Students across Oxford celebrated the launch of the Oxford Dignity Drive this week, a student-run project that aims to “increase access to sanitary products and feminine hygiene items for homeless people” in the city.

The week-long campaign driven by Dignity Ddrive reps has resulted in students in many colleges donating sanitary products and money towards the project, accompanied by a variety of talks and events that have sought to “raise awareness of this issue and the wider problems facing both homeless people and menstruating people worldwide”.

On Sunday evening, many JCRs passed motions allocating a portion of JCR funds, typically £100, to the Dignity Drive campaign. At least 13 colleges have so far donated to the project.

One of the organisers of the Dignity Drive, Rachel Besenyei, told Cherwell, “As privileged students at an elite university, it’s vital that we look beyond the walls of this institution in our activism. Oxford Dignity Drive has identified a specific problem, and aims to provide sanitary products for homeless people, who often have difficulty accessing them.”

Oxford Asylum Welcome, Oxford Homeless Pathways, Oxfordshire Women’s Aid and The Gatehouse have all expressed their desire to receive donations of sanitary products from colleges.

The campaign week began with an information stall at Wadstock on Saturday 2nd May, and concludes on Friday evening with a screening of the film The Moon Inside You. An open mic night at St Antony’s will also be held on 15th May in aid of the Dignity Drive.

Events over the course of the week have included several talks and panel discussions about the work of the charity Irise International in East Africa, abortion rights in Northern Ireland, period prejudice, and the wider problem of the homelessness crisis in Oxford.

It Happens Here (IHH), OUSU’s campaign against sexual violence, has partnered with Code4Rights and Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC) to create a mobile app called ‘First Response’, which will provide Oxford University students with a straightforward way to report instances of sexual violence and access support.

Code4Rights is a non-profit organisation that aims to address the gender gap in technology by teaching women with no previous experience how to code apps.

Funding for the app was secured from Oxford University through the IT Innovation Fund and enabled Code4Rights to run sessions to teach coding to female students with no previous computing experience in order to build the app. The content was designed by IHH in collaboration with OSARCC.

Criticisms raised through feedback sessions will be addressed throughout Trinity Term, with the aim of having the app functional by Saturday of 8th Week and ready to be publicised during Freshers’ Week 2015. 

Speaking at the first feedback event on 4th  May, Eden Tanner, OUSU’s Graduate Women’s Officer, commented, “As someone who’s responded to a lot of sexual violence, I thought, ‘What do we really need?’ We need something accessible and convenient to support survivors of sexual violence in Oxford.

“There’s definitely a possibility to extend to Brookes and Ruskin and other interested educational institutions. Long-term, it’s likely that it will spread nationally and even globally. Code4Rights is an international organisation.”

Ellie Bennett, Volunteer & Outreach Co-ordinator at OSARCC, said, “This year there were 120 reported rapes in Oxford, up almost 82 per cent from last year. We know that only around 15-20 per cent of rapes are reported, so these numbers represent just a small proportion of survivors in our local area. Sexual violence removes our choice, our agency, our freedom to make decisions about our own lives – that’s why giving survivors back their options is so important to recovery, and it’s why one of our core principles at OSARCC is empowerment.” 

Anna Bradshaw, OUSU’s VP for Women, commented, “The lack of information about the services available to survivors of sexual violence, and to their friends and supporters, is a very real problem. We hope to close that information gap, and consequently to enable better support.

The Merton decanal team has come under fire over an amendment to its disciplinary measures.

The amendment comes in response to what the College perceives as an increase in the number of students smoking in their rooms.

An email sent on Tuesday from Merton’s Deputy Principal of the Postmasters (Junior Dean) to all JCR and MCR members stated, “The College takes this matter very seriously because smoking creates a fire hazard and a health hazard, for you and also for all the people living in the building.

“Owing to this increasing number, we have decided to be extra vigilant to this matter, and also to change the discipline measures; a smoking offence will now attract on top of the fine a four week ban to the college bar and the next bop, and on repeat offences can lead to students not being offered college accommodation in the future.”

According to some students, this change to the disciplinary measures runs contrary to regulations set out in the College handbook.

