Activists have criticised Oxford Climate Forum, after it emerged that the main sponsor invests millions researching oil extraction.

The main strategic partner of the event is IBM, which promotes research in tar sands, a controversial and expensive form of sourcing fossil fuels. The Oxford Hub, which helps organise the event, has also received criticism for its partnership with Barclays, which is an investor in tar sands.

The conference, which is due to be held from 7th-8th February at the Saïd Business School, will have a particular emphasis on careers in sustainable industries.

IBM’s sustainability initiative, ‘Smarter Planet’ recently opened a Natural Resources Solution Centre in Calgary, Canada to promote “smarter” processes for the petroleum and mining industries. According to a document recently released by IBM, “The Canadian NRSC has the distinction of being the first Centre of Excellence to focus specifically on creating solutions for Canada’s resource industries, such as oil sands petroleum production and Canadian hard rock mining”.

The news comes a week after the OUSU Council passed a motion at its 1st week meeting, requesting that the University “puts safeguards in place to ensure the University does not indirectly invest in fossil fuel companies”.

A spokesperson for the Forum said, “IBM will be present at our event and hold a stall at our careers fair because they have been very generous in their sponsorship with us and the Hub as a whole, but the message of our event is very clear.

“The large companies that will be present at our careers fair will be offering positions in their sustainability departments rather than advertising the usual consulting positions.”

Several local activist groups have criticised the partnership. Louise Hazan, Climate Campaigns Manager for People and Planet, an Oxford-based, nationwide student activism network, said, “If it’s wrong to wreck the climate by extracting fossil fuels, People & Planet believes it’s wrong to accept sponsorship from companies who profit from and actively support the continued extraction of fossil fuels.

“Those of us working to create solutions to the climate crisis must model the responsible behaviour that we expect of others, which is why it’s frustrating to see worthwhile events like the Oxford Climate Forum lending their valuable social license to the very companies responsible for causing climate change.”

Danny Chivers, environmental researcher and author of the No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change, questioned the message that the partnership was sending out. “If wewant to maintain a liveable climate, we simply cannot afford to extract tar sands oil. By providing services and resources to the tar sands industry, IBM is actively pushing us all towards climate meltdown.

“I spoke at the Oxford Climate Forum a few years ago and it seemed like a useful event. However, by accepting sponsorship from IBM, they are undermining any good the event is doing by helping to greenwash this polluting company.”

He concluded, “I hope that this sponsorship deal was simply an error, and that the OCF will realise their mistake and drop this inappropriate sponsor.”
Ruthi Brandt of the Oxford-based UK Tar Sands Network also criticised the decision. “We are very glad to see students questioning sponsorship deals and using them as an opportunity to discuss the human rights abuses perpretrated by the fossil fuel industry.”

The Oxford Hub has defended its partnership with Barclays. A spokesperson said, “We’re working with IBM because the climate forum shares their ambitions of building a smarter planet, as it were. We can’t control the investments that they make, but what we can control is the quality of the conference, which will be very, very high.”

They continued, “[Tar sands] in particular may not be the most environmentally sustainable process, but broadly speaking, IBM and other organisations working at the conference, for example Unilever, are really committed to a more sustainable future, and that’s the point that we’re trying to get across here.”

OUSU has so far been advertising the Oxford Climate Forum. An email shown to Cherwell from the organising committee to a member of OUSU Environment and Ethics’s Divestment Campaign justifying the decision read, “We are by no means indulging in green wash nor trying to justify IBM’s involvement with fossil fuel extraction. I hope you understand our position and that you are still willing to help us advertise our conference so that we can have as big an impact as we can with both attending companies and students.”

Many students at Oxford have responded negatively to the news. Abi Enlander, Environment and Ethics Trustee at Magdalen College, told Cherwell, “It’s a tricky one with the Hub because they do a lot of good work here and it must be hard getting enough funding without resorting to big companies that often, unfortunately, have these sort of ties. Obviously it’s ideal for any charity to ensure they’re only funded by ethical sources, but in today’s financial environment this often isn’t a reality that can be achieved.”

