The package after two controlled explosions

St Hugh’s College has been reopened after a bomb scare closed several buildings for 4 hours this afternoon.

Police sniffer dogs and a bomb disposal robot moved in to deal with the package, which looked like a car battery sized clear plastic box bound in tape, with wires taped to the side.

After two ‘pop’ tests and two controlled explosions, the device was made safe. It did not in fact contain explosives.

St Hugh’s said in a statement at 4.15pm:

“A package was found on college grounds this morning that, to be cautious, was treated as suspicious, but the police have confirmed that it is not an explosive device and poses no danger. As a precautionary measure certain college buildings had been evacuated, but the buildings are now operational again and the situation is returning to normal. We thank the police and we appreciate the calm response of everyone involved.”

The disruption caused panic among some finalists, who went to exam schools without their sub fusc. The college made efforts to help those with exams by ordering taxis and opening up offices so that finalists would have somewhere quiet to work.

**Update – 16/06/13**

Thames Valley Police, investigating this incident since Wednesday, said this morning that “the package is not being treated as suspicious and the incident is closed.” A spokeswoman said “we cannot speculate why the package was left somewhere where it was mistaken as a threat.”

Police and St Hugh’s confirmed late on Wednesday that the package never posed any danger; today’s statement also plays down speculation of malicious intent.

St Hugh’s have also released a statement saying “there is no cause for concern,” without elaborating on what there is no cause to have been concerned by.

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Original article

Police and fire services have been called to St Hugh’s following the discovery of a “suspicious package”.

Large parts of the college have been cordoned off, and students evacuated, as a precuationary measure. A bomb disposal robot has now been seen entering the College grounds to deal with the suspect package, left outside the Maplethorpe Building in the centre of the grounds.

The Library, Kenyon and Wolfson buildings, as well as a number of houses on Woodstock Road have been evacuated.

A spokesperson for the college told Cherwell: ‘A suspect package was found on college grounds this morning and the police are dealing with the situation. As a precautionary measure we have taken this seriously and acted immediately to ensure people’s safety. Police and fire services were called and nearby buildings evacuated. When there is more information, we will provide it.’

William Golightly, a second year historian at St Hugh’s, told Cherwell: “At about 12.10pm I went out onto the lawns to play croquet with my friends. Suddenly I noticed several policemen appear on the lawns. For a minute I thought they were going to rugby tackle me, but they just shouted at us to ‘get back!’, and we evacuated elsewhere”.

In an email marked “Urgent”, the Academic registrar wrote:

“You may be aware that a suspect package is being investigated in College at the moment. A number of buildings have therefore been evacuated. If you have a University Examination this afternoon, and find yourself unable to return to your room to collect sub fusc, stationery etc, you should report to the College Office as soon as possible for advice.”

A member of staff said they suspected a hoax package rather than a genuine threat, but that the police attending were taking it serious as it looked very credible.

Thames Valley Police have released the following statement: “We were called at 11:32 am to St Hughs college after a member of staff reported a suspicious package on the lawn.”

The package was destroyed in two controlled explosions, which were accompanied by two ‘pop’ tests on site.

Thames Valley Police later released an updated statement saying: “There is no risk to the general public. College buildings have been evacuated, and a 100 metre radius has been cordoned off. Part of Woodstock Road is currently closed off  at this stage. It is likely to be closed off for some time. The Royal logistics corps are currently in attendance dealing with the situation.”

Responses on Twitter

@TPAdams: Apparent bomb scare in St Hughs at the moment. Maplethorpe and Kenyon buildings evacuated.

@LadnyWilson: suspicious package found on lawn. Bomb squad in attendance. Finalists not happy.

@moose_moose_G: member of staff confirmed that a 2nd ‘controlled explosion’ will happen. Another hour at least before normality

@timrwilliams:Just heard what sounded like a controlled explosion from inside StHugh’s College, Oxford.

@janacahill: how big would the explosion have to be for a bomb-blast in St. Hugh’s to reach the rest of civilization?

Cai Wilshaw, who was elected unopposed to the position of Oxford Union Secretary, has decided not to take up his position for Michaelmas. The decision was made on the morning of Tuesday 11^th June, and means that the member of standing committee with the highest number of votes in the last election, in this case Roberto Weeden-Sanz, succeeds Wilshaw as Secretary.

In a statement to the Cherwell, Wilshaw confirmed that he had declined the role. Wilshaw said: ‘For personal reasons, I will not be taking up the position of Secretary next term. I have had a brilliant time in the Union and have made some fantastic friends. I wish all the best to my successor and everyone else on committee in Michaelmas.’

Outgoing President Joey D’Urso confirmed Wilshaw’s departure, stating that ‘In accordance with Rule 38(a)ii and 38(f), Cai has decided not to take up the position of Secretary in Michaelmas.’

Rule 38(a)ii states that ‘Resignations from Office or from the Standing Committee must be sent simultaneously by email to the President and to any person next in line to succeed’, whilst Rule 38(f) confirms that, as Secretary-designate, die or resign then ‘his death or resignation shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Rule only, to have taken place immediately after his succession to Office.’

D’Urso went on to say that ‘[he] would like to thank him very much for his hard work on Standing Committee, especially the Eurovision party he organised and his excellent speech in the sixth week banking debate. Roberto Weeden-Sanz is next in the line of succession and has thus been offered the position of Secretary, which he has accepted. I am confident Roberto and the rest of next term’s committee will do a fantastic job.’

A post in the Facebook group ‘Overheard at Oxford Uni’ recently described this as ‘the dirtiest Union election in living memory’, and, in the aftermath, a series of thirteen tribunals were launched, all of which were subsequently withdrawn.

