Der Spiegel has produced a corker. Its latest front cover splashes the Mona Lisa with the face of centre-right Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose coalition is facing a touch of bother over reforms to the economy. The accompanying text asks: "Why is this lady smiling?" They're right, you wonder why she's smiling. The Thatcherite Chancellor disagrees with her coalition allies on subsidies for commuters, plans to partially privatise the national rail system and a minimum wage for postal workers. To make matters worse, rail employees are on strike, the coalition members are sending subtle warnings to each other through the media and the cross-party system seems to be failing miserably. You do wonder how conservatives and socialists can work as allies, but the electoral system in Germany has made it common.A hopeless situation, you'd think? Well, who predicts this setup in Britain in a few years and would even keep their party out of a coalition, thereby encouraging it? That's right, the Liberal Democrats. Watch Chris Huhne say it at about 13min here.

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Happy Holidays, Cappuccino-ers! Because today, on my side of the pond, it’s Thanksgiving. Stories of Pilgrims and Native Americans aside, this holiday is a wonderful chance to overdose on Brussels Sprouts, Candied Yams and the all-American Pumpkin Pie . In between, we’re supposed to find time to count life’s blessings. Here are my thank-yous for the day:

1. I am thankful for Wikipedia , by virtue of which I will be hastily writing two essays without visiting the library once this weekend.

2. I am thankful that I was broke when I left England in May and that I remain broke enough today to stash whatever small sums of money I have under my sofa and not in any bank accounts the Exchequer might be managing.

3. I am thankful that a judge in New York is allowing the theater workers’ strike to continue but has made the performers in the year’s holiday play—“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”—come back to work . Forget labor politics: the city without its Christmas tourist attractions is a true economic crisis.

4. I am thankful that the U.K. and the Commonwealth are talking tough to Pakistan’s military dictator , since the United States appears a bit too enmeshed to do the right thing.

5. I am thankful for hot cups of tea, and for my mother’s care packages of Indian curry mix from home, a delicious break from the horrors of student dining.
6. I am thankful that I live in a country with a holiday exclusively devoted the consumption of large quantities of food.

What are you thankful for?
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An Oxford researcher has attempted to distance himself from “misleading” media reports twisting the results of a study on the effects of binge-drinking on unborn children.
 

The article, published online last week by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, studied the results of experiments carried out over the last 35 years on the relation between binge-drinking during pregnancy and damage to the unborn child.

It concluded that there was “no convincing evidence of adverse effects of prenatal binge-drinking,” but newspaper headlines came out with bold claims such as: ‘Binge-drinking while pregnant OK’ (Metro).

Dr Ron Gray, the senior member of the study’s research team, said that the media’s coverage of the study was inaccurate. He said, “This happens a lot with medical articles. Our conclusion was that the evidence is unclear, not that binge-drinking is safe. In the paper we specifically advise against binge-drinking while pregnant.”

Dr Gray defended his team’s belief that women who report isolated instances of binge-drinking should not be made to feel excessive concern.The research has provoked negative responses from experts who believe that scientists have a responsibility to consider the message that the public might take from their work.

Professor Andrew Shennan, of St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, said, “You learn with time that just because you don’t prove something doesn’t mean it’s not there. If you replicated the study on a larger scale I’d put money on the fact that you would find something. Even very small amounts of alcohol can damage the foetus.”

He added, “To be responsible we need to say that alcohol is not safe. There is a danger that researchers put a spin on their articles because they want them to be high-profile.”

In response to such criticism Dr Gray said, “How could we have known that our research would be misinterpreted? That logic would apply to people doing important research on obesity, smoking, drugs; you name it.”

Mervi Jokinen, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Midwives, said that she was “deeply concerned” that the study gave the impression that drinking during pregnancy is safe, but conceded that the risk from a single episode of binge-drinking during early pregnancy is “minimal.”

She added, “Concerns about possible media response should not influence scientific research, as long as it is carried out ethically."

Both Cherwell and The Oxford Student have scooped awards at this year's Guardian Student Media awards. Former Cherwell Stage Editor Ben Lafferty was runner-up in the best critic category and former Isis Editor Ruth Lewy was runner-up for the best feature writer award. The Oxford Student Editor Andy Heath was runner-up for best reporter.

The widow of a respected Wolfson College don is facing extradition to her native Poland on charges she engineered the wrongful execution of a wartime hero more than fifty years ago.

Helena Wolinska-Brus, now 88 and a resident of North Oxford, joined the Polish communist movement in 1939 after escaping the Warsaw ghetto in the Nazi-occupation era. As a magistrate in the post-war Soviet regime, she headed the 1953 prosecution of Gen. Emil Fieldorf, a wartime resistance leader. Allegedly, his refusal to collaborate with the new regime led to the fabrication of false evidence accusing him of killing Soviet soldiers and communist anti-Nazi fighters.

