St. John’s undergraduates passed a JCR motion last Sunday to buy a bulldozer. Impending debate with the SCR over rents and charges prompted the decision to purchase the vehicle and park it provocatively close to the SCR building’s partially constructed extension “to use as a bargaining tool”. Though sufficient funds of £15 000 were readily available thanks to JCR funding, much debate ensued over more minor matters, such as the colour of the bulldozer and who was to drive it.
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Despite threats made via e-mail Cherwell to stop slanderous allegations against them, ducks continue to make prominent news. Those the LMH quad wandered across grass for the majority of this week, occasionally flapping their wings and making appropriate noises. When asked about over-exposure student newspapers, most of ducks seemed unconcerned about receiving too much publicity, preferring instead to chase the solitary female.
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Just weeks after the elections for the Oxford Chancellor, the University is already turning its attention to filling another major position, Vice- Chancellor. But the aftermath of the Chancellorship race may yet cast shadows over attempts to fill this more substantial post. The current Vice-Chancellor, Sir Colin Lucas, is due to retire at the end of September 2004 after completing an extended seven-year term. Two college heads, the Hon Michael Beloff QC of Trinity and Dame Fiona Caldicott of Somerville, have been rumoured to be seeking the post. Both happen to have been high-profile supporters of Chancellorship aspirants; many also regard them as somewhat unlikely candidates. At least one college head believes the University may instead appoint an outsider with experience in the American Ivy League in the hope that robust financial skills could help solve Oxford’s £23 million teaching deficit crisis. Late last year, Cambridge University nominated Professor Alison Richard, Provost of Yale, as its own Vice-Chancellor. . Subject to governing body approval she will take up the post in October. But at the moment Beloff and Caldicott are the front-runners, though not the only rumoured aspirants. The President of Magdalen, Anthony Smith, had also been mentioned in connection with the job, but is said to believe that, at 65, he too old for the post. Beloff became a Queen’s Counsel in 1981 and has been President of Trinity College since 1996. Once described by Legal Business as ‘The Bar’s Renaissance Man’, he is one of Britain’s most successful lawyers, but courted controversy as a key supporter of unsuccessful Chancellor candidate Lord Bingham when he tried to exploit his legal standing during the campaign by emailing barristers a personal recommendation. Beloff also caused a storm last week when he announced that Trinity is to reduce subsidies and raise costs for Trinity students by 57 per cent over four years. Caldicott meanwhile, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, has been the Principal of Somerville College for six years and managed Chris Patten’s successful campaign for Chancellor. However, she is playing down any suggestions that she would benefit from his victory, remarking, “The university has to choose the best person for the job,” and declining to say whether or not she would take the job if nominated. If chosen, however, she would be Oxford’s first female Vice- Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor will be selected by a nominating committee that represents both the academic divisions and the colleges. He or she will not take up the role until October 2004, holding office for an initial period of five years after which the term may be extended by up to two years. Whoever is chosen will preside over finance and fundraising and carry out ceremonial and civic duties.
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French finalists were dealt yet another blow last Thursday when the Chairman of Examiners and the Proctors issued a letter stating that the listening examination for this year was to be discounted. Students across the University are enraged that greater weight will be placed on the oral examination, claiming that this disadvantages candidates who are poorer at speaking than listening. There is further anger that their revision and teaching time over the past three years has been wasted on a part of the subject which will no longer have a bearing on their overall degree. The decision was taken after a flood of complaints from both students and dons criticised “shambolic” execution of the new style of listening exam, which took place in 0th week and was brought to wider public attention by Cherwell in 1st week. Students feared that muffled sound quality, poor video footage and tiny television screens could have reduced their overall marks by a whole class and some emerged from the exam room distressed at having answered less than 20% of the paper. However, the Junior Proctor, Ian Archer still claims, “the Examiners made every effort to ensure that this new-style examination ran smoothly.” A French finalist at Lady Margaret Hall expressed her disappointment at the “slap-dash attitude” of the French department in dealing with the shortcomings of the exam. She added that the Language Faculty “would struggle to organise a piss-up in a brewery.” A French don urged students to concentrate on preparing for the rest of the examinations rather than dwelling on the failings of the listening exam. It would seem though that the mood among language finalists is one of indignation and many already feel that they have been put through a “traumatising ordeal.”
