Last Trinity, the Oxford Conservative Association (OCA) was rocked by allegations of racism after it emerged that racist jokes had been told during hustings.

Oriel student Nick Gallagher, then a member, was directly implicated in the scandal, accused of racism by the national press, and was the only member to be indentified and pictured in a Daily Mail article on the event after resigning from then-OUCA.

Speaking publically for the first time in a Cherwell exclusive interview, Mr Gallagher disputed the record of events appearing in the national press, claiming that his remarks had been taken out of context. He asserted that the joke made had been in relation to a discussion about freedom of speech, and that he had not uttered any racist punchline.

“The important thing to realise from the beginning is that the Proctors conducted a six week investigation into the hustings and found no reason to proceed against me, but did proceed against OUCA.”

He added, “I’m the only person who was at the hustings who is not under university interdict right now.”
Striking out at his former organisation, Gallagher claimed he had been pushed into resigning his membership.
“If I didn’t resign I would have been thrown out of the association with a press release branding me a racist. I was literally taken round the back by three of them and told this. Some of them were friends of mine, all of them knew what happened. It was an act of pure cowardice, they were afraid for their own political survival and nothing else.”

Gallagher recounted that members of the association who didn’t know him “judged on the basis of a slanderous story and a photograph that makes me look like a complete twit.”

Gallagher was pictured alongside a Daily Mail article on the controversy, wearing black tie and holding a glass of champagne. He alleges that he was approached by a Daily Mail reporter ostensibly writing a sympathetic piece about the event. According to Gallagher, the reporter then proceded to “twist what I said into an admission of guilt”, even adding a punchline which Gallagher claims he had never heard.

“The ironic thing is I’m not even a Tory, I’m the first kid in the history of my school to go to Oxford as an undergraduate, I know three adults in this entire country, I’m a practising Roman Catholic and an American of Irish descent – I’m hardly the image of Tory privilege.
Gallagher was also critical of the national Conservative party, branding the move to affiliate with OCA has “disgustingly political”.  He added, “The real disgrace is that right now, knowing all of this, knowing OUCA has been expelled from the University, the Conservative Party has decided to readmit the association when it has undertaken only the most cosmetic of changes.”

During the scandal, Andrew Griffiths (Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Conservative Party, Eric Pickles) called Gallagher and asked for his account of events.
Gallagher recalled, “He said that the party would make a decision before getting back to me. At around one in the morning the Daily Mail broke the story, at which point it became apparent that the Party had put out a press release defending itself and throwing me under a bus, telling the papers that I had been suspended – none of which they had seen fit to inform me of.”
Gallagher claims that he was taken by surprise by the media reaction.

“At the time the notion, as an outsider, that a twenty year old foreign kid saying something to a room of about twenty people would become national news seemed absolutely ludicrous to me.”

Turning to the accusations of racism levelled against him, Gallagher defended his remarks. Explaining his version of events, he stressed that his remarks were in contrast to OUCA’s long-standing tradition of telling inappropriate jokes.

“The candidates running for the position immediately before mine were asked, as is traditional at OUCA hustings, to tell a racist or offensive joke. In any event one of them did and there was an uproar, with half of the room shouting it was inappropriate, and the other half saying they’d always asked it in OUCA hustings, so why should they stop now? They were gabbled down, at which point it was my turn to speak.”

Mr Gallagher was due to take part in a discussion on freedom of speech – he claimed that it was in this context that he made the following remark: “Well, the atmosphere’s a little tense in here, why don’t I open with a joke?”

Admitting that following this, he said ‘What do you say when you see a television moving around in the dark?’, he was adamant that he never made any racial slur: “I never delivered the punchline.”

Mr Gallagher blames the interpretation of the joke on a lack of appreciation for its context. “It was in the middle of a discussion of freedom of speech”. He describes it as “the difference between showing hardcore pornography and discussing it in the context of female stereotypes in society.”

