The Oxford University Conservative Association has made a formal complaint to the proctors
about an open letter from the Oxford University Labour Club to Respect MP George Galloway published in The Oxford
Student last Thursday. In the letter Jack Graves and Martin McCluskey,
co-chairs of the Labour club, stated that they are “currently boycotting OUCA”
after it “failed to take adequate disciplinary measures against members making
anti-Semitic jokes”. They also said that Galloway speaking to the society
would “undermine our struggle to make Oxford
free of those who tolerate fascist sympathies”.OUCA have also released a press
statement stating their “outrage at the Labour Club’s unprovoked letter”, which
they describe as a “cheap and offensive attack”, and one that is “insulting” to
its members. The complaint to the proctors says that “OUCA is the largest
student political body in the UK,
with a membership of some 700 members; it is frankly offensive to the many
undergraduates who are members to suggest Association the has any thing to do
with fascism”. It criticises the OULC for their “extreme left wing views, which
can only be described as verging on Communism”, and describes the letter as “libellous”.The Labour Club responded to the
OUCA press statement with one justifying their criticisms of the society. It
quotes reports of racist jokes made by members of the society in the years
1999-2001, as well as quotinga story published by Cherwell earlier this year about a member
who cracked a Holocaust joke to a Jewish student. They describe the society as “a
reactionary political organisation” and “feel they have strong grounds for
suggesting OUCA harbour fascist tendencies and refute any suggestions to the
contrary”. Speaking to Cherwell, OUCA President Christopher Ware
said of the Association, “it goes without
saying that we condemn any form of fascism or racism”. While acknowledging that
“unacceptable” attitudes had existed in the society in the past, he says, “No-one currently involved with OUCA has anything to do
with those accusations. They belong in a completely different era, and we have
move on. I challenge the Labour Club to come forward if they have any evidence
of fascism”. Christopher Ware also suggested the Labour Club “concentrate their
efforts on an underserved membership” rather then “dig up the past”, and asks
them to “publically apologise to the hundreds of students who by their
accusations have been associated with fascism”. In the case of the Holocaust joke
he says that the offending person immediately offered an apology to the Jewish
student, who said he was satisfied. A spokesman for the Respect Party
states that George Galloway is now “busy on tour, and unable to speak to the
Conservative Association this term”. However he also said Mr Galloway’s Westminster office has “not
received a letter protesting against the visit, or heard anything about one”.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

A student dressed as an Egyptian mummy was set alight at an LMH Halloween bop
on Saturday night. Teddy Hall postgraduate student Hamish Stewart was set
alight outside the LMH bar in which the bop was taking place. Helene Wilde, a
finalist at LHM who was at the bop said that “at about 12.15 the Head Porter
turned on the lights and announced that a boy had been set on fire outside.” The Porter demanded that the
culprit own up and when no-one did, he declared that “there would be no more
bops for the rest of term.” Wilde added “There was a real atmosphere of shock. Attempts were made to restart the bop but the Porters
shut it down.” One LMH finalist who wished not to be named said “These guys
came to the bop and they just wouldn’t leave.”Thames Valley Police received a
call at five to one on Sunday morning, but the incident was dealt with by the
Head Porter and no police assistance was requested. Hamish Stewart refused to
speculate on the nature of the incident but says he sustained no serious
injuries. He described the injury as “a bit like sunburn, but it was alright in
a day or so” and that now he is “absolutely fine.” JCR president Joe Collenette said
“The Dean has asked me not to comment until
a further investigation has been conducted.” Junior James Panton said that
there is currently “internal discussion” concerning the incident and that the
college “can’t give any comment” until the investigation is complete.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

