Faber’s first novel tears away protective layers of propriety, leaving the flesh and bone of society quivering and in full view. The realisation that something strange is going on is immediate, as the reader is confronted with the mysteriously repugnant alien Isserley, who scours the Scottish Highlands, under the command of her superiors, in search of beefy male hitchhikers.
Her freakish appearance (thick glasses, crooked spine, disproportionately large breasts) is the result of painful operations, yet offers a bizarre erotic appeal, which allows Isserley to snag her victims and send them to The Farm for “processing”.
This sounds gruesome and gratuitous, yet the beauty of his novel relies on our gradual realisation of Faber’s gist. He combines the fantastic, in the form of Isserley’s race, and the familiar, epitomised by the domestic vignettes of Isserley’s passengers, so that the one aspect emphasises the other and we appreciate the complexity and strangeness of both.
“The monster without is the monster within” is a common literary theme, recalling Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but Faber provides a modern twist by examining how we deal with “monsters”, personal or otherwise, through the eyes of a protagonist who, though frightful in form, embodies the complex paradoxes of the human condition.
This is re-enforced by the fact that Isserley refers to her own race as “humans”, while our own species are “vodsels”, and the manner in which she justifies her actions towards “vodsels” reflects our own treatment not only of animals but also of other races and different religions. Faber, therefore, provides an exploration of our own predatory nature and even, despite our strong disapproval of her actions, manages to stir sympathy for Isserley in her moral dilemma.
Under the Skin, then, works on a number of levels and is far more than a cheap thriller; in his discussion of the sometimes unavoidable objectification of one species by another, Faber provokes us to continually reassess our moral stance, making this a gripping, if not immediately gratifying, read.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Varsity Athletics The 130th match against Cambridge was characterised by strong
performances on both the track and the field, culminating in
victory for the men’s Blues team, and both of the second
teams – the Centipedes and the Millipedes. However, the
girls’ Blues team were beaten by their Cambridge
counterparts, despite victories in all of the throwing events,
the high jump, and the 5000m and 400m hurdles races. Since the competition began in 1864, Oxford’s men’s
team has won 16 more times than Cambridge, and the trend
continued this year with an Oxford victory of 117-103. OUAC President Fraser Thompson urged his athletes to
‘shoe the Tabs!’ and he followed up with three
convincing victories of his own, in the 800m (1:54.6), the 5000m
(14:47.1) and the mile (4:15.6). Oxford also took third place in
the 5000m and the mile through the efforts of Ben Moreau
(15:04.0) and John Hutchins (4:20.4) respectively. To complete a
clean sweep of the long-distance races, Sam Aldridge won the
3000m steeplechase in 9:27.7. Oxford’s performance in the 400m was similarly notable
– in the Blues team, Jonan Boto came second in 49.5 seconds
and Robert Lawton finished third in 50.2 seconds. Cambridge
tended to control the long-distance events for women, although
Oxford managed to take the first two places in the 5000 metres
through impressive performances from Emily Ferenczi in first
place (17:34.6) and Courtney Birch in second (17:39.3). The men’s Dark Blues swept the board in the jumping
events – Sean Gourley leapt to victory in the long jump (7.05m),
high jump (1m95) and pole vault (4.40m). The triple jump
competition resulted in maximum points as William Senbanjo took
first place with 13.76 metres and Bayo Biobaku took second with
13.67 metres. The Centipedes team also took the top two spots,
with Dan Johnson jumping a new personal best of 12.94 metres, and
Caley Wright coming second with 12.13 metres. In throwing events, Stephen McCauley was victorious in the
shot putt (14.18m) and discus (42.94m), and finished third in the
hammer (40.26m). He was supported by Thomas Hayman, who came
second in both events, achieving a personal best in the shot of
13.39 metres. Oxford also won the javelin through James
Macfarlane’s new personal best throw of 60.31 metres, with
David Harding’s 54.71 metres second and Rota Vavilova’s
throw of 34.56 metres winning the women’s event. Chanda
Kapande took first place in the hammer with a new PB of 37.77
metres and the discus (34.57m) – followed by Susan Stockdale
(25.63m). A personal best from Olivia Reade (11.04m) won the
women’s shot, followed by Rota Vavilova (10.33), and the
trend of maximum points continued in the high jump with Ailsa
Wallace (1.68m) and Danielle Fidge (1.60m) taking first and
second places respectively. On the track, Sophie Scamps was impressive in the 400m and
400m hurdles, achieving new personal bests in both. The
Millipedes also won both of these events through Katy Sam and
Elin Leyshon’s hurdling personal best of 72.0 seconds; Sam
also took the 200m race in 27.7 seconds. Oxford also took second
place in the 200m and 400m races through the efforts of Elicia
Bravo (27.8 seconds) and Natalie Coleman (63.5 seconds)
respectively. Only the closely-fought men’s sprints had belonged to
Cambridge. Toleme Ezekiel and Russell Young ran well in both the
100m and 200m, with times of 11.4 seconds and 11.5 seconds
respectively in the 100m, and 22.9 and 23.0 seconds in the 200m.
