By Sarah Kent
John Kofi Agyekun Kufuor, President of Ghana, arrived at the Union with fully twenty dignitaries and journalists in tow. It was an impressive, dignified sight. Or at least it was until the President was shown into a private room. Then pandemonium broke loose; suddenly everyone was running up and down the halls of the union, scrutinising very carefully the pictures on the wall and shouting to each other, ‘is that ’61? Have you found ’61?’ This may seem like strange behaviour from fully grown politicians, but there was reason behind the madness. What they were looking for was a picture showing the members of the Union in 1961, a picture which features the President. I was soon running up and down the halls of the Union, in what can only be described as an ungainly manner, leading Ghanaian officials on a wild goose chase along the corridors. Luckily I was prevented from making a complete fool of myself by a call to meet the President.

I walk into the small room in the Union in which the President is being entertained and am immediately impressed. At 6 foot 3, a height that has lead to him being dubbed the Gentle Giant, Kufuor dominates the room, which he is clearly pleased to be in. For him this is not just a trip to Oxford, but a trip down memory lane.
Of course back in 1961, Oxford was a very different place; men’s and women’s colleges were separate and even the men’s colleges closed at 11pm. If you stayed out after that time you were stuck outside the gates for the night. Though the President did not tell me if he was ever left out in the cold without a bed, he did say that his bedroom was not always much more comfortable than the streets. “The rooms were not central heated, my bedroom had no heating system whatsoever and the sitting room had just a very small gas stove. The winter was savage, really savage and all I could do was get myself blankets, lots of blankets. I literally slept with my suit on.”

Pleasant though it is reminiscing, the President has not come to Oxford to be sentimental. He has come to talk about Africa. He is certainly qualified for the job. On a continent with many players, Ghana holds a central role. It was the first sub-Saharan colony in Africa to gain its independence in 1957, and is looked on as something as a role model for African states. It is a relatively stable country, having never experienced the civil wars or ethnic tensions so common in other African states. It also has a lot of potential; one of its primary exports is gold and a large oil field has recently been discovered. It could hardly be seen as short of natural resources. Indeed, Ghana is often hailed as one of Africa’s success stories.

All this sounds rather positive and President Kufuor is rightly proud of his country and the role he and his party have played in its development. Kufuor’s accession to the title of President in 2000 marked a landmark in Ghana’s history; it was the first peaceful handover of power in the country’s short lifespan. But Kufuor’s time is coming to an end. Next year sees another round of Presidential elections for which he will be unable to stand, having served the two terms allowed him by the constitution. He seems content with this. In a country where the smooth and peaceful passage of power is looked on not only as a constitutional demand but as a normal occurrence this may seem unimportant, but it is clearly something the President wishes to emphasise. When I ask him how he feels about having to step down next year he answers firmly, “I entered knowing my time would be up and I tried very hard to use my time productively for the country, and I believe I chalked some successes, and I believe when the time is up I’ll step down.” In England this may sound like stating the obvious, but in Africa, where heads of state frequently ignore the constitution in order to maintain power, this is an admirable statement.

Of course, the President’s serenity about the changeover may have a lot to do with his confidence in his party. Any suggestions that the opposition party may be making a comeback he poo poos as media propaganda. As proof he cites his government’s many successes. “If you went down to the ground to meet people they will tell you of the dramatic economic successes of the government, you would also see the infrastructure in terms of roads, energy, education and healthcare delivery, so many things.” The statement explains his confidence and seems impressive but a little too positive. Charming and earnest though the President appears, it is perhaps not only the opposition who have engaged with the media for its own purposes.

Whatever he maintains, Kufuor’s image is not squeaky clean. Although his government stands on a platform of ‘zero tolerance for corruption’, he has been accused of exactly that, and particularly of nepotism. Yet the President doggedly denies such accusations. When I ask him about it he is quick to defend himself, stating definitively “This is not true.” Of course, he cannot deny that his brother is the Minister of Defence and many of his in-laws hold prominent positions in the government, but the President is quick to defend himself on this count. He explains, “My direct brother, a very brilliant man, a very accomplished man, has been a parliamentarian since before I came to power and I believe he is qualified to be a member of parliament; my brother-in-law, perhaps the most senior politician in Ghana today. He contested me for the candidacy of our party to be president. If you take these two out I do not have a family member in the cabinet.” This sounds rehearsed but, sitting facing the President, his version of events is very compelling and I want to believe that he is the straight-down-the-line official he presents himself to be.

