Three current Oxford students competed at the opening World
Cup Regatta at Poznan, the first chance that those boats heading
to the Olympics in August had to test their speed against serious
competition. For the British squad, it was also a chance to see whether the
reshuffles brought in by Jürgen Grobler had worked. In the
absence of the top British coxless pair due to illness,
Wolfson’s Peter Reed and Christ Church’s David
Livingston raced creditably as their replacements, finishing
fifth in the B final. Christ Church’s other Olympic hopeful, Robin
Bourne-Taylor, would have been more disappointed with the fifth
place achieved by the VIII in the final, seen as a set back
compared to the bronze medal achieved at the World Championships
in Milan last year. This result means that yet more reshuffles are possible in the
VIII, especially with the strong performance of former Keble
student Ed Coode. Coode, previously dropped from the VIII after a
poor showing at GB trials, raced to a gold medal in the coxless
four after substituting for the injured Olympian James Cracknell.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004 

Oxford’s karting team enjoyed their most successful
season so far in the highly competitive British University
Karting Championship, beating the Tabs in five out of six rounds. The championship, which visits the best karting tracks in the
country and uses two-stroke karts capable of 85mph and 0-60 in 4
seconds, attracts competitors with a wealth of professional
motorsport experience including Le Mans 24Hr, GT racing, Formula
3 and even the winner of the Channel 5 reality TV show ‘Be A
Grand Prix Driver’. With drivers of this standard, Oxford
were expecting a tough season; however on a number of occasions
they showed the pace and talent to run near the front of the 48
four-driver teams from 25 universities competing. Bayford Meadows in Kent was the venue for the opening round,
and the team struggled for consistency, messing up three of the
four individual races with only the writer scoring a decent
result in 14th. Round 2 at Rye House, Hertfordshire brought
further ill luck, as three of the team were given black flags and
penalties after collisions with other drivers. The Championship then moved to Warden Law near Sunderland for
rounds 3 and 4, and local boy Adam Craig proved the star. He
raced away into the lead of his first race, leaving all the pros
behind – until with just two laps to go he spun, dropping to
5th – still a great result. He followed that up with
Oxford’s first ever podium in 2nd in his other race – a
superb performance. Clay Pigeon in Dorset rounded off the season by hosting the
final two rounds in Noughth week. The team still had some work to
do to ensure victory over Cambridge, and once again the 30 minute
individual races proved tricky despite the writer’s best
ever result in 9th place, with the other drivers each having
problems. That left two one-hour pair races, and Marcus Haggers
and James Brown did a brilliant job to finish 12th in theirs,
despite spinning once and having started last on the grid, they
slashed their way relentlessly through the field. The other two drivers then scored a brilliant 7th place in the
final race of the season, keeping pace with the professionals all
the way to conclude the team’s best ever day and season in
the championship. The victory over Cambridge was well-deserved
and provides great expectation for the Varsity Karting race.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004 

Bannister, Chataway and Brasher; the four-minute-mile was
something of a team achievement; without his pace makers the good
doctor might never have breasted the tape in time. Had he been
just a fraction slower a foreigner would have taken the plaudits
that Bannister now laps up; there might have been no honours from
a grateful Empire, and no celebration fifty years on at
Oxford’s slightly less famous Iffley Road athletics track. Perhaps there would have been no subsequent British obsession
with middle distance running – an obsession which spawned
the great Cram, Coe and Ovett. Bannister, as he would certainly
be the first to acknowledge, owes his pacemakers a great deal. In fact, so much individual success is actually the result of
teamwork; the result of minions sacrificing themselves for the
good of their superiors. Lance Armstrong, that modern day hero,
is literally pulled up those steep Alpine climbs by his team
mates most of whom will have to drop out because of the sheer
exhaustion of breaking the still air in front of their leader;
Paula Radcliffe’s amazing London marathon records have been
aided by (male) pacemakers and Michael Schumacher’s
victories have so often come at the expense of his team-mates. Of course these three are among the most talented sportsmen
and women of this, or indeed any other, generation. It is this
talent that assures them of their greatness. Even the greatest,
though, have to rely on others from time to time. Individual
records are hardly ever so simple a feat as we are afterwards led
to believe by the historians eager to dramatise events and
glorify names – if it wasn’t you crossing the line then
you hardly count, it seems. At a time when everyone (us included) is quite rightly singing
the praises of Bannister, Cherwell asks that everyone takes a
minute or four to remember those without whom it quite literally
wouldn’t have been possible – Chataway, Brasher and all
your like: we salute you.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004 

