Professor Richard Dawkins and the Archbishop of Canterbury are to have a ‘civilised conversation’ in Oxford.

Officially branded a ‘dialogue event’, the  discussion is to be held in the Sheldonian theatre on the 23rd February. The topic of the discussion is ‘the nature of human beings and the question of their ultimate origin’. Philosopher Sir Anthony Kenny will be chairing the discussion.

The event will be a dialogue between the three speakers mentioned. The Chancellor of the University will also attend and give the welcoming address. According to the organisers, the hope is that ‘sound, academic discussion will pursue, as issues are considered by three leading academics with expertise in their own areas of study.’

A further hope is that ‘invigorating and inspiring reflection will result’, which will result in further research which in turn will be to ‘the benefit of human life and our world.’

The event is scheduled to take place on Thursday 23rd February from 4-5:30pm.

When contacted, Dawkins was quick to dismiss any misconceptions that the event is going to be a debate. When asked why he was taking part, he replied that he enjoys ‘civilised conversations’.

A website has also been set up for the event; www.originsofnature.com. Although tickets for seats at the Sheldonian sold out in a matter of hours, a livestream of the event will be available on the website. Updates of the discussion will be tweeted under the hashtag #dawkinsarchbishop. Also, a recording will eventually be posted on the website after the discussion has ended.

The event is hosted by the Sofia Europa Group of the Theology Faculty.

Margaret Yee, Faculty member and an organiser of the event, stated that it is being held to enable dialogue on a primary issue of concern. She believes that it is clearly a primary issue for many people, as the Sheldonian was booked out in 3 hours, and two overflow sites which will host the live event via big screens are almost filled (see the event website for details).

A spokesperson for the University stated that it promises to be an ‘interesting evening’.

Beth Hodgett, Theology student at Mansfield, thought that it was good to have the discussion, but thinks it inevitable the speakers will not find any common ground. Also, she was disappointed that all of the Sheldonian tickets had been sold, as she had not heard of the event before.

In further news, results from a major national survey of the religious and social attitudes of UK Christians have been published by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. According to the survey, the numbers of those who self identify as Christians have dropped from 72% to 54% in the period between the last two censuses. Of these, 49% do not think of Jesus as the son of God, 4% doubt he existed at all, and 6% don’t think that God exists.

Dawkins provided the following response to the survey; ‘despite the best efforts of church leaders and politicians to convince us that religion is still an important part of our national life, these results demonstrate that it is largely irrelevant, even to those who still label themselves Christian.’

Turl Street coffee shop The Missing Bean has established an outpost in the St Cross building, home of the English and Law faculties.

Maureen O’Neill emailed Law students to inform them of the move, stating, “As an experiment, the Law Faculty Administrators have asked Missing Bean to trial sales of coffee right here in the St. Cross Building. For this first week they are seeing how it goes, seeing what word of mouth can do, and generally establishing themselves. We will actively advertise to faculty and students (with hours of business, that sort of thing) from next week.”

Reaction has been generally positive, with one first-year English student commenting, “They seem to be doing a pretty roaring trade. I’ve been procrastinating out here all day, and it hasn’t really been empty at any point.”

Laura Kennedy, another first-year, stated that she saw the move as important, saying, “As a law student harbouring a phobia of that mysterious place known to most as the law faculty, the opening of a coffee shop may actually be the spur I’ve been waiting for all year to lure me there.

Missing Bean employee Will Davies told Cherwell, “We source our own coffee and are involved in the roasting process, in every step from bean to cup.” He added, “It’s good that people on that side of town now have somewhere nearby and don’t have to go all the way into town. I know some lawyers who will enjoy our coffee.”

Bike theft rates have reached over one per day in Oxford causing concern among students and staff.

University Crime Reduction Officer, Norman Stewart, has drawn attention to the issue, commenting, “We are at present suffering an unprecedented level of cycle crime within the University. Whilst there are no particular hotspots, it is apparent that bicycles are being taken daily.”

“We are working hard to reduce cycle theft with Thames Valley Police and Oxford University Security Services (OUSS) by increasing surveillance and patrolling in the area of cycle racks.”

He added, “My message to students and staff is that we need your help too. Rather than just walking by if you see someone acting suspiciously, please contact OUSS immediately.” Stewart also revealed to Cherwell that there have been recent successes in arresting people with three being caught last week.

