A documentary about coping with life as a deaf student at Oxford, made by a group of Oxford undergraduates, has gone viral on YouTube.

The film, entitled “Hearing… but not as you know it” was made by SJCtv, the student TV channel of St John’s College, and received over 9,200 views after being listed on the site for just two days.

It follows the life of Helen Willis, a third year Physiology and Psychology undergraduate at the college, who was left totally deaf after contracting meningitis at the age of two.

Willis said, “My parents were told I would never be able to speak and I would need special support for the rest of my life.”

Willis was given a unilateral cochlear implant following her illness, which gives her limited hearing, and the film explores how she experiences life in “two worlds of silence and sound”.

In June, Willis was awarded the £6000 UK Graeme Clarke Scholarship to help her in her studies at Oxford. The scholarship was set up to honour the memory of Professor Graeme Clarke, the pioneer of the modern cochlear implant, and is presented to deaf students on both the basis of academic achievement and commitment to the foundation’s ideals of humanity and leadership.

Miss Willis described her time in Oxford as her “first experience of the hearing world”, and explained that she has been “stunned” by the unexpected success of the film.

She told Cherwell, “Previous television documentaries on deafness and cochlear implants have generally been third-person accounts, and I feel that the best way to understand how the cochlear implant works and the challenges the recipients face is to directly experience it for yourself.”

Pascoe Foxell, an undergraduate involved in editing the film, noted that “pretty much everything […] was produced by St John’s students with the equipment SJCtv has bought in the past.”

There had been concerns about how the film would be vx cb rtreceived by the Deaf community, as use of the Cochlear Implant is still a “sensitive issue”, being seen by some as an attempt to escape the Deaf identity.

However, feedback appears to have been wholly positive. The video was passed on to the Cochlear Implant Children’s Support which has distributed it to parents of children relying on Cochlear Implant Technology today, and the President of SJCtv, Sally Le Page, said that “it’s especially lovely to see how it has helped so many families.”

The film has been viewed in around 50 countries, and has proved most popular in the United States. Indeed, it was featured in the American web-show, “Right This Minute”, in which it was lauded as “compelling” and “an inspiration”.

It is hoped that the video will increase awareness of the challenges facing those with hearing problems, and also encourage others considering study at Oxford.

Helen Young, a University Disability Officer, noted that although there are several deaf students at Oxford, university applications from those with sensory impairment are low, “particularly amongst students who are profoundly deaf” but was keen to stress the “wide range of support” which the University provides. Miss Willis also noted how both St John’s and the University have been “wonderful” in arranging any necessary support.

The Oxford English Dictionary is asking the public to submit information online on the origins of words and phrases such as the ‘Bellini’ cocktail and the expression “running about like a blue arsed fly.”

Nicola Burton, a spokesperson for the publishers, commented, “the digital age has presented a host of new opportunities which are changing lexicography every day.”

She claimed that the initiative is “one more step in a process that began with the digitization of the OED in the 1980s.”

Linguist Raphael Torrance, a student at Lincoln, condemned the move as “gimmicky”, as it “undermines and devalues the respectability of this sacred institution. Stuff like this belongs on Urban Dictionary.”

Burton disagreed, explaining, “James Murray’s [the dictionary’s first editor] original appeals went out in print and were answered by mail and any information received after the relevant part of the alphabet had been printed couldn’t be incorporated into the dictionary until the next print edition.”

Paul Nash, the Honorary Vice-President of the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles welcomed the “intriguing” move.

He argued that “readers of the OED are likely to be (as a group) very widely read and will probably come up with good citations, which are earlier, or clearer, than those already noted by the editors.”

However, he expressed a note of caution as “a glance over some of the comments on the website suggests that many people are reporting only vague recollections and hearsay.”

“I fear the OED editors will have to wade through a lot of that sort of stuff to find the useful references.”

Cherwell readers with information about the origins of words can contribute to the project at www.oed.com/appeals

Wadham students returning to college after the vacation have come back to a parlous economic situation, as according to the SU treasurer their Student Union has only £1200 left.

