A tutor has been the subject of a formal investigation after a student made a claim of harassment at the end of last term.
The student from St. Benet’s Hall, who Cherwell has decided not to name, made a formal complaint about Father Bernard Green, who is a fellow and tutor in Theology, as well as being the chaplain and in charge of student welfare at the Hall.
The complaint related to an incident that took place at the JCR’s picnic in Port Meadow during 7th week of Trinity term 2005, and was supported by other students. Father Green has since apologised and will continue with his normal duties this term.
Father Leo Chamberlain, Master of St. Benet’s Hall, confirmed that “a complaint about harassment at the picnic was made on Thursday 9 June 2005 and investigated immediately” adding, “the Proctors were informed at an early stage”.
“A panel was convened in line with procedures usual in the University. It had three members, two unconnected with the Hall and the third a non-tutorial fellow,” he said.
“Procedures of this kind are always pursued maintaining the rights of all concerned to confidentiality. The matter has been settled and there are no changes in personnel or duties consequent upon it.”
He added, “No other complaints have been made against Father Bernard to my knowledge while he has been at the University and nothing is held on file.”
Father Bernard Green said, “The incident … was dealt with in a process that is now completed. Everyone has accepted its outcome but as it was a confidential process there is no more that I can say.”
The student who made the complaint did not wish to comment on the investigation.
Further investigations made by Cherwell have found that Father Green pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a 13 year old student in 1996 while he was employed at Ampleforth College. At the time he was a housemaster and, after fully cooperating with an investigation by the local police and social services, he was sentenced to two years’ probation and 50 hours’ community service.
A statement released in 1996 said, “Father Bernard will remain a Benedictine monk under the direct authority of the Abbot of Ampleforth. The Abbot will ensure that in future his work will not include any contact with or responsibility for children.”
A spokesman for Ampleforth at the time added, “Father Bernard, in the light of his repentance and co-operation, will continue to live as a monk. Following the provisions of Church Law, any future exercise of his priesthood will be subject to canonical restrictions imposed by the Abbot of Ampleforth in Council. The restrictions will be designed to avoid any further problems with the young.”
Father Bernard left Ampleforth in 1998, the same year that he became a member of St. Benet’s Hall where he finished his D.Phil before taking up teaching responsibilities.
The Hall has direct links to Ampleforth, and was originally founded as a Catholic house for the monks of Ampleforth’s abbey by an ex-headmaster of the college, Edmund Matthews.
Father Chamberlain was appointed headmaster of Ampleforth in 1992, and retired in 2003 before being appointed Master of St. Benet’s in 2004. The hall’s current tutor in Philosophy, Joseph Shaw, is also an Old Amplefordian.
Students at St. Benet’s have expressed a mixture of anxiety and support regarding Father Green’s current situation. Separate to the investigation, St. Benet’s JCR Treasurer Nick Hanson wrote to the Master of the Hall to express concern and support the student who had initiated the complaint. He later met with Chamberlain and has since said that he is completely happy about the situation.
One undergraduate at St. Benet’s said that the Hall’s authorities had contacted a number of people by e-mail. The undergraduate said the correspondence had enquired as to whether anyone had strong opinions either way about Father Green remaining at the Hall.
He continued to say, “Those who did reply to the email focused very much on Bernard’s success and high regard within the University rather than condoning his very unfortunate actions … nobody at Benet’s would have done that.”
“Leo was trying to gauge the general feeling, as one would expect, but if a handful of people had been significantly upset with Bernard sticking around there could not have been any other option for him but to leave,” but added that “it obviously couldn’t have been the case.”
Finn Carew, a third year Theology student at St. Benet’s, who is taught by Father Green, said he fully supported his tutor and that it was a “private matter that neither he nor the hall wanted publicised.”
Carew said, “It was dealt with internally and an investigation was carried out, and was not something that was taken lightly. But the outcome was that it was not considered serious enough for him to be sent away.”
“Father Bernard is a sensitive man, it has been very difficult for him and he is under massive stress. He is a very very good tutor, an incredibly professional, loving, gentle and kind man.”
Andy Grant, St. Benet’s JCR President, also supported Father Bernard and said, “Father Bernard is a very well respected member of the hall, as well as the University.”
He concluded, “The investigation has been dealt with appropriately”.
Although the Proctors and the University do not comment on individual cases, a spokesperson said that employers only have a legal requirement to carry out a police check via the Criminal Records Bureau and sex offenders register when employing staff who work with children or other vulnerable members of society, and that it does not simply allow employers the privilege of a “blanket check”.ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Gentlemen & Players
Joanne Harris
DoubledayA new academic year and the venerable halls of St Oswald’s Grammar School for Boys are beset by change in its most pressing guise: progress. But amid the advance of Information Technology, the influx of new staff and the arrival of a fresh crop of boys, old ghosts are walking and a scandal long since buried is scratching its way to the surface.
