Oxford graduate and entrepreneur Freddie Fisher was one of the 16 contestants to enter the Big Brother house last Thursday.

Fisher’s first task was to change his name by deed poll to ‘Halfwit’ in order to stay in the house. The 23-year-old lives in a stately home, and doesn’t own a TV. He claims not to know how the show works.

Fisher’s time at Oxford was marred by controversy after it was revealed that he ran a website for rent boys, promising punters “fetish and role play”. He lists his interests as “playing with fire, BB guns, trespassing.”

An Oxford friend commented “Freddie had this crazy obsession with guns and weapons.” A former Young Conservative, Fisher was recently pictured meeting Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne.

An 80-year-old banned for life from Oxford Botanic Garden defied officials by sneaking into the gardens in disguise.

Michael Hugh-Jones, a regular visitor to the gardens for 58 years, was banned two years ago after an angry outburst against staff in front of visiting schoolchildren. The incident was prompted by Hugh-Jones accused them of neglecting a Morning Glory flower.

He this week attempted to sneak into the gardens disguised as a guest at the Lord Mayor’s picnic, desperate to find out what had happened to the plant. His quest ended in tragedy, however, when he discovered that the plant had already been removed by staff.

Oxford Amnesty International group organised a march and silent vigil last Thursday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Members marched through the town centre to the Martyr’s Memorial, where they held a minute’s silence, before taking photos. They had two large, bright yellow banners, one stating “Human Rights for China”, and the other “Remember Tiananmen”. Both signs were translated into Chinese, the second translating as “Remember Six-four”, which is how it is referred to in Chinese.

Tim Brook from the Chinese Department in Oxford University made a small speech before the march, in which he spoke about being in China in the spring of 1989 and the unrest which he felt at the time. He stressed that the Tiananmen suppression by the People’s Liberation Army should not be forgotten. He emphasised the injustice surrounding the event and praised Amnesty International for its continued efforts to seek justice for the Chinese people.

Rebecca Darts, who helped to organise the event and who served as president of the Oxford Amnesty International group for the last two terms, described it as a “great success.” She said she was pleased that a huge range of people had attended, including students, members of the public and other local Amnesty groups.

She said it was “essential” for the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre not to go unnoticed and that the event was organised “to show solidarity with the victims and the Tiananmen mothers, and to call for accountability.” She explained how Amnesty is campaigning for an independent and public inquiry into the Tiananmen suppression as a first step towards justice for the victims, and she encouraged students to sign the petition. She went on to stress that the number of innocent civilians killed is still unknown, and an unknown number of protesters still remain in prison.

She acknowledged that only 25 to 30 people participated in the march, around half the number of people that turned up to a similar event held last year. She commented that as it was Trinity term students were likely to be busy with exams, but added that she found it “sad that more students didn’t take to the streets as those students in China did 20 years ago.”

Amensty organises letter-writing lunches every Thursday of term between 2 to 3pm in the Vaults and Garden’s cafe, with lunch for just £1.

Protesters on Cornmarket street staged a demonstration against the British National Party on Wednesday. Their actions came as former Union President Luke Tryl denied that his invitation to party leader Nick Griffin had contributed to the party’s success.

The BNP, who advocate repatriation of ethnic minority citizens, won two seats in the European parliament and three new seats in last week’s elections.

One of the activists, Ian McHendry, explained that he wanted to show that there was opposition to the party in Oxford. “We decided to come out on the streets to show that there are people opposed to this, because it can be so disheartening and depressing to see fascists elected.”

He added that his group, Oxford United Against Fascism, had been involved in the mass protests in Michaelmas 2007 against the Oxford Union’s invitation of Nick Griffin to a forum on free speech. At the time, Union president Luke Tryl was accused by many of lending the party legitimacy.
However, he denied that his actions had brought the BNP into the mainstream. “I don’t think that’s the case. It was somewhat two years ago. Besides, it has been proved that ignoring the BNP does not work. There is now a recognition that we need to take on BNP and challenge them on their views.”

He added,”The huge amount of attention they are receiving is unfortunate.”

In a speech on Thursday in which he celebrated his election MEP for North West England, Griffin said, “It is a huge victory. We have been demonised, persecuted and denied the right to hold public meetings.”

The party’s website currently displays a banner with the words “The dam has been broken”.

His party has long faced criticism over alleged racist and fascist sympathies. It first gained national prominence in 1989, when it organised violent demonstrations supporting the rights of white parents to withdraw their children from mixed-race schools.

