Brasenose’s latest JCR meeting has banned public displays of affection in the library. It has also apparently allocated £500 of JCR funds to a semi-fictional steak society.  </p>

One motion noted that “That the Library is a place for sobriety, self restraint and sexual deprivation” and “that the Library is not a human petting zoo in which members of the JCR partake in the rampant swapping of bodily fluid.”</p>

The motion further stated that, “some members of the JCR need to learn how to behave in a public place, especially in our College Library” and mandated the Academic and Library Rep to speak to the Librarian about the “salacious behaviour” in the library and to erect a “desexualized zone where JCR members could work with a sign that says something to the effect of ‘No Kissing / No Public Displays of Affection.” The motion was passed after some debate over whether such a sign would be allowed.</p>

Another motion was passed awarding the steak society a termly allowance of £500 to spend on “ingredients and any repairs or upgrades to the George Foreman.” The money was also for building a “steak house for the sole use of the dining society, where everything looks and smells like steak or traditional steak-accompanying food and drink”.</p>

Resentment was expressed towards the Boat Club, which reportedly  receives £1,000 every term and “have Brasenose-crested kits, use the chapel, have their own boat house, and have two hall closures per year.</p>

“The dining society brings at least as much aggregate joy into college life as the boat club. The boat club is a bit like the Jamaican bobsled team, only not very funny [and] totally lacking in rhythm and rhyme.”</p>

Ben Stafford and Ben Zelenka Martin said, “Several myths have been suggested regarding the foundation of this society that may, or may not, exist. All have been found to be missteaken in one way or another. The members have never been counted. Meatings steak place on Mondays.</p>

“[The Steak Society] brings wonder and joy to the lives of poor and oppressed students by ‘meating’ all of their protein-based needs.”</p>

The duo emphasised the prestige of the steak society membership. “Numerically, the dining society is the most exclusive in Oxford – indeed, probably in the world. We can neither confirm nor deny rumours of plans to introduce a rigorous selection process involving nudity, raw meat, and cattle prods.”</p>

JCR President Dan Wainwright assured Cherwell that the  motion was a joke and that “the reward for passing a joke motion is a crate of beer, but obviously the motion carries no weight.”</p>

The Steak Society stated, “our motion was not intended as a joke. We do not understand the basis of the assumption that it was.”

On Saturday, two days before ‘fair-trade fortnight’, activists from OUSU Environment and Ethics committee’s Buy Right campaign took to Radcliffe Square to spread their message. </p>

The Buy Right campaign aims to ensure that no clothes bearing the Oxford University brand are manufactured by workers in poor conditions with unfair pay.  </p>

Six campaigners set up a washing line, from which they hung spray-painted t-shirts, reading ‘buy right’ on one side, and ‘no sweat’ on the other. </p>

Nearly 100 people stopped to sign postcards, addressed to the Oxford-owned subsidiary Oxford Limited, petitioning the University to join the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). The independent organisation monitors working conditions in sweatshops, and produces independent reports which allow the activities of these factories to be monitored in a bid to combat exploitation.</p>

The event was also an attempt  to actively involve the student community with OUSU’s efforts. Students have been able to sign or send postcards in College, and apply greater pressure on the University to alter its stance.</p>

The campaign, which is also encouraging colleges to be ethically aware when purchasing stash, was described by Buy Right campaign coordinator, Sean Robinson, as having a “complex message.” </p>

In response to fears that without sweatshops their workers will be left with no source of income, Robinson  and Buy Right campaigners are keen to spread a subtler message. </p>

Robinson stressed that this isn’t a campaign to boycott sweatshops. Rather, the aim is to get the University to sign up to the WRC, in a bid to ensure greater transparency in the supply chain, and guarantee humane conditions for workers. </p>

Although the University has said that it is in favour of ending exploitation, it is obstructing moves towards greater transparency for fear of jeopardising “commercial sensitivity.” </p>

As it stands, licensees are required to abide by a Code of Labour Practice, which is difficult to enforce. The campaigners feel that there needs to be an incentive for suppliers and licensees to actually change conditions. </p>

Robinson said, “If Oxford Limited is serious about the basic human rights of workers then they need independent inspections – we don’t let the fox guard the chicken coop. Secrecy and accountability are not compatible.” </p>

Robinson was also dubious about the financial arguments against greater transparency. Where it is argued that greater costs to suppliers will result in sweatshops being shut down, the campaigners insist that the cost to the suppliers will be negligible. </p>

Robinson added that the campaigners “are not slowing any time soon. We are not running out of steam.” </p>

Talks between Buy Right activists and Oxford Limited were set to continue as of Wednesday. As more universities sign up to the WRC, the expectation is that there will be a burgeoning incentive for suppliers of university-branded clothing to improve their standards.