This is almost certainly a naïve hope, but one I’d rather maintain than go down the road of the cynic. Either way, before judgement is passed, Kufor’s presidency must be put in perspective. Corruption is practically a given in any world leader’s assent to power, yet equally it must be acknowledged that he is one of the least corrupt rulers in Africa at the moment. His policy of zero tolerance certainly seems to have been effective. Ghana is currently ranked a joint seventh alongside Egypt as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa on the Corruption Perceptions Index. Given the number of countries in Africa this status is impressive.

And this policy is not Kufuor’s only success. He has also been widely recognised, particularly in the international community, for the economic measures he has introduced in Ghana, many of which have involved increased international development, including the introduction in September of Ghanaian bonds, the first sold by a West African state. A further testament to the success of his economic policy is the award received by Ghana’s Finance Minister just last month from the World Bank, naming Ghana the Top Reforming African Country. But of course there is a downside to all this international recognition. The fact remains that Ghana is still a primarily subsistence agrarian economy and the injection of international money into the economy will not necessarily translate into development.

The problems Ghana faces in such ambitious plans were recently chrystalised in the country’s preparation for the 2008 Africa Cup, which Ghana will host. Two new stadiums had to be built for the event, and contracts were issued to a Chinese company. Immediately a problem arose. In order to complete the stadiums on schedule, the normal technology transfer in such projects – that is, the training and use of local workers – would have to be sacrificed, and sacrificed they were. But Kufuor seems sanguine about such problems. He sees international investment only as a result of internal growth and does not admit to any dangers in his policies.

Ghana is far from being a model country, and Kufuor follows suit. In terms of Africa, though, Ghana is a success story; in terms of politicians, Kufuor is earnest and, more importantly, successful.

Far right groups have called for a campaign targeting students who demonstrate against Nick Griffin and David Irving’s appearances at the Oxford Union in two weeks time.
Anti-fascist and student groups claim that students could be attacked on the day of the free speech forum in eighth week, and an Oxford student blogger has been sent death threats by neo-Nazi groups on the Internet.
Blogs on fascist websites have called for supporters to congregate in Oxford during the debate and to challenge protesters.
One blogger on fascist website ‘Survive or Die 14’ issued “a call to all right minded British patriots,” saying, “Plans have been made by every scum group in the area and around the country to try and disrupt this event. The brainless bullies of the left along with the self interested from various ‘minority’ groups will all descend on the town on that day in an attempt to stifle free speech.
“It is time that UK Nationalists showed these filthy vermin that we will not bow to threats of violence and bully boy tactics. In my own opinion we should be there on the 26th, not to stoop to the level of the scum by committing acts of violence. Our aim should be to let David Irving and anyone else who the reds attempt to stifle [know] that we are prepared to support them.”
Steven Altman-Richer, co-President of the Oxford University Jewish Society, said this was a clear indication of plans to intimidate student groups.
“We feel that this shows an actualised threat that fascist supporters will descend on Oxford for Irving and Griffin’s talk, therefore putting the safety of Oxford students at risk,” he said. “We are extremely concerned…not just for the safety of the Jewish community but for all minorities and all students.”
Sabby Dhula, co-ordinator of the national group Unite Against Fascism, also said that students were in danger and called on the Union to cancel the forum.
“We are very concerned for the safety of students, staff and all at Oxford University. A Neo-Nazi group is threatening to attack those who oppose the Oxford Union debate with the BNP.”
“The BNP is participating in a supposed civilised debate at Oxford, in order to give itself the sheen of legitimacy, when its stated aim of an all white Britain would only be achievable through violence, and its members have criminal convictions for violence and racism. We therefore call on the Oxford Union to stop lending legitimacy to fascism and withdraw these invites immediately,” she said.
Duncan Money, a second-year from Balliol, said that he had received death threats after criticising fascist groups in an internet blog, and described those planning disruption at the Union as “complete nutters.”
“I have received hundreds of threats from fascist groups,” he said. “My family has been threatened, my friends have been threatened and I’ve been threatened. On one occasion someone rang my home phone in the middle of night and said they would cut my throat. I have received hundreds of threats from members of the BNP and far right groups.”
Several groups have organized protests against appearances by Nick Griffin and David Irving. Wadham College Students’ Union is to protest in conjunction with members of student group ‘Make Oxford Just Initiative’, as well as members of the Jewish Society and the Islamic Society.
Thames Valley Police have advised people not to attend the Union on the evening of the debate if they are not permitted to attend the forum. They are currently liaising with the Oxford Union and protest groups in preparation for the event.
Oxford Union President Luke Tryl confirmed that there would be increased security measures in place, and announced his intention to hold a poll in conjunction with the Union’s termly elections to judge support among members for the invitations.

