Two male students, separated while kissing in an Oxford nightclub on Friday night, have expressed anger at what they felt was “homophobic” treatment by an Oxford nightclub bouncer. The club manager is insisting that the incident was not an issue of homophobia and stated that the club does not discriminate against anyone.

In a letter of complaint to the club, one of the students gave his account of what he viewed as “a shocking, and indeed traumatic experience,” which began when he was “pushed away” from his boyfriend by a bouncer while kissing him. Upon questioning the bouncer, the students were asked to discuss the matter in a stairwell.

“I asked again what I was doing wrong,” the student said. “He told me that ‘four girls’ had complained about me kissing my boyfriend and that this was something I should ‘do in private, not in public’. At this point I was so outraged that I got quite upset. I asked for his name, which is a piece of information we are surely entitled to, and he refused to give it to me. I felt entirely helpless.”

The club does not have a reputation for objecting to kissing on its premises. One regular visitor said, “There are always people getting off with each other and I’ve never heard of the management intervening before.” Last year, Kukui was criticised for hosting naked KY jelly wrestling event.

One friend of the pair who witnessed the incident said she had seen the bouncer separating the kissing couple and also claims to have heard the bouncer’s “not in public” comment. The student, also from St Hilda’s, expressed outrage at the incident adding, “In a place like Oxford, you expect better.”

Another witness to the proceedings said she had seen the boys being pushed apart and was “very shocked”. She said there was no way a complaint could have been made about the boys in the time they had been kissing, because it was only a “matter of seconds” before the bouncer split them up. She considered the way the couple were being treated “outrageously”.

The angered students then went to find the duty manager. In his letter of complaint, the student went on to describe how the manager told him to “go back into the club ‘to enjoy myself’. Feeling aggrieved and ignored, I told him I would go and get the bouncer for him.” However, the student claims the bouncer refused to accompany him.

Mr Steven Tingle, the General Manager of Kukui insisted, “This club does not discriminate against anyone.” He agreed the pair had approached the manager, but stated that they were reassured they were not being removed from the club. Mr Tingle said it was only when they subsequently became aggressive to staff members that they were removed.

Mr Tingle stated, “These two gentlemen were not asked to leave the club for kissing. They approached the manager on the front door and made allegations that they were being ejected from the club. The manager reiterated to them on several occasions that they were not being ejected from the club and [they] were told to go back inside the club and enjoy their evening.” He claimed that the students “went back inside but refused to calm down and were subsequently ejected for their aggressive behaviour towards the staff.”

After leaving the club, the angry students reported the incident to some police officers. One of the police officers fetched the bouncer and brought him to talk through their grievances. In his letter of complaint, the student claims, “At one point in the conversation I asked the bouncer ‘would you have done this to a heterosexual couple?’ to which he bluntly responded ‘No’.” This claim has been supported by another witness.
The incident was discussed at a meeting between OUSU representatives, JCR presidents and the Kukui management on Monday.

Jesse Harber, JCR President of St Hilda’s College commented, “Kukui, OUSU and I had a very constructive meeting. It’s clear to me that this is not an issue of homophobia on the part of Kukui and that Kukui is committed to providing a good time to the students of this university. I am also looking forward to working on this formal procedure for students to bring their grievances to clubs.”

A joint statement issued after the meeting described the incident as “regrettable”. It said that Kukui welcomed “all students regardless of sexual orientation” adding that the club has “a single standard for what is considered appropriate expressions of affection.”
However, they added that they “could have made it clearer how the students could have brought their grievances forward.”

The statement also emphasised that Kukui will be reiterating to its staff the existing policies on non-discrimination and acceptable behaviour within the club.

Oxford students face the highest weekly living costs in the UK, a study has found.

The Student Living Index, released annually by NatWest, found that an average week in the city costs students £238.38. Birmingham offers the lowest weekly living cost, at £171.14.

The cities were ranked according to calculations made using average local weekly student expenditure and average local weekly income for working students. This suggests that the figure could be skewed by the fact that Oxford students do not get jobs during term time, unlike students from Oxford Brookes. Students at the city’s main university may therefore face higher living costs than this figure suggests.