Fieldorf, whose body has never been found, was posthumously pardoned after the overthrow of the Soviet regime.

The campaign against Mrs Wolinska is being led by Fieldorf’s daughter, Maria, who called the former prosecutor "one of those careerists who are the pillars of any dictatorship." Maria learned from a rabbi that her father had been kept in solitary confinement for 23 months: “He had been starved and harassed and was under constant interrogation,” she said. “It was a terrible experience and I vowed to repay them.”

Mrs Wolinska is also accused of arranging for the false arrests of 24 others as part of a campaign to quell anti-Soviet resistance.

Two previous attempts at extraditing Mrs Wolinska, made in 1999 and 2001, were refused by British authorities because of Mrs Wolinska’s age. Poland’s recent admission to the EU now means, however, that a Warsaw military tribunal was allowed to issue the warrant for Mrs Wolinska without permission from British courts.

Responsibility for making the arrest would lie with the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), who were unable to comment on the case. If convicted, Mrs Wolinska could spend up to 10 years in prison.

Speaking from her home in Bardwell Road, Mrs Wolinska called the case “political,” complaining that she has been made a scapegoat for a trial in which she denies involvement. “I am the only one alive. I can't even call witnesses if I'd like to have them because everyone is dead," she said. “I do not know why the whole business is coming up again. This is an old case.”

Wolinska-Brus has lived in England since 1972 and is now a British citizen. Her husband, Wlodzimierz Brus, was Emeritus Professor of Russian and East European studies and fellow of Wolfson College. He died in August.

By Hannah Nepil

A worrying property of sketch shows is their boundless potential for embarrassment, which at times can reach astonishing proportions. The electric effect of a successful sketch can be flattened with one puny joke and the scene sent reeling like a deflating balloon. There are those who derive some kind of adrenaline kick out of these high risk situations and who, on viewing the title “FEAR” sprawled across the Oxford Revue's programme at the OFS this week, might believe they had cause for celebration.

Happily the ominous tone set by this title jarred with the content of the production itself, whose sophisticated writing, direction and acting dismissed all anxieties. The show boasted an innovative platter of surreal satire.  Particularly memorable was the exchange between Harry Potter and a copiously hairy Dumbledore, whose tresses alone rendered him a rather woolly miracle of wizardry. The players themselves fell prey to their own mockery, the scene-changes were punctuated by growls of “think that was funny, do you?” and the half-hearted tinkling of a pianist so apathetic that he practically dripped on-stage.   Apparently he could not muster the energy to drip back off again, and proceeded to serve as a stony and somewhat inexplicable backdrop to the subsequent drama.

The breadth of styles covered was vast. In West End Diva, Grace Ang-Lygate's considerable talents were showcased. She managed to sing and prance superbly across the stage whilst milking her humorous lines to their full capacity. Michael Docherty, whose “guitar-accompanied comic ditties have been praised by two members of his family” can now congratulate himself on a more substantial following. The cult of the ballet-dancing sperm however provided one of the highlights of the affair, especially when confronted with a hula-hooping egg. The acting was equally varied. Keiran Hodgson and Natalie Dibsdale's versatility and charisma particularly stood out and when the entire cast joined together they did so with absolute cohesion. Some of the scenes could have benefited from further development of the highly comical material whilst parts of the less successful sketches could have been weeded out. Yet, after such a wacky high-energy production, fiercely executed by an outstanding cast, the overwhelming urge was simply to enjoy it. 

Ben Lafferty and Rob Morgan are back with reviews of the week in drama:
 Part One: Laugh Tracks
Part Two: Secrets of Life and Love 
Part Three: Duchess of Malfi 
Check back next week for the last pubcast of term.  

Thames Valley Police have reported that the number of burglaries across Oxfordshire has dropped by a third.
So far there have been 1,054 burglaries in Oxfordshire compared with 1,548 last year – a drop in 494. The city of Oxford itself has seen the biggest fall – 37 per cent from 799 to 504.
November usually sees an increase in burglaries, thought to be due to the shorter daylight hours and the approach of Christmas, with people keeping presents in their homes.
A spokesperson from Thames Valley Police said that they have been working especially hard to investigate and pursue burglaries, and hoped the downward trend would continue.
Insp Colin Paine, head of priority crime in Oxford, said: "In addition to the normal police business of arresting offenders, the burglary team is going one step further by actively making Oxford an uncomfortable place for burglars to live – conducting home visits, phoning them and even sending them birthday cards to remind them not to offend."
Break-ins fell by a third, but violent crime rose by about 30 per cent. There was also a small rise in assaults.