Domination of the 110m sprint hurdles, however, belonged to
Oxford. Richard Baderin and Richard Sear left Cambridge trailing
as they earned maximum points for the Blues team, finishing first
(15.0) and second (15.7) respectively. Though beaten in the 4x400m relay, victory in the 4x100m for
the men rounded the day off before Oxbridge rivalries could be
cast aside at a dinner at New College.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Women’s Cricket After a superb victory against Cambridge in April, the
fortunes of the Oxford women’s cricket side took a tumble,
as weather and the absence of key players conspired against them,
and has led to the team missing out on the semi finals of the
BUSA Championship. Firstly matches against Exeter and Brighton, the BUSA Southern
Premier League’s weakest side, were washed out with the
sides gaining a point apiece, then the Oxford side travelled to
Exeter to face a confident top of the table side. After losing
the toss, a disappointing performance with the bat saw nobody,
with the exception of captain Helen Smith, getting on top of the
tight bowling. Smith hit 27, but only found support in Emma
Collins and Sarah Milham, who made 14 and 15 respectively. Oxford
finished on 99/9 after 40 overs. Defending this total was always going to be a difficult task,
made harder by the presence of Ireland international Emma Beamish
at the crease. Exeter ran out 9-wicket winners, Georgia Gale
Grant taking the only wicket. The return of Cambridge to Marston was another disappointing
day. The Tabs, with junior England all-rounder Alexis Mannion
back from National League duty, were a much more competitive
outfit than the side destroyed earlier in term, and accurate
bowling led to them dismissing Oxford for just 98. Opener Heather Lang made a patient 37 and was ninth out, but
lost partners at a steady rate. The Oxford bowling was tight and
Cambridge started slowly. Two wickets in two overs, taken by
Helen Turner and Natalie Wells, gave Oxford hope, but light blue
stalwart Rachel Cowans and the clean hitting Mannion carried them
to their target inside 25 overs. This, combined with the earlier washouts, meant that Oxford
traveled to Brighton with no possibility of qualifying for the
BUSA semifinals, though this time the response to setting a low
target was an outstanding performance with the ball. Skipper
Helen Smith made 42 in the Blues’ 104/9, but the day
belonged to Gale Grant. In an unplayable 6- over spell she took 6
wickets for 4 runs, including a hat-trick. Smith took 2/10 and
Emma Collins 2/2 as Brighton were skittled for 44. Oxford now go into the last 16 of the BUSA Shield hoping to go
all the way in that competition.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Varsity Seconds Cricket Cambridge Crusaders 241/9
Oxford Authentics 242/5 A dogged unbeaten hundred from all-rounder Chris Stearn, a
veteran of an incredible ten Varsity games, drove Oxford’s
second eleven to a deserved victory with just one over to spare
in the Parks last Friday. Cambridge, having won the toss and chosen to bat, faced down
some tight opening bowling of pace and swing, before Rik Hodges
picked up two quick wickets, getting rid of Ben Jacklin for 57
and Mark Hillyard for 56. The visitors pulled away and reached 200 on the forty-over
mark, with no more wickets forthcoming at that point. Stearn,
however, had begun to reel them in with a sensible spell, and it
was this, married to some sharp, ruthless fielding, that lay the
foundations for a comeback in the last ten overs. Skipper Charlie
Gammell and returning opener Gerrard took three wickets apiece,
leaving the shellshocked Light Blues to trudge off at the end of
their fifty overs with a beatable total of 241. Number 3 Stearn arrived at the crease early and was intent on
repeating his heroics in the threeday game last year, when he
posted 85 not out. Like his bowling, the strength of
Stearn’s play with the bat was his conservatism and by
taking singles well, frustrating the bowlers and manipulating the
field, he put the Dark Blues in the driving seat. The second
wicket, which saw strong-hooking Booth dismissed for 41, brought
