An NHS review announced last Friday that paediatric heart surgery should no longer take place at Oxford’s John Radcliffe hospital.
The review aims to reduce the number of specialist centres in Britain. Out of the eleven centres inspected, the John Radcliffe received the lowest ranking assessment by a “significant margin”.

Parents of children who have undergone surgery at the unit have expressed their outrage at the NHS decision and have launched a campaign to save the service.

Heart operations were suspended at the hospital earlier this year following the deaths of four infants at the surgery unit. The surgeon Caner Salih has since been found by an independent investigation to have made no errors in judgement.

Fears about student safety have been raised this week following three violent assaults in central Oxford.

These latest attacks follow two stabbings Cowley last week.
Third year student Laurence Osborn was robbed by a group of five men on Parks Road, opposite Keble college, leaving him with severe head injuries.

“I was walking into the centre of town for a friend’s birthday when I saw a group of guys on bikes and a moped coming towards me on the pavement rather than the road. I didn’t think for a moment that I was a target because I was so close to town.”

The group pushed Osborn against a wall and threatened physical violence unless he handed over his phone. Osborn complied but the attackers decided the phone wasn’t valuable enough to steal and broke it instead.

After punching him, the group began to move away. However, when Osborn stayed to attempt to retrieve his glasses from the ground, the attackers threw a bottle at him and forced Osborn to run in the direction of The King’s Arms.

Despite his injuries, Osborn commented, “It’s more psychologically wounding than physically wounding. I’ve been having flashbacks, but I’m alright. I’m not going to let it affect the academic year and my tutors have been supportive.”

The attack left Osborn with a broken nose and fractured cheek. He was admitted to A&E because of blood clots and worries that the compound breakage of bone as well as cartilage in the nose was consistent with skull fracture.

Although the attack occurred at nine o’clock at night, no passers-by witnessed the incident, and Osborn’s attackers made off with his passport, bank cards and keys. The student was forced to remove any valuables from his college room and sleep elsewhere until the lock was changed.

A second student, Ian Maconnachie, was assaulted on his way home from Park End last Wednesday. The attack took place outside O’Neill’s pub on New Inn Hall Street at around 3am.

“My memory of the incident is a bit hazy, but I remember that there were two people I didn’t know having an argument and it got heated. I attempted to intervene and for my trouble I was punched so hard it knocked me out.

“I’ve never been hit before and I was in A&E for six hours that night. I’m quite light-hearted about the whole thing but it was so avoidable.”

The police are still investigating both incidents but there have been no arrests made so far. The rapid spate of attacks since the beginning of term has raised concerns that students are being deliberately targeted.

Osborn agreed that the attack felt like more than a straightforward mugging. He said, “Once they took my things they argued about what they were going to do with me. They decided to hit me anyway even though they’d already robbed me.
“I live in a very rough area of London, and I’ve been mugged before, but I’ve never had an experience as horrible as that. It didn’t seem like they needed to steal. It just seemed like they wanted to hurt me. When I was assaulted before it was a means to an end – they hit me first and then took my wallet. I just got the impression that they hated me.”

A further incident was reported to police on the same evening that Osborn was attacked. A 23-year-old student was admitted to hospital after being hit with a glass bottle at the corner of South Parks Road and St Cross Road. The man was walking with friends when confronted by a larger group of people at around 10.45pm.
The incident is also being treated as grievous bodily harm but no-one has been arrested.

Both Osborn and Maconnachie have praised police assistance. Maconnachie commented, “When I came around the police were already there and somebody had called an ambulance for me.”
Osborn said, “The police have been very helpful. They explained that I’ll be entitled to compensation because it was a case of grievous bodily harm.”

Tom Perry, OUSU Welfare warned that students must not underestimate the dangers of walking alone late at night. He commented, “While Oxford may seem like a quaint place to live, it is a city, and students should be careful.”

Last week, an Oxford Brookes student was stabbed outside the O2 Academy on Cowley Road. A man has now been arrested for the attack.