1954’s Cherwell was amongst the first to learn that
Iffley Road would see Roger Bannister attempt to run the elusive
four-minute mile. During secret training in April Bannister ran a
three minute three-quarter mile and became convinced that the
impossible could be done; he alerted Oxford University Athletics
Club officials, who informed Cherwell staff that an attempt would
be made but asked that the preview be ‘guarded’. On 4th
May the newspaper previewed the soon to be famous match under the
ambiguous headline ‘Records May Go’, with the prophetic
words “with Bannister, Chataway and Brasher in the field
something very, very fast may be expected.” One week later Bannister’s photo adorned the front page;
the headline declaring him to be ‘Alone in the World’;
the main headline, though, was devoted to the attempts to raise
signatures for an ‘H-Bomb Petition’. On the back page
of Cherwell, the newspaper’s athletics correspondent offered
a behind the scenes exclusive on the breaking of “one of the
few athletic records which catches the public imagination.” The report’s first line betrays the excitement all felt
at the achievement: “Five days ago Roger Bannister M.A.,
B.Sc., Oxon, became the first man to run one mile in less than
four minutes.” However, it shows too just how close
Bannister came to calling off his attempt to run into history:
“Earlier in the day Bannister had dismissed his plans for a
record attempt, and Chataway had expressed his wishes to run in
the Two Miles”. The men were persuaded to continue by George
Truelove who, Cherwell wrote, “told them all to ‘have a
go’” and, no doubt, by the realisation that the moment
was ripe for the taking; with so many athletes vying for the
honour of being the first to run the four-minute-mile a delay
might have proved fatal. Still, it was only at 5.55pm that
Bannister committed to the run. Cherwell’s report acknowledged Brasher’s early
attempts to set the pace saying that “the greatest
credit” was due to him, though his “valiant first half
mile was almost forgotten by the end of the race”. Of Chataway the praise is equally fulsome, despite noting that
“the phenomenal first quarter mile led to the third lap, at
62 secs, being the slowest of the race”. Bannister, though,
“burnt himself out in a superhuman effort over the last 330
yards” and broke through the line into history. Hugh Murray, the Sports Editor of Cherwell, was quick to have
a word with the hero of the day who declared himself “very
pleased to have done this mile here at Iffley Road, for it was
here that I ran my first mile” – the report notes that
“in fact that mile was a very poor run in the
Freshmen’s Sports, October 1947 when the track was
constructed three laps to the mile.” It was Bannister who in one of numerous legacies he was to
leave the University secured the approval for a “normal
size…cinder track”, which the paper proudly points out
‘is now one of the best in the country. Perhaps Chataway, an ex- President of Oxford University
Athletic’s Club, best summed up the spirit of jubilation at
Iffley Road by declaring to a listening Cherwell reporter that
the triumphant runners were “now off to find a night
club.” One of Britain’s greatest ever sporting
achievements being celebrated in Filth or Park End is perhaps not
the most romantic of images but certainly marks it out as a
quintessentially Oxford moment.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004 

Oxford University Athletics Club went back in time on Thursday
to relive the momentous occasion when Sir Roger Bannister, then a
medical student in Oxford, became the first man to run a mile in
under four minutes, a feat that had been regarded by experts as
beyond human limitation. Fifty years after breaking this barrier, Sir Roger returned to
Iffley Road for the anniversary match between the Oxford
University athletics team and the Amateur Athletics Association
U23 team, with some guest competitors including Sonia
O’Sullivan and John Mayock. The events on the track dominated the day, beginning with the
men’s 110m hurdles. Despite the fact that there were only
two competitors, Richard Baderin swept past the line in 14.9
seconds. The only victory for Oxford came in the men’s 200m
where Oxford alumnus, Finlay Wright ran an impressive 22.17
seconds, with Toleme Ezekiel finishing in 23.06 seconds. Both men
also performed well in the 100m. In the women’s races, there were good efforts in both
sprints from Helen Edmundson, who came second in both the 100m
and 200m, and Katy Whear, who came third in the 100m and fourth
in the 200m. The placings were similar in the 400m – Sophie
Scamps, Lizzie Braithwaite and Katherine Sams finished second,
third and fourth respectively. In the men’s race, Jonan Boto
finished strongly in 49.86 seconds to take third place, followed
by Robert Lawton, Michael Lokale and Chris Wright. The familiar voice of BBC commentator Paul Dickenson also kept
spectators informed about the progress of the field events. In
the shot putt, Oxford’s Stephen McCauley came third with a
Blues distance of 14.03m, while Tom Hayman, Jenny Duff, Olivia
Reade and Rota Vavilova all putted well too. The high jump was
more closely contested, with Sean Gourley and Oliver Card jumping
1m85 and 1m80 respectively; in the women’s event Ailsa
Wallace cleared 1m65, followed by Danielle Fidge jumping 1m60. The elite mile races formed the highlight of the competition.
The women’s race was won convincingly, and unsurprisingly,
by guest star Sonia O’Sullivan in 4:27.79. Oxford’s
representatives, Emily Crowley and Clare Martin, finished in
fifth and sixth places. The gun for the men’s race was fired at 6pm –
exactly the same time as the race began 50 years ago, and
Bannister rang the bell used in the historic 1954 race to signal
one lap to go. The race was won by Craig Mottram of Australia in
3:56.64, a new track record and a time which, in 1954, would have
beaten Bannister into second place. Notable performances were
also put in by OUAC captain, Fraser Thompson in 4:07.88, and Nick
Talbot in 4:12.53. Since Sir Roger broke the fourminute barrier with a time of
3:59.4, nearly 1000 athletes from 60 countries have followed in
his footsteps. Perhaps this is why Sir Roger remains so modest about his
accomplishment, “None of my athletics was my greatest
achievement of my life”, he said. “My medical work has
been my achievement, and my family.” His balanced approach
remains an inspiration to aspiring sportsmen worldwide.ARCHIVE: 2nd week TT 2004 