McHendry said he believed that voters were being misled into supporting the party. “I think BNP voters are being hoodwinked. The party isn’t honest about what it stands for. It uses coded language. They’ve been telling Cowley carworkers that immigrants are to be blamed for losing their jobs, which is obviously completely untrue.”

Oxford University students have been hiring private tutors in increasing numbers, with those studying sciences, overseas students and women most likely to seek external assistance.

Dr. Vincent McKee, Director of the Independent Institute of College and University Tutors (ICUT) confirmed that his organisation has been contacted by an increasing number of Oxford students over the past two years. Although there have only been twenty-five who explicitly describe themselves as Oxford students, he believes ICUT tutors many Oxonians who are too embarrassed to divulge the name of their institution.    

Blue Tutors company has also stated that around fifty Oxford university students have asked for assistance within the last three years. Peter Edwards, spokesperson for the organisation said that there have also been “about 50 students…who were in the Oxford area, but didn’t state their university.” He thought that students are reluctant to disclose this information as “this may reflect badly on that university.” 

When asked how the University could improve the teaching system, Edwards suggested that colleges could offer extra tutorials between terms and in the run-up to exams, but pointed out that students are often unwilling to ask for help. He added, “Oxford and Cambridge are understandably proud of their standards, but I think that this occasionally spills over into arrogance, and I don’t believe that an Oxbridge tutorial is necessarily of the high standard that everyone assumes it is.

“I regularly meet and assess the teaching ability of many people who currently teach for the university, and I am fairly shocked at times by what I see.” He also suggested that “students are too slow to question the standard of teaching that they receive in tutorials.”

A spokesperson for the University has defended Oxford’s tutorial system. “Oxford students benefit from much more teaching time and more intensive teaching than almost any other university in the world,” she said pointing out that “The National Student Survey shows that 92 percent of students are satisfied with their courses at Oxford University – higher than the national average.”

Dr McKee has also argued that the number of students seeking outside help suggests that the “tutorial system clearly doesn’t identify all of the problems.”

He particularly expressed dissatisfaction at the problems experienced by foreign students at British Universities. With 70 to 80 percent of ICUT’s clients foreigners, McKee claimed that “overseas students are abandoned by their institutions”.

He added that the students who contact ICUT in the summer months are disproportionately female, an estimated 8 in 10 between July and August. The subjects with the most demand for private tutoring from ICUT include finance, economics, business and management, maths and engineering.  

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted that “given the experience of the previous year, in hindsight, I realise I should have either hired a private tutor or requested to change tutors, as I received very little support from my main tutor and found the tuition to be less than satisfactory for several topics.”

He also thought that tutors may well be more interested in their own research than supporting their students. 

An Oxford University student was attacked as part of a spate of violent robberies on and around the Iffley Road in the early hours of last Thursday morning. Four people have since been arrested and charged.

Stephen Wadey, a second-year PPE student at Wadham College, was attacked near the Iffley Road Sports Complex as he walked back to his house at around 1am after visiting a friend in college.

Wadey said, “I was walking along one side of the road and there was a group of around ten people on the other side. Two of them broke away and came up to me. They demanded my phone and pushed me over a low wall onto some grass. I fell on my back and then they pinned me down with their hands around my throat and then punched me several times in the face.”

He described his attackers, saying, “One man was mixed-race, between 6′ and 6’1″ and with his face partly covered. The other was white, with short brown hair and was about 5’10”. They were acting really edgy: they were probably on some sort of drugs at the time.”

He said that the men stole his mobile phone and demanded his wallet, but he managed to conceal the possession of money. “I told them I didn’t have any and they seemed to accept that”, he said. The men then ran off to rejoin the group with whom they had been walking and Wadey ran home to telephone the police.

Wadey later learnt that his attack was the fifth to have taken place in the area that night. A 48-year-old man had his wallet and mobile phone taken by two men as he walked home along the Iffley Road at about midnight. Soon after this, two men were confronte and had money, mobile phones and bank cards taken from them. The fourth robbery took place just before that on Wadey, and involved a 22-year-old man who was made to hand over the cash in his wallet.

Thames Valley Police arrested four people at 9.30am the next day in relation to the robberies, following an intensive all-night investigation. Jack Ulett-Titcombe, aged 20, of Herschel Crescent, Littlemore, and Michael Collins, also aged 20, of Iffley Road, Oxford, along with a 17-year-old girl and boy appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on the morning of Saturday 6th June, charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

Ulett-Titcombe and Collins were remanded in custody, and the two 17-year-olds were released on bail. All four are due to appear again in Oxford Crown Court on Friday.

