Many Oxford graduates are among the elite group of so-called “super-tutors”, high flying academics who charge up to £1,000 for an hour’s tuition. This rate is considerably higher than the £30 an hour charged by the average private tutor in Britain. 

Many Oxford graduates are among the elite group of so-called “super-tutors”, high flying academics who charge up to £1,000 for an hour’s tuition. This rate is considerably higher than the £30 an hour charged by the average private tutor in Britain. 

Twenty-seven year old Oxford History graduate apparently Topes Calland charges £400 an hour and successfully taught the son of a British rock star who had seen off nine of his previous tutors. In October, Calland was offered £10,000 for ten hours’ worth of tuition time with an Asian royal family member wanting to get in to Oxford. He said, “they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

The agency representing Calland, Bright Young Things, was started by Oxford graduate Malachy Guiness, who tutored full-time before interest in his services became so high that he had to employ other equally gifted individuals to assist him.

Some believe that the hype surrounding these high profile tutors getting their clients’ children into Oxbridge will convince other parents that tutoring is a requirement. 

Helena Mills an ambassador for access at Univ told Cherwell that  to “offer a service that fundamentally suggests [prospective candidates] are not good enough without tutoring exploits students and their families, who don’t want to be disappointed but aren’t sure if they’re ‘quite right’ for Oxbridge.”

She added, “Neither Oxford or Cambridge endorse third party tuition companies – but I think they need to be a lot more vocal in denouncing them.” 

Second year lawyer Praful Nargund claimed tuition won’t do any favours to those who do get a place, saying, “If people pay thousands of pounds for some tricks to use at interview, they are likely struggle when they have to work under the intense conditions at Oxbridge”. 

One Oxford student with experience tutoring GCSE pupils doesn’t believe that tutoring will be of any use at all in the admissions process. “It helps people get their grades up, but most parents who hire tutors are just looking for exam-focused stuff. This won’t actually help them get into Oxbridge. It’s a bigger problem for other universities where they must rely on grades and personal statements.”

Ed Cooke an Oxford graduate and tutor, has a memory capacity great enough to memorise 1000 digits in an hour. He told The Sunday Times that he can help a child to learn all their times tables in two hours using a special memory technique.

He explained that not only high-profile celebrities and the rich are willing to pay for these services. “The super-wealthy approach me, but so do middle-class parents.” Cooke knows that these less wealthy parents must make sacrifices to afford his services, but he said that they are prepared to do so “because they care about their children’s education.”

Third year Chemistry student Henry Johnson  said, “The high price these Oxford graduates are charging means that only the wealthiest can benefit. The gulf separating state schooled and privately educated applicants is vast as it is. All these Oxbridge graduates are doing is increasing the chances of those whose chances are already very high.”

Mills said that having an Oxford degree “doesn’t make you an admissions expert … they can only tell you their take on, and experiences within, the system. If people wish to spend huge amounts of money on tutoring, they can – but it perpetuates the myth that you need money to get to Oxbridge.” She stressed that tutoring creates the assumption that “admissions tutors are looking for polished and perfected individuals, when in fact they are looking for a more raw talent, potential and enthusiasm that they can help to shape and refine over three years.”

OUSU’s Access VP, Hannah Cusworth, added, “No-one should think they have to have private tuition to get a place.”

It has come to light this week, that two researchers from Oxford have discovered a new gene in Maize plants which could help increase crop yields, lessening the global food crisis. Professor Hugh Dickinson and Dr Liliana Costa, both from the Department of Plant Sciences, came to their conclusions by working for ten years alongside scientists at Warwick University.

The gene, known as MEG1, occurs on the maternal chromosome, and according to Professor Dickinson, controls the “transfer of resources into the seed,” letting us know how the grain fills with nutrients. He added that the discovery of the gene was “important both academically as it supports at least one evolutionary theory… and commercially because it controls grain filling.”

The discovery could have a significant impact on increasing yields of the crop. Dickinson noted that “an ability to improve grain yield and character by ‘reprogramming’ MEG1 activity would have immediate application to food production… an ability to ‘tune’ the performance of a gene such as MEG1 should enable us to maximize the yield extracted from a particular plant, and – very important commercially.”

His research partner Dr Costa, added, “Maize is an important staple food crop, feeding millions of people all over the world. The global population is set to rise to over 9 billion by 2050 (according to UN predictions), and together with the likelihood of increasing climate instability, severe food shortages are foreseen.” She went to note that “The discovery that this single gene can regulate the amount of plant nutrients entering the seed, and thus affect seed traits, such as nutritional content and seed size, is a highly important discovery.”

