TOUTED as potential winners of the Premier Division at the start of term, New College have since struggled to pull off an uninspiring draw against newly promoted Wadham and suffered a league-cup double defeat by Worcester. Brasenose, on the other hand, went into this fixture undefeated, with the prospect of a lengthy cup run still a possibility. With the New team weakened by "Freshers’ Flu", it was easy to see which side was the more relaxed.

The opening exchanges were scrappy, but not without incident at either end of the park. First, a deflected free kick gave Brasenose successive corners with New struggling to clear their lines, but soon after they started asking questions of the Brasenose defence. A speedy break by James Sutton on the left wing was ended only by a trip on the edge of the area. Much to the dismay of the New players, who thought they had a good shout for a penalty, the referee awarded a free kick which skipper Tom Howell could only drill into the wall.

As the game settled down Brasenose’s own brand of attractive football started to fashion openings, but they still failed to take advantage of them. As the interval approached, however, Brasenose broke the deadlock. A cross from the left hand side was met by Elliot Kelly, who made no mistake in beating his marker and heading past New keeper, Simon Nowell.

But Brasenose weren’t going to wait until the second half to double their lead. McCormick chipped the ball beyond the New full-back for scorer Kelly to turn provider, with a brilliant cross that picked out Leviseur, whose header across goal gave the keeper no chance. It was was probably the move of the match, and left New staring down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat.

If New had doubts, they didn’t show at the restart, as the Brasenose defence was immediately under pressure. When they failed to clear the ball far enough upfield a New throw led to a brilliant cross from the right flank across the six yards box, leaving a simple tap in for John Cordle to give New a lifeline.

Brasenose kept playing the better football, but it was New who had the ball where it mattered and began to test the home side’s keeper. Tom Howell was proving a handfull up front, with a tight angle shot palmed at the near post for a corner followed by a a close range header which found the keeper’s hands.As the final whistle neared, New were unwilling to commit players forward and they seemed headed for defeat. Howell took the game into his own hands, latching onto a speculative ball up field by the New keeper. He bundled past the last defender before beating the keeper to the ball and slotted home to break Brasenose hearts and claim a hard-earned point against more skilled opponents.

NINE hundred years of heritage. A century of lacrosse. A dark blue side which has lost half its winning varsity squad. This was the position of OULC at the start of this term and I would be lying if I denied being apprehensive about assuming the captaincy of the women’s team.

However, respecting the consistently high standards that the crosse-wielding females of Oxford have achieved in past years, my vice captains (Oli Valner at Teddy Hall and Alex Carruthers of Univ) and I were determined that this year should be no different.

With a depleted yet strong body of players, we had high hopes that this year’s set of freshers would turn out in full force to replenish our squad, and to reverse last season’s situation when only six first years were competing for places. Our hopes were not misplaced; if any of you were wandering the streets of Oxford last Wednesday night, you might have been lucky enough to encounter a large rabble of rowdy animals being shepherded by their zoo keepers from Cowley to the town centre. This was, in fact, the 18-strong group of freshers being initiated into the lacrosse squad.

Whilst the coordination of the fresher group on that particular night might lead people to doubt the aptitude of this year’s squad, if you were to frequent the Iffley Road Astroturf on a Sunday evening, or stroll through Parks on a Friday afternoon (or even sunrise on Mondays morning if you are so inclined), a very different situation becomes apparent. Not only would you be able to see that the newcomers bring with them a great deal of talent and commitment, but, even more excitingly, a great deal of potential. With such a healthy influx of new players and a good start to the season, there is nothing to suggest that a defining memory of second year will not be another Varsity victory and, even better, this time at home.

IN a thrilling game against their main division two rivals, played with plenty of aggression and no small measure of skill, the Christ Church XV emerged resoundingly victorious. This win means that they have secured promotion for the third successive season.

The match was electric from the start, with a powerful run from the kick off by Christ Church prop Chris Hughes setting the tone for a solid forward display from his side. At the beginning of the game the Worcester fringe defence was tested to the limit by the strength and dynamic running of the Christ Church pack. However, despite this period of dominance, points were hard to come by as Worcester tackled hard, with plenty of committment. Their first real scare came when the Worcester wing dealt poorly with fly half Ashley Gillard’s kick, allowing his opposite number Chris Cole to steal the ball and make nearly 70 metres before being hauled down. Cole continued to look dangerous, and it was his menacing running that brought the first breakthrough, a score touched down by full-back Jamie Holdoway on the left touchline after an excellent break. When this was converted by sure-footed Gillard, Christ Church felt they had gained just reward for their dominance.