A group of Oxford University
academ­ics have recently composed a flysheet criticising the reforms proposed
by the Green Paper, and circulated it among academics across the University.Dr.
Nicholas Bamforth, Law fellow at Queen’s College, was part of the group of
academics that put together the flysheet, as well as the first signa­tory.However,
he referred to matters dis­cussed in the flysheet as "an alternative set
of proposals (to those of the Chan­cellor)." The flysheet highlighted
"The Discussion Paper" which is a response by some of the
University’s academics to the reforms proposed by the Chancel­lor, Chris
Patten. The flysheet proposes that a "Board of Scrutiny be created to
exercise on Congregation’s behalf independent oversight over decisions made by
Council and the executive, as well as monitoring the effectiveness of
University governance". The
flysheet goes on to add that a Board of Scrutiny has been in place in Cambridge since 1995. It
also highlights a proposal in the discus­sion Paper, of "an end to
Council’s policy of complete confidentiality for all Council business".The
reader is promptly reminded of the system in place in Cambridge where "the unreserved agendas
and minutes of Council and major committees should be published on the
web".Such
references to the systems of governance in place in Cambridge
indicated a criticism of the Chancel­lor’s recent statements encouraging Cambridge to follow in the footsteps of Oxford. The flysheet’s numerous refer­ences
to systems that it argued should be in place in Oxford,
as they are in Cambridge,
implied a contradiction to the views of the Chancellor.Dr
Bamforth said, "It is only the second time [the congregation has] met in
the last two years. The idea of the flysheet is to raise people’s interest in
the debate, and give an outline of the proposals that will be discussed at the
congregation."He
added that he thinks "the flysheet was received rather well, as indicated
by the discussions at the congregation." "There were a total of
thirty signatories on the flysheet from many colleges including Merton, Wadham
and Worcester."ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

A finalist at St John’s has been tem­porarily
rusticated for vandalising the college squash courts. Peter
Rogers, a Human Scien­tist, will be excluded from college for the last 3 weeks
of term, dur­ing which he can attend lectures as normal, but cannot step foot
on college land. Rogers has decided to take the
rest of this academic year off be­cause of the negative impact he thinks the
exclusion will have on his degree.Rogers has no recollection of
the vandalism he is accused of. He said, “That night I got pretty much more
drunk than I’ve ever been in my life.” He only became aware of his involvement
when college authorities revealed that his electronic key, or “fob”, was used
to enter the squash courts at 2.53am on the night that the dam­age was done.In
a meeting with Dr Carolyne Larrington, the Senior dean, Rog­ers was told that
he had strewn a croquet set around the squash courts, ripped electrical equip­ment
off the wall and torn the cover from a fusebox.Rogers has questioned the
disci­plinary actions taken against him. He said he felt that the decision to
exclude him from college was made too quickly and with little consultation.He
said “I’ve had two meetings with the Senior Dean and both have lasted from five
to ten min­utes. I felt that she didn’t spend enough time talking to me about
this, and that she was unwilling to negotiate with me about the pun­ishment.”Harry
Kretchmer, JCR Presi­dent, met the dean recently to discuss the disciplinary
actions to be taken against rogers.
He said, “We encouraged her not to rush into any decisions and to use all the
information very carefully. As no information about the case has been released,
we can only hope that this is what has been done.” The
Senior declined to comment on internal disciplinary matters. Kretchmer said
that the Decanal team was “being very cagey about [the case].”Some
members of St John’s said they think Rogers is being made a
scapegoat for several other inci­dents of vandalism that have oc­curred over
the last month. Faeces and urine were found in the table tennis room, while both
the games room and the toilets in the Bee­hive accommodation block were
vandalised. Those responsible for these incidents have not been caught.A
third year at St Johns
said, “Exclusion is a slightly ridiculous punishment for the damage to the
squash court. The college poo bandit is still out there, as is the games room
vandal: it seems like the college’s failure to catch those guys has made them
come down very harshly on Peter.”Rogers
said, “They’re trying to make an example so that those involved in the other
stuff are less likely to reoffend and anyone else is deterred from doing so in
the future.”Rogers is not appealing his
exclu­sion to the President of St John’s. He said, “I don’t believe there’s any
chance that the President would overrule Larrington in her first major
disciplinary decision as Sen­ior dean.” Instead,
he has decided to take the rest of this year off and to return to college in
Michaelmas 2006. “I’m not in the right frame of mind to work, and there are fi­nancial
factors too, like having to pay an extra three weeks rent liv­ing out,” he
said. He added that he had to make the decision quickly because he will be able
to reclaim his tuition fees if he leaves now.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