According to Dr Costa, people have generally been “supportive” of the research carried out. Nonetheless, Professor Dickinson commented that although the scientists did not face any direct opposition, GM plants were used for much of the experimentation, and hence “there was always a danger that… experimental crops plots could have been damaged by ‘environmental activists’. The ‘Frankenstein Foods’ climate has had a serious impact on the government’s commitment to crop improvement – and thus on the public funding available for this sort of work.”

He added “Hopefully the situation is now improving – and a degree of common sense is starting to prevail!” Professor Dickinson noted that if we were to meet the needs of a growing population, “militant action against GM research and technology on the basis of no clear evidence” would have to stop.

Second year student, Ryan Kahn commented, “The discovery will do a huge amount of good by bringing done food prices and solve a growing world hunger crisis. That is only set to get worse as populations increase and incomes increase. If properly tested, there can be no reasonable opposition, and that there is, is based on conservatism and illogical beliefs.”

A third year Philosophy and Theology student has featured in the BBC Three series “How Sex Works”, broadcast on Monday night.

Jenni Goodchild, from Mansfield College, appeared in the second episode of the series, entitled “Playing the Field”, discussing living as a self-described asexual in modern society.

Asexuality is defined as “not experiencing sexual attraction”. Goodchild told Cherwell, “Whilst I still find people pretty, one of the best comparisons I’ve heard to how that works is that just like a straight girl can appreciate how pretty another girl is, I can appreciate people’s aesthetic qualities without feeling sexual attraction to them.”

The interview consists of Goodchild talking about her experiences of asexuality in Oxford, and her relationship with her boyfriend.

When asked how he had found the interview, Goodchild said, “He’s fine with it (well, secretly really pleased because he’s on TV) – he told his workmates and family about it, so it seems good. He actually agreed to do it when we’d only been dating a month, and I figured that was a good sign.”

Goodchild commented, “There hasn’t been any especially noticeable difference in my life since being on TV. All of my friends and the people I spend time with know I’m asexual, and knew I was doing the documentary – I’ve done other things to raise visibility in the past, and so it wasn’t really a surprise.

‘People have been talking to me about it mostly in the ‘I saw your interview, well done’ sense, because any questions they’d have have probably been answered. Saying that, I wouldn’t mind if anyone I knew did have questions based on it – it’s only the briefest of introductions, and it’s not always the easiest of ideas for people to grasp.

‘For those who’ve commented since the interview (and there’s always some) that they feel sorry for me, or that I’m missing out, it’s not like I’m missing something I used to have – I’ve never experienced sexual attraction, so it doesn’t feel like anything’s missing. It took me until I was 16/17 to notice that other people felt something I did, and a year or two after that to find out the word ‘asexual’ – partially why I did the interview, since it would have been nice to hear of it earlier.”

Goodchild added that she has met other asexual people in Oxford, both by accident and via the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), which conduct semi-regular meet-ups.

There are an estimated 1% of people in the UK who have identified themselves as asexual.

Following the formation of Toby Beers Baker’s breakaway events company, Shuffle Nights, the management of Varsity Events has told Cherwell that they have placed “the matter in the hands of [their] lawyers.”

A spokesperson for Varsity Events stated “Our lawyers have written to Toby Beers Baker regarding his employment at Varsity Events Limited and his subsequent conduct particularly in relation to Shuffle nights.”He added, “At this point in time we do not propose to comment further.”

Toby Beers Baker confirmed that he had been contacted by Varsity’s legal team but declined to comment on the details of the legal dispute, remarking, “It is a private dispute between two parties, and discussing it in the press would be discourteous to Varsity Events.” 

Baker left Varsity Events over the vac stating last week that he “wasn’t happy with the way the company was going.” He has since set up his own company called Shuffle Nights which has taken control of popular student nights at Lava Ignite and Wahoo as well as organising two new weekly events.

Despite the ongoing legal issues, students’ clubbing patterns do not seem to be affected. The first week of club nights since the split saw most students attend the same nights as last term.

Tuesday’s student night at Camera, which is still run by Varsity Events, reportedly saw 900 students through the door and, according to the management, is the maximum they can realistically process in a night.

A spokesperson for Camera stated, “We are not concerned in the slightest for our business.” Commenting on the legal disagreement, they added, “I did not think there was a split in Varsity rather than the departure of a disgruntled employee.

“We value integrity, trust, reputation and consistency and on this basis we would not consider working with the new company at Camera.”

Camera’s new Tuesday night competition, Beta House at Carbon, so far seems not to have posed a significant threat to Camera’s popularity.

