Students have slammed Oxford’s poor nightlife, scoring the town an average of just 5/10 for “going out” as part of a survey of university cities.
Oxford came below Warwick and Manchester as a place to live, in the survey of over 40,000 British students – and below Leamington Spa and Aberystwyth as a place to go out, despite achieving an overall score of 60%.
Many students felt the low score in the “going out” category was justified. One implied Oxford’s nightlife left a lot to be desired, saying “it’s the same clubs, and they get boring.”
Another agreed, but said she felt people should put up with the city’s shortcomings. “It’s true, Oxford is a bit rubbish for going out, unless you’re thinking more of restaurants and so on, in which case it’s not so bad. But you expect that when you apply to a small town. If going out is what matters to you, then yeah, don’t come here.”
Both Pulse and RockEntz, Oxford’s main student-run entertainment companies, declined to comment on the survey’s findings.
The survey, carried out by the website accommodationforstudents.com, showed that Oxford kept up with many traditional Northern student hotspots, including Leeds and Liverpool, which were also rated as 60% and beat traditional rivals Cambridge, who scored just 56%.
A St Anne’s undergraduate said he felt Oxford’s overall place relative to other towns was fair. “It’s not as fun here as somewhere like Manchester, but at the same time, I mean, it could be worse. It’s not un-livable-in or anything.”
He added that a friend in Cambridge had found the city “boring and cramped”.
The survey gave Oxford a 7/10 rating for transport, the highest the city earned in any category. Some students, however, felt this was unjustified.
“Sometimes when I’m cycling I can’t breathe because the bus fumes are so heavy,” said one Hertford second-year. “No-one tries to co-operate with other people.”
He said he himself never used buses, as they were too expensive and he didn’t need to go far from the city centre. However, he praised transport to and from the city, saying “the Oxford Tube is amazing.”
Over 470 Oxford students responded to the survey, which the company conducts every few years. Oxford’s performance was an improvement on previous showings. In 2004 the city fell comfortably in the bottom half of the table, several places below Cambridge.
Perhaps surprisingly, respondents to the survey also rated London as a 5/10 for “going out.” Overall, the nation’s capital scored a mere 56% – on a par with Cambridge. The poor showing was due to poor marks in the “community” and “facilities” categories. The genteel Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe received an abysmal 38%, achieving just 3/10 for “going out.”
The survey also covered students living abroad, who rated Munich as the best city overall, with 72% on average. Some apparently misunderstood the nature of the questionnaire, with “Spain” receiving an excellent score of 74% and the UK as a whole receiving an embarrassing 38%.
Authentic Independence?
What is the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia about?
On February 17th 2008 Kosovo declared its independence, and that it was the 7th state to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. Previously Kosovo was a province within Yugoslavia, and later Serbia, rather than a republic like Serbia or Montenegro who had a right to independence. Serbia considers this illegal and doesn’t recognize Kosovo as an independent country. The ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo (90%) has long demanded independence, attempting to declare it in 1990 but received no international recognition.
Two years of talks finally concluded in November 2006 because Kosovo was convinced that with the support of the US and many EU member states they could gain international recognition and support. They rejected a number of models from Serbia ceding extensive autonomy to Kosovo, relying on US, British and French guarantees.
Serbia’s main concern is the remaining Serbs in Kosovo, although in the past year there has been little violence towards them.
How has Kosovo justified their claim to independence?
Kosovo’s main claim to independence is based on the persecution within Serbia of the Albanian Muslims, particularly between 1998-1999. They have defended their independence through the internationally recognized principle of self-determination to ethnic groups. However, Serbia claims that the right of sovereign integrity is considered above self-determination, and has always prevailed.
The terms of Kosovo’s declaration prohibits it from uniting with any other country, allows for only a limited military and ensures international supervision (under the UN) and protection of ethnic minorities.
UN Security Council resolution 1244 states that Kosovo is part of Yugoslavia, to which Serbia is the legal successor state; therefore the declaration of independence without support from Serbia is technically illegal.
What has been Serbia’s response?
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a country because they believe it to be illegal according to international law. Various members of the Serbian government, including the Prime Minister have said that a democratic Serbia will never recognize Kosovo. Serbia also believes that acceptance of Kosovo’s attempt to breakaway will set a dangerous precedent for other ethnic groups to breakaway, for example Chechnya. Motivated in part by their deep desire to join the EU, Serbia has so far resisted any retaliation that involves the military or economic sanctions. The UN General Assembly supported Serbia’s request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice and are waiting for the outcome of this panel, expected in the next year. Serbia is confident the court will rule in their favour that the unilateral declaration of independence was illegal.
Serbia has also downgraded their diplomatic missions with any countries that have recognized Kosovo.
What has been the response of the international community to the declaration of independence?
54 out of the 192 UN member states currently recognize Kosovo as a county, as well as Taiwan. Most EU countries recognize Kosovo with the exception of Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia. However, the EU as a body can’t recognize any state without unanimity from all 27 member states, which so far it doesn’t have.
Earlier this year the European Parliament passed a motion urging all members states to recognize the Republic of Kosovo. Russia, due to its close links with Serbia, refuses to recognize Kosovo and has blocked its admittance to the UN. Numerous other countries have also refused to recognize Kosovo due to concerns within their borders over other secessionist movements.
Both the World Bank and IMF are providing assistance to Kosovo and membership arrangements for Kosovo are currently proceeding.
What are the prospects for the future?
The International Court of Justice should come back with a ruling on the legality of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence within the next year. Serbia believes that this will be in their favour. Following the result of the ICJ ruling, Serbia has declared that they are committed to bi-lateral talks and have said that all options are open. They have previously shown that they are willing to give Kosovo a high level of autonomy if they remain a province within Serbia, although the support from the US, Britain and other countries for independence will mean that returning Kosovo to Serbia is problematic.