What could have more drama, more nail-biting sleepless-night
inducing tension than the Semi-Finals of the 5-a-side Football
Cuppers? Exams, perhaps. If the matches at the Iffley Road Sports
Complex were lacking in anything it was in atmosphere as the
pressures of Sixth Week started to take their toll. St Catherine’s started with style against Somerville in
the first semi. A cute flick from midfield ruthlessly sliced the
Somerville team apart and Ben Isaacs pounced to put Catz 1-0 up.
Isaacs’ fruitful usage of the ball meant the score soon
multiplied to 2-0 as he royally thwacked a loose ball into the
corner of the net. Somerville tried gamely but too often resorted
to aimless shots from distance, with Catz more versatile and
proficient. Marshalled ably by the vociferous Attree in goal and
with the languid probing of Hardyment providing the instigation,
Catz were like a brand new efficient sports car with more
shots-tothe- pass than the slow, uneconomic old banger that was
Somerville. The second-half opened dramatically. Unaware that the
time-conscious referee had allowed Catz to take a quick kick-off,
the Somerville keeper was walking towards his goal,
back-to-the-ball as a shot was trickling towards the corner of
the unguarded net before he instinctively flung his foot towards
the ball to prevent it crossing the goal line. For the rest of
the half Catz were content to play for time, though Somerville
scored the goal of the day, a superb flowing move combining
defence, midfield and attack before Bennett finished precisely to
make it 2-1. It was but a consolation, as Catz deservedly reached
the final. St Hugh’s took on Magdalen in a more even match. Neither
team dominated a frenetic first half. An early Magdalen shot by
Chris Woodcock was palmed away well by ‘keeper Wilson. Amid
the physicality of the battle Hughs’ twinkle-toed Patterson
stood-out. Rolling his foot over the ball and dropping his
shoulder he consistently created space to enable him to let fly
with several stinging shots which the Magdalen ‘keeper Carl
Saunders did well to block. One 15-yard bullet was brilliantly
tipped over the cross-bar by the stopper who saw the ball very
late. The second half started in the same vein with Saunders
preventing Patterson scoring with a flick. Penalties seemed
inevitable before, with seconds left, Hughs’ Lockwood’s
hopeful toe-poke dribbled in agonising slow motion into the
corner of the net. Can anything really be as dramatic as
football?ARCHIVE: 6th week TT 2004 

A man had to be talked down from St Michael’s Tower on
Cornmarket Street on Monday afternoon, after threatening to
commit suicide for the second time in a week. The man, known as
Billy, can often be seen playing his guitar next to the railings
outside the tower, and is well liked by the church’s staff. An informant, who works in the shop at the bottom of the
tower, and would only give his name as Philip, said that Billy
came in to ask him for money at midday on Monday. Upon his
refusal, Billy ran up the tower, and was pursued by the organist,
who was practicing at the time. The organist stayed with Billy until the arrival of the
police, who arrested him “for his own safety”.
Inspector Gibbs, of the Thames Valley Police, said that the
incident was “dealt with promptly and swiftly”. He
added that the police will “now rely on medical experts to
take on the case.” Monday’s events followed an almost identical incident
last week, when the same man sat on the tower and had to be
talked down by the police. Church administrator Francis King
said, “It was a cry for help rather than anything
serious.” Philip commented that he has witnessed similar behaviour from
others in the past, although, to his knowledge, no one in recent
times has actually attempted to jump off the tower. There is said, however, to be a copy of a 1301 inquest
describing how one Robert de Horityn fell from the tower “by
mischance”, so that “the whole of his body was
broken”. The tower is commonly known to be the oldest
building in the whole of Oxford. Police insist that this was an isolated incident. Inspector
Gibbs commented on the fact that “people don’t
associate Oxford with this”ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