She added, “There also seems to be a big difference in receiving money from companies that invest in tar mining than, as investors, actually giving this project the money it uses to sustain itself; perhaps the Climate Forum should reconsider its sponsorship from IBM as it does seem somewhat ironic given what the event is trying to achieve.”

Tar sands are loose sands containing bitumen (tar) – a dense and highly viscous form of petroleum. According to the 2009 study by IHS CERA, the production of bitumen and synthetic crude oil emits more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil. The environmental issues associated with tar sands range from water pollution to soil erosion to possible carcinogenic effects. Tar sands have only recently become viable for oil companies due to the high extraction costs involved.

IBM and Barclays were unavailable for comment when approached by Cherwell.

Sir Christopher Chataway, record-breaking athlete and Oxford alumnus, passed away last Sunday at the age of 82. Chataway, who had been suffering from cancer for two and a half years, was best known for his success as a track star. In 1954 he broke the world record for the 5,000 meter distance and won the Commonwealth Games three miles title. That same year Chattaway was credited with helping pace Sir Roger Bannister to break the four-minute mile barrier. These accomplishments lead him to be named the first-ever BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

 Born in Chelsea in 1931, Chataway came to Oxford to study philosophy, politics and economics at Magdalen College. While at Oxford Chataway served as the President of the University Athletics Club and was good friends with Sir Roger Barrister, for whom the Iffley track is now named after. 

During his athletic career Chataway also worked in broadcasting, beginning as the first newsreader on Independent Television and later with the BBC. He then entered politics, representing Lewisham North as a Conservative MP between 1959 and 1964 and again from 1969 to 1974. Chattaway held several ministerial positions, including Parliamentary Private Secretary and junior Education Minister. As an MP he used his maiden speech to urge the England cricket team to refuse to play in apartheid South Africa and championed issues relating to refugees.

 In 1974, Chataway retired from politics to concentrate on his business career, becoming managing director of Orion Bank, before leaving in 1988 to work as chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. He was knighted for his services to the aviation industry in 1995.

 Chattaway is survived by five sons, Mark, Matthew, Adam, Charles, and Ben, one daughter, Joanna, and his wife Carola.

The highest earning parents in the country should have to pay the same fees to send their children to a high-ranking state school as they would to send them to a top independent school, according to radical reforms proposed by a leading Headmaster this week. 

Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of London’s Wellington College, is calling for a drastic change to the country’s education system in proposing these reforms. He also suggests that independent schools should put aside a quarter of their places for children from the poorest families, in order to enhance their chance for social mobility whilst reducing the current domination of the top state schools by the wealthiest families. 

These suggestions have been proposed in response to a growing divide between exam success rates of the students of state and private schools, as well as a decline in social mobility between the upper and lower classes, stating that, “only radical proposals such as these will address this problem. And they are long overdue.” 

Seldon also believes that these reforms would be a good way of introducing more money into the state school system, as well as providing a good incentive for state schools to improve on their overall performance whilst offering a more well-rounded and better quality of education to a higher number of students across the UK. He is quoted as saying, “these proposals are sensible, workable and fair, and if enacted would result in much better and fairer education for all.” 

Part of his proposed reforms would include the means testing of state schools, resulting in the wealthiest section of the population being charged to send their children to the schools with the best performance. Families who earn over £80,000 a year would be asked to contribute part of the fees in order to enroll their children, whilst the top earners with an annual income above £200,000 would be asked to pay the full price of an independent day school. It is said that this would generate surplus funding for the state schools in question – one quarter of the profits would remain in the possession of that school, whilst the rest would be distributed across other schools in need of the money. 

In order to create a unified education system, Seldon suggests that independent schools need to bond with state schools, sharing facilities and teaching methods, and that state schools should adopt certain features of private schools, including house systems and the option of boarding. 

However, many Oxford students do not agree with Seldon’s proposals. Ellen Robinson, a first year Classicist at Worcester, commented, “Seldon’s proposal completely ignores the possibility that if a high quality state school education costs just as much as a place at an independent school, high income families who would otherwise have opted for a state education may just as well choose an independent school to access the benefits in terms of prestige and reputation which such an education generally has. Ultimately it won’t resolve the issue, just drive an increasing number of people towards private education.” 