With her ninth novel, Harris exploits the dark and chillingly absurd facets of reality which she first drew on in last year’s collection of short stories Jigs and Reels. Published as a deliberate departure from the joie de vivre of her Whitbread nominated breakthrough Chocolat and the novels that followed, the collection showcased a new side to Harris.
Not steeped in the Gallic sensuousness which pervades much of this author’s work, Gentleman & Players is nonetheless wrought with rich and distinctive prose. A former teacher herself, Harris seems to delight in recalling the climate of the staff room and sharp observations are made vivid in lush description. Her image of the school as a living organism in itself, creative yet endlessly consuming, provides a necessary constant amid the ever shifting perspective of the reader.
Narrative is divided between voices of the past and the present, the old and the young. Straitley, veteran Latin master at St Oswald’s, is devoted to his pupils. He binds himself to the school and to tradition, remaining indignant in the face of enforced retirement and a heart condition. His counterpoint Snyde seethes with quiet megalomania, consumed by a twisted relation to St Oswald’s. The school is to Snyde a haven and a torment. It is the pinnacle of childhood aspiration, an escape from the daily hell of Sunnybank Park Comprehensive and the slur-spoken abuse of an alcoholic father. It is also the unforgiving observer of this pinchbeck imposter amid its golden boys.
Gentlemen & Players fits the bill as a murder mystery, but its meticulous chaos harbours a criminal unlike most: one who has been invisible for too long and is crying out to be seen. Harris might tell us that “a crime unseen is a crime unpunished,” but she is equally willing to admit that being seen is half the fun.ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Oxford University has published an official academic ranking of its 30 undergraduate colleges for the first time in its history. Merton came top, closely followed by St John’s, with Balliol in third place.
There are significant differences between the positions in the official Norrington table and this year’s unofficial version, as published in The Times, which puts St John’s first. The largest discrepancy is Pembroke’s rank – ninth in the unofficial and seventeenth in the official table.
The University hopes that its own table will make the inaccurate, unofficial one redundant. For this to happen, the University may have to release its table more quickly – the Times published its version on 22 July, the University on 6 September.
In February 2005 it emerged that the University had secretly been compiling its own Norrington table for internal distribution; a revelation which hastened the University’s change in policy.
Dame Fiona Caldicott, chairwoman of the Conference of Colleges, which represents the colleges’ interests, said, “Ranking colleges on the basis of degree results is not very significant, as the numbers involved per college are small, and the results are dependent on the performance of a particular group of students in a particular year, rather than on the college itself.
“However, in order to be open and transparent, we are publishing these tables so that the public has access to the full, accurate data.”
The Norrington table was originally proposed by Sir Arthur Norrington, a former President of Trinity College and Vice-Chancellor, and first published in 1964. The Norrington Score which determines each college’s rank is calculated by allocating a certain number of points for each degree class: five points for a first, three for an upper second, two for a lower second and one for a third. The total score is then expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score (i.e. if every student obtained a first the college would score 100 percent).
Unofficial versions of the Norrington table are published annually in some national newspapers. However, their methods of data collection are unreliable when compared to the University’s access to full, accurate tables of results.
The newspapers compile their tables by paying enterprising graduates to copy down the finals results posted outside the Examination Schools on the High Street, a method which has obvious potential for errors. Furthermore, under the Data Protection Act, students can opt out of having their results publicly posted, and so for several years the unofficial tables have been based on incomplete data.
From year to year there is much movement within the table – University College shot up from 26th in 2004 to fifth in this year’s unofficial Norrington table. Merton, however, has come top for five of the past six years.
Claire Palmer, a student at St Edmund Hall, said, “We are a nation obsessed with league tables. We need to remember that there’s more to a college than its position in the Norrington Table.”ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Tony Orchard, Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry at University College has died, aged 64. Orchard was a pioneer in inorganic chemistry, whose research helped to lay foundations for much modern technology.
Orchard first studied Chemistry as an undergraduate at Wadham and then gained a D.Phil at Merton in theoretical inorganic chemistry. He left before completing his doctorate to take up a fellowship at University College, aged 26, where he remained until his death.
During the 1970s Orchard led a group of researchers to produce work on photoelectron spectroscopy that allowed scientists to examine the electronic structure of materials. This research helped pave the way for technological innovations included in PCs and mobile phones. In 2003 he published his defining work, Magnetochemistry.
Professor Bob Williams, a Wadham Chemist, said “Tony Orchard was my undergraduate and graduate student. He was one of the cleverest of all my pupils. His early theoretical and experimental work on electronic structures of inorganic materials was of great interest.”
As well as such academic success, Orchard also excelled at both tennis and snooker playing, including notable victories at a young age in matches against future world champions Ray Reardon and Terry Griffiths.
