A new Oxford University ski trip is hoping to attract students this year. ‘The New Snow Trip’ was originally only open to New College, before extending to Magdalen in 2011 and St Hilda’s in 2012. Now the trip is open to all Oxford University students.The trip will take place on the 15th-23rd March 2013 in Val D’Isere.

The base price for the trip is £359, which includes 6 days accommodation, a lift pass, travel and several extras. Trip organisers managed to get a low price because of New College’s relationship with the tour operator ‘Off the Piste’, which they have used for the last 3 years. Events such as a Toboggan Evening and BBQ, a Race Day, a fancy dress day, and an event at Folie Douce are planned.

Organisers are promoting the trip as a smaller, more friendly trip than Varsity, with a good social vibe, better weather, better snow, and better skiing at Easter. They also promote it on the grounds of its lack of Cambridge students. Last year the trip’s mcuh smaller capacity of 96 people was reached, but it is hoped that this year many more people will take part.

Chiara Quadranti, the President of The New Snow Trip, said, “Not all colleges have their own ski trip so this gives a chance for anyone to go skiing, if they missed out on Varsity or if Varsity is not for them.

“We want to provide students with a fresh alternative. While Varsity is huge, quasi-corporate and intimidating (to some) we want to propose another option: something a bit different, more likeable, more personal.

“We want to set up something that could appeal to the same audience, i.e. the whole of Oxford, but with a very different vibe.”

Harry Browne, a St Hilda’s student who went on the trip two years ago, said, “The atmosphere is different from Varsity because it’s smaller and you know everyone. But it’s still lash on the mountains.”

Matthew Kain, from New College, went last year, said, “Better snow, no dirty Tabs, same lash – should appeal for people who actually want to go skiing rather than watching some crap like Ms Dynamite.”

Midori Takenaka, a rep from Corpus Christi, told Cherwell, “The New Snow Trip is definitely not trying to compete with Varsity. The organising team are all students, and so the trip has been designed in a very student-friendly way. We are confident that the trip will prove to be a success, as it has been in previous years.” 

Last year the Varsity trip sold out within 8 hours, and 3,200 students attended. However, this year tickets did not sell out.

Varsity President Simon Bushell told Cherwell, “The Varsity Trip is run on a not-for-profit basis entirely by student volunteers who aim to put on the best week possible for the participants of Varsity Trip, and we always strive to improve on last year’s trip. With six years of trips of over 1000 people, and over 90 years since the first Varsity Trip, we certainly have a lot of history to build on.

‘As with the much improved booking system, we are working hard to respond to all of the feedback we had from last year’s trip, and this experience is one of the advantages of going on Varsity Trip.

“One of the reasons Varsity Trip is so enjoyable is that it combines an intimate skiing experience with friends, with most participants sharing rooms or corridors with people from the same college, while giving an amazing opportunity to meet new people!”

A man broke in to the third floor of Regent’s Park College on the night of Tuesday 30th October, and stayed outside for several hours.

The man, believed to be homeless, took a ladder from the building works on Pusey Street, dragged it to St Giles, and then climbed up the scaffolding to the third floor of the college’s Wheeler building. 

The alarms were set off, at which point he began to behave loudly and aggressively. A window was broken and the inhabitants of the  flat were evacuated, spending the night sleeping on the Junior Dean’s floor.

The intruder is thought to have been intending to commit theft. It is unclear how the window was smashed.

Ben Deaner, a third year studying PPE at Regent’s told Cherwell, ‘He was talking about homelessness problems in Oxford. He said that he’d been on the streets for 15 years. He was antagonising the police and shouting and swearing down at them, calling one of them a liar and going on about how he knew who they all were. He kept saying it was going to be a long night and asked when the Oxford Mail was coming. He was up there for about four hours.’

A Wheeler resident said, ‘College dealt well with the crisis, immediately evacuating the flat where he broke a window and generally keeping an eye on the situation and the people involved. They had done everything they could to make sure the scaffolding was alarmed.’

The reaction on Facebook was less calm. One student who lives in the flat wrote, “You’d think you’d be safe from casual breaking and entering what with being on the THIRD FLOOR. Apparently this is a flawed assumption.”

JCR President Jack Watson commented, “The matter is now in the process of being investigated by the police. Statements were taken from those affected.’

Regent’s Park College has made no official response to the intrusion. The college bursar declined to comment.

Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) has stepped up efforts to get all letting agents in Oxford to delay the release of their student properties until February.

OUSU President David Townsend informed student bodies that the coalition of parties involved in its early lease campaign, which includes all JCRs and MCRs, Oxford University Colleges and Oxford Brookes University, as well as several City councillors, have agreed not to publicise any early release dates put forward by agents.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith also “fully supported” the campaign, and “urged” agents to come on board. “I would welcome a classification system on service quality and accommodation standards,” he told Cherwell.

