Gay partnerships received the backing of the Union’s
governing body this week, as members voted to recognise the
Government’s Civil Partnership Bill by 13 votes to 3. Ex-Treasurer, Laura Poots, proposed an amendment to allow same
sex ‘spouses’ of Union members to qualify for
membership, a privilege until now enjoyed only by those in
heterosexual relationships. The Union “ought to be
proactive”, Poots told the meeting. The Civil Partnership Bill, which seeks to give legal status
and financial security to long term same sex couples, is
currently in the committee stage of the House of Lords and is
expected to become law early next year. Seconding the motion, Chris Farmer felt that the Union’s
move would not only help overturn its image as old-fashioned and
out of touch, but could also add pressure to ensure the bill
achieved royal assent. However, prominent Catholics and
Evangelicals amongst the Union’s Standing Committee felt
that such an amendment before the passage of the Civil
Partnership Bill into law would, in the words of Returning
Officer, Alex Young, make it appear that the Society had simply
“jumped on the bandwagon”. Timothy Ayles asserted that the proposed partnership “was
an entirely different kettle of fish to marriage”, and
expressed fears that it might allow any “Tom, Dick, or
Harry” to join the Union. Yet despite the controversy
regarding the Union’s stance, the result of the secret
ballot (to ensure ‘personal and moral commitments’ were
upheld) ensured the motion will have Standing Committee backing
as it is debated by members in third week. governing body this week, as members voted to recognise the
Government’s Civil Partnership Bill by 13 votes to 3. Ex-Treasurer, Laura Poots, proposed an amendment to allow same
sex ‘spouses’ of Union members to qualify for
membership, a privilege until now enjoyed only by those in
heterosexual relationships. The Union “ought to be
proactive”, Poots told the meeting. The Civil Partnership Bill, which seeks to give legal status
and financial security to long term same sex couples, is
currently in the committee stage of the House of Lords and is
expected to become law early next year. Seconding the motion, Chris Farmer felt that the Union’s
move would not only help overturn its image as old-fashioned and
out of touch, but could also add pressure to ensure the bill
achieved royal assent. However, prominent Catholics and
Evangelicals amongst the Union’s Standing Committee felt
that such an amendment before the passage of the Civil
Partnership Bill into law would, in the words of Returning
Officer, Alex Young, make it appear that the Society had simply
“jumped on the bandwagon”. Timothy Ayles asserted that the proposed partnership “was
an entirely different kettle of fish to marriage”, and
expressed fears that it might allow any “Tom, Dick, or
Harry” to join the Union. Yet despite the controversy
regarding the Union’s stance, the result of the secret
ballot (to ensure ‘personal and moral commitments’ were
upheld) ensured the motion will have Standing Committee backing
as it is debatedARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Gay couples will be offered the chance to celebrate their
relationships in commitment ceremonies at Oxford’s second
annual Pride festival this Saturday. Same-sex couples may also have their relationships blessed in
a special ritual performed by Father John Hyde of the Open
Episcopal Church. Christians remain divided over the issue of homosexuality. The
Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, supports moves to grant gay
couples the same legal rights as married heterosexuals. His
appointment of a celibate homosexual, Jeffrey John, as Bishop of
Reading in 2003 provoked a backlash from evangelical Christians.
