A recent rule change in the Oxford Union has sparked confusion and controversy amongst its members.

Last Thursday, a rule change proposed by ex-Treasurer James Langman was passed in the Chamber, allowing Treasurers and ex-Treasurers to run for the position of Librarian. The motion overturned a rule change banning the practice passed two years previously by then-President Luke Tryl.

A source from within the Union is concerned that the new rules could result in Treasurers and Librarians colluding to run for President unopposed. “In such a scenario, the Treasurer would agree to run to be Librarian rather than President, giving the librarian a free path to the Presidency, allowing both to run unopposed in turn.”

An attempt to make an amendment to the motion allowing only ex-Treasurers to run for Librarian failed.
Langman made an impassioned speech to the chamber in favour of the rule change, which would allow somebody in his position to run to be Librarian if he or she wished.

One Union member, who wished to remain anonymous, suspected that the officers were using rule changes for electioneering purposes. “This rule change was passed through the chamber without members understanding the facts behind the issue,” he said. “It’s a shame that the amendment was not brought forward. The fact that so many ex-officers turned up to vote against it in Standing [Committee] makes it pretty obvious what’s going on.

“I strongly suspect that this isn’t about the good of the Union, it’s about the officers and their own interests when it comes to an election.”

Langman implied in his speech that there may be some link between the rule change and this term’s election. “If this rule change isn’t carried, there will be an uncontested election for librarian­ this year,” he said.

Tryl was critical of the reversal of his policy. He told Cherwell, “I brought this rule change in originally to try and ensure that Union members were given a choice over who ran their union rather than elections being decided in back room deals. I’m disappointed that a group of insiders decided that this was no longer in their self-interest.”

He added, “I only hope that treasurers will be brave enough to actually run for President rather than taking the easy route and running for Librarian and stopping the members from selecting their president.”

Two members of Standing Committee, President-Elect Stuart Cullen and David Thomas, gathered over 150 signatures in a petition to take the rule change to a poll. However, at the very last minute, they decided that a poll would be against the best interests of the society, in part due to the £2,000 cost. However, they deliberately submitted the signatures to the Returning Officer Andrew Mason.

Anna Andrukhovich, a student at Blackfriars college and a member of the Union, attended the debate last Thursday night, but spoke of her frustration at the issue. “I think there are just too many rules and rule changes,” she said.
“The Union is frankly obsessed with rules, which makes it seem unfriendly and inaccessible. People who might do a good job in the society are put off.”

Not everyone was opposed to the move, however. “Members should be able to run for whatever position they want” commented one Union member.

New cancer research published this year suggests that for every 2,000 women screened for the disease one life is saved, but around ten are treated unnecessarily.

Joan Austoker, director of the primary care education research group at Oxford University and author of government advice for the NHS, has said that more information should be provided to women about the screening process.

Several Oxford medics thought while the anxiety caused was unfortunate, the lives saved justified it. They also pointed out that doctors are doing everything they can to make the screening process easier.

New guidelines for the NHS are being released at the end of 2009.

Oxford University has created a virtual experience of World War I to coincide with the 90th Anniversary of Armistice.

Residents of ‘Second Life’ – a three-dimensional virtual world accessed via the internet – are offered a taste of training camp life, rat infested trenches and shell blasts as they explore digitised archival material. The visitor, then teleported from the simulated Western Front to the familiarity of a teaching zone, is encouraged to re-consider their assumptions and prejudices about the war.

Dr. Stuart Lee, lecturer of English at Oxford University, praises this innovative use of technology for providing “a more interesting access to key research and teaching resources”.

The simulation can be accessed online: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Frideswide/219/199/646/

Protesters set up a Climate Camp on Magdalen roundabout on Tuesday to heighten the awareness of climate change in the run up to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen.

The Climate Camp was organised in conjunction with six other universities across the UK that held similar events.

Protesters began setting up camp at around 10am, and the protest continued until around midnight. The event included workshops, poetry readings and music. Locally sourced organic vegetables were served to attendees.

Participants were keen to demonstrate sustainable living and did so by using a bike to generate power for the camp.

Will McCallum, a Wadham fourth year said the protesters wanted to “wake people up to the realities of climate change.”

The camp had been planned to be held in South Parks, but was then moved to a more high profile spot.

Attendees included Oxford and Brookes students, members of the public and even a few Big Issue sellers. This week’s Big Issue has a large feature on climate change.

McCallum said participants included those who had previously been involved in climate change issues, as well as newcomers. He described Climate Camp as an “outreach event” for those “looking to make your uni greener.”

Oxford student Jake Colman said Climate Camp gave people a “space to come together, share and learn skills and form a community to fight climate change.”

Eorann Lean, OUSU VP for Charities and Community commented, “I believe Oxford students care a lot about the environment – events like the climate camp and the many others leading up to Copenhagen like the 350 demonstration last week show this. Oxford students are engaging in the climate debate and working to bring about the change we want to see.”

OUSU Environment and Ethics Committee Chair, Mae Penner told Cherwell the event was a success and it was “fantastic to see so many people who were enthusiastic to come together” to discuss climate change in Oxford.

According to protesters, the council told them the protest could go ahead as long as they did not obstruct traffic.

The protest was peaceful and there were no arrests. A spokesperson for the police said, “Police officers have attended and spoken to the protesters, helping to facilitate a lawful and peaceful protest.”

The new Olympic-level hockey pitch at the Iffley Road sports facilities hosted its inaugural game on Sunday 1st November, one thousand days before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The special promotional match featured two separate teams of alumni, pre- and post-2005, with the older alumni team narrowly beating their younger opponents 5 – 4. The match represented the culmination of a fund-raising campaign supported by both the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and Oxford alumni.

