Pembroke College is facing financial crisis following revelations that the college is currently owed £200,000 from unpaid battels bills.

At last week’s finance and general planning meeting, the true shortage left by late battel payments was revealed. It was decided that more punitive measures need to be put in place to draw in debts.

Despite the college rule that demands battels be paid on time, many students have managed to avoid paying their battels. Some students have admitted their backlog of payment totals thousands of pounds.

One Pembroke student commented that he had managed to avoid paying his battels for two terms, accumulating a debt of £3,500 to the college. During this period of non-payment he stated that he had received no punishment from the college, or even regular reminders.

Another student admitted to having not paid his battels for the whole of his first year. He said,

“I just completely forgot about it. If letters were sent then they certainly were not threatening enough.”

Adam Alagiah, a third year Pembroke student commented on the failure of college to ensure prompt payment from students, stating that it created a feeling of complacency amongst the students. He explained, “there is simply no incentive to pay battels on time. Nothing happens if you don’t pay.”

Freddie Krespie, a Pembroke student who is currently living out of college agreed, saying “the college doesn’t really seem to bat an eyelid.”

Currently, all students at Pembroke who owe more than £1000 can be fined for late payment.

However, in light of the £200,000 deficit, the finance and general planning committee have decided that this threshold should be lowered so that students with smaller battels to pay are encouraged to do so on time or else receive a fine.

More drastic punishments are also to be considered for those who continually fail to pay. The college has suggested that these could include being banned from living in college accommodation or being refused permission to continue their course.

Pembroke bursar, John Church, emphasised that treatment of those who could pay but refused, and those who could not afford to pay ought to be markedly different. He stated,

“it should be stressed that at all times I and the College Finance team remain alert to issues of hardship and allow extended periods for repayment where reasonably justified in the circumstances.

“In those cases penalty charges are not levied. In some of those cases the students concerned have received a hardship award”

But one student who fails to pay his battels on time has said that not paying is a result of the college’s “grossly expensive” rents.

Currently at Pembroke, room rents range from £2352.00 to £4191.03 per annum. The student explained that, “by the time I had spent money on holiday, I didn’t have enough left to pay my battels.”

At no other college have unpaid battels amounted to such a quantity.

At St Catherine’s College, Bursar James Bennett estimated that unpaid student bills amounted to £4,000.

Christopher Wigg, Bursar of St Anne’s College, estimated a similar figure. He also commented that a debt of £200,000 could not be withstood by any college.

He said, “given that for colleges, battels are often the main source of income, a higher default rate simply couldn’t be afforded.”

He commented that for the sum of unpaid battels to exceed even £10,000 would be “very surprising”.

University members were surprised that the amount should be so large. Freddie Krespie estimated that at most, there might be £20,000 worth of unpaid battels.

However, despite the increased stress on a tighting of punishments, students have remained sceptical about the College’s ability to enforce punishment.

Krispin commented that the college was justified in in removing a student from their course if they were able to pay their battels, but simply refused to do so.

But he said that this was more of a threat than a likelihood. Another Pembroke student echoed this statement, arguing that it was common knowledge that “getting chucked out of Oxford is far harder than getting into Oxford.”

Christ Church authorities have this week lost their battle to have a kebab seller relocated away from college, to the delight of the JCR.

College authorities have complained that the smell of the food form he van, known as ‘posh nosh’, distracted students trying to work and sleep, as well as being unpleasant for visitors to the college.

They also claimed that it attracted drunkards to the college entrance who made too much noise and littered the area on the gateway to the college, adding that some students had been attacked at the van.

The college authorities requested that the City Council ban the owner of “posh nosh”, Saeid Keshmiri, from obtaining a license unless he agreed to move his van further down the road and distance himself from the entrance to the college.

Heamn Hassan, an employee of Saeid Keshmiri who works at Posh Nosh stated that he was “very pleased” that the kebab van had been allowed to stay, but spoke of his unhappiness at having his right to serve outside the college questioned. He said:

“I was not very happy. After it happened, many students came by every night and asked us not to move away from college. They said that we are part of the college here. I feel part of the life and college too.”

Saeid Keshmiri has also stated that he enjoys working outside Christ Church. He admitted that the drunkards that visited the van had caused problems and acknowledged that litter was generated around the van.

However, he stated that such anti-social behaviour was generated by those who hung around the bus stop, and not specifically by those who visited his van.
Christ Church students have spoken out to defend the van’s presence outside the college, stating it to be a fundamental part of their time at university.

One a third year student at Christ Church, claimed that the kebab van constitutes an important part of student life.

He said, “Posh Nosh is very much seen as a tradition amongst the college’s undergraduate population, as much of a feature of college as life as, for example, Mercury Foutain. And it’s a damn sight more useful.

Many of us are fed up of the college authorities doing things without taking our wishes into account, so I say hurrah for something happening that reflects our enjoyment.”

Past students have also defended the van’s right to stay. Ex-JCR President Garth Smith who graduated last year reminisced about the college’s role in day to day life.

He said, “when I was there, everyone used it and was grateful that it was there. I never heard any complaints at all, about the smell or otherwise. I knew students who lived in rooms that were right next to the van, but no one ever complained that the van shouldn’t be there.”

Whilst the Council authorities have not forced Keshmiri to relocate, they have nevertheless suggested that he moves his van elsewhere in future to avoid further controversy within the city. He has moved 200 yards further down the road in a compromise agreement.

An Oxford University spokesman said, “the van is outside the college seven nights a week and the smell lingers on long after it has left for the night.

“A number of staff have raised concerns over whether it is suitable for students to work best in such conditions.

“We encourage students to eat healthily but the issue with Sid’s Kitchen has nothing to do with that. The college is concerned with students having the best possible environment for study.”