See pictures here!Hertford…
…or Teddy Hall?
Blog Page 2242
Pete’s week
Peter Bowden tells it like it isAn hour into OUSU Council, there came a hollow, echoing thunk: a grenade, pinless and imminent. Sadly, this wasn’t technically a matter ‘arising from the minutes’, and, agendas being agendas, they gave it a few minutes. Our time arriving, we threw down a motion to expel the grenade; several factual questions later (‘is this an equal opportunities explosive?’), someone thought it might be nice to debate it.How to get rid of it? No one’s really sure; the motion hadn’t really made that clear. I’m minded to accept a friendly amendment, one that mandates us to just run away. But there’s an objection: maybe we could just throw it into the air, and hope we survive? Council isn’t sure. Luckily, three of the Vice Presidents are working on a joint report into methods of escaping short-fuse anti-personnel weapons, and they should be done by sometime in 8th week. Maybe we could delay for now? There’s a speech in proposition, and one in opposition. We move to vote. Two minutes through the secret ballot, the flames melt the skin off the first eight rows, searing metal justice piercing their skulls, the piled corpses of the Exec forming a mangled bleeding cenotaph to bureaucracy itself.Last term, I ran in an election for Lincoln’s OUSU rep. My manifesto was filled with meaningless buzzwords: ‘equality’, ‘fairness’, ‘representation’, ‘communication’, ‘access’, and ‘transparency’, because no-one ever dares to argue with these. No candidate has ever railed against ‘fairness’, and promised to be a rigid, elitist autocrat who cares for nothing, and longs only to screw the poor. I stopped myself writing anything concrete or meaningful, to avoid suspicion. I won in a landslide, thus tearing a giant flaming gash across democracy’s already dubious track record. This made Council mandatory.Normally, when I say that I’ve lost the will to live, I say it thinking that it stands a chance of returning. After last Friday’s OUSU Council, I don’t want it back. I stayed for two motions. The first of these was to censure one woman for leaking confidential information, a fairly clear-cut case. This took an hour and a half, time which included a motion not to put the motion (from her), a motion to delay the motion, a motion to vote on the motion by secret ballot, and at least three motions to vote to put in motion a vote on whatever motion we happened to be voting on. The second motion took just as long; the aim of this was to strike out a motion that we’d passed at the very last meeting, lending the whole experience an air of unimaginable pointlessness, as constructive as watching a dog chasing its tail in a reasoned bid to eat itself. Everything you’ve heard about OUSU is all true, and worse. Next year I’m running for President, and it’ll be on a ticket of equality, and justice, and fairness.
What’s in a name?
Guy Pewsey considers the shallow yet successful world of celebrity endorsement. Would you like to smell like Celine Dion? No? How about Gwyneth Paltrow? No? Mariah Carey? I didn’t think so. And yet the sheer volume of celebrity-endorsed scents on the market has recently reached ridiculous levels, to the point that even Jade Goody released her own last year (called Shhh, ironically enough.) Other big names who are queuing up to give you a whiff include the Beckhams (his and hers), Hilary Duff (part of her ‘stuff by duff’ range. Pure poetry) and Paris Hilton, and while many may scoff at the long list of products available, it’s a lucrative business. When greeted with a sign in the middle of Superdrug informing me that I should be celebrating the fifth anniversary of J-Lo’s Glow by purchasing the supposedly classic scent, I of course declined, but thousands do not follow my example. Instead, they flock in their masses to pick up a bottle of Cliff Richard’s Devil Woman or Summer Holiday, or a vial of Naomi Campbell’s originally titled Naomi Campbell. Apparently it stinks. Do such customers hope that somehow the perfumes of their favourite celebrities will somehow rub off on them, as if they are buying a bottle of Naomi or Cliff’s hormones? I suspect they won’t turn into stroppy has-been supermodels or over-tanned closet homosexuals overnight. Even the names of some of them are frankly ridiculous; My Insolence by Guerlain, endorsed by Hilary Swank, for example. Who would want Hilary Swank’s insolence, at £25 a pop? I could borrow some off my chav sister for free.While celebrities have been boosting sales of signature scents for more than five years now, it is perhaps signature clothing lines that have truly exploded recently. The country was attacked by stealth, as George at Asda began to stock Mary Kate and Ashley accessories. The trend snowballed, and now we’re bombarded with clothes by Kate Moss at Topshop, Penelope Cruz at Mango, Madonna at H&M and Fearne Cotton at New Look. Her range is all made of cotton. You can’t