Lord Patten, Chancellor of the University, has criticised the government in a recent report over its attempts to “push deprived teenagers into higher education.”

The report surfaced after the Chancellor spoke at the launch of the £1.25 billion fund raising campaign last Wednesday. The Times newspaper labelled it an “attack” on the government’s policies.

The Times quotes Lord Patten in the report as saying, “We can’t in higher education mend these problems by lowering our standards […] We have to maintain our standard and hope that we will get more young people with the right qualifications applying to Oxford.

“If you’ve only got a third or 40 per cent of young people staying on at school post-16 in some areas, it’s very difficult for universities to broaden access. Poverty of aspiration is a real challenge.”

A press officer for University of Oxford said, “[…] the Chancellor was answering questions at a press conference on the occasion of the campaign launch.

“The Times chose to focus on a particular angle – whether Lord Patten actually ‘attacked’ the government in the way it was reported I am not so sure.

“The University recognises that teachers play a very important role in advising their pupils on career and university choice, and has therefore been running a number of initiatives to keep teachers up-to-date with relevant information for their students.”

The Chancellor currently endorses a number of access opportunities in place at Oxford for teachers as well as pupils.

Tom McGrath outlined St John’s access scheme, saying, “Our work with Education Leeds is a good example of a project which supports the best and the brightest. The Elland Road conference is an introduction to Oxbridge which attracts over 250 state school Year 12 pupils.

“This is followed up by residential events in Oxford in early July (around 90 pupils attend either the Oxford or the Cambridge one) and then we run an event at a central Leeds school/college for any state school students in Leeds who are applying at the start of Year 13, talking about interviews, personal statements, wider reading and such.”

Study weeks held specifically for teachers are well-established. A regional conference held in February was attended by teachers from 52 different schools and colleges from the South East.

Two teachers’ conferences are scheduled to take place on the 20 June in conjunction with Jesus, New and Christ Church colleges. Subject-specific conferences are also due to take place, such as a four-day conference for Physics and Chemistry teachers.

When asked whether students specifically prepared for Oxbridge interview fare better, the University spokesperson said, “It is no question that those students who are well supported in their application have an advantage over those who are not – this applies to both independent and state schools students.

“The University does what it can to provide comprehensive information to applicants. This includes information on the web, a dedicated walk-in centre […] blogs and podcasts.”

Neither Lord Patten nor the Vice Chancellor were available for comment.

Oxford University has appealed Oxford City Council’s rejection of planning permission for a £29 million Bodleian book depository amid fears that failure to succeed will lead to the loss of a multi-million pound donation.

The City Council turned down the University’s proposals for a depository with a capacity for eight million books to be built on the Osney Mead industrial estate, last year.

If the appeal fails, it is unclear how the University will use a £5 million donation given by Julian Blackwell last March. The donation was given for refurbishment of the New Bodleian which was expected to begin in 2010 and finish by 2012. However the renovations cannot go ahead until the Bodleian can free up some space in the library by building the depository.

If the appeal fails the depository will not be built and the University will not be able to spend Mr Blackwell’s donation in the way they originally intended.

In rejecting the University’s original plans for Osney Mead councillors listed concerns over possible flooding and the impact of the building on the city skyline.

Colin Cook, Labour city councilor of Jericho and West Oxford, said, “The height of the building will be damaging to the city’s skyline; the bulk and mass of a building of such size will be damaging in protective view and in its proximity to city centre; the building does not meet energy efficiency requirements; and does not meet the sequential test against flooding dangers.”

However, a press officer for the Bodleian argued that the Osney Mead site was proposed by planning officers for the City Council themselves.

“The site was initially recommended by planning officers for the City Council. We took their recommendation and examined the site with various organizations such as the Environment Agency, found no fault with the site, and drafted a plan that will sustain various dangers.”

Leigh Lanocha, a Reader of English said the Bodleian serves too important a role to be denied a depository in close access to the central libraries.

