Three intruders broke into a staircase at Brasenose college’s Frewin Court Annexe in the early hours of Sunday morning, and started attacking each other with fire extinguishers.

Two Brasenose students, Tom Wales and Matthew Bittlestone were forced to take cover in a nearby kitchen.

Bittlestone then confronted the intruders, forcing them off the Brasenose premises.
The break-in took place at around 3am on Sunday morning. The three intruders entered Frewin Court by walking in through the swipe-gate behind Laura West-Wilson.

The three entered the staircase where Wales and Bittlestone were sitting. Cherwell understands that the intruders were all in the mid to late twenties, and all with shaved heads.

West-Wilson said, “The guys followed me in. They said they were there for Abbie’s party. But there was no party and no one called Abbie.”

Wales explained the confusion that ensued. “Laura entered the staircase with these three boys,” he said. “We thought they were with her, and she thought they were friends of ours.”

The three intruders proceeded to remove fire extinguishers from the staircase and “mindlessly” attack one another.

Bittlestone said, “I heard a commotion outside so went to investigate. There were three guys, and two had got hold of fire extinguishers which they were spraying everywhere. When I first heard the noise, I assumed it was students from College. But close up, I saw that I did not recognise any of them – then it became more serious…I said to one of the men, ‘What are you doing here?’ and grabbed the fire extinguisher from him.”
Following Bittlestone’s intervention, the strangers left, and stole a fire extinguisher on their way out.

JCR President Paul Gladwell said, “I was surprised that someone had managed to intrude, but relieved that no harm had been done to individuals. Security measures at Frewin and throughout Brasenose are perfectly adequate, but they must be upheld by individuals.”

The Dean of the college, Dr Giles Wiggs, told Cherwell,  “Brasenose is a secure College and provides a safe living and working environment for students. Incidents of this type are extremely rare…If intruders are seen to gain entry then they should be reported at once to College authorities.”

In a separate incident, two first-year Brasenose students have been deaned following several drunken incidents in the college last Saturday morning.

The two involved allegedly trashed another student’s room, set off the fire alarm at approximately 4am, and threw a bottle of vodka at the night porter who came to investigate.

Speaking to Cherwell, one of the accused students said that the story had been grossly exaggerated. He claimed that the bottle of vodka was not thrown at the night porter; instead, it was flung away in panic when the student realised that the pair had been caught.He said it did not land close to its alleged target.

He also denied that the pair trashed a fellow student’s room. The room’s occupant was described as a “good friend” of the drunken pair, and the “trashing” amounted to little more than throwing the duvet off the bed.

Finally, although accepting that the fire alarm was set off, he claimed that it wasn’t intentional.

Dr Wiggs, commented, “I can confirm that an incident that took place in Brasenose on Saturday morning has been investigated and two students have been dealt with in accordance with College disciplinary procedures. I am not able to confirm the details of the case.”

One of the students involved said that although the level of punishment had not yet been decided by the college, he expected it to be “fairly severe”.

University Press Officer Katie Haines died on Thursday 18th February after suffering what is thought to be carbon monoxide poisoning.

She was discovered by her husband Richard as he returned to their home in Wokingham, Berkshire after work. She was 31 years old.

Both Richard Haines and paramedics attempted to resuscitate Katie, who was found lying unconscious in the bathtub of the couple’s home. Police and fire services were also called to the house in Barkham Road, Wokingham.

Katie had been working at the Press Officer since April 2008 and had regular contact with several Cherwell reporters. She had previously worked as a journalist, and had contributed to such papers as The Sunday Times, Daily Express and The Sun.

Ruth Collier, Head of the University’s Press & Information Office, said “Katie was a wonderful person and a very talented colleague. I and my press office colleagues loved working with her, as did everyone around the University she came into contact with. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Katie’s husband, parents and siblings.”
“She was always really helpful and reliable,” said Marta Szczerba, Cherwell editor.

Richard and his parents Gordon and Jackie, who were staying at the house, were also treated after inhaling the gas, along with six neighbours from two other homes. The couple’s cat was found dead in the hallway, and allegedly alerted Richard to the problem initially.

The Sun reported that Katie is “believed to have inhaled deadly carbon monoxide leaking from a faulty boiler after she turned it on to heat her bath water.”
Before training as a journalist at Lambeth College, in London, she had obtained a degree in English and French from Manchester University.

