Research conducted by Lord Adonis suggests that Nissan apprenticeships have become more competitive than a place at Oxford University.

The report, “More and Better Jobs: North-East International” revealed that with 1,000 applications for 20 places, the candidate’s chance of success is just 2%.

By contrast, Oxford receives on average 17,200 applications for 3,200 places, giving an approximately 18% chance of a place. In fact, in recent years, Oxford has seen a slight decline in applications – down 5% from 2010 to 2011.

However, as well as highlighting the quality of the apprenticeship programme offered by Nissan, these statistics also draw attention to a lack of opportunities in the vocational sector. Adonis commented that “Nissan’s apprenticeship programme is regarded as one of the best in the country so you would expect to see it oversubscribed, but it is scandalous that so few apprenticeship places are available at companies across this region.”

He hopes to create 13,000 apprenticeships in the North-East every year in order to “get young people on the road to a job, not the road to the dole.” His research focused specifically on the North-East: he is keen to see a higher proportion of the population going on the higher education as well as vocational work.

Claiming that these internships are harder than Oxford University could be a controversial statement. However, on closer inspection, it seems that they were a provocative statement rather than a genuine comparison between the two institutions. His allegation that “The competition for places is unbelievably fierce, more even than for Oxford University’ is more to do with numbers than application process.

Quality and quantity are not necessarily synonymous, as confirmed by Adam Tyndell, Lord Adonis’s Assistant who alleged that “Andrew was referring to the number of applicants per place, only.”

Jonathon Metzer, Co-Chair of Oxford University Labour Club, was supportive of Adonis’ research. “Lord Adonis is absolutely right to highlight the need to expand apprenticeships so that there are clear pathways to success for less academically-inclined people and I strongly hope that his ideas will gather cross-party support.”

Metzer also confirmed that Adonis will be speaking at the OULC on Monday of 3rd Week.

Walton Street, the home of Oxford University Press, has been misspelt in the city’s latest version of the board game Monopoly. 

Although the original Oxford version, produced in 2001, has no such spelling mistakes it appears that Walton street, a yellow card along with Banbury Road and High Street, has been spelt ‘Wolton Street’ in some games recently sold on Amazon. 

Many students were quick to notice the irony that the misspelt street is home to OUP, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary. “It’s good that Oxford has its own monopoly board, especially considering how iconic the game is, but it seems pretty strange that the manufacturers managed to spell all the street names right the first time round and have errors now,” said Sarah Kroloff, an English student at Exeter college.

However, some Jericho residents were not amused. Jericho Community Association chairman Jenny Mann told the Oxford Mail, “I think this is outrageous and I take this as a personal insult.” Adding that she wants ‘the manufacturers to look into this as soon as possible because Walton Street is a famous ancient street. People in Jericho will want the game to be reprinted.” 

The game’s manufacturers Winning Moves, are now trying to establish how many sets have been affected and have promised to amend the error on the next print run, when that will be however, has not been confirmed. 

Monopoly can trace its history back to 1903 and arrived in the Britain in the 1930s, becoming a staple family board game. Oxford is one of many recent variations on the London board with which many are familiar, with The Randolph Hotel and the Ashmolean replacing Mayfair and Park Lane, while other places such as the Covered Market and the Pear Tree Park & Ride are also mentioned.  

Recent findings by Oxford University researchers have shown that fathers as well as mothers can be severely affected by the trauma a difficult childbirth can induce.

The researchers, from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU), interviewed eleven fathers and partners whose partners’ childbirths had been marred by life-threatening complications. They went on to look at the effects of these experiences.

The results suggest that particularly difficult births, as well as being severe for the mothers, also cause long-term issues for partners to the extent that in some cases they are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Factors leading to particularly stressful and dangerous births can vary from heavy, uncontrollable bleeding to amniotic fluid embolism, where birthing fluids get into the mother’s bloodstream. However, such events are rare with only one in 100 births involving such complications.