Balliol student Alex Body, whose bike was stolen last year, agreed that there is a need for people to act on suspicious behaviour, noting, “What I found surprising was that it was taken in the middle of the day from outside Balliol, and that no-one thought it odd for someone to either cut the lock or carry it off in broad daylight!”

James Ash, from St. Peter’s, who has also recently had his bike stolen, commented, “We cannot do anything about it as the police are so inundated with reports of thefts. It’s a hopeless scenario.”

A spokesperson for the University said, “While Oxford is actually a very safe city for students, with only 3% of all crime linked to the University, bike theft is obviously a big problem.”

Thames Valley Police noted that, “About 50% of people do not lock their bike correctly. The recommended minimum lock standard is a hardened steel D-shaped lock.

Corpus student Hattie Soper, who attempted to break her own bike lock after losing her key, said, “I can confirm that D-locks are very hard to break. I would be aggrieved, yet impressed, if anyone was able to smash that D-lock and take my bike.”

The university is asking benefactors for tens of millions of pounds in an effort to help fund 75 key academic posts following reductions in govern­ment funding.

A spokesperson for Oxford Univer­sity insisted that “it’s an exaggeration to say the jobs are in danger”, how­ever did concede that “the fact that we are fundraising for key posts is certainly true.”

A sum of £90 million is required overall. Oxford University Press will be contributing £60 million of this to­wards the university’s Teaching Fund, with the rest to be raised through philanthropic gifts.

A spokesperson for the University told Cherwell that “the cost of endow­ing an existing post in perpetuity is £2 million. The Teaching Fund will contribute £800,000 to each post, leaving £1.2 million to be raised by the University through philanthropic means.” The income from this £2 mil­lion will then be put towards paying the salary of the position.

The reliance on the Teaching Fund comes as a result of the government’s cuts to the higher education budget, which, according to plans, is to be slashed from £7.1 billion to £4.2 bil­lion by 2014. One academic said “in the classic expression, Cameron and his crowd know the price of every­thing, but the value of nothing.”

The University currently has a shortfall of around £80 million per year for teaching and a similar one for research. Even with the introduc­tion of higher fees for students, the teaching shortfall will still stand at about £77 million per year.

The posts in question are mainly in the Humanities division, with So­cial Sciences, Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences, and Medical Sci­ences also affected, but to a far lesser extent. 50 of the 75 posts for which funding is required are in the Hu­manities divison.

Joshua Felberg, a Theology student from Mansfield, does not believe that it is necessarily unfair that most of these posts focus on Humanities’ subjects. Felberg told Cherwell that “if cuts come in there is no need to necessarily balance them between sciences and humanities – such an approach would be absurd – the Uni­versity needs to think about which subjects will remain important and beneficial in the future.”

Two of the positions in question are the fellowships in Ancient His­tory and German at St John’s. Sir Mi­chael Scholar, President at St John’s, explained, “We were already getting into difficulties before the funding cuts were announced.”

He continued, “Those difficulties were greatly exacerbated by the gov­ernment’s announcement that the funding for humanities teaching was ceasing.

“We have filled a post in German literature and language in the same way.” He said, “It would not have been filled but we were fortunate to find a very generous donor who pro­vided £1.2m to keep it going.”

Physics and Philosophy student, George King, commented, “It’s not surprising that the humanities would be most at risk as they’re al­ways going to be more reliant on public funding.
“Companies tend to be more inter­ested in inventions and technology than 17th Century French literature.”

However Univ second year Juliet Roe disagreed, saying that “The gov­ernment are short sighted philis­tines for cutting funding to humani­ties.”

Philanthropists have already given £1.2 million to the Ancient History position, and the other £800,000 is to be supplied by Oxford itself. Among these donors is Edward Hocknell, an alumnus of St John’s and now a partner at the investment management firm Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh.

Hocknell said that “the much-admired fellow, Nicholas Purcell, moved to another college. With the government’s emphasis on funding science and technology subjects, the university and college were unwill­ing to replace him … This is a big issue for less obviously utilitarian subjects like Classics. The Literature fellow is retiring soon; we might have to pick up the tab for him as well.”

