A member of the OUSU executive has resigned this week, slamming the leadership, we report on today’s front page. Another exec member has also resigned, and the future of John Blake, widely tipped as being a potential presidential candidate next term, is uncertain. But should most Cherwell readers care? Probably not. Despite the efforts of William Straw and the move to Bonn Sq, OUSU remains deeply irrelevant to most of our lives. One of the big issues that has exercised the minds of student journalists for generations is the modest profile of the Student Union. In 1996 the Reform Club commissioned some research to find out exactly what the average undergraduate’s view of student representation in Oxford was. Not surprisingly they found that a large proportion of students were almost entirely ignorant of OUSU and those that did have some inkling of what went on in its previous Little Clarendon Street home were often heavily critical. Stripped of its potential to lay on large-scale entz events and genuinely useful facilities for students, OUSU is regarded by many as bureaucratic, distant and pointless. The secession of Oriel in Trinity 2001 added a greater sense of urgency to the ever present obsession of the few dozen or so genuine OUSU supporters out there (the president, his sabbaticals and various hangers-on) to make the student union more ‘relevant’ to students. The solutions that OUSU has come up with over the years are nearly always pretty banal are useful without being particularly eye-catching. Entz events come, go and are often dismal and a plethora of terminally dull handbooks and publications nothing to touch students’ lives Despite the weekly paper, the portfolio of publications and the night bus scheme, OUSU remains extremely marginal the lives of most students. Has its new site in central Oxford provide the cure for the malaise? Hardly. The new site still doesn’t contain a bar, poolroom, canteen or any other amenity students at most universities enjoy as their rights. The major problem for OUSU is not that it is full trotgimps and media whores, but that it is attempting to be centralising force in a university that remains resolutely, defiantly decentralised, or rather, ‘collegiate’. This is a city of lots small campuses – or colleges rather than one monolithic single- campus in the fashion American universities. While students do come together and join forces in certain endeavours (acting, university sport, etc.), there is very little reason why they should feel compelled to interact with other students simply because we are all Oxford. So, please, continue to ignore Toynbee, Blake, the VP-Grads election, and the end of Straw and Sullivan, and enjoy the sun.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

Back from the USA May 6th. The swifts have made their annual return to the Museum tower; exactly on schedule. But safety regulations now prevent anyone except researchers from scaling the ladders to see the nesting boxes from inside. An article appears Private Eye trashing our plans repairs to the Museum roof, one the glories of our fabulous Grade One listed building. Unfortunately leaks, due apparently to an inherently inadequate design (1855). Expert consultants to the University Surveyors recommend installing a high-tech false roof over the top: invisible from the street and a completely reversible, non-invasive solution. The Victorian Society prefers a more risky approach of removing and re-sealing all the existing 140 year-old glass tiles. As we have been trying to have an informed dialogue with the Society and English Heritage to find the best solution, it is rather disappointing to find this silly, abusive article in the Eye. The University Gazette announces the transfer of space from Inorganic Chemistry to the Museum when the new Chemistry Research Building is completed. After five years of campaigning, we can build a proper shop and café to serve both the University Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum next door. Bad news is that installation of a lift to the first floor is now delayed until spring. Explain the roof situation to meeting of Museum Visitors. There is also concern about the appointment of two new curators when I retire in September and Professor Jim Kennedy takes over; Professor John Woodhouse reassures everyone. Interviewed on Radio Oxford about the roof May 8th, try to downplay any controversy. May 9th, letter arrives from English Heritage saying that they disapprove our solution to the roof problem. But we hadn’t formally asked them for approval yet. As the Private Eye correspondent ‘Piloti’ is evidently Gavin Stamp, a member of the EH Historic Buildings Committee, at least the timing of the article is clear. Our ‘please touch me’ stuffed cheetah (Mike O’Hanlon at Pitt Rivers calls him ‘Baldy’ although he isn’t yet) is sporting a bandage on his foot the next day; overly attentive visitors have dislodged a claw. Remind Education Officer Janet Stott to call the vet; no, the taxidermist. May 12th, Radio 4 calls to arrange a programme about the Wilberforce- Huxley ‘Monkey’ Debate (held at the Museum in 1860). Oxford Times leaves message about the roof. May 13th, have to stand in as chair of Pitt Rivers Museum Visitors meeting. Keen discussion of Dr O’Hanlon’s plan for a new building to house the parts of the Museum currently dispersed up the Banbury Road. New site is the old ‘Green Shed’ behind PRM. This to be the exciting £5 millions first stage of a whole new addition to that Museum. Renewed rumours of draconian budget cuts for the University’s libraries and museums. Professor Keith Thomson is Director of the University Museum of Natural History.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