Townsend was involved in ongoing talks with agents this week as November release dates loom. He declared, “The strength of our joint campaign relies on all of us working together to refuse to advertise ‘early release’ letting agents.”

At least 14 undergraduate colleges and nearly all graduate colleges expect a proportion of students to live out at some stage during their course, meaning that freshers are often compelled to sign contracts for the following October in Michaelmas of first year.

Many are unfamiliar with prospective housemates, the city of Oxford itself, the housing market, and the details of budgeting and tenancy rights and obligations. Wrong decisions and fallingsout can lead to uneasy living situations: one third year at Mansfield recalls how his religious housemates “spent a year trying to convert me.”

After a 1500-strong petition last year, the early lease campaign launched to give students a “decent amount of time” to decide where to live and with whom. A second year at Exeter recounted, “Housing rumours spread in third week. People threw together groups in mad panic and started signing in fifth week.”

One St Hilda’s second year was caught “completely by surprise” by early release panic. She found a place to live only when one group needed a room filled at short notice. “I’m very lucky,” she remarked, “But agreeing to live with people I didn’t know well was a daunting process.”

Oxford City Council already operates a Landlord Accreditation Scheme, which OUSU hopes to use with its own Ethical Letting Guidelines to produce a graded ‘traffic light system’ for students.

Agents who agree to withhold properties until the new year are marked as ‘green’, ‘yellow’ agents have agreed to delay releasing a set number of properties, and ‘red’ agents are non-cooperative. Agents listed as ‘red’ will be advertised through JCRs and MCRs. Wadham Student Union President Jahnavi Emmanuel commented, ‘Not all agents have signed up, so for the scheme to work we need all students fully behind this to make sure no one starts looking for houses until February.’

Spire Properties, one of the letting agents already on board, agreed that “whether agencies suffer by not joining the scheme will depend on whether students delay their property searches.”

Premier Letting, one of Oxford’s ‘Big Five’ agents, remains undecided. It “would love” to release properties later, but stressed, “We are a business and offer a service to both tenants and landlords.” It pointed out that it was less risky for agents with smaller student housing stock to sign up to the scheme.

Premier told Cherwell that the main constraint on later release was “landlord pressure”. They explained, “Some agents already released their lists in mid-October, and some landlords multi-list their properties with several agents.

Many landlords like to secure bookings for the next year on their property by Christmas, which they will do with an agent not signed up to the scheme.”

Spire’s director Craig Carter however reminded that, “It is easy to forget that when we first started nearly 25 years ago, student lists were produced around Easter time.

“Release dates were gradually brought forward. I remember joking with clients that one day lists would be produced before Christmas, never thinking this would actually come true.”

A third year at Regent’s described the consequences. “People waited from 4.30am in freezing November cold to book viewings or see houses on offer. Letting agents could not cope with the mass of students who arrived on the day the lists came out.

“I wish it had been more clear that there was no big rush. Most houses aren’t let until much later in the year. I simply wasn’t aware of that fact and was sucked in by agents’ unfair tactics.”

An Exeter second year said, “Agents gave us an ultimatum to put down an admin fee. We felt pressured into signing, but found out later that they’d said exactly the same thing to others.”

Townsend claimed such fears of student accommodation “shortages” in Oxford are “a myth”. He explained, “It’s the students’ market. Every year colleges build new student rooms, meaning that private market supply shifts in their favour.”

Emmanuel added, “Obviously we can’t prevent anyone from looking for accommodation when they want to. But we encourage students not to sign tenancy agreements early and will protect them from agents who falsely convince them they need to.”

On their position going forward, Premier said, “If we feel that enough students hold out until February, and we see that the Universities are informing and encouraging them to do so, then we might be inclined to take part in the scheme next year.’

Wadham College knitters have worked their way through over 3kg (30 balls) of wool in four days in a bid to raise money for breast cancer. The sponsored knit was organised by Wadham SU Women’s Officers Emilie Lambert and Hayley Cowan, and over forty students are already involved. Cowan commented, “I’ve had to go and stock up supplies of knitting needles to keep up with demand.”

Everyone who is taking part in the knit has been supplied by charities with needles and wool, but supplies are running low as students have already worked their way through 3kg of wool. Knitting classes are being run in college. Knitters are being sponsored per every length of knitting (i.e. 50p/20cm), aiming for a minimum of £20 to be raised per person, with an overall target of £600.

SU President, Jahnavi Emmanuel, commented, “I think the sponsored knit is a great idea as a wayof raising both money and awareness of breast cancer. Students have responded really well to itwith lots of people going to the group knitting sessions everyday.”