A petition put to OUSU
to hold a referendum to limit its input in non-directly student related
matters, has failed. a motion was also been put to six JCrs, but failed to
secure a major­ity, as only half passed it.Charlie
Steel, a member of OUSU’s part time executive, organised a cam­paign to force
OUSU to hold the referendum, “OUSU should have no policy on issues which do not
directly affect Oxford
students in their capac­ity as students unless approved by a majority of common
rooms affiliated to OUSU.” 500
signatures and five passed JCR motions in support were needed by 12 noon on
Thursday for this amendment to the constitution to be taken to referendum.
sufficient number of signatures were collected, but as only Trinity, Wycliffe
Hall and Mansfield
passed the motion, the ref­erendum proposal was rejected. The motion was failed
by Keble, St Peter’s and Queen’s.OUSU
president Emma Norris was in opposition against the pro­posed amendment stating
“it is up to students what they think is relevant to them” and that the
amendment would “stop people bringing up what­ever they wanted at OUSU
council.” One
argument posed supporting the motion was that it would prevent time being
wasted in OUSU council meetings, reducing the length and complexity of
meetings. Norris
disputed this and said that she did not believe that an imple­mentation of the
motion’s demands would mean that time would be saved in council.Edward
Mason, Trinity JCR presi­dent said “despite having overwhelm­ingly voted to
reaffiliate to OUSU this term, serious questions are being asked about the
relevance and valid­ity of some OUSU policy, which is something which this
referendum di­rectly addresses.” Queen’s
College JCR President Sush Yalamanchili, one of the col­leges who failed the
motion, said “given the terminology of the motion it was only right that the
motion was rejected, and I look forward to seeing a more palatable amendment.” Voters
opposed the wording of the amendment as it was felt to be am­biguous over what
defines “student issues.” examples cited were welfare issues such as depression
and preg­nancy, which may not be included as specifically “student” issues.Nora
Gietz, a second year at St Hilda’s said, “OUSU seems to waste a lot of time on
Coca-Cola bans and basket-weavers, I am not convinced this is the best use of
students’ time or subscription money.”Steel
states that “any allusion to this affecting welfare is complete scare­mongering
and depriving students of their right to a democratic vote. I am not going to
give up.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

On Saturday, 29th
October, two twenty year-old women got into a car with a man, were taken from
outside Kebab Kid on Cowley Road
to a car park, and one of them was sexually assaulted.According
to a press release from the Thames Valley Police, "two 20-year-old women
were in the Ke­bab Kid. When they were offered a lift home by an asian man [at
around 2.30am]. He then drove the women to Bathing Place car park and sexually
assaulted one of them."The
assaulter is believed to be in his mid-twenties, with "dark spiky hair and
was wearing a grey track­suit and a pale polo shirt." He was driving a
three-door silver BMW, "believed to be a five series. The car was parked
outside the Kebab Kid with loud music coming from it," according to the
Oxford CID.Arepresentative
of the Thames Valley Police said they were un­able to provide any details as to
who the girls were "due to the nature of the case." She added that
the incident "was an alleged rape against one of the girls" and that
"the other girl went to raise the alarm, call for help and find
police."This
incident is believed to be unrelated to a sexual assault on Wednesday last week
at South Park.Eleanor
Cumbo, Vice-President (Women) of OUSU, said, "Hear­ing about incidents
like this is upsetting to students on its own terms, and even more so because
they are not infrequent. Generally speaking, Oxford students know that they don’t live in
a vacuum and are aware of the need to take sensible precautions".She
added a few words of pre­caution, advising students to "put an emergency
contact into your phone and call it ‘aaa’ or some­thing similar so that it’s at
the top of your contacts list. If you do get into a threatening situation, you
can then just press two or three buttons".The
Thames Valley Police state­ment added, "anyone with infor­mation that
could assist police in­quiries is urged to contact Oxford CId, via 0845 8 505
505. If you don’t want to speak to police and don’t want to leave your name
contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

The Longbridges boathouse, which
was destroyed by fire after an attack claimed to be by the Aanimal Liberation Front, has re-opened. In July, the
boathouse which contained boats from Hertford, Mansfield, St Hilda’s, St
Catherine’s and St Benet’s Hall was set alight causing around £500,000 worth of
damage and destroying 26 boats. Many colleges have had to borrow equipment and
facilities from other colleges resulting in disruption. Steve Royle, the University Director of Rowing said that “we’re delighted
to get back on stream and it’s great to be back in business.” Alice Motion,
boat club captain for St Hilda’s College said that she appreciated “the
kindness of all the clubs who let us rack with them and put up with inordinate
amounts of hassle from us.” She expressed her relief at the
reopening of the boathouse, saying: “Longbridges is far more convenient and has
a real sense of community.”  She added, “I hope the Animal
Liberation Front will see this as a warning to them – that no matter what they
do to us, we’re not going to give in.” Pete Gould, Boat Club Captain for
the St Catherine’s men’s team said that it was “great to be back on the water”
and gave credit to everyone involved in sorting out the fire which “took a lot
of time and a lot of effort.” He said that St Catherine’s had faced the biggest
replacement costs for damaged equipment and that they had been advised to keep
a low profile, “we don’t want to give publicity or more motivation to those who
did this.” Gould added: “We want to ignore the
political agenda and we are very glad to have boats back to row in again.”Dr John Landers, principal of Hertford College which
owns the Longbridges building said "I am very pleased that the boathouse
has been re-opened", but declined to comment as to whether greater security
measures had been taken following the attack. Oxford University security services told Cherwell
that they did not wish to comment on whether they have advised colleges on
safety precautions or taken extra measures.A spokesperson for Thames Valley
Police said that there have been no arrests or charges brought against anyone.
He said "the investigation is still ongoing, the Thames Valley Police
speak regularly to the university authorities and appropriate advice would be
given where necessary."ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