make things like this up. And what role did these women play in designing these lines? None whatsoever. Most were sent samples before being asked if they prefer the jeans with the patch or without; the dress in the plum or the maroon. It’s not rocket science, just big business. But sometimes, even the big companies get it wrong. Lily Allen’s New Look line was a marketing disaster, showcasing the singer’s severe bad taste manifested into a myriad ruffled prom dresses worn with baseball shoes. While ‘Kate Moss at Topshop’ sold out in hours, ‘Lily Allen at New Look’ was as effective a campaign as ‘Gary Glitter at Toys R Us’. And yet, it would be stupid to suggest that such an issue is present only in the typically female worlds of perfume and clothing. Men are as easily led as women, buying Gillette razors endorsed by David Beckham and Renault Clios driven by Thierry Henry. Anyone remember those light-up trainers from more than ten years ago? ‘Hi, I’m Gareth Southgate. With these shoes you can be a champion.’ I believed it, and so did a hundred thousand other kids.While we may therefore have been awfully gullible as children, we are equally unforgiving when the fresh-faced stars who sell us our stuff step out of line. We all remember Kate Moss being dropped from campaign after campaign after being photographed snorting cocaine (What? A model? Do drugs?). Perhaps most interesting is the controversy surrounding American pro-basketball player Magic Johnson. American fans discovered that Johnson’s ‘stomach ailment’ – his cover story for a while – was actually HIV, contracted from a woman who wasn’t his wife. National campaigns were scrapped, publicity deals went up in smoke, and while his career eventually recovered, the magic had gone. Despite such a concept, personalities such as Kerry Katona of Atomic Kitten fame somehow manage to keep their endorsements even though they keep showing themselves up, and I can’t help but wonder why even Iceland would want her as the face of their business. She may come across as fairly chirpy during those adverts for the prawn rings, but that’s just the feel-good amphetamines talking. While Ms. Katona goes on working, others are dismissed for the most unbelievable image changes. TV queen Jennifer Aniston was ditched by Barclaycard after being dumped by Brad. Why? Because the company felt that customers would not buy a product from a woman who couldn’t keep hold of her husband. Rumours that Angelina Jolie was sleeping with the owners of the company as well as Aniston’s spouse are sadly false.
There is something just a little embarrassing about celebrity endorsement; it seems as if by lending products their semi-famous faces they are acknowledging their own vanity and their public’s shallowness. When on the red carpet, on stage or on the catwalk, the stars can at least tell themselves that they are loved for what they are doing, whether that’s in music, film, television or fashion. The moment the billboard goes up, their fate is sealed. The shame of such a revelation leads to many international celebrities avoiding the mainstream American and European markets. Instead, they go straight to where most of the world won’t see them: China and Japan. Brad Pitt and George Clooney have both done it, and since attaching a celebrity to a new product is around two hundred percent more effective in the East than the West, it’s a guaranteed big pay cheque for the celeb in question even though they’ll never use the product in their lives, a concept displayed to great effect by Bill Murray in 2003’s Lost in Translation. So why does it work on so many people? Most apparently resist, preferring to make an informed decision from other issues such as word of mouth and their own common sense, but there are still those who see that Lewis Hamilton has an Omega watch and think that one of their own will make them more like their beloved sports star, or see the recent Keira Knightley campaign for Coco Mademoiselle and think that some new Chanel will help them feel as sexy as the young, beautiful and severely air-brushed actress. Surely though, we learnt that we cannot always copy television years ago, back when we tried to jump out of the window because Peter Pan could. If you never had that lesson given to you, it’s been a long time coming. Celebrity endorsements don’t do anything except raise the profile of another person. That’s the point. You will never look as good as Kate Moss in her Topshop range because she picked out clothes that she looked good in. You will never be as good at football as David Beckham just because you’ve just bought his trainers. It is a concept that has made a lot of people a lot of money, and cost everyone else twenty five pounds for a bottle of smelly water, or a hundred quid for Michael Owen’s trainers when you’d be better off getting a pair for a tenner down the Westgate centre. The whole idea stinks of materialism, but you just smell of Celine Dion. Sorry.
