The Saïd Business School will design and deliver a ‘Major Projects Leadership Academy’ for the UK Cabinet Office, it was announced this week.

A spokesperson said the new initiative is designed to “develop a cadre of world-class major project leaders within the Civil Service, who will direct major government projects of high complexity and cost.”

The programme will commence in October 2012, and will consist of three, 5-day long residentual modules across a period of twelve months. 

It will draw upon Oxford University resources and the work of the BT Centre for Major Programme Management at the Saïd Business School, whose Director, Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, commented, “Over the past three years we have been developing at Oxford a global “gold standard” for how to manage major projects successfully. This is the standard we now bring to the British Civil Service.”

It was announced this week that from 2015 the Women’s Boat Race will be moved to the Thames and be competed alongside the Men’s Race.

This move will mark the first time in The Boat Race’s 183 year history that the female competition will be hosted in the same conditions as the male equivalent.

The women’s race has been contested since 1927, first alternating between the Cam in Cambridge and the Isis in Oxford, before moving to Henley-on-Thames. It will now move to the four-and-a-quarter mile Tideway course on the Thames that has been made famous by the Men’s race, taking place between Putney and Mortlake.

The move will emulate the equal status given to the Boat Races at other universities such as Newcastle and Manchester. The event will also be accompanied by a new sponsor, as BNY Mellon will replace Xchanging as the primary financial backers of the boat race.

In addition, the BBC have decided to broadcast both races from the Tideway course. In 2015 footage of Oxford’s Varsity rowers will thus be beamed out to over 200 different countries.

Potentially the most significant implications of these changes are the effects they could have on the profile of women’s rowing, and women’s sport in general. The event on the Thames attracts crowds of up to 300,000, whereas the race at Henley is normally only spectated by around 7,000.When combined with the BBC’s decision, it is expected to substantially raise the profile of OUWBC.

Martyn Rooney, head of CUWBC, stated that this will impact on the standard of Oxbridge rowing, as it will “encourage more international women to want to come to Cambridge to row, as is prevalent in the men’s discipline.”

Lauren Bruce, treasurer of OUWBC 2011-12 concurred, commenting, “The Henley Boat Races have always been a great event and The Women’s Boat Race is very well supported. However, it is fantastic to have this increased recognition for women’s rowing and we believe this will continue to improve the standard within Oxford and encourage more women to participate in this great sport.”

She added, “OUWBC are very excited about the decision to race the women on the Tideway from 2012. Newton have given us fantastic support since they began sponsoring us and this has enabled us to make this move.”

Moving the race to the Thames should also help address the discrepancies between women’s and men’s funding in rowing in general. Rooney told Cherwell, “There’s a lot of work to be done to build the infrastructure to support the women’s rowing because at the moment it’s been under-funded.”

Representatives from Cambridge’s Boat Club seem equally enthused, with President Izzi Boanas saying, “It is going to be very exciting and there is a hard ride ahead with a lot of challenges to face.”

One of the main challenges facing the women will be adapting their race training for the 4.25 mile course, which is over triple the 2km course at Henley. This will also have an impact on squad selection, as training will need to be different for the first and second boats, the latter of which will still race the shorter course.

There are further logistical issues to be addressed. A Boat Race Company spokesperson said, “It is not yet clear whether the women’s race will take place before or after the men’s reserve team race. The logistics of that haven’t been worked out yet and that’s part of the reason why it’s going to take until 2015 to get women onto the river”.

However, teething problems aside, St Anne’s Men’s Rowing Captain Eddie Rolls said, “Finally women’s rowing has been welcomed to the 21st Century”.

This year’s clash between the men’s crews will take place on the 7th of April, and the Henley Races are weeks earlier, on the 25th of March. Cambridge will be looking for vengeance, having been defeated by the Dark Blues in both races last year.

A motion allowing students from Oxford Brookes University to get life membership at the Oxford Union has recently been proposed. Brookes students are currently only entitled to a year’s membership. 

The motion, which was considered by the Standing Committee, has been put on hold till Trinity Term. 

Toby Huelin, a first year music student, commented, “It’s a completely natural extension of allowing Brookes students to become members in the first place and as a gesture it would very welcome.” 

John Lee, treasurer of the Union, who tried to pass the motion through Standing Committee, declined to comment.

However Lauren Pringle, President of the Oxford Union, released a statement on behalf of the entire society. She stated, “The Oxford Union decided to postpone the discussion about whether to give Brookes Members life membership until Trinity term, where matters of membership are discussed in greater depth. It was felt that the form in which the proposed change was brought was incorrect, as it was agreed by all that such an important change needs to be brought before the Members for their approval.” 

She emphasised that Brookes cannot be dealt with as a unique case, adding, “It is only one of nine institutions with the same category of membership and it was agreed that we should not discuss Brookes in isolation.” 