Benjamin Hepburn, 22, appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court last week and will appear at Oxford Crown Court later today. He has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

St John’s students, fellows and alumni celebrated the official opening of the college’s new £35 million quadrangle on Saturday.
Kendrew Quadrangle is named after the Noble Prize winner and former St John’s President, Sir John Kendrew. The quad will provide seventy student rooms, a law library, a gym, café, archives, music practice areas and an events room. It is one of the largest building developments undertaken by an Oxford college in recent years.

Taking nearly a decade of planning by the college, the new quad’s design has been praised for its cutting edge approach to energy consumption and sensitivity to local surroundings.
Its innovative technology makes it one of the University’s most environmentally friendly projects to date. Geothermal heat pumps and a wood chip burner mean it has just half the carbon footprint of a conventional design.

Matthew Thomlinson, a second year St John’s student, said, “The law library looks like a really great working atmosphere, it will really help with my learning. I like that its green and eco-friendly.”
A spokesperson for St John’s said, “Kendrew Quadrangle is a first-rate building in a modern idiom that responds sensitively to the unique context of the college and the city. These top class facilities will help us to continue to attract the most able students and academics.”

Current third years at St John’s will be the first ever residents of the quadrangle. Its thirty undergraduate rooms were, according to the college JCR, “snatched up by Finalists” in the annual room ballot.

The extra accommodation space will allow St John’s postgraduates and academics to live in college for the first time.

The new building forms part of a larger project which involved the restoration of older college buildings, including a seventeenth century barn which was converted into a new exhibition and performance space.

MJP Architects, who designed the quad, also created St John’s garden quadrangle, completed in 1994, and the 2004 extension of the Senior Common Room.

President’s Drinks at the Oxford Union will start charging members for entry, it was decided at Standing Committee this week.
The proposal, put forward by Union President James Kingston, was passed by seven votes to six at the Committee meeting on Monday evening.

Kingston said that selling tickets on a first come first serve basis would reduce “hack patronage” at an event that has often been the preserve of friends of Union officers and committee members.

President’s Drinks take place every week after the debate on the Thursday and offer members an opportunity to meet guest speakers.

A former member of Standing Committee told Cherwell that previously there had been a clear policy that members on Secretary’s Committee could bring one guest. Those on Standing could bring two, officers could bring “about five” and the President as many they wanted.

The new move will see forty tickets going on sale to Union members at a cost of £5 each, and members will only be allowed to attend two of the events per term.

Although a suggestion was also put forward to charge for attendance of the dinner that precedes the drinks, Kingston said it was “a little ridiculous” that officers who were obliged to attend and entertain the speakers should be charged to do so.
Further modifications to President’s Drinks were also proposed, including turning the Drinks into a smaller event with higher quality alcohol.

However, the Union President maintained that both speakers and members enjoyed the weekly event. Kingston argued against calls to reduce the size of the guest list, reminding the committee that they existed “to serve the members”.

The decision to introduce the £5 charge has been met with mixed reactions from Union members.

One member who attended President’s Drinks regularly last year said he had used the Drinks as a forum “to hack” and stopped going once he had been successful in achieving a committee position.

He agreed that charging people would hopefully attract guests “who actually wanted to meet the speaker”. This, he thought, would be “a lot fairer”.

However, another argued that the “patronage” of the President would still apply since he or she selects who dines with speakers beforehand. Those at the dinner can attend the subsequent President’s Drinks.

He also predicted that the Union would struggle to sell forty tickets for the Drinks each week and that this will lead to Committee members inviting along their friends.

He commented, “It will very much retain a ‘Members’ Club’ atmosphere”.

The ticket charge is set to be introduced in third week. Standing Committee will re-open discussions on the proposals at its next meeting on Monday.

The government spending review, released this Wednesday by Chancellor George Osborne, has announced cuts of nearly £3 billion by 2014 from higher education.

Oxford University stands to lose £6 million from its teaching funding this year. Funding for arts and humanities is likely to be hardest hit, with government support maintained for science, technology, engineering and maths degrees.