The recent speculation and hyperbole surrounding the
vulnerability of British democracy following the ever-so
dangerous attack of a flour-filled condom found its parallel when
140 Union hacks assembled on Sunday, appropriately at the
invitation of the President, to debate why they would rather be
‘pretty than witty’. The IRA really should have been
told. “University politics are so vicious precisely because the
stakes are so small”, as some Yankee villain once said, and
student venom never can be so full of bile as a literal mass
debate in the attempt to qualify for Union election. The first to step forward is Tobi Rufus, who continues in his
vocal impression of a twelve-year-old girl by imploring the House
to “Consider David Beckham”. Indeed it is extremely
difficult to consider Mr Beckham when one is looking at Rufus,
but at least he brings a degree of coherency. Much unlike the
string of pretty young blondes who followed his massive presence
– pretty, but certainly without wit. ‘Um, yah…um, yah…um, yah…’ they
twittered away for the necessary two minutes. “Rah…rah…rah,’ shouted their old school
chums in encouragement, as if speaking for a couple of minutes
was some sort of challenge. Not that anyone was there to listen to these double-barreled
bits of fluff. Feeding time at the zoo descended into complete
farce as the anti-Rah opposition poked at legislative loopholes
to stop one presidential candidate’s friends from qualifying
in time. ‘Hoorah’ and ‘Hear, hear’, they jeered and
booed, with occasional neighing to those pashminas and up-turned
collars opposite, once assured that they could bring this
spectacle to an end. The Commons has nothing to offer this comic pandemonium as
young Tories aspirant for safe Conservative seats practice the
waving of paper and artificial heckling. Events may not have been pretty, Union hacks are far from
witty, but with many of these hacks destined for those green
leather seats in Westminster the school boy antics in Parliament
look secured for one more generation at least.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

Two on-leave soldiers from Northern Ireland have been arrested
following an assault on three students. The Jesus College students and their friend from Aberystwyth
University, went to casualty after the arrival of the police in
the early hours of Wednesday morning. Two suspects will appear in
Oxford Magistrates Court on Friday 11 June, charged with causing
actual bodily harm. The students encountered two men as they walked to
Hassan’s Kebab Van, on Broad Street, on their way home from
The Studio nightclub. An altercation took place over a dropped
meat pie. After asking an abusive question, one of the men
punched the Aberystwyth Law student, Craig Maggs, in the face,
knocking him to the ground. Maggs was then kicked in the head
twice before Jesus first-year Maths student, Andrew Hindley,
intervened in an attempt to protect his friend. He was struck in
the face and had half of one of his front teeth broken off. The
other Oxford student, James Longster, then tried to separate the
individuals involved. He too was struck before the assailants
left the scene. Rebecca Hazel, a Jesus historian at the scene, had phoned the
police at the first sign of trouble. They arrived within minutes
and collected the shaken students before searching the area for
the assailants. Shortly afterwards, two men were found involved in an
“exchange of words” on Cornmarket Street, according to
WPC Simmonds. They were restrained before being taken under arrest to St
Aldate’s Police station. Simmonds confirmed that two men
found on Cornmarket were arrested in connection with the assault
on the students, and were charged with causing actual bodily
harm. The two, aged 18 and 25 respectively, cannot be identified
prior to their court hearing. “Everyone involved had
consumed a rather large amount of alcohol”, said Simmonds. The students involved were treated for head injuries at
Accident and Emergency. Maggs, who had been visiting his friend
Longster, said, “Until then it had been a really good
night,” adding that his first time in Oxford had
“certainly been an experience.” Longster said that the
incident had been “a mindless, unprovoked attack”.
Andrew Hindley, who was the most seriously injured of the
students, faces a hefty dental bill to repair his tooth. He told
Cherwell that he had attempted to calm the situation down but one
of the men was being extremely aggressive. “When I saw Craig
go down, my first instinct was to protect him,” he said. The charged men have been allowed to return home for a
standard bail of one week until their appearance a week today in
front of the Magistrates Court. Thames Valley Police have also
informed their regiment of the arrest, and the Royal Military
Police are expected to deal with the incident accordingARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

