‘Last Ball’ goers have written an open letter of complaint to the Jesus-Somerville Ball Committee. The letter was posted online by ‘Somerville-Jesus Ball 2013: An Open Letter to the Committee’, a Facebook page which aims “to give balanced feedback” on the event. 

The ball, hosted by both Somerville and Jesus on Saturday 4th May was billed as “one last night of decadence, debauchery, and indulgence’’. It saw criticism from guests for various shortcomings, including the presence of only one stall to cater for all attending the Ball.

The letter acknowledges the “hard work” the Committee put into organising the event, and their dedication “spend[ing] the evening attending to guests rather than enjoying the results of their efforts”. Nevertheless, it concludes that “the prevailing consensus has been one of markedly condemning and widespread criticism”. The letter also slates the Ball Committee for having “unceremoniously censored… the many attempts to convey to the Committee the extreme dissatisfaction we felt in the execution of the ball.”

The letter continues, “Our initial disappointments with the ball’s offerings have been considerably hardened by the real sense of unfairness felt at the Committee’s subsequent pointed refusal to make any form of public response to our concerns. It is outrageous that the Chairman, whose overall responsibility this is, has apparently had the time to send out angry letters to a few gatecrashers but has still refused to make any public acknowledgement of the near-1000 guests paying £110/50 — except to erase the prominent evidence of our demands for one by shutting down the ball’s Facebook page.”

The letter then calls for Ball Committee Chairman Sam Levin and Somerville’s Domestic Bursar — who is understood to have overseen the student management of the ball — to respond to the criticisms made by guests. Complaints listed include “the unfathomable logic behind a single food stall to cater for nearly 1000 guests”, and the letter further claims that “at least two guests have reported being forced into direct physical contact with the grills…both coming out with irrevocable damage to their expensive dresses and even minor burns to their leg”.

The night is also slated in the letter for lack of vegetarian food, and speaks of “suspicions of deliberate misrepresentation” of the entertainment prior to the ball. The letter finally calls for the Committee to disclose “details of its expenditure”, arguing that “the demand to examine these [figures] are perfectly valid given we have not received any justification, before or after the ball, for the unprecedented ticket price of £110/50 (compared to the £85/95 of 2010)”.

One second year student, who wished to remain anonymous, told Cherwell, “I had a really good time at The Last Ball. There was as much alcohol as I wanted to drink and I really enjoyed the music that was there. Still, I think it’s fair enough for students to complain about aspects of the night which didn’t live up to their expectations, especially when they paid so much for a ticket. While I recognise and commend the efforts of the Ball Committee, they have a responsibility to answer for the supposed shortcomings of the night.”

The author of the open letter told Cherwell, “Whilst the page was set up to provide a new platform for guests to freely express their complaints about the ball in order to build up evidence of the breadth and strength of the views expressed in the letter, it does not represent our final communication to any of the parties involved. The Bursar is only included as an addressee as we believe he will be able to most effectively bring the situation to the college’s attention, and the page was set up with the intention to be formally forwarded onto him when enough support could be evidenced.”

In addition to publishing the open letter, the Facebook page encourages guests to show their support for the letter by liking the page or writing comments on it. Should guests wish to submit comments anonymously they are encouraged to do so by messaging the page.

Ball Committee Chairman, Sam Levin, and Vice-Chairman, Alwyn Clarke, were both unavailable for comment on Thursday night. Levin previously declined to give a comment to Cherwell.

The Oxford City Council voted to pass the proposed plan for the Blavatnik School of Government building on Walton Street. This will be Oxford University’s biggest development project in a century. The project has received criticism from residents and groups affected by the construction in the past.

Calum Miller, the Chief Operating Officer of the Blavatnik School of Government, issued a statement saying, “We are delighted that the Councillors have voted to approve our planning application. Throughout the consultation process, we made strenuous efforts to engage with the community and provide clear and detailed information to explain the rationale behind the building design and respond to concerns and questions raised.”

The Jericho Community Association, an active local organization representing the historic suburban district of Oxford, have expressed their opposition. David Freud, owner of the Freud Cafe, which will neighbour the Blavatnik building, condemned the council decision as “a shocking travesty of the planning process” and said at the West Area Planning Committee meeting, “It was clear that a decision had already been made before the meeting had begun”.

Freud’s objection stems from the blockage of light into the stained glass windows of the former St Paul’s church, now his cafe, by the proposed building. Another major concern is that the construction would disrupt half of the graves of patients who died at the former Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford’s first hospital.

Freud wrote on the wall of a Facebook campaign group named “Trouble in Wonder”, “My family has had the pleasure of caring for the former Church of St Paul for the past twenty-five years. If the Blavatnik School of Government is constructed, in the form currently proposed, on the burial ground of the former Radcliffe Infirmary, the Church and the protected nature of Jericho is in danger of irreparable damage.”

The Blavatnik School of Government has responded to these concerns with a new information page regarding the building on its website. The school official told Cherwell “The Blavatnik School of Government’s planning application sets out in detail the faculty we have received from the Diocese of Oxford to exhume any remains found on the site. The remains will be exhumed with the utmost care and respect, in strict accordance with archaeological and Diocesan protocol, and laid to rest in consecrated ground.”

Besides local protests, another controversy surrounding the building is its 22 meter height in violation of the city’s Carfax Height policy, which prohibits buildings taller than 18.2 meters within 1,200 meters of the Carfax Tower.

Alison Stibbe, Head of Communications of the school, explained to Cherwell in an email, “The purpose of the Carfax Height policy is to prevent harm to Oxford’s skyline. A majority of Councillors agreed that our building would not harm the skyline and therefore the policy was not breached. Where it is visible, we believe it will be a positive and beautiful addition.”