These financial troubles appear to have arisen because the SU’s expenditure has greatly outstripped its credit. Jahnavi Emmanuel, Wadham’s current SU President, commented that the college’s economic micro-crisis was due largely to “all of our Freshers’ Week expenses, plus down-payments and deposits for Queerfest, which come out of our 2012/13 budget.”

She went on to explain that the college have been helpful in giving the SU a loan over the summer holidays, which covered part of the expenses for Freshers’ Week, yet the main problem lies in the fact that the block grant for the term will not come through until the end of first week, leaving the SU temporarily bankrupt.

A host of other issues have also emerged, as Emmanuel explained that the SU was “still owed money from a newspaper company which overcharged us massively”. Furthermore, the SU has found itself in still greater debt due to JCR refurbishments which took place last academic year. Emmanuel continued that, “We’ve been looking at ways to cut down over-spending in future, and are also working to secure funding for any future plans we have”.

Max McGenity, the SU’s Treasurer said, “Essentially, our predecessors were under the impression that we would receive funding for a coffee machine and all its maintenance etc from the Wadham Society (an alumni donation organisation) to the tune of 5000 quid and as soon as I took over I got an email saying the bid had failed.”

He continued, “We’re in a bad place (about £1200 in our account) until our grant comes in at the end of this week. College just won’t give an advance, which is really not on. Essentially everything is rectifiable, but it’s just a complete pain to start our year off like this!”

Wadham students have expressed their support for their student governing body, with a second year PPE student commenting, “This is all very distressing, but I’m sure our highly competent SU Treasurer will sort things out”.

Students from other colleges have been less magnanimous. An English student at New College commented, “I find Wadham’s predicament a surprise, considering their long-standing tradition of straight-laced iron-fisted conservatism”, whilst a Classicist commented that “you would have thought that a college which has produced two Lord Chancellors would be able to manage its money a little better. This seems to me yet another sign of the slipping standards of education.”

St Anne’s College has received its largest ever life time donation (not a legacy) of £1.5 million to provide financial support and career opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds.

The gift, made by Mike and Helen Danson, will fund between 30 and 45 undergraduate bursaries starting this month. In line with the University’s eligibility criteria, full bursaries will be on offer to students with household incomes of under £16k.

In addition, all undergraduates of the College receiving the bursary will be able to take part in the Danson Mentoring Scheme. Under this scheme, at least 3 students per year will complete up to 5 weeks of paid internships during the holidays before their final year.

Tim Gardam, Principal of St Anne’s said: “Mike and Helen’s benefaction is a magnificent statement of support for all that St Anne’s stands for – our commitment to give opportunities to talented students whom Oxford otherwise might overlook.”

“It is a wonderful example of the generosity on which St Anne’s now depends as Government funding falls. The mentoring programme will give students an unprecedented chance to prepare for the world beyond Oxford,” he added.

A spokesperson for the college, pointed to the timely nature of the donation, “with students preparing to bear the cost of £9,000 tuition fees, this donation will underpin Oxford and St Anne’s undertaking that all students with the ability to succeed should have the opportunity to do so, regardless of background.”

Hannah Smith, a second year from St Anne’s College expressed her delight at the news: “The donation was an incredible surprise! It was really exciting to think about the success of alumni: we all really pride ourselves on how friendly our college is and this generous donation just goes to show that it’s an ethic deep-rooted in Anne’s culture.’

‘It’s great that it can go towards helping students from all kinds of backgrounds become part of such a lively and enjoyable environment.”

45% of Oxford University’s philanthropic income is donated to specific colleges. This gift is the most generous life time donation St Anne’s has received. Donations to the university nearly tripled between 2009 and 2011.

“Oxford Thinking: The Campaign for the University of Oxford” which encompasses gifts made to the university and to colleges passed the £1 billion milestone in 2010.

By July 2011 it had reached 92% of its stated minimum target of £1.25 billion.