OUSU was in confusion this week as it attempted to implement
the result of last term’s referendum on the future of higher
education funding. The overwhelming result of the referendum was
to ‘reduce student numbers’ but the student union is
having difficulty reconciling this with current policy such as
‘free higher education’ and ‘equal access for
all’. Daniel Simpson, OUSU Council Delegate and Labour Club Chair,
said, “The policy is a single line and very unclear, so we
don’t know how it can fit with access”. Concern was
raised as to why the contradictions with other areas of OUSU
policy had not been foreseen. Ken Owen from the Education Reform
Group which campaigned for ‘reduce student numbers’
said it was OUSU’s responsibility “to make sure that
each option was a real choice.” The committee decided to ask political groups to look for a
definition that would not contradict other parts of OUSU policy
and if this was not possible, to suggest a second referendum to
ask “Do you think it should be OUSU policy to reduce student
numbers?” This would allow OUSU Council to decide higher
education policy itself if a “No” vote was returned. Some of those present feared that students might view a second
referendum as OUSU ignoring the result of the first free and fair
vote. Owen claimed “another referendum would confirm the
perception that some people within OUSU are doing everything they
can to avoid implementing the result of the referendum. At the
end of the day a referendum result has a much clearer popular
mandate than OUSU Council ever will.” Helena Puig-Larrauri, OUSU President, was quick to quash
speculation that this might be the end of the referendum result,
saying that F&F was a “greenhouse for ideas” but
ultimately campaigns are committed to OUSU policy. However, OUSU is constitutionally bound to hold a new
referendum if requested by ten JCR or MCR presidents, or 500
ordinary students. Ed Griffiths, who tried to put a motion
through OUSU Council earlier in the term, which would have
allowed it to ignore the referendum result, is believed to be
currently attempting to put such a petition together.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

Mourning for the death of St Catherine’s student Emilie
Harris continued this week as the Council approved a
multi-million pound road safety project for Cowley Road. Flowers and tributes have piled up at the Catz lodge and near
to the spot on Cowley Road where she was fatally hit by a bus
last Wednesday. Emilie’s parents have released a statement
saying “Emilie was a popular, vivacious girl who had lots of
friends and always lived her life to the full. She was having the
time of her life at Oxford.” An inquest into her death is
being opened by Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner.
Emilie’s funeral is expected to take place at a church near
her home in Shawford on 9 June. Meanwhile a £1.3m road safety scheme for the Cowley Road has
been voted through Oxfordshire County Council after pressure from
Green Party councillor Craig Simmons. Simmons explained that
whilst the scheme had been in the pipeline prior to Emilie’s
death the “tragedy underlines the dangers lurking in this
road”. Over the last five years there have been 101 fatal
accidents on the 1.1km stretch between the Plain roundabout and
Magdalen Road, one third involving cyclists, making this the most
dangerous road in Oxfordshire. The proposals include creating a 20mph speed limit for a 650
metre stretch through the busiest shopping area, cycle lanes in
the 30mph limit and protected footway build outs at junctions to
prevent illegal parking and to improve visibility. Extra
pedestrian crossings and “community areas” with widened
footways, trees and street furniture are also planned. Council
transport officer Samantha Tharme told Cherwell, “We believe
that this scheme will deliver a radical accident reduction.”ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

An Oxford researcher has been accused of unlawfully bringing
the blood of HIV infected African orphans back to Britain and
plagiarising another scientist’s work. A leading Kenyan scientist is suing one of Oxford’s top
researchers, Dr Sarah Rowland- Jones, alleging that her team used
stolen blood samples and research data in several of her recently
published papers. Dr Moses Otsyula, head of virology at Kenya’s Institute
of Primate Research, set up a diagnostic lab at Nyumbani
children’s home on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital
Nairobi in 1997. Over the next fours years, he collected over 70
blood samples from orphans who had been infected with HIV. He alleges that the Oxford team stole several blood samples
and copied data from his computer while he was visiting Harvard
University and went on to publish two scientific papers based on
it. Otsulya said that he has no choice but to sue, as “it
was my project, my time, my samples and my ideas. They just came
and stole it all. It was completely unethical.” He also
claimed that Oxford has ignored his protests over the past three
years resulting in a failure to reach an amicable agreement over
the matter. Many of the children rescued from the city’s slums have
survived for more than ten years without medication and seem to
have a natural immunity to the virus. Researchers believe the
orphans’ blood offers vital genetic clues that could lead to
the holy grail of Aids research: an effective vaccine. Rowland-Jones, who works at Oxford’s Institute of
Molecular Medicine, has defended her team’s actions while
admitting that they had made an ‘inadvertent’ error.
According to her, the Oxford team was “invited to Nairobi by
Otsyula to collaborate with the research and were led to believe
by him we had full ethical approval to conduct the research”
and that “at all times we acted in good faith though the
mechanism for getting ethical approval wasn’t entirely clear
cut at the time.” She claims that when her team realised that an error had been
made they applied for ethical approval for their work, which was
given in 2002. Rowland-Jones admitted that this application did
not cover past research but had “a verbal assurance”
that it would be extended to the two papers. It has emerged that a Cambridge professor, Dr Eric Miller, has
also become embroiled in a dispute over HIV research conducted
whilst he was at the same orphanage doing research on a projct
investigating nutrition.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

