Jesus College, Cambridge A fellow of Jesus resigned over the summer after allegations of ‘extra-curricular activities’ in his college rooms with local prostitutes. Punternet, a web-based escort agency, credited the candid ‘reviews’ of the girls’ services to a mysterious ‘Pete C’, who ranked them between ‘excellent service’ and ‘not bad, quite reasonable’. Philosophy students at Jesus remarked that he was usually a great deal more scathing about their essays.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Imperial College, London A guide entitled “how to play responsibly with freshers” advocates locking them in a lecture theatre and drenching them with beer using Super Soakers. Other tips include abandoning male freshers on Hampstead Heath wearing gold thongs. Spokesmen for the University declined to comment, but a representative from the Student Union was officially ‘shocked,’ adding that ‘nasty things could happen, especially on Hampstead Heath’. No naked freshers have been seen with Ron Davies.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Un iversity of Milan, Italy An Italian student was given the cold shoulder last month after hitchhiking 1,250 miles to see the Swedish girl he fell in love with on his gap year in America. After going missing for three weeks, he was picked up by police at a service station only 110 miles from his destination. But after the girl’s father agreed to pick him up, he found himself being driven straight to the airport – as his Swedish girlfriend had decided he was nothing more than a forgotten holiday romance.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Merton fought off competitors and retained its position as Oxford’s topranking college in the Norrington Table. Matching its 2002 score, it sailed ahead to claim the top spot for the second year running. Wadham was the surprise ranking of the year, in second place,whilst traditional rivals Balliol and St John’s tied in fifth and sixth places. St. Anne’s did not match Merton’s consistency, losing its place in last year’s top six to claim tenth place. St. Catherine’s shared a similar fate, plummeting from fourth to fifteenth. Lady Margaret Hall remained at the bottom of the table. The publication of the table raised the inevitable debate over the link between results and college wealth. This year’s top six includes St. John’s, one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford, as well as the famously rich Magdalen. Wadham defied this trend, being one of Oxford’s poorer colleges. Warden John Flemming attributed this year’s ranking to the College’s willingness to accept a wide range of students, many of whom are highly motivated. He said “Competition is a motivating force for people in the University.” However, dons repeated their criticisms that the table was not an accurate college guide. The University refuses to publish its own table.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

New Chancellor Chris Patten is to be joined by Dr John Hood, who has been nominated as the next Vice Chancellor, making him the first person in 900 years to hold the position from outside the University. Chris Patten was admitted as Chancellor of the University at a ceremony before this year’s Encaenia on 25 June. New Zealander Dr John Hood makes his way from a four year vice-chancellorship at the University of Auckland. A graduate of the University of Auckland, Dr Hood was an Oxford Rhodes Scholar at Worcester College in the late 1970s, where he gained an MPhil in Management Studies. He taught Civil Engineering at Auckland for several years. Dr. Hood said: “I am humbled to have been invited to lead Oxford, one of the world’s great universities. I expect that the greatest immediate challenge that Oxford will face in 2004 will result from UK national legislation following the White Paper that was published earlier this year.”ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Plans for admissions tests to scoop the cream of Oxford applicants have sparked fears that students from non-traditional backgrounds will be deterred. With growing numbers of students attaining perfect A-level scores, a new entrance exam (the BMAT) has been introduced for prospective medical students. The admissions department has revealed that Oxford is also likely to introduce entrance tests for Law and other ‘popular’ subjects such as History. It is feared that tests would favour students from schools with a tradition of attending Oxbridge and that richer students could be coached. But with nearly 1000 applicants for 150 places, the University has argued that there is no other way of differentiating between medical candidates. Jane Minto, Admissions Director, said “The current process is not enough. A lot of people who apply are enormously well qualified; it is not possible to differentiate between academic achievements.” Oxford Admissions Coordinator, Dr William James, also defended the decision, saying, “If we took the test results and GCSE grades we could identify that half the applicants had no chance. It would be a kindness not to bring them to Oxford for three days.” But OUSU President Helena Puig Larrauri expressed doubts over the scheme. “The BMAT has a lot of problems,” she said. ’Students in schools without an Oxford tradition will be disadvantaged. It also has a fee, which many students may not realise. This is also a matter of image – we should be working to widen access.”ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

A book worth £15 000 stolen from Christ Church Library has been found in Japan. The 1552 pocket edition of De Humani Corporis Fabrica by the Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius is the only book of 73 not recovered from a theft in the early 1990s. The books were all stolen by Simon Heighes, a lecturer who smuggled books out one by one, and later served two years in prison for his offence. The University traced the path of the Vesalius which was first sold on to Sotheby’s by Heighes and bought by an American book-dealer. It was later bought by Shoten Ohi in Tokyo before being privately sold to a Japanese university. Ohi repeatedly ignored letters from Christ Church before he was persuaded to attempt a retrieval of the book. “I’d love to resolve the problem but I don’t like the way Oxford have treated me,” he said. “They treat me like a criminal.” The dispute has turned into a bitter row between the University and Japan. David Morris, Oxford University’s representative in Japan, said: “The case brings shame on the Japanese educational establishment.” Nihon Shika Daigaku, a wealthy private university of dentistry, has acknowledged that it does have a copy of the 1552 book although it has not been confirmed that it once belonged to Christ Church.”ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Hugo Young 1938-2003 Hugo Young, one of Oxford’s most prominent alumni, was described on his death as “for 20 years – the Guardian”. Graduating in Jurisprudence Balliol College, Young went on to become the Chairman of the Guardian Trust where he became its effective proprietor. His early biography of Margaret Thatcher, One Of Us, was his contribution to biographical writing and established himself as a major critic of Thatcherism. Perhaps one of the most notable things about Young’s journalism was the manner with which he retained the air of social grace that he acquired at Oxford. A spokesman for high culture, he never adopted the tenets of the 1960s cultural revolution as so many of his contemporaries did.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Lord Blake of Braydeston 1916-2003 Lord Blake was best known as a historian of the Tory Party, and was described as judicious in his treatment of it. Starting off as a student and then tutor in Politics at Christ Church between 1947 and 1968, he later became a Censor (1950-55), Senior Proctor (1959-60), Pro-Vice Chancellor (1971-87) and Provost of Queen’s College between 1968 and 87. His biography of Disraeli earned him a peerage from Prime Minister Edward Heath. At Christ Church he played a major part in representing the College’s interest in the struggle to prevent a road being built across Christ Church meadow. Lord Blake’s distinguished literary career was marked by his Ford Lectures delivered in 1972 which became The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003 

Jeffrey Archer chose Oxford University as the venue for the relaunch of his political career. The peer and convicted perjurer addressed a meeting of the Howard League for Penal Reform held at New College on 18th September, suitably entitled “After Crime.” Speaking alongside University academics, Lord Archer proffered his insider knowledge on prisoner drug abuse and the need for incentives to increase education in prisons.ARCHIVE: 0th Week MT2003