Wednesday 11th June 2025
Blog Page 669

An Unexpected Visitor preview – immersive ingenuity

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An Unexpected Visitor preview – immersive ingenuity

From the moment you sit down to watch An Unexpected Visitor, you are immediately inducted into a society of student activists, who have dreams of making a real difference in the world and are not content with the bake sales they have been doing — a frustration perhaps shared by many of us at times. In preparation of this, the leaders of the society wait for a mysterious visitor to show up and brief them on ‘the job’, which everyone is only allowed to talk about in discreet codes.

From this simple but accessible premise sparks a whole series of comedic miscommunications between the characters which keep the audience chuckling in their seats in appreciation of the play’s polished timing and ingenuity. Filled with delightfully self-deprecating humour, the play mocks the faux-arrogance of students, who eagerly ascribe self-important titles and backstab each other just to become the ‘vice-president’ of the society.

Alex Blanc, the director, tells me that the play breaks away from the traditional conception of theatre, where each scene is carefully managed and controlled, to create something fun and casual. Taking his inspiration from open-aired garden plays in the summer where audiences don’t feel any weight of expectation, he chose to stage this production in the familiar setting of a bar. Audiences can enjoy free drinks and sit wherever they like, but at the same time remain very invested in the play.

Everyone’s experience of the play is going to be different. Depending on the audience, the characters will improvise lines of dialogue to create a play that is truly alive, spontaneous and interactive. In this sense, not only is the play a brilliant display of teamwork from all the actors, but a collaborative effort of the audience as well. At times, the audience will even be invited to voice their thoughts openly, which is made possible by the intimate nature of its venue.

At this point, the talent and dedication of the cast cannot go unmentioned. It is clear, from the very beginning, that careful deliberation has been taken to tailor each role to its actor. The result is a performance that rivals even professional shows in the West End. For example, Eli, played by Hamish Venters, has quite a temper about him. Yet he performs a nuanced evolution from a quiet, burning anger inside at the start and letting the audience feel the full force of his fury at the end. The contrast creates this multi-layered character that develops during the course of the play with strong emotional continuity.

This multi-layered sophistication also extends to the whole play. While each character works in unity and complements each other, the keen-eyed amongst the audience will notice that they are also frequently performing their own goofy improvisations in the background, providing constant but subtle comic relief. Billy, played by Tommy Hurst, is a perfect example as he tends to switch off and entertain himself with newfound zeal at random moments.

With free drinks on offer to every member of the audience, ‘An Unexpected Visitor’ promises to be the ideal way to enjoy a relaxing and engaging evening.

Club closures: a battle worth fighting

Fraser Maclean
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Club closures: a battle worth fighting

Another week, another Oxford nightclub at risk of permanent closure. The Purple Turtle announced that they would be closing their Frewin Court doors for the last time before the 30th November, having failed to agree a new lease with the Oxford Union. Whilst the Union President promised an exciting future for the venue itself, and the Turtle organisation promised a reincarnation elsewhere, this closure is the third instance this term of an Oxford club struggling for survival.

Cellar’s troubles, meanwhile, began in the summer, with the club being found to violate fire safety regulations. Fortunately, a remarkable crowdfunding campaign has been completed, with the venue looking set to continue operation after works. Earlier in term, the Plush Lounge saw its own lease with Nuffield wind down, with the college keen to redevelop the site. The troubles for all 3 have wide implications for the student body and the residents of Oxford.

In regards to the Plush Lounge, which has provided a safe space for the LGBTI+ community for years, the potential closure of the venue would be a tragic loss. The same is true in the case of Cellar, but for different reasons. Cellar is one of the few clubs in Oxford that students can run nights at. Thus, its closure would be a blow for any parties interested in promoting or starting their own club nights. Moreover, in its capacity as a music venue, Cellar has been a popular destination for upcoming bands. Some big names have performed there over the years in their early careers, including Foals, The National, and perhaps most significantly Mumford and Sons. With young bands facing more barriers than ever when trying to break through into the music industry, the death of small venues with good atmosphere and enthusiastic crowds is truly heart-wrenching.

All three clubs stand out slightly from similar institutions around the city centre. Plush is the home of LGBTI+ nightlife, Cellar is the leading indy venue in the centre of Oxford, and PT hosts a variety of genres through the week, welcoming town and gown. They are all more distinguishable from the titans of cheese – the Bridge, Atik, even Fever.

Whilst Cirkus, which is the regeneration of JT’s, has begun life quite successfully, part of this is surely down to their luck in securing a number of promoters that left Cellar after their regulation troubles. Emporium too has gained other nights.