An Oxford student may lose his eye following a violently
assault on Friday night at the Corpus Christi Ball. The victim
sustained serious injuries which may leave him partially blind. An American man, not thought to be a member of the university,
has been charged in relation to the incident, and has since been
released on bail. Ilya Zarembsky, a 23-year-old man from Massachusetts, was
charged on Saturday with causing Grievous Bodily Harm. He
appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday 3 May where
he was bailed to re-appear on 17 May. Stuart Bremner, studying for an MBA at Templeton College, was
punched in the face three times in the bar area of the main quad
at the ball. After treatment by a St John’s Ambulance team,
he was taken to the John Radcliffe hospital before being
transferred to the Radcliffe Infirmary where emergency surgery
was performed to remove part of his iris. It is as yet unclear whether he has completely lost sight in
the eye in question, but doctors have predicted that he may
regain only 60% of his vision “at best.” The incident took place at 2am after the two men, thought to
be previously unknown to each other, began a conversation whilst
queuing for drinks. The porters at the College and eleven hired security officials
then detained a man at the instruction of the College Dean while
the police were called. They were unable to attend, telling the College they were
“too busy” at the time. After a second unsuccessful attempt was made to summon them,
college authorities decided that they would have to let their
detainee go. A suspect was contacted by Oxford Police the next day, through
a member of Corpus, whose guest he was at the time. The organizers of the ball refused to comment on the incident,
following an email sent to all members of the College by the Dean
forbidding them from talking to members of the press about the
incident. The Police, however, are also having problems finding
eyewitnesses to the incident but will be continuing their
investigation into the assault. Many people at the ball, for which they had paid the princely
sum of £50, were completely unaware that the incident had
occured and the rest of the evening passed relatively
uneventfully. As the man is still awaiting trial, Cherwell is unable to
reveal further details of the allegations.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

A series of vicious attacks on Oxford’s female students
has left police appealing for witnesses this week. Two women were
indecently assaulted in separate incidents and an Exeter student
was mugged. In the early hours of Sunday 25 April a young woman was
attacked by an Asian male thought to be in his mid to late
twenties. The assault took place on East Avenue, off Cowley Road.
Two days later another student was assailed in similar
circumstances on Princes Street, again just off Cowley Road. This
attack took place in the afternoon. The perpetrator is described
as an Asian male, approximately thirteen years old. Despite the age discrepancy between the suspects, the police
still believe the incidents could be connected. DC Mark Hill, who
is leading the investigation, told Cherwell, “We can’t
definitely say they’re linked, but they may well be.” “We don’t want to panic people”, he explained,
“but they do appear to be targeting females, regardless of
the time of day. We urge female students to be vigilant.”
Nobody has been arrested for the assaults and the inquiry is
ongoing. In an unrelated incident, an Exeter College student was mugged
last Saturday night. The attack took place at around 11:30pm on
Brasenose Lane, which links Radcliffe Square and Turl Street. The
victim’s handbag was stolen. Second-year English and History student Laura Morton was
returning to Cowley Road alone after an evening out in the centre
of town. She was unaware of the man’s presence until a few
seconds before the robbery. She pursued the thief onto the High
Street before returning to Exeter College to alert the porters. Despite an area search by the police around the High Street
and St Aldate’s area, the man has not been traced. The
aggressor is described as “wearing dark clothes, with fairly
nondescript features and lank brown hair.” Morton told
Cherwell that she was shocked and angry at the mugging. She said,
“Although Brasenose Lane is not well lit, I used to feel
safer there than outside the centre of Oxford. It’s
obviously a violation, one I wasn’t expecting, and it has
left me feeling tense and paranoid, even at earlier times of the
evening.” A police spokeswoman maintained that “Oxford is a safe
city” but advised students to “take a minimum of cash
and valuables out with you and wherever possible use cash
machines in well lit, busy areas. Travel on main routes
throughout the city and try to stick together with friends. Avoid
obvious use of your mobile phone; think before you use it. Stay
aware of your surroundings and remain in control.” The police have released e-fits of the men involved in the
first two incidents to Cherwell to help people identify the
suspects. Anyone with information on the indecent assaults should
ring DC Mark Hill on 01865 266118 or Crimestoppers anonymously on
0800 555111.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

