Charity in Oxford has always existed on a much smaller scale than elsewhere. It’s a world of high-rise fundraisers, themed club nights, and summer balls. Breaking into this world is just one option on the Oxford extra-curricular platter. Lucy Hartley decided to go one step further, with her Otra Vida festival.
Hartley and her boyfriend, Janek Seevaratnam set up the charity Yanapay Europe together as the European branch of Peruvian charity Aldea Yanapay. The charity is run by Yuri, a young hippie with a mature dream. They want to create a series of self-sustaining, eco-friendly projects, providing education and homes for impoverished Peruvian children. Each of the projects-so far two schools and a cultural centre-is funded by an attached business venture. They have a hostel, which also helps them attract more student volunteers, and a restaurant.
Yuri believe that everyone can, and should, do something to help promote social change. He wants to take these efforts, and channel them into a self-supporting project. The long term dream is to set up an orphanage, a mammoth task requiring over £20,000 in donations. This was just a dream; until Hartley steped in. Now, they’re trying to raise the funds by throwing a full-scale festival in the middle of Oxford.
The conception of Otra Vida seems remarkably haphazard. Seevaratnam became involved with the charity Aldea Yanapay whilst travelling in Peru. He kept in touch with Yuri when he began his degree, and continued to do his bit for charity by selling spray-painted t-shirts and sending the proceeds to Africa.
Unimpressed with Seevaratnam’s t-shirt venture, Yuri declared that he needed to do more: ‘He said ‘I want you and your girlfriend to come and help me and my girlfriend. Together we’re going to make this orphanage’. After a ‘bit of a chat’ Hartley and Seevaratnam were decided; together they would build an orphanage.
With plans to move to Peru after Oxford to get the project off the ground, the pair have committed themselves for the long-haul. But, rather than waiting until then to raise the twenty-thousand pounds needed to set up the orphanage, the couple started putting on open-mic nights to start to chip away at their target. Then came a brainwave; why not try to make the whole lot in one epic event? And Otra Vida was born.
On the day I’m supposed to meet her, Lucy is running late, dashing from an appointment with the bank manager who’s behind schedule and has, once again, messed up. Tickets are going on sale the next day and the project desperately needs the bank to sort itself out so that they have somewhere to deposit the cash from ticket sales.
She admits that organising the festival has become a full-time job. Endless meetings with the council, the security company, the events management, local residents fill her days. What keeps the project going is the endless drive and enthusiasm on the part of Hartley, and the small team helping her to pull the project off. It’s an epic task for four people to accomplish on their own, especially given as they all have full-time degrees and Seevaratnam is in Paris on his year abroad.
Their faith in the project comes apparent when we start talking about the figures. The scale of the project is beyond all other student charitable ventures I’ve come across. With tickets at only ten quid each, they want to sell four thousand in total. Tickets were supposed to go on sale some time ago, but hold-ups at the council over the use of South Parks have delayed it. They now have only one month to get their marketing campaign into gear and shift tickets.
I asked whether Hartley is confident that the festival would recoup the twenty-five odd thousand pounds it will cost to pull off. Without hesitation or deviation, the answer is ‘yes’. Given the challenges of selling four thousand tickets in one month, for an event that’s going to be held in the middle of finals, it’s easy to be sceptical. But her confidence is what makes the project so inspiring. She has such faith in its success that you can’t help but begin to believe it will work.
The project is driven the partnership between Hartley and Seevaratnam. Their faith in each other and commitment to the project as a couple seems to have given them the confidence to jump in the deep end. Across the channel in Paris and unable to get involved in the day to day organisation, Seevaratnam has handed the reins over to Lucy. His pride and admiration in the hard work that Lucy has put in is clear. ‘She’s better than Bob Geldof’ he tells me. It’s clear that they work really well as a team; he’s the laid-back free-spirit with dreadlocks with a big vision for the project and she’s got the knack for organisation and the eye for detail which will make the festival work.
