Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers raided the Alternative Tuck Shop on Holywell St on Wednesday afternoon and arrested two staff members for illegally entering the UK.

A spokesperson for the Home Office told Cherwell, “Acting on intelligence, Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers visited [the] Alternative Tuck Shop on Holywell Street in Oxford at around 1pm on Wednesday 29 May, where they carried out immigration checks on members of staff.

“Two people were arrested for entering the UK illegally, a 26-year-old man from Bangladesh and a 27-year-old man from Algeria. “The Bangladeshi man was detained pending his removal from the UK, while the Algerian was granted immigration bail while the Home Office deals with his case.”

He also explained the potential consequence the ATS may face because of these arrests: “The business will now have to provide proof to the Home Office that the correct right-to-work checks were carried out on the men or they will be fined up to £10,000 per worker for employing them.”

UK employers are required by law to run checks on potential employees to make sure that they have the right to work in the UK. The checks consist of taking copies of original documents that prove that the person concerned is allowed to work. Employers must also ensure that work they give does not infringe on any restrictions on the type of work that their potential employees can do.

If a person’s right to work is affected by time limits, employers have to renew their checks on documents every year. It is also illegal knowingly to employ an illegal worker even if the relevant checks have been carried out. After the arrests the ATS temporarily closed.

Stuart O’Reilly, a student at Pembroke, who stood as the UKIP candidate for St Clement’s and Cowley Marsh in the recent county council elections, offered his more general thoughts on illegal immigration, commenting, “If [the ATS staff arrested] were working illegally then it means that they probably aren’t paying tax, they aren’t fully protected by the law and they don’t necessarily get the minimum wage.

He continued, “The reason we have these laws on employment in place is for the protection of workers’ rights and to ensure that vacancies are fairly advertised. This is why there is such thing as legal and illegal immigration and eligibility to work, and I hope these laws are being enforced.”

Nico Hobhouse, Co-Chair of Oxford University Liberal Democrats, commented, “Illegal immigration is, by definition, illegal. Migrants and their employers should abide by UK laws that regulate immigration.

“However, we should not confuse the problem of illegal immigration with immigration in general. Most immigration benefits the economy and enriches our society and we should be careful not to react too strongly to instances such as those at the Alternative Tuck Shop.”

One Lincoln second year commented, “Having travelled the long and dusty pilgramage from the Turl to Holywell St for my daily Chicken Satay Baguette (no salad), I reached the hallowed entrance to the most established Tuck Shop in Oxford, but was apologetically turned away by a member of staff who ushered a man in a security guard-style uniform inside.

She added, “They said they would re-open in an hour, but unable to wait so long for my warm sandwich I instead turned to Taylor’s for a Cajun Chicken and Brie Flatbread, and so I can’t confirm how long the shop was closed for.”

Police were called to Carfax Tower on Thursday after fears about a man on the tower, Thames Valley Police have confirmed.

Police and ambulances were called at 4.29PM.

The street was cordoned off for around half an hour, but nobody was harmed in the incident. The individual involved left the tower around 5pm.

Eyewitnesses have alleged to Cherwell that a man was threatening to jump from the tower, but was dissuaded while at the scene.

The development comes two weeks after somebody died falling from the same tower. On May 13, police were called after a man fell from Carfax. He was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital, but later died from his injuries.

The tower stayed closed for the day as a mark of respect.

Before this month, the last person to die falling from the tower was 61-year-old Patricia Stoute, who died in June 2009.

Carfax is a major Oxford landmark, with around 40,000 tourists climbing the tower yearly.

Oxford RAG is producing a naked calendar of the University’s sports teams.

Although the calendar photos are being saved as a surprise, RAG offered Cherwell an exclusive preview of the rowers limbering up for their shot on Monday.

The calendar, which will include photos of the swimming, ruby league, fencing, athletics, rowing and netball blues teams, will go on sale later this year.