But by losing their former homes, Oxford must see the survival of these club nights as bittersweet. The city is home to two universities, with a massive collective student body desperate to enjoy their years at uni. This becomes less likely with every closure, and it is worth mentioning that no club is totally safe – even the Bridge, seemingly the last bastion of Oxford club scene, rents their venue from a college (Nuffield, who apparently have a taste for redevelopment).

Fortunately all is not lost, and there are ways to support the scene. Obviously, Cellar’s troubles are over, at least for now. In regards to lease expirations, pressure must be applied on the landlords – especially as they are institutions related to the student body – to aid the relocation of the institutions they evict. It was encouraging to see Nuffield aiding the process of finding a new home for Plush. It is paramount that as a community, we do not take our clubs for granted, as once they go, they may well not come back. Perhaps many of us have suffered the below-standard night in every place available, and wondered why people even go in the first place. Should we see them disappear for good, I imagine we’ll realise why.

Greasy surfaces, raw meat, and mice droppings: dirty college kitchens exposed

Greg Ritchie
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Greasy surfaces, raw meat, and mice droppings: dirty college kitchens exposed

Several Oxford colleges have contravened serious food hygiene regulations, Cherwell can reveal, with kitchens under fire for greasy surfaces, raw meat, and mice droppings.

Cherwell obtained copies of the most recent food hygiene reports of Oxford colleges via Freedom of Information requests, uncovering the perturbing faults in the production of college food.  

Jesus College’s latest report – conducted in April this year – stated that there was a “potential mouse infestation”, with there appearing to be “droppings in the drip trays below the brat pan”.

The report ordered Jesus to call in a pest control team immediately, as well as to deep clean the kitchen and pest-proof the doors and walls.

The hygiene inspector also raised concerns about the storage of raw meat in college’s walk-in freezer.

A Jesus College spokesperson told Cherwell: “Jesus College takes food hygiene extremely seriously and has a long standing record of achieving the highest quality inspection results. All areas that the inspection highlighted were immediately addressed, including continuous pest control surveillance.  The evidence of potential mouse activity was indeed disturbing but we were advised that the College was unfortunately a victim of a wider problem of mouse infestation affecting the Covered Market next to the College.

They added: “Having addressed the inspector’s findings, we have requested another inspection as soon as possible and are awaiting a response.”

Exeter also fared poorly, with the food hygiene officer beginning their report by saying: “During my inspection it was disappointing to see such poor standards of hygiene.”

They went on to detail three pages’ worth of hygiene contraventions, including basins not being cleaned, raw meat and fish not being stored properly, and large accumulations of grease covering surfaces and dropping from canopies.

One Exeter finalist told Cherwell: “Over the past two years, portion sizes have gone down, prices have gone up, and now we’re faced with this. To say it’s worrying is an understatement, and I can only hope it’s resolved soon.”   

Exeter did not respond to a request for comment.

Oxford’s accessibility crisis

Iggy Wood
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Oxford’s accessibility crisis

Less than a third of departments responded to an internal survey designed to assess compliance with University disability policy, Cherwell can reveal.

The survey was conducted by Student Welfare and Support Services (SWSS) in Hilary Term 2018 as part of the University’s Common Framework for Disability. Overall, 30.8% of departments responded, with a total of 36 departments failing to comply.

The news follows the the release of an Oxford SU report on the accessibility of Oxford libraries released on Wednesday.

The report, produced on behalf of Oxford Students Disability Community (OSDC), Oxford SU’s official disability campaign, revealed a widespread lack of accessibility measures in Oxford’s libraries. Just 9.2% of college libraries have full step free access.

Cherwell also conducted a survey of students at Oxford who self-identified as having one or more disabilities. While 43.5% of respondents thought that provision for disabilities at Oxford was either ‘better’ or ‘much better’ than they expected, 47.8% were either ‘unsatisfied’ or ‘very unsatisfied’ with the support provided by the centralised University and its departments.

Several of the respondents agreed to speak to Cherwell under the condition of anonymity.

One student at a large Oxford college, told Cherwell: “The burden is on the disabled students to pressure the college to make it accessible rather than the college trying to find ways to improve. My college will often ask for suggestions on how to improve access but then not act on the advice received.

“In my case, I have had to fight for everything I have. It is specific to me, and when I leave the next person will have to start from the beginning.

“For example, I realised at the end of last year that the college had been helping some students who were ill (with an issue I haven’t included because it would be obvious who I am to any administrator reading it). Despite knowing about my condition, nobody told me this was an option. I had been struggling and making my health worse for an entire term be- cause I didn’t have access to this resource.