If I were Vice Chancellor for a day…I’d make Oxford a flower city
Stress, pressure, frenzy – who needs them? It’s time that Oxford entered the hippy-happy chillout zone…man. So grow out your beard, put on your ‘righteous rags’, hop on your Harley D and follow me. For too long in Oxford the words ‘exams’, ‘collections’, and even that most bloodcurdling of ‘f’ words, ‘finals’ have loomed large and terrifying in our vocabulary. Silent libraries, wrinkle-inducing pages of unread books, and the books themselves, sadistically smirking up at you in the darkness, have all played their part in producing the Climate of Terror. Bring on the revolution. If Oxford entered ‘The Zone’, there could be an end to all this, as ‘chillaxation’ would become the guiding principle of a Bohemian Renaissance. Herbal tea would be handed out on Cornmarket and Broad Street, and as you entered the Bodleian, faint jazz would welcome you to your seat, or perhaps a Beatles ballad, while an automatic back massager slipped into gear. A new oxcabulary would of course be necessary; uninvitingly titled ‘problem sheets’ would become ‘sheets of benefit and self-development’ while the equally galling ‘Exam Schools’ would become the ‘pad of liberal expressionism.’ Tutorials would be replaced by ‘knowledge sharing’ and ‘gatherings for introspection’ in the University Parks. And should the birds, fresh air and space be insufficient to summon one’s inner vibe, hippie lettuce would be readily available to aid one in that crucial quest for inner light and the beauty of being. When philosophical self-discovery finally got too much, one could simply slip from the ceaseless reality of the natural world into a blissful unconsciousness.To best promote the new harmony it would be necessary to eradicate social distinctions and barriers. Individual colleges would therefore be replaced by brotherhoods living in large communes. Since another important element in this philosophy of calm would be getting in touch with nature, communes would lay emphasis on ‘going back to the land’ with brotherhoods trained in the art of digging and vegetable growing. Shared boathouses would become shared greenhouses and inkpens would be more fondly replaced with the shovel and spade. Oxford would pioneer the Organic Revolution. And men would walk barefoot to town so as to attune them to their natural surroundings and remind them of their birth from the flower of nature.Standards of dress and grooming would also have to be tailored to reflect the new liberties. Suppressed Oxford students who had formerly been confined to using the bop as their only opportunity for self expression, under the pretext of fancy dress, could now prance unrestrained in psychedelic bell bottoms and tie-dye. No longer would the male yearning for long-beaded necklaces and long hair need to be explained away with: ‘I had a gap year.’But of course we would never condescend to call ourselves mere hippies, as that would suggest turning the Oxford clocks back rather than forward. For ours would be a New Knowledge. We would instead be living the post-post modernist dream, man: the ironical approach to the Twenty First century.
by Katherine Dreyfus
Interview: Dakota Blue Richards
Nowadays celebrity does not start with talent, it does not start with charisma and it does not start with looks. Celebrity starts with a name. It could be Posh Spice, Britney or even Andre 3000. Whatever, a good name is key. In the world of kiddy celebrity the ‘It’ name would seem to be Dakota. Everyone knows perky pre-teen Dakota Fanning. Now her English contemporary, Dakota Blue Richards is making waves.
With only one movie to her name, this 13 year old can hardly rival the multi-movie repertoire of her American counter-part. Yet. Dakota Richards is the star of The Golden Compass, the adaptation of Philip Pullman’s best-selling novel, Northern Lights. In the movie she plays Lyra, a child brought up in Oxford who embarks on an extraordinary journey to rescue her kidnapped friend Roger and along the way finds herself caught up in a heavenly battle. Of course the whole thing’s a little more complicated than that. But you should really read it yourself. It is after all one of the children’s classics of our generation. A bit like Harry Potter, but darker.Dakota Blue Richards herself raves about the book. Although most of her interview sounds like a string of primped and preened sound-bites, her enthusiasm for Pullman’s novel is clear. It is, after all, the reason she auditioned for the role of Lyra. Having read the books and seen the stage-adaptation at the National Theatre, she was already a keen fan of ‘His Dark Materials’ when she learnt of the auditions, although she admits ‘When I first read the books I was quite young and I didn’t really understand a lot of it. I didn’t get “dust” and why the bears talked. It took me a while to understand it…’ Her reasons for auditioning, however, were simple. As Dakota puts it, ‘I really liked the character of Lyra, and I really wanted to be Lyra.’ Fulfilling a fantasy and getting paid. Who wouldn’t want to be a child star?Of course it wasn’t easy to get the part. Dakota had to beat 10,000 other hopeful girls at the auditions for which she travelled from her native Brighton to Cambridge. Her mother, apparently not the pushy showbiz type, told her she couldn’t go if it rained. Knowing the English weather, the odds really were stacked against her. But the rain held off. So Dakota schlepped to Cambridge with an entourage of mother and grandmother to stand in a three-hour-long queue. For some girls all they got at the end of this was a head-shot, but Dakota was called back. This must have been an intimidating experience for a 12 year old who had no experience of acting, but she claims she took it all in her stride, at least at first. ‘At the first auditions I didn’t think I was going to get it so there was no point in feeling nervous. But being called back was like, being given a real chance, and you know it’s time to start worrying!’But she needn’t have worried. Coming