While London students receive a larger maintenance loan than students in the rest of the country, which can amount to up to £4,988 per year, Oxford students receive no such subsidy, despite enduring the highest living costs.

Owen Evans, St Anne’s JCR President, expressed concern at the findings, “Worryingly, the data published by Natwest indicates that the average annual cost of living in Oxford is £5,721.12, which renders the full maintenance student loan of £3,564 pitifully insufficient.

“I feel that this problem is of greatest concern for the silent majority of Oxford students, who fall into the bracket between those who qualify for a grant and Oxford Opportunity Bursary, and those whose parents can fully support them through university. It is these students who compile the most debt and feel the squeeze of battels, fees and living costs greatest. This issue urgently needs addressing, especially with talk of a hike in the cost of tuition fees.”

Fortunately, for those in receipt of the Oxford Opportunity Bursary, the apparently high cost of living in Oxford isn’t always felt. Natalie Theodoulou, a second year chemist, feels that she is adequately covered by it, “Compared to other places in the country Oxford is very expensive, however, I am fortunate enough for the university to provide me with a bursary which makes it a lot easier!”

There are even some who do not receive a Bursary who feel that Oxford is not as expensive as the study claims. “I’ve never really thought of it as being too expensive,” said Paddy Unwin, a second year mathematician. “I get by okay.”

There is, however, by no means a consensus on this issue. Olly Richards, a historian from St. Anne’s commented, “Oxford is certainly a very expensive place to live, and to live within a reasonable budget requires substantial concessions to be made. If a student were forced to live out they would either have to live in the prohibitively expensive Jericho or the inconvenient Cowley.

“An extension of the student loan [as for London students] should be considered, especially as this is a very low risk option as Oxford has one of the highest post-university employment rates in the country.”

Last week, the University’s new Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton called for higher bursaries to prevent poorer students being priced out of university.
“We must take great care not to fail the students [by] allowing a degradation of the quality of education that is provided by the great universities of Great Britain,” he said. “But also not to fail them in the commitment that the great universities must make to any student who has the academic credentials, the academic potential to attend. The commitment that we must make to them [is] that they will attend Oxford irrespective of their economic circumstances.

“Oxford has a very generous bursary offer, but obviously as this debate unfolds we’ve got to reinforce that and quite frankly improve it.”

An Oxford professor has been accused of hacking into the private computer correspondence of a member of staff.

Dr. Cecile Deer, an academic specialising in the political economy of education, claims that her Balliol college e-mail account was unlawfully accessed by her ex-doctorate supervisor Professor Geoffrey Walford, after she accused him of sexual discrimination.

Deer made the accusations after Professor Walford, a fellow of Green Templeton College, refused to give her a reference for a job application. Deer claims that his decision was influenced by the fact that she had previously sued the University in 2008 for sexual discrimination.

Deer won an out of court settlement with the University last year after they excluded her from the women’s football team. She claimed that she was excluded because having three young children made her an “unreliable player”.

She has now sued Professor Walford and the Chancellors, Masters and Scholars of the University for sexual discrimination again at a hearing that is taking place in Reading, saying that Walford’s decision not to issue a reference must have been influenced by discussions in the faculty about the previous hearing.

Natasha Joffe, representing Dr. Deer, said that her client believed negative remarks must have been made about her in the department.

She also claims that, when a questionnaire was sent to Professor Walford regarding the sexual discrimination accusation, he hacked into her email account to help him answer the questions. She holds that one of Walford’s answers must have been aided by private information found in her correspondence, including exchanges between herself and another referee for the job application.

However, the University claim that Professor Walford asked for a list of Deer’s academic publications since she completed her doctorate and having seen the list decided she was not suitable for the job.

According to Jane McCafferty, a representative of Oxford University, he then explained to Dr. Deer that this was the reason he would not provide her a reference.

She added that Professor Walford knew little about the previous case, saying that when he was asked about it Walford replied, “I know virtually nothing other than it was something to do with football.”

McCafferty said at the hearing that there had been little contact between Dr. Deer and Professor Walford since 2000, when Walford ceased to be Deer’s doctorate supervisor.

McCafferty suggested that Deer’s allegations have “little chance of success”, adding that claims made were “most serious”.