“The University is such a central part of the city and the Bodleian is at the heart of the institution. It does so much than just providing books; it’s a place that has archives of major works of literature, of all time.”

“It needs to have the donation invested for refurbishment to upkeep its service and its important collections, and it would be a shame for the Bodleian to possibly lose that,” she said.

Councillor Cook has instead proposed a depository located further out of Oxford, saying that it is unnecessary to have a depository to in such close proximity to city centre, as the building will simply house books which are “not referred to on a regular basis.”

“One possibility in lieu of Osney Mead would be to follow the model of the British Library in London, which houses its collections and books that are not in frequent usage, in a depository in York,” he said.

The depository development plan stresses the need for a location that is close enough to Central Oxford, to be able to continually service reading rooms of central libraries.

Lanocha echoed this need, commenting that it is difficult to determine which books are in regular usage and which are not.
“People are requesting books all the time, both the obscure and the non-obscure titles and if books have to be shuttled around 20 miles out of town, or however far the depository is going to be, how efficient will that be?”

Concerns regarding improvements to the Bodleian were raised recently in a report by Sir Ivor Crewe, incoming Master of University College. He criticised “the combination of closed access… and very slow fetching times” in Bodleian libraries.

Dr. Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s head librarian had said in a press release at the time of the council’s rejection, “The City’s failure to approve the proposal will rapidly have serious consequences for our readers in the University and beyond, for the long-term future of the Bodleian as a world-class library and for the benefits such a library brings to the local community.”

The University acquires 5,000 new titles a week and stores millions of books at a disused salt mine in Cheshire and at a Bodleian store in Nuneham Courtenay.

The Bodleian holds the papers of six British prime ministers, a Gutenberg Bible, Lord Of The Rings author JRR Tolkien’s papers, a quarter of the original copies of the Magna Carta, and more than 10,000 medieval manuscripts in its collections.

A spokesperson for the University refused to comment on the appeal, citing legal issues at hand.

Oxford University has awarded King Abdullah II of Jordan an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law.

The diploma was presented to the king at a ceremony in the Sheldonian theatre on Wednesday. He also received an Honorary Fellowship at Pembroke College where he studied international affairs for a year in the 1980s.

The Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten, warmly welcomed King Abudullah II,describing him at one point as a “a peacemaker in the Middle East.” He added, “Your reputation is built up by achievement… you build bridges of understanding between the Christian and Islamic worlds a peacemaker in the Middle East.”

Upon receiving his honorary degree, King Abdullah II addressed academics, several London-based diplomats, students and the media in the Sheldonian Theatre, focusing on the “urgent need to understand and act upon the threat facing the Middle East today,” and “the need to prevent global disaster by preventing regional disaster” through making Jordan “a contributor to world stability, rather than a source of radiating crisis.”

Particular references were made to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. “Our region is in the firing line of extremist ideologies that seek to divide and control,” the king said.

“We meet here today, on a day- June 4th- that resonates in the ears of every Arab. 4 June 1967 marks the last day a Palestinian lived free of occupation… [the start of] 41 years of whip-lashing violence, invasive settlements, a crippled economy and harsh and multiplying restrictions on life. For Israel, it has been 41 years of incessant conflict,” he added.

“While the conflict continues, people on both sides lose. It is time to help people win. For Palestinians, justice and a future, in an independent, sovereign, and viable state. For Israelis, recognition and security.”

Addressing the University directly, King Abdullah II said, “Jordan has taken risks for a future of peace in our region and the world. I hope we can look to the members of this university for intellectual, moral and practical support…I treasure this honorary degree as a symbol of the close relationship between Oxford and the Arab world.”

King Abdullah II also made a visit Pembroke college. A student of the college, Omid Alavijeh commented, “I think it is great that such a busy and excellent king has retained contacts with the university.

“He also is a man who is always pushing for democracy and economic reform. An ally of the West is an ally to Oxford I guess.”