The attacks were the latest in a series of violent crimes in the Iffley Road area of Oxford, raising questions about whether the University should be doing more to ensure the safety of those members who live out.

According to the Oxford Safer Communities Partnership, incidences of similar crimes have risen dramatically over the last year. There was a 15.6% rise in robberies of individuals in April this year compared with April 2008. This is part of a wider trend, which has seen the rate of violent crime in Oxfordshire increase from 13 incidents per 1000 of the population in 2002/03 to 20 incidents per 1000 of the population in 2007/08.

Wadey described the situation saying, “the crime in that area has gone up massively recently. There was the domestic double stabbing, and two of my friends had their bikes stolen. I think I probably got off lightly compared with some people.”

He said that although he was not displaying any valuables when he was attacked, he nevertheless planned to be more careful in future.

He added that the University had been “responsive to my needs”, and that Wadham had given him accommodation in college for the rest of this year, so that he would not have to continue to live near the scene of his attack. “They have been extremely understanding, and I’m very grateful.”

Finally, when asked what outcome he would like to see from the trial, he said that the main goal should be the prevention of further incidents. “I am simply hoping that whatever the response, no one else has to suffer the same thing as me.”

Oxford has yet again fallen short of the Government’s targets on state school student intake.

In 2008, just 55.4% of the university’s incoming students were state school graduates, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency. The government’s benchmark is set at 75.3%.

Cambridge continues to enroll more state educated pupils than Oxford. However, while Oxford saw a 2% increase in successful state school applicants, Cambridge experienced of a slight decline in the percentage admitted, compared to last year.

Both institutions have contested the validity of the benchmarks, with Oxford officials calling them “unrealistic.”

Criticism has focused around the methodology employed since 2004 to calculate targets, which does not distinguish between A-levels and other qualifications when calculating student’s fitness for admission to Oxbridge.

The system allocates points to students that can be accumulated in a variety of ways. These range from sitting A-levels, to completing vocational courses, to gaining a certificate in Horse Knowledge & Care from the British Horse Society.

Oxford officials say this system artificially inflates the number of applicants deemed qualified for admission. “Admission to Oxford University is based on performance in academic subjects at full A-level that relate to our degree courses,” said a University spokesperson. “Those who actually gain three As at full A-level are numerically a smaller group than those who gain the tariff point equivalent.”

Paul Dwyer, OUSU Vice President (Access and Academic Affairs), said he was glad the government had set the targets.

“I think that it is commendable that the government has recognised the problem of under-representation of students educated at state schools at university, although feel that they have more work yet to do.”

However, he echoed the University’s claim that state schools could not provide enough qualified candidates.

“What the government target statistics do not take into account are the number of schools who are actually able to provide candidates who will get 3 As at A Level.

“There are simply too many schools in the country who cannot provide the support and teaching resources for students to achieve this aim, which means that meeting the statistic is made a much harder task for the University.”

The failure to meet benchmarks places Oxbridge under renewed pressure to widen access, with many students saying they felt more could be done. Jon Mellon, a PPEist at St Anne’s and a state school graduate said OUSU’s Target Schools scheme, which is backed by the University, was “a step in the right direction.” However, he added that he “didn’t get that much direction” from access schemes, aside from an interview training day that “wasn’t much use.”

Chancellor Lord Patten has consistently defended Oxford’s record on access.
In a speech last year he said, “However hard we try to widen participation at Oxbridge, and I am sure you could say the same at many other universities, there is no chance whatsoever of meeting the socio-economic targets set by agents of government so long as the proportion of students getting A grades in traditional academic A-level subjects at private and maintained schools stays the same. It is as simple as that.”

Patten has also suggested that the government could pay for private schools to give special lessons to talented state school pupils applying to university.

Oxford University Student Union has lost £41,447 in the 2007-08 financial year, suffering its biggest financial loss since 2005.

This information comes at the time when OUSU’s 2009/2010 budget comes under criticism and its company’s projected income for this year has staggeringly decreased by £28,000.

Documents obtained by Cherwell have revealed that OUSU had less than £18,630 net remaining at the end of Trinity 2008, after the financial year 2007-2008 brought a shocking loss of over £41,000.

Criticisms of the budget have been led by Ben Britton, the MCR co-President of St Catherine’s College. “The budget is far less specific than previous years, the numbers don’t add up and OUSU is at serious risk of a shortfall this year, which could bring it dangerously close to having less than zero net funds”, he said.

OUSU predicts that they will end the 2009/2010 year with a profit of only £110.