Particular
objections were raised at the fact that the JCR and MCR presidents had not been consulted in advance. Article 26.2 of the handbook states, “Any proposed amendments will be discussed with the Presidents of the JCR and MCR and reviewed and approved by Warden and Tutors’ Committee and Graduate Committee.” 

In addition, article 28.7 of the handbook states that suspension from college premises and facilities “is a precautionary and not a disciplinary sanction, and may continue during the investigation of any such allegation and any subsequent disciplinary proceedings”.

One student, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Cherwell, “Clearly they are trying to use it in a disciplinary way. We also dispute that a bop is a college facility. It’s a JCR-run event, the only way they could justify that move would be by banning people from use of the Sports Pavilion [where Merton bops are held] at all times.” 

Jonathan Thacker, Senior Dean at Merton, said, “Smoking in rooms is an issue that the college takes very seriously as it is a fire hazard. The measure reflects the increase of such events being discovered in college rooms this year, and it is based on a course of action which has proven effective in the past in various discipline contexts. 

“It is not, however, a suspension from college, as described by paragraph 28.7, it is a restriction to the use of college facilities which is covered by 28.3, ‘The Principal of Postmasters and the Deputy Principal of Postmasters are empowered to impose fines up to and including £250 and to restrict access to College facilities.’”

Daniel Schwennicke, Merton’s JCR President, commented, “I was surprised by the increased penalty on smoking in College accommodation, as I had expected that the JCR would be consulted about the problem in advance. While smoking indoors is completely unacceptable, the College’s decision is disproportionate and unprecedented. Additionally, there are substantial doubts about its legitimacy with respect to College regulations, any amendment of which must be discussed with the JCR and MCR Presidents and approved by several College committees. The JCR intends to fight restricting offenders from the college bar and bops, and a first meeting with the Principal of Postmasters has indicated that our concerns will be heard.” 

Chris Pike, OUSU VP for Welfare & Equal Opportunities, said, “As a student union we believe in the fundamental principle that students and their representatives (in this case, their elected common room officers) should be consulted on any changes of this nature.

“I have no issue with action being taken to prevent students smoking in their rooms. It is, however, often the case in scenarios like this that a proper discussion between students and the college will solve more problems than simply using threats of harsh disciplinary action.”

The Hertford College Home Bursar, Dr Andrew Beaumont, has created representations of all the Oxford West and Abingdon candidates out of Lego.

Dr Beaumont, who has a doctorate in Modern History and describes himself on Twitter as “a benign Lego obsessive”, made the figures during his lunch break after getting campaign literature and thinking that all the candidates “looked a bit the same”.

The electoral candidates met their Lego counter-parts during a Radio Oxford constituency debate.

So far, the reaction has been positive. The incumbent MP, Conservative Nicola Blackwood, told Cherwell, “Although I’m not known for wearing a neck tie, Lego Nicola has a fabulous blonde mane – Dr Beaumont gets my vote for innovation and light relief in the middle of a very hard fought campaign.”

Mike Foster of the Socialist Party was equally impressed, saying, “The Lego figures have been one of the highlights of the campaign for me, and seeing the article on the BBC website gave me a good laugh. When we hear the election results hopefully none of the candidates will go to pieces as easily as their Lego counterpart can!”

Sally Copley, the Labour candidate, was also pleased with her likeness, telling Cherwell, “My kids were impressed when they heard about it, but less so when they saw it! I quite liked it though.”

The Lego MPs are the latest in a line of projects undertaken by Dr Beaumont. He has also recreated the famous Bridge of Sighs in Lego, which was featured as part of the College’s open day events for access and outreach. This was followed (due to popular demand) by the Hertford College Chapel.

Other interesting projects include homages to Harry Potter, the Rocky Horror picture show and “the life of Vladimir Putin”, as well as a “more inspirational” version of the criticised “Lego friends” range, which instead features representations of important contemporary female figures such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Maya Angelou.

Regarding the election mini figures, Dr Beaumont told Cherwell, “The election mini figures which you’ve seen have been really popular, but they were honestly made in about five minutes on my coffee break last week, and I had absolutely no idea people would like them so much.

Several of the candidates have asked to keep them as lucky mascots. I’m considering this.”

Dr Beaumont has also disclosed details of his next project: the front façade of Hertford College, which would be up to five feet long and contain around 20,000 bricks – hopefully ready in time for the University open days in July.