A Wadham student’s ceiling caved in as a result of Tuesday’s downpour, after collapsing under the weight of the water.

Fresher Jonathan Mitchell realised that rain water was dripping down the walls in the corner of his staircase 10 bedroom on Tuesday morning.

By the early afternoon, Mitchell described the situation as “really bad” after heavy rain began to penetrate the ceiling.
Mitchell said he had noticed that the room was damp when he moved in at the start of the academic year, and claimed that his ceiling “did leak in first term during heavy rain”.

When he noticed that water was leaking into his college room on Tuesday morning, he was initially unconcerned and helped his scout to place buckets and bins to collect it. Mitchell then removed his laptop from the bedroom, and went to work elsewhere.

However on return to his room at 2pm, he saw that accumulated rainfall had caused one of the ceiling panels to “bulge” and “sag down.” He commented, “The floor was soaking wet. My desk was drenched. Fortunately, I had removed my laptop.” He added that some of his notes did get wet because of the leak.

Despite having to leave his room indefinitely, Mitchell remains optimistic. “Luckily, nothing valuable has been damaged and College have been really good.”

Mitchell has been allocated another room in Wadham, where he expects to stay for the rest of term. He has said that is old room has been left uninhabitable now that the damp has soaked through the ceiling, walls and carpet.

Two Wadhamites who live above Mitchell were also affected by the flooding.

Scouts across the University have spoken out about their low pay and poor treatment by colleges.

Many scouts noted that although they enjoyed working at the colleges, they felt that they were not being paid enough and suffered from a lack of respect from college authorities.

One scout from Balliol who wished to remain anonymous said, “the cost of living in Oxford is expensive – house rental especially. Wages don’t reflect this.”

Another scout from Balliol suggested the same. They commented: “[the cost of] accommodation is too high in Oxford. Transport is too high. Food is too high.

“The Oxford City Council tax is going up again and again. I think if our pay could be raised up to £7 per hour we will manage some of the cost of living in Oxford.”

Scouts at other colleges have also voiced concerns about a lack of respect from college dons. A scout from Hertford who did not wish to be named said, “people need to realise that cleaning is hard work.

“Just because we haven’t got great qualifications, it shouldn’t mean that a cleaning job is poorly paid.”

Another added, “we need a greater basic civility between fellows and scouts who pass by each other in quads or outside college daily (e.g. good morning). That means basic good manners and rightful respect of fellows to scouts.”

The petition for higher pay has been backed by students who have set up the Oxford University Living Wage Campaign, part of a wider campaign, involving trade unions and city councillors, to make Oxford a Living Wage City.

The Living Wage campaigns claim current wages fail to reflect the high cost of living in Oxford and the rising costs of global commodities, often forcing scouts to take second jobs to cover costs and leading to many scouts living in poverty.

The Living Wage, which is based on an index of costs of things such as accommodation, transport and food, is calculated using a method developed at York University. It has been estimated at £7 per hour for Oxford, far below current levels of pay for scouts.

Despite the pressure and despite the council recently agreeing to increase its salaries and pay its employees a Living Wage, many colleges are resisting reform, claiming current pay is adequate and above minimum wage levels.

Liam Taylor, who runs the Living Wage Campaign at Balliol, said there was widespread concern among scouts at the college about the level of pay and the rising costs of living in Oxford.

He said, “at Balliol College, scouts (the people who clean student rooms) are currently paid £6.05 an hour, well below the Oxford Living Wage of £7 an hour.

“This puts Balliol in the bottom 15% of all Oxford colleges in terms of how much it pays its staff. Last March, 38 low-paid workers in Balliol signed a petition asking for higher wages.”

Taylor said that despite widespread support from students and the Balliol JCR, which has passed several unanimous motions in favour of a Living Wage, college authorities had rejected the petition without consultation.