The Oxford Teaching Fund will close in September 2013, so the uni­versity needs to get matched funding pledges in by September 2013, so that they may be realised by September 2018.

Oxford is by no means the only university seeking donations to maintain academic posts. The Uni­versity of Glasgow is in the process of renewing a professorship in Ancient Greek. The last person to hold this professorship, Douglas MacDowell, left £2.4 million to endow the abol­ished post when he died in 2010.

The Oxford University Water Polo team sent a trophy around the world rather than allowing the Cambridge team, who beat them in the last Varsity tie, to hold the trophy.

A ‘Cambridge Tab’ newspaper article alleges that “an opportunistic bunch from the Oxford squad made away with the trophy.”

However one member of the Oxford team, Nick Worsley, claims that the move was made to protect the trophy, stating, “Cambridge were awarded the Varsity trophy following their win, however in the exuberance at the unexpected result, they managed to break the base off the trophy. They took the two halves of the trophyto the after-party at Vodka Revs, but amid the confusion they left the top section of the trophy in the club.”

He explained, “We were anxious that such an important piece of water polo memorabilia should not fall into the hands of other thieving Tabs, as it is extremely valuable, and worth over £1,000. We therefore rescued the trophy and chained it to our women’s vice-captain using a gold chain.
“Upon its return to Oxford, the trophy begged not to be immediately returned to Cambridge, telling us that it had always dreamed of seeing the world and had taken an instant dislike to the filthy Tabs. We therefore bought the trophy a round the world ticket, and packed it off at Heathrow airport.

“We posted it back to Cambridge with a number of holiday snaps inside. We had no response from the Cambridge team until a news article appeared in their student paper last week, a typical example of their boring and isolationist nature.”

The trophy took in sights as varied as London, Bedford, San Francisco, Wales and India, before being sent back to Cambridge. The photos show it in famous locations such as Stanford University and London’s Southbank, as well as in front of the entrance of Bangalore University, India and on numerous beaches around the world.

Club treasurer Imogen Pierce said, “I feel we gave this prestigious trophy the world tour and exposure it deserves!

“We were, however equally horrified at the negligence of the Cambridge team to give up the trophy so easily after last year’s game. They are still in possession of one of our match hats, we’d quite like it back, new ones are £18.95.”

The Varsity match is taking place this weekend at Iffley Pool and is apparently going to be an “epic sporting occasion.” Oxford are hoping to regain the trophy and stop it once more slipping into the hands of the “filthy Tabs.”

When asked whether any further travels are planned for the trophy, Nick Worsley replied “Funny you should ask. After all this media attention, I think the trophy might like a bit of R & R. We were thinking maybe a cruise.”

On Saturday night, party animal ‘Old Man Bridge’ attended Balliol’s Valentine’s Bop after receiving an invitation from several students.

The self-proclaimed “enigmatic” man, who asked Cherwell to keep his true identity secret, stayed for just thirty minutes, but found time to appear on stage for a bop set. He described his attendance as “a social-only visit.”

He told Cherwell that he had received other invitations to bops at different colleges on the same night but chose to opt for Balliol’s event. He added that he was “honoured to have been invited,” though labelled the bop as “routine.”

Mr Bridge also stated that he was “pleasantly surprised to find less vom than usual” at the event, particularly as such is “a given” at most bops.

He stated that he attends bops “regularly but invariably briefly,” and that he has been to “many, many other bops,” although he would not reveal where he plans to visit next.

Speaking of his arrival at Balliol, he claimed that he has “come across worse welcomes” and that students were “nice to him,” later adding that he felt students had largely “reacted pleasantly” to his visit.

Students who attended the bop seem to be largely in agreement. Sarah Edwards stated, ‘You know it’s a big night when you see him out.”

First year Classicist Emily Troup seconded such a view, stating it was “great to have him there” as he “really created a buzz about the place.” She added, “That guy’s a legend, and a damn nifty dancer too.”

Eleanor Halls, a first year French student, said that he is a “deeply interesting character” and that his presence at nights out “highlights Oxford’s stance against ageism of any sort.” She added, “Old Man Bridge should be an example to us all: you’re never too old to party.”  

Sam Rabinowitz, Balliol’s JCR Dean, added, “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”

New research has claimed that Facebook could actually be good for your mental state.
The study found that “the successful spread of SNSs [social networking sites] might be associated with a specific positive affective state experienced by users.”

