Colleges have been left in confusion after OUSU withdrew the online voting system Mi-Voice without informing JCRs, failing to get an alternative system up and running in time for the new term.

The Student Union’s failure to renew the service’s subscription — following difficulties with the system over the botched NUS referendum vote in May — also means that, for colleges whose constitution only permits an online vote, JCR elections have had to be postponed. Somerville and Oriel, who were hoping to hold JCR elections in second week, have had to opt for a paper ballot system.

Wadham’s SU, meanwhile, has had to postpone elections due to take place this week. Andrew McKay, who is currently assuming Returning Officer (RO) responsibilities following the resignation of Vice President Alex Walker, explained that nobody on last year’s committee was informed of the fact that the Mi-Voice subscription would be cancelled. He confirmed to Cherwell that he submitted an official complaint over OUSU President Louis Trup’s handling of the situation.

Hundreds of tickets for this year’s Freshers’ Week were left unsold, leaving several colleges with a non-refundable surplus.

College Entertainment (Entz) reps and Freshers’ Week committees found themselves unable to sell vast numbers of tickets, having pre-bought them all from the two main club night companies, Shuffle Nights Ltd and FOMO.

Lady Margaret Hall Freshers’ rep Alessandro Venerandi admitted, “Both companies state before the sale of tickets that they can’t be refunded – unfortunately, ticket sales were down from previous Freshers’ Weeks, acrosss all four years.”

It is not only LMH that has experienced difficulties in shifting all of the tickets purchased for sale in Freshers’ Week. Jesus, Oriel and Keble have all reportedly undersold. FOMO CEO Piers Rhys-Lodwick, told Cherwell that two colleges did not manage to sell all of the tickets they had purchased from FOMO for the night of Thursday 9th October, at The Bridge nightclub on Hythe Bridge Street.

One of these colleges was Keble, who, Rhys-Lodwick explained, “only did one night with us, but they ended up with sixty tickets left over. However, our policy is not to refund pre-sale tickets bought for Freshers’ Week, as the revenue from ticket sales contributes towards DJs, equipment, decor and staff. We hired Ministry of Sound DJs for some nights in Freshers’ Week, and one DJ came all the way from Manchester. We can’t turn them away if colleges don’t sell all of their tickets.”

Rhys-Lodwick also added that Keble, and the second (anonymous) college who undersold on the Thursday of Freshers’ Week, were able to sell some tickets on the door that night. However, as most tickets are sold on a pre-sale basis, this approach “wasn’t very successful”, according to the FOMO CEO.

FOMO does not have written contracts binding a college to sell a certain number of tickets, and while they are willing to negotiate refunds if cancellations are made far enough in advance, the short length of Freshers’ Week means that JCR committees must therefore buy a number of tickets based on sales records of previous years.

Shuffle Nights Ltd reported that the company hadn’t been aware of any colleges under-selling tickets in Freshers’ Week. Shuffle C.E.O. Toby Baker said, “All of our twenty-three events hit capacity so I don’t suspect any colleges failed to sell too many tickets.”

Agreeing with Baker, Shuffle’s Hannah Robinson told Cherwell, “We had probably the highest attendance for Freshers’ Week in the last five years, with twenty three sold out events. There are always a couple of colleges which don’t sell all of their tickets, but hardly any at all that I have heard of from this year.”

One third year commented, “I know Freshers’ Week events aren’t exactly aimed at my age group, but they seem to have lost their charm. I mean, Freshers’ Flu is a phrase for a reason.”

The History Society has been left legless this week as valuable table legs were stolen from an antique table in the Merton MCR on Friday 17 October. The legs were only returned on Wednesday following a university-wide appeal, and an amnesty offered for their return.

On Friday, the History Society hosted its opening event of the academic year, marketed as a ‘free-flowing’ cocktail soirée.

A pre-event message from the History Society read, “Come on down to Merton MCR at 8.30pm tonight for our termly cocktails. Entry is only £1 for members, £4 for non-members for unlimited cocktails. Also, don’t miss out on the chance to buy lifetime for the discounted price of £12.”

Such incentives at first seemed to have paid off, with the event being packed. Some disgruntled freshers were even turned away due to the popularity of the event. The evening began smoothly, with the History Society managing to get plenty of legs through the door. One student present told Cherwell, “It was strictly standing room only, though the event was hardly rowdy.” Only subsequently was it discovered that an antique table had been severely damaged.

History Society members were alarmed when the following afternoon they received an email informing them that “during the course of the evening, a table was broken and the legs have disappeared.” The email stressed, “It is essential we retrieve the missing table legs,” asking members to contact either Emily Ellis or Tom McPherson, the two co-presidents of the Society, if they knew anything about the whereabouts of the legs. The email also promised not to hold anyone “responsible for the damage”.

By late afternoon on Sunday, little progress had been made. Another email was sent to the Society’s mailing list, this time filled with bold type. The presidents announced the legs of the table were still missing and stressed, “it is extremely important that we find them.” The email also revealed the Society was liable for the cost of the damage if the legs could not be found, and would have to “pay extensive financial costs.”

Although the person responsible for the breaking of the valuable antique table had by this stage come forward, it took several days for the legs to be returned. Repeated searches of the room took place, and they were nowhere to be found on the Merton MCR premises. In a statement, the two student co-presidents explained, “We can only conclude that someone else either threw them away or took them when they left the event.”

The email continued, “If you have any information about the table legs, even if they were thrown away, we would be very grateful to know what happened to them.”

Emily Ellis, meanwhile, was keen to dispel the idea that the event was out of control. She told Cherwell, “The History Society would like to say that while there were problems with overcrowding and we had to turn many people away, the event was certainly not rowdy. During the course of the evening a small table was overly leaned on and accidentally broken.

“At a later point in the evening the two table legs that had broken off the table disappeared. The History Society does not hold anyone who attended the event responsible but would greatly appreciate any information on the whereabouts of the table legs as we are still looking for them.”

The History Society can now, however, rest easy — on Wednesday afternoon, co-president Thomas McPherson informed Cherwell that “the table legs have now been found, so there’s no need to issue an appeal for their return”.

Merton College and the Merton MCR could not be reached for comment. For the History Society, it was quite literally a leg-breaking start to the academic year.