Although Toby Beers Baker declared that “the night was cool and had almost 300 through the doors”, students who attended the opening night at Carbon gave Cherwell a less positive picture. Sean Paul, a Univ second year, told Cherwell, “It was pants”, adding,“When I was there it seemed virtually empty.” 

However, Tom Cole, history student and Univ Shuffle Nights rep defended Baker’s events, commenting, “Britain may have been defeated at Normandy, but Fubar @ Lava Ignite will be Shuffle Nights’ D-Day landing.”

Wednesday night at Lava Ignite was indeed a more successful night for Shuffle. Sources reporting that it was “as packed as ever” while Varsity’s new alternative Wednesday night at Lola Lo attracted a maximum of 200 visitors.

For those with an interest in astronomy, the Department of Physics is hosting ‘Stargazing Oxford’, a free public event which will take place on Saturday the 21st (2pm-10pm).

The event will feature the chance to handle meteorites, telescopes to view the night sky, an inflatable planetarium, models of tomorrow’s giant telescopes, and even DIY astronomy: visitors will make their own telescopes and spectrographs out of cereal boxes and cardboard.

Astrophysicists from Oxford University will also be on hand to answer questions and to give short talks on the latest research on outer space – and to take on local amateur astronomers in a battle of wits called ‘universe-ity challenge.’

Dr Philip Marshall, who organised the event, is very excited to invite the public into his department and share his love of all things Space-related. He said, “we all pay taxes to fund places like Oxford University, and one of the things we get in return are: discoveries. Pure human achievement, stuff that all of us can celebrate.”

With the death of a prominent Oxford physics professor last week, the event has also taken on a new significance. Marshall says the department is thinking of it “as a tribute, to our colleague and friend Steve Rawlings. He’d have loved to have been there to join in the fun, and perhaps more than any of us he knew how to think big.”

The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies has proposed a new course in Jewish leadership.

The program would involve a year studying Jewish Studies in Oxford, equivalent to a masters course, followed by a year of leadership studies at the Said Business school.

Part of the proposal includes offering five to ten students from around the world a full scholarship to study the new course.

Centre President David Ariel described this Global Jewish Leadership Scholars Programme as the ‘Rhodes scholarship for the Jewish world.’ Ariel added, ‘There would also be an option for those already working in Jewish communities. They could take the course on a part-time basis, doing modules in leadership from Said and in Jewish studies from us.’

If the proposal is successful it would be the first degree level course of this type in Britain. Ariel hopes to launch the scheme by 2014 and the scholarship is projected to cost around £500,000 annually.

The centre currently offers an MSt in Jewish Studies.

 

A 23 year old man was assaulted in the Cowley area on Monday evening by a white teenager wielding a baseball bat.

The victim was walking along the footpath between Barracks Lane and Marsh Road just before 6pm when he was hit from behind by the perpetrator. The youth, described as about 16 years old, 5ft 7ins, and well built, struck the man in the back of his thigh with a baseball bat before leaving the area with two other young men. All three then walked in the direction of Marsh Road.

The culprit was wearing a white top with a black hoodie over the top and one of his companions was described as black, around 14-years-old, 5ft 3ins, and well built. He was wearing a dark woollen hat, a dark jacket, and a purple school uniform.

The victim did not require hospitalisation for his injuries although according to police he was left with, “a bruise and a lump on his thigh”.

Police have opened an investigation into the assault and have appealed for any witnesses who may have seen “a group of boys carrying a bat in the area on Monday evening”.

Oxford Spires Academy, a secondary school located just off Barracks Lane, confirmed to Cherwell that their pupils wear purple uniforms. Headmistress Susan Croft stated, “We are currently doing some investigating as to who potentially saw anything related to the incident.”

One local resident, James Styring, told Cherwell that although he hadn’t ever been a victim himself, he did know a secondary school student who was mugged recently for his phone and, in a separate incident, threatened by three young men with knives.

He added, “I think these kind of youths are less of a problem for older adults, but for teenagers and younger people, who are more likely to be targeted, they can be very intimidating.”

Students seem not to share this concern however, with one second year who lives near the Regal commenting, “Generally there are no problems with local residents other than the occasional, and probably well founded, noise complaint. I’ve only felt intimidated once when my friends and I were approached by a guy on the way home but there was no real incident.”

An Oxford tutor was nominated this week for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the most coveted British award for poetry.

Bernard O’Donoghue, a tutor of English at Wadham, was nominated for ‘Farmers Cross’, a collection of poems dealing with the themes of exile, loss and mythology in modern-day Britain.

The T. S. Eliot Prize has been awarded annually since 1993 by the UK Poetry Book Society to “the best collection of new verse in English first published in the UK or the Republic of Ireland”.

