Blog Page 1591
Oxford academics criticise Higher Education Reform
A coalition of the UK’s most high-profile intellectuals has launched a campaign to protect universities from the influence of the state and the market. The Council for the Defence of British Universities held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday calling for new members, funding and ideas.
Alan Bennett, Richard Dawkins, Lord Bragg, Lord May of Oxford, Dame A S Byatt, Sir David Attenborough are amongst the 65 writers, academics and broadcasters who have jointly founded the Council, many with strong ties to Oxford.
The council criticised the reform of Higher Education in England, particularly the Coalition’s decision to cut all direct state funding for arts, languages and humanities courses whilst continuing to subsidise science, technology, engineering and maths.
Sir Keith Thomas, historian and fellow of All Souls College, was primarily responsible for drawing up the Council’s manifesto which highlights the need to defend universities’ autonomy, to free scholarship from short-term economic concerns and to make university education accessible to all students who can benefit from it.
Professor Thomas says “I find much that is repugnant in the treatment of our universities by the present government and its recent predecessors,” criticising “the ever-increasing government regulation of academic life.”
According to Sir Thomas, “The very purpose of the university is grossly distorted by the attempt to create a market in higher education. Students are regarded as ‘consumers’ and encouraged to invest in the degree course they think most likely to enhance their earning prospects. Academics are seen as ‘producers’, whose research is expected to focus on topics of commercial value and whose ‘output’ is measured against a single scale and graded like sacks of wheat.”
Writing in the Times Higher Education Supplement, he speaks of a “deep dissatisfaction which pervades the university sector.” For Sir Thomas, “the understandable concern to improve the nation’s economic performance, coupled with an ideological faith in the virtues of the market, has meant that the central values of the university are being sidelined or forgotten.”
“Scientists and scholars should be permitted to pursue knowledge and understanding of the physical and human world in which we live and to do so for their own sake, regardless of commercial value,” he added.
According to Baroness Deech, a founding member of the council and former Principal of St Anne’s College, “University education is for the public good, regardless of who pays for it, and ought not to be put to gain political advantages.”
She feels the government is tightening its grip “over entry standards, the right sort of students, fees and scholarships, the size of the student population and the quality of teaching provision.”
At the inaugural meeting, Professor Gordon Campbell FBA and member of the Steering Committee, identified the need, “in the first instance, to articulate what has gone wrong, to understand how one of the world’s greatest systems of universities has come to be threatened by managerialism and oppressive layers of bureaucracy.”
However Tom Wakeford, Senior Research Fellow at University of Edinburgh, writing in The Telegraph explained “we are no longer in the world of the 1980s BBC comedy drama A Very Peculiar Practice, when the arguments could be understood as a simple case of academic freedom versus corporate greed.”
According to the Professor Wakeford, the claim that academics know best “is both out of date and damaging. Some 17 billion pounds of public funds will be spent on universities this year. Such a level of resources can only be morally justified if built on the basis of a dialogue with the public.”
David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science, welcomed the launch of the new independent body. “The Council will create welcome space for well-informed debate about the future of higher education.”
The Minister countered the Council’s criticisms, “To see the new Council as simply an attack on the government of the day misses the point. It is important that people understand what our reforms are doing. They save public money while simultaneously protecting university income.”
According to Mr Willetts, Britain’s universities are world-class and the Council will help them remain so. “Education is already a great British export industry. We should be celebrating its vigour and diversity and exporting it across the world.”
Charlotte Greene, a second-year from Exeter commented, “as the government no longer pays for student fees it should have proportionally less influence within universities.”
Nicholas Evans a graduate student from Wadham, thinks the Council “is a significant development, which will help to highlight the extent of the attacks the system of public education in this country.”
“The attempts by the government to force marketisation, stratification and privatisation through the sector need to be exposed and challenged,” he explained.
Evans, a supporter of the Socialist Worker Student Society, added that “The movement to oppose the government benefits from initiatives such as this. However, it also needs students and staff to organise together from below.”