Judge Louise Chudleigh has decided that Dr. Deer must pay a deposit of £100 if she is to proceed with both of her allegations.

She told Dr. Deer to “reflect on each aspect of the issues she is trying to establish”, adding, “I’m not saying she has no prospect of success, I’m saying she has little prospect of success.”

Many thousands of students across the country are still waiting for their student finance applications to be processed.

The Student Loans Company has received a record number of requests for loans this year, a 16% increase on 2008, and has been unable to process them in time for the start of many universities’ academic years.

One Magdalen College second year explained, “I will not be receiving my student loan until January, and I think it’s appalling. I am fortunate enough to be able to live of savings until then, but it’s such a pain to have to have to re-organise my finances. I can’t imagine how disruptive it must be for those who have to find other means.”

Niall Igoe, a St Anne’s student whose loan wasn’t paid until Christmas last year added, “they do seem ridiculously disorganised”.

A spokeswoman for the SLC told Cherwell, “This year we have received a record number of applications and calls and an unprecedented number of late applications – 120,000 over a four week period. However, already more than 750,000 students have had their applications for funding approved.”

She further explained, “We have put in place a number of measures for students to follow the progress of their applications and to address the problems some people have had trying to get through to our customer advisers. These include additional telephone lines, additional staff and directing customers to the website to find answers to common queries.”

Ralph Seymour-Jackson, chief executive of the SLC, apologised to those affected saying, “The problems with phone lines are real. We’re not pretending any different. Students are struggling to get through and we can’t pretend otherwise. For that we apologise unreservedly and ask people to use the website as much as they can.”

He claimed that an unprecedented rise in late applications, caused in part by the recession, had caused the delays. He said, “We are telling out staff they can have all the overtime they want. But the applications are unprecedented.”

Wes Streeting, the President of the National Union of Students, has strongly criticised the SLC for the problems, “I’m absolutely furious at the bizarre claim of the head of Student Finance England, Ralph Seymour-Jackson, that delays to the payment of loans to 50,000 students are ‘reasonable’.

“Tell that to the students I’ve spoken to who are panicking about how to pay rent, pay bills and pay for food. He must have been speaking live from Cloud Cuckoo Land!”

OUSU President Stefan Baskerville has been working to ensure that Oxford students will not struggle until late loans arrive. He commented, “OUSU has been in contact with the University Funding Office and has advised common room presidents on the situation. Some students may begin term short of funding for reasons outside of their own control, and will be looking to colleges for support and assistance. Colleges should be sensitive to the difficulties that some students will face, and flexible with regard to battels payments until full funding comes through.”

Pauline Linières-Hartley, Wadham College Bursar, confirmed that the college was ready to respond to loan delays, “Students have been asked to let us know if they are having problems so that we can arrange deferral of payment where this is necessary.”

Chris Wigg, treasurer at St Anne’s College offered a similar response, “If a student is relying on a student loan for funding and has applied properly and timely but has not received the loan due to problems with the loan company, then of course we will make allowance for this in settlement of college accounts.”

This is the first year that the SLC has handled applications directly. Previously they were handled by local authorities. David Willetts, the Conservative shadow skills secretary, pointed out that the new system “did not appear to be working properly”.

Colleges and departments across the University are preparing for a second wave of the H1N1 virus predicted to hit the country in the autumn.

Estimates suggest that during the peak period of infection anywhere between 15-35% of university staff could be away from work as a result of having contracted the virus, or in order to care for sick family members.

The University is currently in ‘red 3 pandemic’, the highest alert stage possible. The move into phase 3 was made over the summer after the first cases of swine flu in the Oxfordshire area were confirmed. The first case of swine flu in the University itself happened in early June, when a postgraduate student contracted the H1N1 virus while on a visit to Arizona. Since then several other cases have been reported.

The University is unwilling to give out exact figures for the number of Oxford students and staff that have been diagnosed with the illness. They commented, “We do not think it would be helpful to provide a running commentary on a situation which is constantly changing.”
Colleges are also keen to avoid putting a number on how many of their students have or are predicted to catch swine flu. According to a statement from Balliol college “because there will be no way of telling whether any flu outbreak is swine flu, ‘freshers’ flu or a seasonal strain, it will be impossible to report back with any accuracy.”