Jack Lennard, a student at Keble, largely agrees, commenting, “it’s a good idea in principle, but hardly realistic – there’s enough deliberate confusion over catchment areas to get into the best schools, with this idea you’ll just have people pretending to be poor”. 

Finally, Rebecca Borthwick of Brasenose College showed her disapproval, commenting, “that’s like charging a rich person £100 for a freddo”.

Oxford historians have expressed fear that much scholarship on British history may have to be rethought, after it emerged that the Foreign Office had kept 1.2 million files back from public release in contravention of the Public Records Acts.

On Wednesday, academics from the British Academy, including 15 from Oxford, published an open letter calling upon the Foreign Secretary to declassify the files. The British Academy are currently in the process of seeking legal advice to challenge the FCO. 

The files, some of which date back to the Crimean War, contain information on a wide range of matters, including colonial affairs, international relations, and spy rings. Historians fear that in an attempt to protect Britain’s global image, the understanding of history may have been tainted.

Nuffield College Professor Iain McLean, Vice-President of Public Policy at the British Academy, was amongst the signatories of the letter. He said, “We know from the recent revelations regarding the Mau Mau uprising that many of these documents are likely to be damaging [to Britain’s image]. It seems likely that other hidden documents may be damaging too”. 

Speaking to Cherwell, McLean expressed the importance of public archives in shaping how we understand the past, citing the example of how they were used to expose the deficiencies of authorities during the 1966 Aberfan disaster. 

Another signatory, Professor Archie Brown of St Anthony’s College, told Cherwell, “While some of the files held back may be for respectable reasons – such as protecting foreign intelligence informants who are still alive – the historical period covered is too long for this to be a convincing explanation more generally. I should be very surprised if the files did not contain information that showed British governments and their representatives in an embarrassingly bad light”.

 He continued, “While they might be unlikely to lead to entirely original interpretations of significant episodes, never voiced before, their importance could lie in shifting the weight of evidence in favour of one existing interpretation rather than another”. 

“The aim in keeping them secret may well have been to protect Britain’s image and influence abroad, but it is the wrong way to go about it”. 

Robert Gildea, Professor of Modern History at Worcester College, said that “shameful episodes” may have been hidden, adding, “Great Britain sees itself as a leader of the free world and an open society, but great powers did not become great by being nice to everybody”. 

The existence of the secret archive was revealed by the Guardian last October. Housed in a high-security facility at Hanslope Park, the archive contains 15 miles of floor-to-ceiling shelving, thought to amount to more files than all other non-disclosed government collections combined. 

The Public Records Acts require that government files must be released into the National Archive after a maximum of 30 years, soon to be decreased to 20. 

The British Academy’s letter stated, “Those of us who work on the history of some other countries are used to government obstruction when it comes to researching official papers, but the UK is supposed to be a free society. The writing of full and impartial accounts of the cold war, Britain’s colonial past, and other key subjects depends on access to all the available records”.

Jesus College’s Port Monday, designed to boost the attendance of the College’s bar, has been shut down after its first week.

According to an email sent to undergraduates, the JCR recently introduced Port Mondays to “increase numbers at the bar.” This involved offering “a free bottle of Port to the first group of 5 people in the bar.”

However, this was to be short-lived, as a later email said, “Port Mondays have ended. Giving away port is discouraged because you’re all such lightweights.”

The JCR member who organised the promotion stated, “It was all sorted out very amicably between myself and college staff.”

Likewise, Alexander Proudfoot, Vice President of Jesus College’s JCR Committee, concurred that, “I don’t think there was actually any issue with it from college or anybody else.”

Following the incident’s resolution, the event’s organiser emailed students saying that Port Mondays have been “changed to Wine Monday[s], which is the same deal but on a bottle of wine. So that’s the first 5 people in the bar get a free bottle of wine.”

Children’s social work charity Frontline has reported having received over 100 applications to its Leadership Development Programme from Oxford finalists over the course of last year.

In a press release, the charity welcomed the dramatic increase in Oxonian interest in social work from 2011, when only five Oxbridge finalists went on to do social work masters courses.