“When I asked about this, the college said that they only help students with temporary conditions but not students with long-term ones (presumably because it’s too much work to do it long term but they didn’t say why). I reached out to a disability rights organisation and found out that, legally, they have to provide the same help to students with short and long-term conditions, and eventually, they did.

“However, my condition deteriorated during the process of figuring this out. The stress and time and work involved with sending many different emails about this issue, calling disability rights organisations, and negotiating, took a toll on my health and distracted from my studies.

“I’m not the first person to go through Oxford not able to walk. I know other stu- dents have done it, but the University acts as if they have never heard of this before and has no idea what to do for students in this position.

“Of the friends I’ve met with my condition (ME/CFS), all of them have had to suspend their studies or withdraw, partly because it’s a horrible disease, but also partly because their colleges were not accessible.

“I have lectures recorded because I have a medical letter that says basically if I physically push myself beyond a certain limit I am at risk of being permanently wheelchair bound or bedridden. I didn’t have lectures recorded my first term because I was told by the disability office there was nothing they could do, that they could request for the department to record them, but not require it of them, even though all of the equipment was there just not being used. I have spoken with undergrads in other colleges who do not have lectures recorded even though they have the exact same condition and in some cases are worse off than I am.

“I have a mentor through the disability office which I am grateful for and has been incredibly helpful to me. However, at the beginning of last year, I was often too ill to leave my room. In those situations, it used to be allowed that the mentors would visit ill students at their college, but now mentors are not allowed to do this even if they want to.”

She added: “I quite literally wouldn’t have made it through last year without the help I had from my friends. I think what a lot of people don’t realise is how precarious our position is. There is law protecting disabled students, but it’s not enforced and these students don’t have the resources to sue the school in the event that it isn’t. It would take a tremendous investment of effort.

“If we had the ability to go through all of that, we could just use that energy to pass the course in the first place, so we really rely on the Uni’s discretion to choose to follow the spirit of the law which sometimes happens but often doesn’t. Any official support relies on relationship building, negotiation, and the level of concern the Uni or department has for you.”

Another student – who also wished to remain anonymous – told Cherwell: “The senior tutor at my college approaches students’ health issues in a really harmful way. When one student considered suspending studies due to anxiety and a chronic health condition the senior tutor tried to scare her into staying by saying that everyone who suspends does worse academically than if they had stayed.

“When another student suffered from depression the senior tutor accused him of purposefully sabotaging his studies and told him to talk to his therapist about this. She seems to have no sense of appropriate boundaries and talks about students’ health problems with others without permission. I honestly fear for the health of future students. Both a JCR disability officer and I have tried to talk to the senior tutor about these issues but we were dismissed. They argue that if there really was an issue that information would have reached them already. But the truth is that people won’t bring up issues for fear of being labelled trouble makers by the people who will very likely be writing their references.

“I have suggested that anonymous feedback forms should be sent out to students on sensitive issues like this, I don’t understand why colleges aren’t already doing this.”

Ebie Edwards Cole, the co-author of Wednesday’s SU report, told Cherwell: “Student welfare and support should be an absolute priority at our university. It is extremely disappointing that 36 departments did not reply to a survey about compliance to university disability policy when equal opportunities and accessibility are such key components of student welfare. I would strongly encourage all departments to make replying to such surveys going forward standard practice.”

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Oxford takes the issue of disability access very seriously, and is constantly working to address this in all of its forms across a broad range of sites, some of which are complicated by the historic nature of the buildings involved. In August 2016 the University introduced a facility to record lectures for students who are unable to attend in person, and adoption of this service has steadily increased since then.

“There has also been a significant increase in demand on the mentoring service in recent years. To maximise the number of student mentoring appointments we can provide, we can offer remote support (e.g. via Skype), or for students who have difficulty travelling as a result of their disability we can assist with applications for the travel component of the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), which can be used to help fund taxis between their college and the DAS.

“Our Disability Advisory Service has appointed a Disability Inclusion Project Officer in direct response to the recommendations in the University’s own Inclusive Teaching Practice report, who is working on producing materials that will be used as the basis for developing online staff courses and induction resources. Around 4,000 students at Oxford have declared a disability, and we consider each student’s individual circumstances to provide the resources and adjustments they need to study.”