Controversial measures to reform the way the University is run were the subject of a heated discussion at a meet­ing of Congregation, the University’s governing body, on Wednesday.The proposals were part of a green paper, published in May, which highlighted flaws in the University’s existing struc­ture. Many of the concerns raised were due to recent financial and IT management problems. Susan Cooper, a Physics professor who spoke at the meeting, called these “major problems … [which] require urgent attention.”The suggested changes were amended after initial criticism from academics over the role of external observers in the process. The paper originally called for the establishment of a Board of Trustees, composed entirely of ‘external mem­bers’: people who, though alumni, are not part of the University. In the latest version, this was changed to a council composed of seven internal and seven external members, with the Chancellor of the University, Lord Patten, as Chair­man. After five years, an additional external member would be added, and one of the external members would then chair.This proposal has attracted criticism due to the apparent removal of power from Congregation. Nicholas Bamforth, an opponent of the scheme, warned that it would “concentrate power in the hands of the Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellors, without checks or balances.” He has also raised concerns that Congregation’s “sovereignty” would become “a nominal feature of the system”.Along with Cooper and another don, Gavin Williams, Bamforth put forward an alternative proposal which advocated adopting reforms which have recently achieved success at Cambridge.The counter-proposal rejects the plans for the involvement of external members, and instead calls for the establishment of a Board of Scrutiny: an internal body which would act in an advisory capacity and call upon external experts when necessary.They also emphasised the importance of greater transparency in dealings with the Congregation. In her speech, Cooper stated, “Council papers are now classified as either strictly confidential or confidential; there is no third category. The climate of secrecy must be broken.”Many dons, however, supported the proposals. In particular, the need for external input was strongly defended. David Noble, a proponent of the green paper’s proposals, stated, “If we have not learnt over the last two decades that we need powerful friends, with no conflict of interest, to fight on our behalf in the narrow corridors of financial and political influence then we have missed out on one of the major reasons for our failure to stop the slide towards a loss-making enterprise.”Currently, the University is governed by Congregation but the day-to-day business of the institution is dealt with by the Council, an executive body set up in 2000.Council delegates responsi­bility to various committees. Under the proposed scheme, Council would be split up into two bodies, one governing financial and administrative matters and the other academic affairs. Before the governance changes in 2000, the University’s executive was formed of the Hebdomadal (weekly) Council, which had existed from 1854, and the General Board of the Faculties.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