home from a bad day at school a few weeks later she received a call from the director, Chris Weitz. Laughing, she describes how her mother accidentally hung up on him when asked to put him on speaker phone. It’s all very good natured of her. If my mother had hung up on the man who was about to give me every little girl’s dream job, I would probably have brained her. Then again, it’s easy to laugh in retrospect. Those were probably a very tense few minutes in the Richards household. Of course like a true PR pro, Dakota brushes over this, moving quickly on to a description of her reaction. ‘I screamed and was very excited, and did the Snoopy dance! That’s very spinny and jumpy and kicky – a leggy kind of dance…’ She’s certainly got the ‘I’m cute and a little kooky’ thing down pat. If she keeps this up she’ll go far.Of course, The Golden Compass is a fantastic opportunity for any first-time actor. Playing Lyra, Dakota got to act alongside such heavy-weight actors as Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. If this was an intimidating experience for a twelve-year-old, Dakota’s not letting it show. She oozes self-assurance as she describes how working with the stars helped her. ‘Both she [Kidman] and Daniel Craig do this thing when they are acting which might be just to help me, but they seem so confident that I feel I should be, too. They made me feel more confident about myself and what I was doing.’Nothing juicy is to be had from Dakota, although she does admit that she was initially scared of the director, Chris Weitz. Then again, this is hardly surprising since the first time she met him he was standing on top of a sofa roaring ‘I am a bear’. There really is nothing like leading by example. But since then there have been no directorial temper tantrums. Dakota can only enthuse ‘I’ve found that he’s a very relaxed person and that makes everybody else relaxed. He never shouted at anybody ever, he’s just a really nice person and makes you feel good about yourself.’Far harder than working with temperamental personalities for this pint-sized star was learning to work with CGI. In the film Lyra lives in a different world in which everybody has a daemon, an animal manifestation of the soul. These are, of course, all digital creations. ‘A lot of the time I had to act to nothing, or to a green sack, or a green dot or a man in a green lycra suit,’ Dakota explains. ‘I had to imagine a green bean bag was my daemon that I really love.’ Although filming is finished, life is hardly back to normal for this little girl. ‘His Dark Materials’ is a trilogy, so Dakota will be back for two more films, unless the relatively poor American box office performance leads to a premature cancellation of the series. She spent the summer in Hungary filming The Moon Princess with Colin Firth. Something that would have most of our generation salivating Dakota takes calmly in her stride. In fact, she remains remarkably down to earth. When asked if she’d like to be an actress she replies, ‘I don’t know that I’d want to do acting as a job, not as a proper job. I’d like to do it as a hobby. I want to be a supply teacher. I’d like to be one of those teachers that kids really like.’ Small dreams, perhaps, but she’s not throwing in the towel just yet. It remains to be seen how this little girl’s star will rise.by Sarah Kent
Surge in essay buying led by Oxford students
Oxford students are among the worst offenders for buying essays from an online company, a survey has shown.UKEssays.com revealed that 180 model essays were bought by Oxford students last year.Students at Nottingham University and Royal Holloway bought the most essays, while students at Cambridge bought 74 essays, under half the number purchased by Oxford.Students can telephone or email the company with a subject area and title, even going into so far as to request a specific word count, a certain essay standard and a delivery time. Fees range from £34 for the bare bones needed for a first-year degree essay to £40,000 for the outline of a PhD thesis delivered in five days.UKEssays.com is the UK’s leading provider of custom essays. Its website poses the question, “What if you could get a better degree and do less work on your essays at the same time?” The five year old company attracts an average of 6,500 customers each year. They expect sales to Oxford students to rise to 300 this year.A spokesperson for UKEssays.com stressed that each essay is intended as “a precise reference tool.” They are not designed to be handed in and claimed as the student’s own, but merely “to either help begin their work, or to help them find that final ‘all important’ source.”When questioned about their popularity among Oxford students, the spokesperson suggested it was because students have “realised that we’re not promoting plagiarism and that they can use our work for the correct reason – as a focused study aid.”The spokesperson also blamed the UK’s education system, which “is failing our students. Graduates aren’t prepared for work, yet they’ve paid thousands of pounds to be in this position. We’re filling the void that an increasingly commercialised education industry has left.”Joss Corner, a second year Philosophy and French student, admitted that she could see how students would be tempted to buy essays. “If you only use it as a study guide, buying an essay from an online company isn’t that different to using other students’ essays for help, which most people wouldn’t think twice about. At the end of the day handing in an essay you didn’t write won’t help you pass the exam.”The senior proctor, Dr James Forder, said, “The University regards all companies providing ready-made written work that students might hand in as if it were their own with deep concern and anyone who cheats in their examinations can expect to be dealt with severely.”by Nadya Thorman
Second-degree funding plans ‘inadaquate’ says University
Oxford University has labelled government concessions over cuts to the funding of second degrees as “window-dressing” and “inadequate”.