She married Richard Haines, 30, in December 2009 and had only recently returned from their honeymoon in South America. Her Facebook profile picture shows her and her husband in front of the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas, and according to the NHS “even breathing in a small amount can cause loss of consciousness and death.”

Katie’s father, Gordon Samuel, who is co-owner of a renowned Mayfair art gallery the Osborne Samuel gallery, released a statement on her death along with his wife Avril, Katie’s husband and her siblings Adam and Lydia.

The family said “we have been told by the doctors

that she appears to have died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, possibly from a boiler, but do not wish to speculate on this until we have the result of further medical tests.”

They also said that “Katie was the perfect daughter who was as bright as she was beautiful. My wife and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect little girl. She never gave us a second of worry in her short life.” They said her career as a press officer was “a job she loved and was very proud to do.”

The Watford Observer, where Katie worked as a trainee journalist between 2002 and 2004, said she was “fondly remembered by staff as a sports lover and keen runner.”

On Thursday 18th February, nominations opened for the position of Oxford Professor of Poetry. Yet fears remain that the position’s reputation has been tarnished by last year’s scandal involving Ruth Padel and Derek Walcott.

Geoffrey Hill and Anne Stevenson are among the names of eminent poets currently being suggested as potential candidates for the post. However, the election will be different this year, in response to the 2009 competition for the post.

The election campaign saw Padel become Professor of Poetry, beating Indian poet and critic Arvind Mehrotra by 297 votes to 129.

But Padel resigned less than two weeks after her victory, after admitting to passing material to journalists which related to her rival candidate, Derek Walcott.

It was revealed that Padel had sent emails to two national newspapers alerting them of claims of sexual harassment against Walcott, the Nobel laureate, who had already pulled out of the race.

There have been changes to the voting system for the 300-year-old professorship. Under the old system only Oxford graduates could vote in person on one particular day. The current system allows graduates to vote online over a period of time.Hopeful candidates must be nominated by twelve or more graduates by 5th May.

Other candidates which have been suggested for the post include Oxford’s own John Fuller, Michael Longley, and Alice Oswald, along with American writers such as Jorie Graham or Robert Pinsky.

Blake Morrison and former poet laureate, Andrew Motion have both ruled themselves out of the running. Motion has commented, “Hill would get my vote.”
Stevenson seems a strong candidate having won the Lannan prize for a lifetime’s achievement in poetry.

Disputes over the credibility of the position have been widely covered in the press since the events last year.

Broadcaster and writer Clive James commented last July that he “would rather throw himself off a cliff” than take the job. But he did concede that “the botched election might have made it a poisoned chalice, but what a chalice it is.”

Dr Seamus Perry, Deputy Chair of the English Faculty board, disagreed with the idea that the position had been tarnished. He told Cherwell, “The events of last year were obviously regrettable, but I think the Chair itself has emerged unscathed,” adding, “in an odd sort of way… the whole sorr

y kerfuffle helped to advertise the Professorship and to remind everyone of the distinction of its long history.”

He praised the changes to the voting system and the new opportunity to vote online, saying that the position being “appointed by such a wide potential electorate (something like 300,000 people) is a good [thing] because it recognises that poetry, while it matters to academics, matters to more people than just academics.”
It is unlikely that Mehrotra will run again after last year’s failure. He joins the likes of C. S. Lewis, F. R. Leavis and Robert Lowell as past unsuccessful candidates for the position.

The professorship was established in 1707 and comes with a £7,000 stipend. It has previously been held by Matthew Arnold, W. H. Auden, Robert Graves, A. C. Bradley and Seamus Heaney amongst others.

Providing that more than one candidate is put forward, the winner of the position will be announced on 18th June after voting. They will take up the position in the academic year beginning autumn 2010.

Drunken and violent behaviour has caused Clare College, Cambridge, to officially complain to Oriel College, and call for an end to their exchange program.

Oriel students on exchange at their sister college have been accused of various actions, which included, “excessive drunkenness before hall, excessive drunkenness during hall, shouts and insults directed at Clare fellows during grace and the meal, damage to Clare property including urination on staircases”.

There was also an accusation that a Fellow had been physically assaulted, but this has not been confirmed.