When asked why he hasn’t spoken up until now, Gallagher replied, “I didn’t want my response to this to occur in the dead of July when nobody at Oxford would be aware of it.”

Justifying his decision to speak to Cherwell, Gallagher says simply, “I see no reason why I should be crucified for the Conservative Party’s historical sins.”

Oxford has dropped out of running for the UK Capital of Culture in 2013. It has emerged this week that the city will instead be bidding for the UNESCO World Book Capital.

The decision not to compete to be the first UK Capital of Culture was made despite Oxford was on the shortlist of 29 cities. Oxford City Council cited lack of funding as one of the main reasons for the withdrawal. It was felt that Oxford “could not commit a large amount of money required for such a speculative bid and there was no funding attached if we received the City of Culture.” There was also uncertainty about what was required from the winning city and the Council felt that resources would be better directed towards the bid for the World Book Capital in 2014.

In order to qualify for the nomination, Oxford needs to convince a panel made up of UNESCO judges and representatives from the three major branches of the publishing industry that they have created a suitable programme of events to promote reading in the city.

Reactions to Oxford running for World Book Capital have been very positive. A spokesperson from the University of Oxford stated, “We are delighted that Oxford has been chosen as a potential candidate to become the World Book Capital. We look forward to working with our partners in the city to ensure Oxford is a serious contender.”

The Bodleian Library is also supporting the bid. A spokesperson commented, “Oxford’s libraries have made a major contribution to the book culture of the city for at least 800 years, and continue to play a key role in supporting the world class research and learning, publishing, reading and writing that take place in the city today.” There seems to be a consensus that the award would have a positive impact on the city, bringing recognition to Oxford as a centre of excellence.

Donna Clews, a co-ordinator of STIR, Oxford’s guided reading project, emphasised the importance of reading, drawing attention to the benefits of getting children excited about books at a young age. She said, “Winning this competition would place reading at the forefront of Oxford’s identity in a context not purely related to the university and I believe this won’t just result in a lot of excited students but will also increase literary engagement with people who live, work and grow up in Oxford.”

Alice Beckwith, a keen STIR volunteer, added, “I have seen first-hand the positive effect which reading has on children’s development and confidence. If Oxford were to be World Book Capital in 2014, it would be a massive boost to the community, involving everyone in a productive and fun activity.”

UNESCO World Book Capital is a relatively new prize, instigated in 2001 after the success of the World Book and the Copyright Day. The nomination does not include a financial award, it is “an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading.” The current World Book Capital is Beirut, its term began on April 23rd 2009, UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day, and will run for twelve months.

Members of the academic committee at Brasenose have questioned the validity of a JCR motion which voted against room privileges for scholars. In two meetings last term, 90% of students in attendance voted to remove the right of scholars to be placed top in the room ballot.
The motion, proposed by JCR president, Arvind Singhal, would have seen students who gained distinctions in last years’ prelims competing with commoners for less desirable accommodation. However, Brasenose SCR ruled that the decision was not representative of the student body, since only 50 students out of around 360 were in attendance.
The issue poses problems regarding the nature and effectiveness of JCR meetings, as Arvind Singhal said, “We do not normally have provisions for referenda [so] it could be a dangerous precedent to set.”
Following the controversy, it was decided last week that Brasenose students would be asked to vote on the issue by online survey. The survey received 149 responses, around half of the total undergraduate body, of which 52% were against room privileges for scholars.
Duncan Turnbull, outgoing Brasenose ball president said, “It is a highly boring debate which comes up every year because so many people are disappointed with coming near the bottom.”
Currently, precedence is given to the top four JCR committee positions with scholars and exhibitioners coming next, and finally commoners.
An examination of colleges who grant room privileges to first-class students shows that they are inversely associated with Norrington table rankings. With the exception of Christ Church, a number of colleges who award room privileges to scholars, including St Hilda’s and St Catz, have achieved consistently lower scores in the academic league table.
“A room is not enough of an incentive for people to work, they will only work if they want to”, commented one Brasenose student.
Colleges who allocate higher room draw positions to scholars are still in the minority, with the vast majority of colleges sticking with a random ballot system.
Concerns have been raised about the fairness of the system in the light of a large discrepancy in the allocation of distinctions across subjects. Examiners’ reports covering 2008 and 2009 show that while the number of students awarded a distinction in Chemistry prelims might reach 33.5%, only 11.7% of those studying Law and 9.5% of Medicine students were awarded top marks.
Hannah Cusworth, OULC co-chair elect and Brasenose student said, “Of course people who do well in exams should be rewarded by college but people are more likely to get firsts or distinctions in certain subjects than others.”
It has been suggested that one way out of the question for Brasenose would be to award incentives to scholars which do not work at the expense of other students – one option might be to pay for scholars’ gowns. Brasenose scholars are currently awarded £200, whilst exhibitioners receive £150.
No final decision has yet been made, but privileges will remain effective for scholars and relevant committee members taking part in the room ballot this Michaelmas. Questions remaining over the issue mean that Brasenose SCR is likely to reconsider both issues next year.