Xin Fan, a first year History and Economics student at St Anne’s College, agreed saying, “This is a fair shout by the Union.  Affiliated universities should be considered equally.”

The Union website states, “Students at Oxford Brookes University are encouraged to join the Oxford Union for the duration of their course, and many choose to use it as their home-from-home in the centre of the City.”

Ruth Anderson, a first year doing sports and exercise science at Brookes University, commented, “At the moment the main problem is the expense. Lifetime membership would definitely encourage more students to join.”

Oxford alumnus Margaret Thatcher is at the centre of a new debate between University academics after plans to name a university building in her honour were revealed.

Billionaire Wafic Saïd, who recently donated £15 million towards the construction of a new facility at the Saïd business school, told the Spectator that he hoped to name the building after the former Prime Minister, calling her a “lioness.”

Whilst many Oxford academics have backed “The Thatcher Building” as a fitting tribute to the former Prime Minister, others have suggested that she is an inappropriate figure to honour.

The dispute follows the decision of congress in 1985 to not award Thatcher an honorary Oxford degree due to her cuts to education. She became the first Oxford educated Prime Minister since the Second World War to be refused the honour and no incumbent has been offered one since.

History Professor Robert Gildea emphasised that current Oxford academics should acknowledge the earlier decision of their peers, commenting, “As a young lecturer I voted against giving her an honorary degree because of her attack on higher education and I have not changed my mind since then.”

He added, “Far from being a benefactor, Mrs Thatcher started the attack on the funding of higher education and began the process of marketization and privatisation of universities that has continued over the last 30 years,” concluding, “To name a building after Thatcher would be to legitimate those policies which are destructive of a university system which seeks to uphold its autonomy and the values of disinterested research, teaching and learning.”

However Emeritus Fellow of All Souls Peter Pulzer, who led the opposition to Thatcher’s honorary degree in 1985 disputed this argument, telling Cherwell that he was “indifferent to the proposal.”Pulzer stated, “I thought, and still think, that the refusal of the degree in 1985 was justified as a protest against the policies of the government of which she was head.”

He continued, “But buildings are named after all sorts of people, some of whom are controversial.

“There’s a difference between a comment on policies at the time and a later memorial to someone who has left office. The new passage linking the two parts of the Bodleian is named after Gladstone. I’m an admirer of Gladstone, but many people hated him.”

Dr Alice Prochaska, principal of Somerville College, where Thatcher studied chemistry, told Cherwell that Somerville were “always glad to hear of plans to honour her.” She added, “We already have a Margaret Thatcher conference centre at Somerville, so the Saïd building would be far from the first building in Oxford to honour her.” Thatcher has been an Honorary Fellow at Somerville since before she became Prime Minister.

The student population has been equally as divided over the issue. Lincoln student Nathan Akehurst stated, “It comes at a time when Thatcher’s inheritors are busy packaging up and selling higher education, and the dons are absolutely right to attempt to force a Congregation vote. Honouring her with a building, especially when a Conservative-led government is in power continuing her legacy, is partisan and inappropriate.”

Brasenose student James Norman opposed the plans, remarking, “Margaret Thatcher’s ‘legacy’ is indubitably associated with a whole nexus of negative and offensive actions undertaken during her ministerial career contrary to the socially progressive and inclusive stance which Oxford has been attempting to align itself with in recent years.”

Thomas Adams, chair of the Oxford University Labour Club, said, “She is still a divisive figure and I understand why there has been opposition to these plans.

“If students who would be using the new building are strongly opposed to it, those concerns are of course valid. Student concerns should definitely be taken into account and if opposition is high enough they should seek a new name.”

Fergus Butler-Gaille also felt the plans were misguided, quipping, “It seems to me appropriate that such a vulgar and Mammon orientated institution as the Business school should appropriate the prophetess of monetarism for their ghastly new building.

“However there is the added problem that the majority of the opposition is led by morons who simply have a non-thought out, knee jerk reaction to ‘Thatcher’. As a consequence, I am torn between dislike for Mrs Thatcher and the profound dislike of stupid lefty JCR types opposing this for the sake of it.”

In contrast, History and Politics student James Johnson supported the suggestion, saying, “I believe the building should be named after Mrs Thatcher, the University should notice that Mrs Thatcher did a great deal for the country as well as making mistakes.

“Academics from across the spectrum are wrong to paint this as a ‘right v left’ issue. Instead, the naming of the building should be about recognising and applauding esteemed figures from the University, about celebrating the fact that Oxford University produced such a leading figure as Mrs T.”

He continued, “Mr Said has pumped £15 million into the project to profit the students of the University. Surely he should be allowed to choose the name of the institution?”

Wafic Saïd, 72, helped to broker the Al-Yamamah arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, the UK’s biggest-ever export agreement. His £23 million gift in 1996 to establish the business school at Oxford was controversial and its opening in 2001 was marred by student protests.