Oxford University data has shown the continued dominance of men in achieving firsts at Finals.

Male candidates took most of the first-class degrees awarded last year, extending their lead over women in subjects including English, PPE and Modern Languages.

Chase Atherton, a second-year French student at Brasenose, described the data as “immensely worrying”.

She said that she was wary “of the masked glee that comes with the propounding of statistics like these–they seem to be intended to enforce gender stereotypes, or possibly to induce a mindset of victimhood among women.

“More than once I’ve been told, ‘Men are more assertive than women, which is why they do better in exam situations’, as if this dichotomy hasn’t been torn down by women like Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Marissa Mayer, Kathryn Bigelow, et al.

“I got a distinction in prelims and so did my friend James. Neither of our results should be attributed to gender, but rather our enthusiasm for our course. It would be dangerous to give this statistic so much credence as to make it a self-perpetuating myth.”

However female candidates achieved a higher proportion of firsts in jurisprudence and classics in 2012, reversing the gender gap in the two subjects for the first time in six years.

A third-year classicist at Corpus commented that, “much as the poetess Sappho was considered the finest of the archaic lyricists by ancient and modern literary critics alike, so today the women of Oxford have shown themselves to be of suppler mind and of greater muse than their male equivalents.

“varium et mutabile semper / femina,” he told Cherwell, conclusively.

More firsts were awarded in 2012 than in previous years in a range of core subjects. Music, Law, Geography and Medicineall saw significant improvements in the number of firsts and 2:1s awarded.

By contrast only 1% of History candidates failed to acheive a first or 2:1. Humanities subjects all saw significant falls last year in the number of finalists getting thirds. Students cite the fact that employers increasingly shun candidates who recieve the grade, which was once known affectionately as a ‘gentleman’s third’.

Excluding joint-schools students, music candidates are most likely to leave Oxford with a First. 43% of candidates in 2012 achieved the top grade compared with 36% in 2011 and 32% in 2010.

Francis Shepherd, a first-year Musician at University College, explained that the subject “is one of the only subjects in the university that requires a degree of practical skill usually gained in childhood, such as reading of musical notation, playing an instrument/singing, and listening (aural) skills.

“However, analysis and history are just as hard as any other arts subject, and of course there is considerable overlap with history itself. Music is perceived to be easier by those who don’t understand the contents or nature of the course, I think..”

PPE and Law emerge as the two subjects in which it is most difficult to achieve a first: in both subjects last year only 19% of candidates managed it. However in 2011 only 12% of lawyers got a first, a seven-year low.

James Burt, a second-year lawyer at Brasenose, said that the low number of firsts awarded to Oxford lawyers “puts them at a disadvantage compared to our peers at other top universities.” He said that many top graduate employers are put off by a ‘mere’ 2:1. “This disadvantages dozens of law students if they received a 2:1 when a ‘normal’ distribution would have secured them a first.

“Although the low number of firsts is reflected in employers’ expectations in many areas, there are still places where it seems to cause unnecessary hardship. These include Oxford’s master’s, the BCL, and pupillage at top Barristers’ chambers, with both requiring a first-grade degree (officially and unofficially respectively). Offers for the BCL are conditional upon finals’ marks and so the University has shown discretion before about entry – I think this problem would be better solved by increasing the number of firsts.”

In last year’s Examiners’ report, these concerns were acknowledged. “The unanimous view of this year’s Board was that steps should be taken to recognise that a higher percentage of our candidates in Law deserve to be awarded first class degrees than has previously been the case” it said.

A recent paper published in Oxford Journal of Archaeology suggests that Britain’s aversion to horsemeat may have originated almost 1500 years ago from the diffusion of Christianity.

Dr Kristopher Poole of Nottingham University led the research which involved studying dated records of animal bones in England to try and understand the diet of Anglo-Saxons. He found substantial evidence of humans eating horsemeat during the early era when the German tribe first settled in Britain. On one-third of the sites investigated, butchered horse bones and heads were discovered instead of intact horse carcasses.

