Oxford’s streets will see an influx of multicoloured flags and cross-dressing this Saturday as the second annual Drag Race takes place in the city centre. The event will be hosted by Oxford Pride, a non-profit organisation founded in 2002 which describes itself as “a celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life in Oxfordshire”. Through sponsorship, the event aims to raise money and awareness for the local LGBT community.

This year’s event will see large numbers of people making their way through Oxford’s streets in drag. Meeting at midday at the Jolly Farmers, the race will begin at 1pm, progressing down Cornmarket Street and Queen Street, and will finish on Paradise Street.

An information booth will be set up outside the Westgate Centre all day, where information can be found on Oxford Pride and about the wider LGBT community in Oxford.

Rafe Jeune, the Chair of the Oxford Pride Group, stressed the community-centric and family-centric nature of the event. He commented, “I am looking forward to the celebration of what we have achieved as a community, and to bringing everyone in Oxford together. Not just LGBT people, but everybody. I think it is great when we see people bringing their families who are not necessarily LGBT, and everyone celebrates together.

“This is always a fun and colourful day that helps to raise awareness of the LGBT community in Oxford while raising much needed funds”.

Some students, however, seemed confused by the notion of a Drag Race. One New College undergraduate said, “I attended this event last year hoping to compare the skills on show with my carefully honed Need for Speed ability, only to find myself surprised by the nature of the event and lack of automobiles – madness!”

Another added, “The high heels were a definite mistake. Although they made my legs look great, it wasn’t worth the pain…or the blisters the next day!”

The Student Consultancy and Community Action Groups Oxfordshire are working together to get students involved in the local community. The programme lasts 8 weeks, pairing students with local Small and Medium Enterprises, charities or community organisations.

Jon Williams, a team leader and Medicinal Chemistry DPhil candidate at Jesus, described the current student contribution, saying “there are seven teams of students working on different Community Action Group projects, including stock management at Sandford Farmer’s market and developing marketing strategy at Dean Court Community Centre.”

Williams explained the benefits brought by the programme as “mutual, in that we are able to contribute positively to the local community, whilst also developing key employability skills, such as market research, data analysis and presentation skills.

“Working with a small community organisation means there is real potential for tangible impact.” At the moment, Williams’ team is working on funding and market research at the Barracks Lane Community Garden, hoping to boost involvement in the garden.

Jonathan Black, a director at the Careers Service described the projects to assist local organisations as “ a progressive and value adding link between ‘town and gown’” that will “undoubtedly build a positive image of the university and its students within these groups.”

Black further stated that the programme attracts students from across the range of colleges, year-groups and subjects and provides an opportunity “to break out of the ‘bubble’ and engage with the local community, while learning useful consulting skills, experiencing team work and developing business awareness.

“Most students do not want to be consultants in their future, but see this as a way to learn what consulting is about, in a successful and supportive programme.”

The students are expected to add value to the organisations with which they work; Black expressed that the Careers Service hopes for students to come up with “well-researched and useable suggestions to the strategic problems facing these groups.”

When asked for comment on the new projects, the University press office agreed that “this community engagement has benefits not only for the individuals concerned but also for the University as a whole, deepening the University’s relationship with the city and the region.”

Moreover, the press office reiterated its goal “to make a major contribution to improving the quality of life of people in the region”, and cited the great works done by Oxford students dating back centuries: “Oxford students pioneered student volunteering in the 19th century, and the student body today is heavily involved in voluntary community activity of every kind.”

The Student Consultancy has been swiftly expanding and will have co-ordinated 47 projects and nearly 200 students over the 2011-12 academic year. The Careers Service hopes to further grow this figure to around 25 projects per term, it has recently received a grant from HEIF enabling the project to grow to 100 students a term.

Students from Worcester College have been running a ‘Lads on Library Tour’ this week. The members of Worcester College’s Breakfast Club visit a different library each day wearing matching ‘tour’ T-shirts.

The ‘lads’ have visited the Bodleian, the Radcliffe Science Library, the Radcliffe Camera, and the Taylor Institution Library. They plan to visit the English Faculty Library and the Sackler Library in the next two days.