Orchard was able to number among his friends former US president, Bill Clinton, who he met during the 1960s, when Clinton was a Rhodes scholar at Univ and Orchard was a young Junior Dean. Orchard was invited by Clinton to Washington for his inauguration, although Orchard was unable to attend due to academic commitments.
Orchard was keen to improve the system of undergraduate applications for chemistry in order to attract strong candidates in the subject and increase numbers of applicants. Williams further stated, “Later in life his commitment to his students and his college came at the cost of his practical research interest but he was always of great assistance to others whenever he was consulted.”
Tom Muir, a Chemistry student at Univ, told Cherwell “[Orchard] was a very genuine guy, who cared about his students. His tutorials were always enjoyable and he was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a vast range of subjects. He made a massive contribution to both Univ and Oxford chemistry. He will be greatly missed.”
Lord Butler, Master of Univ, described Dr Orchard as “a good-natured, sociable, affable man who was always good company. He knew his pupils well and cared deeply for them. He is remembered with great affection by many generations of Univ students”.
A Memorial Service for Tony Orchard will be held in the University Church at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday 29 October, followed by refreshments in Hall in Univ.ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

For the first time in 33 years, the Islamic festival Ramadan is falling during Freshers’ week. Muslim Freshers will have to balance abstaining from all food and drink during daylight hours whilst participating in their introduction to Oxford student life.
The festival lasts for one month and is traditionally centred around the family meal at sunset and tarawih prayers later at night with the community.
Asma Nizami, a second year at Wadham, found fasting during her first term at University “really tiring and especially difficult,” saying she was “in an entirely new situation, trying to meet new people and make essay deadlines whilst balancing the demands of Ramadan.”
Graduate Fresher, Samir Ahmed, is worried about missing the induction lunches around which the graduate Freshers’ Week is centred. “It’s going to be hard because you have to miss all the initial interaction with people you are tring to meet.”
College welfare reps have been briefed by OUSU about the situation and are adjusting plans to make them more sensitive to the needs of any fasting students. OUSU VP (Welfare and Equal Opportunities), Aidan Randle-Conde told Cherwell “Ramadan can be one of the most important times of the year for Muslim students, even more so this year as the first day falls in Freshers’ Week.”
Ed Mason, JCR president of Trinity, insists that “Trinity JCR always provides alternatives to traditional Freshers’ Week events. Also, we have information on how we can best provide Kosher or Halal meals at appropriate times.”
Colleges have become increasingly sensitive to the needs of freshers over the last few years. This has been demonstrated in a concerted effort around Oxford to prove non-alcohol related freshers events to include students who don’t drink.
Freshers’ Week has also coincided with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated on Tuesday and Wednesday of 0th week. On Rosh Hashanah it is customary for families to gather together for the holiday meal, something this year’s Jewish Freshers will have to either forego or choose to remain at home for.
Coming up to Oxford during a Jewish holy day last year, Andrew Freedman of Exeter College described Freshers’ Week as “more strange” and found himself “quite disorientated.”
The president of the Oxford Islamic Society Hassan Malik says, “The ISOC provides services catered to the specific needs of Muslim students; in particular during the testing month of Ramadan.” Free meals are provided at the end of every fasting weekday for fasting Muslims and nightly prayers are held at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Oxford University has expressed uncertainty over a government-proposed plan to introduce a post-qualification admission (PQA) system, despite being encouraged to back it by the Department for Education and Skills.
The Director-General for Higher Education at the DfES, Sir Alan Wilson, outlined a move towards a PQA system in a paper launched on 9 September. In the foreward he states, “Under a PQA system, applications would be made when exam results are known. This would enable students to apply for places that best matched their ability and needs. Higher Education Institutes would consider applications on the basis of more accurate information about students than at present. This would allow them to make better quality decisions, based on reliable and fair assessment of each student’s ability.”
Oxford University is amongst the institutions showing resistance to the PQA plan. A spokesperson for the University told Cherwell that Oxford “supports the idea [of PQA] in principle as long as it does not affect the University’s ability to maintain a high calibre of students. The fair way to do things is to assess everyone at once and give all the places at once, and the proposals wouldn’t allow that”. The University is still to respond formally to the PQA proposals sent out over the summer.
Currently students are accepted by universities based on predicted grades, over half of which turn out to be incorrect according to a recent study by the Sutton Trust. The same study claims that the current system has disproportionately negative effects for students from lower-performance schools, as they are more likely to be predicted grades below their actual achievements.
Under the PQA plan, universities would offer places to students at two different times during the year. The first offers would be made, as they are now, based on predicted grades and other achievements. However, universities would be required to set aside a stipulated number of places available only to students applying after the release of their final examination results.