Vice President of the Oxford University Poetry Society Toby Lloyd, when asked about the poet’s nomination, highlighted the importance of the award, as well as the importance of O’Donoghue to Oxford’s poetry scene:

“In terms of how he’s viewed in the poetic community, he’s a pretty big deal. Outside of Geoffrey Hill I’d say he’s certainly the most prominent poet currently affiliated with Oxford”, he said. “He’s been nominated twice now for the T. S. Eliot prize, which is sort of like the Booker Prize for poetry”.

O’Donoghue, a former undergraduate at Lincoln College, emigrated from Ireland to England at the age of 16. His career in poetry began in 1987 with the publication of his first collection, ‘Poaching Rights’. The nomination for the T. S. Eliot prize is the latest accolade in a distinguished career, which has already seen O’Donoghue win the Whitbread (now Costa) Book Award, for ‘Gunpowder’, in 1995.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, issued a global day of darkness on Wednesday, shutting down the digital encyclopaedia for twenty four hours.

The blackout was a protest at Internet anti-piracy laws which have been proposed by the US Congress. Visitors to the website were unable to access articles and were instead presented with a letter urging them to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The blackout is cited on the Wikipedia website as having two purposes: to raise public awareness of SOPA and PIPA, and to encourage people to share their views with their representatives. Wales claims that if these bills are passed they will “endanger free speech and set a frightening precedent of internet censorship for the world.”

Oxford students were confronted with the daunting prospect of surviving the day without access to 3.8 million freely available articles. Some teetered on the brink of despair. Isra Hale, a first year medic at St Anne’s, stated, “I really needed them today, I feel disowned and disheartened. It’s such an essential component of my academic life.”

Michael Connolly, a first year chemist, commented, ‘I suppose the cause is good and this is an effective way to make the US government listen. But I really need to know what a peroxodisulphate anion is for my prelabs tomorrow.” Another first year, Xin Fan, expressed agreement. “I think Jimmy Wales gravely underestimates how difficult it is to throw together an unrealistically and suspiciously cogent essay using only YouTube clips of children’s history documentaries and the snippet view on Googlebooks.”

Other students adopted a more make-do spirit. “I get that it’s annoying; we all use Wikipedia,” commented Jasmine Krishnamurthy-Spencer, “but at the end of the day we should probably have a wider resort of websites.”

The prospect of both bills becoming law has caused widespread anxiety. Oscar Boyd, first year geographer, said, “Once the bills are passed they can shut down websites – completely black them out – meaning that they will never appear on search results.” Claire Gianotti, an American visiting student, voiced similar concerns. “I’d be worried if the American Congress enacted legislation that restricted our use of Wikipedia.”

Come Thursday, students were relieved to find the website up and running again. Jasmine remarked, !It really makes you appreciate how much we use and depend on it.! Her friend, Toby Huelin, added, “I might donate now it’s come back.”

The Oxford Women’s Open, a debating competition for women only, is set to be held this weekend for the third year running.

The conveners of the Open feel that ‘the top levels of debating simply do not bear out the kind of gender parity that IONA should be seeing after decades of female involvement’.

Ania Dulnik, President of Oxford Women in Politics, explained that they give money to the Oxford Women’s Open because “it runs consistent with our values in that it empowers young women to challenge themselves in a particularly demanding field.”

However the event is not without controversy, with some male members of the university labeling it “divisive.”

Some male students expressed the opinion that “gender specific events exacerbate a divide more than they close the gap” and that “integration, not exclusion, ought to be the priority.”

One student stated, “The unavoidable suspicion is that one only avoids competition when one can’t compete.”

Alex Body, a third year classicist, disagreed. He said that “if women are under-represented or under-achieve in debating, positive measures should be taken to help them,” and added, “if an event like this will have a positive effect on female participation in debating, then it has my vote!”

Susie Deedigan, a second year historian, said that she thought that the competition “could have the potential to seem divisive to some people in the same way as, for example, female-only careers events; however because there is a smaller representation of women in debating, it is important to hold women’s only events.”

The competition also has strong support from Ben Woolgar, a third year PPEist from Balliol, who was recently crowned ‘Best Speaker’ at the World University Debating Championships in Manila. He stated that the Women’s Open “is certainly a brilliant idea.”

Woolgar expressed that the problem of female representation ‘is less bad now than it was three years ago when I started debating at the university” thanks, in part, to the Women’s Open. He also pointed to Australia as a leading example of integrated debating, having had affirmative action requirements and Women’s Officers in all its major debating societies “for generations.” They consequently produce “a much larger number of successful female debaters.”