Oxford University warned the cuts in grants would wipe away the benefit of seeing the cap on tuition fees raised, with the university having to depend on benefactors to maintain its position as a leading international university.

Ruth Collier, a spokesperson for the university said, “Proposals to protect research funding for science are a positive development. The same cannot be said for the planned cuts to teaching grants, which represent a setback for the sector.

“Already, funds that would otherwise be spent on research, infrastructure and postgraduate support at Oxford are being diverted to support the university’s world-class undergraduate tutorial system. We do not believe this is sustainable in the long term.”

Collier noted that the university is increasingly reliant on the support of benefactors, and that without them, Oxford’s international reputation “will be increasingly at risk — an outcome that is not in the university’s or the national interest.”
Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group of universities agreed that the cuts endangered British universities.
“We are concerned that the cuts will mean it will be tough to maintain the high quality teaching, learning and research environment our universities currently offer, even under the Browne system.”

Hundreds of political campaigners from Oxford joined in Bonn Square on Wednesday evening to demonstrate against the proposed government cuts.

“We want to show that there must be an alternative way of doing things. All that’s happening is “slash, slash, slash” said Ian Jones, one of the organisers behind the demonstration.

Many students at the protest were concerned about how they would be able to fund their education. Helen Thompson, a first year social sciences student, spoke of her concerns about the effect of government’s cuts on education, saying “I’m lucky – I got a bursary for this year, but for the next year, who knows?”
“If the cuts are there and the funding isn’t the country will lose out. It does feel like a backward step. This is simply a short-term economy measure.”

Leo Wan, a former student of Oxford university and who is currently a departmental researcher, was also quick to point out that “cuts to education will lead to a huge impact on Oxford as a town as well as a university.”

Another protester, Lis Ledger said she felt “indignant” about the cuts.
“I am proud though that we can stand here and say things against the government. That free speech is the most valuable thing we’ve got.”
However one second year history and politics student at Regent’s Park felt that “lots of my friends have said they aren’t interested in the cuts because they won’t be undergraduates when they take effect, which is an opinion I find quite disturbing.”

An Oxford tutor, when asked before the protest whether he wanted to say anything on the cuts, replied, “No comment – I’d like to keep my job thanks.”

The Chemistry faculty at Oxford has admitted to purchasing iPads for a number of its staff, despite tutors having allegedly told students that it is running out of funding.

The iPads, which usually cost between £400 and £700 each, were bought for staff over the summer. The department has not disclosed how many iPads they now have.

The news of the purchases has caused anger among Chemistry students, a number of whom claim to have been told that there will no longer be enough funding for undergraduate fourth year projects.
Chemistry students are currently expected to dedicate their entire fourth year to researching a “significant project”. In the past all students have been eligible for a grant to fund this research, but some tutors have reportedly told their students that this will no longer be the case.

A spokesman from the University Press Office denied that there had been cuts to funding for fourth year projects, but confirmed that the iPads had been purchased.

“Demonstrators in the Department of Chemistry are using iPads and have developed a bespoke electronic grading system for practical classes together with online resources, to enable effective laboratory teaching and practical demonstrations”, she said.

One third year Chemistry student said, “This is a scandal. My tutor said that there wasn’t going to be any money for fourth years any more, but there seems to be enough to buy iPads.

“I can’t believe that the department thinks that fancy gadgetry is a more important investment than student projects. This won’t help us: their priorities are all wrong.”

Blues awards for the Oxford University Dance Team were released this week, sparking outrage among dancers.

Members of OUDT were shocked to find that some dancers’ awards had been downgraded as a punishment for taking part in a silent protest earlier this year. Meanwhile, others were awarded half blues, despite the fact that they had actually competed against Oxford for the majority of the year.

One of the requirements for receipt of a half blue, as explained on the Oxford University Dance Club website, is to have danced for the Blues Team at the Inter Varsity Dance Association.

However, three individuals who were awarded half blues this year did not represent the Blues at the IVDA competition. Instead, they represented the Featherwaits, an independent team, who competed against the Blues.