Horsemeat consumption among Anglo-Saxons reduced steadily between the sixth and eighth centuries as Christianity gradually gained more followers than paganism in England. From the eighth century, when Christianity dominated Britain, the English rarely consumed horsemeat due to its associations to Paganism and its condemnation by the church.

Dr Poole writes in his paper, “While many ‘pagan’ beliefs became integrated into Christian practices in England, the possible veneration and eating of horse seems to have been too much of a challenge to Christian perspectives.”

Professor Helena Hamerow from Oxford University’s Institute of Archaeology and a leading expert in early Anglo-Saxon England communities, explained the significance of the research, “This is an important paper that shows how far back in history the aversion to eating horses seems to go amongst the English.”

She added, “In Anglo-Saxon England, it appears from Poole’s study that the aristocracies were the first to abandon eating horse, presumably because they were the first group to espouse the new religion.”

However, in other Christian-dominant European countries, including France and Germany, consuming horsemeat is fairly common practice. When asked to explain the popularity of eating horse meat in these countries, Hamerow told Cherwell, “It appears from written sources that the early medieval Church tried to put a stop to the practice of consuming horsemeat in France and Germany too.”

“Without studying the animal bones from settlements in these countries,  it is hard to know what impact the Church’s disapproval had on the behaviour of ordinary people.”

Kyle Wehner, an English student at Magdalen, shared his thoughts on the recent horse meat controversy, “I think the extent of the aversion so many people have to the idea of eating horse meat stems from the human race’s intrinsic relationship with horses. There’s a connection there that we don’t have with other animals. It makes the notion of eating horseflesh that much more repugnant.”

When asked whether he would give the ‘pagan’ meat a try, Wehner answered, “I’ll stick with a salad.”

(video report published 28-02-2013)

Oxford University Student Union voted against a motion calling for support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), the campaign for the boycott of Israel, at the termly meeting on Wednesday.

The motion asked OUSU to advocate for the BDS campaign at the annual conference of the UK National Union of Students in April. It was defeated, with 69 votes against, 15 abstentions, and 10 for.

The BDS movement was started in 2005. Its official website calls for boycotts against “products and companies that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions” until Israel complies with international law. The motion proposed that the NUS further “conduct research into Higher Education institutions’ contacts, relations, investments and commercial relationships that may be implicated in violating Palestinian human rights as stated by the BDS movement.”

It was initially proposed at an OUSU council meeting two weeks ago, but an amendment was passed to postpone the final vote in order to give JCRs more time to debate the issue.

James Newton, Keble JCR President, proposed the amendment to delay the motion. He told Cherwell, “I feel that it was a far more complicated issue than it looked at first glance and am therefore very glad that I got the chance to consult with the JCR before being expected to vote on the issue.”

Several colleges, including Worcester, Corpus Christi, and Balliol, split their multiple votes in order to reflect the sentiment in their JCRs more accurately.

The original proposers of the motion, Emily Cousens and Sarah Pine, did not attend the meeting and were unavailable for comment.

OUSU President David J Townsend was equivocal when commenting on the proceedings, saying, “There have been strong emotions on either side of this issue. A fulsome debate was had, there were ample opportunity for colleges’ student bodies to decide how to mandate their delegates, and a decisive resolution was achieved by the vote of those delegates today.”

Questions were raised at the debate two weeks ago about how an academic and cultural boycott would be implemented in practice. Some students expressed concern that it could result in the boycotting of student societies and academic research.

Benjamin Crome, President of the Oxford University Israel Society, said, “I am very pleased with this evening’s result, which shows quite clearly that Oxford students reject the exclusionary values of the BDS movement. As befits students of a university which has held a mutually beneficial relationship with Israeli academia for many years, JCRs and MCRs have decided that to conflate of the actions of Israeli civil society with the policies of the Israeli government is fundamentally flawed.”