The three music stages will play host to fresh new bands from around the UK; hopefully launching their careers will be Gentleman’s Dub Club, Foreign Beggars and The Molotovs, to name a few. A chill-out woodland acoustic area will set up in the trees, and the area will be scattered with performers, poetry and spoken word, food, fun and (fingers crossed) sunshine, all with a Latin theme. Combined with an afterparty featuring a DJ set by Foals and some of Oxford’s best DJs, the event has something for everyone.
Hartley is keen to impress that it isn’t just an event for Oxford University students. Uneasy about the extent to which the university is integrated into the wider Oxford community, she sees the event as an opportunity to promote social cohesion. Working closely with Oxford Community Centre, local schools and charities, it’s an event for everyone, not just students.
Profits from the sale of the festival programmes are going to the local children’s charity Helen and Douglas House, who will be involved in the day’s frivolities, performing and taking part in the workshops run in the kids’ zone. The kids’ zone will even make the festival family friendly. Handily, a friend of a friend knows a man with an ambition to set up a circus school, so he’s been roped in to run workshops for children.
Having seen what the charity is about and Hartley’s motivation behind it, a festival is the perfect choice; it’s the extension of their attitude to life. They want to create an event that is inclusive for everybody, with a fantastic atmosphere and a really good cause behind it. Rather than seeing it as an ‘event’, the couple see it as ‘having some friends round to listen to some really good music’… on a massive scale.
The enthusiasm and vision has convinced me. I only hope that others (four thousand of them) will be similarly swept away by the idea of Otra Vida and what it represents.
Viva L’Otra Vida
Talking Schiff
I meet Richard Schiff at the back of the Turf Tavern. He stood out most noticeably as the guy who wasn’t a Union member staring at Richard Schiff.
Schiff is most famous in Oxford for his role as Toby Ziegler, Director of Communications to Martin Sheen’s president in The West Wing. Following the finale of the show, he has since returned to the theatre, where he began his career as a director. He recently brought a one-man-show to the West End, and contributes to The Independent’s comment section, on events in American politics. He also actively supported Joe Biden, and later Obama, on the campaign trail.
As I arrive, Schiff and his entourage were leaving. I’m to join him for a walk to Magdalen dock and half a punt, before conducting an official interview following a Q&A and drinks at the Union. I got the impression that his minders didn’t want to share Schiff; it took some effort to squeeze past the bodyguard layer they’d formed around him, in order to chat. I ask why a one-man-show; ‘It was the greatest challenge available to me, so I took it’. The answer holds more and more significance as you get to know him.
Interestingly, I share something with Schiff; it turns out we both harbour (no pun intended) a deep distrust of boats. At least now I can say that my fear of water was conquered thanks to Toby Ziegler. He teases ‘this guy looks more terrified than me’. Whatever. The punt is jolly, if brief. We talk about how he hates LA, and loves his baby ducks Bristol and Potato-head. As the tide of the river turns against us, he saves the day with some expert padding. As I’m jettisoned to make room for a presumably jealous Union member, we promise to meet tonight.
Later, Schiff introduced himself to a packed chamber; ‘It’s a great honour to be here…I’ve been told by many, many people’. He opens with a short piece written on election night (read online at http://bit.ly/hJhch). For a second time, an enigmatic insight into how he thinks.
The Q&A is dominated by West Wing chat. He talks of working with Martin Sheen, speaking the next day. In his words, ‘If Jesus were around today, he’d go up to Martin Sheen, and say ‘that’s what I’m talking about”.
There are a few questions of note; someone asks whether he thinks the West Wing helped bring about the modern political situation. He’s confident it didn’t. ‘I wouldn’t dare claim that what we did on the West Wing was responsible for the election!’. Still, he laughs at the memory of supporters who, despite volunteering for Obama, would tell him ‘You’re the reason I’m doing this’. Someone asks if he thinks there’s a difference between an actor and a politician. ‘The joke is that you’re asking me about politics’. Schiff, as the joke might go, isn’t a politician, but he does play one on TV. He might speak emphatically of the Obama’s merits (I advise you turn to Youtube for examples), but while this is something more than just acting, it doesn’t make him a career politician.
