The Univeristy of Oxford’s outreach activities will expand significantly as part of a new government initiative. The £22m scheme includes three new National Networks for Collaborative Outreach (NNCO).

Oxford will take the lead in directing the activities of the Oxford and Cambridge NNCO. The programme will target Oxbridge-aspiring students in 1,600 English schools in order to improve the application support currently on
offer.

Admissions staff from both universities will also host online webinars, hoped to prove beneficial for students from geographically distant areas. Both universities aim to work with schools across England. Particularly targeted are schools which have had little past contact with Oxbridge outreach schemes, those with a history of sending very few students to Oxbridge and schools in socio-economically disadvantaged catchment areas.

A network of other establishments, including Somerville College, was also successful in its bid for an NNCO. 

Oxford’s current outreach activities include open days, school visits, UCAS higher education fairs and student and teacher conferences across the UK. Oxford also runs a Sutton Trust supported ‘Pathways’ programme, along with the free UNIQ summer schools, aimed at Year 12 state school students. OUSU runs its own shadowing scheme for Year 12 students through its ‘Target Schools’ strategy.

First year Theology student Eva Chapman welcomed the announcement of the NNCO, commenting, “It encourages bright pupils to aim high regardless of their background or the history of the school and it dispels many myths about the Oxbridge application process.”

Dr. Samina Khan, Oxford’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, told Cherwell, “Oxford’s work with the National Networks for Collaborative Outreach will add to the already significant amount of targeted access work the collegiate University undertakes

across the UK. While this particular programme is funded by the government and HEFCE to target students in English schools, the resources Oxford will be making available include a substantial amount of online support that can be accessed by anyone across the UK.

“Added to our programme of student and teacher conferences and partnership with the Welsh government to create support hubs for potential Welsh applicants to Oxford and Cambridge, these new partnerships will further our goal of supporting bright students in applying to Oxford, no matter what their background or where they come from.”

Speaking about the NNCOs, Greg Clark, Minister for Universities and Science, said, “This programme will ensure that schools and colleges across England can help their students learn about higher education in the classroom, online and through local outreach activity. A record number of students entered higher education in 2014, with entry rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds increasing by over ten per cent to its highest ever level. However there is still more work to do to ensure all students who want to study hard can benefit, irrespective of their background.”

Following Yasser Bhatti’s resignation, due to take effect on Monday 19th January, attention has turned to his replacement. A by-election is expected to be held later this term to decide who will replace him as OUSU Vice-President for Graduates.

Nick Cooper, the VP-elect for the Academic year 2015-2016, has categorically ruled out running, stating, “As per OUSU Election Regulation 18.6, Sabbs-elect aren’t eligible to run in by-elections such as this one.”

The role of Vice-President for Graduates is to be fulfilled in the interim by Louis Trup, OUSU President, and James Blythe, OUSU Vice-President (Access & Academic Affairs).

Bhatti, who was on the ‘Jane4Change’ slate, was elected in Michaelmas Term 2013 and was meant to fulfil the rôle of Vice President for Graduates for the academic year 2014-15. In the 2013 OUSU elections, Bhatti was elected to the position with 231 votes.

OUSU President Louis Trup commented, “Yasser has been a valuable member of the OUSU team, working tirelessly to represent the graduate students at this university. It has been an honour to work with such a capable, innovative and dedicated person. Alongside everyone at OUSU, I wish him all the best in the future.”

Yasser Bhatti told Cherwell, “Regrettably, I made the decision to step down as I feel I am unable to juggle the role of VP Graduates along with my family responsibilities.

“I apologise for stepping down from the opportunity to further strengthen and serve students and the University, but the intensity of this role is just too much for me and more importantly for my two little girls.”

The junction between Hythe Street and George Street has been reopened after 3 months of roadworks and amidst widespread concerns for cyclist safety.

Its new design has drawn criticism for a lack of signposting and an unfortunate traffic light system, which could endanger cyclists using the roads.

Oxford’s own Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC) have sent out an email to local cycling groups warning about the lack of clarity at the junction. The organisation, along with Cyclox, had previously met with the council as part of the consultation process regarding the redesign, but since the reopening of the new layout have expressed further concerns about the dangers posed to cyclists due to several of the planned signs not being ready in time.

