A former Oxford student has written in The Telegraph about his
return to Oxford to “put the fizz back into finals”.
Despite the new code of conduct, Freddie Sayers decided to spray
his friend, who had just finished finals, with champagne. The
police released him when they realised that he wasn’t a
member of the University. The Proctors’ Office have since written to The Telegraph
defending the University’s current policy. Several students
have been fined up to £70 this year.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Blog Page 2432
Old School Celebrations
Girl falls from Flying Fox
An Oxford backpacker is fighting for her life in hospital
after plunging 65 feet in the Australian rainforest. Queensland
Police are investigating the accident. Lucy Keen, 24, was visiting Cape Tribulation in Queensland
when she fell from a viewing platform. She had been about to
embark on the Flying Fox ride when the accident happened. The
ride involves people being attached to a harness and then gliding
across a rope connected between two points in the forest,
enabling people to ‘jungle surf ’. Queensland police
said that Keen’s condition was “very serious.”
“If she does survive,” said Dt Sgt Trevor Perham,
“we don’t know what lasting injuries she will
incur.” The Flying Fox ride, which was launched last August, had a
100% safety record until the accident on Saturday. Keith Chegwin
and his television crew are among the many British tourists who
have taken advantage of the opportunity to see the rainforest at
such close quarters. The Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours is run by a
group of biological scientists who use the ride to look at the
flora and fauna of the forest. They charge £27 an hour for the
experience, promising tourists they can “feel like Tarzan or
Jane.” Keen has broken her pelvis and all her ribs in the fall and
remains unconscious in hospital. Her parents have flown from
their home in Oxfordshire to Australia to be at their
daughter’s bedside. Keen was brought up in Oxford and
studied at universities in Leicester and Cardiff.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
No Cold Turkey
The Prime Minister of Turkey delivered a speech at St
John’s College on ‘Why the European Union Needs
Turkey’, last Friday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been premier since March 2003,
arrived twenty minutes late after being held up in traffic. His
speech, which was delivered in Turkish, attracted the attention
of the international and national media. European leaders will
have to decide in December whether Turkey can begin negotiating
for entry into the EU. Erdogan, who seemed eager to present himself as a modern
European leader, stressed that Turkey “will try to make
‘European values’ Ankara’s values.” The PM
acknowledged that Turkey still had pressing economic and human
rights issues to confront. The problems surrounding the Kurdish
minority and the presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus also remain
unaddressed despite EU instructions to resolve them. Erdogan’s speech was organised by the South East European
Studies Centre based at St Anthony’s College, and was
preceded by a conference on “The Continued Rapprochement
Between Greece and Turkey: Still Genuine?”ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Search for Samaritan
Police are appealing for information about an Oxford student
who was mugged at knifepoint on Friday 26 March. The attack took place after the student had spent a night out
in the city. She was sitting with a friend on a wall in St Giles
when the incident occurred. The hooded male crouched down in
front of her and demanded, “give me your bag and what you
have if you don’t want to get hurt.” He then grabbed
hold of the student’s handbag before running down Woodstock
Road. Chasing the offender, the student shouted that she had been
robbed to members of the public. A man in his fifties with short
curly grey hair joined the chase, and continued to pursue the
mugger after the robbed student had fallen. He finally returned
to the student having been threatened with the knife. The police have decided not to reveal the identity of the
student. They wish to hear from the four members of the public
that the student passed while chasing the mugger. They are also
particularly eager to contact the good samaritan, or anyone who
may know the identity of this man. It is believed that his
evidence could be vital in bringing the offender to justice. Anyone with information should contact the police on 0845 8