Professor Marian Knight of NPEU, who led the work, said, “Many of these emergencies happen during labour or immediately after, and involve severe bleeding. The mums are severely ill and need lots of care. And while everyone is running around looking after mum, it can affect dads too.”

However, the results of the findings have caused controversy. In an article for the Telegraph, Milli Hill, founder of The Positive Birth Movement, said, “Already the number of articles and media discussions about the study greatly outnumber the tiny number of husbands and partners who took part in it.

“Yes, it’s no wonder the men folk are traumatised by childbirth, because it’s a gory freak show that women alone must suffer, and, if you must be there at all, you’re best off sticking at the head end and keeping a low profile, mate. Birth is bloody, birth is horrific, birth is dangerous.”

One comment left in response to Hill’s article expressed a similarly traditional view, saying, “Allow the father to be there during the preliminaries then boot him out into the waiting room when things really get going. This is women’s business and a man shouldn’t be at the business end.”

Harriet Moorhouse on the other hand, a third year geographer with a place to study graduate-entry medicine in September,  focused on the positives of childbirth. Having worked on labour wards, she was able to give the following anecdote.

“I saw a routine caesarean-section delivery of IVF twins. The father was present for the c-section, and the couple had undergone several rounds of IVF before finally conceiving twins. The birth of these twins was therefore an overwhelmingly exciting and joyous event in the couple’s lives. Save for the anxiety associated with any surgical procedure, the father was over-the-moon and visibly excited – almost giddy.

“He observed the entire procedure, including the surgeon making an incision, essentially tearing the skin apart and then reaching under the skin to pull the babies out. When the babies were removed from the mother’s body, the father cut the umbilical cord. He was thrilled.”

Wadham SU has passed a motion to implement a “Zero Tolerance” policy regarding sexual harassment at college events.

The proposers of the motion ask for the SU to “To implement a Zero Tolerance policy for all bops, Wadstock and Queerfest.”

The new policy means suspected perpetrators of sexual harassment or assault will be immediately ejected from the premises by security staff. The motion passed with approximately two thirds of the student vote.

Modelled on the OUSU ‘zero tolerance’ contract with Varsity Events, the policy further states that a record must be kept of any alleged perpetrator ejected which will then be sent to college harassment officers. The motion specifies that the policy must be advertised in the Queerfest and Wadstock handbooks and at the entrances and bathrooms of these events, and that ignorance of the policy will not be considered a valid defence.

The motion was proposed by 3rd year PPE student Sarah Pine, who told Cherwell “Assault is a real problem and it happens here. Anyone attempting to deny assault because we’re ‘all friends in college’ is entertaining a spectacularly high level of denial.”

“This isn’t so much a ‘Wadham problem’ as a problem that affects everywhere, including Wadham. However, in a college context, it’s a lot more difficult for victims, because they have to see their attacker in the library, around college events and in their collections.”

Pine continued “There was a lot of support for providing a mechanism by which victims of assault and harassment no longer had to put up with their attacker being at the same event to them. People seemed to really care about the experiences of members who had been assaulted.”

Wadham SU president, Jahni Emmanuel voted against the motion.

Sarah Pine told Cherwell, “I’m confused and disappointed at our President for voting against the motion. Rejecting any way for coping with assault and harassment protects a system in which abuse and assault are common experiences.”

2nd year English student Maeve Scullion, who seconded the motion, said that the motion “should have the desired effect of opening up healthy conversations about the definitions of sexual consent and sexual harassment, as well as giving victims of sexual harassment the right to be removed of the immediate threat of further sexual and/or physical violence.”

Wadham SU president Jahni Emmanuel told Cherwell: “The motion was brought forward because the people who proposed it felt that the college’s current policy on sexual harassment was not sufficient.”

“In terms of specific reasons for the timing of this motion, as far as I’m aware it was not inspired by any specific incident – I believe it was prompted by some statistics recently published about the high rate of sexual harassment across the University.”

However, a student who wished to remain anonymous added that the SU meeting was attended by a victim of sexual assault at a former Wadham event.