Cyclists have been left confused by the loss of the popular Hythe Bridge Street to George Street route, due to the absence of a planned sign which excluded bikes from having to follow the one way system imposed on other vehicles.

All traffic coming off Hythe Bridge Street is therefore directed left towards Beaumont Street. The absence of the planned sign exempting cyclists makes the popular route from Hythe Bridge Street onto George Street illegal.

Perhaps more pressingly, concerns have been raised about the traffic light system, which, when the route is re-legalised, will potentially direct cyclists into oncoming traffic.

James Dawton of Oxford’ City’s CTC stated that, following their previous consultations with the council, “How the end result appeared is quite beyond me. Cycling straight across from Hythe Bridge Street into George Street on
a green light puts cyclists directly into the path of traffic coming from the left which also has a green light at the same time.

“Thus two conflicting streams of traffic have simultaneous green lights, so it is an accident waiting to happen.”

The Council has in response installed ‘new road layout ahead’ signs to warn cyclists of the redesign.

The redevelopment project was intended to revitalise Frideswide Square, and create a more welcoming first impression of the city to visitors arriving at the nearby train station.

Ironically it was also designed to help improve cyclist and pedestrian access to the area, and to reduce congestion. 

The impact and risk of this redesign will likely be felt most keenly by the returning student body of the University. Balliol College student and resident of the area, Georgia Irwin, disagreed with the new layout, telling Cherwell, “I
don’t understand why the junction had to be changed. As a cyclist, it always seemed perfectly fine before these new changes.”

The junction is located in an area frequented by students. Residents of both Worcester and Mansfield college live locally to the junction, whilst attendees of the University’s Saïd Business School are also frequent users. For many
students, the junction is also an unavoidable stop on the way to the nightlife offered in the area around the square, namely Bridge, Wahoo, Park End, and Plush All are located past the junction for students coming from Jericho, Cowley or the City Centre.

The Oxford CTC have also expressed concern for student welfare at the new junction, suggesting students now treat the junction as a “crossroads, with all the dangers that involves.” 

They have particularly expressed concern for students travelling from the vicinity of Worcester College towards the Saïd Business School or Railway Station.

Oxford Council’s Highways were not available for comment at time of publication.

A motion has been put forward to the University Congregation, a body made up of 5,000 senior University figures, to knock down the top floors of Castle Mill following an Environment Impact Assessment.

Castle Mill, an Oxford University graduate accommodation complex on Port Meadow, has been an ongoing source of controversy since planning permission was granted in February 2012. Many have been critical of the £21.5 million development, which blocks out Port Meadow’s famous view of Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’.

Notable figures such as Phillip Pullman have spoken out against the accommodation complex, calling it “destructive, brutal, ugly vandalism”.

It has also had the dubious pleasure of being named one of the candidates for the 2013 Carbuncle Cup, the Building Design Online prize for the UK’s worst building.

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After a high court challenge in 2012, the University commissioned a retrospective Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The report found the buildings had a high “adverse impact” on Port Meadow, the Oxford skyline, the
Thames, and St Barnabas Church.

It suggested three options to rectify this. The University has previously opted for option one – in essence, to camouflage the buildings. 

This latest motion to the University Congregation favours option three: removing the top floors. This is estimated to cost upwards of £12 million, removes 38 bedrooms and require all residents to vacate the buildings for a year. 

Diarmaid MacCulloch, Rev. Professor of the History of the Church at St Cross College and TV historian, who submitted the motion to the Congregation, argued, “A lot of money is going to be spent whatever option of remedying the
environmental damage caused by the flats is adopted. What would be worst of all would be to adopt a minimal solution as the administration in Wellington Square wants, still spend a lot of money, and get very little result.”

Although MacCulloch regretted the expenditure, he maintained that the fault lay with the University administration because of its initial failure to fulfil the planning conditions.

He also argued that, though high, the initial expenditure of this motion would “restore the good name of the University in the city of Oxford and beyond… So much trust has been lost, so much anger generated – and that anger exists among potential benefactors to the University, who may turn away from further giving because of the Castle Mill affair.”

Louis Trup, current OUSU president, expressed concerns about this route given the lack of housing for students with families. He argued that the huge costs of knocking down the top floors could lead to the demolition of the entire development, meaning the 300 graduate students who live in Castle Mill
would need to find new housing.