505 505.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
News in Brief
Buried treasure I5,000 historic bronze roman
coins dating back 2,000 years, unearthed from farmland at
Chalgrove, have been officially declared treasure. This allows
their discoverers to cash in on the several thousands of pounds
that the coins are worth. One of the coins discovered is only the
second of its kind ever found, and confirms the existence of the
rebel Roman emperor Domitianus or Domitian II. Soaps for success The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has encouraged Oxford priests to
watch soap operas in order to understand the lives of their
parishioners. Speaking to a group of trainee priests at Ripon
College, Oxford, he argued that “keeping in touch with
reality” was necessary, even if it “looks like wasting
time.” By Debbie Moss Copycat caught A student at the University of
Kent faces leaving university without a degree after it was
discovered he plagiarised three years’ worth of English
coursework. Michael Gunn, 21, claims that he did not realise
cutting and pasting from Internet sources, often running for
several pages, constituted plagiarism, and plans to sue Kent for
negligence. He was only caught the day before his final paper. By
Emily Ford RON wins again RON has won the race for the
JCR Presidency in Somerville over Nick Bell, a First Year PPEist
who was the only person to run. Students insist that the result
has nothing to do with Bell’s political leanings as he is
known to be a member of OUCA, but rather they want a real choice
in the election. By Caleb Liu Not dying for a fag The findings of a recent
study suggest giving up smoking may not increase life expectancy
as is popularly believed. The research, conducted by Dr Valerie
Lechene of Wadham College was conducted in order to dispel the
idea that if smokers give up, they will cost the taxpayer less
money. It is feared that tobacco companies will use this as
ammunition against the anti-smoking lobby by Eleanor Grant. Body discovered A man’s badly decomposed
body was found in a church shed in Oxford. A female parishioner
discovered the body when she unlocked the shed to collect garden
equipment at St Frideswide’s Church on Botley Road. Police
believe the dead man was sleeping rough in the city. They do not
suspect foul play. By Susannah Atkins Junk mail Oxford is amongst the Royal
Mail’s worst performing areas, having missed all targets for
improving mail delivery. Only 87.5% of first class items were
received the next day and five abandoned post bags have been
found since the unofficial postal strike in April. A Royal Mail
spokesman could only say that “we want to make sure that it
doesn’t continue.” By Tess AndrewsARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Man stabbed at M&S
A man has been stabbed outside the Marks and Spencer store on
Banbury Road, Summertown. The man was standing outside the store with his bike when a
car with three men pulled up alongside him. The attacker got out
of the car and immediately stabbed the victim in the leg, before
returning to the vehicle and driving off. The car set off towards the city centre. The incident occurred
between 9 and 9:30 pm, Monday 24 May. The victim suffered a deep
stab wound which required several stitches. A 36 year old man,
Ian McFayden, from Cowley, has been charged in connection with
the incident.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Terrorists strike Saudi
Saudi Arabia was left reeling this week after Islamist
militants stormed a smart residential compound and an oil company
headquarters in Khobar, taking more than 50 people hostage. 22
people, including nine of the hostages, were killed before Saudi
troops stormed the compound where they were being held. This incident raises new concerns about the Saudi
government’s ability to combat Islamic terrorism, and the
security of foreign workers in the country. The militants, who
are thought to have Al-Qaeda links, were said to be specifically
targeting foreigners. They were reported to have asked people in
the compound, “Are you Muslim or Christian? We don’t
want to kill Muslims.” The Oasis residential compound, one
of the most luxurious in the city, is home to many oil company
executives. Fears over the safety of its citizens have led the US
to request that all its nationals leave the country immediately
and the UK to issue travel advisory warnings. The recent attacks have had an adverse effect on the price of
oil with investors fearing that it is part of a sustained attempt
to disrupt oil supplies from the world’s largest exporter.