The researchers wired up 30 students and monitored the reactions of their brain, blood pressure, skin conductance, pupil dilation and heart rate to gauge levels of excitement, arousal, stress and relaxation. They found that three minutes looking at Facebook had significantly different  effects to three minutes spent looking at panoramic landscapes  or a complicated mathematical problem.

The landscapes relaxed students the most, and the maths tasks were most stressful. However the social networkers experienced high levels of arousal and excitement. Baroness Susan Greenfield, distinguished scientist and Oxford University professor, commented that the findings “sit entirely with my theory that social networking stimulates the reward pathways in the brain. It would explain the appeal.”

She has pointed out however that Facebook could have psychological drawbacks, expressing worry about “declines in empathy” and the promotion of the self as a “commodity.”

She added, “I see no evil in social networking per se: it’s when it monopolises someone that it becomes the problem. Social networking in itself is not bad for the brain, but you have to look at the context in which it’s used, and for how often each day.”

Psychology student Merabi Chkhenkeli explained, “We experience a varying amount of stresses and natural highs throughout the day, and the positive effects of a quick scroll through Facebook are likely to be insignificant in comparison to the long term effects associated with frequent use of Facebook. Facebook can be both a great tool and a great distraction.”

Whether Facebook makes students happy or not, it is considered indispensable by many. Alice Goldman, a Hertford first year, stated, “Facebook makes me worried that it will one day control my life, but sadly it’s too useful to give up.”

Rebecca Schofield, a finalist at Somerville, told Cherwell, “I once tried to cut back on my Facebook, getting more time for sleep and a social life instead, but I soon discovered that I had nothing to talk to my friends about, as I simply knew nothing of their lives.

“I instead decided long ago to replace my social life with Facebook. I get all of the gossip and none of the awkward human interaction. I find myself trying to ‘like’ things people say in real life; sure, it’s a strange side effect, but not as bad as when I went through my twitter phase and made all my essays 140 characters.”

An OUSU report has shown that a third of students do not receive their marked collections by fourth week.

The data collected from the OUSU survey on collections last term, showed that of the 270 collections sat, 33% of them were returned by the end of second week, and 30% hadn’t been given back by fourth week. There was a “long tail” with regards to the return of collections, and if collections were not returned by second week, it was much less likely that they would have received them back by fifth week.

The survey also highlighted how some undergraduates felt they received very few comments on collections, believing that they didn’t get an indication about what their answers were lacking or what they could have done to strengthen their answers.

One second-year who only received their collection back at the end of fourth week told Cherwell, “It’s not a huge deal but it is frustrating that we could never get away with handing something in that late. It seems like one rule for tutors and another for students.”

However, another second year English student commented, “My tutor is like a machine – she returns our collections almost immediately. It’s frightening.”

Mansfield Theology tutor and University Lecturer David Lincicum stated, “It’s probably not bad to have a deadline for returning collections to students and most colleges I’ve worked with have a deadline around the end of second to the end of fourth week, which seems reasonable. This ensures that feedback is given to a student when the experience of sitting the collection is still fresh in the mind.”

He continued, “Collections serve an important role in focusing the mind and allowing an opportunity to submit one’s understanding of the subject to external review. In an ideal situation, students would view a collection as an opportunity to display one’s knowledge and test one’s interpretations, while tutors will use the collection as a means of formative assessment and so as a way to contribute to a student’s induction into the discipline.”

He conceded, “They are, of course, also helpful in catching out wandering students while time remains for them to correct themselves.”

Wednesday’s Council meeting heard that JCR Presidents, Academic Affairs Officers and Divisional Board representatives have all repeatedly raised the issue of the timely return of collections. Many students feel that colleges should consider instituting a fixed point by which collections must be returned, in order to ensure that undergraduates can receive marks and comments in good time to address issues. Colleges will be putting this proposal to their tutorial committees in the next couple of weeks.

In the second week of this term, JCR Presidents and Academic Affairs officers discussed collections as one of four priority issues, with the sub topics of the promptness of the return of collections; consistency in the system of setting collections; and the relationship of collections to students’ academic progress.