Afterwards, I see Schiff outside the chambers, signing autographs and West Wing DVDs for fans. I wait inside the Union’s Gladstone room, home of free drinks and pretension. I catch sight of a few escorts from earlier, now with Corey Dixon as the object of their affections. As Schiff enters, a dozen hungry pairs of eyes turn in his direction.
A second, more informal Q&A takes place under a cloud of cigarette smoke outside. I think most are smoking just to keep up with Schiff; I’m only just managing to keep myself 3 fags ahead. Schiff mentions directing an episode of ‘In Treatment’. In Treatment, not as big in the UK, is a concept series, a dialogue between patient and therapist for 30 minutes. Characterization and detailed direction is everything; Schiff’s forté.
We’re dragged upstairs for a round of poker by some excitable committee members. Graciously deciding ‘not to take [their] money’, he abstains from playing. Based on his description of a vicious celebrity poker tournament he took part in, they should count themselves lucky. He watches one hand, giving advice, before using our interview as an excuse for some respite.
I’ve seen Schiff surrounded by hangers-on. I’ve seen him speak on his craft, on politics, on the political process. With everything he says, there’s been this hint of someone who knows, with a rare clarity, what he thinks and why he thinks it. The biggest motif is ‘Challenge’, and striving. This was what gave him respect for Obama’s strength, and brought him to his one-man-show. I ask what he has to say about being a good guy generally.
‘I think that listening is the greatest virtue you can have…and that means, not just listening when you’re in a neutral state, but listening when you’re impassioned’. He’s adamant that we have to work with our opposite numbers in debate to make progress; a dialectical approach.
Is Obama trying the same thing with his partially-Republican cabinet? Schiff might claim that politics is nothing like the West Wing, but he turns to Sheen’s president for comparison. ‘Our fictional president was someone who did not want to be challenged. And yet, he refused to put up a shield, to shrug people off; he had to listen. He responded emotionally, and angrily, but he listened. And I think Obama is setting himself up with a team called to do the same thing’.
How do you know so much about people? ‘One of the things I’d advise to these Oxford chaps, and I wish I’d talked about it tonight is this: every time I come to London, if I’m not at Speakers’ Corner on Sunday, I feel like I’ve missed something. I go there to watch behaviour. I learn more about the world from Speakers’ Corner than I do from every newspaper printed on a news stand’. So a leader doesn’t just have to listen to what people say, but the way they say it? ‘I’ve never been a big believer in words. I don’t think they tell the whole, or even a third of the story. What’s really happening is behind the eyes; that’s the motive. I spend my life [as an actor] analysing dialogue in order to figure out what’s going on, and I apply that to life; do not trust what people say.’
Hence the reluctance to play poker. ‘These guys ask me to play poker, and I’d nail every single one of them. I might lose by luck, but if I put my mind to it I could nail them. I’d know exactly what they’re bluffing, and when they have a good hand, because I can read behaviour. I was watching, and I was like ‘This guys got nothing, this guys got nothing, he’s got a jack’. You have to be careful how you use that; I don’t want to play cards, I don’t want to use it in that fashion’.
This brings us back to the value of his role as Toby on his role as an Obama supporter. ‘It’s embarrassing to go out there, and be like ‘Hi’. All these people show up, and I’m supposed to speak this wisdom. And by the way, my real politics is about 1800 miles left of Obama, so this is me acting like Toby, and doing the right thing’.
One question I had people telling me to ask Schiff in this interview was his reaction to the first 100 days of Obama. He doesn’t need to be prompted; ‘I don’t want to analyse every motion, every stroke of the pen. His actions are symbolically interesting, but seriously, leave the guy alone. 100 days? That’s like analysing a paragraph in the first novel of Chaucer. Give it some time’ (For a more developed commentary, see Schiff’s article at http://bit.ly/Dqo0B).
The concluding note of our conversation is the confirmation I didn’t need that Schiff is a man worth listening to. ‘A psychiatrist said that there’s a scale of challenge, and the ability to meet that challenge. If you’re below the ability to meet that challenge, that produces great stress. If you’re above the ability, that creates restlessness. And there’s that moment where the two meet, and that’s fluidity. Obama was below his ability to meet the challenge, and at some point during the campaign, he evened it up. And that’s fluidity.