Both men and women are getting involved in the knit. Cowan told Cherwell, “Considering it’s an event run by Women’s Officers, I’m pleased with the number of men involved “It’s actually getting pretty competitive between knitters. I’ve knitted just under a metre (it’s been 4 days) but when my work is done for the week I’m going to up my game.’ James Fotherby, a student taking part, said, “It is actually really easy to knit and anyone can learn in under 5 minutes.”

At the end of the two weeks money from sponsors will be collected and the knitting will be used to yarnbomb a tree in college. Wadham SU Vice President, Alexander Cibulskis, commented, “I’m not sure how we plan to get the knitting off the tree, but we won’t let that unravel our plans!”

Sponsor them here.

The college tortoise has been a ubiquitous and much loved fixture of Oxford life for decades, but last week Merton bucked the trend as its JCR voted in favour of adopting a college tapir instead.

The decision to adopt the exotic pig came after widespread disappointment at the college’s failure to acquire a tortoise. The Original General Meeting agenda outlined the situation:

“1. Since the JCR’s deeply disappointing failure to acquire a college tortoise, morale among the undergraduate student body has been decidedly low.

2. This trend can be directly attributed to the absence of cute, vaguely exotic animals in college life.

3. The tapir is the archetypal cute, vaguely exotic animal.”

The agenda also notes that “tapirs are much cooler than pelicans”. Samuel Dickinson, who proposed the motion, explained that the animal is a “cross between a pig and an ant-eater.”

The minutes from the meeting record some of the anxieties Merton undergraduates expressed about the adoption of a tapir. One member asked, “Will the tapir be on the desk in Front Quad with the monkey?” but was reassured that “it’s big enough for both.”

Another undergraduate raised the concern that the animal is “fucking ugly”. 

Despite these issues, the motion was passed and the JCR is in the process of arranging for a trip to be made to the zoo where the animal lives.

Dickinson expressed delight that his motion had been carried and explained that the idea of adopting a tapir was not as illogical as it might sound: “I happened to be flicking through the OUSU Alternative Prospectuses from 1984 and ‘85 (as you do) and saw that Merton apparently  adopted a tapir during the eighties, so there’s something of a historical connection there.”

He expressed doubt that the tapir would be able to reverse Merton’s recent slide in the Norrington table, telling Cherwell “As far as academic prowess is concerned I don’t know whether a tapir-only college would be capable of coming higher in the Norrington table than 14th.”

On the plus side he commented, “I have heard that Tengui (the Malayan tapir we’re adopting) is a big fan of non-linear mathematics and can complete the Times cryptic crossword in under five minutes.”

Despite what he described as a “broadly enthusiastic” attitude toward the tapir adoption across the JCR, he acknowledged that “it may not fill the tortoise-shaped hole in our hearts, even if it does fill the slightly smaller tapirshaped one we never realised was there.”

A third year at Merton commented, “Although the JCR toy monkey, our mascot, is a faithful friend, there’s nothing quite like a cutesy tapir. I’m all for it. I just hope the monkey doesn’t feel upset.”

Not all students shared his enthusiasm. One second year English student, who asked not be named, told Cherwell,“I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. I mean, what even is a tapir. It’s this kind of nonsense that’s responsible for the college’s drop in the Norrington Table.” 

Radcliffe Humanities, formerly the Radcliffe Infirmary, was officially opened on Monday by the Vice-Chancellor and Head of Humanities. Two public paths through the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter have been promised, one of which is already open.

The building already houses the Humanities Divisional Office, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Philosophy and Theology Libraries. Work on the Maths building in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter is due to finish by Michaelmas Term 2013. The project is currently on time and budget.

At the official opening of Radcliffe Humanities, Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton and Head of Humanities Professor Shearer West cut a ribbon, a flag was raised, and the replica of the 1858 fountain of Triton was turned on. The new statue cost £45,000; the original is to be housed indoors in the Observatory Quarter.

A University spokesman described the event as “well attended by those involved in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter project and other interested people.”

The spokesman added, “There will be two public walkways across the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, allowing the public easier access between Woodstock Road and Walton Street.

“There are currently no plans to use the  Radcliffe Humanities for public displays. But there will be public artworks on the R.O.Q. [Radcliffe Observatory Quarter] and a number of events and lectures in various buildings to which all will be invited.

”Mike Wigg, Head of Capital Projects at Estates Services, said, “The project has largely taken the building back to the layouts that were in place when the building was first constructed. The end wings, which were ward blocks, have been converted into open-plan office areas, so in many ways we have kept the original concept of the design.”

The Blavatnik School of Government, which currently occupies the former Philosophy Library on Merton Street, is also due to have a new building in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, though planning permission has not yet been granted.