A surprise vote of no confidence in St Anne’s JCR Treasurer Alexander Gallagher failed to remove him from the post, but last night Gallagher resigned anyway.

At Sunday’s JCR meeting, Gallagher was called upon to defend his position after a college-wide email sent by the JCR President proposed a vote of no confidence. 

Gallagher survived the vote as only 57 per cent of those present voted in favour failing to meet the required threshold of 66 per cent.

Gallagher reportedly failed to attend seven out of eight JCR Committee meetings this year.  According to the JCR constitution, missing more than three results in an automatic no confidence motion.

The motion also drew attention to instances in which members of the JCR Committee had not been reimbursed for outstanding expenses since Michaelmas.

It has also been reported that there were inconsistencies between Gallagher’s reasons for non-attendance to the JCR Committee and his defence on Sunday evening.

The meeting in which the motion was debated was very heated. Gallagher’s competence for the role and the handling of the matter by the JCR both came under fire.

As Gallagher was officially unaware of the vote until the college-wide email was sent this week, many claimed that the JCR acted “heavy-handedly”.  However, one St Anne’s student claimed, “While the JCR handled it pretty badly, he still should have gone”.

On Thursday Gallagher resigned, stating  in  an  email to undergraduates, “After recent events, I now feel unable to remain part of the committee”, and apologising for the delay in reimbursements.

Many of those who were at the JCR meeting wanted to stress that Gallagher was “a lovely guy” and that the no confidence motion failed was a reflection of this.

Technology – inspired words such as “bloggable”, “cyberbullying” and “sexting” have recently made it into the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The Oxford Dictionary Online is updated quarterly and the latest additions also included modern abbreviations such as “tbh” and “fnarr fnarr” which is defined as “British informal: used to represent sniggering, particularly at a sexual innuendo.”
Spokeswoman for the Oxford Dictionary Online, Gabbi Fletcher, told The Telegraph, “The rapid development of technology creates multiple new products, services, and functionalities, which all need new terms to describe them. We are also seeing the very fast circulation of new vocabulary on a global basis, with the expansion of social media.”

A national Fairtrade Fortnight initiative has prompted debate in colleges, and several JCRs are now working towards ‘Fairtrade status’. </p>

While Oxford Brookes became the world’s first university to attain Fairtrade status in October 2003, and Oxford itself has held Fairtrade City status for over five years, Oxford University has not yet achieved Fairtrade status. The University would need over two thirds of colleges to conform to Fairtrade Foundation rules to qualify. </p>

Alastair Marsh, OUSU Environment and Ethics Officer, said, “Oxford as a whole is a sizeable Fairtrade consumer.</p>

“OUSU has a Fairtrade policy, and we believe that using more Fairtrade products wherever possible in Common Rooms and Colleges/PPHs is a good practice.”</p>

Commenting on the use of Fairtrade products, Marsh said, “Of course, we all know the world is a very complicated place, and there are certain features about the Fairtrade system that are less than ideal.</p>

“However Fairtrade is a good place for us to start: all it requires is reading a label and making a conscious choice.”</p>

St John’s is one of several colleges considering an application for Fairtrade status. A motion proposed by  the JCR Environment & Ethics Officers, Ed Love and Shaahin Pishbin, stated, “The JCR should have a Fairtrade Policy as it raises awareness and commits future years of students to the cause of advancing the use of Fairtrade products, and contributes to the College achieving ‘Fairtrade status’.”</p>

Commenting on the motion, Love said, “With this we hope to have a platform from which to begin presenting changes and helping them being made when working with College with respect to sourcing and supplying new products.</p>

“St John’s College already sources and supplies some Fairtrade products for its food provision in hall and in the College bar. However the steps have not yet been taken to make a serious application for ‘Fairtrade Status’.”</p>

Concerns have raised about the issue of financing a move to Fairtrade as some Fairtrade products are more expensive. However,  Love points out  that, “as currently only a small proportion of food that is provided in hall, in the bar and at meetings can be replaced with Fairtrade alternatives…the increased cost or indeed decreased volume should not be significant.”</p>

 Brasenose JCR is also working towards Fairtrade status. Roberta Iley, the college’s JCR Environment & Ethics Representative, said, “Fairtrade Fortnight provides the perfect arena for these ethical issues to be brought to the forefront of peoples’ minds.</p>

 “Personally, I think it is most important to get people engaged in the issue – thinking about what you buy and where it comes from is not restricted to, but can be started with discussions on Fairtrade.”</p>

As part of the nationwide Fairtrade Fortnight, the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition plan to wrap Fairtrade bunting around Oxford’s landmarks. </p>

There will also be a Fairtrade Fair in the Town Hall on Tuesday of 8th Week, which is set to include a fashion show and cocoa farmers from Ghana speaking about their experiences.</p>

Fairtrade status has already been awarded to some colleges: Linacre became the first in 2006, followed by Wadham in 2007 and Hertford in 2008.