Formed in 2004, when a split took place within OUDC, the Featherwaits is made up of Oxford students, but is affiliated to Ruskin College rather than Oxford University. They are entirely independent from the Blues team, with separate training and sponsorship arrangements.

One of the dancers to have gained a half blue, despite dancing for the Featherwaits, was Tamasin Graham, current President of OUDC and captain of OUDT.

Some dancers fear that the Featherwaits are exerting undue authority over OUDC, and that this influenced the decision to award the three dancers with half blues.

As of Trinity Term of 2009, a change in the OUDC constitution saw the merging of President of OUDC and the captain of OUDT. This meant that the captaincy of the dance team is now cast by vote, of the several hundred members of OUDC, rather than to squad of dancers who represent the university.

Members of OUDT have long campaigned against the changes. These efforts came to a head at the Southern University Championship Competition in February 2010, where some dancers wore a white ribbon on their arm as an act of protest.

One participant in the white ribbon protest said, “We resorted to the white ribbons as we felt that all our routes of complaint were blocked, so there were no official channels we could go down.

“We had considered an official boycott but felt it would be unfair on other universities. So instead we chose to wear a discreet white ribbon.”

Following a complaint that was made about the white ribbons at the SUCC, the two Vice Captains had to appear before the Senior Member of OUDC and a member of the Sports Federation. However, no further action was taken at the time.

An email was circulated on Sunday to explain that a meeting had taken place with the Senior Member and the representative of the University’s Sports Strategy Committee. During this meeting, to discuss “how to deal with those who participated in the public demonstration at the SUDC.”

The email stated that the punishment for those involved in the protest was that their “awards have been reduced by one grade. This means that Blues have been reduced to Half-Blues, Half-Blues for men have been reduced to nothing and Second Team Colours for women have been reduced to nothing.”

A source close to OUDC said, “I think this is particularly unfair given that the white ribbon was a silent protest which did not involve any other universities, so it seems more like an attempt to clamp down on free speech.

“People have been stripped or downgraded based on hearsay, while others have escaped. What is even worse is the fact that many people have been awarded half blues despite not actually qualifying under the clubs and blues criteria.

“The best sports people should get the awards. A number of people who worked hard all year and brought success to Oxford were not recognised in the way that they should have been.”

Further controversy ensued shortly before this year’s Varsity match on 15th May. The former OUDC President stepped down, and was immediately replaced by the Vice President Tamasin Graham. Graham is also the Captain of the Featherwaits, and under the constitutional changes, she would become the captain of OUDT as well.

One dancer said, “This merging of roles means that the captain of OUDT is not necessarily someone on the dance team at all. OUDC and OUDT are phenomenally different organisations; no blues team anywhere else in Oxford would have a captain who is not even on the team.”

OUDC declined to comment at this stage. The Sports Federation confirmed that they were currently investigating the claims of unfair blues awards.

A spokesperson from the Sports Federation said, “If any member of an Oxford University Sports Club raises a concern with the Sports Federation about the operation of their Club, we are of course obliged to investigate. It is important to be aware that the awarding of Blues does not come under the Sports Federation’s general remit unless there has been a breach of a Sports Clubs’ constitutional requirements.

“Blues are awarded by the elected officer or officers, normally President or Captains, of OU Sports Clubs and the individual criteria set down for each individual awards are approved by the respective Blues Committees.

“However the Blues are not awarded by the Blues Committees, who simply oversee the sanctioning of individual Club statuses and the awarding of the Extraordinary and Discretionary Blues awards which fall out of the normal awarding process.”

One dancer commented, “We have such a strong team spirit and this has made us train even harder this past year, not for the Club but for each other. Oxford University had one of the most successful years ever last year, winning all team matches at the National Championships, and we also had a convincing Varsity victory.

Our team are international champions and we work incredibly hard; some of our dancers are top 25 in the country. Now having the Blues taken away makes people feel their efforts haven’t been appreciated. People have worked hard for this.”