James Davenport to the crease. Oxford became bogged down and, at 97/2 from 27 overs, in need
of an injection of pace, they were unable to push the scoreboard
along. When Davenport was put out of his misery, the Authentics
were in need of eight runs an over. Thus, they were grateful to the incoming Gammell for pushing
the scoreboard along, while Stearn, liberated by his presence,
began to play more freely. He brought up his century during the
partnership, and when it ended on Gammell’s dismissal, for
22 from 15 balls, the tables had turned. Another wicket fell but
the contest was all but over. Gammell said that his side’s fielding “bodes
well” for the three-day encounter, to take place at
Fenner’s beginning on Tuesday of Tenth week, before he
picked out Stearn for special praise. “It was a credit to
Stearny. He batted superbly.”ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Blues Rugby The bulk of the season may be over, but for the Blues rugby
side, this week has brought a starting amount of satisfaction,
with the captaincy of Canada and a place in the London Wasps
squad amongst the honours picked up. A fantastic comeback against NEC Harlequins began
Oxford’s challenge at the sevens tournament at Rosslyn Park,
with Graham Barr and John Bradshaw crossing the line in the last
two minutes to overturn a ten-point deficit. The Blues continued to compete with professional opposition,
and a 28-7 defeat of London Scottish followed. Wasps, boasting
the likes of Scotland winger Kenny Logan, were too strong in the
semi-finals and ended the Oxford challenge, running out 35- 7
winners. Individuals have been the toast of the side this week,
however, as props Kevin Tkachuk and Henry Nwume would testify.
Tkachuk, who played for his native Canada in the World Cup in
Australia and scored a try, was named as his country’s
captain this week for the approaching Churchill Cup tournament,
beginning on 12 and 13 June, with matches against England, New
Zealand Maori and the USA providing him with a mouth-watering
prospect. Tight-head Nwume, whose thirty- yard charge down the inside
left provided Oxford with their only try of December’s drawn
Varsity match at Twickenham, came off the bench for Wasps on
Sunday. The score stood at 43-13 in their Zurich Premiership semifinal
against Northampton Saints, and by the end an emphatic 57-20
victory saw Wasps book their place in the final at Twickenham. As
the side’s attention turns to this weekend’s Heineken
Cup final against Toulouse, Cherwell has learnt that coach Warren
Gatland is growing warm to the idea of granting Nwume a role in
the side. Meanwhile, the annual OURFC dinner at Wadham college saw
Richie Woods of St Anne’s named Blues player of the year,
with sponsors Aggregate honouring Univ’s Peter Raftery. St
Hughs’ Chris Abbott was named Greyhounds player of the year. The only dampener on the week for the Blues was the
side’s inability to overcome the Blues netball side at their
own game (see Jock Strip, opposite).ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Varsity Archery Cambridge 3417
Oxford 3187 In ideal conditions on the backs of St. John’s College,
Cambridge, Oxford University Company of Archers put on a strong
performance on Saturday in the 55th Varsity match. After six
successive defeats by a consistently tough Cambridge team, and
having lost two of last year’s three half blues, Oxford were
always the underdogs, but the addition of Lincoln first year
Christopher Buckingham as well as comprehensive coaching from
Ollie Holt meant competition would still be intense. Indeed, until the fourth dozen the teams were fairly evenly
matched, but soaring scores from Cambridge’s James Keogh and
Pamela Custance-Baker soon began to take their toll. Keogh’s
score of 888 headed a Cambridge team in which all four archers
achieved scores of over 800, all with fifty or more golds, and
this left them with a team total of 3417, only a few points off
the Varsity record. Oxford, however, could certainly not be accused of lack of
endeavour. Chris Buckingham finished as third gentleman with 831,
and Antje Frotscher and Catherine Roberts won second and third