He added that “Israeli academics have played a leading and influential role in criticising the static nature of the peace process at present.”

Similarly, Sarah Chaplin, a second-year PPEist at LMH, said, “I am proud of the result that was reached tonight. Oxford students have shown that prejudice against individuals of any nationality is wrong regardless of feelings towards their government.”

Speaking on the matter of implementation, a spokesperson for the Palestinian BDS national committee said that the BDS movement calls for “an institutional boycott of Israel, not a blanket boycott of individual Israelis. We do not condone boycott of individuals based on their identity, no matter what. Rather, we focus on Israel’s academic and cultural institutions, all of which are complicit, to varying degrees, in protecting and maintaining Israel’s occupation and apartheid. Consequently, BDS does not call for boycotting a book or a film just because its author or director is Israeli! We look for institutional connections to see whether any cultural product, say, is funded by the state of Israel or its lobby groups for re-branding purposes.”

Supporters of the BDS movement have viewed the motion in a different light. Hind Awwad, a graduate student in Political Theory at St Edmund’s Hall, said, “What we’ve seen in our MCRs and JCRs is that BDS has brought people together to discuss this issue and has started a real debate on Israel’s violations… the debate on BDS has resulted in some of the most well-attended common room meetings, vibrant debates and interest in Palestinian rights.”

Despite OUSU voting against the motion, Awwad argued that “the discussion of BDS at the University of Oxford is in itself a significant achievement, and an important stepping stone for Palestine solidarity activists in the University.”

Cheerleading is the latest sport to enter the realms of Varsity fame, as the Oxford Sirens took on the Cambridge Cougars last weekend. They competed at the Future Cheer Saturday Night Fever competition in Loughborough where teams from nearly 60 universities participated.

Sirens’ President Susan Hawkins commented, “Our routine went almost perfectly, all our stunts hit, and we were all really proud of what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time – especially as almost every new member of the squad learns cheerleading from scratch in October.”

As well as being judged in the general competition, a special ‘Varsity Trophy’ is to be awarded to either Oxford and Cambridge, who were judged alongside each other.

Victoria Morrish, a member of the Sirens team at Varsity, explained the subsequent complications. She told Cherwell, “This year was the first year we’ve had the opportunity to cheer competitively against Cambridge’s squad, but unfortunately we’re in different divisions. The Cambridge Cougars compete in a level two division, while we compete in level three – the only difference in this is the difficulty of the stunts involved in the routines. Level three is one level ‘harder’ than level two, and unfortunately this has meant we cannot be judged directly against Cambridge.

“However, the judges of Future Cheer (the organisers of the Loughborough competition on Sunday) have agreed to mark us against each other. It’s a shame we cannot compete in a head-to-head match against Cambridge but hopefully in future years this can be arranged at one of our home turfs.”

Both the Oxbridge teams are still relatively young; the Sirens, who are Oxford’s self-proclaimed “Number 1 cheer team”, formed in 2004, whilst the Cougars were set up in 2007. The first ever Varsity match, in cricket, dates from 1827. Since then Varsity matches in more than 70 different events, including life-saving and mixed lacrosse, have been set up.

Last week, Brian Cox attended Balliol’s Snell Dinner as a guest.

Cox is currently a Professor at the University of Manchester and a particle physicist involved with CERN. He is also the presenter of a number of BBC science programmes on astronomy and physics. His legacy is not confined to
the realm of science: in the 1990s he was involved as a keyboard player for
D:Realm.

Balliol JCR President Alex Bartram, said,“I think his presence – and that of the many other eminent and distinguished guests at the dinner – reflects how Balliol, 750 years on, is still very much holding its own in the glamorous world of academia.”

Though as JCR President Bartram was lucky enough “to have the opportunity to sit a few places along from Prof Cox”, for some members of the JCR, catching a glimpse of the professor required more extreme dedication.