Oxford’s chemists, biologists and linguists are most likely to drop out of the University, a Cherwell investigation has found. 

According to information released to Cherwell by 16 different colleges, the number of dropouts within the past five years reflects a considerable tendency for those studying chemistry, biology and modern languages to withdraw.

When compared to other universities, however, Oxford has one of the lowest drop-out rates in the country. According to figures published in the spring of last year, only 1 per cent of Oxford students drop out, compared to 7.2 per cent nationally.

Considering the proportions of Oxford’s colleges, Somerville has retained the highest dropout rate, losing 30 students since 2005. It is followed closely by Christ Church, which has lost 23 students, and St Hilda’s and Wadham, each losing 22. 

At each of these colleges, females constituted over 50 per cent of the total withdrawals.

Since 2006, Chemistry has produced the most withdrawals of any subject—roughly 13 per cent of the total dropouts within the past five years.  For the past two years almost a quarter of the dropouts were Chemistry students. 

Zoe O’Shea, a second year Chemist at Lincoln, was asked why she thought Chemistry had such a high drop-out rate.  She said, “The course is a lot harder that I thought it would be before I got here.  There are things on the course that could be structured better to make it more manageable.

“Chemistry is the kind of subject that you  have to enjoy to stay motivated and I understand how the stress of Chemistry could get to some people,” she added.

Subjects such as Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology accounted for ten per cent of drop-outs.

This sets the two courses apart from the other science-based subjects. Withdrawals from Physics only constituted six per cent of the total number; Medicine was just two per cent. 

Since 2005, Merton has only seen five students leave; Jesus College only two. Exeter serves as an example of the general dynamics concerning both gender and subject.  Over the past five years, six out of its eight withdrawals were women. In 2006/7, three female students withdrew, from Chemistry, English and History. The next year, only one female Engineering student dropped out.

In 2008/9 there was another series of withdrawals from scientific subjects; Chemistry, Medicine and Physics. 2009/10 saw only one more withdrawal, a student in Physics and Philosophy.

The withdrawal data of all the colleges did show that students dropped out from a range of courses, from Psychology to Music to Classical Archaeology. But the gap in withdrawal numbers between most subjects and the top three has been consistently wide for the past five years.

As a Cherwell investigation three weeks ago found, a number of students choose to swap subjects rather than drop-out altogether.

Thames Valley Police are appealing for information after a 20-year-old man was arrested in relation to fraud.

A statement from Oxford’s Criminal Investigations Department said, “A 20-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of committing fraud by false representation in relation to the booking of James Blake for an event at Backroom at the Bully on the 12th Feb 2011, he has been released on Police Bail while further information is obtained.

“Anyone who bought tickets for this event after seeing the posters or flyers naming James Blake and felt they did not get what they paid for then please contact [email protected] with subject ‘BM3762470/11’.”

The issue came to light after Cherwell received information to suggest that the dubstep artist was never booked for club night “Meditate”.

An Oxford Brookes student who had been reported to Thames Valley Police as missing resurfaced on Sunday evening, after it emerged that he had been writing his dissertation for the past three weeks. </p>

 The fourth year history student from Oxford Brookes, Andrew Stout, had not been seen since Thursday night, 3rd February, at the nightclub Camera, on St Ebbe’s Street. His  phone had been inactive since 8th February.</p>

As well as alerting the police, a Facebook campaign was launched to find Stout, urging the public to report  news of the missing finalist, and posters were circulated around Oxford town centre by concerned family members and friends. </p>

However, the mystery of Stout’s whereabouts was solved when he contacted the Thames Valley police directly on Sunday. According to a press report “When [the student] became aware that he had been declared missing he made contact with Thames Valley Police by telephone.” </p>

Stout  was asked to come in to the police station and confirm his identity which he did at 5pm on Sunday.</p>

The 22-year-old student said that “this has all been down to a small misunderstanding”. He has issued a statement of apology on Facebook. </p>

Family members had contacted the police last week to alert them that the student was missing. </p>

Thames Valley police issued an appeal on Friday, 25th February for information about the student’s whereabouts, saying, “[The student] is in his final year of study at Oxford Brookes and has not attended University since the start of term.”</p>

Sgt David Whittle said, “We are concerned for his welfare as this behaviour is very out of character.”</p>

  A friend of Stout commented, “We all believe that this kind of drama could have only happened to him! He is that sort of person.” </p>

Friends expressed their “relief” that Stout had been found on the Facebook group, after one friend posted that he had just received a “very out of the blue message” from the student. 