The two student journalists who exposed insecurities in the
University computer network are facing a police investigation
into their activities in obtaining the story.
Proctors of the University have told the Deputy Editor and
Sports Editor of The Oxford Student, Patrick Foster and Roger
Waite, that a police investigation has been initiated at their
request, although the journalists have yet to be contacted
themselves by Thames Valley Police. In the article, published on
Thursday 27 May, Foster and Waite (the named authors of the
piece) admit that the methods used to highlight the lack of
security “fall foul of both the law and OUCS
guidelines”.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990, which prevents the use of
computers to access personal information such as passwords, and
private conversations, carries a custodial sentence of up to six
months.
Senior sources at The OxStu have informed Cherwell that the
Proctors became aware of the article even before it went to
press. “A lot of college IT officers were contacted,”
they said, “and one of those must have passed on the details
of the article. Once the Proctors had contacted us, we passed
full details of the article to them straight away.” Within a
matter of hours of receiving this information Foster had his
Webmail account withdrawn and it is believed the contents are
being investigated. Waite’s was removed on Tuesday.
This is a matter of some concern for the students, who both
have exams at the end of term. Foster has also been denied
Ethernet connection to his room at Keble College.
The University and their respective colleges are yet to take
any action beyond this, although Foster, already on full academic
probation, has expressed public fear that he may face a
“three-term rustication”.
It is unclear how much detail OUSU, the publishers of The
OxStu, knew of the matter before they went to press. But our
source was adamant that “other than the journalists
concerned, neither OUSU, its employees or Editor Mary Morgan knew
anything about it until the day of publication.”
Waite and Foster, in a statement issued to Cherwell, stood
“100 per cent” behind the story. “We are both
aware that we consciously breached the law, University statutes
and college regulations through our actions. However we feel we
were justified in doing so to bring to the attention of the
University and its students the very real dangers posed by
network insecurities.
“We are co-operating fully with the inquiries of the
Proctors and our respective colleges. We have nothing to hide,
and are both looking forward to meeting the Senior Proctor to
make our respective cases.”
ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004 

An Oxford doctor used hospital equipment to enhance his love
life, the General Medical Council heard this week. Jane Sullivan, representing the GMC, told the professional
conduct committee hearing that Euan Laird began an affair with a
woman, who was only identified as Mrs N, in 1991. The couple had
sex on a number of occasions at hospital premises. The hearing
was informed that Laird used the ultrasound scanning machine at
the Horton Hospital in Banbury for his own “sexual
gratification”. Laird, who was senior house officer in obstetrics and
gynaecology at the John Radcliffe Hospital when the relationship
began, is accused of “abusing” his professional
position, unnecessarily performing smear tests and other intimate
examinations on the patient. The relationship continued for a number of years before Mrs N
“began to find the nature of his desire invasive and for
that and other reasons stopped seeing him in 1997.” Laird was not present or represented at the hearing but is
aware that it is taking place. Sullivan said that Laird, who
became a consultant during the affair, denied the allegations:
“Not only did he say he had had no dealings with her at the
time, he denies, and continues to deny emotional or sexual
relationship with her, saying that their relationship was a
strictly professional doctor-patient relationship”. The
hearing continues. Two weeks ago, Cherwell reported that a Queen’s College
lecturer, Doctor Henk Giele, had allegedly been conducting a
sexual affair with one of his patients at the JR hospital. His
case has been adjourned until December. The GMC are unable to comment on either case since both are
ongoing.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004