‘For a minute that one man show was above my ability, and then it became level, and that’s euphoria. There’s nothing like it. You work and you work, and at some point you reach fluidity. All of a sudden you’re acting instinctively, and intellectually. That’s what it is; knowing you can respond. It’s knowing that best hand in a poker game. Some people climb Everest for their adrenaline, and that’s what I strive for’.
The poker finishes and everyone files out looking for Schiff. He definitely stands in a new light. Seeing him speak to these full-tooth-smiling individuals, you see something new about how he does things. The smile now seems a little disinterested, slightly curious; he’s watching them. He’s learning. Richard Schiff, the man who lives a life of character study. Without question, Schiff is a man of great intelligence; someone worth paying very close attention to, whatever he does.
Ruth Padel to be the next Poetry Professor
Ruth Padel has won the election for the Oxford Professor of Poetry post.
The poet won the election by 297 votes against Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. The Indian writer obtained 129 votes. 51 ballots were spoiled.
The result was announced today at 5.30pm in the Divinity Schools in the Bodleian.
This marks the end of a controversial race which has seen Nobel-prize winner Derek Walcott withdraw from the running.
Keble’s new campus stalled by the council
Keble college plans for a new campus on Banbury road were stalled this week after planning officers recommended that the proposal be rejected.
Officers concluded that the planned development would result in the “unacceptable loss” of a listed building, and would have a “detrimental impact” on the character of the area.
The report was withdrawn from the north area planning committee meeting last Thursday to allow further discussions with Keble about the application.
Keble’s original proposal suggested that the buildings currently occupying the land be demolished and the site completely cleared to make way for the new £45m campus.
The college bursar, Roger Boden, said he remained optimistic.
“The Acland Site is a very important and sensitive one. We have to balance the needs of the future with the claims of the past, and that is a huge challenge. The College is engaged in a constructive dialogue with the planning officers and we are confident that it will result in an outcome of which we can all be very proud.”
The plans would require the demolition of the Grade II listed Acland Nursing Home, founded in 1878. The hospital was designed by Victorian architect Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, whose other work included the Examination Schools and the Bridge of Sighs over New College Lane.
C. S. Lewis and John Betjeman are among those who have been treated at the private hospital.
English Heritage society opposed the plans, describing the Acland hospital as a building of “considerable significance”. The Victorian Society, who were also consulted in the planning permission process, accused Keble college of lacking “adequate justification for demolition”.
Conservationists have further accused the college of deliberately overlooking the historic value of the buildings. The Oxford Architectural and Historical society has said that “the presence of a number of buildings of historical significance has been ignored”.
Many local residents have also complained. They included concerns about increases in traffic pollution and worries about the over-development of the site. Objections were also made about the choice of pale sandstone bricks for the new five-storey campus buildings and about their “bulky” design.
Officers have suggested a number of changes to the initial proposal, designed to preserve the character of the site and prevent the demolition of the listed hospital buildings. They suggested that new designs should retain parts of the original building and be built in-keeping with the character of neighbouring buildings on the Banbury Road.
Officers have also expressed concerns about the loss of existing trees on the site.
The new campus was intended to provide living space for a further 250 students, a library, teaching rooms and a multi-disciplinary research facility.
Keble has called the plans an ‘extraordinary opportunity’ for the college to improve its appeal and to attract greater numbers of high-quality students.
Half marks for Students’ Union
Seventy per cent of Oxford students do not believe OUSU is important in their university experience, according to a Cherwell survey this week.
Students have also stated that they would award the student union a grade of 4.8 out of 10 for its current performance.
The findings come at the time of re-examination of OUSU’s funding structure and its purpose.
Although many admitted the possibility of OUSU doing a lot of work behind the scenes, the findings raise questions about the validity of the Student Union.
One St Peter’s second year commented, “Well, the JCR is important. I’ve never had any contact with central OUSU, so I suppose it’s not massively important.”
Despite a large-scale poster campaign across common rooms since the beginning of 2009, 63% of students still do not know about any of OUSU’s achievements from the last year. However, as many as 93% recognise the picture of Lewis Iwu, OUSU’s current president.