Andrew Thomas, Head of Development for Sport at Oxford, said that the University is well-prepared to market the pitch as an Olympic training ground in the run up to 2012, and is working alongside managers of other sports facilities in the local area as part of their efforts.

Man Collective Oxford (MC-O), an organisation seeking to bring men together to celebrate masculinity was set up by an Oxford undergraduate, prompting accusations of gender stereotyping.

Alex Linsley, 2nd year Economics and Management student at Merton, set up the group as “a response to the current state of masculinity.” He sent round an e-mail invitation to JCRs reading, “Have you got balls? Literally. If you have, how does that make you feel? How do you feel about being a man? Right Now.

“Whether you want to achieve with women or work and if you are looking to judge success by sports cars or spirituality I would love you to explore the site, get in touch and grow from and contribute to Man Collective-Oxford.”

Linsley plans to use the group as a forum for men to get together in order to help to lead “significant lives”. He argues that this is difficult unless men come together as a group. “I want to unite men who have these great aspirations so that we can learn from, challenge and support each other into growing toward the men we want to be.”

He added, “I am excited to be creating this opportunity for men to develop together and for MC-O to make a positive contribution, through its work and the growth of its members, to the wider community.”

However, Linsey’s proposals have been accused of gender stereotyping. Kat Wall, OUSU’s VP for women, commented, “It is important to discuss the meaning of masculinity, to explore ideas about gender identity and whether it is prohibitive in our society. To re-assert existing gender stereotypes of macho-male however, is unhelpful. This only limits individuals who feel they must comply with a society expectation of their gender, rather than allowing them to explore for themselves other alternatives.”

Others are concerned that such a group might undermine the work of feminist organisations. Carla Thomas, a 2nd year in St. Anne’s commented, “Given that men already dominate political and economic life in this country, I can’t really see any great need for them to have any more ‘opportunities to meet and work together towards achieving their goals and living the lives of their highest selves’. I don’t think British society needs much more celebration of masculinity. This group is totally ridiculous and reactionary.”

Linsley denies any accusations of sexism. “I’m an advocate of equality for women and believe they should be offered opportunities to grow to their full potential as individuals. However, men should also have the opportunity to grow to their individual potential.”

He argues that there are limited opportunities for men to meet and help each other develop, and the MC-O seeks to solve this.

“Some people will argue that it’s still an exclusively male environment and hence sexist. However, I have heard no-one claim Oxford Women in Politics/Business are sexist. I don’t believe they are sexist groups. However, I do believe that in certain circumstances the energy, perspective and support of a single-gender environment can be beneficial to both men and women seeking to develop.”

www.mancollective.co.uk

The University is at risk of losing millions of pounds in funding after the government announced spending cuts for the maintenance of historic buildings, alongside a raft of measures designed to reduce government funding of universities.

The planned cuts have been sceptically received by Oxford students.

Lord Mandelson, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, declared the government’s intention to make Universities more “consumer friendly”.

In a document setting out the framework for the future of higher education, Mandelson said he would cut funding to courses which do not contribute directly to the economy, or are of a poor quality. Technology and environmental science courses are expected to be least vulnerable to the changes.

In another measure to save money during the current economic climate, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will abolish the £40m fund that universities currently receive to look after historic buildings. Oxford will lose £5.14m for maintenance of architectural masterpieces such as the Bodleian library and Wren’s Sheldonian theatre.

An Oxford University spokesman said that while there is a potential loss, “the decision is still up to HEFCE. We’re obviously concerned and have made our case to HEFCE. The ball is now in their court.”

Mandelson gave strong backing to universities that discriminate in favour of applicants from poor families or under-performing schools, arguing that the policy is essential to improve social mobility.

Oxford University commented, “We already have a rigorous selection procedure, with many measures in place to make sure we get the students with the best academic potential from all backgrounds. We look at applicants backgrounds and consider problems, for example, if they have been in foster care or gone to a low-achieving school, particularly pre A-levels.

“However, the government needs to make sure that talented students apply – we can only let in people who apply.” Oxford’s medical admissions scheme, for instance, gives extra points during admissions to students from schools with lower than average GCSE results.

In addition, university courses will be tagged with their drop-out rates, graduates’ future earnings, the number of contact hours students can expect with tutors, and how they score in the National Student Survey, so that students can make a more informed choice when embarking on their university career. Businesses will become more involved in the design and funding of courses.

The government is putting a heavy emphasis on universities providing better value-for-money for students. Currently students are faced with around £15000 of debt upon leaving university, and so it is increasingly important that they have as much information as possible to make sure they are embarking on the correct degree.

The proposals will increase fears that the government wants to make degrees more of a commodity, in order to justify a raise in fees. Many leading universities, including Imperial College and Durham University, are pushing for fees to rise to as much as £7000, with £2000 of this going towards bursaries for students from low-income families. However, a review of the current system will not be completed until after the next general election.

There are also concerns that the proposed plans to label courses in a similar way to the nutritional information on food will be misleading, with universities cutting corners to get to the top of a league table. OUSU’s VP for Access and Academic Affairs, Jonny Medland, welcomed the proposals, but was cautious about how useful the labelling of courses would be.

“More information about universities and courses is always valuable to prospective applicants. Comparative data about universities plays an important role in helping people make informed decisions – it is not, however, enough for people to make such choices merely on the basis of statistics. Going to university isn’t just about drop-out rates and career prospects. It’s also about personal development, new experiences and making the most of the opportunities which you are given. These aren’t things which can easily be measured in a league table but are valuable nevertheless.”

A Balliol undergraduate mathemetician said that the labelling of courses, “wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference to which degree I chose. I do my degree because I’m impassioned about my subject. I don’t like the idea of people doing a degree so that they can get a job. There’s a sort of obligation to do a degree so you can get a good job, rather than because you love the subject.”