An Oxford-led team of researchers has become the first to discover a genetic mutation which can lead to severe facial disfigurement.

The mutation, known as ALX3, was discovered after researchers compared the DNA of individuals from seven families who all shared a similar facial malformation known as ‘frontorhiny’.

Head researcher Professor Andrew Wilkie said, “This finding offers hope to those families considered to be at risk. By correctly diagnosing the condition in an adult, we can reassure them that their children are unlikely to be affected.”

Police are on the hunt for a killer following a day time attack in Cowley.

The victim stumbled into The Regal club on Cowley Road at 11.50am on Monday, suffering stab wounds to the neck. He was later pronounced dead at the JR Hospital.

Streets around the area were later cordoned off as more than 30 detectives began investigations. The police raided four homes, seized CCTV and increased patrols in the area, but the stabber has not been caught. No arrests have so far been made.

“I would like to reassure the community this appears to be a targeted attack,” said Det Chief Insp Mike Saunders.

An Oxford thief was caught when his DNA was found on the spoon left in the peanut butter jar of one of his victims.

Declan Williamson was jailed last Friday after admitting to a string of burglaries and vehicle crimes, including stealing a car and crashing it into a tree.

The 19-year-old also broke into homes and garages in Cowley. Stolen items included whisky, chainsaws, an air rifle, port and a television. He was jailed for two years, and banned from driving for a subsequent two years.

Oxford Union President Corey Dixon is in negotiations to launch an online television channel featuring speaker events and debates hosted at the society.

The president announced on Monday to Standing Committee that he had been approached by fora.tv, a website where TV channels featuring live events, lectures, debates and conferences from universities around the world can be streamed online.

Users would need to pay a subscription fee to access the channel – with Union members eligible for a discount. A full proposal is to be considered next week, but the channel could potentially bring the Union in excess of £10,000 in revenue per annum.

Baroness Susan Greenfield has stated that social-networking sites and computer games can alter the brain and increase the risk of autism, in an interview with Cherwell.

The director of the Royal Institution and a Professor of Pharmacology at Lincoln college attracted media attention in February after an address to the House of Lords in which she argued that “real-life conversations … require a sensitivity to voice tone, body language and perhaps pheromones. None of these skills are required chatting on a social networking site.”

Elaborating for Cherwell, she explained, “What I’m saying is that we know the environment alters the brain, and so if the environment changes and we spend more time in two dimensions, the brain will change too.”

Greenfield went on to point out a correlation with autism diagnoses. “We also know that there is an increase in autism, and there has been a three-fold increase in prescriptions for Ritalin [a drug prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity, disorder or ADHD] in the last ten years.”

Most autistic children can be diagnosed by the age of three, but Greenfield did not feel her hypothesis was affected by this, saying, “Children do use the screen before they’re three.” She blamed online activity for making existing tendencies worse.

Greenfield was quick to retreat when asked whether she believed that Internet use directly caused autism: “I’m not saying that because autistic people are comfortable, you’re going to be autistic if you use the screen, of course not, but I’m saying the kinds of activities and the types of issues that are at stake are perhaps similar.”

She further explained, “The problems for young people begin because these games lead them to believe there are no consequences to their actions. They knife someone to death and then they bring them back to life. Everything is reversible. They see their victim on screen covered in red. In real life, that is blood, and they couldn’t just make it disappear at the click of a switch to bring the person back.”

She advances no evidence which might support the conclusion that there is an association between computer games and the ability to empathise with real-life mortality.

Greenfield has appeared in the media this week, detailing fresh concerns that excessive use of computer games “may be fuelling the obesity crisis in today’s world.” Greenfield this week told press that our increasing dependence on computers could also encourage obesity, not only through lack of exercise but through “changing the workings of the brain” by allowing people to take actions without consequences.

“While a child who falls out of a tree will quickly learn not to repeat the mistake, someone who goes wrong on a computer game will just keep playing,” she said, claiming the effect on eating habits could be similar. “Anyone eating knows the consequences but somehow the thrill of that experience will trump the consequences.”

Several influential scientific writers voiced opposition to Greenfield”s latest claims. Medical columnist Ben Goldacre said her views lacked support, arguing that “experimentation in a safe environment” was a natural way for human beings to learn.

Some students also expressed doubt over Greenfield”s claims. Christopher Morgan, a biochemist hoping to specialise in Neurology, said he felt computer games could help people learn from their mistakes. “I believe that one learns far more from mistakes learnt in computer games, since one often has the chance the remedy them immediately. “

Oxford Science Society president Devaki Raj said that more proof was needed before Greenfield’s views could be considered scientifically valid. “An important aspect of science is the sifting of evidence, and so any controversial claims should be treated with the greatest vigilance.”