Those surveyed thought that OUSU’s role is to represent students on a number of issues (35%), supply welfare (25%) and negotiate with the university (14.3%). Those more sceptical thought that OUSU exists in its current form to “provide CV points for future labour politicians”.
Yet many are convinced that OUSU should focus harder on the creation of a central venue for university-wide societies and councils to meet (20%). Students also gave the students’ union a mark out of 10 for its current performance, with 4.8 being given as an average score.
However, many added that they felt they did not have enough information to make a fair judgement, relying instead on popular perceptions of the institution.
The survey also found that more students recognize the photo of Corey Dixon, the current Union president (60.5% could correctly name the picture) than that of Oxford’s vice-Chancellor John Hood (45%).
Lewis Iwu commented on the survey, “OUSU does a lot of work behind the scenes and at the front as well. It will always be difficult to publicise our work because of the decentralised nature of the University but we are making inroads.
“What we are seeing compared to last year is an increase in students taking part in OUSU campaigns and using our offices.”
Oxford top again
Oxford has for the fifth time topped The Guardian’s University League Tables, which were published last Tuesday. The university scored highly on the quality of teaching, career prospects and student satisfaction.
Cambridge University retained its second-place ranking, but it overtook Oxford in several subjects including Biology and Law.
However, in both The Guardian and The Independent’s university guides, St Andrews topped student satisfaction tables.
The Guardian’s guide is designed for first-time students, concentrating on teaching and the experience of students at each institution, not research ratings.
It was also reported that Oxford spends the highest amount per student. This information comes in the wake of the vice-chancellor’s warnings that Oxford has been suffering ‘unsustainable losses’, primarily due to the cost of teaching.
Security fears following St Catz thefts
St Catherine’s college has been plagued with security concerns following the attempts to break into students’ rooms by an unknown man and thefts in public spaces.
College authorities were alerted last week after an unidentified man entered one of the St Catz’s staircases. He then attempted to force through several doors. One of the rooms belonged to Max Grandison, a second year geography student, who happened to be in his room at the time.
The student commented, “The guy actually tried to come into my room when I was in it.” Grandison alerted the porters shortly afterwards and the individual disappeared off campus.
Last Friday a laptop, an ipod, a mobile phone and items of toiletry totalling £290 in value were stolen from an unlocked office at the college. On Monday, a laptop was stolen from the college’s senior common room.
James Bennett, the home bursar of St Catz, stressed the importance to protect laptops with passwords saying, “A note to this effect [about password-protected laptops] should be very clearly visible as it might just discourage the casual thief.”
Bennett was less concerned about the monetary value of the stolen laptop than by the loss of the “months of work stored on it”.
Police say they are continuing to investigate both incidents. They refused to comment as to whether the two might be linked.
Bennett said the attempted room intrusions had probably been done by somebody who had been let into the accommodation block, which was protected by a key card system.
In response to last week’s events, St Catz sent out advisory notes on security to all of its students. They read, “Please resist the natural temptation to give priority to politeness over security. Let the person know that if they wish to gain entry they should seek assistance from the lodge.”
JCR President Paul Fisher said, “Both students and staff will remain increasingly vigilant so that the college’s position of vulnerability on the outskirts of the city centre is countered by an awareness of the threat posed”.
Max Grandison has reacted similarly to last week’s incident saying, “I am definitely more aware of making sure that I keep my door locked.”
Animal lab protesters disrupt degree day
Animal rights protest group SPEAK staged the first of a series of protests against animal testing this week. The demonstrations are to coincide with the Degree Day ceremonies being held at the Sheldonian theatre this month.
Vice-Chancellor John Hood, who normally ignores the group’s disruption, responded to the demonstration.
Ben Maling, a graduate present said, “John Hood made a very diplomatic speech defending the right to a legal protest (such as Saturday’s), but feeling that it was a shame to target an event that holds such importance for so many people.”
Another graduate, Laurent Guillemain added that John Hood’s speech, apologizing for the noise, lightened the mood in the Sheldonian, and “seemed to make the parents much happier.”