Alex Hunt, the Library Tour President, said, “The library tour is designed to make revision a little less suicidal whilst still achieving the same productivity. Each day, we go to breakfast in our flip flops, board shorts, tour T-shirts and sunnies, and then go to the library of the day en masse and study. The next day to process is repeated but in a different library.” The T-shirts have ‘lad nicknames’ and a tour itinerary printed on the back. Forty Worcester students own them, with “at least twenty people” attending every day.

Thomas Helfer, one of the ‘lads’, said, “The tour is really the brainchild of Alex Hunt and it certainly is a fantastic way to enliven otherwise monotonous revision sessions! The morning breakfast banter is a great way to wake up and remind yourself that you’ve got stuff that probably ought to be done during the day. Furthermore, working en masse in various libraries is a big improvement from the boredom of Worcester’s two libraries, which require frequent Half Naked Half Hours to take the heat out of its greenhouse-esque design. I’ve heard several complaints from friends in other colleges that we have taken up their space which is a bit ridiculous considering the size of the libraries. As a last thought I guess I would love to see other Colleges taking part next year!”

Anand Patel, another member of the team, told Cherwell, “I am a Law Finalist. My nickname is ‘No Fun 2012’, because this was my original plan after Alex Hunt set the bar with ‘No Fun Trinity’ last year. The Tour has been great: it’s an opportunity to have a nice relaxing start to the day with breakfast in college, and a nice walk to whichever library it is. Once we get into the libraries we have been mindful that it is Finals term, and with many of us preparing for Finals ourselves, it has been all business outside of breaks.

“It’s been a great way of breaking up the monotony of revision, and is an example of The Breakfast Club’s innovative methods.” He continued, “We don’t discriminate on the basis of gender. Whilst the members of the Club are almost exclusively male, we consider ‘Lad’ to be a state of mind, or a ‘way of life’. Thus, as you may have seen or heard, there have been several women on tour this week.

“Other colleges needn’t be jealous – they may have their own methods of dealing with the ‘revision blues’. This is just the mode we have chosen, and we feel it works for us.”

A group of Oxford University engineers recently launched a battery-powered electric car, created for an international competition to build energy-efficient vehicles.

It was entered into the European leg of the Shell Eco-marathon 2012 in Rotterdam yesterday, competing against 20 other teams in the prototype battery electric vehicle class.

The goal of the Eco-marathon is to minimise the energy used to complete the 16.3km (10.1m) street course. Last year, one car travelled 842.5 km on 1 kWh of electricity. Oxford Martin School’s website describes this as ‘approximately equivalent to driving from London to Aberdeen on the energy used to do a large load of washing in an A+++ certified appliance.’

On 8th May 2012, PEGGIE was revealed to public in a press launch held in Begbroke Science Park, Oxford. At the launch, the team members gave a public demonstration in assembling the car, after which driver Lucy Alexandra Mahony demonstrated the car in action.

When asked what the team hoped to achieve in the wider world through this project, Dr Bishop replied, “The University of Oxford does not have a long history of participating in eco-vehicle competitions. The motivation of entering PEGGIE is to provide a real-world application for our research. It challenges us to move beyond the ideal conditions in the lab or on the computer to design and build a robust vehicle. Other learned skills include team work and systems thinking.”

After much debate, New College JCR have passed a motion changing the constitutional specifications regarding the sexual identification of candidates who are eligible to run for the position of LGBTQ representative.

The motion proposed removing the specification in the JCR’s standing orders that candidates for the role be ‘non-straight’. It was then amended to agree that only LGBTQ-identified candidates would initially be able to stand. If no candidates came forward, or if students voted to re-open nominations, then non-LGBTQ candidates would be permitted to run. While a majority opposed the original motion, the amendment was deemed ‘friendly’ and passed with one vote against.

Second year chemist Isabelle Paterson-Taylor tabled the motion. She told Cherwell, “The changes that have taken place in the JCR are a good step towards further discussion and more integration.

“Previously, it was implied that the main qualification for the role was simply being ‘non-straight’, rather than a deep interest and involvement in the issues involved.

“I feel that if we are to account for the wide range of experience within the ‘community’, we must also accept that there are non-LGBTQ-identified people who have legitimate motivations to run for the position.”

