At the end of fifth week, Cherwell published an investigation into the provision for disabled students across the University, with the somewhat unsurprising finding that “lack of coordination between University and College authorities is currently the biggest hindrance to provision for disabled students”. Good intentions and well-meaning policies fall somewhat flat when implemented.  

Last week, it was Disability Awareness Week and only the third week of this term in which I was able to hear my lectures. I am one of about two million people in the UK who rely on hearing aids to compensate for hearing loss. I am also a keen tuba player, lovingly tend to a Bromeliad called Sven, and appreciate a good bit of knitwear, and so hated when I had to be defined instead by my hearing impairment, as my life revolved around bringing together disparate people and departments in order to sort out basic arrangements for my needs.

I am a second-year music student, and second and third year music students often share lectures in Examination Schools (namely the North and South Schools). The issue with these rooms for a hearing impaired person centre on the fact that they are large and have a boomy acoustic. Unlike our ears, hearing aids are fairly unsophisticated at picking up important sounds and fading out background noise. As a result, often that one person with the seemingly incurable cough, or who appears to be noisily making an origami chinchilla out of the handout, can be better heard than the lecturer. It is also harder to lip read, a dubious skill to rely on at best, as there is still some distance from the lecturer to the front row. This is made less of a challenge, if not totally sorted, by the use of a T Loop.

Hearing Induction (T) Loops are a system used to amplify sound from a particular source via a magnetic field that can then be picked up by hearing aids. Their provision is required where reasonably possible by the Equality Act 2010. In the case of lectures they are invaluable as, once turned to the ‘T’ setting, hearing aids will only pick up sound heard by a single microphone. They are fairly ubiquitous – all lecture halls have them installed, but also places like taxis, post offices, theatres and churches make use of T Loop technology. I was surprised, therefore, when I encountered so little knowledge of the system when I first went to lectures at Exam Schools.

Before my first lecture, I enquired as to the nature of the T Loop system in my exam hall, as often they require neck-pieces to pick up the signal and transmit it to the hearing aids. After explaining to the steward what the T Loop was, he followed with a few minutes of confused walkie-talkie conversation with a colleague, and I was informed that it should all be fine. Having disclosed my disability to the DAS, and being known as a hearing impaired student in the music faculty, I was surprised that my asking about provisions hadn’t been expected, and that the staff at Exam Schools hadn’t been informed of my needs. Unsurprisingly enough, given the confusion, the T Loops weren’t working, so I again approached the Information Desk and was told that if I arrived early for my next lecture, they would ensure that it was turned on in time.

I turned up an hour early, again was told that it was switched on and should be fine, and again it wasn’t. I was informed that a sound engineer would fix the problem before the next lecture. More lectures without T Loops, and each time I approached the desk I was told something different – to try sitting in a different place, getting the lecturer to move closer to the microphones on the lectern and so forth. I managed to find the sound engineer who stated that the T Loop systems had been installed some time ago and that he’d just assumed that they were on all of the time, but now that I had brought it up, he would check. By now it was second week, and I was already beginning to get behind on work.

By this point I had also approached the Disability Advisory Service about getting some temporary portable T Loop systems to tide me over, and while they were going about sorting this out, I had a lecture where a microphone obviously set up as part of the T Loop system had appeared by the lectern. It still didn’t work. On approaching the Information Desk, once again, I was informed that actually the system did involve a neck-piece, that this was on order, and that it could arrive at any point between a week’s and a month’s time. The member of staff running the desk, with whom I’d become well acquainted by this point, acknowledged how poor this was. I couldn’t help but agree.

However, a well-timed email to the DAS detailing how much work I now had to catch up on seemed to somehow speed up this process, and by my next lecture, a neck-piece was waiting for me at Exam Schools, which I now pick up and drop off after every lecture.

Comparing this farrago of information and action at Exam Schools to my treatment at college – where they researched technology like vibrating fire alarms and T Loops before I came, and always are concerned about my welfare – the dichotomy in treatment is obvious and frustrating.

I cannot be the only deaf or hard of hearing person to ever have had lectures in Exam Schools, and I am concerned for those who would not – or could not – kick up the fuss that I had to. Sensory impairments, by their nature, affect communication with other people, and my concern is a standard one – that people afraid to speak out will just fall through the net.

A new online image library hosting a collection of past and present images of Oxford was launched last Thursday.

The database, called ‘Oxford University Images’ currently holds around 6,000 still images and pieces of video footage of Oxford. Amongst the older images in the collection are illustrations of the Bodelian Library and a photograph of students skating on the frozen Thames at Port Meadow. Some of the modern images show students protesting on Cornmarket street and walking around at the Fresher’s Fair.