Oxford City Council has rejected the Bodleian Library’s controversial plans to build a £29million book depository at Osney Mead, as well as a major redevelopment of the new Bodleian library in Broad Street.

Despite approval by the city’s strategic development control committee, the plans were rejected due to flooding fears and the “sensitive location” of the proposed depository, with critics worried that the famous dreaming spires skyline would be ruined.

The rejection of the Bodleian’s plans puts the future of the library in jeopardy. With Bodleian Library’s collection currently growing at a rate of three miles of shelving per year, the depository plans would have helped to keep the texts close to the central site. The library now faces placing more of their collection in expensive, inaccessible rented storage space outside of the city.

While the oxford skyline is safe for the time being, James Lamming, Vice President of OUSU, said that “students will be very disappointed”. Dr Sarah Thomas, the Bodley’s librarian has described the Osney depository plans as “the only viable option” to preserve the Bodleian’s reputation as one of the “best university collections in the world.”

By Emma King 

Many consumers believe that ‘organic’ is synonymous with being more nutritious, better for the environment and tastier than conventionally grown food, but how do the two really compare? 
The Environment

At first glance, organic appears to win the points for environmental protection. The range of pesticides and fertilisers available to organic farmers is restricted to a handful of natural chemicals and their use is limited. This should mean less fertiliser run-off into rivers and fewer chemicals persisting in the food chain. 

But using ‘natural’ rather than ‘synthetic’ chemicals in organic farming doesn’t necessarily make organic farming superior.  A natural chemical may be just as harmful to the environment as a man-made one, and synthetic compounds may be just as benign as natural ones. Also the amounts of chemicals used in conventional farming vary widely depending on the crop.  For example a cotton field needs many more pesticides than an olive grove. So we shouldn’t assume than a conventionally produced crop is necessarily more damaging to the environment than any organic crop. 

Organic farming is also less efficient.  Conventional crops give greater yields so less land is taken up than for organic crops. Less land for agriculture means more land that could be set aside for nature. 

Welfare

Organic retailers often boast about the benefits of being organic to animal welfare, but it would be somewhat unfair to think that conventional farmers don’t look after their animals too. A recent report comparing dairy farms in the UK found no significant difference in animal welfare between organic and conventional farms: organic farms were found both at the top and the bottom of the table for lameness, a big problem in dairy farming. The UK’s organic laws do ensure a minimum standard of animal welfare, but so does the ‘Red Tractor’ symbol on conventionally produced food. 

Fairtrade

How many of us have bought organic chocolate thinking it was fairtrade too? I’ll admit I was surprised to learn that only one Green & Black’s product, Maya Gold chocolate, was fairtrade. Both organic and non-organic food can be fairtrade, but being organic alone doesn’t mean a product is fairtrade – it’s only fairtrade if it carries the fairtrade symbol. 

Climate

When it comes to carbon dioxide emissions, the difference between foods lies more in how they get to the consumer than the way in which they were farmed. Both organic and conventionally farmed items need diesel-fuelled farm machinery, and when grown abroad, both types of crop need to be imported by boat or by air.  

The arguments for and against organic get complicated when talking about carbon dioxide and methane, but on the whole, the two types of farming produce about the same amount of greenhouse gas. 

Nutrition

Most research so far shows that organic and conventionally produced foods have much the same nutritional content, although a few studies show that some organic foods are more nutritious. Flavonoids (antioxidants) have recently been in the news for being at levels nearly twice as high in organic than conventional tomatoes. The researchers think that this is because the conventional tomatoes were over-fertilised; they didn’t need to produce the flavonoids to take up nitrogen from the soil. 

The organic lobby complains that conventional crops are soaked in pesticides that are bad for our health, but studies have found pesticide residues on conventionally grown foods are almost always nil. 

Taste

Better taste is highly-trumpeted claim by organic retailers, but taste more often depends on the variety or breed, country of origin and the season than whether it’s organic or not. Of course organic chestnut mushrooms will taste better than conventional button mushrooms; button mushrooms have no flavour anyway. The same goes for strawberries – the only conventional variety available in supermarkets all year round is the cardboard-flavoured ‘Elsanta’, any other variety, be it organic or not, will taste better than that excuse for a fruit.
 So what’s the verdict?
There are good reasons to buy and not to buy organic, but if you do want to be more ethical on a student’s budget, the ‘Red Tractor’ symbol and fairtrade mark are the one’s you should be looking for. 

Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/panos_voudouris/1295208738/

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