An Oxford Laboratory has been persuaded to revisit the dating of the shroud of Turin by a physicis professor.

The shroud is the reported burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

The professor, John Jackson, has argued that carbon monoxide could have contaminated the shroud and distorted its radio-carbon dating results by more than a thousand years.

Former Oxford Professor Terry Eagleton has publicised his plans to sue the University of Manchester for age discrimination after being forced by the University to retire from his current professorship at the age of 65.

A failure to renew his contract, which states that every lecturer is under obligation to retire at 65, has led the famed literary critic to take action.

Students at Manchester have rallied behind Eagleton and argued that he should be allowed to stay on.

Police were called to a suspected bomb alert on Tuesday, after an innocent tourist had padlocked her suitcase to a wall of Christ Church Meadows building.

Having been alerted to the scene, just outside the Meadows building of Christ Church, the police were considering what further action to take when the tourist returned.

Explaining that she had left the briefcase to go shopping, the alarm was called off, and the briefcase was removed.

The College was temporarily closed whilst the area was cordoned off and inhabitants of Meadows building warned to keep away from their windows.

Police deny claims that they were ready to carry out a controlled explosion.

Repair work on the Oxford Castle’s Mound has led to the discovery of a ten-sided tower that has been hidden since the late 1700s.

The foundations of the tower that previously stood at the top of the mound overlooking Medieval Oxford were uncovered while work on a land subsidence was being carried out on site.

Visitors should soon be allowed to observe the excavated tower, which may have to be reburied for safety reasons once the repairs are complete.

A government report has found that British universities risk alienating foreign students as tuition fees become increasingly expensive.

Oxford University was one of 11 international universities sampled by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), and was named as one of the most expensive institutions, second only to Harvard.

There are currently over 6,500 international students at Oxford University, who make up a third of the total student body.
This includes 14 per cent of full-time undergraduates and 63 per cent of full-time graduate students.

The Hepi report says that: “UK universities receive on average 8 per cent of their total income from international students.”

The tuition fees for non-EU students are wide ranging, with £9,605 for a Bth in Theology; £11,205 for social sciences, humanities and human sciences; £12,810 for a degree in Fine Art, with the highest fee at £23,475 for clinical medicine.

Non-EU students are also required to pay the college fee, which vary between colleges, and are likely to be in excess of £4,800 per annum according to the Oxford website.

Nisha Sriram is a Singaporean clinical medical student and is at the higher end of the fee-paying spectrum.

Nisha described her undergraduate and clinical student fees; “Fees [undergraduate] were about £15,000 pounds a year and college fees were £4000.

“On top of this, flights were £2000 and I can’t remember living costs…now fees are up to about £24,000 but flights go down as I don’t go home as often.

“Most of the people here are on scholarships and don’t care where they go, because someone else is paying for it”.

Oxford does offer some assistance, such as the Reach Oxford scholarships for students from low income countries, however, competition is often fierce.

Ingrid Frater is the current representative for all graduate and international students, and works with OUSU’s International Students’ Campaign.

When asked about the international student fees at Oxford, she said, “This week I’m going to be preparing OUSU policy on international and graduate fees […] which will be taken to Council in seventh week.

“[There is] a University review just beginning, looking at fees policy, but want to consult widely before writing anything.”

OUSU Council has passed a motion to grant graduate students a new Charter, outlining their rights with regards to the University.

The proposals, which will be put into action in the new academic year, was proposed by Paul Rollason and seconded by Ingrid Frater, OUSU Vice President for graduate students.

The motion noted, “Graduate students are often unaware of what rights and entitlements are guaranteed to them by University rules and regulations…[and] that graduate students with complaints and problems don’t always know what action they are entitled to take.”

The Charter will collate information, including course objectives, rent increases, college advisers and searching for private rooms.

Rollason , who is a graduate student himself, said of his proposal, “The motivation for the charter was basically the impression I was getting that a lot of graduates aren’t happy with their experience of the University or that things aren’t as they expected. They are willing to put up with a lot for the sake of being able to put Oxford on their CV.”

He added that he had been inspired to take the cause of graduate students after reading an article on the matter in the Guardian, in which two Oxford alumni criticised their graduate student experiences.