The President of Oxford’s Christian Union, John Aldis,
refused to comment directly on the blessing ceremonies, but
declared that evangelicals opposed sex outside “monogamous,
opposite sex, marriage relationships.” The May Day event, which will include live music and
entertainment, runs at Oxpens Park from noon until 7pm. The
festival chairman, Karl Andrews, told Cherwell that he hoped the
occasion would not only be fun, but also “bring
Oxford’s communities together.” Organisers are hoping
to repeat the success of last year’s event, which was
attended by two thousand people. Oxford Pride is the first of the ‘Fun in the Parks’
events run by Oxford City Council, which is flying the rainbow
Gay Pride flag over the Town Hall all week as part of the
celebrations.ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Animal rights activists have intensified their campaign
against University plans to build a new research centre in South
Parks Road. OUSU is, meanwhile, debating whether it should offer
support to University members or staff who are intimidated or
threatened by campaigners. The new centre will offer “a higher quality of
accommodation for animals” says the University. Animal
rights group SPEAK is angry about the plans, but spokesman Mel
Broughton told Cherwell that the group is organising “legal,
lawful campaigning” against Oxford’s intentions. The
aggressive tone of SPEAK’s website and the group’s
reputation, however, is causing concern among University staff
who fear the campaigning will escalate into more threatening
forms. One ‘Action Report’ on their website comments on
a recent demonstration, “Receiving a visit was ******* a
head of department at Oxford Uni, again no reply but there was a
very noisy calling card left. Rest assured all those living
around ******* Road, Oxford now know exactly who you are and the
fact they have collaborators in animal torture in their
midst.” These threats have forced OUSU to discuss the issue in its
Council meeting. A motion, seconded by President Helena Puig
Larrauri and due to be debated today noted, “Council
believes that whatever members of OUSU believe about the
necessity, acceptability and desirability of experimentation on
animals, in a democratic state it is wholly unacceptable and
morally abhorrent to use terror, violence and intimidation of
innocent people as a means of effecting political change.”
Association of Medical Research’s Dr Simon Festing said
SPEAK’s “claims that they’re legitimate are
ridiculous, there is always an escalation to threatening letters
and threatening phone calls.” The University reasserted that
while “we respect people’s rights to protests lawfully,
we will not accept unlawful harassment. The building will go ahead."ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Is man’s best friend also the most intelligent of the
animals? Do goldfish really have a three second memory? Following
a similar idea to Test the Nation, the BBC’s new series Test
Your Pet (airing 1 May) will pit domestic animals against a
series of interactive challenges to test memory, perception and
initiative. The programme is the brainchild of Dr Tim Guilford, Oxford
University’s leading animal behaviourist, who was recently
cleared of failing to acknowledge other scientists’ research
in his investigation of how pigeons use the road network to
navigate. Speaking to Cherwell, Dr Guilford said the aim of the
experiments was to “get people to think differently about
how their pets view the world around them,” and that the
study will provide “a huge amount of interesting information
that may well be of use to scientists of various sorts.”
Pets whose owners have Digital TV will be able to watch Pet TV,
looped images designed to examine animals’ response to
stimulus. The study has the potential to be one of the largest
performed, as an estimated 7.5m cats and 6m dogs are kept as pets
in the UK. With the majority of research focussing on wild
animals, it is hoped the study will be entertaining, as well as
providing an interesting insight into a neglected field of animal
behaviour.ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Magdalen has seen slightly too much of certain people
recently, after two separate incidents of indecent exposure were
reported this week. Police are still appealing for information from a young woman,
in her early twenties, who witnessed one of the incidents on the
perimeter of the College grounds. A man indecently exposed
himself to her last Friday morning in a field alongside Marston
Road and St Clements. She reported the incident to a porter at
Magdalen, but left without giving her details. A man arrested in
connection with the incident was on Tuesday released on bail
pending further enquiries. A police spokeswoman said to Cherwell
that, “officers are desperate to speak to the woman.”
She added that further action would be difficult without an
official complaint as officers only have second-hand evidence to
rely on. It is unclear whether the woman was an Oxford student. In a separate incident, Magdalen College students witnessed a
woman “flashing” opposite the College on Friday
evening. Magdalen Bridge and the fields surrounding Magdalen have
been a constant source of worry for students wishing to walk
through the area. A spate of attacks has taken place during the
year, but the exposures are an entirely new source of peril.