“Without assessing the evidence and comparing independent research it would be unreasonable to forward any opinion. Whilst a link between obesity and computer usage may be well-established, further support as to causation is required before the claim can be accepted as fact rather than theory.”

However, she was keen to distance herself from her portrayal in the media, stating “I can’t help what the media does with what I say.”

Somerville’s JCR charity fund holds over £27,000 as money donated throughout the years has not been distributed to charities.

Somerville students have £9 added to their battles each term on an opt-out basis, which goes to the JCR charity fund. However, the college has lacked a Charities Rep to distribute the money and as some charities have not cashed the cheques presented to them, the amount has grown substantially and increased with interest.

Byrony Taylor, Somerville’s JCR Charities Rep, took up her position Trinity term last year. She said that she had only become aware of the situation last term as Somerville holds the JCR treasurer responsible for the charity bank account.

She explained that the JCR had set up a committee to examine the problem and to decide ways to distribute the money. She said, “We are in the process of going over past accounts and reissuing these cheques which should help clear some of the reserves.”

Taylor explained that in the cases of exceptional, one-off donations, the money is currently being accessed through JCR motions, such as that which led to the donation to the DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal last term. She called this method “the most democratic way of dealing with the reserves.”

She insisted that Somerville students should not worry that the money they had donated would not be distributed to charities. She said, “The money is contained in a separate account, the contents of which will only ever go to charity. Current students at Somerville can rest assured that any money collected from them has been and will be swiftly distributed to the charities they nominate and vote upon.”

One second year Somerville student called the situation “pretty dire”, adding that the JCR “seem to be doing a lot of talking but no-one actually knows what to do. It will probably just carry on sitting there gaining interest.”

Jack Wellby, OUSU Charities and Community VP said that the situation was “not ideal.” He praised the £9 opt-out termly donation but stated that the contribution needs to be alongside a “more effective donations system.”

OUSU has proposed the formation of a working group to look into ways of distributing JCR money to charities. Welby stated that a “duel-pot approach” that would see some money given out through charity motions and the rest donated yearly to a set of charities chosen though a common room vote, would avoid such problems in the future.

A graduate student at Brasenose College has died. James Worthen, who was studying Classics, died in Bristol last week.

Avon and Somerset Police have said, “The death is not being treated as suspicious”. A spokesperson was also able to confirm that he was found in a gorge area near the Cumberland Baisin.

A spokesperson for the college released the following statement through the University Press Office:

“Brasenose College is deeply saddened by the death of James Worthen, who died on Sunday May 10th aged 22.

“James had come to Brasenose from Bristol University to read for the MPhil in Greek and Latin Language and Literature. He performed extremely well in this course, achieving consistently high marks, and had received AHRC funding to continue to the DPhil. As well as pursuing academic goals he played football for Brasenose and chess for the University, and was a well-liked member of college.

“The College’s concern at this time is for James’ family and friends; they are in our thoughts and prayers; and we ask that their privacy is respected in their time of grief.”

The University declined to comment further, but reminded students, “The College is sensitive to the needs of students at this difficult time and support will be available both from the College and from the University through the usual channels.”

The Oxford University Counselling Service provides free and confidential assistance for students with personal, social, emotional or academic problems. For more information, see the Counselling Service website.

Several Oxford academics have voiced agreement with the Cambridge Head of Admissions in stating that personal statements are an irrelevant part of the application process.

Earlier this week, Geoff Parks, the Director of Admissions at Cambridge declared that the personal statement reveals little about a student and is rarely the sole work of the applicant.

Michael Allingham, the former Head of Admissions at Magdalen College said, “I know people who don’t read [personal statements] on principle, who believe that they muddy the waters…Whereas we look at everything, they are far from the most important thing.”

He added that the decision over which applicants to invite for interview is based on only objective information such as GCSE or A Level results, predicted grades or a subject-specific entrance test. Consequently, a student would never be refused an interview on the basis of a poor personal statement.

Mike Nicholson, Oxford’s Head of Admissions agreed that the personal statement is less important than other parts of the application. He said, “the amount of emphasis that will be placed on the personal statement will be much more limited than at most other universities.”

However, he added that the personal statement may be helpful to evaluate students who wish to undertake a course not linked to their post-16 subjects. He said, “the personal statement provides scope to draw upon the wider range of experiences.”