Rebecca Lacey warns of the dangers of irresponsible sex
What springs to mind when you think of casual sex? Drunken fumbling at the Bridge leading to more? Perhaps the casual arrangement known as ‘f**k buddies’ or ‘friends with benefits’. The term implies sex without a purpose, detached from any ties. But can you really describe anything about sex as causal?

Most Christians would teach that sex should only be within the security of marriage. The Roman Catholic church goes even further and argues that sex should not be causal even within marriage. Men “commit adultery with their wives by desiring sex for its mere pleasure and the satisfaction of instinct”. Sex should be for the purpose of procreation, pleasure is secondary. I’m not saying that you should be married to have sex. I firmly believe in the pleasures of good sex and the freedom of women to enjoy their sexuality. This has obviously become much easier since the development of the pill in 1967. But the idea of ‘casual sex’ is a fallacy. There is no such thing as sex with ‘no strings attached’. Alcohol-fuelled one night stands, often leave a horrible, nauseous feeling of regret at being used the morning after – the type of sex Cosmopolitan editor Lorraine Candy once termed ‘McSex’, cheap, meaningless, greasy. It isn’t possible to detatch emotions from sex. The chemistry agrees: oxytocin and vasopressin, hormones which enter the bloodstreams of men and women after orgasm, increase feelings of bonding and love towards your partner.

The increasing acceptance of casual sex in our society may also have contributed to the worrying rise of STDs and abortions: now one in four people will have an STD at some point in their life, and the abortion rate in Britain rose 3.9% from 2005-2006. Chlamydia, which has few or no symptoms and so often goes undetected, can lead to infertility in both men and women, damaging women’s fallopian tubes and leading to sperm damage and inflammation of the testicles in men.

Casual sex also takes away the intimacy that you can achieve when in a stable relationship. Worrying how you look and trying not to think about how many other people have slept in the bed you’re in just don’t compare to relishing the lustful, passion-filled sex that feels so good perfected in a loving relationship.

Toby Hill is out to have fun and get laid 
The guilt that can accompany casual sex suggests that there is something inherently amiss with it. If we consider where we have received such an instinctive reaction from though, one source seems salient: a religious code, initially intended to perpetuate the survival of a small Middle Eastern tribe a couple of millennia ago.

To believe such morality still holds decisive relevance for modern society necessitates a faith in the existence of an omnipotent God, whose commandments must be taken without question. Thus – if today we reject belief in an all-knowing God, then this entire moral value system must crumble; we can no longer talk of the simple ‘immorality’ of casual sex, or invoke our instinctive feelings against it. We’ve seen a similar process occur with homosexuality.

So! We need other justification if we are to condemn casual sex without a fundamentalist faith. And such concerns do, of course, exist; pure sensual pleasure rarely comes without a corollary …

A popular suggestion is that sex should be a highly emotional act between two loving individuals, and that to reduce it to a tool to induce sensual pleasure is to demean it. Of course, this conception of sex – as a high form of emotional communion – is almost certainly preferable. However, why can’t we just accept the existence of two types of sex? One – animal-like and of only momentary importance; the other, imbued with feeling and thus of lasting significance. To say the first demeans the second seems an arbitrary judgement; surely it is equally probable that the contrast between the two serves to emphasise the value of relationship-embedded sex.

A second problem is that of risk. Clearly, one reason that the sexual ethics of deceased societies are of less relevance today is that we have contraception. Safe sex! Of course, no sex is ever entirely safe. There is risk, but many of our recreational activities are risky. As long as this risk is accepted by two consenting adults, then surely it should be their choice whether or not to take it. Really, there can be no reason for anyone today to criticise another for their sexual promiscuity.