Magdalen JCR President, Christopher Guelff, stated that students
were given free rape alarms and encouraged to walk back to the
college in small groups. The College is continuing to work with
the council on the implementation of CCTV cameras covering the
bridge.ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Watching TV can enhance your intelligence. Professor Kevin
Warwick has found that watching half-an-hour of Richard and Judy
temporarily raised the IQ of a sample of 200 students by an
average of 5 points. His research showed that the relaxing effects of having time
set aside for light entertainment had positive benefits for the
participating students’ intelligences. Television was found to be better than listening to classical
music or doing a crossword, while reading a book significantly
lowered IQ. Girls benefitted most from watching an episode of
Friends, boys from a documentary about robots. The research,
which was presented to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development, has important implications for the student community
in Oxford. In the ‘work hard, play hard’ atmosphere of the
university, students watch very little television. Anthony Myers,
a first year linguist, told Cherwell, “I like watching TV,
but if you really want to watch it, you have to be clever with
your time.”ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Last week representatives of the Federation of Student Islamic Studies (FOSIS) called on Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary, to provide a student loan which complies with the Sharia Law.
The law states that Muslims should not pay or receive interest on loans. There is, however, some confusion among Muslims about whether student loans in their existing format do violate the Sharia. Currently, the loans only incur interest at the rate of inflation and so, in real terms, students pay back the same amount they borrowed. Many Muslim scholars argue, however, that the Sharia requires that a loan should be repaid “in the same number of units” and that this prohibits Muslims from taking out student loans. The Department of Education and Skills told FOSIS that they would look into student loan alternatives, such as an endowment or tax, to eliminate interest. A spokesman said, “The uptake of student loans amongst Muslim students is comparatively good but we will work closer with FOSIS".ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

Univeristy researchers have demanded that Tony Blair act
immediately to save the red squirrel from “certain
extinction” within twenty years. The species’ main
threat comes from their larger and more aggresive grey American
cousins, introduced into Britain in the 1870s. A report presented
to Blair on Sunday, based on University research, called for
“large-scale grey squirrel control”. ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004

One in ten students in the UK lives on less than £10 a week,
according to figures published this week. Accommodation charges are deemed to be the heaviest burden on
students finances, and are most often cited as a major factor in
choice of university. A quarter of all students are now choosing
to live at home, with some facing a daily commute of two or three
hours to university. In the light of rising fees, there have been
increased calls on universities nationwide to publish average
annual living costs. The estimates ranged from £9,000 in central
London to £5,000 in Birmingham. This has left some experts questioning the value of degrees.
According to a Graduate Careers Survey, only a third of students
leaving Britain’s top universities this summer will
immediately begin or seek a graduate-level job, the lowest level
in ten years. Some experts feel that the financial incentive of
university education is waning, especially with the rising cost
of higher education. Professor Phillip Brown, of Cardiff University, warns that
students have “invested in their education on the premise
they will be able to earn a good living”, while in reality
many struggle to find “interesting, well-paid jobs”. Oxford students, however, are more confident. One finalist
from Corpus said he felt his education was still an advantage,
but “the difference is that these days an Oxford degree
doesn’t guarantee you anything".ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004 

A devastated Worcester student has made a public appeal for
thieves to return two laptops which were stolen, containing
“irreplaceable” work for her Masters. The theft, during
the vacation, from her room above the College’s Head of
Security is further evidence of the crime problems plaguing
college buildings. Minji Kim’s two laptops, worth £6,000, back-up disks,
passport, and other personal belongings were all stolen from her
room in broad daylight between 1pm and 6.30pm on Tuesday 13
April. Kim, who is one of only three students chosen from across
the world to complete fine arts Masters degrees at the
University, was studying in the library at the time of the theft. Coming to Oxford was a lifetime ambition for the 27-year-old,
who told Cherwell of her utter desperation. “My life is on
freeze and I don’t know what to do. Education is my life. It
is the ticket for my future. I worked so hard to come here. Even
through Easter, I spent 18 hours a day working. I don’t care
about the money but my work is irreplaceable.” Kim believes that the information she has collated would take
12 years to replace. Thames Valley burglary team are working on the case. PC Maria
Sweeney believed there was a “strong possibility” the
laptops were still in Oxford. She is hoping that a public appeal
will lead to “someone with innate goodness” returning
the computers. “Everything that can be done is being
done,” she added. The laptops are distinctive for their dual Korean and English
keyboards. Anyone with information should call PC Sweeney on
01865 266062 or phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.ARCHIVE: 0th week TT 2004