The group claimed their protests intended to draw attention to the alleged ‘abuse and fear’ experienced by animals involved in medical experiments through at the University.
An estimated 25 protestors gave out leaflets and shouted slogans for the length of the ceremony, which took place on Saturday. Police were in attendance, surveying the demonstrators.
Many graduates felt that the timing of the protests was highly unsuitable.
Guillemain commented, “We could hear the protestors inside the Sheldonian, and I think it was especially disruptive for the parents, as it’s a day they were very proud of. It’s a ridiculous attempt by the protestors to try and get one back on the university, as it’s the students and parents that ultimately get targeted.”
Maling felt the chanting was unacceptable. He said, “I attended the ceremony on Saturday, and as a result I was subjected to all the protestors’ chants on the way in. During the ceremony they became louder but the ceremony carried on as it should have.”
SPEAK’s website justified the protests. It said, “Whilst for some people the degree ceremonies are about celebrating their academic achievements, for the animals imprisoned inside Oxford University’s labs it is just another day of abuse and fear, waiting to die in painful and pointless experiments.”
However, many students questioned the choice of date and occasion for the protest. Rebecca Tibbs, first year biochemist said, “How many people graduating were actually involved in the sciences which make use of animal testing? It doesn’t seem that productive to disrupt a whole group of graduates celebrating their time at Oxford, most of who are probably indifferent, or even supportive, of the protest group’s cause.”
Earlier this year, SPEAK handed a 65,000-signature petition to the University. This condemned all animal testing, in particular the new Oxford University Biomedical Sciences Centre.
Further protests are planned for the next two Degree Days, as well as an honorary degree ceremony in June.
"I don’t like getting played"
Balreick Srai, the founder of clubbing promotion company Rock Entz, has called Oxford students “tame” in an exclusive interview with Cherwell newspaper.
It is the first time Balreick has agreed to speak to the press. He explained about his tense beginnings with Pulse Nation, his difficulties with OUSU and his doubts about the return of Filth nightclub.
Balreick founded Rock Student, which is now known as Rock Entz, in 2001. It claims to host “the biggest, best and most established Oxford University Student Nights.” Its nights include Wednesdays at Park End and Fridays at Kukui.
Experiencing the clubbing scene in Oxford for ten years, he labelled current student behaviour as “tame”.
He said, “It has got less outrageous over the years…However, lots of Oxford students act differently and clever after a few drinks. They think they can negotiate on the door especially in a competitive market.”
Balreick emphasised his dislike of sycophantic students.
“I don’t like to get played – and if people pretend to my face that they support my events but actually go elsewhere, I have to make a point with them and make them go to the back of the line. One thing I value more than anything else is loyalty. We will sort out and look after our regular customers.”
Last year, Rock Entz saw the emergence of a new competitor on the clubbing scene, Pulse Nation. It was founded by ex-reps from Balreick’s company.
“They could have done it in a more gentlemanly way but that’s life and that’s how this industry works sometimes. Sometimes everybody wants a chance to prove themselves and I guess they thought they wouldn’t have had the same opportunities or rewards working within our structure.”
However, he hinted at the superiority of Rock Entz, saying, “We have got our ideal portfolio of nights and are fortunate enough to pick and choose which venues we want to work with because of our market share and track record. To be honest in that way we are in the strongest position we have ever been in and is difficult for other competitors to come in as has been proven by this year…Pulse have done a good job, they have that history of working with us and they are young, hungry and ambitious.”
Pulse, however, have been quicker than Rock Entz to organise a partnership with OUSU. Balreick admitted, “We have always been willing to work with OUSU but every year there is a new president a new committee and a new agenda. Last summer we were planning to have talks but that is when Pulse stepped in.”
He added that he has attempted to work with OUSU in the past.
“We have offered to work with them on several occasions. They haven’t always got back to us and have not really been up for talking in the recent years but I guess is difficult sometimes to negotiate with someone you might see as a competitor, especially one that is running more successful nights.”
Balreick expressed disbelief about the rumours of Filth nightclub reopening.