Last Sunday’s Oriel JCR meeting was dedicated almost entirely to discussion of the accusations, as members claimed that the level of misbehaviour was “exaggerated” by Clare, an opinion noted by the Oriel Dean, who was present at the meeting.

Those present on the exchange disputed every accusation except the rowdiness in hall. There were further claims that the damage was “just as, if not more, likely to have been caused by Clare students”, who had been “just as badly behaved during proceedings.”

This was contrary to perceived implications within the letter of complaint that Clare students took no part in the misbehaviour whatsoever. Some members of Oriel suggested that while an apology “was necessary”, Clare’s failure to take their share of the blame meant they wouldn’t want to resurrect the exchange program anyway.

However, it was agreed that a letter of apology should be sent to Clare College.

The first draft of this apologises for the students on exchange who “took their behaviour a little too far”, and were “perhaps a little immature.”

Explanations for this behaviour were that “the visit was highly oversubscribed… those who managed to go turned up in very high spirits… In respect to the issues with the wine, we unfortunately brought too much, being told by our vice president to provide wine for us and one Clare student for the meal.”

However, they maintained that “the behaviour of both us and our Cambridge compatriots during the dinner was boisterous”, and whilst taking the accusations “extremely seriously”, made no admittance of damage to property or assaulting a fellow.

The Oriel College Dean had threatened to “inflict a punishment on the whole of the JCR” if those responsible do not “come forward and take responsibility.”

A JCR vote unanimously opposed any such punishment at the meeting. The Dean has since backed down, conceding that “the College will not be punishing the JCR collectively”, adding “your points [in the JCR meeting] were well considered and taken on board.”

In relation to the accusations against Clare, JCR members had cited the fact that only 40 people went on the exchange, and that the exchange was not organised with JCR control.

However, the Dean continued to press for “a preemptive gift to the hall staff at Clare”, to be paid for and organized by students who were on the exchange.

There were fears of such collective punishments as a precedent has already been set in Oriel. Last year the JCR was fined for the overriding focus on club-nights in fresher’s week events, whilst the college bar has previously been closed following damage at a bop.

Queen’s College JCR President, Nathan Roberts, faces losing his position for a second time, it emerged this week.

After his forced resignation last term, and his subsequent re-election at the beginning of Hilary, Roberts faces a second removal after a decision made by Queen’s Governing Body, which has stated that it does not consider it appropriate for him to act as a representative for the JCR.

The college Provost, Paul Madden, emailed members of Queen’s JCR to tell them that he had advised Roberts before the more recent elections took place that he could be an “acceptable” candidate for the position this term.

This was on the provision “that his academic work, as reflected in tutorial reports and collection results, had improved to the extent that his Tutor could now advise him that this was a reasonable step.”

However, he added, “In the event, the tutor’s advice was that he should not stand. I told Mr. Roberts that he should withdraw his candidacy.”

“Unfortunately,” he went on, “the election was allowed to proceed with Mr. Roberts as the only named candidate and he was elected. The Governing Body has taken the view that it is not possible to accept as a student representative someone who has defied the instructions of its academic disciplinary committee, and the repeated advice of his Tutor and the head of the College.”

The Provost also pointed out that the Conference of Colleges Appeal Tribunal (CCAT), an external body of appeal, to which Roberts took his concerns in Michaelmas, had decided “it was within the power of the College to require the student to resign the Presidency of the JCR for reasons of academic discipline.”

Roberts has rejected the claim that his enforced removal was within the powers of the College. He told Cherwell, “The SCR can do a lot of things. They can’t just sack me.”

In an open response to the Queen’s College JCR, Roberts criticised the Provost’s opposition to his presidency.

He stated that they had come out in favour of four out of his five appeals, including the claims that the College were both at fault in threatening him with expulsion last summer for not resigning and for not allowing him a College appeal.

He claimed that he had “followed all the College and JCR rules”, and added, “I was given the impression that there would only be repercussions if my work this term proved to be poor…

“My academic situation has improved and there has been observation across my reports that I’m putting a lot more work i

n, despite an incredibly stressful Michaelmas term.”

University College JCR President Alice Heath expressed her disappointment at the Provost’s decision to send the email to the JCR: “I think it’s unprofessional and frankly outrageous that the Provost has brought up Nathan’s academic discipline in an email to the entire JCR.”

“An SCR has no right to tell a JCR who its President should be. JCRs choose a student to represent them.”