Mike Danson read law at St Anne’s in 1982 and made his 200 million pound fortune according to the FT when he sold his information business Datamonitor in 2007. He currently owns New Statesman and is chairman of Progressive Digital Media Group.

Oxford University has denied allegations from some of the UK’s leading private schools that ‘flagging’ systems, which form part of the admissions process, are discriminating against students from private schools.

Representatives of private schools across the country expressed concern last week that changes in University admissions processes’ would lead to discrimination against applicants who attended private school.

The worries were raised by the universities sub-committee at the annual Headmasters’ and Headmistress’ Conference (HMC) in Belfast on 1st October, in response to the government’s new plans for admissions.

Chris Ramsey, the co-chair of the committee, said the changes were “not the right way to go about university admissions” and were “inherently wrong.”

Under this system, universities charging the top tuition fees of £9,000 a year must set targets for the number of state school pupils admitted.

Les Ebdon, the newly appointed leader of the Office of Fair Access, the government’s watchdog for university admissions, recently expressed his commitment to setting universities “more challenging targets” for state school admissions, while Conservative MP’s accused him of “social engineering.”

The HMC fears that taking background into account may pressure universities into negatively discriminating against applicants who went to private schools.

In a similar vein the Chairman of the HMC, Dr Christopher Ray of Manchester Grammar School, said in his keynote speech that to distinguish between students from different backgrounds would be impossible “without an incredibly cumbersome and intrusive process of scrutiny” and that therefore “what is proposed by some would be the replacement of one type of perceived unfairness with another.”

Oxford University does not abide to these targets. A spokesperson for the University noted, “It is absolutely in our interests to attract and select the brightest students, regardless of background.” Instead, the University operates its own “contextual data flagging system” for taking into account educational background during the admissions process.

Under this system, applicants are strongly recommended for interview if their school performs below the national average, and their postcode indicates that they come from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, or if they have been in care for more than three months, and they meet the academic requirements including being predicted AAA at A level.

However, this only increases their chances of an interview, and after this stage they compete on merit like the other candidates. The purpose of this system is to ensure that promising students do not get ‘lost’ during the applications process.

Julia Paolitto, a spokesperson for Oxford University said that they are “committed to widening access to Oxford from currently under-represented groups” but that “our approach looks beyond the familiar and sometimes misleading ways of categorising educational disadvantage, and focuses on identifying and tackling the core factors in under-representation,” those included in the flagging system.

The University’s Access Agreement for this year has been approved by the OFFA, but does not constrain it to specific targets. Instead of affecting the admissions process, it commits the University to increasing financial support for those students that it currently admits under the present system.

Yet while independent schools educate just 7% of the population, they still accounted for more than 40% of Oxford admissions last year.

Sam Atwell, a 2nd year PPEist at Balliol, said of this statistic, “This shows that the system is so heavily balanced in favour of privately educated students that it seems petty to quibble about reverse discrimination.

“The only other thing that these headmasters can consistently claim is that parents have paid for the right for their kids to go to Oxbridge and have consequently been short-changed. This, of course, would be career suicide.”

Professor Andrew Hamilton, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, has announced that the University of Oxford is to increase its fundraising campaign from £1.25 billion to £3 billion.

The Oxford Thinking Campaign reached its initial £1.25 billion target in the middle of March. Money raised will be channelled into three main areas: supporting students, funding academic programmes and improving buildings and infrastructure. Money raised so far has funded new scholarships and academic posts, particularly at the Blavatnik School of Government, and has also supported new research programmes and access schemes.

The campaign, which was launched in May 2004, draws on support from individuals, organisations and corporate bodies.

Professor Hamilton, in his annual oration to the University last week, said that reaching the £1.25 billion target had been “a remarkable milestone, but a milestone nevertheless on a continuing road.” He said of the new £3 billion target, “I am sure we can do it – and frankly we have to do it, because it represents the essential down payment on the future aspirations and achievements of our university.”