Henry Ashwell, New’s current LGBTQ rep, seconded Paterson-Taylor’s proposal before accepting the amendment. He said, “I fully understand the frustration and arguments in favour of greater inclusion over the LGBTQ rep position. However, it was pointed out that, in elections, the voice of the LGBTQ community gets very little say on who their rep is.

‘Their unanimous voice was that they wanted someone who had experience of being LGBTQ to be in charge of LGBTQ welfare. This was a reasonable request and one which no LGBTQ rep should take lightly.”

JCR President Oscar Lee said, “A primary reason for the motion was the contradiction that a candidate had to be ‘non-straight’ even if they were transgender. This has been rectified so that any transgender candidate of any sexual orientation can stand.’

A first year at New, who identifies as LGBTQ, supported the outcome, saying, ‘People want to go to someone they can identify with and who’s had first-hand experience.”

However, a non-LGBTQ second year, who had hoped to run last year, told Cherwell, “I fully support and strongly champion the LGBTQ cause, but I’m angry that people aren’t keen to widen representation.”

OUSU LGBT rep Jess Pumphrey said, “I see no way of enforcing this rule without policing others’ identities. Who will determine whether a candidate is ‘LGBTQ enough’ to stand? Nobody has the authority to do that.

“Candidates with experience of all aspects of LGBTQ life must be rare, yet we trust our LGBTQ representatives to represent us on issues they haven’t personally experienced. It seems to me risky to prevent good and willing candidates from standing for a position which can often be undersubscribed.”

Students graduating from Oxford with a degree in Mathematics can expect to earn more than any other graduates in Britain, the latest figures have revealed.

Data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency revealed that the average salary of Oxford maths graduates is £42,589 six months after leaving university. The national average salary for maths graduates is significantly less at £23,160.

Jonathan Black, the Director of Oxford’s Careers Service, said that the reason for the earning potential of the University’s maths graduates was “essentially supply and demand.”

“We’ve recently had a period when the City has been seeking numerate and bright graduates,” he explained. “Some banks for example have stated that they want to hire engineers and mathematicians and are offering the sort of salaries to attract them to high pressure, long hours, and City-based roles.”

He also suggested a close link between the work of maths undergraduates and City financiers, saying, “I think many leavers see roles in the City as extensions of Oxford – they’re high pressure (like the tutorial system), involve frequent and important deadlines, plus there are the added attractions of great salaries to help pay down the student loan and debt, and the opportunity to work in the bright lights of London.”

First year Trinity mathematician Gideon Wakefield agreed, saying, “Maths gives you three years of experience manipulating and modeling, which is exactly what you would be doing in financial research. The only difference is that you might be modelling markets, for example.”

Last Sunday evening, the members of Exeter’s JCR committee performed an a cappella version of Carly Rae Jepson’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ to a 50-strong audience.

Following a motion passed in the first week of Trinity, Exeter’s JCR committee is constitutionally required to perform the song before the start of every meeting.

The motion was proposed at the first JCR meeting of term by second year classicist Ronan Magee and passed with a resounding majority.

A friendly amendment to the motion called for Magee to be included in the proposals.

Mr Magee and members of Exeter’s JCR committee’s rendition of ‘Call Me Maybe’ at the start of Sunday’s meeting was accompanied by two randomly chosen audience members who were asked to act out the lyrics of the song. Their performance was greeted with loud cheers by audience members.

Mr Magee described the motion as ‘an important move.”

He added, “Had it not been for the utter tunelessness of our singing, I would be urging its extension to all JCRs as a mark of respect for this seminal song.’

When Mr Magee first suggested the motion, JCR President Benjamin Clayton said his first thought was, “This is crazy.”

“After all I had only just met him and he was wearing ripped jeans and his skin was showing,” Clayton explained, “But since it was constitutional I threw a wish in the well and went on my way to sing the song.” When one JCR member attempted to leave the meeting in order to avoid singing, Clayton promptly demanded, “Where do you think you’re going baby?”

He added “The exec sang with nothing less than star quality. At the end of the night I was approached by someone from Out of The Blue, who was so impressed with my performance that he asked me to call him, maybe.’