Worcester came back strongly however, exerting pressure on the Christ Church line, but some excellent tackling right on the line by open-side Ian Horn denied them a try. The importance of this missed opportunity was heightened when Christ Church captain Christopher Perfect finished off a period of sustained pressure to bring the scoreline to 12-0. However, the effort being put in by the Christ Church side was starting to tell, and when a couple of sloppy penalties were conceded, Blues footballer Lucian Weston stepped up to show off the full range of his skills. He converted both, and suddenly the game was right back in the balance. The Christ Church try-line was under siege, and when Worcester scrum-half Ben Battcock finally burrowed over on the stroke of half time, the successfully struck conversion gave them a lead of a single point. The momentum seemed to have swung Worcester’s way, and when Ian Horn was sent to the sin-bin for persistent infringement the game looked to be Worcester’s for the taking.

However, the Christ Church forwards dug in for a supreme effort, and when Dan Barnes went over for his team’s third try while they were still down to 14 men, it seemed to change the complexion of the game. It was at this point a Christ Church victory was secured. Despite the loss of inside-centre Duncan Chiah to a nasty head wound, the controlled rugby that they played during the last twenty minutes allowed them two more tries, including a second for Dan Barnes, securing their victory.Captain Chris Perfect was pleased with his side’s performance, telling reporters "It was a good win against a good side, and we will look forward to playing them again next season" He appeared enthusiastic about his side’s prospects for the next season, and looks forward to testing his side against the very best in college rugby. The disappointed Worcester side will be looking for a solid performance next week in order to secure their own promotion hopes, however Christ Church can start to plan their assault on the top flight of college rugby.

ON a sunny October afternoon in the University Parks, newly promoted Magdalen showed the first division that they are here to stay with a solid victory over a disappointing Teddy Hall side that was lacking structure and composure.

Magdalen, fresh from a convincing victory over St. Hugh’s, were looking to make it three wins out of four in their first season in the top division for some time; and their opponents, Teddy Hall, after two poor losses to Keble and Catz, had last week shown glimpses of the Hall sides of old, ripping St. Peter’s to shreds with quality running rugby.

The visitors started the strongest; with South African fly half Andrew Barnes putting Teddy Hall under pressure with a series of long probing kicks. Fifteen minutes in, their territorial advantage told when Hall conceded a penalty for holding on under the shadow of their own posts, which Barnes slotted to make it 3-0.

Teddy Hall responded brightly, fly half Will Stevens drifted off a pass, dummied and then cut through a hole in the midfield defence. Drawing the fullback, he floated an inviting pass to winger Pete Cay, who stormed onto it only to be dragged down inches from the line by a great covering tackle. This was a defining moment of the game as Hall’s pressure was not converted into points, and Magdalen were able to clear their lines.

Barnes then began to completely dominate the game, scything breaks through desperate Hall tackles were interspersed with two sublime penalties to make it 9-0, one of which was struck from the half way line and chillingly reminiscent of Francois Steyn’s kick in Stade de France a few weeks ago.

The increasingly confident fly half then ghosted through the Hall defence to release David Williams who touched down under the posts. A solitary Stevens penalty was all Hall could reply with, trailing 19-3 at the break.

A more spirited Hall emerged after half time, but again could not convert possession and territory into points, lacking consistency and ruthlessness all over the pitch. Magdalen looked comfortable in defence, and after a kick by Stevens failed to reach touch, counter attacked clinically to touch down in the corner, scored and converted by their dominant fly half.

Again, all Hall could reply with was another Stevens penalty to make the final score 24-6 to Magdalen.

The first division new boys took their chances and were deserved winners, being superior in most facets of the game; a point grudgingly admitted by Hall captain Phil Satterhwaite. "We were second all over the park", he said.

Magdalen, looking forward to their final game of the league season, now know that if their forwards do not get out-muscled by the Keble pack, they could produce an upset. Hall, with three defeats out of four, now face the task of beating St Hugh’s next week or making history by being the first Hall side to be relegated from the first division. After the surprsie relegation of St. Peter’s this time last year, could the unthinkable be about to happen again?

THE Oxford Women’s Blues Football team took on Bedford Women’s Firsts on Wednesday afternoon at their home pitches of Marston. After only losses so far this season, the Blues were looking to kick start their season with ‘third-time lucky’ starting this match with renewed determination.