The students, former recipients of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, described “a frustrating academic experience” in an “outdated academic system”, where advisers “spend more time avoiding emails than supervising students”.

It went on to argue that ”DPhil students struggle to have supervisors read their dissertations before submission, and poor supervision is the rule, not the exception.”

Rollason added, “There is no transparency or accountability in anything the colleges or faculties do and students have no idea what they are entitled to or how to go about making sure they get it. This seems to result in tremendous apathy from the graduate populace, who don’t see any point in complaining or trying to make things better.”

Frater explained, “I would agree that a lot of the time information is clear and students do know procedures but because graduate students sit between their departments and college, the structure is a lot less clear for grads than undergrads.”

According to Rollason the key issue of concern is often to do with rent. He said, “My college’s graduate rent went up 14% last year, in spite of protests and agreements reached in previous years. The rent is going up by another 5-14% next year and they won’t tell us the exact amount until the end of this term (so I’ve heard, but no announcements have been made at all by the college).

“No one is willing or able to protest because they now realise their views don’t matter. I think there is also an implicit threat from colleges that rocking the boat will not make your life as a student easier.”

The charter will be accessible to MCRs and on the OUSU website. A similar charter, introduced a year ago, already exists for undergraduates.

St Antony’s rowers have been accused of causing two major pile ups during Summer Eights last week, after manning their boat with a novice-rated Cox.

A Wadham Cox was injured twice and, as a result of the second incident, was unable to participate in Saturday’s race.

On Thursday Wadham’s crew was about to be bumped by St Antony’s Men’s second boat when Cox Rachel Levy put up her hand in concession.

However St Antony’s rowed on into Wadham, who were attempting to clear the racing line.

Levy said, “A couple of my Wadham rowers had fallen off their seats at the start, so we had to concede to St Antony’s in the first fifteen strokes or so.

“While I clearly put up my hand to concede, St Antony’s failed to lighten up and proceeded to row full speed  into my crew.”

The collision resulted in Levy being hit on the shoulder by St Antony’s bowman’s oar but the two boats remained entangled in the middle of the river, and the race was klaxoned.

However Tom Isherwood, President of St Antony’s Boat club, denied the accusations that St Antony’s caused the pile up on the river.

He said, “First, incidents like this are normally not the result of any negative intention or even recklessness (despite what the Wadham coaches who proceeded to harass and verbally abuse our crew throughout the week may think).

“Rather, they are an inevitable result of the chaos of Oxford bumps racing.”

On Friday, there was a  pile-up near ‘the gut’ which it has been alleged that St Antony’s initiated.

However, the separate incident which prevented Levy from rowing on Saturday was, she says, “partly everyone’s fault.”

Wadham’s rudder was smashed in the process and they had to be towed in by a launch.

Levy was unable to row in her race on Saturday as a result of the impact she had received to her back.

Isherwood spoke about the incident saying, “Friday of Eights saw a similarly dangerous situation, but with Wadham receiving a dangerous coxing fine and the St Antony’s crew receiving appreciation for being the only crew directly behind them to stop in time.”
Levy described the incident as “just the nature of bumps.”

She continued, “Rowing, while not normally a contact sport, does have its share of mishaps, collisions, broken bones, ejector crabs, etc.

“If you aren’t willing to accept those risks, then you shouldn’t be on the water, plain and simple.”

A man who broke into a tutor’s room in Wadham in February has been sentenced to four years in prison for burglary.

Jason Callaghan was given a sentence of three and a half years for burglary and attempted theft, and six months for assault.

Callaghan entered Giula Zanderighi’s room on February 10. Zanderighi, a Physics fellow, found him there at 7pm. When she discovered him he had moved a laptop and disconnected some cables.

She escorted Callaghan out of the college at which point he began to run on to South Parks Road, where Zanderighi pursued him, calling for help. He was caught and pinned to the ground by two men, until the police arrived. In the course of the struggle, he assaulted one of the men, having informed them that he had a knife.

Callaghan told police that he was “just using the toilet” and that “the door [of Zanderighi’s room] was open.” He claimed that the laptop had been knocked onto the floor after he had banged his head.

Callaghan, who later pleaded guilty to the crime, has 29 previous convictions since 1990 for over 80 offences, mostly for theft or criminal damage.