Dr Philip Healy, Director of Public Programmes for the Department of Continuing Education, was speaking out as part of a campaign against the government’s ELQ policy. The proposals could result in Oxford students studying for second degrees paying up to £7,000 in tuition fees.
The ELQ proposal promises to transfer £100 million of funding from those taking equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs) to those studying for first degrees.At a Commons’ Innovation, Universities and Skills Select Committee meeting on 17 January, the government promised a number of concessions.
These include an increase in funding allocation for part-time students from £20 to £30 million and a review of the impact of the ELQ policy on vulnerable subjects such as theology. A series of subjects, such as chemistry, foreign languages and teacher training, have been exempted from the proposal.
However Professor David Latchman, Master of Birkbeck, University of London, criticised the proposed changes. Speaking at the Select Committee meeting, he accused them of trying to “cherry pick” which students would be affected by the funding crisis. Professor Latchman also insisted that further debate was necessary.
Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education Bill Rammell defended the policy, stating, “I believe it is right that people who have never had the chance to go to university should be given priority over those who have already received tax payers’ support to get a degree.”
However he demanded “some minor but important changes” to the original proposals. He advocated “an annual review of exempted subjects to assess whether subjects need to be added or indeed removed from the list.”
Dr Philip Healy condemned the system of exempting certain subjects from the ELQ proposal.He explained, “There is a whole raft of subjects which are important either for the economy or the welfare of society. The so-called cherry picking is far too narrow.”
He also noted that the funding increase from £20 to £30 million was “a completely inadequate increase. What is happening is that the government is under pressure from all sides and its own backbenchers in particular and the government clearly feels it is necessary to do something to respond to the almost universal criticism that this ELQ proposal has created. So this £10 million, it is window-dressing.”
Christ Church calls fowl on chicken cruelty
JCR declares opposition to battery farming Christ Church JCR has shown its support for serving free range food in Hall. Last Sunday the JCR voted on a motion, which stated, “In designing menu items, ‘Hall’ should make use of free range food, and end their use of battery farmed animals.” The proposal received substantial backing although the free range standard will not be immediately adopted. However, students voted to set up a working group to investigate the financial feasibility of the move for the JCR. Tom Ward, a Theology second year student who put forward the motion, said, “I am very satisfied with the result of the meeting… As far as confidence goes in ultimate success at Christ Church, I think the fact that the motion went unopposed is a strong indication that there is a very real wish of the entire JCR for Hall to go free range. “In my opinion, intensive farming techniques are both cruel and unnecessary in this country…I am sure many at Oxford feel the same way, and indeed endeavor to purchase free range products at home. However, when dining in Hall we find ourselves stripped of that choice, and inadvertently end up supporting the intensive farming we feel so passionately against. I do not think that there is any insurmountable barrier, cost or otherwise, to using free range products in the respective Halls of Oxford…it would serve as an example to the rest of the catering world that mass utilization of free range products is feasible.”Ward subsequently set up a Facebook group to bolster support for the motion. John Harris, Steward of Christ Church, agreed that the idea is gaining momentum. He explained, “The College is looking into it… I was at a catering managers’ meeting [on 22 January] regarding the introduction of free range products. We are very positive about it. At the moment there is not enough free range produce to meet likely demands. However there is widespread interest in it. It is not a matter of the JCR persuading reluctant caterers. Many of the caterers are very positive in it.” Laura Ellis, Christ Church JCR President, said, “The working group will consist of three members of College staff; the Hall manager, the Steward and the head chef and from the JCR the food rep, the veggie rep and Tom Ward.”