Croquet might be seen as a quintessentially Oxford sport; this year’s cuppers competition has an entry of over 500 players. However, outside Oxford the game is very much a specialist sport, and for this reason there are no university leagues. During the croquet season the players therefore instead battle out for the Frank Cooper Varsity Bowl against Cambridge, compete in the nationwide Longman Cup and play a number of friendlies, such as the game against High Wycombe last Saturday. This fixture was not without a history. The Oxford team entered the Longman Cup for the first time last year, and was defeated in the first round by High Wycombe. It was a tense affair, finishing 4:3 to the Buckinghamshire club, and the result may well have been different if the teams had been playing to the 3hour 30-minute time limit set in the rules. The friendly was a chance to seek revenge after this earlier loss. A game of croquet takes most of the day, and the two teams of four commenced at nine in the morning with doubles. The captain Stuart Romeril and Peter Barker lost to the High Wycombe duo of Bryan Judson and June Robinson, but the other Oxford doubles team, Simon Proctor and Andrew Cottrell, won their game to level the tie going into the lunch break. After the break all four team members engaging in singles play, and the players were paired together on a handicap system, similar to that of golf. Croquet has been dubbed ‘snooker on grass’, and the singles game between the Oxford captain Stuart Romeril and David Croker exemplified this. Like professional snooker, the players in croquet aim to create the opportunity to finish in one go, very similar to break building in snooker. After a scrappy start to the game, which could be compared to safety play in snooker, Stuart broke away and created an early lead. However, the points scored and the hoops passed can be a misleading guide to who’s winning because a good player, given the right opportunity, should finish the course in two goes or less. This theory was put into practice when, after a relatively easy miss, the Oxford captain let his opponent back into the game, and subsequently lost by 5 points. In the other singles the Oxford players won twice and lost once, and therefore the day ended in what the Oxford captain called “an honourable draw”, the scores in games three a piece. The Oxford team still have a number of home friendlies throughout term, but the main focus will be the Longman Cup, in which their first challenge will be an away fixture in Bristol, and of course the Varsity match, both of which will take place in June.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

While Oxford failed to dominate the medals at this weeks BUSA 10 mile cycling time trial, 17 of the 61 finishers were from OUCC. This particular race format is a solo effort against the clock, where competitors ride flat-out over a given distance. The event was organised by the Oxford club. The race was won by favorite Sam Barker of Luton University in a time of 21:01 (an average speed of over 28mph). OUCC had hopes of a medal from star rider, Danny Axford (St. Cross), but these were dashed when Axford’s crank came loose and fell off within the first three miles. Oxford’s pride rested on Alex Rowe (Queen’s) who came home eleventh. Rowe together with first year Simon Harding (St. Catz) and OUCC stalwart Kevin Backhouse (Lincoln) finished third in the team competition. This adds a second BUSA medal to the gold won by the trio of Axford, Harding and Rowe in the team time trial held near Alcester in April. The women’s event was more of a success for Oxford as Samantha Van Gerbig (Queens) placed second with a time of 25:53. Van Gerbig was beaten only by Cambridge’s Rachel Horn who hammered through the finish line in a blistering time of 23:59. The Varsity match (17th May) is eagerly awaited as both Oxford and Cambridge have won BUSA golds this season.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