Second and third year students at Christchurch and Magdalen spiced up the formalities of Matriculation Day with light-hearted hijinks last week.

Christ Church freshers were dished up a veritable plate of sauciness as they assembled for their college photograph. One anonymous male student put all on display as he streaked across the college’s main quad and frolicked in the fountain – wearing nothing but a balaclava.

Meanwhile, two third-year students at Magdalen successfully re-matriculated at the Sheldonian Theatre and even appeared in the Magdalen 2009 photo.

It is an annual tradition for Christ Church’s older students to distract the freshers while they are photographed in subfusc. Last year, a large number of students staged a battle dressed up as pirates and zombies behind the cameraman. This year, besides the traditional dancing, freshers witnessed a naked man jumping into the Tom Quad fountain.

The student, whose identity is unknown, stormed onto the quad wearing swimming trunks to where some second year students had gathered around the fountain. He tantalised the assembled crowd with risque antics before removing his shorts and vaulting into the water before fleeing the scene.

A second-year student at Christ Church, described the scene. “One guy came out in swimming shorts and a balaclava from Fell Tower, ran toward the freshers, mooned them and ran across the quad for a bit. He then pulled his shorts off to gasping freshers, front flipped into the fountain, climbed out and legged it back through college – and didn’t get caught.”

Another student at the college described the incident as “a pretty graphic demonstration”. She added, “the deans described the students as ‘a very brave man'”.

Christ Church’s censors are reported to have given up the search for the perpetrator, owing to the difficulty in determining his identity, and disciplinary procedures are extremely unlikely.

However, the streaker was willing to give one comment to Cherwell anonymously, “The fountain was freezing.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Chan and Matthew Shribman, two third year undergraduates, successfully posed as first years in their college’s freshers’ photograph, then went unchecked as they accompanied freshers to the Sheldonian and infiltrated the matriculation ceremony.

The two students dressed up in sub-fusc, and Chan, who as Magdalen JCR Vice-President was helping with the administration of the freshers’ photo, wrote his and Shribman’s names on blank namecards and stood in the photo. They were already in position before they were noticed by the academic administrators.

Nobody queried either of the two students as they entered the Sheldonian Theatre, even though Chan was wearing a scholar’s gown and then underwent matriculation for the second time in their academic careers.

“We just walked in with everyone and nobody stopped us – they weren’t looking properly,” said Chan.

Reflecting on their rematriculation experience, Chan and Shribman said, “We created a space for the past to emerge amidst the smiling faces of the future… Rematriculation is not a prank. It is a repetition of a ritual, something profound, worshipful. Rematriculation is liturgy…Third years posing as first years, we have become something in between the two. Second years.”

College authorities were unavailable for comment on the issue.

Nathan Roberts, removed as Queen’s JCR President at the start of term, has been denied the right to appeal the college’s decision.