250 year-old opera revived
The Sheldonian Theatre hosted the first complete performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera, Anacréon (1754), in over 250 years. It was revived by Jonathan Williams, Director of Music at St Hilda’s, who reconstructed the score from manuscripts scattered around Paris.
When asked why he began the project, Wiliams told Cherwell, “The sources were incomplete and little was known about the music or its composition – it hadn’t even been published – so it presented some interesting challenges to the novice musicologist. The first was to arrive at a definitive version of the score. The autograph score hasn’t survived and none of the surviving musical sources is complete. It was quite a puzzle!”
The piece was performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Williams claimed that they were the obvious choice for the project, saying, “More than any other orchestra I know, the players of OAE combine an open-minded approach towards scholarship with an unparalleled virtuosity and creative enthusiasm and flexibility. So to perform Rameau with OAE, world-class soloists and the Choir of Magdalen College at the Sheldonian is a dream come true! Rameau is seldom performed in the UK so Friday’s concert was an opportunity relished by performers and the audience alike.”
Jonathan Cross, Chair of the Musical Faculty Board, commented, “This was a thrilling event for all involved – performers and audience alike. The rapturous reception said it all. The musicians of the orchestra made the music dance. The soloists performed with Gallic verve. It was a true coming together of musical scholarship and practice. The memory of the evening will linger for a long time.”
Eric Clarke, who was Chair of the Faculty Board when the idea was first proposed, was equally impressed by the musical, saying, “The performance was a fantastic success: not only did the music turn out to be wonderful (and thus quite wrongly neglected for over 250 years), but the playing and singing were electrifying – as the Sheldonian’s packed audience demonstrated with their rapturous reception.”
Students who saw the opera were equally thrilled. Jem Lowther, second year musician and Choral Scholar at Corpus Christi, added: “The whole production was a wonderful piece of musical theatre, with panache, precision and flair. In the theatre, it felt as though a part of history was being rejuvenated on stage. To be there, for that moment, was magical.”
Bronze Age arrowhead found in Oxford
An excavation at Minchery Paddock, near the Kassam Stadium, which ended last weekend after over a month of digging, has uncovered a Bronze Age arrowhead, estimated to be around 4,000 years old, among other findings of important archeological interest.
The excavation constitutes a major collaboration between the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education and Archeox, the Archeology of East Oxford Community Project.
The original aim of the dig was to explore the area where Littlemore Priory once stood, a nunnery established around AD1110 which was closed in 1525 under Cardinal Thomas Wolsey during the Reformation. A large amount of medieval pottery as well as decorated glazed floor tiles were discovered, while various stone walls, floors and hearths were also found by the archeologists, suggesting that the nunnery was much larger than previously thought.
Project Director Dr David Griffiths commented that “we expected to find traces of the medieval priory, but perhaps not such well-preserved walls or with so much pottery, animal bone and other finds.”
However, according to Dr Griffiths the “real surprise” came with the discovery of a number of prehistoric flints, including a Bronze Age arrowhead as old as 4,000 years old, which could hint to prehistoric settlements in the area. In addition, Roman pottery and tile finds point to the likelihood of Roman presence in the past.
Dr Griffiths wished to highlight the role of volunteers in the excavation, over 500 of whom were involved in the project, pointing to the fact that “volunteers are part of the whole research process – doing more or less everything on site from digging to recording.’ Volunteers include anyone from members of the local community to Oxford University undergraduate and postgraduate students. Moreover, Dr Griffiths stressed the work of the University in “engaging with the community” through this and other projects in conjunction with the Department of Continuing Education.
Oxford University Vice-Chancellor Andrew Hamilton, who visited the site last Friday, agreed, saying that “it is so important that the University and the local community maintain an active and close relationship, and the fascinating discoveries of the excavation are testament to what can happen when town and gown work together.”
Archeox and their volunteers will now prepare a research report of their findings to be released later in the year, and future excavations at the same site have not been ruled out in the coming years.