Roberts confirmed that he planned to challenge the Provost’s decision.

Roberts was first forced to resign as JCR President at the beginning of Michaelmas Term 2009, due to his failure to attain a 2.1 in his Prelims.

Following the rejection of his attempts to appeal to the Governing Body, Clumsy Teddy, a stuffed bear, was elected as his replacement. Roberts campaigned and husted on behalf of Clumsy Teddy.

An Oxford graduate student has discovered what is thought to be the world’s first heart-shaped galaxy.

Georgia Barrie, who specialises in the formation of ring galaxies, spotted the unusual galaxy, which had previously been classified by users of an online survey tool as ‘ring shaped’.

Barrie estimates that the galaxy is 600 million light years away from earth, but has not yet established how it has formed.

While there have been suggestions that it could have resulted from the collision of two galaxies, Barrie explained that investigating the formation of galaxies is a complex process, and will require extensive analysis of telescope information.

Oxford scientists have found a method of increasing the shelf life of vaccines, meaning costly refrigeration of drugs in warm climates may no longer be necessary.

The research involved drying the viral particles used in vaccinations on ‘special membranes’ in order to keep them stable over longer periods. While usually the drugs last for only a few weeks in warm climates, the scientists found that the methods used in the research could keep the ‘viral vectors’ used in vaccines usable at temperatures of up to 45˚C for several months.

The nhs choices website explained, “This development is potentially very useful as it may lead to improvements in the availability and effectiveness of vaccination programmes in areas of the world with fewer resources.”

A 27 year old man was arrested in Kukui nightclub in the early hours of Wednesday morning after clubbers raised concerns about the disappearance of several items on Tuesday night, the police have confirmed.

The police were contacted by the club shortly after midnight. A spokesperson for the Thames Valley Police commented, “A man was detained by doorstaff at Kukui after allegedly being seen to pick pockets. On arrival at the club officers carried out a search and found a number of items allegedly stolen, including mobile phones, purses and a passport.”

The man was charged with three counts of theft and released on Wednesday night. He has been bailed to appear at the Oxford Magistrates’ Court on the 5th March.

The Kukui management and Varsity Events, who organise ‘Juice at Kukui’, were aware of the incident but both declined to comment.

An Oxbridge “sex blogger” who describes her erotic University exploits online has become the subject of intense international media attention.

The revelation that at least one student at Oxford or Cambridge Universities indulges in sexual activity, and enjoys it, has also created a frenzy in the blogosphere.

On her blog and twitter account, the student describes sex with rugby blues, losing her virginity and other aspects of sexual activity at the University.

Comparisons have already been made to Belle du Jour, the notorious escort-girl who wrote up her ‘intimate adventures’ online, and was last year revealed to be Dr Brooke Magnanti, a research scientist at Bristol University.

Speaking exclusively to Cherwell, the anonymous student blogger said that the way tabloid papers are trying to reveal her identity is “terrifying”.

“A reporter told me his boss expected him to be ‘scouring the streets of Oxford and Cambridge for you’” she wrote in an email from an anonymous account.

“I’m battling this ravenous media off with a stick,” she said.

Asked why she started writing about her sex life, she told Cherwell, “I think part of the inspiration for the blog was to see if I was an absolute nutter or if people actually felt the same.”

“I am avoiding interviews with anyone outside of the realm of Oxbridge student media because this wasn’t intended as a cash cow,” she said, “just a way to keep

people like you and myself entertained during essay writer’s block.”

However, she has signed a deal with the fashion magazine Grazia for an article to be published next week.

The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and international online papers have picked up on the new blog.

The Sun ran the story under the headline ‘Who is the mystery Oxbridge sex blogger?’

However, the student claims she has no plans to reveal her identity, and said “my mum would kill me” if she found out.

In one online entry she describes a one-night stand with a University Rugby player.

“Life lesson learned from Rugby Blue: body mass and height is not a direct correlation to penis size, because if that were true Mr. Rugby Blue would have been short and fat,” she wrote.

“Had he been a tsunami of love that could have made up for it, but it was more like slack tide really. Fairly average in my book of shags.”

She also confesses, “I’m not a huge fan of blow-jobs, or hand-jobs for that matter (pointless, any man will usually agree that they can do it better themselves. They’ve certainly had more practice than I have!)”