Earlier this week the Provost informed him that the Governing Body would not be hearing his appeal, which had been due to take place on Wednesday.
Elected during Trinity Term, Roberts was removed from his post by the college authorities after they deemed his prelims results unsatisfactory.
Reacting to the news Roberts said, “The Provost wrote to me explaining that he has decided I can only appeal expulsion or rustication. This is a seriously concerning decision.

“In unnecessarily refusing me an appeal he has said that the committee can make any decision it likes. It can force the student to give up sport, it can force the student to stop playing in the local youth band, it can force the student to walk around on his or her hands all day, and these actions are apparently beyond scrutiny or accountability.
“Despite implying to me that an appeal was certainly an option, the Provost has suddenly reversed his decision and in doing so undermined both the JCR and me.”
The Queen’s College informed Cherwell that they had no comment to make.
Last week thirty JCR presidents signed a statement of support for Roberts, offering their “complete confidence and support.”

OUSU President Stefan Baskerville today reaffirmed his support for Roberts. “The denial of Nathan’s right to appeal is wrong and unacceptable. Right of appeal is a very basic part of any fair disciplinary process, and the college’s claim that students may only appeal decisions to expel or rusticate them is a serious error of interpretation. I continue to support Nathan’s right to appeal the decision.”

Jesse Harber, St Hilda’s JCR President, said “I’m disappointed in the decision of the Queen’s SCR not to allow him to appeal – it sets a precedent that in the future will really short-change students who feel that they have been wronged. It’s a sad fact that disciplinary procedures vary wildly across colleges, and an unlucky student can find themselves being severely punished for something that is only a minor offense at another college. This is entirely separate to the issue of whether his original dismissal was acceptable. Whether a decision is correct or not, it should always (within reason) be allowed to be appealed.”

Owen Evans, St Anne’s JCR President, said that “Nathan has strong support among the JCR Presidents, and we will continue to support in any way we can.”
Duncan Cook, Jesus JCR President, has also given his support. He commented, “I believe all students should have the right to select their own extra-curricular activities.”
The Provost still has the option of reversing his decision, and Roberts is hopeful that he will do so. “There is no ‘harm’ in allowing me to argue my case, and I in fact think this most recent ruling is the most damaging of all.

“I understand a teddy-bear is standing in the upcoming presidential elections. Teddy will have my vote.”

This week in Cambridge, the town has been buzzing with news of witch-kings, shock-jocks, hoaxes and multimillion pound London dealings.
Attempts by Magus Lynius Shadee, self-appointed ‘king of all witches,’ to set up a centre for the occult has upset religious leaders across Cambridge. Fr Dick Healy of the Church of Our Lady described the witch-king as “twisted.” Shadee chose Healy’s church earlier this year to perform a ritual to summon a demon and ‘cleanse’ the church. Fr Healy confirmed he would not be performing an exorcism, but will consider reporting Shadee to the police.

Over at the Union, plans to host Michael Savage, the US shock-jock, have been abandoned for financial reasons. Savage, who has been banned from entering the UK for his arch-conservative nationalist views, will no longer be speaking at the political correctness debate later this term via video-link. Many will be pleased not to give a platform to a man accused of “abuse[ing] our standards and values to undermine our way of life” by the British government.

Pranksters at Jesus college are being sought out by their porters after successfully duping their entire JCR into believing that Jesus’ lawns, being re-seeded at the time, were soon to be paved over. In an official-looking letter posted to every pidge, students were invited to register their opinions of the plans by filling out a complaint slip and dropping it in a feedback box in the post-room. It is not known quite how many complaints were dropped in the box before the porters removed it, but the lawns-paving protest movement had it’s own facebook group and petition by the end of the week. Since the news that it was all a hoax has emerged, both have, sadly, been abandoned.

Trinity, the wealthiest college in Cambridge, has bought the lease for London’s O2 arena in a £24m deal. They described the move as “part of the long-term investment strategy of the College.” Trinity’s overall estimated endowment now sits at £621 million.

