Oxford University has scored 3 D’s in a Sexual Health report card published online.

The report card is based on research conducted by dred.com – an online doctor service – in conjunction with the Superdrug Online Doctor Service. They assessed and ranked 50 universities, using a combination of research methods, including mystery shopping, web research and an online survey.

The study was conducted between January and March of this year.
The report card grades the universities on a number of topics, including sexual health information found on campus, access to contraceptives and sexual assault service.

Out of 50 universities studied, Oxford came 25th, behind Cambridge (6th), UCL (10th) and Durham (19th). Bristol University came first, scoring 80 points out of a maximum of 100, despite getting a “D” for its sexual assault service. Cardiff University came last, scoring only 38, a “fail” grade.

Oxford scored 3 D grades in the areas, “sexual health clinic services on or near campus”, “clinic drop-in availability”, and,“sexual health information on website”.

However, it also scored an A grade for sexual health events and STI testing and B grades for categories including, “sexual health information found on campus” and “access to contraceptives”.

The largest area of criticism was over the availability of sexual health clinics to students. In order to receive a full range of sexual health services, students currently have to go to the Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) Clinic at the Churchill Hospital, near Headington, which is two miles’ walk from Oxford City Centre.

The company said, “with STI infection rates on the increase and public funding for essential services being cut, the Sexual Health Report Card aims to raise awareness of the importance of student sexual health.” 

A survey by Cherwell C+ in March found, “Only 61% of Oxford students always ensure that they or their partners wear protection during sex.” But it also found that only one in 20 Oxford students have contracted an STI, lower than the national average of around one in four.

Simon Lea, business development manager for Superdrug Online Doctor, commented on the report, “This comprehensive Report Card shows that for students specifically, many of whom will be in the ‘most at risk’ group for contracting STIs, access to relevant, up-to–date information can be hit or miss.

“Only through a combination of service innovation, and people willing to try something new to tackle these problems, will we be able to reduce the rate of STI infections on University campuses.”

A University of Oxford spokesperson said in response to the news, “We note the findings of this survey and would like to make students aware that information and advice on sexual health is readily available at college level through college doctors and nurses.

“Clinical services, including drop-in servicesw, are available locally through the NHS. Further information can be found at www.sexualhealthoxfordshire.nhs.uk.”

Colum McGuire, NUS Vice-President for Welfare, said, “NUS represents seven million students UK wide, and sexual health is a reality that each needs to be aware of.

“We recognise the importance of providing easy to understand, accessible information like the sexual health report card to safeguard sexual health.”

Recent research suggesting that Oxford University and other top institutions perform badly when it comes to social mobility has been condemned by the Russell Group Director General.

The research was conducted by CentreForum, an independent, liberal thinktank that aims to develop evidence-based, long-term policy solutions to the problems facing Britain.

The report claims that institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge would do poorly in a league table which ranked universities on the number of students from poorer backgrounds who go on to gain graduate employment.

A social mobility league table released as part of the report put institutions such as Edge Hill University and Huddersfield University near the top, whilst leaving Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews trailing at the bottom (with Oxford coming in at second from last).

The report, written by Professor Michael Brown, former Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, recommends giving all students tuition in presentation skills, IT, and building relationships, as a core part of their degree.

It further suggests that the UK’s top universities are especially in need of this provision.

Professor Brown, who worked with CentreForum, the liberal think-tank with close ties to Nick Clegg, to write the report, said that selective universities, “do not necessarily deliver the best professional graduate outcomes for disadvantaged students”.

However, the report’s findings have been met with derision by Russell Group universities who have suggested that it makes “very strange assumptions” about social mobility.
Dr Wendy Piatt, Director General of the Russell Group, has said that the report “fails to recognise that those students from more disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to complete their degree at a Russell Group university than they are at other institutions.”

Indeed, Oxford has one of the lowest drop-out rates in the UK. Figures published in March 2014 by the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that only 1.2% of Oxford students dropped out, compared with the national average of 6.7%.

She further stated that the report focused largely on students who were six months out of their degree, resulting in its marking down of students who had gone on to further or graduate study.

This suggestion was supported by an Oxford University spokesman who told Cherwell, “Thirty per cent of Oxford undergraduates continue their studies after graduation, but these students are given a much lower weighting in this analysis than those who go straight into a job, even “non-professional level work”.

“Ninety-five per cent of all Oxford leavers are in work or further study six months after leaving,” she added.

The spokesman went on to say, “We have carried out our own analysis of the destinations of four years of Oxford undergraduates and found no statistically significant difference between the proportion of leavers in a graduate-level job who are from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and those who are not.”

A second-year Keble student, while agreeing that the report appeared to have some big flaws, went on to suggest consequently that Oxford needed to do more to encourage poorer students into applying to Oxford in the first place.
“The research does seem to have missed out a few of the facts,” he commented.