The game got off to a slow start with Oxford keeping firm possession of the ball, winning everything in the air and outplaying the opposition. Oxford played well up front, and managed to launch convincing attacks on their opposition’s defence. Despite a number of opportunities on goal, however, Oxford was unable to finish and each attempt ended up in the hands of Bedford’s strong keeper. The first half wound down with the Oxford side looking anxious. No doubt the memory of their two prior losses was still stinging, and the Bedford team, who responded well despite the home side’s pressure, was going to be hard to beat.

Bedford came out strong in the second half, having a breakaway opportunity at goal, but the Blues’ talented keeper Stephanie McGowan shut down any hope Bedford had of scoring, and asserted her dominating presence in goal. The Blues, a bit shaken, mustered their spirits and begin pushing hard for that goal that had so far evaded them. Finally, ten minutes into the second half, Worcester fresher Lucie Bowden cleaned up a powerfully shot ball from left wing Sarah Rouse that the Bedford keeper had fumbled. Bowden’s effort gave Oxford their first and much needed goal of the season, spurring the Blues to new efforts and putting victory in their sights. With the scoring drought finally ended, Oxford found form and intensified the pressure on Bedford. At last, the the goals started to flow. In the last twenty-five minutes of the match, the Oxford women saw two more goals from visiting student Brett Burns, which were powerfully struck from outside the penalty box. The expert placing of the shots left Bedford’s keeper without any hope of redeeming the scoreline. Although Bedford countered with good pressure and fresh players tested the Blues’ fitness towards the end of the game, Oxford held strong, determined to redeem the disappointment of a bad start to the season. The display of skill and composure showed by Oxford during the match more than accomplished this aspiration, and should give the team the confidence to build on this performance for further victories.

Results

Blues 2-2 Worcester

Women’s Blues 3-0 Bedford

Results

Worcester 3-0 Oriel

Wadham 1-2 St Anne’s

Jesus 2-1 Lincoln

Brasenose 2-2 New

Jesus 2-1 New

Brasenose 1-1 Oriel

Wednesday 7th November

New v Lincoln

Oriel v Jesus

St Anne’s v Brasenose

Teddy Hall v Worcester

Results

St Hugh’s 4-1 Exeter

St Catz 1-0 LMH

Christ Church 3-0 Hertford

Balliol 1-2 Keble

2pm

Hertford v Exeter

Keble v Christ Church

LMH v Balliol

Magdalen v St Catz

Somerville v St Hugh’s

BLUES RUGBY

Results

Blues 15-52 Ospreys

Greyhounds 33-31 Univ of

West England

7pm

Blues v Exeter Chiefs

(at Sandy Lane)

COLLEGE RUGBY

Results

Keble 56-0 St Peter’s

St Catz 80-10 St Hugh’s

Teddy Hall 6-24 Magdalen

Magdalen v Keble

St Peter’s v St Catz

St Hugh’s v Teddy Hall

Results

Christ Church 33-13 Worcester

CCC/Some 13-24 Trinity/LMH

Wadham 34-29 Exeter

Tuesday 6th November

Worcester v Exeter

CCC/Some v Christ Church

Trinity/LMH v Wadham

Wednesday 7th November

At Iffley Road

Men’s Badminton v Portsmouth

Women’s Badminton v Coventry (1pm)

Women’s Basketball v Wolverhampton (3pm)

Men’s Volleyball v Cambridge (7pm)

Women’s Volleyball v Cambridge (5pm)

Men’s Squash v Warwick (1pm)

In University Parks

Rugby League v Staffordshire

Away Matches

Men’s Badminton v Cambridge

Women’s Badminton v Lincoln

Men’s Basketball v Marjons

Women’s Basketball v Cambridge

Netball Blues v Cambridge

Men’s Hockey v Warwick

Women’s Hockey v Bristol

Men’s Squash v Nott Trent

Men’s T Tennis v Nottingham

Rugby League v Loughborough

Women’s Football v NottinghamWomen’s Rugby v UWIC

Despite being 12 days into his second bid for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, with the odds already stacked heavily against him, Chris Huhne appears unperturbed as he poses for photographs on the gallery of the Oxford Union library. His assistant, Charity, isn’t so calm. She’s only been working for Chris for a couple of months, so this campaign is something of a baptism of fire for her.