Restaurant Review: At Thai vs Shanghai 30s
AT THAI
For those unaccustomed to the long-established Oxford tradition of crewdates, they can seem a daunting prospect. Your most mortifying encounters are relayed through incessant sconces. Inexplicably, your companions develop an implausibly accurate aim with pennies – that bottle of wine you smugly picked up half price in Tescos is less appealing when downing it. Surviving that, you might be stranded in no man’s land – or, the end of the table – with only the boy whose conversational abilities are limited to gash, lash and rugby. Despite this glowing account, crewdating is in fact a very entertaining part of the Oxford experience; At Thai, along with a few other stalwarts, is an establishment that facilitates the crewdate experience no end.
As a crewdate host, it does what it says on the proverbial tin. It provides a lively atmosphere, where shouting, chanting, sconcing and standing on the chairs are accepted, indeed often encouraged. However, those looking for a quality Thai meal should prepare for a somewhat uninspiring and lacklustre offering. The set menu consists of an admittedly abundant quantity of plain rice, alongside a variety of noodle and meat dishes. One dish, with prawns and noodles, I would consider buying outside the context of a crewdate. The rest were merely tolerated, in accordance with the ‘I’ve paid for it so I might as well’ school of thought. Here, bland flavours prevail.
In At Thai’s defence, their efforts far surpass the efforts of the now defunct yet still infamous Jamals; kudos to anyone who completed the latter’s chicken korma, a suspiciously yellow liquid sporadically interrupted with small pieces of rubbery meat. At least in my experience, while At Thai’s food may drift into the realms of the mediocre, it provides a good enough service and atmosphere – particularly when faced with a bunch of rowdy students. Frankly, by the end of your meal, you’ll be too drunk to notice or care anyway.
SHANGHAI 30s
I won’t beat about the bush; this is an absolute hidden gem on St Aldates. Shanghai 30s boldly claims they are ‘Oxfords best Chinese’, and I don’t doubt it. An opulent interior, pleasant atmosphere and – crucially – delicious and genuine food combine to lend weight to that assertion. The décor aims to emulate 1930s Shanghai, and whilst its authenticity might be questioned, its overall sleek and chic feel definitely adds to the ambience.
And now to the food: I am still engaged in an unremitting, nay all-consuming affair with their crispy chicken rolls, wrapped with ham and asparagus in a peanut satay dressing. Whilst my culinary horizons may remain narrow, the menu boasts a wide range of choices; there is plenty of choice for the vegetarian and the meat-eater alike. I can highly recommend the vegetarian platter, a melee of stir-fried beancurd, mange tout, black mushrooms and spring onions. The biggest issue this restaurant presents seems to be selecting the dish, since you are overwhelmed with equally delicious sounding dishes of fish, seafood, chicken, duck, beef and pork, variously fused with rice, noodles and soups.
Granted, you do pay slightly more for the quality – however, the emphasis being on ‘slightly’, as the food here is far from extortionate, and certainly within the reaches of a student budget. Anyone looking for an excellent Oriental meal in the heart of Oxford, look no further.
Bonfire Bonanza
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Behind the Scenes: Volpone XXX
Marketing is tough. Marketing for busy, fickle students is tougher. Marketing for busy, fickle students who are over-saturated and under-whelmed by flyers is toughest. But, it’s a worthwhile challenge.
There are a couple of options of how to market a play for Oxford students.
a. The Phallus. Everywhere and all the time with the in-out missionary job of printing a shed-load of flyers and posters.
b. The Vagina. Complex, hard to figure out, but once conquered, very rewarding. More recent examples include tarot cards, origami swans and floor chalking.
c. The Arse-hole. “Only 35 tickets left. Get yours now!” Right. It’s 0th week.
Or, you put these options together in a variety of exciting positions.
The first line of our marketing plan was: “sex is a highly marketable asset.” Cooped up teenagers in close proximity with no parents result in copious amounts of copulation. Our way to exploit this without causing public outrage (except perhaps from the Christian Union) is customised condoms. The theory goes that because a condom is so useful, it won’t get thrown away like the plethora of paper flyers destined for the recycling bin. Throwing a condom away would be like throwing away a banana or an umbrella or a USB pen.