A solid team performance and some stunning individual successes characterised a victorious weekend for the Oxford University Company of Archers, in the last tournament of the BUTTS League. Three wins in the five previous legs, at Warwick, Birmingham, Loughborough, Nottingham and Oxford, had left the experienced team requiring only third place in order to win the League title: instead, another impressive victory left the opposition standing. Oxford’s Ben Huckvale added his remarkable record in this competition with a fourth win, to complete a full house of medals from six competitions. With a significant fourteen-point gap over his nearest rival, he outclassed a struggling men’s field which seemed unable combat the poor conditions. “Like any sport the main problem is getting focused right from the start,” he told Cherwell. “I just hope the pressure works for me at the Varsity Match too. I need to be a match for Cambridge’s James Keogh if we are to stand a chance of winning.” Huckvale’s Varsity concerns are especially valid considering the absence of Saturday’s novice winner, Oliver Brown. Brown smashed the BUTTS men’s novice record twenty points to win the competition and take an outstanding third place in the experienced field. Jakob Heidbrink closely followed him second place, and Cath Roberts was second in the ladies event as Oxford drew even further away in the combined medals table. The experienced team Huckvale, Brown, Andrew Tustian and Heidbrink amassed a total score of 2180 points to secure a comfortable margin of victory over second placed Warwick. The novice team of Brown, Heidbrink, Rachel Turvey and Laura Watkins finished a slightly disappointing fourth, their good results in the last five competitions ensured a creditable second place in the Novice League. The Varsity competition expected to be very close, with many of Cambridge’s ‘big guns’ absent last weekend. If Oxford match their performance Saturday, however, the Tabs may have more to deal with than they bargained for: as club Secretary Laura Denney warns, “Oxford have proved themselves a consistently strong team, which bodes well Varsity next week”.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

Oxford football, not usually a college pursuit associated with gender equality, presented a surprise result as a mixed BNC team won the RAG five-a-side competition held on Sunday. The Brasenose Second squad advanced further than the college men’s team to beat Balliol with a ‘golden-goal’ in the final. The victorious BNC team defeated Hertford and St. Hugh’s teams with consistent 3-1 wins in Pool H, having been drawn to play late in the group stages. Without time to rest, BNC snatched a 2-1 victory in a challenging quarter final against a talented Somerville squad. The large Balliol representation ensured an all-Balliol quarter-final when the College’s first and second team fought a surprisingly aggressive game. Despite the second team having had greater success at the group stage, they were unable to exploit this mental advantage as Balliol’s premier squad won 4-2 on penalties. In group 2, Mansfield’s Leigh Rangers rose to challenge BNC’s Men’s team in their quarter-final thanks to the sharp shooting of Taj Uddin. The work rate of Leigh’s midfield strongman, Riaz Ahmad, was phenomenal but Ryan Amesbury narrowly missed their only real opportunity in the second minute of extra-time, allowing BNC Men’s to score the vital winning goal. The Balliol Firsts Brasenose Men’s semi drew a large crowd as Balliol profitably battled to prevent a BNC dominated final. Whilst warm sunshine blessed the bulk of the competition, atmosphere of the aggressively emotional final was enhanced the weather turned upon the finalists. Despite a match full opportunities both teams failed find the necessary height to score in the first-half. Another goalless ten minutes necessitated the referee’s announcement of golden-goal extra-time. Although Brasenose, based upon their earlier performances, had been expected to win, such a result seemed unlikely Balliol dominated possession the ball. Three minutes in, BNC’s David Hollowday celebrated victory as his shot placed the ball firmly between the posts. However referee disallowed the goal height grounds. Nonetheless this gave Brasenose the added confidence to score a well-placed goal shortly after to secure their position as RAG champions 2002. The annual sports event attracted a record 26 teams, representing over a dozen colleges, to compete and raise money for RAG Week.
ARCHIVE: 3rd Week TT 2003

Feeling left out of the Oxford tradition of racing hard-shelled creatures, Lincoln have established an official committee to investigate the acquisition of a tortoise. The pet will be trained as a super-athlete but will still not be able to run away as quickly as the college cat which scampered last term. JCR President, Philip Bownes, said the project would be long-term as it is important to “evaluate the whole thing properly” before taking on a new and reliable pet. It is hoped that the purchase will be ready for action in next year’s races.
ARCHIVE: 2nd Week TT 2003

Corpus Christi’s JCR meeting proved more pleasurable than most at the weekend after being exchanged for Pimms and strawberries in the garden. With only one financial motion, it was decided to put JCR money to good use, buy some alcohol and move proceedings outside. Some members, though, condemned the action as ‘unconstitutional’, evidently preferring to stifle in the grips of debate than enjoy the delights of summer.
ARCHIVE: 2nd Week TT 2003

Suscpicious students at Brasenose submitted a motion to their JCR revealing the true nature of Chris Patten’s election as Chancellor. Condemning his victory as a ‘tab conspiracy’ they proposed a replacement should be nominated immediately. Due to having strong leadership skills and currently being unemployed, Saddam Hussein was voted in overwhelmingly. However, despite unveiling the plot from Cambridge, students are thought to be sceptical about the legitimacy of their alternative leader.
ARCHIVE: 2nd Week TT 2003