Louis Geary, Events Vice President for RAG who has been overseeing the project told Cherwell, “This is one of RAG’s many fundraising initiatives that occur throughout the year. Though naked calendars are clearly not an original idea, the suggestion that we make one for university sports teams was based on the fact that colleges tended to produce their own, but these lacked broader appeal. With the variety and familiarity of blues sports and the artistic expertise of our photographer, Toby Mather, we are expecting this to be the charity naked calendar to trump all others. As a result this is set to raise a lot of money for RAG’s four student-elected charities.”

He continued, “So far the shoots have been in very good humour. There was always going to be the challenge of capturing the essence of a sport, with the added complication of everyone being naked, and teams have had a great time coming up with ideas of how to frame their shot.”

Sylvia Hong, who has been documenting the process for The Preview Show, a student run television show in Oxford, also encountered issues with the athletes’ nudity, commenting, “It’s been a real pleasure to work with Rag Team and the University’s sports team.  That said, in our case because we are filming, it was sometimes difficult to shoot from the right angle in order to respect the athletes’ privacy. 

However, most of them have been really understanding and helpful, therefore we were able to capture a very relaxed and good atmosphere during the shoots.”

The Preview Show plan to release a short trailer before the release of the calendar, and a longer feature next Michaelmas 2013.

Later this year RAG is also planning a university-wide sponsored bungee jump, as well as Jailbreak.

Enquiries about the calendar, including teams wanting to get involved, should contact [email protected].

An Oxford student society this week began a campaign to have the BBC World Service extended into North Korea.

Oxford Students for Liberty (OSFL) have launched a petition addressed to Lord Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University and Chairman of the BBC Trust, stating, “Throughout its long and proud history the BBC World Service has broadcast to the most repressed people all over the world, providing a crucial source of objective news and information, giving hope to people who otherwise may have very little”.

Speaking at OSFL’s launch event this Wednesday, Justin Youngchan Choi, operator of the BBC for North Korea Facebook page, cited the example of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader, noting, “She said how helpful the BBC World Service had been, bringing hope and democracy throughout the world”.

Choi explained that the BBC was “quite possibly the most trustworthy news outlet out there. The BBC brand carries much weight. People actually believe the BBC far more than local news”.

OSFL President, Jonathan P. Martindale, told Cherwell, “The BBC World Service is renowned worldwide for its detailed and impartial journalism”.

He added, “We believe this expansion of the World Service would represent not only a possible, but a peaceful way to encourage the flow of information into North Korea and inspire potential grassroots, people-driven change from the inside.”

Choi said that “of course, the obvious criticism is that this puts people in jeopardy. The government will catch them listening, people will die. But the benefit outweighs the negatives.People are dying anyway.”

He added, “We do know that people do have modified radios. If you get found, you go to Yodok [prison camp], you die. But people very often risk their lives to get news from the outside.This was a very consistent pattern in the Cold War”.

North Korea is ranked second-last in the freedom of the press index, published by Reporters Without Borders. Millions are thought to have perished in the famines of the 1990s, while up to 200,000 are today thought to be incarcerated in its concentration camps, which the regime denies exist.

The BBC World Service currently broadcasts in twenty eight languages but not Korean. The service is the world’s most widely distributed international broadcaster, reaching almost 200 million people a week worldwide.

OSFL’s petition expressed deep concern at “the refusal of the BBC to extend its World Service to the Korean Peninsula, and in particular, North Korea”, adding, “We believe that the extension of the service would be a viable and positive move by the BBC”.

One first year geographer told Cherwell, “I will be signing the petition. We should indeed show the world that we care about the situation in North Korea”.

A spokesman for the BBC World Service told Cherwell, “There is a severe lack of media freedom in North Korea and an acute need for more choice and variety of media content. We recently conducted a fact finding mission to South Korea. We found strict controls in the North on what people are allowed to listen to or watch, difficulty in obtaining radios and a complete lack of internet access. Given these significant barriers, we are considering whether it will be cost effective and viable to broadcast existing or new content to North Korea.”

Top scrabble player and Lincoln docotral student Chris May will attempt to set a new world record for the most simultaneous games of Scrabble at Oxford University Press.

On 11th June, from 2.30pm, May will attempt to play twenty eight games
of Scrabble simultaneously against a wide range of opponents drawn from
the UK tournament Scrabble community, as well as staff and students at
the University.