When asked who he’d be voting for, Dr Beaumont replied by saying, “I’m not telling you my voting plans, although I think my Twitter feed might give it away a bit.”

For more designs, Dr Beaumont has an impressive
Twitter feed displaying his most interesting projects.

In an emergency motion on Sunday evening, Exeter’s JCR voted in favour of complaining to Oxford City Council about the Love Oxford 2015 event, a concert hosted by three churches on Broad Street that morning. St Aldate’s Church, the Christian Life Centre Oxford, and Headington Baptist Church were the event’s organisers.

The event was advertised as an “open air service”, and 2,500 people took part. There was praying, preaching and singing, with the event starting at 11am and finishing at 12:45pm. However, students reported noise starting from 6am.

The Exeter motion noted the inconvenience to students and the early start of the noise, saying, “Oxford City Council was irresponsible in allowing this event to go ahead in a residential part of the City Centre.” The Exeter motion passed with 14 votes in favour, three votes against, and three abstentions.

The JCR resolved to mandate the President to send an email to the two City Councillors for Carfax ward as well as to the Council’s Environmental Services, describing the noise as “ear splitting” and stating, “I do not know how this event was granted a Undergraduate licence.”

Sam Slater proposed a motion to Exeter JCR stating, “Oxford City Council was irresponsible in allowing this event [Love Oxford] to go ahead.”

The proposed email further stated that “students from at least seven colleges (Exeter, Jesus, Lincoln, Balliol, Trinity, Hertford, Wadham) were affected.”

It ended by saying, “I strongly recommend that in the future it is moved somewhere else and the organisers are told to keep it quieter to avoid significant disturbance when people are trying to revise.”

Sam Slater, who proposed the motion, told Cherwell, “The noise started around 6am, when they were setting up the stage, and got very loud at around 9am when the soundcheck started. It was then pretty much constant until 1pm.”

Slater continued, “The single-pane windows, as well as the doors, were rattling because of the bass, and the singing could be clearly heard in the library too. Many students were studying for finals, others were trying to work, and History students were trying to sleep.

“It was irresponsible for the council to license the event for two reasons: firstly, the noise was completely excessive; and secondly, it is essentially a residential student area in exam season. We believe1 that College was given no prior warning of the event. The reason we put the motion to the JCR was to let the Council know of our complaint so that in the future students in the area can be at least consulted first, or else the event can be moved to a more appropriate venue. Also, one suspects that had this been your average rock band wanting to hold a gig on a Sunday morning they would have been instantly blocked by the council.”

Alice Nutting, a third year undergraduate at Exeter College, told Cherwell, “My finals start in two weeks and the noise outside woke me up early. It also made it impossible for me to revise. My windows and door were shaking. Broad Street seemed like a completely inappropriate venue in light of the noise disturbance; the music was unnecessarily loud.”

Slater reported, “A few of us who complained on the Love Oxford [Facebook] page on Sunday received cards in our pidges from one of the attendees. She says that she wasn’t an organiser, just an attendee, and she felt very bad when she heard that they had disturbed us. A very nice gesture, I think.”

Trinity College is also holding a motion at their upcoming JCR meeting to give the JCR the opportunity to formally express their dissatisfaction with the disruption caused by the Love Oxford event.

Trinity College JCR President, Eleanor Roberts, told Cherwell, “I have received over twenty written complaints about the Love Oxford event.

Overall, these reflect a dissatisfaction with the lack of consideration given to the hundreds of students living in close proximity to the event, and especially to those finalists whose work was disrupted for the majority of the day. The noise, lack of warning and intrusiveness are all subjects of complaint.

“In light of this, we hope to support the work of College to stop the event being held in a similar manner next year.”

The Love Oxford committee commented, “The event has moments of complete silence: this year a moving minute of silence to remember victims of the Nepal earthquake and to pray for their families. It can be also be joyful and exuberant as the crowd celebrates their life together. So Love Oxford can be noisy, but no noisier than the Oxford student balls of which residents receive notice at this timeof year, always asking for understanding as their noise rocks through the nights.

We do regret any inconvenience caused to our neighbours and ask for their understanding as we all try to live together in unity in our city.”

Oxford City Council did not respond to Cherwell’s request for comment.