We have 500 customised condom matchbooks which are being dispersed like sexually transmitted wildfire around Oxford as you read. Condoms, however, are rather small, and putting a flyer’s worth of information on a prophylactic seemed ridiculous. So we reneged to partake in option a. But, we’re avoiding the missionary position. Volporne XXX is set in the pornography industry, an industry whose marketing is notorious for the high calibre of its witty titles and sophisticated artwork. It’s an industry whose idiosyncratic branding gave us the opportunity to use our flyers as “movie posters” for our hero Volporne’s latest hit productions.
Cue ‘Cumbeline’, ‘Tits Andronicus’, ‘Measure for Pleasure’, ‘It’s Okay She’s a Whore’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Cream.’ And a huge discount from Stuprint who, after being sent the artwork, replied with an offer of free express delivery and some wonderfully unprofessional suggestions of their own:“CoriolANUS” and ‘Homeo and Juliet.’
So why have we chosen to put this classic play in a setting so seemingly incongruous, and so full of potential for gross miscommunication? Because we’re pretty sure people will be surprised by just how congruous it is, and by the genius of a script that simultaneously illuminates and is illuminated by its modern context. We’re willing to trust that people will make up their mind about this interpretation only once they’ve seen the glowing set and the dance routines, the jazz band and the unique score, the gripping plot and the complex characters. After all, we aren’t staging a porno. Volpone is a dark comedy written by Ben Jonson, one of the heftiest titans in the canon of English Literature, which we are setting in the pornography industry. And it’s pronounced Vol-poor-nay. Not Val-pohn, not Vole-porn. There are no voles.
Volpone XXX is in the Keble O’Reilly in 7th Week
Marketing is tough. Marketing for clever, arsybusy, fickle students is tougher. Marketing for clever, arsybusy, fickle students who are over-saturated and under-whelmed by flyers is toughest. But, it’s a fun worthwhile challengejob..
There are a couple of options of of how to market a play for Oxford students.
a. The Phallus. Everywhere and all the time with the in-out missionary job of printing a shed-load of flyers and posters.
b. The Vagina. Complex, hard to figure out, but once conquered, very rewarding. More recent examples include tarot cards, origami swans and floor chalking.
c. The Arse-hole. “Only 35 tickets left. Get yours now!” Right. It’s 0th week.
Or, you put these options together in a variety of exciting positions.
The first line of our mMarketing planbid was: “sex is a highly marketable asset.” Cooped up teenagers in close proximity with no parents result in copious amounts of copulation. Our way to exploit this without causing public outrage (except perhaps from the Christian Union) is customised condoms. We are banking on theThe theory goes fact that because a condom is so useful, it won’t get thrown away like the plethora of paper flyers destined for the recycling bin. Throwing a condom away would be like throwing away a banana, or an umbrella or a USB pen.
We have 500 customised condom matchbooks which are being dispersed like sexually transmitted wildfire around Oxford as you read.
Condoms, however, are rather small, and putting a flyer’s worth of information on a prophylactic seemed ridiculous. So we reneged to partake in option a. But, we’re avoiding the missionary position. Volporne XXX is set in the pornography industry, an industry whose marketing is notorious for the high calibre of its its witty titles and sophisticated artwork. And, It’s an industry whose idiosyncratic branding gave us the opportunity to use our flyers as “movie posters” for our hero Volporne’s latest hit productions.
Cue ‘Cumbeline’, ‘Tits Andronicus’, ‘Measure for Pleasure’, ‘It’s Okay She’s a Whore’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Cream.’
AlongsideAnd a huge discount from Stuprint who, after being sent the artwork, replied with an offer of free express delivery and some wonderfullyhighly unprofessional suggestions of their own:“CoriolANUS” and ‘Homeo and Juliet.’