The motion this week proposed that “Collections are a valuable exercise when undergraduates understand the role of collections and are prepared for them,” adding, “It is important that both the undergraduates and tutors take them seriously.” It suggested that in order to maximise the benefit of collections, they need to be returned in a timely way and that feedback given to undergraduates can have a significant impact on the value of collections.

The motion was proposed by Sara Polakova, JCR President of St Hugh’s, and seconded by Hannah Cusworth (Brasenose), OUSU Vice-President for Access and Academic Affairs. Cusworth will be taking the matter to the Senior Tutors Committee, where it will be discussed on Monday of sixth week.

Nick Cooper, OUSU’s Academic Affairs campaigns officer, said, “I believe collections can be highly useful in undergraduates’ development: they allow for early revision and consolidation, a way for tutors to check students’ ongoing performance, and an opportunity to receive detailed feedback on your current work.

“However it is vital to this process that collections be returned in a timely fashion, and this report focuses on the challenges that students often face in terms of insufficient feedback or late return of collections, if they are even returned at all.”

He added, “We hope this report will persuade Colleges that collections are an important part of undergraduate teaching, and that tutors should return them to students within four weeks of taking the exams, if not sooner.”

One third year told Cherwell, “I have only ever done one collection in exam conditions when I haven’t been shown the question paper beforehand.” When asked about the proposed changes she commented, “The fact that in my experience collections have not been taken seriously is obviously going to disadvantage me when it comes to finals but at the moment I prefer being able to spend the holidays seeing my friends.”

An Oxford landlord has been ordered to pay almost £5000 after a faulty boiler could have put his student tenants at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Glaswegian GP, Dr Tariq Mahmood, appeared in Oxford Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to breaching gas safety regulations at his property in East Oxford.

A gas installer first discovered that the boiler was out of order in December 2010, and further investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the boiler had been faulty for two years.

Following Mahmood’s hearing, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspector Dozie Azubike commented, “Dr Mahmood’s lack of care could have had very serious consequences for his Oxford University student tenants.

‘Every year approximately 20 people die and many others suffer ill health from carbon monoxide poisoning. Unchecked gas appliances can become unsafe over time, exposing tenants to possible serious injuries or even fatality.

‘It is therefore vitally important that landlords fulfil their gas safety obligations to their tenants.”

A spokesperson for Oxford University commented, “We advise all students who are living out to know their rights and ensure that landlords undertake all necessary maintenance to ensure their safety. But we also recommend that every student in private accommodation should purchase and install an audible carbon monoxide alarm if one is not already fitted; it could save your life.”

Other Oxford students have expressed grievances about their landlords. A Pembroke Theology student told Cherwell, “We had an infestation of mice in our house. Despite promising to get pest control teams to exterminate the vermin, our landlord did nothing about it. Living out that year was hell.”

There was controversy at Worcester College’s recent JCR elections, as engineer Alex Hunt, who is currently a third year, secured the position of Freshers’ Rep.

The role  involves organising Freshers’ Week and welcoming the incoming class in the college community, and is traditionally the preserve of younger years.

Worcester JCR President Samuel Barker acknowledged that, “Convincing the JCR that a fourth year would be right for the role was always going to be swimming against the tide of convention.”
He added, “His achievement of over 50% of the vote in the First Round of the election is a highly commendable effort when three able candidates were in the running.”

Student Adam Taylor explained that one of the issues surrounding the election was that “A JCR motion was put forward during the week of campaigning to allow year abroad students to vote. Obviously these are third year students, and so it was seen as a ploy to boost Alex’s chance of success.”

He commented, “Some freshers may feel that Alex is running for a joke, or to be spiteful, in taking what is traditionally a second year position. However, he husted really well and has all the qualities to be a great rep.”

Another undergraduate told Cherwell, “Rumours circulated through college saying that the JCR constitution was being combed to find anything that might disqualify Alex from the election.”
However Hunt’s opponent Sean Walker offered his support, stating that although he initially didn’t think that a third year would be ideal for the job of Freshers’ Rep, he sees Alex as a “friendly and hardworking guy” who will “make a good Freshers’ Rep if he tries.”

Student Rolf Merchant reflected, “Anyone from any year can run for a position in the JCR. It just so happens that at Worcester it is almost always first years. In this case a third year has won an election, thus breaking a vague (hardly cast-iron) convention.”