“Ah, Filth. Everyone seems to miss it. There is some chat about it re-opening but I am very skeptical. It won’t ever be what it was and has missed a whole year of students who have been there. When we left Filth, it was a shell. We had to leave it because the Westgate Centre is supposed to be undergo redevelopment, and we were served notice.”
However, he recounted his happy memories at the nightclub.
“It will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first place I went out in Oxford and Worcester’s favourite club – we used to go there religiously in term time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was going through a bit of downturn when me and a business partner took it over a few years ago.”
Nowadays Balreick’s favourite night out is at Kukui. He prefers Oxford University nights to Brookes ones, and Fridays because “everyone tends to be in a good mood, and there’s a great crowd”.
Balreick also talked about his experience with negative press.
“I feel Kukui in particular this year has been unfairly represented by some of the stories written in Cherwell. Also, OUSU controls the Oxford Student and in the past the same person who has been running their clubbing events has also been the commercial manager of the paper so it has probably resulted in some unfair press.”
He added, “I think it is difficult for the clubs and venues to deal with the scrutiny of two weekly student papers-they have it a lot tougher than venues in other places.”
“Kukui has come under fire but it is one of the safest clubs in Oxford with one of the least number of incidents. The list of crimes that get reported tends to be mobile thefts: if I was to recommend going out in Oxford on a non-student night, I’d say Kukui…”
He also denied his notorious position as Oxford’s clubbing king.
“I get on pretty well with anyone who knows me and people who don’t know me don’t have much of an opinion. There are some dangers from having too high a profile, and I want to keep that separate from Rock Entz. I am Balreick, I am my own person.”
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Balreick’s path to Rock Entz:
As a student, Balreick helped out promoting club nights, especially Wednesdays at Park End.
He graduated from Worcester College in E&M in 2001.
During the following summers, he ran events for interns in London at a venue called Rock, which was owned by the partner of Mahiki and Whisky Mist nightclubs.
Looking to venture into student clubbing, Balreick started Rock Student in Oxford in 2001.
In order to expand the company into other student cities, it was renamed Rock Oxford in 2006.
The company was forced to rebrand again in 2008 to Rock Entz after their website was hacked.
Poetry election starts amid calls for withdrawal
The election for the post of Oxford’s Professor of Poetry has started today amid calls from students and academics for candidates to withdraw.
Eloise Stonborough, the secretary of the Oxford University Poetry Society, wrote a letter to The Times asking Ruth Padel and Arvind Krishna Mehrotra to withdraw. The letter was signed by twelve Oxford academics.
“We believe the election for the new professor of poetry should not continue,” it stated, “and that the current candidates should withdraw from the race and allow nominations to be re-opened.”
The letter went on to say that if other candidates continue to run for the post, the reputation of the position will be damaged.
Stonborough explained, “The candidates will be acting more honourably if they withdraw. Then the race will be on fair, honourable grounds.
“Derek Walcott dropped out too close to the date of the race to allow for the re-evaluation of the position.”
She decided to write the letter after Thursday’s poetry society event, where people evaluated the candidates. “It ended up being a question of why people are still running in the light of one candidate dropping out in light of the smear campaign”, she said.
A C Grayling, an Oxford academic who nominated Padel for the post, has also urged her to withdraw.
He wrote in The Guardian, “In my view, the fact that Walcott was forced to withdraw, and the manner in which his withdrawal was forced, makes the election void. It is no longer a real contest. As a result I wrote to the candidate I nominated, Ruth Padel, and suggested that she and Arvind Mehrotra also withdraw in protest against those who had disrupted the election by discrediting Walcott on grounds other than his stature as a poet.”
He added, “My concern is with what should be the central fact here: that the election for professor of poetry at Oxford is about poetry, not morals.”
Pedro Ferreira, the campaigner manager of Ruth Padel, said the poet will not withdraw from the race. “No I don’t think she will withdraw. She had received countless letters, e-mails and phone calls asking her to stay in the race.”
An Oxford University spokesman confirmed that the election will be going ahead as planned, with results expected after 5.30pm. “Last time, 500 people voted so we’re expecting more than that,” he said.
The voting will take place between 10am and 4pm in the Examination Schools. All who graduated from Oxford University are eligible to vote.