Worcester College JCR’s Freshers’ Rep is still waiting to be paid £1395 after he was forced to pay for parts of Freshers’ Week with his own money.

There are concerns that students will be put off applying for the position in the future unless they can afford to hand out over a thousand pounds at the start of Michaelmas.

Matt Henshaw is waiting for a cheque from £1300 from the college as payment for freshers t-shirts, while last Sunday the college JCR voted to reimburse him by a further £95 for other costs.

He would have been £4000 in the red had he not managed to negotiate with the company organising the club nights. He was then allowed to pay for them once he had received money from tickets sold.
“The college did say that if I had a full schedule and budget planned out for the week by the end of trinity term they could give me money upfront but this just simply isn’t possible when I don’t take the role until Easter and what with exams that term too,” said Henshaw.

Henshaw was keen to stress that he will not be ending up out of pocket, but pointed out, “I think it could potentially put people off the role as even though I know I’ll get it back, being nearly £1400 out of pocket isn’t a comfortable position to be in right now, since I have to pay college battels too.”

Jack Hammett, current JCR Vice-President at St Anne’s, who ran the college’s freshers’ week, revealed that he too had to put up some of his own money to pay for it. He was warned about this before applying for the role. “I had to pay several hundred pounds of my own money which was inconvenient at certain times, but was lucky to be quickly reimbursed by the JCR soon after the end of Freshers’ week.”

“Much of the freshers’ week entertainment needs to be paid for in advance and it often is the case that the JCR treasurer is unable to pay for these costs during the summer vacation. In submitting a Freshers’ week funding motion at the end of Trinity, it was apparent that some personal funding would need to be made.”

David Barclay, former Worcester JCR president, was critical of the college for putting the Freshers’ Rep in a position of financial uncertainty. “Obviously it is unacceptable to ask a Freshers’ Rep to stump up so much of their own money without clear guarantees that they will make it all back. It falls to the college to put its money where its mouth is on equal opportunities and provide a Freshers Budget in order to take away any barriers to people applying for the position. “Freshers Reps should be chosen on the basis of their ability to organise, entertain and welcome, not on the size of their chequebook.”

Katharine Terrell, former St Hilda’s JCR president, commented that “Colleges hand over nearly all responsibility for arranging freshers’ week activities to unpaid students who are essentially volunteering their time while doing a full-time degree, while at the same time imposing unreasonable or unrealistic requirements.  We are adults arranging social events at the beginning of our university careers and colleges should liaise with us as such.”

“Freshers Reps should be chosen on the basis of their ability to organise, entertain and welcome, not on the size of their chequebook.”

Not all students appear particularly concerned about the Freshers’ Rep having to pay out of his own money up front. One first-year History student commented, “I think it would put some people off. But it wouldn’t put me off applying, as long as I knew it was going to get back to me at some point.”
Alex Cavell, a Chemist, disagrees. “It probably would put me off applying, because it is not right that students should be out of pocket (even on a temporary basis) for something they are doing voluntarily and for the benefit of others. It would be better if they were given a budget and funds in advance from which to plan and spend for freshers’ week.”

Other colleges have found ways around the problem of paying for freshers’ week. Alastair Livesy, Magdalen’s freshers’ rep, said, “We have a really good system – for small amounts I pay out of my own pocket but don’t have any trouble getting the money back – and if there’s a substantial amount we need to pay for, such as putting a deposit behind the bar at a club, we can get a cheque and don’t have to pay out of our own accounts.”

Henshaw said that he was arranging a meeting with the college accountant to make sure that the situation does not arise again next year. “While everything has come out okay this time, there is always a possibility that next year a student could end the week losing money, which shouldn’t happen when they’re organising something like freshers’ week.

“I find it suprising that the college offers so much money for the Entz and Welfare budget for the term but then nothing to the freshers’ rep who is essentially in charge of an entire week of Entz and Welfare events.”