As part of its preparations for a second wave of infection, the University has released a Pandemic Planning Framework (PPF) document, outlining the establishment of a Pandemic Planning Team, headed by prominent members of the University.

Many colleges have followed suit, setting up their own Flu Pandemic Committees. According to a representative at St. Peters College, “The college has a pandemic flu contingency planning committee – the committee has already met to ensure we are prepared for Michaelmas Term.” Other colleges have also confirmed that they are stocking up on face masks and gloves in preparation for the new term.

Some colleges have also been working with the JCR and MCR student bodies to try to contain infection rates, with networks of student ‘flu buddies’ being set up in order to maintain communications with other students should they fall ill.

“We have a ‘flu buddy’ system in place should anyone become sick with swine flu and need to be in isolation for a few days,” explained James Nation, JCR President for Merton College, who is confident in his college’s response to the flu pandemic.

“Merton College has been in contact with its students regarding the swine flu virus….We have been given assurances that College are suitably prepared should any staff member become ill.”

“Teaching might be disrupted if swine flu were to affect a significant proportion of students and staff this term,” said the representative from St. Peters, “In such an extreme case it may be necessary to vary term times and examination dates.”

Balliol has already set up ‘business continuity plans’ to make sure “essential functions and communications within college” are maintained in the face of a significant number of staff shortages. The college said it would be looking to the University “to advise if and when teaching should be suspended.”

According to its website, the University expects there to be a three to four month period during which it will need to continuously review the threat to its activities, and to adapt its operations and its plans accordingly.

“In a worst case scenario, when closure of certain operations of the University is under consideration, decisions may need wider publicity,” read a statement in the University’s PPF. In such situations the University would consider using local media, such as BBC Oxford and Fox FM, to communicate information about the status of the University to the wider community.

Many students are already voicing concern over the possible disruptions to their education that a second wave of swine flu might bring.

“Would we all just be sent home?”, asked a student from Hertford College, “That would be the sensible thing, college wouldn’t be where you would want to be.”
She added, “After all, they shut Oxbridge during the black death.”

A representative from Balliol college said, “The one thing we will be stressing to all freshers next week is, should they feel ill they should not go to inductions, and to reassure them that they will not miss anything.”
For now it’s business as usual for Oxford, “The University is continuing to operate as normal while, at the same time, remaining alert to any students or staff exhibiting flu-like symptoms.”

Oxford University Liberal Democrats will be using their stall at Freshers’ Fair to recruit the environmentally-minded amongst the new students.

For any student who signs up to the society for £1 at the Freshers’ Fair, the organisation will contribute to a reforestation project in Kenya. The aim is to offset the equivalent carbon dioxide emitted per person in an average week.

Mark Mills, Liberal Democrat councillor, OULD member and student of St. Edmund Hall is enthusiastic about the scheme, commenting, “People know that the Lib Dems care about the environment, and this is a practical chance to do something about it.”

The Green Freshers’ Week scheme is organised by Liberal Youth, the young people’s branch of the Liberal Democrats. The campaign is being implemented in roughly one hundred universities around the country. In addition to the offsetting initiative, every branch involved receives an environmental campaign pack containing bright green ‘switch it off stickers’ to be stuck next to light switches and appliances.

With the original goal of registering seven hundred new members to the party, the organisation has already exceeded its target. According to Joe Rinaldi Johnson, Vice-Chair Campaigns for Liberal Youth, Liverpool reported an almost 600% increase in new members compared to last year, with Glasgow, LSE and Reading reporting similar increases.

“These figures confirm a national trend,” said Johnson, “By joining Liberal Youth, students can choose to have a clear environmental conscience during the Freshers Week festivities.”

The scheme is not without its critics, however, with many seeing it as a green-wash for the Lib Dems, or an attempt to use climate change to draw freshers into party politics. One Magdalen student described it as “conscience-salving at best, conscience-exploitation at worst”.

Mae Penner, chair of the Environment and Ethics committee, warned that “providers of carbon offsets have often been shown to have flawed systems of calculation, which don’t take into account the permanence of offset projects or their own carbon footprints.”