Tighter regulations for international students could cost the UK billions of pounds, with “dire consequences” for British universities, a report has found.
It has been warned that proposed changes to the student visa system aimed at cutting immigration would be “a hostile act against Britain’s universities”.
The new system would also have a knock-on effect on Oxford’s universities and numerous language colleges, costing the local economy a potential £74 million.
A spokesperson from the University warned that cutting students’ rights to stay in the UK and work after their degrees would have a “dramatic negative effect on the UK’s higher education system and research base.
Currently 40 per cent of Oxford’s University’s postgraduate students are from countries outside the EU. 
“Having students from all over the world means Oxford has the very best minds tackling UK and global challenges,” said the spokesman.
“Closing the post-study work route would deny the UK of some of the best young researchers and those with significant entrepreneurial talent that UK universities have spent several years training.
“The proposals could cause long-term damage not only to the UK’s world-class higher education sector, but to Britain’s science and research base.”
Abhishek Bhattacharyya is a senior status student studying for a BA in English at Christ Church who came to Oxford from the University of Delhi. He said, “I think the new regulations proposed are frankly terrible.
“By limiting the possibilities for foreign students working while studying, or repaying student loans with a job here after, while simultaneously cutting university funding, the system looks designed to attract only rich international students, not good ones.
“This is bound to encourage the best students to apply elsewhere, where they have to worry less about their finances, and can think about their academic work.”
Steve Hirschhorn, principal of Eckersley Oxford, an English language college in the city, said, “The damage has already been done, to a large extent. Students are going elsewhere. Why would you come here if you are going to be treated like a criminal?”

Oxford Fashion Week 2011 kicked off on Monday amidst complaints from models and the production team.

One team member, who wished to remain anonymous, described how she had suggested partnering OFW with eating disorder charity BEAT, but was told that it would be “too much effort” to ensure that none of the models had problems of this kind. 

A model in OFW 2009 told Cherwell, “I was exploited…because at the time I was quite seriously ill. I think a number of the other girls involved were. Looking back, there’s no way [the organisers] could not have realised.”

However, many models involved in OFW were positive about their experiences. Model Becky Knott said, “I’ve found it really well organised, and we’ve been treated well”.

In what has been seen as an effort to combat negative images of the fashion industry OFW is linked with Models for Diversity. One model said, “There’s no discrimination. They made an effort to include people of all different sizes.”

OFW’s Press Officer Alyx Barker commented, “After watching the lingerie show I was really pleased with the range of models used. It was great to see some normal sized models looking fantastic and healthy.”

However some dissatisfied volunteers even have gone so far as to quit OFW altogether. One described the experience as “massively stressful”, and explained that she had been spending up to seven hours a day on OFW, even though producer and founder Carl Anglim knew the time pressures already facing students. 

When contacted by Cherwell, Anglim refused to comment.

In an email to the OFW team, Anglim said, “Oxford Fashion Week demands a limitless amount of time from each of you. I promise you that those who have used this opportunity to test themselves will be reaping the long term benefits.”

Ticket prices have also been criticised. The Couture Show this year cost £30 per person and prices have been similarly high since OFW’s conception. However, the 2009 annual return for Oxford Fashion Limited, the company which runs OFW, and of which Anglim is a director, shows a net loss of £7,670.

Anglim reportedly told a member of the production team that he didn’t expect to break even this year either. One OFW team member said that scheduling it at the same time as Paris Fashion Week had led to a number of logistical problems. 

“The champagne is still in Champagne,” she added.

Another volunteer told Cherwell, “OFW has been over-sold to partners. Despite attempts to make OFW open…budget restraints mean that basic marketing activities cannot take place.”

He did add, having seen the Couture Show, that “Despite these issues the team have put together something really special. I was astounded at the level of production.”

Sponsors of OFW were also positive about their involvement. Richard Rosser, of B4 Business Magazine, said that they were proud to be a media sponsor. He said, “What they’ve delivered has been absolutely fantastic. They did what they promised and more.”

Anglim told Vogue.com in February, “Oxford is a fantastic city and it is madness that there was no major fashion festival before we created Oxford Fashion Week in 2009.”