Did the MP handle the pressure so well in the 2006 contest, or was he more like his apprehensive apprentice? “I’m certainly much more prepared than I was last time. The experience of a leadership campaign is like nothing else in politics: suddenly there are journalists waiting outside your front door, hoping to doorstep you in case there are a few words that they might be able to feed back to their newsdesks. So there’s a level of attention that you’re completely unprepared for unless you’ve done it before, and it can take you by surprise.”

Huhne had a slow start securing endorsements, but things are picking up for him. He’s keen to point out that the race has only really just begun: the party won’t reveal its decision until December 17. “It’s quite a long campaign, so it’s important to pace yourself.”

Not that his opponent, Nick Clegg, has been pacing himself. While Huhne was at pains to deny an impending challenge during the most recent party conference, Clegg announced he “probably would” run for leadership. But Huhne doesn’t think that the contest has to result in the fragmentation of the party. “Providing the contest is conducted in an amicable manner, which we did last time…it’s quite possible to turn it to the party’s advantage.” He seems keen on the idea that the press – Tony Blair’s “feral beast” – can boost the Lib Dem cause in the coming weeks.

But isn’t he ignoring the problem that Sir Menzies suffered through his time at the head of the party – a problem that came to a head in Brighton this summer? “There is an awful lot of triviality in the way the media cover anything, but that’s because people like to relate to things that give some hint of one’s character, which may be whether you have sock suspenders or whatever it happens to be…With someone as serious as Ming, it irritated him a lot.”

His 19 years as a journalist haven’t left him, and he remembers what drives the trade: “I do understand the interest in ‘what is your favourite band?’ and so on. There is a desperate desire for people in politics to be authentic, to have real people with real views which aren’t just confected in a focus group.” Is that a jibe at David Cameron? “I don’t know him well enough and I wouldn’t want to disparage him to that extent, but his interest for example in the green agenda is a pretty recent one…If you study the articles he wrote for Guardian Unlimited when he was a backbencher, before he stood for leadership, he hardly ever mentioned the environment or climate change.

“In fact, there are only three mentions of the word ‘green’ in his articles. One was Damian Green, MP for Ashford in Kent. The other was how he wasn’t to blame for Norman Lamont’s phrase about the ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery. The third was about the difficulties of speaking as a new MP from the ‘green benches’ of the House of Commons.”

There is one way in which Huhne can relate to Cameron, though. Both have had their Oxford lives picked to pieces by the press. With the Conservative leader it was his Bullingdon Club antics; and last week it came to light that Huhne penned an Isis article advocating drug use. “I don’t think it’s relevant, to be honest…I think you have to learn things and do things before politics and you’re not a real human being if you haven’t. I had lots of experiences which have formed me, and things which I would never dream of recommending, and things that are clearly part of my experience. But it was a long, long time ago – we’re talking about 1973. More than 30 years, for crying out loud!”

Finally, the question that has to be asked: when does he honestly believe that the Liberal Democrats will be in a position to win a General Election? “I wouldn’t have given up a safe seat in the European Parliament to take on a much more marginal seat if we weren’t very close to a tipping point. If it’s going to be this election or the next, I don’t know, but I’m convinced that we’re close to that tipping point where we’re going to remake the whole structure of British politics. After all, we’re a radical party. We’re not just about changing the government. We’re about changing the whole system of government.”

IN 1998, two professional psychologists revealed that one in three female Oxford students had suffered from some form of eating disorder.

Following a spate of Oxford suicides in the 1990s, the same study found that 31 per cent of male and 35 per cent of female students had also contemplated suicide at some point in their lives. Our survey, together with recent high-profile suicides like Balliol JCR President Andrew Mason in February 2007, suggests that these problems continue to persist. But it would be wrong to simply place blame where it seems most obvious – the University and the Student Union’s welfare provision. You wont find too many sufferers haunted by the handling of their case after they finally sought help; most focus on the causes of their daily suffering.

Discussing the manifold stresses that affect Oxford students here would be gratuitous, but it is worth pointing out that multiple small problems can quickly build into major, psychologically damaging episodes if left untreated. The University, and OUSU in particular, already work tirelessly to combat these difficulties, but welfare provision is strained to the limit. Despite all its good intentions, the Student Advice Service simply doesn’t have resources adequate for fighting a battle that requires attacks at the roots of a system. OUSU is a positive force for welfare, but the problem lies with the University and its outright refusal to award it a larger block grant to be spent there.