lady respectively. Their scores, combined with that of fourth
team member Geoffrey Hyett, beat last year’s winning score
but were still just too far off the pace. Oxford’s novices
fared little better, trailing the Tabs by almost 800 points,
despite a superb performance by Matthew Read, who finished ninth
overall. Despite another loss, Oxford can thus be proud of their
contribution to what is believed to be the highest combined score
ever recorded at Varsity. The team’s intensive training in
mental as well as physical stamina meant that everyone very much
fulfilled their potential, and the magnitude of their score,
beaten only by a remarkable Cambridge achievement, reflects their
obvious improvements in both skill and morale. With similar
improvements over the next year, eight consecutive defeats can be
avoided.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004

Sailing Cuppers LMH, starting out as pre event favourites, held their
composure and secured their first sailing cuppers win in recent
years. Fourteen college teams made the short trip to Farmoor
reservoir only to be faced with a flat calm lake. Thankfully, a light but consistent breeze filled in. Racing
then got underway in four leagues and the fourteen teams were
whittled down to just four for the knockout stage. The wind remained light but conditions were perfect for this
two boat team racing event. LMH dispatched of a strong St
Hugh’s team in the first semi-final with some well executed
team racing on the first upwind leg. The second semi- final was
somewhat closer and looked to be going Worcester’s way
before a late turn of speed from the Lincoln team led them
through to the final. Lincoln provided formidable opposition in a scrappy final,
which saw four penalty spins awarded in just one race. Amidst the
frantic team racing and heated debate from Lincoln, LMH held
their nerve, and took home the cuppers trophy.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004 

Outraged Oriel students have rallied round their college staff
in a confrontation over whether they should be allowed to drink
at the college bar. Two weeks ago the College Steward banned staff members from
drinking with students. The Steward, Jean Medd, was unavailable
for comment at the time of going to press but has provided no
official justification to either staff or students for his sudden
decision. The ban has been met with a combination of anger and
perplexity. The Steward has been described by one graduate
student, who wished to remain anonymous, as “an evil
man” who has soured relations between staff and the JCR for
some time. In response to the College’s actions, a motion was
brought at last weekend’s JCR meeting calling for the ban to
be lifted and college staff to be allowed to drink alongside
students just as they had done for centuries. The meeting was
attended by a “sizeable crowd” and the motion passed
unanimously. However, the JCR lacks the authority to decide who can and
cannot drink at the college bar and so the motion is little more
than a protest and signal of solidarity with college staff. One
member of the college told Cherwell that “the college is
notoriously bad at listening to its students and so I doubt
they’ll take any notice of this vote”. Other students argued this was about a broader principle than
simply drinking rights; Rhiannon Brooks explained, “The
college staff are very nice people and we are one college, one
community. This ban threatens the tight knit close atmosphere
that makes a small college like Oriel so special.”
Second-year lawyer Mohammed Khuram agreed that “healthy
relations existed between college staff and students” and
that he was outraged that these “good chaps should be forced
into an Upstairs, Downstairs relationship with students”. College staff echoed the views of students; one porter
commented, “There is a long tradition of porters drinking
with students. We are all members of the college after all and I
see no reason why we should not be treated as such. College staff
have been given no reason for why this ban has been introduced
and I’m pleased that the JCR are fighting it.”ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004