Financial statements released by the University have revealed that, last year, Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton received a salary package worth £382,000.

The figure, which includes salary and pension, is 17% higher than what his predecessor, Dr John Hood, received in 2009.

It also emerged that a senior University administrator was paid almost £600,000, and that over 70 Oxford University employees earn a higher basic salary than the Prime Minister.

The news comes just weeks after MPs voted to raise the cap on tuition fees to a maximum of £9,000 and as universities face 40% in cuts to their government funding.

In a statement the University Press Office defended the rise, saying that “Oxford is one of the great universities of the world and makes a major contribution to the economic prosperity of the UK and the UK’s position in the world, as well as to tackling global challenges through its research.

“It must remain globally competitive and its Vice-Chancellor’s remuneration needs to reflect that.”

James Butler of the Oxford Education Campaign said that he was struck by arguments about global competitiveness.

He said, “It feeds the idea that universities should be modelled under the logic of competition. The University, in its public statements, has been committed against the marketisation of education, but this is not reflected in the way it remunerates its administrative staff.”

He added that “It’s telling that we’re paying our administrators more than those who carry out the day to day functions of education.”

An investigation by the Daily Telegraph showed that salaries of top UK university staff rose by an average of 8%.

However, not all university leaders have followed suit. Last year, the Vice-Chancellor of University College London, Professor Malcolm Grant, took a 10% cut in his salary.

He took this cut in his salary to “symbolise” the University’s “determination to come through a deep recession without sacrificing our reputation for high quality research”.

A spokesperson from Oxford University Press Office highlighted that Hamilton does not receive the highest Vice-Chancellor salary in the UK, “despite the fact that according to every national league table in 2010, Oxford was the number one university in the country”.

Some are questioning whether the increase in the salary of the Vice-Chancellor is, in fact, justified. The university topped all the UK national league tables this year and the Times and the Guardian have placed it in the number one spot consistently since 2007. Oxford also achieved its highest ever THES world ranking, joint second, back in 2007, under the previous Vice-Chancellor.

The annual financial statements also show that the Director of Oxford University Endowment Management Limited (OUEM) is the highest paid university administrator in the UK.

Sandra Robertson was paid almost £600,000 last year, though her salary comes directly from revenues generated by the OUEM.

A spokesperson pointed out that “Investing in good fund managers more than pays for itself: consider the fact that even just a one percentage point difference in investment performance can mean a difference of several million pounds every year for the University.

“Good investment management is more important than ever at a time of uncertain funding for higher education.”

Political Theory postgraduate student Alex Canfor-Dumas blasted the top level salaries as “fundamentally unjust”. He argued that “To anyone who doesn’t believe in a market free-for-all, these sums of money are absolutely outrageous. At a time when millions are seeing their real incomes fall, we risk seeing a tiny elite stretch ever further ahead, undermining the sense of solidarity that binds society together.”

However, third year PPE student Henry Curr said that, although inequality in general is a problem, the singling out of highly paid individuals is wrong. He commented, “I’m sick of these witch hunts into how much people earn. The idea that cutting one person’s salary would be enough to keep tuition fees down is ludicrous.”

Last year, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Higher Education Minister David Willetts wrote to every university and college head telling them that they expected universities to apply the same “restraint to all aspects of pay and bonuses” as their department for business, innovation and skills was applying.

Cable reflected that, “There is clearly salary escalation at the top level that bears no relation to the underlying economics of the country.”

This idea resonated with St Hilda’s student Robin Driver, who commented, “I guess I can kind of appreciate the argument that we need to be attracting the talent. But it seems a highly insensitive move at a time when students are still reeling from the increase on the fees cap”.

Philip Walker, spokesperson for the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said, ‘”It is for each university’s governing body to determine, through its remuneration committee, the pay and other benefits of its vice-chancellor or principal.

“The governing body is the employer, and so must decide – and be prepared to justify – what is appropriate in each case, taking account of all the circumstances of the institution and the individual.”

The possibility of booking a ‘freak show’ for the St Peter’s Ball has caused consternation among the College’s students.

The ball committee is divided over whether the entertainment of the so-called ‘Circus of Horrors’, which features acts including a dwarf known as ‘Demon Dan’, and ‘Mongolian Laughing Boy’, who receives shocks in an electric chair, would be appropriate for the event.

A number of students at St Peter’s were shocked to hear about the plans, and one branded them “morally questionable”.

The ball committee were quick to deny that the performance was a freak show, despite being described on the company website as “The stupendous Carnival of the Bizarre with Doctor Haze and his Freak Show”.

Stephen Dunne, one of the ball committee presidents, emphasised that the act was as yet unconfirmed and said, “They are a professional unit, for whom the members choose to work.” He conceded that “you could argue against the ethics of the act”, but that the members “do not ‘humiliate’ themselves during the show”.

Some of the acts have been seen as too “gruesome or macabre” to be featured. Roger Sibley, a representative of Carters Entertainment Limited, who help put on the shows, told Cherwell that dwarf Demon Dan’s talents include “stapling playing cards to his face” and “pulling a hoover around with a part of his body that’s not his hands”.

He commented, “That’s one for the adult audience”.

Natalie Fox, St Peter’s other ball president, said that the committee were free to choose who would perform. She explained, “We’ve decided against some of the worst ones, like this guy who can put kebab skewers through his cheeks.”

Fox admitted that, “Some people are unsure about whether they would want to watch it”.

Tegan McLeod, an English student at St Peter’s, said, “For me the idea seems voyeuristic and exploitative. It’s exhibiting human oddities for a profit.

“Though some may argue it’s a performance art, I think it’s really hard to deny that this type of show is a form of social discrimination.”
Nonetheless, the committee currently intend to go ahead and book the Dr Haze’s group for the ball.