by Rob Pomfret
Oxford courts Indian economic boom
Vice-Chancellor John Hood has announced an educational collaboration between India and Britain, to be centred at Oxford’s Saïd Business School.The Saïd Business School is one of Europe’s youngest business schools. It tops the rankings for UK universities in undergraduate Business Studies.The Oxford University India Business Centre (OUIBC) will address major business issues through joint research between academics in Oxford, India and elsewhere.Alongside research and teaching at Oxford, the centre will develop a range of educational projects to be transmitted through a new facility in Lavasa, near Pune.According to Lavasa Corporation Ltd., the facility is due to deliver education programmes in early 2010.In announcing the initiative, Dr Hood said, “The primary objective of this research centre is to learn from India’s business success. A clear understanding of the issues faced by India, and their innovative solutions, as India transitions from poverty to prosperity, will form a guide to future generations of countries attempting similar transitions.”India’s economy is growing by nine per cent per annum, a rate only surpassed by China according to recent reports. Hood acknowledged, “Business developments like the Tata Steel-Corus and Vodafone Hutch are very impressive.“Tata Motors’ new car Nano is a wonderful innovation not just for India but also for the whole world.”
Recognising that some 260 Indian students are currently at Oxford, he continued, “The spectacular economic growth and new generation’s inclination towards innovation and success are things to be analysed, recorded and taught in classrooms.”Kaushal Vidyarthee, a graduate student at Wolfson, thinks the initiative is a step in the right direction. “India is surely going to benefit from this and I am very proud of the fact that the Oxford University has been so proactive; it will surely strengthen the ties between the UK and India.” Prior to his matriculation here, Vidyarthee completed his BA in Urban Planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.Professor Colin Mayer, Dean of the Saïd Business School, spoke at the conference in New Delhi. “The purpose of the centre is to address major business policy questions in India…and to engage practitioners and policymakers in formulating a research agenda that will be relevant and significant.”Also speaking at the conference, Mr Ajit Gulabchand of Lavasa Corporations Ltd. said, “It is a matter of great pride for Lavasa to be partnered with the most respected educational institution in the world. This will open new paradigms of educational and managerial excellence for students in both countries.”The OUIBC is the latest initiative in an £825m investment in the development funding of India for the next three years.Currently in New Delhi as part of the Prime Minister’s delegation, Hood is a firm supporter of international academic links. He recognises the historic association of India and Britain, which share “a lot of valuable manuscripts” and “collections of art and artefacts.”The first Indian students came to Oxford in 1871 and just 12 years later, the University founded the Indian Institute. Mr Gulabchand and Dr Hood will sign the official memorandum of agreement at the World Economic Forum at Davos on 25 January.Research leader and Professor of World Literature in English, Elleke Boehmer, said: “The aspects of multiculturalism that attract such interest today – from innovative literature to fear of terrorism – were with us a century ago.”
by Omotola Akerele
Oriel barman removed over college feud
Oriel’s barman has been removed by the college, provoking an outcry from the student body, writes Andrea Televantos.Chris Howells, whose contract was ended last week, said that he had a “professional conflict” with the college steward, and his dismissal had been described as an attempt to “stop fun” by students.Mr Howells was employed on the terms of what he described as a “probationary contract”, and said that the official reason for his removal was that the college “chose not to extend it”.Students have claimed that the college terminated Howell’s employment because he was seen to be too lenient towards students. “They were looking for an excuse to get rid of him,” said one student who wished to remain anonymous, “they were being unreasonable. They’re basically trying to stop fun.”According to student Nick Jones, Howells also attracted blame for the mess left behind after a college bop. “ENTZ didn’t organise it [the bop] well enough”, Jones said, “it was nothing to do with him.”Oriel students allege that the source of friction was the college steward, Jean Medd, who is responsible for the bar staff. She is said to have argued with Howell over him not taking sufficient measures to control student behaviour in the college bar. Mr Howells commented that there was a “certain professional conflict” between him and Medd and in addition a “mutual dislike”.Medd’s policies regarding the student bar have aroused student anger before when she banned staff and students from drinking together in 2004, breaking, in the words of one porter, “a long tradition of porters drinking with students.” According to the porter, she gave “no reason” for doing so, despite pressure from the JCR and staff.