US CIVIL RIGHTS leader and former presidential nominee Reverend Jesse Jackson has warned that the an increased drive to encourage applications from black students is “critical to the integrity” of the University.
Speaking at the launch of the Aspire programme on Wednesday, which aims to recruit more black students to the University, Revd Jackson urged the University to step up its efforts to create a more culturally diverse institution.
“Critical to the integrity of the mission of the University is diversity. If it expects to influence the world, the student body must look like the real world order. It cannot exist as an island and be credible or relevant. The burden on the University is to honour the integrity of its mission of inclusion. Its credibility is on the line,” he said.
In the academic year 2006-7, there were 143 full-time undergraduate students from a black or mixed white and black background at Oxford, which is around 1.3 per cent of the entire student population.
Black students at Oxford agreed that the current system was still failing and welcomed the Aspire’s aims of addressing the situation.
Third-year Brasenose student Katherine Marks said, “I fully support the aims of Aspire because I think it is a great shame that there may be thousands of students out there who have the potential and the ability to come to Oxford and achieve great things but are not allowed the opportunity to do so based on what appears to boil down to skin colour. Now is the time to increase its cultural diversity by encouraging people who wouldn’t normal class themselves as the ‘Oxford type’ to apply.”
President of Oxford University’s Afro-Carribean Society Nennia Orji agreed that the issue was not one of black students’ ability, but rather a lack of opportunity and confidence.
“At the moment we’re lacking opportunity not ability. Aspire will really open up opportunities for black students. Maybe at the moment it’s a lack of role models that makes them think they haven’t got a chance,” she said.
The Aspire programme, a Regent’s Park College initiative in collaboration with Christ Church Canterbury University and the CTBI racial justice team, aims to widen access to higher education for young black students.
It will combine research into the obstacles faced by black participation in higher education with practical support to those who do decide to apply, including mentoring and visits to the University to meet with tutors and current students. 
Sukie Watson, a member of the University Access Team, pointed to current statistics as an indicator that more needed to be done. “Last year, we unfortunately only had a 16 per cent success rate of black students. It’s partly to do with the very small numbers who apply, but the simple fact is it’s not good enough. Aspire sets out to work on two aspects: first of all to understand the problem better, and secondly to try and do something about it,” she said.
“It is important for Oxford and for Regent’s Park to develop a more inclusive project to make Oxford more diverse because it does improve our intellectual ability. It makes us able to understand the world from new points of view. And because Oxford is a world-class university, it needs to have students from every part of that world and that’s what will make us an interesting and dynamic place for the future.”
Students agreed that a common problem which put many off applying to the University was the Oxford stereotype.
Michael Isola of Regent’s Park College said, “People think that Oxford’s just for white people, just for middle-classes students, just for boys from Harrow and Eton, and it is dominated by those people, but there’s a place for black people too.” While Jackson was in Oxford promoting Aspire he was named an Honorary Fellow of Regent’s Park College in recognition of his contribution towards human rights.