Dunne defended the decision, saying the College would only book “people who do not self harm or who would not cause any lasting emotional damage to the audience.

“They provide a massive spectacle, a great talking point, and are something that will make the St Peter’s Ball truly different to all other balls.”

St John’s College has been forced to cancel its next bop this Saturday, as porters have refused to police the event following the post-collections celebrations which got out of hand.

After significant disruption at the 0th Week bop, students at St John’s received an email from their Entz Reps last week informing them that “It appears unlikely that the next Bop will occur as scheduled”.
On Wednesday of this week, an email confirmed that they had “no option but to cancel the bop”.

The cancellation of the next bop comes after post-collections enjoyment deteriorated into raucous behaviour at the ‘Naughty Noughties’-themed event, which took place on Saturday of 0th Week.

The Entz Reps reported “disruption and aggressive behaviour”, with glass-paned fire alarms being activated three times in the early hours.
Other students tampered with fire alarms and smoke detectors in their rooms.

It was suggested that the blame could lie with students from outside the college. Members of St John’s JCR were warned that if this was the case, the person who invited the outsiders to the bop would be held responsible for their actions around college.

The porters, responsible for the prevention of danger, “were treated rudely and disrespectfully by several students as they went about doing their job” and are now unwilling to provide the coverage required for the next bop.

The Tommy White Quad, where most of the disturbances took place, is home to a large number of freshers and some second year students.

It is understood that the disruption was generated by a minority. Students have expressed their irritation and disappointment that the next bop is to be cancelled.

One student at St John’s said, “It just struck me as immature that people were messing around with important fire safety equipment and perhaps more importantly, annoying the porters who are actually a really well-liked group of people.

“Maybe the bop being cancelled, or at least the threat of it, will be enough to make people think twice before letting their drunkenness go too far in the future.”

Entertainment Reps Alex Winchester and Naomi Nettleship said that they were “disappointed to hear about the disturbances”. They said that the 4th Week bop was due to go ahead, but only on a “probationary basis”.

JCR President David Messling supported the efforts being made by the Entz Team. He said, “Our JCR Entz Officers are doing a great job in ensuring the best possible outcome”.

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin, is to see “its biggest restoration since the late 19th century”, made possible by a £3.4 million grant awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The church, situated on the High Street and backing onto Radcliffe Square, was historically the centre of the University and is still the location of formal University Christian worship.
Revd Dr William Beaver, Associate Priest of the Church said the restoration “will be a landmark in the history of this Church and Oxford University.”
The Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Stuart McLeod, commented, “This inspirational and important project showcases our heritage at its very best, by providing the local community and visitors with a special look into the past.”
The church’s Vicar, Revd Canon Brian Mountford expressed his delight at the funding, adding, “It comes after long and careful consultation with local people, national bodies, and professional advisers as to what is best for this iconic Oxford building.

“In the process we have been helped to think about widening our educational outreach as well as the conservation of the fabric.”
The church, which offers panoramic views from the tallest of Oxford’s famous spires, is a major tourist attraction, with 300,000 people visiting the site last year alone.

Revd Beaver said he wants the church to become “the first stop on the tourist trial with a hologram exhibition about the history of the University, the town and the church…and restoring the church to its former glory.”

Many students are members of the church, which is also home to a choir consisting both of students and other local singers.

St Mary’s hosts University Services which this term include a choral evensong sung by the combined choirs of eleven colleges in fifth week and a university sermon by the writer Philip Pullman the following week.

The church boasts a rich historical heritage and was the centre of the University in medieval times. The Old Congregation House, built adjoining it in the early fourteenth century, served as the location for the University’s first library.

St Mary’s counts John Henry Newman, who later famously converted to Catholicism, among its former clergy and was also the site for the trial of the Oxford Martyrs in 1555 and in different circumstances, the founding of OXFAM in 1942.

Revd Beaver noted that some of the damage which has accumulated over more than seven hundred years of the present building’s history would be left as it is, saying, “We decided not to repair the bullet holes left by Cromwell’s troops on the façade of the University Church – they are too much a part of Oxford’s history!”

A first year student at Merton College pulled a bald woman’s hat off and then shouted ‘lesbian’, before being ejected from the popular Turf Tavern, according to an eye-witness account.

It later emerged that the student, who was dressed in formal attire, was part of an elite Merton drinking society called “MC Sans”, which has recently been created by Merton freshers.

A number of people witnessed the event, which has been branded by a Merton student as “immature”.

The victim of the attack has not been identified, but she was said to have been shaken after the boy attacked her. He is alleged first to have taken her hat, and when she tried to claim it back he was heard to have shouted “lesbian” before being forced to leave the popular bar.

A number of students have condemned the student’s actions, labelling his actions on the night “rude, obnoxious and aggressive.”

Tom Barnett, a fourth year Modern Languages student at Merton, said, “They were boasting about this in the college bar afterwards, but people did not find it particularly funny.

He referred to the perception, allegedly widespread at Merton, that those responsible for the incident “are a bunch of dickheads”.

He continued, “Obviously other Merton students just find it all quite distasteful.”

The Turf bar manager, Charlie, confirmed that the incident had taken place. She said, “I, along with the rest of the staff, were behind the bar at the time. As soon as it happened, they were out.”

The manager added that “most of them left very quietly after the incident.”

The drinking society has been set up to challenge pre-existing drinking societies in Merton, which have a reputation for being “more sedate than those from other colleges”, according to one second year PPEist.

However, Barnett added, “There are another couple of drinking societies at Merton, but they do not do anything like this. People in other drinking societies just think it is horrible.”