Emmanuel voted against the motion, explaining, “Personally, I think that, although this is a very sensitive issue, changing an otherwise universal policy of innocent-until-proven guilty is difficult to justify. Although we have put procedures for appeals in place, this will not stop people automatically being ejected from an event.”

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for Oxford University said, “The University and colleges take cases of harassment, abuse, assault or rape extremely seriously. Anyone who is the victim of mistreatment, harassment, assault or in the most serious cases, rape, is advised to talk to their tutors, their college welfare officers, or the University Counselling Service.”

“Allegations of this nature will be dealt with confidentially. Whilst allegations are treated confidentially, matters of concern may be referred to the police, with the permission of the student concerned, resulting in criminal or disciplinary proceedings.”

Victorian graffiti has been found in the roof of Oxford University Museum of Natural History during renovation work.

Painted high in the rafters is the message: “This roof was painted by G. Thicke and J Randall, April 1864.” Although it is a tradition for craftsmen to leave their marks in places that cannot be seen, it is not known whether the message was sanctioned.

The graffiti is dated six years after the Museum opened in 1860, suggesting that decoration was still going on when the building was being used by academic staff.

Bloggers on the Museum’s website have now taken up the story, suggesting that the two craftsmen were Oxford locals. Using the census, Debbie Moorwood argues that the G. Thicke may have been George Thicke, a painter from St Clements and her husband’s great great great grandfather. Similarly, J Randall is perhaps John James Randall, a resident of St Ebbes. If such claims can be confirmed, the graffiti marks an interesting piece of social history as well as possible 150-year old bad behaviour. 

However, Rachel Parle, the museum’s education officer, was keen to emphasise that the museum’s decision not to paint over the graffiti meant that any contemporary scrawls would be allowed: “old masons’ marks are found in cathedrals and heritage sites across the country and the purpose is very different to someone just scrawling their name.” The sentiment was echoed by Ms Parle’s colleague Scott Billings, who said, “any modern graffiti applied to a visible area of the Museum would obviously be a different matter.”

The Museum, which holds some of the first dinosaur’s discovered as well as a preserved dodo, has been closed for 2013 to allow renovations to its Grade-1 listed building. The repairs to the neo-Gothic architecture are expected to conclude in early 2014.

Blackwell’s, the bookshop of more than a hundred years that originated in Oxford, recently moved its music shop from 23-25 Broad Street to join its main bookshop and headquarter  200 feet away. The former site, owned by Oxford City Council, had accommodated the music shop for twelve years since its first move from Holywell Street in 2001. 

Luke Rickett, the music shop manager, told Cherwell no redundancy was resulted from the relocation. All its twenty employees have been kept in position. Despite the smaller space, the music shop managed to fit in all its collections after some remodelling. 

Rickett said, “Our old location needed a refit. It wasn’t up to date with the latest standards for disabled customers because there was no lift. Essentially, we decided that it was just much easier to leave that premises and move here.”

He added, “We have got less room but the same stock. So we had to get a bit creative about display.” 

Besides the convenience of technical support and additional footfall from main shop, the relocation is also one of Blackwell’s series endeavours to cut cost and refocus the business on its core retail services.

David Prescott, Blackwell’s chief executive officer, emphasized their new restructuring strategy, “the Blackwell’s board is focused on our bookshop business and the direct opportunity to develop our digital offering to student, academic and professional customers.”

Owner Toby Blackwell aims to deploy “employee partnership” similar to that of John Lewis once the company turns profits.

Rickett responded positively to the plan, “I think it’s a good idea. It’s a real incentive for staffs and workers behind the scene to put an effort into the company and make sure it performs as well as it can.”

Blackwell’s has made steady progress in turning around the dwindling business. It has reduced its operating losses from £10.2 in 2010 down to £1.5m in 2012 and expects to yield a profit by the end of the year. 

When asked about the difficulties Blackwell’s faces with the rapid structural shift of consumer behaviour in the market, Rickett answered, “Our biggest challenge is to make sure we offer expertise and customer service and specialist knowledge that people can’t get on Amazon.”