Zoe Hallam, a first year PPE student stated that she was asked a question based on the first eight words of her personal statement. She said, “I don’t think they particularly cared about the personal statement in the interview, but I think they’ve used it to shift through the applicants.”

One first year Magdalen said, “When I was writing mine, I was told that different colleges treated personal statements differently. Some scrutinised statements and others completely ignored them. I just wished they’d told me which was true for the college I was applying to.”

Several students have expressed anger at the revelation of admissions tutors. Harry Philips, first year linguist questioned the processes that decide interview places, saying “I’m sure that at this educational establishment, not everyone who sends in an application is given an interview. It can’t surely be done just on academic grades?”

Oxford University spent last week honouring Dambudzo Marechera, nearly four decades after expelling him. Events took place over the week, celebrating the work of the writer that one Zimbabwean newspaper called “the most controversial author Zimbabwe has ever produced.”

After gaining a scholarship to New College, Marechera was expelled following a series of incidents, including threats to burn down the college. After growing up in poverty, he had previously been expelled from the University of Rhodesia in 1973 after a student demonstration.

Professor Elleke Boehmer, co-organiser of the event, explains that Marechera had a “schizophrenic disposition, which was never formally diagnosed,” and was made worse by his “extreme isolation, as one of the only black students in a very white Oxford.” It was this combination of race and class prejudices, Boehmer suggests, that led to such behaviour.

She stressed the continued relevance of the work, stating that “People now still relate to the crises which Marechera faced, especially in his native Zimbabwe.

His thinking represents precisely the opposite to the kind of rigid, binary thought of someone like Robert Mugabe. He asked a lot of difficult questions, and crossed boundaries.”

However, some object to the perceived double standards of the institution. Wadham second-year Sophie Lewis directed a production which combined two of Marechera’s plays, but split from the conference organisers “after a very difficult beginning.” Lewis objects to the idea of the University embracing the writer after rejecting him as a student.

“I don’t want to see Marechera’s dramatics, his nationsroman, his poems, stultified by the academic institution he rejected, and which rejected him.”

One English undergraduate said, “I always think it’s quite ironic when Oxford welcome back someone they barely cared about at the time. I don’t think they mean to be hypocritical, but there is the sense that they want to share in Marechera’s success.”

Boehmer acknowledges that the celebration may “seem on the surface” to be hypocritical, welcoming back the writer now that he is safe and dead, but points out that ‘the English Faculty and academia has moved on. We’re now in a place where black writers’ work are discussed and celebrated. It’s a different Oxford from the one Marechera experienced.’

“This isn’t in any way trying to excuse or make up for the past, but a genuine recognition and celebration of his work.”

The first mixed year at St Hilda’s college has seen JCR elections overwhelmingly dominated by men.

Next year’s President, Treasurer and Secretary will all be male, with no women even contesting the last two positions.

Oxford Women in Politics President Katy Theobald said she found the results disturbing. “The fact that in a single year there has been a shift to under-representation presents an interesting but very concerning problem. Often such an imbalance is attributed to a lack of role models but at St Hilda’s there were of course clear examples of women holding these positions for many years.”

She suggested that a quota could be introduced, and said “more should be done to ensure equal numbers of men and women run for a position, so that potential female candidates are not overlooked.”

President-elect Jesse Harber, however, said he felt gender was irrelevant. “We’re representing those who elected us, and I wouldn’t want to second-guess them.”

“I don’t think quotas are necessary, and I think they may do more harm than good. A quota would just paper over the cracks – female under representation in the JCR is a symptom of deeper issues.”

He said that the issue had rarely come up during campaigning. “It was certainly mentioned a few times, but mostly the policies and vision were discussed.”

Current JCR President Katherine Terrell expressed mixed feelings about the outcome of the election. She said she did not feel that sexism had been an issue at Hilda’s hustings, and that for the positions in question “there is no reason why either gender would do a better job.”

However, she agreed with Harber that the under-representation of women stemmed from wider issues. “There is a university-wide lack of representation for women in student politics, as well as in many other areas, which needs to be recognised; few women putting themselves forward for Presidential and VP positions is a phenomenon that many colleges find.”

She added, “I look forward to a future in St Hilda’s JCR, and across the university, where men and women are equally represented in student politics.”

St Hilda’s was Oxford’s only all-female college for thirteen years. In 2006, the governing body voted to admit men. The student body voted in support of the motion by a margin of just 55% to 45%.

Harber said male students had found the integration process very smooth. “Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that we’re the first year to be mixed – everywhere you look you see both male and female students.”