She also expressed concern of over the choice of Kenya for the reforestation, “There are many concerns with such projects which can reduce biodiversity and contravene indigenous land rights.”

Penner emphasised, however, that these should not be a problem as long as the scheme has been thoroughly researched adding, “It is certainly positive that the Liberal Youth are trying to address the desire of young people to live more environmentally-considerate lives.”

Johnson remains emphatic about the scheme stating, “Environmentalism is a cornerstone of Liberal Democrat policy. We are the only major party today that is serious about climate change. We have been consistently ahead of the curve on environmental issues. [We] would take the tough steps necessary to build a new green economy based upon sound environmental principles.”

Nathan Roberts, Queen’s ex-JCR President, has been pressurised to stand down from his position as a result of a dissatisfactory result in prelims.

Following below average results in his Trinity collections, the PPE student was given the target of obtaining at least 60 in all Prelims papers by the Tutorial Review Committee(TRC). He was told if he failed to meet the target he would lose the presidency.

Roberts obtained a mid-2:2, yet he refused to resign from his position. He explained, “I informed the Senior
Tutor I would not resign and asked to present to the TRC again before returning to Oxford. I had spoken briefly
once so far on the issue and felt it important that I could make the case outlined in the letter.”

However, Roberts claimed that the TRC did not wish to see him and he was informed that if he did not resign he would face rustication or expulsion.

“I was also told that I would not be able to attend this meeting, not because of formal procedure, but at the committee’s discretion”, he added.

The ex-President concluded, “It is my opinion that the decision made by College has not been the right one, nor has it been legitimate. There is nothing in college literature that specifies that the President or any
other Exec member can be removed.”

The second year PPEist met with the college executive last week and stood down from his position last weekend.

He declined to officially comment on the situation until the extraordinary meeting of the JCR on 11th October,
the Sunday of first week.

Rebecca Mackintosh, acting Queen’s JCR President and ex-Vicepresident said, “The JCR executive met on Sunday and reviewed and approved the hard work of Nathan Roberts and as such the executive passed a vote of confidence.”

Joyce Millar, the academic administrator at The Queen’s college, refused to comment on individual cases.
However she added, “It’s an academic institution and we have to concentrate on academics. We review each
case individually.”

Many students disagreed with the decision taken by the college. One Queen’s student commented, “They
don’t seem to be applying the rules uniformly. I find it difficult to believe that there were other people getting
2:2s who were also stopped doing extra- curricular activities.”

Oxford scientists researching breast cancer vaccines have been awarded a £2.5m grant by Cancer Research UK.

Dr. Alison Banham, who heads the Oxford team, seeks to create new vaccines that work by mimicking the body’s immune response to cancer. Vaccines can be especially useful in the treatment of breast cancer and lymphoma.

“They are proving to be some of the most effective new treatments for cancer patients,” said Dr. Banham.

News of the grant is likely to boost Oxford’s international reputation as a centre of excellence for cancer research. Professor Gillies McKenna, Director of Radiation Oncology commented, “There’s no other centre of this size and scope.”

A new drama series, set in a fictional college of an ancient English university, has hit British television screens.

Trinity, shown on Sundays on ITV2, follows the lives of a group of freshers as they settle into life at
Trinity college, Bridgeford University – a hotbed of arcane ritual, secret societies, recreational sex and liberal drug use.

One Magdalen lawyer said, “It’s very ridiculous but funny.” Others are unimpressed, citing a poor
script, bad acting and blatant stereotyping as reasons for switching off.

Trinity is the latest serial to tap in to the widespread fascination for Oxbridge mythology, and will be shortly followed by “When Boris met Dave”, a film about David Cameron and Boris Johnson’s years at the University, which will be broadcast this week.

Exercising in a group boosts happiness levels and increases tolerance to pain, according to a new study by Oxford University researchers.

Scientists working at the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology analysed the pain threshold of two groups of rowers following a tough workout. One
group rowed together, the other trained individually.

The team then tested the rowers by timing how long they could tolerate an inflated blood pressure cuff on their arm.

Exercise increased both groups’ability to tolerate pain, but the difference was significantly more pronounced among the team rowers.

The research report notes, “This heightened effect from synchronized activity may explain the sense of euphoria experienced during other social activities.”