EXETER COLLEGE is in mourning following the sudden deaths of two first-year students on Monday. Sundeep Watts and Harcourt ‘Olly’ Tucker died within 48 hours of each other in two unrelated incidents.
After being diagnosed with bacterial meningitis on Saturday, Sundeep was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, where he passed away two days later. Olly suffered a heart attack while playing hockey at Iffley Road on Sunday and died the next day.
Exeter College has been closed to the public and authorities have expressed their condolences to the students’ families and friends.
College Rector Frances Cairncross said, “Exeter College is devastated by the deaths of Sundeep Watts and Harcourt ‘Olly’ Tucker. Our hearts go out to their families and friends. All the specialists dealing with him have assured us that there is no connection whatsoever between the two cases.
“The College has taken advice at every stage from the public-health authorities. Their view is that our other students are not at any increased risk of contracting meningitis. However, we have reinforced from Saturday onwards knowledge of the warning symptoms of meningitis. We have arranged an extensive network of counselling for anyone who requires it,” she said. 
According to the Health Protection Agency, Sundeep died from bacterial meningitis, which is carried by approximately 10 per cent of the population. The University has stressed that students are not at risk of a widespread meningitis outbreak, but have taken precautionary measures by distributing meningitis leaflets warning of infection symptoms.
Doctors attributed Tucker’s  death to a rare but potentially fatal heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is often known to cause sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes.
Hugh Watkins, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and a fellow at Exeter, said that the condition was uncommon, only affecting 1 in 500 people and in most cases was not fatal.
He said that in a small proportion of cases it could cause sudden heart rhythm disturbances that result in cardiac arrest, and that this was often the reason behind the deaths of young people during physical activity.
“These heart rhythm disturbances can strike out of the blue. When people die during sport HCM is one of the frequently found causes. For those known to have the condition protective treatments are available. Because of this, and because HCM usually is inherited, families affected by this sort of tragedy are offered screening,” Watkins added. 
Friends and colleagues have set up Facebook groups honouring the two students, and tributes of praise have poured in for them.
Leeds student Sami Eldirdiry-Osman, who had known Sundeep since childhood, said, “He was the nicest guy you would ever meet. Me and Sunny spent so much time together as kids, Deep was like a little brother to me. I remember playing bulldogs in the garden and 40-40 round the house, so many good memories. Deep was the kind of guy who never said a bad word about anyone and was always smiling. He was smart, funny, athletic and he’ll be sorely missed by all,” he said.
Another friend wrote, “I’ve known Deep since primary school and throughout this whole time he has always been the kindest, sweetest and by far the funniest person I’ve met.
God Bless you Deep.”
Olly’s friends prasied his intelligence and sporting skills, describing him as a popular and friendly individual.
“Olly was more than just an intelligent guy, he was a gentleman, a well rounded and enthusiastic guy with a lot going for him and a good friend to anybody he ever met. Winning the best all-rounder award at school was just a small indication of his stature and abilities as a person,” said one friend.
Daniel Sonnekus added, “You grew from a shy new boy to an amazing popular star everyone wanted to be at school and if they didn’t want to be you they wanted to know you. You touched many people and will never be forgotten. We are all keeping your family in our prayers.”

By Edward Parker 
When it comes to going that extra mile, many people rise honourably to the challenge but, truth be told, the rest of us would rather stay in and watch Neighbours. For a long time, idleness has been associated with those who lack the motivation to do something useful with their brief existence. But now science might have another answer.

Many aspects of our behaviour on a day-to-day basis result from the intricate workings of our body’s internal clock. This extends as far as our temperature, the level of hormones in our blood, and, crucially, how alert we are. The biological clock, or “circadian rhythm”, is a self-sustaining loop that relates to the expression of particular genes throughout the day. In mammals, the main control centre for this daily rhythm lies in a part of the brain just behind the eyes, called the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Here, a range of genes is expressed in daily cycles, responding to varying light levels that influence our temporal behaviour changes. For instance, the two genes, Timeless and Period, act together to regulate a cascade of other physiological processes that govern our changing activity and temper.

Mutations in any of the numerous genes that influence our biological clock can result in this being speeded up or slowed down. In some cases, this change can be extreme. For instance, people suffering from the hereditary disorder, Familial Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (FASPS), wake up at around 4.30am and fall asleep at around 7.30pm. The tem oral program of behaviour and physiology is so scrambled that regular patterns of day and night are impossible to keep up with.

However, not all mutations are so extreme. Many variations of the genes influencing our biological clock only subtly alter our patterns of alertness and mood each day. In fact, it has recently been shown that the tendency of some to be “morning people” (think of the rowers who return from a dawn outing before you’ve had time to ignore your first alarm) may be in no small way related to predisposition of the biological clock.
And what about the rest of us? The genes which enable some people to pay attention during a 9am lecture are perhaps be the same ones causing the rest of us to fall asleep after five minutes. Of course, this might also be due to that late night at Filth you’re trying so hard to forget.