“However, Oxford could certainly be doing more to encourage students from poorer backgrounds to apply – it turns over £1 billion every year, yet a miniscule proportion of that money goes into access schemes.
“I’d be interested to see if Oxford has fewer poor students going into graduate employment simply because it has fewer poor students in the first place.”

A question mark hangs over an ambitious multi-million pound building project that plans to bring humanities subjects together in the Radcliffe Observatory quarter.

Quoted in an Oxford Mail article, Mike Wigg, university Director of Capital Projects and Property Management, told the Jericho Community Association that “some of the ideas are under reconstruction” due to the “massive” cost. According to a brochure published online, although the central University has already agreed to invest £70 million to fund the extensive construction of the building, there is a funding gap of “around £100 million” that still needs to be filled by donations.

In the campaign brochure, Professor Sally Shuttleworth, Head of the Humanities Division, urges prospective donors to contribute to the new Humanities building, saying that it will “only be possible with considerable philanthropic support”.

With the site of the prospective library and teaching facilities between Walton Street and Woodstock Road currently boarded up, the section dedicated to the new humanities building on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter website describes the project as “on hold”, despite planning permission having been granted in as May 2010.

The brochure goes on to describe how English, History, Philosophy and Theology, Linguistics, Modern Languages, and Oriental Studies would all move into facilities within the proposed site, next to a new “unified” humanities library which would consolidate all the former subjects’ collections. The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art as well as the Music Faculty, would also transfer to new, purpose-built facilities in the quarter.

University Media Relations Officer Matt Pickles told Cherwell, “over the course of this year the Humanities Division and Bodleian Libraries are opening up a wide ranging debate about how to realise the original vision for the site. We will have more to say once this discussion has been completed”.

Bennetts Associates, the architects behind of the project, have recently been responsible for the design of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new theatre in Stratford Upon Avon.

In a JCR meeting on Sunday, undergraduates voted to build a butterfly farm in college and organise a launch event, in acknowledgment of a recent decline in abundance of butterflies over the last few decades. The motion quoted the charity Butterfly Conservation, noting, “Overall three-quarters of UK butterflies showed a 10-year decrease in either their distribution or population levels.”

The motion stated, “this JCR believes that a butterfly farm is a simple and effective way for students to engage with this issue and actively help the local environment, especially due to the proximity to port meadow, Uni parks, and our own quad.

“Butterflies enhance the college environment as a whole, aesthetically and ecologically, and the college environment is perfect for butterflies, with the gardeners cultivating flowery plants all year, and in the butterfly seasons of spring and autumn.”

It continued, “We need to support the butterfly community because they are important to and have value within the ecosystem.”

Rachel Backshall, the Environmental Ethics Officer, proposed the motion. She told Cherwell, “The idea came from a friend of mine who I work with at a veterinary clinic during the holidays. Her daughter had a butterfly farm at home, and it helped fuel her interest in animals, insects and the environment. 

“Although we are not all 10 years old, sometimes it can be healthy to revert back to our ‘childish’ past, especially when working in such a high stress conditions as we do in Oxford,” she said, “I hope that this butterfly farm will have a positive affect in Somerville, with students being encouraged to engage with these creatures at first hand, and to consider their place in the world, and Oxford, with respect to their surroundings.”

The butterflies which will be used in the project, the Small Tortoiseshell have been particularly badly hit by the recent decline in abundance, with a 64% collapse over the last ten years.

Backshall explained, “It is hoped that the college environment, with relatively few birds and flowery plants throughout the year, will be conducive to supporting these butterflies.”

Andrew Maclean, who seconded the motion, commented that “ It seems like it will be a fun, cheapish, and memorable way of both raising awareness for the environment and contributing to the local ecosystems. I know students who feel quite alienated living in a city (however small Oxford is), so maybe the butterflies, while not solving the issues, will contribute to people feeling a little more at home in Somerville.”

Maclean expressed his hope that other colleges would follow Somerville’s example; however, not all students have advocated the motion. One St Hilda’s classicist commented, “Butterflies are horrible creatures and this motion will haunt my nightmares.”

UPDATE: Ben Sullivan has been released without charge on bail.

Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan has been arrested on suspicion of rape and attempted rape by Thames Valley Police. 

A police spokesperson confirmed, “A 21-year-old from Oxford has been arrested today on suspicion of rape and attempted rape.”

In a statement to Cherwell, the Dean of Christ Church, Sullivan’s college, the Very Revd Christopher Lewis, commented, “We have nothing to add to the police statement, which is that ‘a 21 year old has been arrested today on suspicion of rape and attempted rape’, except that the person concerned is a member of this college.”

No charges against Sullivan have been confirmed, while a proposed open meeting to be held by the Union President on Thursday has been cancelled.