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A number of JCR Presidents believe that an inter-collegiate conspiracy is to blame for soaring student accommodation costs across Oxford University. Suspicions were raised after JCRs at several colleges reported a lack of negotiation and insubstantial reasoning for large increases in rents. One anonymous JCR President is convinced that “collaboration between bursars has occurred”, adding that “it is a strange coincidence that all colleges seem to be making large adjustments at the same time.” He further questioned whether market shocks could be responsible for “excessively affecting such a range of colleges with varying endowment interests”. In response to greater charges for accommodation and food at Lady Margaret Hall, JCR President Euan Fitzpatrick claims to be “pissed off that junior members of the college have been left out of discussions.” He too believes that “ten or twelve colleges have got together to agree on large rent rises and are now playing off each other for justification.” Students at LMH are equally incensed by the college’s lack of consultation and are considering policies of non-participation and possible rent strikes if their voices remain unheard. Susan Marshall, Chair of the Domestic Bursars’ Committee, denies that any official command increase rents had been issued, saying that discussion has been limited to discussions between individual bursars “in general terms.” However this conflicts with reports from insiders on the Bursars’ Committee, who assert that they received overall recommendations to charge more for accommodation. The Hon Michael Beloff ’s attribution of Trinity’s increases to “the war in Iraq, concerns about terrorism and now SARS” has furthered fuelled student indignation. St Catherine’s undergraduate Laurence Parker Bowen claims the “real reasons are straightforward – to secure long term economic survival,” and accuses the University of “quietly abandoning its economic principles in favour of the chequebook.” This week, Roberto Montanari, JCR President of Somerville, hit out against his College’s “unsubstantiated and seemingly arbitrary” decision to raise room costs by ten percent. Although Professor Roger Van Noorden of Hertford calculates a general guideline for acceptable college rent rises each year, Somerville Governing Body is purported to have called his indications of 4.52% “outdated and irrelevant.” Balliol JCR has admitted that it too is “in trouble with rents” after students reacted angrily to the fact that they are facing large increases based on the performance of endowments and world markets. Although current students will not be substantially affected, new students from 2004 must expect extra costs of 27 to percent. Other colleges announced rents rises at JCR meetings on Sunday and many others are still in the middle difficult negotiations with apparently intransigent governing bodies.ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

Faulty electrics at Mansfield College were the cause of a fire which left undergraduates without a computer room last week. Students, tutors and staff were forced to evacuate the main building amid confusion, bringing college life to a standstill. Four fire engines were called to the college after students reported the smell of burning. Problems with the electrical wiring beneath the floorboards had caused the insulation to ignite, and firemen were forced to rip away the ceiling beneath the computer room, leaving a gaping hole. Some students criticised the way in which the college handled the fire. “The first we knew about it was when all the libraries and computer room were evacuated. I thought it was a false alarm, though, because we were allowed back after while, first-year student Riaz Ahmed told Cherwell. “Soon after, though, you could smell some electrical burning and the whole main building was evacuated; it was pretty confused”. No fire alarm was sounded and some students refused to leave the building until asked to do so. Chris Morris, operations manager at Mansfield, said, “Some students carried on working despite the lights going out. No fire alarm was sounded because it is more effective to tell people to leave than take the risk of them ignoring what they think is just a practice”. No-one was hurt in the fire but the main college building was closed for the rest of the day, leaving some students unable to retrieve their work. The computer-room remained shut until the weekend. A loss-adjustor has been called in to assess the damage.