A Frontline spokesperson told Cherwell, “This is a remarkable shift from a few years ago. The large number of Oxford students applying to the Frontline graduate programme reflects the desire of many Oxford students to enter a career which makes a positive social impact and helps change the lives of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children”.

Frontline offers a two-year graduate Leadership Development Programme where participants train for 12 months, then start their second years as qualified social workers. Francis Goodburn, a Computer Scientist at St John’s College enrolled on the course, told Cherwell he was looking for a job where he would know “what I am doing is truly worthwhile”.

He added, “I don’t think anyone with half a heart could argue that there is a task much more worthwhile than protecting our society’s most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect, and as anyone who has read the news recently will know – with several tragic cases of children’s deaths due to abuse or neglect from their guardians – there certainly couldn’t be a more challenging job, particularly with the recent cuts to local authority funding”.

Some have criticised Frontline’s targeting of Oxbridge and Russell Group universities. One online commentator wrote, “[Frontline recruitment] is based on an elitist model where some universities are ‘better’ than others… I don’t think the university you go to defines your quality of potential for social work or your intelligence and ability to critically analyse and reflect.”

An Oxford student has been selected as one of ten finalists in an attempt to represent Great Britain in the Naked Sledding World Championship 2014.

Francis Thomas, a fresher at Brasenose, has been entered into a public vote to determine which contestants will make up the two-person UK Championship team. 30 male and female participants representing 15 different countries will compete in a bare-all sledding race in Germany.

The winners of the Naked World Sledding Championship will be the first man and woman to cross the finish line at the end of an 89 metre downhill course. The agency’s website claims that, “Huge crowds will turn out to admire the unique sporting spectacle of men and women careering down the snowy tracks wearing nothing but a helmet and their pants.”

For the rest of the year, Braunlage is a spa town and health resort, but on the day of the Naked Sledding World Championship, huge crowds arrive to witness the event. In 2012, more than 25,000 gathered at the resort. More than 5000 people have applied worldwide to represent their countries at the Championship this year.

Offering thoughts on the unusual sport, James Baker, the undergraduate Sports Rep at St Anne’s College, said, “Extreme sports are always the most entertaining. It’s just a shame I can’t offer it as a college sport.”

Event sponsors Chillisauce.co.uk’s National Sledding World Championship webpage describes Thomas as “a lacrosse expert with magnificent calves (his words not ours), Francis categorises himself as ‘being heavy and fast on a sled.’ He may also be the only Oxford student in history with the ability to carry a pint on his head, which makes him OK in our book.”

Mike Chidzey, a spokesperson for Chillisauce.co.uk, said, “We’re ecstatic that so many people applied – we hoped for a large number of applicants in order to have a wide variety for the top 10, but we never imagined that almost 500 people would apply to represent the UK at the Naked Sledding World Championship. We had such a hard choice when selecting the top 10, but now we need the public’s help to determine the two lucky winners. Get voting today!”

News of the competition has both amused and bemused Oxford students. One Oxford student commented, “As a lifelong wintersports enthusiast, this takes ‘getting back to nature’ to a whole new level. Although you’d never catch me stripping off my ski gear, good luck to team GB!”

However, scepticism about the desirability of participation persisted. Matt Morrow, St Anne’s Entz rep, suggested, “He’s going to discover a new meaning of friction burn. And not the good kind.”

The Championship will be broadcast live on the Chillisauce.co.uk blog site. Results of the vote will be announced on Wednesday 5th February.

The Cambridge Faculty of Education is set to establish a three-form entry primary school, focussing on research-based teaching and learning practice.

The University of Cambridge Training School (UCTS) will provide practical training for students taking the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Cambridge while also teaching 630 four- to six-year-olds.

The plans have received support from some locals, including Nick Robinson, headmaster of King’s College School, who praised the University for, “leading the way in developing research-based exemplary teaching and learning among primary children.” He also looked forward to more widespread change, saying, “I hope that this will lead to Oxford and other Universities also following suit as it will undoubtedly lead to an excellent model for teacher training and school focussed academic research.”