This would lead to an increase in students searching for rental properties, which, said Trup, “is likely to cause rent increases for private rentals in the city”.

He added, “The members of OUSU note the concerns of the Save Port Meadow campaign, but believe that limited mitigation strategies that reduce the visual impact of the development can alleviate these concerns without having the negative impacts on students and tenants in Oxford that removing the top floor or demolishing castle mill presents.”

Castle Mill resident Jemma Day agreed, arguing that she does not think Castle Mill is “that much of an eye sore” and that she found it hard to see how removing just one floor would make a significant difference.

On MacCulloch’s motion, a University spokesperson commented, “The request will be considered carefully and in accordance with university regulations.” The motion will be debated in February.

Somerville College has admitted that it is “concerned” about the advertising material on the website of one of the summer schools that uses
its grounds.

The College told Cherwell that it instructs all summer schools with which it has dealings not to hold themselves out as representatives of the College or University, or to claim to be able to help students with admission to Oxford.

The Oxford Institute, which runs a residential academic course for a month at Somerville over the Long Vacation, costing £6,499 for a four week course, informs visitors to its website, “We offer comprehensive courses to help students prepare for the admission process at Oxford and
Cambridge Universities.”

The website goes on to claim that The Oxford Institute is “perfectly placed for students who intend to apply for admission to Oxford and Cambridge Universities”.

James Blythe, OUSU’s VP for Access & Academic Affairs, was keen to quash the idea that paid summer schools would increase a student’s chances of receiving an Oxford offer, saying, “The message must come loud and clear from everyone in Oxford to potential applicants: you do not need to spend any money on any private company’s programmes to get a place here.

“While I understand the financial challenges facing the colleges and the benefits to students that conference income brings, any benefit must always be weighed up against the potential damage to access to this University caused by allowing an organisation use of college premises, with the implicit or explicit suggestion of a close relationship between the college and the organisation.”

Somerville College told Cherwell that they had been in contact with The Oxford Institute and asked them to change their advertising. At the time of publication, however, no changes had been made.

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In a statement, the College said, “When the Conference Office accepted the application from The Oxford Institute originally, they signed a contract agreeing not to represent themselves as being in any way part of Somerville or the University. The current wording on their website is not as clear as we would like, and we are concerned also about the implication that they would be training people in how to apply to Oxford: both of those things have to change if Governing Body is to be content, and we have told Oxford Institute
so.”

However, Adnan Rafiq, Director (Social Sciences) at The Oxford Institute insisted to Cherwell, “Admissions guidance is only a small part of our programme and less than ten per cent of teaching time is dedicated for this purpose. Our summer programme can therefore not be dubbed as ‘Oxbridge Admissions Training’. Blowing the admissions advice aspect of our program out of proportion is unfair.”

He also repeated the claims from the school’s website, saying, “However, our programme is indeed valuable for students who are interested in obtaining admission in top universities and some of our students have indeed been accepted at the best universities in the world, including Oxford.”

“20 per cent of students enrolled on our 2014 programme were on fully funded scholarships… and were selected on academic merit.”

A video on The Oxford Institute’s website refers to Somerville College’s Senior Tutor, Dr Steve Rayner, as a “guest lecturer”, and shows him talking to students. Dr Rayner told Cherwell that he was in fact giving an admissions talk, explaining how the Oxford application process worked.

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There has also been controversy around Oxford Summer Courses, another summer school which uses Somerville College grounds. Somerville JCR voted in Novermber to express its disapproval that College grounds were being used for a school which, in its view, was “damaging to access”. 

However, while Somerville admitted that The Oxford Institute had failed to follow the College’s guidelines on advertising, it denied that Oxford Summer Courses had done anything wrong, pointing out that nowhere does Oxford Summer Courses claim explicitly to help prospective Oxford applicants. 

Investigating this, Cherwell emailed Oxford Summer Courses, posing as a sixth-form student worried about applying to Oxford, and wondering if the course would help. 

Barbara Phipps, the Course’s Admissions & Courses Administrator, replied, “We can certainly help you with interview practice whilst you are with us. All our staff are either current undergraduates or alumni. They have been through the process and will be able to help you with what to expect. All you need to do is decide which subject you would like to study”. 

