that his action had been a move to stand up for the black Africans who “experience the rejection felt by that young white woman” as an inherent part of their daily life.

However, this petition was closed after it had rapidly reached 1,169 signatures. Zibu MaSotobe explained,“whiteness has never been shaken by a black petition. I fell into the trap of treating whiteness as a thing that one can use reason against. “I will continue to ask you to rally behind the movement to empower and recognise the black nation.”

RMF co-founder Ntokozo Qwabe’s actions in a Cape Town cafe called Obz have sparked a series of strong reactions, both in support of the activist and of the waitress who was involved.

The words “We will give tip when you return the land” were written by Rhodes Must Fall activist Wandile Dlamini in lieu of a tip for the white waitress who had served them, and triggered the latter’s tears. In a Facebook post for which, along with earlier comments of the same nature, he allegedly received a temporary ban from the social media, Qwabe subsequently dubbed these “typical white tears”, saying that something wonderfully “black” had taken place in the cafe. “We are here, and we want the sto-
len land back,” the activist stated. “No white person will be out here living their best life while we are out here being a landless and dispossessed black mass.”

A fundraising campaign named “Tip Ashleigh Schultz” was set to compensate for what was described by its online launcher Ernst Shea-Kruger as racism towards the 24-year-old waitress, raising $6,500 in five days. Cabanac, the author of a similar campaign told Cherwell, “The market and decency ensured that bigotry of this nature does not go unpunished.” The supporters of both initiatives evoked Schultz’ mother struggling with cancer as well as the assumption that the young woman was on minimum wage to demonstrate that the two RMF activists’ note had been unfairly aggressive. Schultz has expressed her gratitude on Facebook.

The question of whether a black waitress in the same situation would have received the same support from international media was raised by multiple users.

Although members of Rhodes Must Fall are divided over the matter, controversial ‘Rhodes Must Not Fall’ founder Jacob Williams told Cherwell, “It’s time we valued individuals, not just politicised identities.”

Similarly, Roman Cabanac, the host of South African podcast “The Renegade Report”, has publicly condemned Qwabe and told Cherwell, “The fact that he publicly gloated about humiliating a woman based on her race shows a malicious and racial prejudice.”

Joining Flemming in this statement, Brian Wong, a first year PPE student at Pembroke, said “Intersectional egalitarianism is about recognising that one can be oppressed in more than one way – due to their sex, race, gender, and such.

“I do not think Qwabe’s actions were intersectional; I think he acted unacceptably. I think the media probably also overreacted.”

Ntokozo Qwabe himself refused to answer Cherwell’s request for comment, stating only, “Maybe we will engage when indigenous South Afrikans have their stolen land and wealth back from white people.”

Colin Donnelly contributed reporting

Brasenose JCR wants honorary membership for Vardy

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Brasenose JCR will debate a motion granting Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy honorary membership and encouraging him to run for Ball President.

The motion, to be debated at a general meeting on Sunday, states, “Jamie is the man who climbed the ladder from non-league football to the Premier League, is now currently the league’s top scorer and on current form is the most dangerous player around. His pace gives defenders nightmares and he is pulling goals and assists out of his backside.”

It further notes that “Vardy has scored more Premier League goals this season than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined.”

The motion follows Leicester’s clinching of the 2015/16 Premier League title last Monday, after rivals Tottenham drew at Chelsea.

Unsurprisingly, many support the motion, with one second year classicist at Brasenose telling Cherwell, “I think that the real clincher in my decision was the fact that Jamie Vardy really does love to throw a party. He would make a great Ball President.”