The project was set up as a partnership between departments and colleges of the university, the Ashmolean Museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The collection also contains a variety of images courtesy of the Oxford Historical Centre.

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford explained why the collection was created. He said, “There is huge demand for images of Oxford, with the city hosting around 10 million tourists each year and being the centre of numerous films, TV programmes and books.

“We wanted to bring together our wonderful collections of rich and varied images from across the University into one easily searchable library. 

He noted that, “This resource will be of benefit both to members of the University and commercial organisations who want to have access to high-quality, correctly captioned material.”

First year Keble student, Alex Tsiotias, observed from the photos that the biggest difference between being an Oxford student now and 100 years ago is the clothing. He said, “The striking thing is the difference in appearance in terms of clothing between then and now. This is quite understandably due to normal changes and progression in fashion, but the juxtaposition between how people then and now look in everyday circumstances are nonetheless particularly notable.”

The images can be seen at www.oxforduniversityimages.com 

A current DPhil student has invented a computer, using innovative Raspberry Pi technology, than manages orders, organises staff rotas and controls music selection.

This £35 machine is now taking control of the Wolfson College bar. Through using sensors linked together, the computer can manage stock levels based on current levels, organise staffing and vary music levels based on the crowd. It can also work out which user in college is down in the bar most often. The machine can pour the pints too, however British law requires a responsible person behind the bar and a computer would not technically count, despite meeting all other legal requirements.

The student responsible, Johan Paulsson, commented, “There are several parts of the system that works together and creates the entire system, but presumably you are talking about the stock/drinks part. The reason why this was created was because at one point we didn’t really know what was sold and what was popular in the bar. We could have constantly checked what was left in the bar but that would have been incredibly time consuming. Rather than doing that, we decided that splitting up each item in to an individual sale item would be favourable.

“This meant that we could then take the sale data from the till database and analyse this by itself to get things like: which is our most popular drink, what was sold on a specific day, how many pints is left in any keg (and therefore, does anyone need to go down and change it). If you add in what we have bought (through an automatized system of reading the delivery notes) then we also know how much stock we have in the bar and when we need to buy new items.”

He also described new additions to the scheme in a comment to Cherwell. He said, “There are a couple of things we have added which is outside the focus of the initial idea of stock control, for example there is a light sensor that checks if the bar has been opened and then updates the homepage so that people can check if they can get a drink at that moment. Being a student voluntary (i.e. non-paid) bar means that we rely on workers to donate their free time and a setup like that allows people to not waste the time to go look for a drink and then make alternative plans.”

In general, people seem to be very much in favour of the new system. Johan told Cherwell, “The largest part deals with stock control so the implication for other students is that we are fiscally responsible and can then funnel funds to more tangible things like an upgraded sound system and such. We have recently added a part to it which deals with the voluntary basis of the bar in the form of a signup system that reminds people about when they are working that has received incredibly good feedback.”

Tracy Fuzzard, common room secretary added, “Johan has single-handedly created an efficient and speedy service simplifying the bar procedures with Raspberry Pi.  This benefits everyone and helps enormously in the day-to-day management of this student-run bar at Wolfson.  Very well done.”

A recent lack of applications for the JCR committee led some of its members to propose a motion to introduce “committee carrots”.

The motion stated that Corpus Christi is “almost unique in offering no tangible benefits to its committee members” and grants rewards to committee members including the termly funding of formal hall and the allocation of a “priority pass”, guaranteeing them a place at formal with up to two guests.

The motion also aims to add proportion to the types of punishment available to committee members, stating that the JCR will benefit “in being able to discipline errant Officers without removing them from their position.”

Harry Begg, Corpus JCR Vice-President, commented, “I see what we are providing as a service to other members of our community, and, although I would hate to see us as separate from the main body, people should be rewarded for that service.”

He added, “In other colleges, members of the executive get many more benefits compared to the limited changes introduced. I think more needs to be done to reinvigorate elections; We should never be in a situation where a position isn’t being contested by more than one person. This is a first step in changing that, and hopefully the next set of elections at the end of this term will be more of an exciting democratic event than the last.”

One Corpus student told Cherwell, “Giving the committee ‘perks of the job’ completely undermines the collegiate, inclusive JCR tradition we have tried to maintain, which allows all students to feel comfortable amongst peers when debating college life. On the other hand, of course, I will definitely be running in our next elections. Whether that’s good for democracy, I’m not so sure.”
However, one second year said, “I think it’s a bad idea to give people rewards for being on the committee. Whilst it has the obvious benefit of making more people more likely to sign up, it means some people will sign up for the rewards alone rather than because they actually care about what they’re doing.”

Another second year at New College told Cherwell, “Ultimately, you want a reward that makes the president’s life a bit easier, but not one that is so significant that it is a reason to go for the position in itself.”