“The College Executive Committee last week rejected our proposals to set up a working party on the Living Wage in Balliol College, citing a lack of funds to raise staff wages. They rejected the issue out of hand without attempting to explore compromise solutions.

“There is no forum where workers at Balliol can negotiate for higher wages – the scouts do not even know at which meeting their wages are discussed – and the next staff consultative meeting is not until October,” he added.

Univ JCR President Stefan Baskerville also backed the Living Wage campaign. He said the cost of living in Oxford was close to that of London.

He said, “The University currently employs large numbers of low-paid staff through contracts with cleaning companies, many of whom are migrant workers who are paid at or just above the minimum wage, £5.52 an hour. As a result many cleaners live in poverty and some cleaners work up to fifteen hours a day, for multiple employers, to support themselves and their families.

However, Elizabeth Crawford, the domestic bursar at University College, suggested that hourly rates of pay do not accurately reflect the wages of scouts.

Crawford said, “at Univ the hourly paid staff have free bus travel (an annual season ticket) the value of which varies according to the contracted hours, an annual bonus and additional pay for long service.”

“I am certain that the College’s basic rate is well above that described as the Living Wage, when relevant benefits are considered,” she added.

Coucillor Joe McManners, who introduced the motion in November last year that led to the adoption of the Living Wage by the City Council, said that their was too much inequality in Oxford.

He said, “better pay for the lowest pay enables them to participate more fully in society and also reduced the impact of poverty on public resources.”

An investigation into the funding of stage shows in Oxford has revealed that unaccountable student companies have kept money intended for re-investment in University drama.

Most plays put on in Oxford are underwritten by Cameron Mackintosh, a West End production company that promises to reimburse students for any losses they may incur.

In return, the shows’ organizers must sign a contract agreeing to re-invest any excess profit in future productions.

However there is little formal supervision to ensure this takes place. Oxford University’s Drama Officer, Sam Sampson, acknowledged that he “[is] aware of the problem.”

In response to Cherwell’s allegations, he said: “contractually, producers are obliged to put the money back into the system. Unfortunately, they don’t always do this.”

Sophie Ivatts, a member of the University Drama Society’s committee, said: “there probably does need to be a more accountable framework in place to check how the money is used. If students sign a contract with Cameron Mackintosh, they are using that underwriting facility to cover any potential losses, so they shouldn’t then use the system for personal gain.”

She admitted that “the issue has been raised at committee meetings. However, it only affects a small proportion of plays, since many make a loss – and of those that do not, only those staged at the Playhouse have a chance of turning over more than a couple of hundred pounds.”

Toby Pitts-Tucker, who has been managing a production of The Tempest this term, said: “I think it’s up to the JCRs and other societies to decide what to do with their money. After all, they are free to debate whether the production deserves funding. However, I agree there should be more safeguards and accountability in an ideal world.”

The University Drama Officer told Cherwell: ‘I’ve been making an effort to contact all those finalists who’ve had production companies, to encourage them to re-invest in Oxford drama, or donate to college and University funding bodies.”

Pitts-Tucker, however, suggested that this was not always the case. He said, “I see the drama officer every week, but he doesn’t have much to do with the financing of my play. Though he does provide fantastic and invaluable advice to many other productions.”

He continued: “I think [Sampson] does more to scrutinize the accounts of plays staged at the Playhouse, who have a chance of turning over a large profit.”

However, another second year producer, who did not want to be named, claimed: “there’s plenty of informal oversight of all producers’ actions in Oxford. The Drama Officer is very thorough in following up on people.”

The student continued: “people who want to get into drama have an incentive not to keep hold of the money.

“They want to be trusted and sow the seeds of a future career. Most producers I know have re-invested money in future shows.”

Furthermore, Ivatts pointed out that “students who do not have underwriting are entitled to keep the proportion of any profit they make from their own investment. The problem comes when your company has been set up ‘to further the cause of Oxford Drama.’”