One second-year commented, “Apparently someone waited outside with a lighter for ages to light his cig, which is creepy.”

Phoebe Grant-Smith, Lottie Dodd and Andrew Kirkman sneaked round the back of the SCR in order to get a glimpse of the eminent scholar. Grant-Smith said, “Waiting in the freezing cold (it was snowing at one point!) and getting odd looks from the SCR was definitely worth it when he appeared!”

Cox signed a book for Kirkman amongst others, and agreed to have a photo with the girls. Grant-Smith continued, “In my babbling, starstruck state, I did tell him about my mother’s Brian Cox cuddly toy which was a joke Christmas present from my brother, although I only realised how creepy this sounded when his response was, ‘I’m not sure you should be telling me this…'”

Olivia Baddeley also gave her account of the evening: “He was a bit tipsy, and I was a bit starstruck, so I couldn’t think of anything cool or interesting to say when we started talking about thermodynamics and his new TV show.”

Baddeley revealed that they discussed the wine at dinner: “He said it was great and asked us to take a sip (we then basically had an indirect kiss with him, which we were very excited by).We said that the wine is normally awful so they must have brought out the posh stuff for him. He was lovely.”

A survey has shown that first-year students in the UK are going out and drinking less frequently than finalists, and that student spending on alcohol has decreased overall.

The survey, conducted by student finance website Save the Student, reported that freshers are going out an average of 1.23 days a week compared to the finalist average of 1.57. Across all years, an average of £19 a week was spent drinking whilst out, in comparison with the average of £28 found last year by the NUS. The decrease in spending is believed to be linked to the increase in tuition fees to a maximum of £9,000, which came into effect at the start of this academic year.

Owen Burek, Editor-in-Chief of Save the Student, said, “I would think that the fall in spending this year is a kind of a knee-jerk reaction to the tuition fees trebling and the wide media coverage which came with this over the summer, which probably frightened quite a number of first-years into watching their spending. Some students may choose to forgo a night out to save money but in the main we believe students are turning to cheaper ways of drinking, such as the pre-drinking method.”

The website’s report on the survey further indicated that the fee rise may have prompted students to consider the quality of their university education, stating, “The fact that the fees have risen may have caused more students to think carefully about how much time they spend studying compared with going out drinking.”

LMH Welfare rep Georgia Luscombe shared this opinion, telling Cherwell, “Perhaps higher tuition fees are making people compromise and they have less money to spend on social activities if they’re prioritising a better education.”

Nevertheless, she did not report seeing a decrease in freshers drinking at LMH, and opined, “If anything, I think a rise in tuition fees will make the kind of people coming to £9,000-a-year universities like Oxford more likely to have disposable income, as people with more limited resources might be forced to go to a less expensive university.”

“I know a lot of them are very aware that they don’t have to pay back fees until after they have jobs.” However, she also noted, “At Keble we have had far fewer alcohol-related deanings. In fact, we had none in Michaelmas. I know that they were at least 3 alcohol-related deanings across Michaelmas-Hilary last year [all three incidental incidents involving freshers] and there haven’t been any this year.”

Last Sunday St Anne’s College JCR passed a motion which expressed
its desire to bring animals into college in order to reduce stress during the exam period.

The motion read: “The JCR resolves to permit the supervised presence of animals on college grounds during official JCR events, so providing students with another healthy source of stress reduction therapy.” The motion passed with 33 students voting for, 0 voting against, and 6 abstaining.

The motion was purely designed to express the JCR’s feelings on the issue, and is yet to be condoned by the college’s senior management team.

However, the proposal, if enacted, would see puppies, rabbits or kittens being brought to St Anne’s by a local animal shelter. It was agreed that only “de-wormed, flea-free, and vaccinated” animals would be permitted on college premises. Concerns have been raised about having pets in students’ rooms or in the JCR, and as a consequence the alternative of setting up a temporary pen on the quad has been suggested. 