The reasons that the University give for this are well-rehearsed. A central student union doesn’t need more money when individual common rooms exist; the University’s own resources are perfectly good for looking after students. But the nature of eating disorders means that, in this particular case, generalized University welfare rarely works. Anorexia and bulimia are forms of control and are fuelled by an addiction to secrecy. Most cases will never come to light unless the situation is betrayed by a fellow student, and most would feel more comfortable doing so to a well-known college figure than an anonymous University service. This is why University provision, no matter how well-funded, can never match the equality of situation offered by student welfare officers.

Nevertheless, common room welfare officers are only a first point of call, and simply do not have the training or resources to be able to deal with complex psychological issues. As Trinity JCR showed when it disaffiliated from OUSU last summer, many have failed to appreciate this fact. Fortunately, even students from disaffiliated common rooms can rely on the OUSU safety net.

But too few suffering students are making use of what welfare is available. Is that because facilities are swamped and that anyone who calls in distress is put to the back of a very long queue? More likely is that Oxford itself is to blame: a culture of hard work and silence about something that might ruin a social reputation, a feeling that it isn’t the ‘done thing’ to make a fuss about something as intangible as a mind in crisis. Sell and Robson suggested that seventy per cent of sufferers held life at Oxford at least partially to blame for their eating disorder, and nine years later little seems to have changed.
So what is to be done: halving the workload and preventing anyone from dangerously isolating themselves while at Oxford? It seems implausible, but for the University to grant the Student Union more funding for welfare seems equally unlikely to happen.

Reading last week’s Cherwell, you would be forgiven for expecting this to be another OUSU campaign stump speech.

But you are not going to read about the no-platform policy (nothing more than a political stunt) or how we desperately need OUSU reform (written, oddly enough, by someone who vehemently opposed any last summer). And while it might not seem like it at this time of the year, there are more important things in Oxford than OUSU elections.

A group of senior tutors is plotting to remove the opportunity for students to resit preliminary examinations, even though their data suggests that there is little correlation between a poor mark at prelims and a poor mark in finals. And why, you might ask, would they want to do that?

The Norrington Table has been controversial since its conception in 1962. Both its fairness and accuracy have been called into question. An inherent bias exists in the calculation of the table, as colleges with a greater number of science students fare better, since a higher proportion achieve firsts compared to arts students. In fact, there seems to be little tangible benefit to ranking colleges, besides petty bragging rights. In recent years, colleges have become focussed on moving up the Norrington Table thanks to its increased exposure in the national media. The pressure on senior tutors to achieve this goal has produced a conflict of interest; they must decide between protecting students or pursuing an arbitrary, NHS-style statistic.

This was seen recently, when a senior tutor reprimanded a JCR President for accompanying a fresher to a meeting with her, claiming it elevated the issue to an "official complaint". No such thing is mentioned in the college regulations. This was nothing more than a cynical attempt by the tutor to keep the fresher in a more vulnerable state, so she would be more easily pressured into leaving, rather than having a solution found to her problems. Indeed, it comes as no surprise that the same senior tutor spent the first page of the college’s Freshers Handbook outlining how failure to get a 2.2 or better at prelims would result in being sent down – hardly the most welcoming introduction to Oxford.

Students are underrepresented. You would expect that if you had a serious problem with a tutor, you would have the ability to request a change. This is not the case at most colleges. Likewise, no provisions for a base standard of teaching exist. The student contract introduces "duties" to which a student is bound, yet doesn’t offer any consideration for students in return. Only a vague clause describing undergraduate teaching exists, stating that it "is the responsibility of both the university and college concerned". Colleges are taking the attitude that it is easier to be rid of students who may pose a problem rather than help. The attitude of tutors is that we should be grateful for our places, and submissive to the university.

This insidious behaviour is a disgrace. With such a focus on finals, colleges lose sight of the bigger picture. Tutors focus on teaching the process of jumping through hoops to do well at finals rather than allowing students to explore questions of their own. If performance at finals is the only thing that matters, the tutorial system is rendered irrelevant. Students could be more efficiently taught en masse in lecture halls, which would, ironically, defeat the value of the Norrington Table itself. Performance at finals is obviously important; but not at the risk of sacrificing a broad education and supportive university. Oxford’s tutorial system is revered across the world – and rightly so. Yet there is a risk that we are being turned into an exam factory, churning out students with little to show for their education. A mark in an exam is not the only end product of an education, as cars, chickens or computers might be for their industries. Colleges are faced with a simple choice: aim for short-term gain to their position in the Norrington Table, or protect Oxford’s reputation for academic excellence in the long-term.