Back in November, Somerville College told the JCR, “The summer schools we host are not acting as interview training camps,” and it repeated this assertion to Cherwell, saying, “The OSC website does not sell the company as preparing people for the interview process. The email you sent (which we have not seen) was presumably a personal request for interview help, and the answer you quote them as giving appears to be legitimate.”

Meanwhile, Robert Phipps, Director of Oxford Summer Courses, was quick to defend the programme, saying, “To make you aware, I have been through our application data and in the entire history of Oxford Summer Courses less than 0.2 per cent of the applicants have gone on to study at Oxford University and less than 1 per cent of the students who attended Oxford Summer Courses have gone on to study at Oxford Univeristy.

“There are some organisations that offer Oxbridge admissions consulting (with success rates well above the c. 20 per cent average) however we would wish to distance ourselves from those providers as we are in the business of running an academic summer school.”

Abby Carroll, who has just completed her tenure as Access Officer at Somerville, did not agree with the College though, telling Cherwell, “I think it’s encouraging that they’re taking our worries seriously enough to contact [The Oxford Institute] and ask them to remove any potentially misleading advertising, although it’s my opinion that these companies rely on people assuming they’ll be given an advantage in the application process by taking part and do little to dispel this assumption.

“The OSC website is considerably more subtle than The Oxford Institute’s, but it’s about the affiliation with Oxford, the ‘Oxford life’, the Oxford tutorials. Using University property gives the impression that they’re sanctioned and encouraged by the University (although OSC explicitly states they’re not affiliated with either the University or the College), and I think this gives participants the impression they’re helping their chances.”

Another anonymous Somervillian, a former tutor for the charity Team Up, commented, “The University and its colleges need to act to stop our facilities, image and names being used to manipulate potential applicants and do lasting damage to access.”

St. Hugh’s College made a controversial decision to change the theme of their first bop of Hilary term from the student-elected ‘Queerbop’, to a more generalised ‘Express Yourself’.

The LGBTQ rep at St. Hugh’s, Matthew Shaw, explained to Cherwell, “Over each vac Hugh’s students vote on a poll for the bop themes for the following term which have all been suggested by the JCR and compiled into a poll, out
of which the theme ‘Queerbop’ came top. Numerous concerns appeared to have been raised with the Entz reps over the theme. Concerns were mainly raised for two reasons, people felt uncomfortable or excluded by the theme, or did not understand the meaning of the word.

“Whilst I completely understand that not everyone understands the term queer or queer culture, hushing it away does not improve the situation but merely silences an important voice and damns any further notion of the understanding and progress that can be made. I think it is a shame that what would be a celebration of queer culture and support for the LGBTQ community at Hugh’s could be perceived as exclusionary, uncomfortable, and that people immediately thought they would offend or ridicule instead of celebrate and support; there is clearly more work to be done.”

Tasha Gillies was among those who disagreed, commenting, “The theme just
seemed a recipe for disaster. Any costume under a queer theme would just
represent one of the many harmful ideas of who queer people are, as if all LGBTQ people can be shoehorned into one distinct way of looking.”

Commenting on the change, OU LGBTQ Society President Otamere Guobadia said, “I feel for the queer St Hugh’s community, who are being denied the wonderful feeling of being prioritised and represented in the oppressive framework that is mainstream culture and college life. We have Black History Month and LGBTQ History Month because things like heteronormativity and white supremacy are so ingrained in the way people are raised that minority history and culture are relegated to the margins; I think that this erasive rebranding of the bop under the guise of preventing
offense is ridiculously paternalistic and othering hen it was clearly the popular choice.

“Frankly I give absolutely no fucks if straight people are rendered uncomfortable by the thought of having to, for once, channel nonnormative
ideas of gender and sexuality at a bop without devolving into tasteless parody
or making queer people the punchline of a bop costume. Conversely the ‘kid glove’ fear advocated by straight people who believe it is impossible to interpret a queer theme inoffensively is bullshit. There are lines between
appropriation and appreciation which take common sense and empathy to respectfully navigate, and at Oxford we should all be capable of doing so.

“Misplaced post-queer, assimilationist ideas convince people that there is not a necessity of queer spaces and events because we are all just part of the human race, and there is no ‘straight bop.’ But guess what? Under
Patriarchy every fucking bop is a straight one.”

St Hugh’s Entz reps could not be contacted for comment.