The initiative was prompted by Johannes Osterrieth, a first-year Chemist, who proposed it during his hustings for Academic Rep. When later asked about the motion, Osterrieth said, “Everyone loves dogs, especially puppies, and leaving the desk to play with one is quite possibly the nicest way to take a break.”

Certain members of the JCR were particularly excited by the idea of having animals, particularly puppies, in college. Bethany Cox, a second-year English student, said “I love puppies, they make the world a better place. Oxford is a very stressful place for the average young adult and I just can’t wait to get my hands on some puppies. St Anne’s: Our dog-free days are over!”

Other St Anne’s students, however, were not impressed by the proposals. Ben Rosenbaum, a second-year PPEist, said that “I hope that this motion will not detract from the importance of other issues at hand. Although puppies are wonderful creatures, my concern is that people are putting their hearts before their heads on this issue.”

Patrons of Oxford’s Wahoo club had their nostrils assaulted by a decidedly unpleasant aroma on the night of Friday 22nd February.

Students attending the popular Friday night venue were surprised to find the upper floor of the club pervaded with a smell that has been likened to a pungent form of foam, mouldy fish and even death.

First year biologist and eye-witness (or should I say nose-witness) Emilie Brignall tried to describe the smell for Cherwell, saying, “It was definitely a smoke machine, or a foam machine, or perhaps death. It was not pleasant.”

Chris Jenkins, a first-year Keble student, went on to describe it further, stating, “Seriously, the smell in the men’s toilets was preferable to the smell upstairs. It was an insidiously foul odour, but fortunately it was somewhat drowned out by the smell of liberally applied aftershave.”

Pete Mortimore, General Manager of Wahoo, was on duty on the evening in question. When contacted by Cherwell, he said, “I can assure you that this is the first of this ‘odd smell’ that I have been made aware of. A thorough investigation will take place.

“I would like to state that we are extremely pro-active in ensuring that all of our customers have a good experience at the venue and ask that if anyone has a complaint and or comment that they would like to pass on then they should do so on the evening so that we can rectify in a timely fashion.”

The smell did cause some confusion amongst students, with physicist Sam Badman thinking the club was serving food. He explained, “No one had told me so but I assumed it was just fish and chips Friday. If that really was the case then I’m still waiting on the chips and the fish definitely smelt mouldy.”

Oxford resident and PPEist Emma Alexander claimed that Wahoo will remain a favoured night spot. She said, “I’m sure this was an isolated incident. Wahoo is generally much appreciated by Oxford students and I for one sincerely hope that it has returned to its usual fragrant self by this Friday!”

Hertford student India Miller had a slightly more critical view, however. She said, “I for one was very disappointed that the subtle notes of vodka and BO that are normally the perfect accompaniment to a night out were swamped by the overwhelming smell of fish. In fact, if they want to retain my patronage, Wahoo really need to get their act together: it’s a sink or swim situation.”

CONCERNS have recently been raised about the safety of students in Oxford, after an Oxford University student was assaulted.

The attack happened in the early hours of the morning, on 17th February. A press report issued by Thames Valley Policy stated, “The victim, a 21-year-old woman, was walking along Walton Street at about 3.49am when she was approached by a man, who dragged her into a nearby alleyway.”

Investigating officer Det. Con. Darren Pomroy, of Local CID in Oxford, said: “This was clearly a very frightening ordeal for the victim, but she showed great bravery in fighting the man off, and thankfully she was unharmed. A man heard the victim’s screams and came to her assistance after the offender had run off.”

Efforts have been made to try to raise awareness of the importance of safety amongst students. Suzanne Holsomback, the OUSU VP for Women, told Cherwell, “Night safety is an important issue and the Thames Valley Police worked diligently at the beginning of Michaelmas to raise awareness of how to keep your belongings and self safe in Oxford, especially if this term was your first time away from home or in another country. The effort from somecolleges is great and I hope more do so. I would recommend keeping the focus on real statistics and information.

