Professor Les Ebdon has been formally announced as head of the uni­versity fair access body, despite op­position from MPs on the selection committee.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has rejected attempts to block Professor Ebdon as the head of OFFA (the Of­fice for Fair Access), which aims to “safeguard and promote fair access to higher education.”

Professor Ebdon caused contro­versy after referring to national uni­versity rankings as “a snobs’ table” which guarantees that “institutions like Cambridge and Oxford are al­ways at the front, while newer places bring up the rear.”

He also deplored the UK’s “Ox­bridge obsession,” referred to the “well-off and well-heeled” Russell Group as “these people,” and claimed that for privately educated students, the rise in tuition fees “might not seem an awful lot of money.”

Russell Group Director General Dr Wendy Piatt told Cherwell, “We sincerely hope that the new director of OFFA will come to recognise the tough challenges we face in trying to widen access.”

However she expressed concern that, “The access agreements risk focusing too much on regulation rather than resolving the real prob­lems. The emphasis on targets and powers for OFFA could distract at­tention, effort and resources from the many successful access schemes run by Russell Group universities or even disincentivise universities from continuing with some activities in deprived areas which target the stu­dents who are the hardest to reach.”

Nadia Odunayo, a second year stu­dent at University College, agreed, commenting, “Les Ebdon clearly wants to make big changes, but it is important that he does not lose sight of where the real problems lie. A big factor in the whole access issue is to do with problems that begin at school level and the underlying weakness in many applicants is not solved by merely putting pressure on universities to accept a more diverse range of students.”

Corpus Christi student Samuel Ne­whouse noted, “Any blame attribut­ed to universities carries the absurd assertion that a significant number of tutors, who are some of the most intelligent people in the country, carry backward, ignorant prejudices. Ebdon and a worrying number of MPs spout clichés without having truly considered the problem.”

However, some have emerged in support of Professor Ebdon’s ap­pointment. Robin McGhee, Liberal Democrat candidate for Oxford City Council and St Anne’s undergradu­ate, commented, “I’m delighted Les Ebdon has been appointed OFFA director. Like me, he is a solid oppo­nent of tuition fee increases. Unfor­tunately the Lib Dems had to have some trade-offs with the Tories to get him appointed. But I like to think of Coalition trade-offs as like Pokemon cards. You have to part tearfully with the shiny Blastoise but, by God, you get an Articuno in exchange.”

A spokesperson for Oxford Univer­sity said, “The director of OFFA is an important role for the sector. We will continue to work constructively with the new director and look forward to welcome him in Oxford in due course.”

The government’s decision to raise the cap on tuition fees to £9,000 per year looks set to stand after a judge ruled against two teenagers seeking to challenge the changes in court.

Callum Hurley and Katy Moore, from Peterborough and London respectively, argued that the pro­posed rise in fees contravened their human rights, citing Article 14 of the European Convention on Civil Rights.

They claimed that the reforms were in breach of the EU legislation, which concerns discrimination against people of “poor social ori­gin and ethnic minority groups.”

Despite reaching the High Court, the case was dismissed by Mr Jus­tice King and Lord Justice Elias, who concluded, “The particular decision to fix the fees at the level reflected in the regulations was the subject of an appropriate analysis.

“Moreover, all the parties affected by these decisions – government, universities and students – have been making plans on the assump­tion that the fees would be charged. It would cause administrative chaos, and would inevitably have significant economic implications, if the regulations were now to be quashed.”

However he also gave recognition to the two teenagers’ argument that fee increases would widen the gap between rich and poor and discour­age many people from applying to university.
Oxford is one of several leading universities which has indicated it will charge the full £9,000 per year for tuition fees. The new rate is set to affect all undergraduate students entering Oxford from Michaelmas 2012 onwards.

Miles Coates, President of the Oxford University Conservative As­sociation, commented, “The idea that tuition fees are a breach of a substantive human right was ri­diculous from the outset, as the litigants must have know. It is quite right that the court threw out this pointless publicity stunt.”

Law expert Olivia Davies stated, “They didn’t have a hope in hell. You can only stretch the Human Rights Act so far and a rise in fees doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination constitute depriving someone of their basic right to education.”

However, Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students, said he would continue to fight the government’s “disastrous higher education policies.”

The University declined to com­ment on the outcome of the case. Both Hurley and Moore have said they still hope to enter higher edu­cation.

On Tuesday, the Duchess of Cambridge visited two schools in Oxford in her role as patron of charity The Art Room.

She was greeted by hundreds of people, who had lined the streets in anticipation of her arrival.