But, heading down the dark dank alleyway of pornography has not been an easy ride all the way through. We had a very awkward moment when a bold auditionee sent in some explicit photos, we’ve seen our “Do you want to be a Porn star’ audition flyers in the bin of the EFL and we’ve had to significantly tailor the subject heading of our mail-out for schoolsemails because theyit wereas, unsurprisingly, getting shot down by sex-hating spam filters. filtered into spam.
And, of course, some people just don’t get it.
We’ve been at the bottom of OxStu’s drama ruler twice because they thought our marketing left a “bitter taste in the mouth.” I’d be quite worried if it didn’t. We’re not promoting a classy musical or a Miller play. We’re marketing a production set in the pornography industry, which, more often than not, leaves a bitter taste in more than just its reviewers’ mouths.
So why have we chosen to put this classic play in a setting so seemingly incongruous, and so full of the potential for gross miscommunication? Because we’re pretty sure people will be surprised by just how congruous it is, and by the genius of a script that simultaneously illuminates and is illuminated by its modern context. We’re willing to trust that people will make up their mind about this interpretation only once they’ve seen the glowing set and the dance routines, the jazz band and the unique score, the gripping plot and the complex characters. After all, we aren’t staging a porno. VolponeAlthough our marketing may be focussed on our adaptation of the text, we’d like to make clear that the play itself, in answer to the questions that we’ve been asked, is not porn. It’s is a dark comedy written by Ben Jonson, one of the heftiest titans in the canon of English Literature,a contemporary of Shakespeare, which that we are setting in the pornography industry. AndAnd it’s pronounced Vol-poor-nay. Not Val-pohn, not Vole-porn. There are no voles.
[BI1]What does this bit say? That porn is just really bitter for everyone?
[KE2]This is the paragraph I’m worried about. I’m not sure about using their pun and I’m not 100% about sentence structure. It might sound weird because I’m trying to avoid repeating the “pornography industry. An industry which/whose” motif of the previous paragraph.
Preview: Jane Eyre
Polly Teale’s unconventional approach to Jane Eyre splits our heroine in two. It opens with two young girls reading aloud to one another and leaping about the stage: one is Jane (Chloe Gale) whose progression from ‘queer’ child to wilful adult is skilfully conveyed through precise direction and confident diction. The other is billed as Bertha (Joanne Murray), Mr Rochester’s insane wife who lurks in his attic for the majority of the novel but features prominently in this adaptation. The audience is presented with two Janes – one outward ego who interacts with the world around her, and another inward id which is fused with Bertha’s character.
Bertha is onstage for the entire production and although Murray doesn’t have a lot of lines, she makes the most of an incredibly physical role and communicates with the audience throughout. Her writhing and moaning behind the rest of the cast throughout the play deserve a review of their own. This uninterrupted performance could potentially wear thin and seem laboured or distracting at points but it also sets this dramatisation apart from the novel and adds another layer to a familiar story. Murray’s movement opens up questions of sexual repression in an original way as well as constantly reminding us of the gap between Jane’s thoughts and her actions: without soliloquies, this distinction can easily be lost in plays.
The concept is effective in the opening scene: Jane is scolded by the cruel Mr Reed, and the two girls respond with one voice. This technically demanding touch works well as a vocal performance and brought home Jane’s duality to me for the first time. The concept also works well when St. John tries to pressure Jane into marrying him and coming to India with him as a missionary: Jane rejects him articulately while Bertha’s violent movements rail against his Christian hypocrisy on a raised platform behind them. Alex Stutt conveys St. John’s pompousness and piety with deliciously disdainful curls of the lip: his performance is mature and assured throughout.
Josie Richardson is versatile and extremely watchable as Bessie, Blanche Ingram and Diana Rivers, three diverse supporting roles which she performs with an array of accents and mannerisms. These solid supporting performances ground the play in reality . Whether or not such a psychoanalytical presentation of Bronte’s novel appeals to you, this is a play well worth attending. The calibre of the actors means you’re always in safe hands, yet this Jane Eyre has been dangerously and innovatively reworked.
FOUR STARS
Zoom in on…OU Photo
Carl Turpie became president of OU Photo after a term of membership. He shares with us some insights into the world of digital photography.