The death of an Oxford student flung to
the ground by a stunt catapult in 2002 could have been prevented if further
safety tests had been carried out, a coroner’s inquest concluded on Wednesday. Kostydin
Yankov, a first year biochemist at Wadham, died after sustaining horrific
injuries almost three years ago when he was hurled thirty metres towards a
safety net but missed it, hitting the ground. Yankov,
known as dino, was one of a group of students who were members of the Oxford
Stunt Factory and had travelled to Middlemoor
Water Park
in Somerset to
take part in the jump. However the event itself was not organised by the Stunt
Factory which is described on its website as a "dangerous and extreme
sports club", organising the "co-ordination and performance of stunts
– particularly those involving extreme sports – including bungee jumping,
street luging, BaSe jumping, firebreathing and skydiving." The club is not
directly linked to the University, and is not a society registered with the
proctors. David
Boston, spokesperson for Oxford Stunt Factory, confirmed that the event dino
had taken part in was “organised by an uninsured third-party who was not
affiliated with the Oxford Stunt Factory". He added that the Stunt Factory
always conformed to "the high­est possible standard of safety
possible". “Dino’s friends, family and all of the club’s current members
are relieved that the affair is now closed”, he added. Reports
in 2002 said that onlookers had voiced concern that previous jump­ers had only
just reached the net and four students successfully completed the leap from the
medieval-style cata­pult prior to Yankov’s fatal jump. Oliver
nelkin, who would have been next to be catapulted, said he became alarmed that
the jumpers were landing at the very front of the 10 metre by 20 metre safety
net rather than in the mid­dle as intended. In a statement he told the inquest that the first
jumper, Paul Capsey, "landed on the net, but more to the front edge than I
had seen before. For a split second I thought he was not going to make it and I
felt relieved when he did." Nelkin described
Yankov’s jump, saying, "at some stage I saw dino as a ball in the air. He
then missed the safety net, but I couldn’t say by how much. as he hit the
ground I heard a thud and then a second thud."Yankov
broke his legs and spine on impact, sustaining multiple abdominal and chest
injuries. He was rushed to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol
but died later that evening.Jurors
at the inquest were told that a rope used to help fire the mecha­nism, known as
a strop, had been changed on the day of the incident but had not been tested. The
coroner’s verdict stated, "The accident would probably have been prevented
if a further set of tests had been performed after changing the strop." Aprivate
paramedic who was employed for the day had become concerned about the landing
posi­tions of the first jumpers and raised the matter with richard Wicks and
david aitkenhead, who designed and operated the catapult. Prior to Yank­ov’s
jump the weights on the catapult mechanism that control the length of the jump
were altered. Capsey,
who helped with the op­eration of the catapult following his own jump, told the
inquest that each jumper was weighed, weights on the catapult adjusted
accordingly and a test weight the same as the jumper fired to check for any
problems. Cap­sey said that all safety checks were completed before Yankov’s
jump.Wicks’
partner, Stella Young, was seriously injured in a jump on a pro­totype of the
catapult in May 2000, breaking her pelvis in three places after bouncing out of
the catch net. Young was responsible for weigh­ing Mr Yankov before the jump
and warning him of its dangers. She
described the stunt as "a very, very dangerous thing to do." Wicks
and aitkenhead were cleared of man­slaughter over the death last yearARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005

St Catherine’s 9St Edmund Hall 3St Catherine’s proved that reputation counts for nothing on the rugby field on Tuesday by deservedly beating Cuppers title holders St Edmund Hall. Hall had scored 130 points in their first two games but in their first tight match it was the boot of Catz fullback Tom Rees which won the day over that of Hall standoff Rob Yates. Catz could now clinch the title if they win at St Peter’s next week, leaving former favourites Hall fighting Peter’s for second place.As if sensing a memorable performance, Catz’ fans turned up in droves. They were rewarded with a match far more gripping than the one-sided drubbings which have dominated the rugby season thus far. Both sides produced defensive performances of the highest order, brutally physical one-on-one tackling complemented by slick defensive alignments. Catz will undoubedtly attribute their victory to their success in preventing Hall not only from crossing the whitewash, but also from scoring at all in the game’s final hour. It was clear from the off that this would be the day of defence and kicking. Catz had all the early pressure, but it was Hall who scored first after a booming Rob Yates clearance set Catz on the back foot. Catz continued to dominate possession, however, and in the 25th minute Hall’s defence finally cracked, handling in the ruck allowing Tom Rees to match Yates’ penalty. As the half hour mark approached, Hall finally found their feet, driving around the fringes of the breakdown and looking to offload in the tackle. However, defence was once again turned into attack as Timothy Carpenter ripped the ball from a Hall back in a bone crunching tackle and broke away in a rapid counter attack from the St Catz half. While some cool last ditch defence from Teddy Hall prevented this exceptional piece of defensive play from producing a try, it was done so illegally. With the last play of the first half, Rees kicked Catz into a 6-3 lead. Hall came out in the second half with the wind at their back, determined to reverse their deficit. Yates was once again pulling the strings, another oustanding kicking forcing Catz into conceding a five metre scrum. As before, however, St Catherine’s stood tall. When Hall’s discipline faltered once more, Catz went upfield and forced another penalty to go 9-3 up. Hall were still within a score of victory; however, for all their efforts, they could neither drive through, pass around nor even, despite persistent attempts to force a mistake out of Rees, kick over the Catz defence. Hall remain an excellent side; indeed, they largely ruled the lineouts, and their back row were outstanding. However, they faced an inspired Catz side whose commitment and incredible discipline in defence made them deserving winners.ARCHIVE: 3rd week MT 2005