The Vice-Chancellor also touched on the issue of philanthropy in light of the recent change in government funding for universities. He said, “The retreat of the state from providing direct funding for important aspects of higher education is a trend that has caused a great deal of anger, sorrow, and soul searching.” He added, “With greater weight and reliance being placed upon the individual and the private, it is no surprise that the role and the importance of philanthropy is being drawn into ever sharper focus.”

Although Professor Hamilton praised philanthropy, drawing on the success of the recent launch of the Moritz-Heynman scholarship scheme and the Blavatnik School of Government, he also pointed out its limits, saying that it is not a “magic bullet” for university funding, or “a door through which the state can progressively leave the scene.”

When asked about how achievable the target was and how long it would take to achieve, an Oxford University spokesperson told Cherwell, “Only time will tell how long it takes the University to raise £3 billion”, but pointed out, “We managed to reach £1.25 million in just under eight years, the fastest that such an amount has been raised in European university history.”

An example of Oxford’s commitment to supporting students has been through a funding scheme for postgraduate students worth £100 million, announced at the same time as the new £3 billion target. The scheme hopes to bridge the “graduate funding gap”.

Chris Gray, OUSU Graduate Officer, told Cherwell, “The Student Union is aware that there is a long way to go until the graduate funding gap is filled at Oxford, but the new graduate match funding initiative is a big step forward.” He continued, “Funding is by far the biggest obstacle to prospective graduate students, and it is one the University must overcome if it is to guarantee that it is admitting the best and the brightest.”

David J. Townsend, OUSU President, commented, “Philanthropy has been a part of Oxford’s history since its foundation.” He added, “When half of our students have absolutely no access to a government loan scheme and pay unregulated fees, our generation must be able to say to the next generation that we did everything we could to make this university accessible to talent, regardless of wealth, regardless of passport.”

The news of an increased target has been subject to some criticism. James Kleinfeld, representative of the Education Activist Network and a second year at Keble College, asked, “How much money do they need to raise until they can reconsider the stupidity of charging students three times more to receive an education here?”

Kleinfeld continued, “With such reputable names as BP and Rupert Murdoch adorning academic posts in this university, it can be difficult to tell where this great training centre for multinational corporations ends, and where the University of Oxford begins.’

“The University can rely on its mass of millionaire graduates to support its agenda of growth, though I would hate to think of all the other universities without such fundraising potential.”

Second year Jessica Norris questioned the sustainability of fundraising, commenting, “Obviously the university is free to ask for money and it is up to people whether they would like to donate, but I don’t really see how philanthropy could reliably replace public funding. If I were to donate, I would want to know exactly where my money was going”.

Documents relating to patients at the John Radcliffe Hospital have been found on the Oxford Tube bus service. The documents, which were marked as confidential and gave details of about 20 patients being treated at the University hospital, were apparently dropped.

An anonymous source was unable to catch the person, and consequently showed the documents to the BBC “so that the matter would be taken seriously.” She added, “I just hope this thing doesn’t happen again, if it was my gran’s name that was on the paper I wouldn’t want other people seeing information about her.” 

The hospital has stressed that the matter will be dealt with very seriously. A spokesperson told Cherwell,“Patient confidentiality is an absolute priority for the Trust. Any loss of patient information is taken extremely seriously and fully investigated.’

“We apologise for this breach of confidentiality and we are contacting each of the patients as matter of urgency to notify them. We have a rigorous process for investigating such breaches and immediate action will be taken to find out why, on this occasion, our procedures for maintaining confidentiality were not followed.’ 

“The Trust has very clear policies and procedures in place supported by staff training and we would like to reassure our patients that every effort is made to ensure patient confidentiality at all times.”

The Oxford Tube also stated that any lost property is treated extremely seriously. A spokesperson told Cherwell that anything that is found is kept by the driver in a secure location and at the end of the shift transferred to a depot where all items are dealt with. They also said that the amount of lost property varies drastically from week to week but that items of this type were a rarity.

Students have reacted to the news with concern, with second year Mona Damian commenting, “Understandably accidents do happen, but documents of such sensitivity should surely not even leave the hospital.”

It is uncertain when the documents were found. They were handed back to the Trust on Wednesday.