She added, “The Councillors were clear to stress that their decision on the Blavatnik School’s planning application does not set a precedent for future applications.”

Jonathan Beddall, a current MPP student of Blavatnik said, “I am hugely excited by the new Blavatnik School of Government building as it combines cutting-edge architecture with world-class teaching space. The city council’s approval will enable the School to meet students’ needs whilst the School continues to grow.”

He continues, “The new Blavatnik building is carfeully designed to respect the local area and is, in my view, a beautiful and sensitive addition to the City.”

When asked about his feeling about the City Council decision and whether he will carry on the fight, Gideon Freud, campaign member and St John’s College student, replied that he had no further comments.

A septet of University College female freshers have completed a charity tan-a-thon, applying spray tan to themselves in an effort to raise money for The Life Foundation, an organisation that supports orphaned and abandoned children and those with mental disabilities in the Oltania region of Romania. 

The decision to raise for Romania was inspired by the work of Abi Karas, one of the tanners, who is headed back there this summer for further volunteer work in Oltania. The group’s Facebook event boasts, “We’ve rounded up our pastiest and most self-conscious friends to embark on a journey of humiliation all in the name of The Life Foundation which, if you’ve ever spoken to Abi (ever), you will have heard about.” 

The group’s page on Charity Giving promises, “The more you raise the darker we go,” with additional goals including “If we get to £500, Abi will stop talking about Romania for a week,” and “if we get to £600, Sybil will get the darkest tan again for Univ Ball.” The first round of tanning took place on Tuesday, with an effervescent, ersatz orange glow emanating from the tanners. 

The tanners have additionally promised that if they reach £1000, they will shoot a nude calendar. As of Wednesday, £789.50 has been raised. The nude calendar has been a popular charity raising method in Oxford recently, with many college sports teams making their own. 

Tan-a-thon participant Sybil Devlin explained the impetus behind the group’s decision to spray tan. She stated, “We always joked about one of the girls being akin to a vampire in her paleness but then realised that we were all, unfortunately in the same boat, so it seemed like a natural progression from forcing her to get one to cheer everyone up during Prelims to actually doing something worthwhile with the humiliating idea.”

Fire fighters were called to tackle a small blaze in Gloucester Green on Saturday evening.

The fire was at the Falafal House in Gloucester Green. It was started by cleaning cloths being left on a hotplate, where they ignited.

Called at half past six in the evening, the fire service attending included two fire engines and roughly twelve fire fighters. They came from the depot at Rewley Road, which is situated close to the Falafal House.

No-one was hurt in the incident.

First year PPEist Emma Alexander expressed her relief on hearing this, saying, “It’s a good sign that no one was hurt, especially since incidents such as leaving materials on hot surfaces are not uncommon amongst negligent students.”

David Harris, a Keble College physicist, had some cautionary words about the incident, saying, “This is a burning issue which won’t just extinguish itself. Still, there’s no need to fuel the fires of popular opinion by making it the latest hot topic, and we should let the smoke die down before drawing opinions as to the disregard of safety measures that may or may not have occurred.”

It is not thought that the incident will damage the Falafal House’s business, however, which has on-line reviews praising its falafel wraps and the politeness of its owner.

Scientists from Oxford University have been explaining their research to the public over a pint in a series of talks in pubs across the city this week. The events were part of the first national ‘Pint of Science’ festival, aimed at raising public awareness about current scientific discoveries.

The talks were aimed to make science accessible to the general public. “We are bringing science out of labs, seminars, lecture halls and classrooms to a place where everyone feels comfortable voicing their opinion over a pint,” said festival organisers. They focused on the categories of brain, body, and biotechnology, with nine events in three different pubs. They were organised by the cortex club, and the Oxford branch of the British Science association, and are synchronised with similar talks in Cambridge and London.

Speakers at the the cutting-edge of research, and explained their latest discoveries to the audience. The festival was free to attend and the format of the nights was varied, ranging from myth-busting games, to musical performances, to open debates. It attracted big name speakers, such as Professor Marcus du Satoy, who spoke on ‘The Hunt for Artificial Intelligence’ in the upstairs room at the St Aldate’s tavern on Wednesday. The events were well attended, with places for every single one being fully booked up.

The Oxford organiser, Thaddeus Aid, said that the talks would demonstrate “how technology will help us in the future, from predicting how the heart functions when new medicines are introduced to the circulatory system, to how artificial intelligence will change our lives, to how robots will drive us in the future.”

Aid added that “It seems that at the moment public understanding and trust of science and scientists, from evolution to global warming there is a disconnect between what is generally accepted in science and what is generally accepted in the general public.” 

When asked how scientists would make the talk accessible to normal, slightly inebriated people, he explained, “We have requested the speakers remove the maths from their talks and to target it at a level that the general public would find engaging. What this means in reality is that the speakers will be speaking more at a concept level than at an implementation level.”

The speakers taking part in the event were enthusiastic about bringing their subject area to the masses. David Gavaghan, Professor of Computational Biology observed that many of the challenges that society will face in the future are of a scientific nature, and so he said, “To tackle these issues will require widespread support from the public either to support or to put pressure on politicians to fund the necessary research, and to translate that research into practical solutions and technologies.

To get this support we’ll need more people to understand the issues, and the only way to do this is to try really hard to explain what we (as scientists) are trying to do in our research.”

He added “I hope that events like this will make a small contribution to the wider understanding of the importance of science in our everyday (and future) lives.”

Professor Paul Bolam, who gave a talk on aging and diseased brains, added, “It is the responsibility of all scientist to engage the public in science.  The public fund science, they need to know what we do with the money.”