He was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking into a student’s bedroom in Lincoln College in October 2004, and 21 months for burglary of another college room in Wadham in November 2006. At the time of the latest offence he had been out of prison for two months.

The defence attorney rejected the supposition that Jason Callaghan was a dangerous man. The assault, he claimed, was a futile attempt to ward off his pursuers who had, “forcibly confronted him”.

Callaghan had been previously convicted of attempted robbery, but this was quashed. A pre-sentence report did not mention any risk of physical harm.

The judge told Callaghan that his catalogue of offences made “depressing reading”. She said, “Until you sort yourself out, there’s really not much hope for you outside in the community.” The crime, she said, was “unpleasant” but “a daytime offence in premises that were unoccupied.”

Callaghan’s offences are linked to a long-standing heroin addiction, and various psychological problems.

The court gave Joseph Valentine, one of the men who restrained Callaghan, a £250 Community Award for courage shown in pursuing him.

Wadham College Student Union has passed a motion to donate £300 to a student house party.

In a controversial decision made at the SU meeting last Sunday, students voted to financially assist the party which will take place later this week. The party will be open to all Wadham students, and will celebrate the birthday of the outgoing SU President, Leonora Sagan.

Those in support of the motion were enthusiastic about the outcome. One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, noted “That this important motion has been successful proves one thing – that Wadhamites are ready to fight for their right to party.”

Nonetheless, while the motion received near unanimous support, some Wadham students are sceptical about the SU’s backing of the party.

A second year Modern Linguist expressed concern about the motives behind the decision, saying, “The money may have come from the Entz fund, but £300 pounds is far too much money to be given to a house party. In any case, the world’s problems are caused by drink and drugs, not solved by them. Friendship and good times are simple and free, and I think we should all sit down on the grass and have some old fashioned fun, like we used to.”

Defending the SU’s support of the party, Sagan stated, “The Student Union is a democratic institution and thus, since the motion was passed in an SU meeting, it is only fair that the Wadhamites receive the money for their party.

“Any members of the student body who are against the donation of money had the opportunity to voice their concerns before the motion went to vote. That the motion was passed almost unanimously reflects the fact that, despite our commitment to a wide range of political issues, Wadham SU still loves a good old rave.”

In accordance with the motion, the party will be advertised on the Wadham students’ mailing list, so that invitations are sent to “even those people who aren’t fortunate enough to be Facebook friends with anyone from the host house.”

The organisers of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Oxford have predicted that as many as 1000 protesters could assemble outside the Sheldonian Theatre, where he is due to speak today.

From 9am onwards, Buddhist protesters, led by the Western Shugden Society, will be on Broad Street to confront the Dalai Lama with allegations of threats and intimidation from his representatives. Protesters have followed the Dalai Lama throughout his visit to the UK.

They want to encourage the Dalai Lama to lift “an illegal and aggressive ban on a much loved, centuries old Buddhist prayer.”

The prayer, known as ‘Dorje Shugden,’ is said to have been a traditional part of the Buddhist religion for 400 years, which the Dalai Lama is said to have practised himself until he was 50 years old. He is currently 72 years old.

In a press conference yesterday, a Kelsang Pema spokesperson for the Western Shugden Society, said: “The Dalai Lama has imposed this ban and has left Buddhists no choice…he is impeding human rights.”

The Western Shugden Society claims that 900 monks have been expelled from monasteries by Dalai Lama representatives, and Dorje Shugden practicioners are “receiving threats and are ostracised from communities because they practise the prayer.”

The Dalai Lama has previously commented on his decision to ban the prayer.

He said, “The fifth Dalai Lama considered this an evil force, evil spirit…

The 13th Dalai Lama also placed restrictions on this evil spirit. So then I realised my mistake and then I stopped completely worshipping this.”

The Western Shugden Society claims that the Dalai Lama has “two hats; one political and one religious.

“There is a false perception that he [Dalai Lama] is the leader of Buddhism. He has inherited the title through reincarnation… three quarters of Buddhist would not say that he is their spiritual leader.”

When asked if the Society would be concerned that they would be seen as pro- China, a spokesperson said: “We are not connected to the Chinese although the Dalai Lama says that we are…this is religious discrimination not political.”