Last Sunday she tweeted, “I don’t want to jinx myself but I’ve had sex every Sunday this month. Need to plan the rest of my day carefully … Going for a record here.”

Though later she posted, “Oh hello 1500 word essay due tomorrow that I forgot about. Thanks for ruining my night and my record. There’s always March …”

Commenting more generally on sex in the two Universities, she wrote that “In the Oxbridge system, most of us are too busy to actually acquire (let alone maintain) a relationship, and most students like myself are happy to play couple for a night, have a lie in together, and then call it quits.”

“My education has been filled with revising, exams, and one night stands,” she claimed.

Readers have assumed that the student studies at Cambridge, as she refers to ‘supervisions’ and ‘swaps’ in her posts, rather than tutorials and crew-dates.
The blogger, though, would not confirm which at which University she is currently studying.

She later refered to ‘Hilary’ in a twitter post, and said she would talk about sports club Vinnies in the Grazia article.

The self-written blurb on her blog describes the student as a “Highly intelligent Oxbridge student currently shagging my way through the half-term hump. No pun intended.”

But she told Cherwell that the ‘Highly intelligent’ label was intended as “a complete piss take…it didn’t come off that way”.

In one of her blog entries she also describes herself as “a fairly attractive woman…[and] unapologetically and unquestionably a closet nympho,” though later she claimed that the “whole closet nympho thing has been blown a bit out of proportion.”

On the future of her blog, the student told Cherwell that “I’m considering how to do my piece on Tutors. Haven’t slept with one yet, but have a particularly pervy one that I could take the piss out of.”

“People might catch on to who I am if I write that though as he’s notoriously inappropriate,” she said.

Though the blog is proving popular, the student has also attracted criticism in the media. “Those hoping this latest offering will be Brideshead Unzipped are in for a disappointment,” wrote one Evening Standard columnist.

“Despite the writer claiming she has a place at one of Britain’s leading academic institutions, the blog is no great literary work, nor would most people consider it titillating.”

Others have suggested she is angling for a book deal.

A student sex-columnist ‘Miss Scarlet’ began writing for Cherwell in 2006, under the tagline “Oxford’s answer to Belle du Jour”. However the feature was less sexually explicit and did not attract such widespread media attention.

Read the blog at: http://oxbridgesex.blogspot.com/

Oxford University has called for the government to end subsidised tuition fee loans for the ‘middle classes’.

All British students currently pay back their tuition fee loans to the state at a low interest rate after graduation.This is, however, only when they earn over £15, 000 per year, meaning the taxpayer is effectively subsidising the cost of their education.

The estimated cost of this subsidy is £2.7 billion. In its submission to the Browne Review of student fees, Oxford argued that “the subsidy is expensive, while student support is not effectively targeted at those with the greatest financial need”.

The University suggested that those that go into higher paid jobs after graduation should pay more of their loan back faster than they already do.

While there were concerns that Oxford was suggesting that the availability of loans should be restricted, the University was quick to respond that the claims were based on a “misunderstanding” and said that what would differ is “at what rates the loans would be paid off upon graduation”.

A University of Oxford spokesperson clarified the issue, which has been widely reported in the national press this week.

“Recent news stories imply that Oxford is recommending that certain [middle class] students be barred from applying for loans at the point of entry to university. This is absolutely not the case,” they said.

“The subsidised government loans are available on the basis of post-graduation earnings, not family background – therefore a student who grew up on a council estate, for example, and went on to work at Goldman Sachs would not be eligible for the government subsidy.”

Johnny Isaac, a first-year historian, said, “Obviously if a person earns more, they should pay more. However the lack of specifics means that a conclusion is hard to reach.

“If they raise the fees too high then I, like many others, would not be able to afford to come to this University.”

In a related story, Oxford University was criticised for admitting only a small number of students from economically deprived backgrounds.

Reports suggest that only 45 students a year who receive free school meals will go on to achieve a place at ‘Oxbridge’.

This compares to the extraordinary application success rate from some independent schools. For example, around 50% of the pupils at the Westminster School go on to achieve a place at Oxford or Cambridge.

St Paul’s Girls School in London has the same number of former students in Oxford as all of those who have received free school meals put together.

Michael Gove, the Shadow Education spokesman argued that these statistics “show the true extent of Labour’s failure”.