“Much night safety information tells women in particular, ‘don’t get raped!’ This is victim blaming and it ignores that we do not tell perpetrators, ‘don’t rape!’

“Most sexual assaults are by people the survivor knows. It is more likely to be assaulted by your partner or an acquaintance than a stranger hiding in the bushes. The National Union of Students Hidden Marks report says that the majority of women who experienced serious sexual assault while at university were attacked in someone’s home.

“I think night safety needs to include discussions about sexual consent as well as sexual abuse (non-violent acts to violent acts) and domestic abuse, so all genders can feel safe in their homes and while socialising at night.”

Several colleges, including Keble and LMH, have sent emails out to students warning about the potential dangers which students face when out at night.

Benedict Hardy, a student at Somerville College, said, “I’m sure the colleges sending these emails out handled it very sensitively, but it’s somewhat condescending to suggest that anyone being attacked wasn’t already taking every precaution possible not to be attacked.”

However another student from Balliol College argued that the emails sent to students would have a positive effect, telling Cherwell, “I think that it’s good that some colleges are warning students to be careful in Oxford. Although it’s never ever the victim’s fault if they get attacked, I don’t think that warning students to be careful and walk home together is victim blaming.”

The police are appealing for any witnesses who saw the attack to come forward and contact Det. Con. Pomroy via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 101,, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The number of students from the Republic of Ireland at Oxford has almost doubled over the past decade, Cherwell has found.

The Sunday Times reported that the total number of Irish students at Oxford and Cambridge had increased twofold between 2001 and 2011, from 213 to 448.

In Oxford specifically, the number of those domiciled in the Republic has risen from a total of 67 in 2001 to 135 in 2012.

The main driver has been an increase in postgraduate enrolments. While there are 31 undergraduates in 2012 compared to 27 in 2002, numbers undertaking graduate study have jumped from 40 to 103 in the same period.

First year St Catz linguist Niamh Furey, an Irish student from Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland, suggested, “Improved crossborder relations may have exposed more Irish students to the UCAS system, which is commonplace in the North. But I would say that Ireland’s youth has adapted to the country’s economic state: for me, Oxford’s opportunities and better funding relative to the Dublin universities were a deciding factor.”

Other Irish students in Oxford expressed varying degrees of surprise. Jennifer Ní HÉigeartaigh, a Dubliner and third year PPEist at St John’s, described the figure of 31 undergraduates as “shocking”.

Second year Somerville PPEist Zoe Fannon, from Cork, said, “Given that Ireland is so close to the UK, has a strong historical connection with it, and is an English-speaking country, 31 students of 54,344 sitting the 2011 Irish schoolleaving exam is not very many.”

Free higher education, with a small registration cost, was the case in Ireland until 2011. It was replaced by a student contribution – in effect a fee – which stood at €2,250 (£1,810) in 2012/3.

Ní HÉigeartaigh suggests the new system “is probably decreasing the gap in upfront costs and making students more likely to consider [the UK] than they were when Irish universities were free.”

Nieouamh Burns, a first year philosophy and German student at New College, said, “I would have expected the increase in fees [in the UK] to put a lot of people off – doing an undergrad at Oxford is much more expensive than at TCD [Trinity College Dublin]. In my Dublin state school we rarely spoke about coming to study in the UK. The brightest students in my school didn’t even consider coming to Oxford; I was the only applicant.”

Fannon concurred, explaining, “It just doesn’t occur to a lot of people that they could go to the UK, let alone Oxbridge. I don’t remember seeing much recruitment by UK universities in Cork at least.”

Ed Nickell, president of CraicSoc, a society for Irish and Northern Irish Oxford students, also noted, “Personal experience has shown that the majority of Irish and Northern Irish students come from a small number of top schools, especially from grammar schools in the North. We need to think not just in terms of getting Irish students, but students from a wider variety of educational backgrounds.”