The outgoing Director-General of the BBC has voiced his concern at the number of Oxbridge graduates working at the organisation.

Mark Thompson, who will step down from his role in autumn of this year, told BBC executives in a confidential meeting that he was “disturbed” at the predominance of staff who had attended the Oxford and Cambridge universities, particularly at management level.

Between 2006 and 2010, 5.7% of all successful applicants for jobs and work experience at the BBC were Oxbridge graduates.

Thompson himself graduated from Merton College, Oxford, with a first in English. The current Controller of BBC One, Danny Cohen, also graduated with first-class honours in English, from Lady Margaret Hall.

The remarks, first published in the Mail on Sunday, were reported by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries after she attended a meeting last month which involved the Director-General and senior figures in the Corporation.

A spokesman for the BBC said, “We do not have any plans to change our recruitment policy, which is to attract the very best talent on the basis of merit alone. We are very proud that the BBC is one of the most popular choices for graduates of all backgrounds.

“But we also want candidates with outstanding talent who may not have chosen to go down a traditional higher education route. Our training and apprenticeship schemes are designed to help remove barriers to entry to the broadcasting industry.

“The British public expect the best from the BBC and we want to access the best talent from wherever it comes.”

President of the Oxford Media Society, Matt Stokes, commented, “It’s undeniable that the BBC has the reputation Mark Thompson described, although I’m not sure it’s entirely accurate. I do think the BBC has made positive steps, although there’s clearly a very long way to go.

“We ourselves welcome many figures from the BBC. One of them, whom we hosted last week, counts among the most powerful black people in the media today. Many are not Oxbridge-educated, so though there may not be enough diversity, there’s definitely some.”

The University Careers Service told Cherwell, “While Oxford does not have specifically vocational courses such as publishing, TV or journalism, many of our students enter these careers every year. We encourage all prospective students to study what they are truly interested in and develop their career ideas while they are here.

“We encourage potential Oxford applicants to review broad and detailed destination data, publicly available on our website, from courses they are interested in. The BBC, for example, is the 13th most popular destination of recent leavers.

“It is a truism that all graduate recruiters want the best recruits for their roles. They set their selection criteria, and measure candidates against them to decide. Each selection will be of one individual. Mark Thompson is concerned about diversity; so is the University. However, we want the best, regardless of background, and we suspect that the BBC does too.”

The academic background of employees was discussed as part of a wider review of staff diversity at the BBC, which also looked at categories such as ethnicity and gender.

As of August 2011, 12.3% of BBC employees were from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds, up from 8.2% in 2000. The male-female split was more or less equal. According to information on the BBC website, the Corporation do not use diversity quotas, but have broad aspirational targets for disabled and ethnic minority representation.

Yesterday saw Lincoln College take part in its annual celebration of the Feast of the Ascension. The JCR Committee Executive flung handfuls of pennies down from Lincoln town onto local Oxfordshire schoolchildren in Front Quad, while Brasenose students were treated to free, ivy-flavoured beer.

The feast day, which commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven, was described by Gregory Platten, the college chaplain, as “one of Lincoln’s most extraordinary days of the year”. 

The children were from Combe School, a local primary school connected with the college. Jenni Nice, JCR Vice-President at Lincoln, explained that the committee visited NatWest before the event, and withdrew 3,000 pennies. 

She said, “This year conditions were perfect, with low wind and good pennies. I feel the children got more than just monetary value from the experience.”

Ascension Day also features a special agreement between Lincoln and its rival college, Brasenose, as compensation for the death of a Brasenose student centuries ago. Some claim that the Brasenose man died at the hands of a local mob after Lincoln’s porters refused to allow him entry; others argue that he was simply defeated in a duel by a Lincoln rival.

Brasenose students are permitted to enter Lincoln via a little-used connective passage, and are entitled to a free glass of ale. The beer is tainted with ivy, hand-picked by the Lincoln butler, to prevent over-consumption. 

Many students enjoyed the beverage, although Eylon Aslan-Levy, a second-year Brasenose PPEist, described it as “revolting”, and Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamini, a second-year classicist and teetotaller, complained, “This event is disgraceful. Why are there no non-alcoholic drinks?”