How did you get into photography?
I’ve always been the person in my friendship group who takes all the photos. I’m sure every set of friends has one. It wasn’t until two summers ago that I decided to take up photography properly and bought myself a DSLR camera with money earned over that summer. Since then I’ve dabbled in taking photos of all kinds of things. I like taking pictures of people, buildings, and anything in-between.
What made you apply to be president of
Oxford University Photography Society?
When I bought my DSLR I decided that I should learn how to use it properly, so (combined with lots of internet research) I went to the Oxford University Photography Society. In the first few weeks they mentioned that the elections for the new committee were coming up. I thought it could be fun to run for president and it couldn’t hurt my CV either. By the end of term [MT 11] I was President.
What are the aims of this society and what have OU Photo members been up to this term?
The main aim is to improve people’s photography. We run weekly classes taught by a professional photographer that aim to show a new technique, critique photographs or just go out and take some pictures. We also have a four-hour studio workshop coming up next week, which is an intensive class about studio set ups and using flash for portraits and fashion photography.
Are you considering pursuing photography further after university?
Personally I don’t have any aims to pursue photography as a career. It will definitely always be a hobby of mine and I would consider doing photography jobs on the side to help pay for that new lens or tripod that I want if not necessarily need.
Do you have any advice for aspiring
photographers?
Firstly, get out there and take lots of photographs, find out what you like, what you’re good at, and how to use your camera. Also look at the work of others, it’s great for inspiration. 500px.com has some amazing photos. The internet is a fountain of knowledge on everything from the technical side of photography to artistic effect. Last but not least, come along to Oxford University Photography Society!
The OU Photo termcard and information can be found at www.ouphoto.com.
Carl Turpie became president of OU Photo after a term of membership. He shares with us some insights into the world of digital photography.
How did you get into photography?
I’ve always been the person in my friendship group who takes all the photos. I’m sure every set of friends has one. It wasn’t until two summers ago that I decided to take up photography properly and bought myself a DSLR camera with money earned over that summer. Since then I’ve dabbled in taking photos of all kinds of things. I like taking pictures of people, buildings, and anything in-between.
What made you apply to be president of Oxford University Photography Society?
When I bought my DSLR I decided that I should learn how to use it properly, so (combined with lots of internet research) I went to the Oxford University Photography Society. In the first few weeks they mentioned that the elections for the new committee were coming up. I thought it could be fun to run for president and it couldn’t hurt my CV either. By the end of term [MT 11] I was President.
What are the aims of this society and what have OU Photo members been up to this term?
The main aim is to improve people’s photography. We run weekly classes taught by a professional photographer that aim to show a new technique, critique photographs or just go out and take some pictures. We also have a four-hour studio workshop coming up next week, which is an intensive class about studio set ups and using flash for portraits and fashion photography.
Are you considering pursuing photography further after university?
Personally I don’t have any aims to pursue photography as a career. It will definitely always be a hobby of mine and I would consider doing photography jobs on the side to help pay for that new lens or tripod that I want if not necessarily need.
Do you have any advice for aspiringphotographers?
Firstly, get out there and take lots of photographs, find out what you like, what you’re good at, and how to use your camera. Also look at the work of others, it’s great for inspiration. 500px.com has some amazing photos. The internet is a fountain of knowledge on everything from the technical side of photography to artistic effect. Last but not least, come along to Oxford University Photography Society!
The OU Photo termcard and information can be found at www.ouphoto.com.
Corpus propose conservative rep
Members of Corpus Christi’s JCR proposed a motion this week to create a position on their Equal Opportunities Committee to represent right-wing opinions.
The motion originally claimed, “Within this JCR, people who are politically to the right are often actively isolated, personally attacked, and made to feel unwelcome… We have an equal opportunities committee with individuals on it to represent minorities in this JCR who are often perceived as being subject to prejudice from society”.
It resolved “to represent the conservative minority in the JCR on the Equal Ops Committee and to charge this committee member with ensuring that conservative views and opinions are free to be aired in the JCR.”