The recent events in Khobar follow gun attacks at a petrochemical
plant in Yanbu which killed five foreigners, and a suicide bomb
attack on a residential compound in November last year in Riyadh
which left 17 dead.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Teenager arranges his own murder on net
A 14-year-old boy has appeared in court, charged with plotting
his own murder. John, 14, used multiple personalities on the internet to
convince Mark, 16, to stab him when they met up in Greater
Manchester last June. The boys’ real names have not been
disclosed to the press. John used a number of different
characters on the internet and became friends with Mark after
meeting him in chat rooms. One of John’s false personas
– a 42 year-old woman claiming to work for MI5 – told
Mark he had to murder his friend. He was told to say, “I
love you bro” as he carried out the attack and was promised
sexual favours and money if he was successful. After the stabbing
John was left critically ill in hospital, although he has now
recovered. He is said to have been having difficulties in school
and was unsure about his sexuality. Both boys have been put under
supervision orders.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
Thoughts of the Week
The drivers are off the road and, in a manner of speaking, on
the march again. With rising oil prices world-wide, partly
sparked off by recent terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, petrol
is once more the unsavoury topic of conversation at dinner tables
up and down the country. There are rumours of new revolts and blockades. Newspapers are
busy trying to paint it as a huge political issue, trying to use
the grumbling of a few pissed off haulage firms as a means of
battering ‘the oppressive state’. This is, we are told,
the great cause of our time, the issue, the people’s
protest. Iraq was a cause that provoked a real sense of public outcry,
but now we are back to that most engaging and universal of
political causes, the price of unleaded. The hippy protests of
the Sixties really put ours to shame. Their songs were better.
Can you imagine those mad bearded lager louts, who used their
tractors and trucks to block up the roads a few years ago,
sitting down with a guitar to strum out the chords to ‘Where
have all the flowers gone?’ The strange-looking farmers and lorry drivers fighting this
‘war’ tooth and nail can be forgiven their naïve
assumption that cheap fuel is a God-given right. They have their
livelihoods to worry about, and we must humour them when they
childishly vent their frustration by honking their horns as loud
as possible, complaining to everyone that the world is not
exactly as they would have planned it, and that this ‘just
isn’t fair’. To have read some of the papers at the time of the last fuel
crisis, you could have been conned into thinking this was a
really serious issue. And when I say serious, I mean, relative to
world peace, Third World poverty or the environment (the neglect
of all three might have some slight bearing on the fuel debate
itself). Why aren’t the Daily Mail or The Sun, who have tried to
turn these fuel protestors into heroes of the people, jumping on
these rather more serious bandwagons? But then, I suppose without
any petrol, some smart lorry-driver might inform you, no
bandwagons would get anywhere anyway.ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004
DRINK: X’ian Bar
X’ian Bar
197 Banbury Rd
(01865) 554239 Those of you who are connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine will
certainly know of the X’ian restaurant in Summertown since
it serves, without a doubt, the best Chinese food for several
counties. If you haven’t been tempted to trek up the Banbury
Road to sample its crispy duck and spring rolls you should
consider a visit to its bar. X’ian’s bar isn’t huge, it certainly isn’t
anthing like a bar in its own right, but perhaps it’s all
the more alluring for that fact. One can recline on the comfy
Chinese-print sofas while enjoying a Mai Tai and chatting to
one’s fellows without the blare of hideous house music
making meaningful conversation impossible. This bar is for the
more discerning visitor. Don’t turn up intending to get
plastered – you’ll get thrown out on your ear. But if
you’re after a quieter alcoholic evening then X’ian is
the perfect experience. As we come into the summer months X’ian has an extra
benefit: outdoor seating. Their license covers the al fresco
consumption of delicious alcoholic beverages, and drinking in
their sweet little garden under the pegoda front is a seriously
pleasurable experience. X’ian doesn’t have a dress code
but I recommend dressing up for your visit, it only adds to the
fun. Pretend, for one night, that you’re not a scruffy
student and become instead, in a Stars in Their Eyes type
transformation, a glamorous bohemien ready to indulge in the
finer things in life, good wine, witty, sparkling conversation.
And, this not being some slummy little bar, you’ll still be
sober enough by the end of the night to make it back into town
alive. And, if you’re bored of the regular cocktails offered by
all the other bars then ask the manager to serve you their
speciality – vodka spiked with scorpian tails. If that
doesn’t excite you then nothing will!ARCHIVE: 5th week TT 2004