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A retired Oxford University lecturer wants to see sex education focused on the practicalities of how to be a good lover, according to an article in the latest issue of the journal ‘Sex Education’. The ‘erotic education’ proposed by John Wilson proposes using visual techniques like videos to provide practical examples of “desirable sexual encounters” – not, he hastens to add, in an attempt to titillate but to provide an alternative to the pornographic films that the current gap is filled with. Simon Blake of the National Children’s Bureau applauds the principle of approaching sex education from a ‘biological way’ but is less enthusiastic about Wilson’s choice of terminology on the grounds that “some teachers would be horrified”. The suggestion adds to the controversy surrounding the government’s policy for tackling Britain’s high rate of teenage pregnancies. Schemes that use teachers specifically trained to answer questions about oral and anal sex, have been labelled as “harebrained”, despite their efforts to tackle soaring underage sex figures. The recent proposal of providing free condoms and advice to schoolchildren was described by one MP as an attempt to “curb burglary by handing jemmies”.
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The University has controversially adopted policy in support of top-up fees in the same week that the Conservative party pledged to eliminate all university fees. The Student Union (OUSU), which maintains an anti-fees stance, has condemned the University’s decision but is sceptical that Tory measures will relieve the funding crisis.Omar Salem, a co-chair of OUSU’s finance and funding committee said, “The Tories’ proposals at least show that the abolition of fees is politically possible.” His comments came after hearing that dons had decided not to oppose top-up fees. Only 540 out of an electorate of 3,250 took part in a postal vote called in the hope that the University would change its pro-fees stance adopted in March. Will Straw, President of OUSU, said, “Given that all tutors were contacted, it’s a great shame that less than 20% got round to voting. It is disappointing that members of congregation aren’t listening to students or acknowledging serious implications for access or student hardship.” The university staff voted 380 to 237 in favour of an amendment changing the motion to taking an anti-top up fees policy. Professor Paul Langford, the rector of Lincoln College, who proposed the amendment, said that it was essential for Oxford to retain its flexibility on such issues, in order to “remain among the few internationally competitive universities in the UK”. Dr Mike Woodin, tutor at Balliol and City Councillor requested the postal ballot after the original vote by Congregation, which took place in March provoked protest from staff and students because of an extremely low turn-out. He responded to the result of the postal ballot by saying, “Oxford University has acquiesced to a government policy that will deter students from poorer backgrounds from entering higher education, particularly when the government’s plans for top-up fees are opposed by the overwhelming majority of people, including Cambridge University.” Will Straw joined Woodin’s concerns and applauded the stance the Conservatives were taking against tuition fees. However, he voiced concerns that their measures would have serious implications for access, “abolition of the government’s target of enrolling fifty percent of all 18-20 year olds in higher education by 2010 would be a serious setback to OUSU’s policy of widening access and participation.” John Townsend, the president of the Conservative Association, is confident of the Tory proposals, though, “I’ve been opposed to tuition fees from the start, and the new policy is a radical and refreshing issue. OUCA is delighted with the new policy initiative.”
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Vitamin supplements are ineffective, a study by Oxford scientists has shown writes Rosa Silverman. While millions of Britons have been taking these pills in the belief that they can help prevent heart attacks, strokes and cancer, the study has indicated that we have only been wasting our time and money. The study, carried out over a ten year period, is the biggest trial of its kind to date. 20,000 people, who were already at a high risk of the diseases, were given pills. Half of them received a cocktail of betacarotene, Vitamin E and Vitamin C, three of the most popular supplements. The other half was given placebos. No evidence was found of any benefits to the people taking supplements. Oxford professor Rory Collins, co-author of the study, said “there no evidence that the pills are hazardous, nor that they’re beneficial.” He suggested that the reason why people with high intakes of these vitamin supplements have fewer health problems is “probably more to do with the fact that they are far more likely to be health-conscious anyway, through taking more exercise or having a healthier diet.”
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