However, following opposition from JCR members, the motion was eventually amended so it instead read, “to mandate the Equal Opportunities President to ensure that people do not discriminate or name-call on the basis of political ideology in the JCR.”
30 JCR Members voted in favour of the amended motion, with 24 voting against. The Equal Opportunities Committee at Corpus has representatives for Black and Minority Ethnic, Gender, Spectrum (LGBTQ), and Disabilities.
Samuel Robberts, who proposed the motion, claimed, “Corpus JCR is, at its best, a friendly environment in which people are free to express themselves without hostility or personal rebuke. I felt that it was necessary to bring this motion in order to remind certain parts of the JCR that this freedom extends to all people, regardless of their views.
“There had, of late, been a series of incidents where people with right leaning political views were personally attacked for having said views and, as my motion stated, were accused of ‘hating the gays’, ‘being a rape apologist’, and being ‘ignorant’. They were told that their views are insulting or misguided and had their views and beliefs dismissed out of hand because they happened to be different to the majority.
“This motion was entirely JCR-specific,and I saw it more as a chance to raise awareness of the issue in the appropriate forum, rather than to effect substantive change in the way the JCR committee works. That the motion passed in an amended form is pleasing, provided that people appreciatethe issues raised.”
Henry Tonks, an OCA member and Corpus Christi student, commented, “I can sympathise with the feelings that lay behind this motion – I think there’s no question that the Corpus JCR as an institution goes out of its way to be seen as a liberal, open, maybe even permissive environment. This has ended up giving primacy to political correctness over a genuinely healthy tolerance and variety, and it is hard to feel comfortable in the JCR expressing conservative views.”
He added, “With all of that said, I can’t say that I am particularly happy with the motion, since it seems distinctly unconservative to rely on an arbitrarily designated institution to express the beliefs of an individual.”
Steph Cherill, JCR Equal Opportunities President, said, “As Samuel Robberts’ motion made dramatically clear, there has been a deteriorationin the attitude of several JCR members towards people who are right of centre. They by no means represent the mainstream opinion of Corpus JCR. It is my strong belief, not only as a conservative, but as Equal Opportunities President, that this poses a threat to this atmosphere of intellectual discussion as well as to the welfare of JCR members, who may feel victimised.
“I would add that [Robberts’] experienceis not unique among membersof the JCR who spoke in supportof the motion in the meeting. Discussion of the motion in itself has and will support my new mandate to protect against the discrimination in the complaint. I am confident that this will be the end of the problem.’
Kezia Lock, JCR President, commented in a personal capacity, “The basis of this motion was a number of isolated incidents between particular members of the JCR – almost all of whom hold a place on the JCR Committeeor sub-committee. Under my presidency I have tried to ensure thatthe JCR as a forum and representative body is apolitical. The JCR as a bodydoes not endorse any political party.”
“I am saddened to hear that the strong political views of these particular ‘lefty’ individuals have caused them to undermine their holding tolerance as a sacred virtue by being completely intolerant of ‘conservative’ views, and that this led to inappropriate personal attacks and intolerance.The motion very quickl yturned into an empty motion mandating individual JCR members to benicer to each other, to be enforced by the Equal Ops President.”
Rachel Dellar, a fourth-year biochemistat Corpus, commented, “I personally believe the original motion was inappropriate because allpositions currently on the Equal Ops committee are there to protect thewelfare of individuals who cannotchoose the fact that they are in a minority . Although political preferenceis a somewhat systemic issue and isobviously correlated with upbringing, there is a clear element of choicewhich makes it disparate from BME or Spectrum, for example.
“Whilst name-calling and completedisrespect are obviously inappropriate,I believe it is appropriateand healthy to engage in debate/criticism of wthe views we choose inorder to further understanding. It is also fine and should not be consideredoffensive if someone does notwant to engage in debate.”
She added, “I was opposed to themotion because in its amended form,it was just nonenforceable wordsto be added to the constitution. You can’t mandate all members to be friendly.”