A FORMER Oxford student has been crowned Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Esquire magazine’s ‘Man at the Top’ business awards. Charlie Osmond, 30, co-founded the recruitment consultancy FreshMinds with fellow Oxford graduate Caroline Plumber, beating off competition from four other hopefuls to win the title.
Osmond, who graduated from Worcester College in 2000, was in his final year when he came up with the idea for the business.
On the FreshMinds website, the company is described as “a recruitment consultancy for high calibre candidates.”
It says, “Only the best candidates make it into our talent pool and our client list includes exciting companies ranging from big blue chips to fast-moving start-ups. Candidates come to us to find the most stimulating roles around. Clients come to us for help to identify, recruit and retain the very best talent for permanent roles and project work.”
Osmond said he started the company after realising that businesses could use the potential and talent of graduates who were taking gap years.
“I had many friends who were going into consultancy and banking who were going away to travel for a year. I realised that there was this wealth of untapped minds of highly capable people available with time on their hands. For example, one of our first ‘minds’ went on to work for McKinsey and Company,” he said.
Osmond, who studied Engineering, Economics and Management at Oxford, was delighted to win the award, considering it to be a valuable recognition of his company’s achievements.
He added that his degree at Oxford as well as his experience in the JCR had been crucial in forming his success.
“I was JCR President, which was useful as it gave me good team management training. For me personally my degree was extremely valuable,” he said. “Engineering taught me that no matter how difficult a problem was you could solve it, while economics and management was good as it gave me a good grounding in the issues and problems we faced as these were problems we had studied and thought about at university.”
Kirsty Mann, one of the company’s ‘minds’, who graduated from Somerville College in 2004, said businesses used the company to carry out research projects with a view to offering and providing solutions and ideas.
Mann, who wants to become an actress, praised the flexibility of the company which allowed her to fit auditions around work.
“I’m trying to break into musical theatre, and graduated a year ago from the Royal Academy of Performing Arts, so I need a temporary job that is very flexible. You’re given work on a project by project basis so it’s very flexible and provides good and interesting temporary work,” she said.
According to Mann, the company acts as a good intermediary step into many different fields of work.
“It’s brilliant for people who want to move into management consultancy or banking. They get very good work experience. Another one of my colleagues is looking to be a journalist, and so this provides him with money and experience while he searches for a job,” she said. 

 Dir. Tom Meltzer. OFS 7.30pm Tues-Sat; 2.30pm Sat; 7th Week
 I’ve spent a lot of time laughing lately, and my face hurts. Further, the realisation that I’m going to have to write 15 words for every minute I saw of the Oxford Revue’s preview show was hardly likely to bring a smile to my face. Given these circumstances the Revue should be commended for having produced any flicker of amusement in my dead eyes. The fact that they actually made me laugh should earn them some sort of award. ‘Write what you know’ might be the dictum of serious novelists, but if anything it’s more applicable to comedy. Anyone who signed up for something unfamiliar at Freshers’ Fair can relate to Jack Bernhardt’s discomfort as he is shown by Sensei Joe Markham how to ‘absorb the impact’ in a martial arts lesson which includes defence-against-assailants-armed-with-a-paddle. Far and away the best sketches are ones which play off situations we’re all uncomfortably familiar with. Matt Lacey got the loudest applause of the afternoon for a monologue, delivered into a mobile and punctuated with “yah” and “nah”, detailing his adventures on his gap year (“ye-ahr”?). Ethno-rahs might be an easy target, but Lacey does his bit with relish and unerring accuracy, including sudden lapses into articulacy and humanity.

The show fails when it aims for targets which aren’t so familiar: when unable to draw out details from personal experience, they’re left exploiting old stereotypes of pushy parents, schizoid psychiatrists and pathetic first-time authors. That said, when they broaden their range of fire beyond Oxford to take out George Galloway, they succeed roundly. What’s special about this sketch is its original approach – he’s an easy target, but they’ve chosen to excoriate him for one of his less-noted faults. The Revue turns its sharp gaze on reality, and shows it to be completely ridiculous: the apotheosis of comedy because it’s utterly uncontrived and completely true.

Laughter is contagious, and an abbreviated preview of a sketch show is more like a vaccination. It’s hard to tell you what the Revue do, without telling you what they did: it’s really tempting to just fill this review by documenting their jokes. But this would be a disservice to you and them both, because I don’t think I can describe how well Joe Markham shrinks his frame and intellect to become Harry Potter, or how Michael Doherty’s song about sexual perversion will make you want to sing along inappropriately.

