Thieves made off with two students’ credit cards and a
mobile phone from Jesus College, despite being questioned by
porters after arousing suspicions that they might not be members
of the college. The incident occurred at around 1pm on Monday of first week
when two intruders stole the items from the college library after
attempting to pass themselves off as students. The casually
dressed young men were spotted in the lower level of the library
by Jesus student, Ben Bell. He told Cherwell that the men were “taking random books
from the shelves in an effort to pretend they were
students”. The porters were alerted but the two men were
released before students realised that anything was missing. A student, who wishes to remain unnamed, had his credit card
stolen, and said he “wouldn’t have noticed for
hours” but for the fact that his mobile phone was also
taken. The men then attempted to spend £500 on another
student’s stolen credit card, buying camera equipment in
Jessops. The shop phoned the girl to check whether she intended
to spend such a large amount. A statement regarding the theft has been made to the police,
but the two men have not yet been apprehended. It is not yet
clear how the perpetrators gained entry to the College. A Jesus College porter said “in this case it is the
students’ fault, as the intruders couldn’t have entered
without someone letting them in through the Ship Street
gate.” Patrick Wilson, a first year student at Jesus
studying Languages commented, “You can’t know everyone
in College. When you see someone coming in through the side gate
you hold the door open for them.” Students received a cursory email from the JCR President
notifying them of the security breach from the College.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Oxford’s traditional May Day celebrations went off
without serious incident, despite several people ignoring police
recommendations and jumping from Magdalen Bridge. 8,500 people packed onto the bridge on Saturday morning to
hear Magdalen College Choir welcome in the dawn at 6am. 12,000
are thought to have been in the nearby area at this time. Traditionally, Oxford students celebrate May Day by jumping
into the river Cherwell, but this has been discouraged in recent
years because of safety fears, after one person was paralyzed. A
two-metre high security fence failed to stop over a dozen from
taking the plunge. Thames Valley Police acknowledged that “no one was
injured” but admitted, “ideally we would have preferred
it if no one had jumped.” Matthew Balaam, who had wanted to do the jump for over ten
years, said, “it was fantastic, but it did hurt.” One
male jumper landed on the concrete but was not seriously injured. However, Oxford City Councillor Mick McAndrews told Cherwell,
theat despite being a “nice, Oxford tradition” it did
need to be “properly policed”. Currently, a private
security company employed by the Council provides the bulk of the
security on May Day. “The money spent on stewarding seems to
have been a waste,” he explained. Magdalen College Porter,
Bob Porter, agreed.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Several parked cars were damaged in Jericho on Saturday as a
bus driver lost control of his vehicle after making a right turn
into a quiet side street. The driver of the Thames Travel bus
turned into Cranham Street to find a vehicle parked on
double-yellow lines. Attempting to avoid the vehicle, the bus
clipped the wheel of the first in a row of parked cars, before
hitting another and pushing it backwards. The bus eventually careered into a total of seven cars. Liza
Picard, the owner of the first car to be hit, told Cherwell that
two of the cars have been written off. She also expressed
sympathy for the driver saying, “I feel sorry for him, I
don’t know how this could have happened.”ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

A recent report by Oxford University academics has blamed
environmental charities for ‘sexing up’ the threat of
climate change in an attempt to increase public donations and
political influence. Well-known charities such as WWF-UK and Friends of the Earth
have been accused of exaggerating the link between climate change
and the threat of extinctions. The organisations’ claims
include the projection that one quarter of the world’s
species will be extinct by 2050. Dr Paul Jepson of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute
expressed his opinion that charities have “overstated the
evidence in order to meet fundraising targets.” Dr Richard Ladle, an Oxford University ecologist who also
contributed to the report, has said that most species cited as
being in danger of extinction by 2050 are, in reality, likely to
still be living. WWF-UK have defended themselves by claiming that they need to
simplify issues in order to appeal to the public effectively and
that the comments were “unfair”.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

An enterprising Oxford graduate has attempted to sell a
special tour of Oxford online. The person set up an online
listing on eBay, and advertised a “Day in the Life of an
Oxford student”, showing the self-named
“auctionwilliam”, clad in sub-fusc. He promised afternoon tea at the Grand Café, punting and even
access to lectures and “exclusive parts of Colleges”.
He recommended his services as being “ideal for
foreigners”. Nobody hasARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Father John Hyde of the Open Episcopal Church blessed pledges
of commitment by same sex couples on May Day.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Another Wadstock has eclectically rocked suitably anoraked
Wadhamites and their lucky guests. The College’s annual
music festival took place on the evening of May Day. Spontaneous
crowdsurfing, an accumulating carpet of empty beer bottles, and
(possibly related) raucous dancing were interrupted by unique
diversions such as competitive tequila croquet. Oxford’s resident non-cheese embracing community was
treated to a schizophrenic musical extravaganza. The uniformly
blondtipped, indie blandness of boyband rockers The Trend was
sandwiched between bizarre ambient sounds and exciting laptop
electronica from a lab-coated duo. As darkness and, for many, new levels of drunkenness,
descended, the musical talent emerged. Experimental collective
Confidential filled the dance floor with their funky breakbeats
and the stunning vocals of lead singer Simone. The Shimones kept
the party mood going with their covers of Franz Ferdinand’s
‘Take me out’, and the obscenely popular Busted classic
‘Year 3000’. However, Kilroy’s divaesque singer Autumn and the
band’s diverse fusion of funk, soul, jazz and samba pushed
the upbeat atmosphere up a gear; leaving the audience in
impatient expectation of next year’s offerings.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Oxford University delegates shone in the World Model United
Nations conference, held in Egypt this Easter. The twentyfour-
delegate, intercollegiate team debated with other students from
across the world, many from Ivy League American universities,
coming away with a stunning twelve of the prestigious Delegate
Awards, more than any other university who participated. The chairs of committees give Delegate Awards to individuals
who “propel the spirit of diplomacy”, and demonstrate
an outstanding level of debate. Eight hundred delegates took part
in the event, with Oxford delegates representing the UK, Serbia,
Turkey and Myanma. President Laura Harbidge told Cherwell she was immensely proud
of the delegation’s awards, “it was amazing we were
able to organize ourselves, gain funding, and then do so so
well.” MUN has only became popular in Oxford since 2001. It
provides a refreshing alternative from the traditional
Union-style debates. Some of the American participants were doing
MUN as part of their degree and had been specially trained. Oxford is hosting its second MUN conference in November.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004 

Cambridge is set to meet a growing demand for places by
opening three new colleges. The plans, if approved of by the
local council, will expand its student numbers by over 4,000 to a
total of 20,000 students by 2025. The expansion plans came about after Cambridge received over
15,000 applications for their 3,000 places this year, up from
13,700 the year before. Over 5,000 of the rejected applicants
scored at least three A grades. Oxford received just under 12,000
applications over a similar period. The extra places created will be split evenly between
undergraduates and the more lucrative graduate and overseas
student market. The new colleges will be the first additions to
the University since Robinson College was endowed in 1979. The development is earmarked for greenbelt land in West
Cambridge and looks set to swallow up 57 hectares of university
owned farmland. Strong opposition is expected from local
environmentalists. Part of the development will involve building new low cost
housing for academic staff. This stems from fears that the high
cost of housing in the area is harming the University’s
ability to attractARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004