St Cross College’s Common Room Committee (CRC) has
decided to affiliate to OUSU from Michaelmas Term 2004, after the
student union offered them a reduced membership fee. Minutes from the graduate college’s CRC meetings show
that OUSU offered membership at £700 per annum rather than the
full fee of £1200. As CRC Women’s Officer Verity Allan pointed out at the
time, “a fee of £700 saves us £10 per head”. The minutes also reveal that the CRC felt that they would not
have affiliated without OUSU’s offer to cut the membership
fee for the first year of affiliation. Nick Kruger, the senior
member of the CRC explained that “the fee of £1200 is
unrealistic for the CRC”. OUSU was quick to defend their fee reduction, claiming that it
did not constitute preferential treatment or discrimination
against the full fee-paying Junior Common Rooms of other
colleges, and that St Cross was a special case. Rodrigo Davies, OUSU’s Vice President (Finance),
explained that “the fee that St Cross is paying to OUSU is
the result of a temporary arrangement that is operating while the
college’s common room committee establishes a separate
student body.” “Once this process has finished, St Cross will be able to
affiliate as a Student Union under the terms of the Education Act
and will be liable for the same subscription rates as all other
affiliated common rooms.” OUSU President, Helena Puig Larrauri, explained that
“they do not receive the kind of government funding that
Junior and Middle Common Rooms across the rest of the University
receive for virtue of being student unions.” However the CRC’s decision to affiliate was not put to
ordinary members of the college. Nick Kruger argued at the time
that because “this would be a cost neutral change it would
not be necessary to consult the student body”.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

OUSU Council has refused to endorse a University proposed
“Code of Conduct,” clarifying restrictions to behaviour
during post-exam celebrations. The decision on Friday followed a
Cherwell opinion poll showing mass student opposition to the
plans. OUSU will now push for the ban on “fluid spraying”
to be dropped, and has informed the University of this, despite
agreeing to help in the distribution of the code. A University
spokesperson said, “We are disappointed that OUSU Council
has not endorsed the Code of Conduct after representatives helped
us to draw it up.” Oxford Mail held another poll this week, which asked readers,
“Should Oxford University students have to comply with a
code of conduct, to stop rowdy behaviour following the end of
their exams?” 200 people said that they should be more
considerate but just under 40% said they believed the students
were entitled to some fun. The Mail polled exactly the same number of people, 331, as
Cherwell had. The Code of Conduct, which will be distributed via
email to all students and staff by the end of third week, will
specify exactly what kind of behaviour is considered acceptable
under the University Regulations.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

A student at Regent’s Park College has experienced some
ghostly moments over the last two terms, leading to speculation
that her room is haunted. Edith Earl, who lives in room M13, claims to have seen an
object the size of a pebble fly from one side of the room and
crash into a window at the other end. A similar incident, which
was also witnessed by two friends, occurred half an hour later.
The object left no trace nor was any damage done to the window.
Matt Harris, who heard the object hitting the window, described
the noise as “unnerving”. “It sounded exactly as
Edith had described it,” he added. Earl, a first year theology student, said, “The things I
see are quite scary but I don’t think I believe in ghosts.
I’ve witnessed other strange occurrences and I’m
convinced my mind just plays tricks on me. I’ve no desire to
move out of my present room.” Another Regent’s student,
Kate Greville, was also reluctant to say that the room was
haunted, “I thought it was really weird, but I don’t
know what I think it is. Strange things do happen though and I
wouldn’t like to stay in Edith’s room. It’s a bit
shocking.” Earl also believes that she sees shapes moving in the mirror
and says that on one occasion she returned to her room to find a
previously locked window mysteriously wide open. One Regent’s student claims he was informed last year by
Revd Tim Bradshaw, senior tutor at the College, that the room had
been exorcised five to ten years ago. When contacted by Cherwell
on Wednesday however, Revd Bradshaw seemed unaware of any
supernatural occurrences, stating that he knew “absolutely
nothing” about the exorcism or the present incidents. He expressed his hope that the JCR were looking after
Earl’s welfare. Another member of Regent’s
administrative staff noted that during her fifteen years at the
college she had not been aware ofARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004