A Green League Table of UK universities published by The Guardian placed Oxford 132^nd in the country for environmental standards, dropping 13 places since last year. 143 higher education institutions were analysed in the ranking, which was topped by Manchester Metropolitan University, followed closely by Plymouth.  

The ranking, compiled by environmentalist website “People and Planet”, took into account factors such as Environmental Policy, Energy, Waste and Ethical Investment. Oxford was given a “fail” for its efforts across a whole range of these areas.

In particular, Oxford fared poorly in the “Ethical procurement and Fair Trade”, “Waste and Recycling” and “Carbon Emissions” categories. Stronger points included “Ethical Investment” and “Student and staff engagement”. In total, Oxford Scored 22 points out of 70. 

A spokesperson for the University told Cherwell, “Although the University’s performance in the ‘green league’ is disappointing, this ranking omits some key environmental benchmarks. One of these is transport, which we have long prioritised with successful results. Fewer than 20% of staff and 5% of students working in the city centre now drive to work. Unlike many universities we also have a water management strategy to reduce water consumption and we are also devising strategies for biodiversity and sustainable purchasing.” 

“Nonetheless we recognise there is a lot of work to be done and we are looking very carefully at our sustainability impacts, dedicating up to £14 million to carbon reduction projects and annual grants of £100,000 to sustainable transport initiatives as well as £100,000 to other sustainability initiatives.”

The University of Cambridge was ranked slightly above, at 113^th, whilst London Business School and Heythrop College trailed at the bottom of the table. 

Madeleine-Ellis Pietersen, a Magdalen student who launched the Hog Roast Café last weekened in Hogacre Common, commented, “I find it quite striking how little environmental activism there is amongst the student body given how many amazing and pioneering eco-projects there are in Oxford. Having said that, incredible projects like the OxCoop and Oxgrow were started predominantly by students. “

“Lots of colleges are run in a hugely environmentally unfriendly way, and there is a reticence to be innovative — for example, despite huge grounds, Magdalen is hugely reticent to allocate land for student allotments, and the plots available are tiny.”

A slight change in the employment of methodology might account for Oxford’s drop in the League Table over recent years. People and Planet explain on their website that “The methodology for People & Planet Green League 2013 is developed in close consultation with key sectoral stakeholders and has evolved gradually over the seven years since its first publication”. Criteria such as independence, transparency and uniform metrics are highlighted as particular areas of importance in the development of methodology. 

A spokesperson for People and Planet told Cherwell: “Oxford has some catching up to do with the rest of the higher education sector, particularly in actual performance and the areas of carbon management, ethical procurement and staff and student engagement.”

“However, we’re hopeful that Oxford will be able to reverse this downward trend with the aid of Harriet Waters, the new Head of Sustainability at Oxford University, who comes from Oxford Brookes where she drove forward huge institutional changes in sustainability.”

Chris Garrard, a postgraduate student commented that “Oxford is a hub for student campaigning alongside research that is having a powerful influence on international development and the environment. The trouble is, this positive activity becomes rather tainted when the Vice-Chancellor and others at the top set a tone of profit before people, and deals before ethics. Deals such as the one agreed with Shell, represent a conscious choice to invest in a more unjust and potentially unstable world that the current students will inherit. That’s enough to justify a fail.”

Exeter College JCR is mobilising students to boycott catering facilities in college.

According to a facebook group set up by several Exeter students, including Edward Nickell, JCR President, participants “will not purchase any food or drink from Hall or the Bar, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Instead, food will be provided in the JCR for a small contribution – very small compared to Hall.”

The boycott took place on Monday, for one day only. However Alice Nutting, a first-year English student, told Cherwell that “there has been a discussion about plans for a strike that could last weeks” at the start of Michaelmas.

Nickell claimed in a written JCR proposal to the college that “Exeter has the highest non redeemable catering charge in Oxford, by a margin of £116 per term. Colleges with smaller catering charges, for example New College, allow the entirety of the amount to be spent on meals eaten in hall.”

“The protest action,” Nickell told Cherwell, was “the result of tensions that have been bubbling for quite some time and finally boiled over last night… it became clear very quickly that the support for the action was very widespread.” He claimed that it had not arisen from “a suggestion from either me or the Exec.”

A letter from Bursar William Jenson to the JCR and MCR presidents, which was subsequently circulated around Exeter JCR, said, “While I accept that some students do and will always struggle financially, an institution such as Exeter cannot base its rent charges on what the poorest student feels is affordable.”

Jenson cited deficits in both the accomodation and catering accounts to demonstrate that the college continues to subsidise undergradautes. However he promised to propose to the college’s Governing Body the “re-instatement of the Hilary Term Graduate High Table dinner plus three Second Hall free dinners per term for each graduate student and four free Second Hall dinners per term for each undergraduate.”

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On Monday night Cherwell went to dinner in Exeter JCR, costing £1.50. Owen Donovan, a kitchen volunteer, said that “we’ve seen far more students than we expected and a great college JCR spitit. It really shows that after years of catering charges rising to an exorbitant degree, this JCR isn’t going to take it.”

The facebook group said that “no-one is obliged to take part and no-one should jeopardise their work.” However it suggests that “Students who have finished exams can help out by coming to the JCR at meal times; we hope MCR members will join us too.”

Exeter JCR is not the first to adopt the policy. In October last year Magdalen JCR also initiated a boycott in response to the college’s new dining levy. The ‘hall strike’ ended without the college authorities granting concessions.