The Duchess, who read History of Art as an undergraduate, first visited Rose Hill Primary School, where more than half of the children have special needs. She assisted pupils and staff in an art therapy session in The Art Room before visiting the Oxford Spires Academy, where the entire school filed outside to greet her with flags and banners.

Lisa Hancock, The Art Room manager at Rose Hill, commented, ‘It was a really delightful lesson. Miss Catherine, as we called her in the lesson, was delightful.’

Sue Mortimer, Head Teacher at the Spires Academy, said, “When people think of Oxford they think of the dreaming spires, but every city has its disadvantaged areas and this is one of them.’

The Art Room is an Oxford-based charity aimed at 5-16 year olds who have emotional or behavioural difficulties. The charity offers art therapy to boost self-esteem and confidence.

University College undergraduate and Kate Middleton-enthusiast David Todd commented, “I was extremely excited to hear that Kate was in the vicinity. I thought her woolen shirt-dress was very chic – no wonder it sold out online just minutes after Kate appeared in it.’

St. Catz student Alex Rawlings has been named the UK’s most multi-lingual student in a competition run by the publishers Collins.

The German and Russian student from London can currently speak 11 languages: English, Greek, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Hebrew, Catalan and Italian.
In a video for the BBC News website he demonstrates his skills by switching between all eleven languages. He also explains the motivation behind his language learning.

Rawlings told Cherwell that winning the competition was a “bit of a shock.” He explained, “I saw the competition advertised and heard something about a free iPad, and here we are. I would never have imagined that it’d generate this amount of media attention.”

Stephen Fry tweeted at 9.42 am on 21 February, “What an absolutely brilliant young man!” along with a link to the BBC video.

As a child, Rawlings’ mother, who is half Greek, would speak to him in English, Greek, and French, and he often visited his family in Greece.

He stated that he has always had an interest in languages. “My dad worked in Japan for four years and I was always frustrated that I couldn’t speak to the kids in those countries because of the language barrier.” After visiting Holland at the age of 14 he decided to learn Dutch with CDs and books. “When I went back I could talk to people. It was great.”

He taught himself many of the languages with the Teach Yourself books, but also by watching films, listening to music, and travelling to the relevant countries.

Of all the languages he speaks, Rawlings says that Russian, which he has been learning for a year and a half, is the hardest. He said, “There seem to be more exceptions than rules!”
He added, “I especially like Greek because I think it’s really beautiful, and I have a strong personal link to Greece and to the language.”

When asked how he hoped to use his skills in later life, Rawlings told Cherwell, “I hope to carry on meeting lots of different people around the world and being able to speak to them in their own languages. If I can find a job that incorporates languages, then that would be ideal.

“Everyone should learn languages, especially if they travel abroad. If you make the effort to learn even the most basic of phrases wherever you go, it instantly shows the person you’re speaking to that you respect their culture. Going around speaking loud English and getting frustrated at people is often perceived at best as tactless, and at worst as rude.’

The next language Rawlings hopes to learn is Arabic, but “only once I’ve finished my degree and got some more time on my hands. For now I need to concentrate on my German and Russian so I can get preparing for finals.”

The Oxford RAG annual ‘Oxford’s Got Talent’ event took place in the Union chamber last Sunday.
15 acts from different colleges took to the stage to display their skills to the judges. Musicians, tap dancers and stand-up comedians got involved, along with ‘Tetris man’ Paul Edunast who completed a game on the big screen in just 93 seconds.

Improvisational comedians The Oxford Imps, Oxford Breakdancing Society and a cappella group The Oxford Gargoyles all made guest performances.

The eventual winners were “Jack and The Beanstalks” from St Hilda’s, who performed a cover of the Rolling Stones’ hit ‘Brown Sugar.’

Edmund Mottershead, a member of the winning band, commented, “I thoroughly enjoyed the night, there was tons of good stuff on offer. It’s nice to go out on a high.”

The second prize went to Alex O’Bryan Tear, a student at Worcester College, who entertained the audience with his own version of ‘Please Don’t Stop the Music’, which he had adapted and turned into a rant against the music at Park End, the popular Oxford nightclub.

O’Bryan Tear told Cherwell, “I disqualified myself from entering the talent show on the basis that I had no talent beyond swearing into a microphone while molesting a piano. But due to a bureaucratic error, I was nominated to represent Worcester anyway.”

RAG Vice President Ameer Kotecha described the whole night as “a great success in terms of the quality of the talent show, the enjoyment of the crowd and the money raised.” Around £700 was made on the night for RAG, to be split between their four chosen charities.

Kotecha added, “A great deal of money was raised for fantastic causes but as much as the money RAG’s events are all about providing entertainment and fun for students.”

Universities across England are facing record fines after breaching rules on student recruitment.