This will leave the organization far short of the estimated £100,000 target of reserves when registering as a charity later this year. It also puts the organization at a risk of huge financial shortfall, as will be forced to rely on unstable income.

The budget is based on an estimated £80,00 income from Oxford Student Services Limited (OSSL), OUSU’s trading arm. However, the accounts for 2008 show that OSSL only returned £15,109 to OUSU.

Similarly, this year’s projected income of OSSL has recently been dramatically reduced by £28,000, more than one the £19,161 cost of one sabbatical officer.

OUSU President Lewis Iwu has explained the difference in the accounts saying, “Both sets of figures are forecasts. Forecasts by their very nature change.”

OUSU further notes that its budget “is dependent upon earnings from OSSL which too often in the past have not materialised.” Further in the document, the Union emphasizes that it has taken a “conservative approach” in developing the budget.

OUSU is also relying on £91,857 worth of affiliation fees. This figure assumes no further disaffiliation or reaffiliations. With Christ Church, Balliol and Oriel college JCRs voting on whether or not to disaffiliate or reaffiliate just last week, affiliation fees could vary considerably in the next year from what has been budgeted.

One first year PPE student commented, “It’s ridiculous to have a student union that doesn’t seem to stand for anything or do anything useful and yet still see it losing money.”

Criticisms have also been raised about the detail of the budget, which lacks a lot of the detail of former years with much of the text having been directly copied from the previous budget. For example, previous reports detailed the amount of reserves and an invitation for comments, queries and concerns; this year’s did not.

Iwu has stated that he is willing to answer any questions about the specifics of the budget. He also said that several factors will ensure greater OSSL profitability.

He explained, “having a dedicated member of staff who will oversee the qualityof our publications will lead to more revenue being generated by our publications hence reducing the amount of forced discounts that we have had to give out to advertisers due to problems with publications.

“We also plan on exploiting web advertising more which is a lucrative market with little cost. Finally we will see a strategy in place next year to start selling fresher’s fair advertising earlier on in the year. We explained this to the University and they acknowledged these changes are key to getting better performance from OSSL.”

A war of words has erupted between senior officials of the Oxford University Students’ Union (OUSU) over a controversial partnership with another student society.

The row came ahead of a motion that will be considered today at OUSU Council, which if passed would cement the student union’s relationship with The Oxford Hub (OxHub); a student-run organisation focused on the promotion of charitable activity and social enterprise.

The “Memorandum of Understanding” would give OxHub a range of benefits, including advertising space in The Oxford Student, three stalls at the Freshers’ Fair and various other promotional opportunities, all free of charge. In return, the OUSU logo would be placed on OxHub publications.

The terms of the deal have been condemned by members of the OUSU Executive.

Among the critics was Common Room Liaison Officer, Jack Matthews, who claimed the Student Union would be giving up funding and influence for little in return.

“One of the most glaring faults with the memorandum is the inequality between what OUSU gets, and what it is giving away,” he said.

Matthews added that he was also concerned by the future implications of the proposal, which could lead to the Student Union supporting OxHub financially.
“OUSU will be giving all of this away for free, at a time of national financial concern, and when we are one of the poorest student unions in the country.

“We should be supporting students directly – not hiring in others to do it instead.”

There were also concerns that the new link-up could overlap with existing OUSU services. The Student Union already has a charities campaign in Oxford RAG, but although it carries out similar activities to OxHub, it will not be involved in the new plans.

Further doubts were expressed by OUSU Environment and Ethics officer, Daniel Lowe, who admitted he had “strong reservations” that common rooms would be angered by the costs involved.

He said, “In a joint common room meeting two weeks ago at Lincoln College, concerns were expressed about the amount that OUSU spends in its charities portfolio, and to be adding to this expenditure may be unwise.”

Others were keen to defend the proposed partnership however, with OxHub President Jake Leeper eager to stress that the link would see benefits for both parties.

He said, “The aim of this partnership is to formalise our productive relationship and ensure we are making the most efficient use of our resources in providing a service to students and raising the charitable profile at Oxford University.

“OUSU is the political voice on charitable activity, whilst Oxford Hub facilitates charitable activity.”

His thoughts were echoed by Jack Wellby, OUSU Vice-President (Charities and Communities), who said the criticism from his colleagues was completely unwarranted.

“The Oxford Hub is precisely the sort of thing the Student Union should be supporting,” he said. “I know of no student union that makes money from encouraging students to volunteer – this is a service to offer not a revenue stream.

“The argument about lost revenue goes both ways – The Oxford Hub are supporting OUSU in spaces where a commercial logo could be placed as they recognise the benefits of being supported by the Student Union.”