Wilson spoke about the implementation of the potential changes, “We are clear – and all the soundings we have taken so far confirm our view – that it is not the Government’s role to impose or to be primarily responsible for implementing change.
“We heard strong arguments though that such a complex and far-reaching programme of reform is unlikely to be successful if it is left to develop in a wholly piecemeal fashion. We suggest that there is a clear need for leadership and co-ordination of the reform programme and that this role is for the various sector stakeholders acting in partnership.”ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Azim Ansari, the Afghan student who spent his first year trying to repeal the Home Office’s decision to deport him, is taking a year out from his studies at Oxford to deal with his visa application in Ireland.
A statement by Emma Jones of the student-run ‘Keep Azim in Oxford’ campaign confirmed that “Azim will be taking this year off and has asked that the campaign give no statements at present, beyond thanking everyone very much for their solidarity”.
The President of St John’s College, Sir Michael Scholar, said that he believed Ansari, now 18, is in Ireland, from where he will apply to return to England to continue his studies. Scholar said that both the college and Azim thought it best that he took a year out in order that he could “get it all sorted without mucking up his uni career” as the process will “take a while”.
Ansari married his 29 year-old girlfriend, Becky, last November. He may be able to apply for a marriage visa, but Home Office regulations state that “the person applying for entry clearance must be outside of the United Kingdom and Islands at the time of application.”
Ansari gained a distinction in his Engineering Prelims despite the disruption caused by the appeals process last year.ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

Two Oxford University Boat Club oarsmen were left wounded in a Seville hospital on Sunday 18 September after a group of the rowers were attacked by a gang of Spanish youths.
OUBC were participating in a regatta to mark the centenary of Seville Football Club.
The incident happened at 2am in a suburban street shortly after the rowers involved left a nightclub. They were surrounded by the youths and attacked with bottles, motorcycle helmets and motorcycle ’D’ locks. The hospitalised rowers were able to leave the Medical Centre the next morning. A preliminary statement from the Boat Club says that the pair have “recovered well and are back in full training”.
Spanish police have now confirmed to the victims that the group of youths are “well known” to them for similar offences, and that ten people have been charged with the attack.
The reason for the attack is said by the Boat Club to be “unknown”, although the police have speculated that it “may have been a recurrence of the violence that plagued the Liverpool-Betis football match earlier in the week”.
OUBC came fourth in the regatta after Betis, Cambridge and Seville.
Barney Williams, President of OUBC, said “The OUBC in conjunction with the University is reviewing the format of the event to ensure that this was an isolated event. The health and safety of its athletes is a priority of the OUBC and the club is currently conducting a review of all events in which it participates to ensure that the respective organisers share this sentiment.”ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005

The debate into Socially Responsible Investments of individual colleges continues as it has been revealed that St Hilda’s college held 24,796 shares in online gambling company PartyGaming.
The investment was made shortly after the company floated on the London Stock Exchange in June, but the shares were sold after five weeks.
The NUS spoke out against the company ahead of floatation, stating online gambling to be “a very dangerous way to supplement income which could result in great financial loss”. In an article by Guardian Education, the NUS also expressed a concern that that online gambling may tempt cash-strapped students, making endorsement of such companies a risk to student welfare. It was also noted that one third of online poker players are female.
Silje Vold of the Campaign for Socially Responsible Investment at St. Hilda’s College told Cherwell, “I understand that St.Hilda’s have jumped on the online gambling craze by investing in one of the most successful online Gambling companies. Considering the dubious ethical nature of such companies, I think it gives St. Hilda’s a negative public image to endorse the activities of such a company.”
“The College is currently committed to make ethical considerations in their investment decision, but as the investment in PartyGaming shows, to ‘consider’ it does not seem to result in excluding companies from the investment portfolio for ethical reasons”, she added.
St Hilda’s Vice Principle, Janet Howarth said, “The College has a socially responsible investment policy, which was agreed by the Fellows of the College after discussion with student representatives. The selection of shares is left entirely to asset managers who act on behalf of the College.”
HSBC, the college’s assets manager, have reported that they would not “invest in a company outside the parameters agreed with our clients.”
Vold presented a paper to the governing body of the college on 15th June 2005 entitled “Why should the College adopt a stricter policy on Socially Responsible Investment?” following a motion passed by the JCR on 6th of June calling for greater transparency of college investments and Socially Responsible Investment policies.
The paper stated that, “in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the JCR asks for greater transparency in Hilda’s investments and hence that the JCR is being informed regularly about the College’s investments.”
JCR President Ailbhe Menton told Cherwell, “The JCR is currently gathering as much relevant information as possible regarding the matter and calling upon the JCR report on Socially Responsible Investment. Unfortunately, most students have not returned from vacation yet. Once they have arrived, they will be informed and a discussion held.”ARCHIVE: 0th week MT 2005