The Revue has problem in wrapping up sketches – in TV you can cut to something else immediately, but on stage you literally have to leave them laughing, at least for long enough to allow time for minions to scuttle on and move chairs. That said, the cast’s greatest asset is their confidence: even when jokes fall flat, they seem utterly self-possessed and so we aren’t left squirming with embarrassment or, worse, feeling obliged to laugh. However, for reasons unknown, they have adopted costumes and sets of deep purple and mustard yellow: not so good if your eyes hurt. So if you have, for instance, visual migraines or a wicked hangover you probably won’t enjoy the show. Everyone else will though, and you’ll be gutted you missed it.
by Emma Butterfield

AN ANNUAL competition for potential Oxford entrepreneurs relaunched on Tuesday, offering a substantial cash prize that could total millions of pounds.
Last year’s winners of Oxford Entrepreneurs’ ‘Idea Idol’ competition were given a blank cheque and offered access to millions of pounds of private funding after impressing a group of venture capitalists.
Sheena Amin, a St Peter’s second-year running the event, said she hoped the competition would encourage students to develop original business ideas.
“The competition is a way to promote an entrepreneurial mindset among its members, and the idea behind it is to encourage people to think of creative ideas which they can then transform into a viable business. We want to make it as accessible as possible for undergraduates, too, as last year it was hard for them to compete with MBAs who already had a lot of business experience,” Amin said.
Over 200 applicants entered the 2006 competition, which promises substantial financial backing and professional business mentoring for the group with the most innovative idea.
Entrants have to write a 100-word summary of their idea, with the top 25 shortlisted for consideration. The second round involves writing a detailed business model before the final eight face a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style panel of successful entrepreneurs.
The commencement of this year’s competition was marked by a drinks party last Tuesday and an official launch at the Said Business School. Guest speakers included BBC2 ‘Dragons’ Den’ winner Imran Hakim and Nick Jenkins, founder of stationery company ‘Moonpig’.
Last year’s winning team included Christ Church DPhil student Tom Whitfield, whose team impressed judges with their plan to sell online time capsules through the website www.miomi.com. 
Whitfield said, “We won ‘Idea Idol’ in February…I think it’s really great to have a platform to encourage students to become entrepreneurs. You have the opportunity to work with a really smart team and the overall set-up is a trendy yet cutting-edge environment.”

By Rhian Harris 
The recent news that an item of children’s clothing had been produced for the high-street clothing store Gap using forced child labour may be appalling, but does not come as a shock to most. Consumers have become increasingly aware of – and concerned about – the origins of the clothes they buy. It was in the 1990s that trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) first began to highlight the plight of factory workers in the developing world producing clothes for leading North American and European companies.

Like most other students living on a limited budget, I have often found myself heading to the perpetually-busy Primark in the Westgate centre, picking up tops for as little as one pound or a pair of shoes for just five pounds. Yet as I join the lengthy queue to pay, I have increasingly found myself pondering the ethics of my decision to patronise suhc budget retailers. The media often report appalling working conditions in the developing world clothing factories of big companies, and budget retailers have been laid with much of the blame. As I queued, however, I noticed a sign declaring Primark’s membership of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI): how, therefore, could working conditions be as bad as reported?

The Ethical Trading Initiative is a scheme involving trade unions, companies and not-for-profit organisations, aimed at encouraging companies to accept more responsibility for working conditions in their supply chains. Primark joined comparatively recently, in 2006, and published its Ethical Trading Strategy (ETS) earlier this year. It states unequivocally: “Primark is determined that our focus on providing value & quality for consumers should not be at the expense of people in our supply chain”. Before becoming a member of the ETI, Primark scored just 3.5 out of 20 in a review of the ethical standards of companies by ‘New Consumer’ magazine, although the publication later admitted that its results were unfair as Primark is part of a bigger company.

A flaw in the Ethical Trading Initiative is that its members are allowed to formulate their own Ethical Trading Strategy and there is no external body to decide whether they are fulfilling their own objectives. Membership of the ETI is not proof that the clothes sold in stores have been produced ethically. Clothing companies are becoming increasingly keen to at least ‘appear’ morally sound. This is because many institutional investors now have Socially Responsible Investment, discouraging investment in companies which cannot demonstrate appropriate working conditions. It would be naïve, however, to imagine that companies have suddenly ‘grown a heart’. Sales of ethically-traded products (such as those bearing the ‘fair trade’ logo), have increased by 40% over 2006 worldwide as the social conscience of consumers has developed.