More than 20 institutions have been penalised by the  Higher Education Funding Council for England after contravening regulations that limit the number of places available at universities.

It is estimated that an excess of 25,000 students were recruited last year, resulting in fines that could total £90m.

Alhough over recruitment was a problem at many universities last year, it is unlikely that Oxford will fall foul of recruitment regulations.

An Oxford spokesperson noted, “Oxford has never been in a position where this has been an issue. We have had the same number of places available for a long time. A lot of the over recruitment issues have to do with the Clearing process, and Oxford doesn’t take part in Clearing. When we make offers, very few people tend not to accept their offers, so we can control our offers, and we know and take very seriously our number constraints.”

In contrast, London Metropolitan University was fined £5.9m for recruiting 1,550 more students than its government target.

An email circulated to Met’s staff from Vice-Chancellor Malcolm Gillies acknowledged that there were problems within the university’s recruitment system, stating, “Our planning assumptions were flawed and our decision-making sometimes based on incomplete information. This was compounded by the fact that we were seeking to recruit 50 per cent of our intake through Clearing, far higher than our competitors.

‘Over recruitment occurred, in part, because the university honoured outstanding offers and commitments, as it has always done, but should not have done at a time of unprecedented acceptance rates on these offers.”

Gillies emphasised that London Met’s over recruitment had been accidental, writing, “In consequence of the volatility of admissions for 2011/12 during Clearing many English universities unintentionally over-recruited.  London Metropolitan University exceeded its allocation of 4,873 by 1,550 places.”

However he stated that the fine would have little effect, since the university had already received the additional tuition fees from the extra students they recruited. He suggested that the net loss was likely to be closer to £700,000.

Despite the over recruitment of 25,000 students last year, 170,000 still failed to gain a university place.

A series of walking tours launched next week aim to show participants the hidden mathematics within Oxford.

The free tours, beginning on March 3rd, will take the public around some of Oxford’s best known buildings, including the Sheldonian Theatre, the Ashmolean Museum and the Sackler LIbrary.

The Maths in the City webpage welcomes potential tourists by asking, ‘Did you know that the roof of the Sheldonian is held up by a piece of mathematics that Christopher Wren learnt while he was studying at Oxford?’

Along the tour, the website reveals that participants should expect to discover the ‘influence of maths in the architecture of a building in St. John’s College aptly named ‘the Beehive” and how GPS is indebted to the work of ‘simply geography’ with the help of Einstein.

Meanwhile the Bridge of Sighs is described as ‘an interesting piece of maths hidden in a beautiful piece of architecture. This is also a chance to highlight the importance of mathematical curves in engineering and architecture.’

The project is led by Marcus du Sautoy, Oxford’s Charles Simonyi  Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, who told Cherwell, ‘I love going on walking tours where a guide shows you a side of your city you’ve never been aware of before.

‘There are so many fascinating mathematical stories hiding behind the buildings and structures of our urban environmment that I thought they would make great material for a tour.’

Du Sautoy stated that his projects would also “nurture the science communicators of the future,” since the tours will be led by Oxford students and members of the public are encouraged to add their own mathematical stories.

University Maths professors have expressed their support, with St John’s fellow Paul Tod stating, ‘It sounds like a clever idea and I know some smart people are involved. It should prompt the walkers to look at their surroundings in a different way, and think constructively about maths outside the classroom.’

Professor Charles Batty added that the project ‘fits well with the style of du Sautoy’s approach to increasing public appreciation of mathematics.’

Maths student Sam Kinsley agreed that it was a ‘great initiative’ which would ‘educate people who aren’t necessarily aware of the less obvious applications of maths.’ Fellow mathematician James Moran added, ‘Many will find it interesting to see another level of history behind [Oxford].’

The tours are organised by Maths in the City and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Dame Elish Angiolini will replace Mr Andrew Dilnot CBE as as principal of St Hugh’s College this September.

Angiolini has spent her career in the Scottish legal system, becoming the first woman to hold the positions of Solicitor General for Scotland and Lord Advocate of Scotland.

She stepped down as Lord Advocate last May and currently chairs a Commission of Inquiry investigating how female offenders are dealt with in Scotland.

Angiolini is an honourary professor at Aberdeen University, holding three honorary degrees. She was made a Dame last year in recognition of her ‘services to the administration throughout Scotland.’

She is a QC and still acts as a legal advocate on the Scottish bar.

The incoming principal revealed that she was enthusiastic to take up the position at St Hugh’s, an all female college until 1986.

