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college rent rises each year, Somerville Governing Body is purported to have called his indications of 4.52% “outdated and irrelevant.”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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Penny Berrill resigned as Hilda’s JCR president this week, citing ill health as the reason why she could not continue in Oxford this term. Giving her final speech to the JCR meeting on Tuesday, she congratulated the JCR on they had achieved this year, proving that St. Hilda?s JCR could be strong campaigning force able engage in active debate with their SCR and provide quality services. Upon thanking the committee and executive members she had worked with, she called upon Hilda’s to be a driving force ideas and action next year saying had been “an honour and a privilege to have served as your JCR President for the past academic year”. The year has seen battles over the College Girls TV programme and the referendum the Colleges single sex status. She hopes to return as soon as possible but her departure from Oxford also leaves a vacancy for co-chair of OUSU Finance and Funding Committee.
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Margaret Atwood, acclaimed Canadian writer and former Booker Prize winner, is to visit Oxford this week to promote her new novel, Oryx and Crake. The event is the first in a long series of events to mark the publication of her first novel since 2001. She will be discussing her work with Peter Kemp, fiction editor of the Sunday Times, as part of the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on May 21st in the Sheldonian Theatre. This, as the final event in the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, is likely to strengthen Oxford?s bid for capital of culture.
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Speculation has been sparked recently about the existence of KGB-run Oxford spy ring in the 1930’s, writes Christopher Harris. Christopher Andrews, a professor at Cambridge, is writing an official history of the MI5, and is addressing the question of whether Oxford spies had as much success as their Cambridge counterparts, and if so, how they have avoided similar publicity. It is known from KGB files that at least 6 Oxford undergraduates were signed up in some capacity. Anthony Glees, of Brunel University, reasons “The lack of named and exposed Oxford spies on the scale of the Cambridge ring does not mean there were none; it would be quite absurd to think this was just a Cambridge phenomenon.” However, ex-Soviet mole and Somerville graduate Jenifer Hart sceptical, commenting that “as far as I’m aware there wasn’t anything like Cambridge [happening at Oxford]. Soviets were trying recruit [students], but were not successful.”
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Oxford Students have begun to participate in Cambridge University’s new game, “bumpsdaq” – an online fantasy stock exchange based on the crews rowing in their May Bumps, writes Christopher Harris. There are currently two players who admit to studying at Oxford University: Stuart Jones, a member of University College’s first VIII, and an anonymous Merton student who goes by the name of Wonbyafoot. Wonbyafoot is currently doing well in 12th place, having more than doubled his or her original £10 000. But Jones is doing even better in 4th, with £45 433.84. The game currently has around 340 players, all of whom buy and sell shares in crews, and receive dividends on races leading up to the May Bumps depending on how well those crews did.
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The Oxford Union may face awkward questions on Sunday after advertising its speaker as ‘The Crown Prince of Burma’ although neither the country nor the title actually exist. The society’s use of the speaker’s self-given moniker ‘Crown Prince’ is controversial since in his native country of Myanmar, Mr Shwebomin is only a pretender to the royal throne. Currently residing in this country, Shwebomin is said to hold significant sway in Myanmar, but in this country he is more notorious as a London socialite. The Union’s dabbling in the uncertain politics of the small Asian country of Myanmar has caused concern among members, who fear the credibility of the Union might be put at risk. The country in question, located on the Indian subcontinent, has not technically been called Burma since 1989, when its official English name was changed to Myanmar precisely because the ancient name Burma had garnered negative imperial connotations after almost 60 years of British rule in the province. Shwebomin claims to possess documentation purporting to ‘prove’ his status as rightful successor to the Myanmar throne. Although he is almost certainly descended from the line of Emperors which ruled the first Burmese empire, the link does seem somewhat tenuous. His maternal grandmother was the great-great-granddaughter of eighteenth century Emperor Hsinbyushin of the Konebaung dynasty, which would make him an eighth-generation descendant of royalty. Ambrose Faulks, President of the Oxford Union, will say nothing to support or refute the speaker’s claims: “If this issue concerns you,” Faulks told Cherwell, “the best thing to do is to come along on Sunday and make up your own mind”. Last night’s debate was also the subject of contention, since the President objected to an emergency motion that “if God hadn’t meant us to masturbate, he would have given us shorter arms.” Faulks’ principal reason for concern was that this light-hearted motion might afford this “serious institution a reputation for frivolity.” However President-Elect, Marcus Walker did not share Faulks reluctance, quipping, “I’m sure especially Ambrose would not object to mass-debating in the Union.”ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003