Professor Ernesto Macaro, director of the Faculty of Education, put forward the newly established Oxford Education Deanery as Oxford’s, “way of responding to the current challenges and opportunities in England in relation to initial teacher education, professional development of teachers and in general the improvement of standards in schools.” The scheme works in conjunction with existing local schools, attempting to strengthen links between them and the University PGCE course.

Professor of Teacher Education, Ian Mentor, suggested that the Oxford Education Deanery’s educational network meant that there is no need for a similar school in Oxford. He commented, “Given the range of schools within the city and the county that the University already has strong relationships with, it was decided that there were unlikely to be any major benefits in setting up yet another school.”

Opinion amongst students was similarly divided. One student was reluctant to support a primary school “specifically designed for teacher training and research. It might create an artificial environment and skew potential conclusions drawn from the research due to the narrow pool from which the teachers are chosen.”

A spokesperson from Cambridge’s Education and Access department assured Cherwell that the scheme would be state-run and wholly inclusive.

Ukrainian students protested last Saturday near the Bodleian library to show solidarity for anti-government demonstrations at home.

Olena Seminog, a second year DPhil student in Population Health, coordinated the action and explained what prompted the demonstration. She told Cherwell, “On Wednesday 22nd of January, the Ukrainian police killed three people and about 100 people have been kidnapped since. We are witnessing severe human rights violations and want Oxford students to be aware of this”.

As well as raising awareness, the protests were meant to show moral support for students back home. “Our aim is to show our indignation against the anti-constitutional laws that have permitted such violence,” Seminog said, adding that the protest was “most of all, a clear sign that we want those responsible for these laws, President Yanukovych and the interior minister Zaharchenko, to resign”.

However Seminog expressed disappointment at the number of attendees given the seriousness of the issue. Only about 25 students, some research staff, and a few locals joined in the protesting ranks. Seminog suggested the turn-out “reflects how little is known about the events in Ukraine”. 

“The fact that not even representatives from Amnesty International attended is somewhat disappointing,” she said.

To the protestors, the world in general has been silent about the events in Ukraine. “It is as if Ukraine is too far for the Europeans to really care about,” Seminog commented.

Rostyslav Averchuk, a PPE finalist and fellow protester, added “It seems that, in the UK, distant African or Asian countries are better-known. Ukraine, due to its Soviet past, is seen as unknown and probably dangerous”. The lack of knowledge was, in his opinion, reflected in questions of passers-by at the Saturday protest. “I particularly remember one girl asking whether it’s true that many protesters are Neo-Nazis”, he said. While some protesters in Ukraine indeed belong to far-right parties, Averchuk clarified that their share is minimal.

However, Averchuk also underlined that “this protest in Oxford is a way to do something for those on the barricades back home. I don’t want to stay idle in my complete security while they’re risking everything. I’m amazed by the Ukrainian people because they literally risk their lives.”

Pavlo Smytsnyuk, who also protested echoed Averchuk’s sentiments. “My first feeling is that of big frustration about being far from home. What is happening is decisive and it’s a shame I can’t participate”. While he said he did not know how effective the Oxford protest was, the first year DPhil student in Theology commented that, “explaining ten times a day what is happening in Ukraine might be helpful in the long-term”.

Civil unrest began in earnest in Ukraine two months ago when President Yanukovych rejected an EU trade deal at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. The situation has since developed into a social revolt.

Seminog told Cherwell her commitment to activism on behalf of her country has had a significant impact on her work at Oxford. “I haven’t been very effective in my academic work recently. Which is why I’m very grateful for my supervisor’s support and understanding”, she said. The opposite has been the case for Averchuk, who commented, “The events prompt me to take my studies of politics and economics more seriously”.

Since last Saturday’s protest, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has resigned, and President Viktor Yanukovych is now on sick leave. Oxford Ukranian Society President, Helen Morozovska, responded to the development: “I, personally, welcome any development that brings Ukraine closer to solving the current crisis. However, the recent resignations are, at this point, not significant enough to appease the protesters, nor are the terms laid out in the amnesty law. It’s quite likely that the only thing that will end the protests is the resignation of Yanukovych himself.”

Another protest is due to take place on Saturday 1st February at noon outside the Bodleian.