In order to break the record, May will play multiple games of Scrabble against his twenty eight different opponents and must win at least seventy five per cent of the games. The record attempt is expected to take between three and five hours. 

The current world record for “Scrabble – most simultaneous games” was set in India in 2007 by Ganesh Asirvatham, who played twenty five games at the same time.

However, having played Scrabble since he learned to read, May is now hoping to earn his place in Scrabble history. He has played Scrabble in tournaments in nine different countries, coming fifth place at the 2011 World Scrabble Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

The record attempt will be in aid of Assisted Reading for Children (ARCh), a local charity that aims to assist children who are experiencing difficulties with reading. ARCh volunteers use conversation, reading, activities and games, including Scrabble, to help children to become more confident readers.

Chris May commented, “Scrabble was certainly something that got me excited about reading as a child. I’m thrilled to be able to help a wonderful educational charity like ARCh by playing a game I’ve always loved. Breaking the record won’t be easy, but I can’t wait to try!”

Jane Rendle, ARCh Development Manager, said, “We wish Chris all the best in his record-breaking attempt. We are delighted he has chosen ARCh as his charity to support, and hope the event will help highlight the importance of reading as well as show how much fun can be had with words.”

One Lincoln student, who will be one of May’s twenty eight opponents in the record attempt, told Cherwell, “Chris stands a good chance of winning – he holds Grandmaster status and has been playing competitively for fourteen years. I can imagine he’s come up against some tough opponents in that time so he’s used to being put under a lot of stress. I’m not sure how that compares to four or more hours solid of playing 28 different opponents at once though – that’s enough to give anyone a challenge.”

She added, “If there’s enough coverage, I’m sure the record attempt will encourage more people to play, even if those people are limited to Oxford University students. It will probably remind people that it’s an interesting and competitive game, and might prompt them to join the OU Scrabble Society or play a few games in the pub occasionally.”

The event is open to the public.

Oxford will play host to one of the premier events of the feline world this weekend as competitors from the United States and Europe descend on the city for an event being described as ‘Crufts for Cats.’

Traditionally the preserve of dogs, the show is being organised by the International Cat Association with the help of local resident and cat-lover Jeanine Parfitt from Headington.

Hundreds of fans are expected to attend the event next Saturday and Sunday at Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre to watch displays by domestic and household cats, in addition to scheduled appearances by famous cats and a dazzling line-up of rare cat breeds.

Speaking to Cherwell, Ms Parfitt said, “This is going to be great for Oxford and I’m sure it will be a lot of fun as well. “I was overwhelmed by the interest this generated, especially after the event was posted on Facebook. There’s obviously a lot of demand for a unique cat breed show. Catowners can take part in events like the London Pet Show, but they rarely get a chance to compete and show off like this.”

She continued, “Up until now the focus has been on dog shows like Crufts, but there are nearly as many cats as dogs in the UK so I don’t see why they should get all the attention.”

Proving once and for all that Merton freshers aren’t the only pussy magnets in Oxford, stars of the feline world such as Miss Melly, an artistic munchkin cat who paints with paws, peterbald Principessa, the star of the London Pet Show, and cats from last year’s IKEA TV campaign will all appear for photographs between 10am and 5pm at the show next weekend.

Oxford-based vets have also been invited to promote cat and kitten welfare and there will also be trade stalls selling a wide array of feline goods.

One first year Hertford historian commented, “This is clearly one of the most important British events of the past decade, easily on par with the 2012 Olympics. I will be taking time out of my busy schedule to visit the show on both days, as will many other Oxford students if they appreciate like me what a unique and historic opportunity this is. 

“Competition for tickets will no doubt be fiercer than they were for last week’s Champion’s League Final. After all, who would pass up the opportunity to see this kind of ‘cattitude’ in person?”

It remains unclear whether any of the famous Oxford College Cats will be competing at the event this year. A full survey of the cats of Oxford University can be found in Richard Surman’s study entitled College Cats of Oxford and Cambridge (HarperCollins, 1994). A book described by one first-year Lincolnite as, “Proving beyond all doubt the fruitless banality of modern academic enquiry.”