The nature of the clothing industry has changed dramatically over the last decade. New clothing ranges used to hit the shelves just twice a year, whereas now stock is updated constantly, with new collections out every few weeks. The buzz in clothing retail is currently about ‘fast fashion’, where clothes seen on the catwalk are copied by high-street companies to have versions in their shops in just a few weeks; for example the George at Asda ‘Fast Fashion’ range. It is now fashionable to ‘boast’ that a certain item of clothing was ‘only a fiver from Primark/ Matalan/ Tesco’, rather than pretending that your Primark sweater is actually a Prada creation. Clothes have become so cheap now (women’s clothing prices have decreased by one-third in ten years) that consumers can afford to buy clothes much more frequently to keep up with the rapidly-changing fashions. Each item is often worn only a few times before being discarded. A quarter of clothes bought in the UK are from Primark, Matalan, Asda or Tesco, but only 10% of our clothing budget is spent there. Fast fashion and our excessive consumption of cheap clothes may delight the fickle industry, but the way it has been made possible is exceptionally fast production lines in clothing factories, which can have damaging consequences for workers.

‘Just-in-time’ production is now commonplace, where each part of a garment is produced only on demand, allowing strict deadlines to be met and improving efficiency, speed and cutting wastage costs. Companies now place smaller orders, more often. This reduces costs for clothing companies because they can react to consumer demand much more quickly and accurately. For example: if an item of clothing originally produced in a small quantity proves very popular, it can later be produced in larger quantities without losses if the item proves unpopular. This system, however, puts factory workers under great stress: they have to be very flexible, as they never know when work is coming in or how much work there will be. The term ‘feast or famine’ describes how there will be little work for a long duration and then a sudden huge demand, causing workers to suddenly have to put in huge amounts of overtime, often working more than 80 hours a week though rarely paid extra. Because work is not regular, workers also tend to be employed on a temporary basis, so they do not have the stability of a regular wage.

Media reports have made much of the often extremely low wages of factory workers, even when compared to other local wages. For example, Arcadia (the company owned by billionaire Sir Philip Green that includes Topshop/ Topman, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge) was recently reported as using factories where workers were paid just 22-40p per hour, about 40% less than the local average. ‘Labour Behind the Label’ campaigns for factory workers to receive a ‘living wage’ (the minimum required to cover basic needs, plus a small amount extra); a criterion definitely not met by the reported Arcadia wage. It was also reported that in at least one factory, workers were paid different wages according to their nationality, with Bangladeshi workers paid a lot less than those from Sri Lanka. Part of the problem is that the Arcadia group is not a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative. It has its own code of conduct, but this is of course self-regulated, if at all. Jane Shepherdson, who resigned as brand director of Topshop last year, was reported as saying that consumers cannot keep buying cheap clothes and “not ask where they come from”.

Clothing companies use their power over suppliers to force them to compete with each other. Primark, for example, only ever stays with suppliers for a short period, moving on when it finds a more economical alternative. Factories in the developing world often lack expertise or technology to achieve these cuts in cost/time of production, so instead they force their workers to work ever-longer hours for ever less money. International consultants Acona have said that “there are profound and complex connections between the normal commercial buying practice of a company, and its suppliers’ ability to meet required ethical standards.” In other words, if clothing companies continue to squeeze factories in this way, deterioration in workers’ conditions and rights is inevitable.

So what can we, as consumers, do to improve worker conditions? Well, foremost, there has been a rapid increase in the number of guaranteed fair trade and organic clothing companies in recent years. ‘People Tree’ was the first company in its field, a clothing company that works with small-scale production groups in other continents, using local skills such as embroidery and supporting local community projects, to produce clothing ethically and in an environmentally-responsible manner. Safia Minney, the founder of People Tree, boldly stated that company directors should be held “criminally liable for their overseas operations in the developing world.”
Leading high-street companies have begun to realise that there is a growing market for these ethically-produced clothes. Topshop recently launched a range of clothes made in conjunction with People Tree. M&S has also recently made its main range of basic women’s t-shirts fair-trade. Change is happening but it is minor, slow and rarely for the right reasons.

What can a concerned student do to help? The logical solution to this issue is a composite one. Consumers drive supply and need to take a stand, boycotting companies found to be violating workers’ rights. We need to support companies that adhere to fair trade regulations, and pressure groups such as ‘Labour Behind the Label’ in their attempts to change government legislation. Many consumers are still not aware of the awful working conditions their clothes are made in. So the issue needs to stay in the media, to boost demand for, and hence supply of ‘ethical products’. With some luck this article will encourage you to consider the true cost of ‘cheap’ clothes.