When asked whether there were any producers that he was currently watching, Sampson responded: “I’m not going to name any specific examples, but there are people I’m in contact with. I think it’s a problem student drama has always had, and will probably continue to have.”

The average Oxford graduate will start on a salary nearly four thousand pounds higher than the average university leaver, according to statistics released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The latest figures, for the year 2005/2006, show that degree leavers from Oxford earned an average of £22,450 in their first year of employment, compared to the £18,504 average for all higher education leavers.

Despite this large difference, Oxford still falls behind UCL and Cambridge, where graduates earned an average of up to one thousand pounds more than their Oxford counterparts. UCL leavers averaged salaries of £23,614 whilst Cambridge graduates received £22,910.

The statistics, for full-time first degree leavers entering full-time paid employment or self employment, suggest that an Oxford degree is highly valuable to graduates looking for work. OUSU President Martin McCluskey said that the figures were a testament to the quality of the education Oxford provides.

“Oxford graduates are widely recognised by employers as some of the most able and this is clearly reflected in these statistics from HESA. Oxford’s teaching style and the emphasis on independent learning obviously create graduates who are attractive to employers for the depth of their knowledge and sound analytical skills,” he said.

He added that students should be attracted by this high standard of teaching and not the lure of a large pay packet.

“I’d hope that applicants are drawn to Oxford not for expected starting salaries after they graduate, but for the educational experience while they’re here,” he said.

Finalists looking to move in to jobs in the summer may be cheered by the suggestion that their degree will lead to rewards in the world of work.

Thomas Smith, a history and politics student who finished Finals last week, said, “I think the fact that the average starting salary for Oxford graduates is some four thousand pounds higher than the national average does show that an Oxford degree is still a significant asset when going out into the world of work.”

But the extra thousand pounds earned by the average UCL leaver suggests the long hours and numerous essays may not be worth it. Oxford law students work up to 15 hours more each week than those at UCL, according to figures released by the Higher Education Policy Institute, but this is not reflected by graduate salaries.

One finalist at St Peter’s said the University should look to improve its Careers Service to ensure Oxford graduates get the jobs they desire.

“Its obvious that Oxford students have to deal with far higher, even ridiculous, workloads than the majority of other Universities, UCL being one. I think the University needs to do more to help students find the job they want because at the moment it is being out-performed by its competitors,” he said.

Karen Barnard, Head of the UCL Careers Service, said that UCL placed great emphasis on careers advice for students.

“UCL recognises the importance of student employability and provides career development support at all levels from first-year undergraduates to final-year PhD students,” she said.

McCluskey stated that Oxford’s own Careers Service was giving first class advice to students who should take advantage of it.

“The Careers Service provides a great service to students both through the personal service at Banbury Road and through the Careers Fairs they organise regularly. Students need to be aware that they can approach the Careers Service and pop in anytime – even after they graduate,” he said.

A spokesperson for the University also said that Oxford’s own Careers Service was providing students with a valuable service.

“Oxford is keen that students find employment that suits their education and interest. To this end, the University has a well-equipped careers service that provides comprehensive information and impartial guidance.

It is one of the best-resourced and most-used careers services in the country. The Careers Service offers objective information and guidance about a full range of careers, and works proactively to advertise vacancies in all sectors,” she said.

Some Oxford finalists have stated that salaries and bonuses are not important to the average undergraduate, who is more interested in job satisfaction than pay.

Phil Moss, a Physics finalist, said, “I think people who choose a degree course and location based only on starting salary are not looking at the big picture. If people choose a degree for earning potential only, they appear to have a rather depressing outlook on life, if the power, status and satisfaction that comes from the increase in pay is their primary motivation.”

An English finalist at Worcester also stated that earnings were not a key concern.

“For those that want to earn obscene bonuses, Oxford gives them a route into the City, and limitless pocket money in exchange for their difficult degree. For most of us, job satisfaction is a higher priority, and our extra 15 hours of work aren’t being reflected because we don’t want them to be,” she said.