A team led by Oxford researchers has begun a trial of the latest potential treatment for the on-going Ebola epidemic.

The team is investigating a drug called brincidofovir, which has already been used to treat Ebola patients around the world. Ebola, which has claimed over 8,300 lives, still has no definitive cure.

Brincidofovir is an experimental oral treatment developed by private American
healthcare company Chimerix. Run by volunteers from Doctors Without Borders and the University of Oxford and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the cooperative trial will test the effectiveness of the drug.

Up to 140 adult Ebola patients in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, one of the cities hardest hit by the West African outbreak, are undergoing two weeks of brincidofovir treatment. To determine the drug’s impact, researchers will
compare the fatality rate of these patients with previous death rates in the hospital.

Professor Peter Horby of Oxford’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, the trial’s chief investigator, said, “The Ebola epidemic is causing an unprecedented health and socioeconomic crisis in West Africa. There are many things that need to be done.’’

“Amongst them is a proper evaluation of experimental treatments that have been developed for Ebola virus disease. The only time we can fully evaluate these potential therapies is during an Ebola epidemic.”

Typically, clinical trials of treatments for deadly viruses like Ebola take over a year to organise. However, the scale and urgency of the epidemic means that this Oxford-led trial has come together in less than four months.

Since the epidemic’s outbreak in late 2013, Oxford has been a leading figure in Ebola research. Over the past few months, Oxford has hosted several trials of mass-produced preventive vaccines that may be used to protect healthcare workers in affected countries.

Oxford’s efforts to develop a treatment, which include an upcoming study of another drug in Sierra Leone, are part of a wider global rush to develop therapies, vaccines, and even a cure for Ebola.

Professor Trudie Lang, another member of the Oxford research team, emphasised the value of thorough, well-funded scientific trials like the one run by the University of Oxford and Médecins Sans Frontières. “It is important to do a trial because you cannot learn about a drug from treating individuals,” she told Cherwell.

“We are setting out to evaluate several potential therapies within the rigour and formal protocol of a clinical trial, with the aim of identifying an effective and safe treatment that is oing to be available for African communities
at scale.”

The first Ebola patient received the study drug on January 2nd 2015. If this ongoing trial is successful, Lang explained, there will be a second, larger trial in one of the three countries most affected by the epidemic – Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone. If that too had positive results, brincidofovir would be released on a wide scale.

The Government Revenue Support Grant to the Oxford City Council is expected to fall from its current value of £4.43 million to nothing by
2019.

Deputy Leader of the Oxford City Council, Executive Board Member for Finance and Labour councillor, Ed Turner, informed Cherwell, “We
estimate that over the period of the coalition government we’ll have lost around 47 per cent of our government grant, and it is clear from
the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement that there is even worse to come. This is clearly dreadful news for all who are concerned about public services.”

Turner explained, “There is an aim to reduce the national deficit (an aim which the coalition has been failing to meet at anything like the pace it anticipated by 2018/19), and the vital services provided by councils do not appear to
be much of a priority.”

The Head of Finance at Oxford City Council, Nigel Kennedy, added, “The bulk of this target will be achieved through cuts in local government spending.” The Local Government Association (LGA) has estimated that the spending
cuts in local government funding may be as high as 40 per cent. For this next year, the Government Revenue Support Grant is expected to account for 19.2
per cent of the Oxford City Council’s net budget requirement, compared to 26.4 per cent in the previous year.

Different sources of funding will therefore constitute a greater proportion of the council budget in the coming years. As Turner told Cherwell, “Council tax becomes a bigger proportion of our overall budget.”

He added, “However, we are not allowed to raise this by more than two per cent (without a referendum, the legal requirement which is constructed in such a way that it isn’t really practical).

“So we need to work even harder to generate other sources of income, including trading with public and private sector bodies, and work more efficiently, doing things like reducing the amount of office space we occupy, and looking at the way in which we work. We are not considering outsourcing large areas of council activity, as some councils are doing.

“In recent years, we have had to take many tough decisions – such as charging for services like garden waste collection which used to be
free – and there is no doubt that there will be some more.

“I would expect cuts to the Council to have a very bad impact. Next year we will see the implementation of cuts to homeless hostels in central Oxford, and I am gravely concerned about those receiving social care.”