She stated, ‘Founded to give an excellent education to women who were otherwise excluded from Oxford, and now providing a focus for learning and scholarship for women and men from all backgrounds, St Hugh’s College has an inspiring history and an exciting future. I am eagerly anticipating joining the College and aim both to support and celebrate its important work.’

Sara Polakova, JCR President at St Hugh’s, commented, ‘It was her friendliness, openness and down-to-earth attitude as well as progressive thinking that quickly made her our favourite candidate.

‘I am very excited about having the privilege to work with her in the future as JCR president and I am confident that her warm personality along with astonishing experience as Lord Advocate will further develop Hugh’s as a college.’

Current Principal, Mr Andrew Dilnot stated, ‘I am delighted that the College has elected such an out­standing figure as Dame Elish.

Her pioneering achievements will be an inspiration to people both within and outside the College, and I very much look forward to welcom­ing her to Oxford.”

PalSoc members shocked shoppers last Friday with their silent protest against the detainment of political prisoner Khader Adnan.

The public saw a number of students standing in a row across Cornmarket street wearing tape over their mouths that bore the slogan ‘Dying to live’.

Livia Bergmeiher, an Arabic student at Wadham, explained, ‘This is Palsoc’s first protest in aid of Palestinian prisoners, but with over 300 people being detained in the same way in Israel this will not be our last, no matter what happens with Mr Adnan’s case. The Israel government can detain prisoners for six months without a trial.’

She added, ‘We had all been following the case very closely as a group and the mainstream media only began covering it after solidarity movements began protesting and sending petitions to local MP’s and Israeli officials. We thought it would be good to raise awareness in the local community, and the public response was really positive.’

Adnan, a 33 year-old baker, has been detained since mid-December ‘for activities that threaten regional securities’ and several claims that he is a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a group deemed terrorist by Israeli authorities.

The Maths graduate and Masters student in Economics has not eaten since December 18th last year, the day after he was arrested near his home in a West Bank village south of Jenin. He claims that he is protesting against the violent nature of his arrest and his detainment without charges or trial.

In a letter from jail he wrote, ‘I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.’

Khader Adnan starved himself for 66 days, the longest recorded hunger strike in Palestinian history. After 64 days without food doctors suggest that there is an immediate risk of death. Adnan has lost one third of his body weight and has been described as in ‘immediate danger of death.’

Charlotte-Anna Malischewski, a member of Palsoc, commented, ‘No one should be detained without charge, no matter who they are, where they are, or what some may suspect they have done. Khader Adnan is dying to live with the most basic of human rights, because the way Israel treats Palestinians has left him with no just choice, discrimination or death.

‘I participated in the Oxford Palestine Society vigil and fasted in response to a call from Jewish Voice for Peace and Ta’anit Tzedek. My Judaism teaches me that we have a collective responsibility to build a more just world, tikkun olam.’

Freddie Fulton, Jsoc President, stated, ‘It is a very difficult situation. It is important to mention that he had been arrested around 9 times and once by the Palestinian national authority, they hadn’t just picked up anyone off the street. It is also hard for us to understand what it must be like as a country to have routine terrorist attacks as a matter of course, not knowing who to trust. It’s an unfortunate consequence but would Britain really behave differently if they were in the same targeted position?’ On Tuesday Adnan and his lawyers made a deal with the Israeli authorities that ‘as long as no new significant and substantative material is added regarding the appellant, there is no intention to extend the administrative detention.’ A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, Vice President and High Representative of foreign affairs at the EU told Cherwell, ‘We welcome the fact that a way out has been found in this case, and wish an early recovery for Mr Adnan.’ Cherwell was told that the EU would ‘reiterate [their] longstanding concern about the extensive use by Israel of administrative detention without formal charge. Detainees have the right to be informed about the charges underlying any detention and be subject to a fair trial.’

Ann Widdecombe is to host a brand new quiz show titled ‘Cleverdicks’. An alumnus of Lady Margaret Hall, Widdecombe is aiming to make viewers smarter and teach them a thing or two.

Widdecombe retired from politics in 2010, having been a prominent Conservative Member of Parliament since 1987; after retiring, she gained showbiz fame with her unusual performance in Strictly Come Dancing.

The quiz show will feature contestants of “Mastermind level” but apparently will not be as hard as University Challenge. They will play for a money prize and compete for the title of ‘Cleverdick’.

Widdecombe, who has two degrees in Latin in PPE, will ask questions such as, “Which city was invaded and occupied by Italy on 20 September 1870?” and “In medicine, what does a ‘sphygmomanometer’ measure?” (Rome and blood pressure, respectively).

On Widdecombe’s new role as a quiz show host, one LMH student commented, “What a good idea, Ann is just full of them.”

Other notable LMH alumni include Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, and Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education.