Elsewhere in the city, Westgate, Oxford has been accused of ignoring the needs of wheelchair users. The shopping centre’s car park, constructed during the redevelopment and extension of 2016-17, has a height restriction of just 2m, preventing the entrance of many Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs). Larger WAVs are primarily used by people who require heavy wheelchairs, and are often 2.4m high. The height restriction of 2m falls short of the recommendations of the UK’s national standards body, the BSI. British Standard 8300, which is concerned with making buildings accessible, stipulates a minimum headroom of 2.6m.

Amanda MacKenzie-Stuart, a local resident whose husband is severely disabled, told Cherwell: “It’s an absolute disgrace that brand-new civic projects costing £440m…[are] still taking this very limited view of disability.”

In April, MacKenzie-Stuart gave a speech to Oxford City Council, in which she recounted the “very dangerous” situation created by the height restriction:

“There are no signs warning of height restrictions until the driver is already committed to going down the ramp into the car park. Indeed, signs to the excellent Shopmobility scheme ironically leads to the belief that all disabled vehicles are welcome.

“It is only once one is on the ramp that a dangerous situation becomes apparent. At that point the sign orders you to do a U-turn – on the ramp, with exiting cars accelerating round the corner up the ramp having passed through the ticket barriers. This design flaw needs urgent attention before an already vulnerable person in the back of a large WAV is seriously injured.”

Cherwell understands that Westgate, Oxford may not be responsible for signage outside the shopping complex itself. The shopping centre has now published a map of nearby accessible parking on its website. It also prominently warns potential visitors of the 2m height restriction.

MacKenzie-Stuart, however, called this “wholly inadequate,” citing the poor quality and visibility of such parking. “Those blue-badge spaces do not solve the problem.”

A spokesman for Westgate Oxford told Cherwell: “We are aware of the concerns regarding disability access within West- gate car park and have been working with the council to address these. We will be improving the way we communicate information about the car park with our customers, and continue to evaluate what further improvements we can make.

“We have, for example, created an additional drop off point for high-sided vehicles on Old Greyfriars Street.

“We’re committed to ensuring Westgate is enjoyed by all and welcome feedback from visitors.”

Athis takes Union presidency

Angus Brown
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Athis takes Union presidency

Genevieve Athis has been elected to the Union presidency for Trinity term 2019, with her Empower slate taking all four officer positions.

Athis won 950 first preferences, meeting the quota for election in the first round, beating rival New Way candidate Nick Brown’s 539 first preferences.

She told Cherwell: “I am honoured and humbled to have been elected President of the Oxford Union. I couldn’t have done it without the team of people I had around me and I look forward to working with them to put together an exciting and diverse term card and putting into place our policies to empower members to get the most out of their membership, regardless of background.

“Through this I hope that we can work towards making the Union a more inclusive space where no one is ever afraid to make their voice heard.”

In the race for Treasurer-Elect Charlie Coverman defeated Gemma Timmons by 697 to 686, whilst Nick Leah beat out both rival slate’s Olivia Railton with 509 first preferences and independent candidate Maxim Parr-Reid with 255 first preferences.

Empower’s Sara Singh Dube also defeated New Way’s Becky Collins for the position of Librarian elect, winning 801 first preferences to Collins’ 592.

Elected to Standing Committee were Chaitanya Kediyal, Shining Zhao, Mahi Joshi, Jim Brennan, Elliot Bromley, Olivia Leigh, and Rai Saad Khan.

Empower won four of the available Standing Committee seats to New Way’s two. One independent candidate, Jim Brennan, was also elected.

Six seats on Secretary’s Committee went to Empower compared to four for New Way and one for independent candidate George Hargrave.

In total the Returning Officer recorded 1649 votes, compared to 1069 votes in the elections held at the Trinity last year.

The ‘Empower’ slate has won a resounding victory in a race in which the future of slates is in doubt, with the Union’s membership having voted to abolish them for the elections held next term.

Nick Brown did not respond to a request for comment.

Students hold consent protest following Irish rape trial

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Students hold consent protest following Irish rape trial

Oxford held a ‘This is Not Consent’ demonstration today in protest of the recent Irish rape trial in which the alleged victim’s underwear was used as evidence against her in court.

A group of protestors – many wearing lacy underwear on top of their clothes – gathered on Cornmarket Street this afternoon for a peaceful demonstration.

The Oxford protest coincides with demonstrations across the UK following news that a lawyer, defending the alleged rapist, told a court in Ireland: “You have to look at the way she [the alleged victim] was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.”

The defendant, a 27-year old man, was found not guilty of raping the 17-year-old woman.

The Oxford protest included an “underwear flash photo”, a speech, a minute’s silence, and an open poetry reading.

A crowd of around 100 people gathered in Oxford today holding up banners and lacy underwear, chanting “No means no” and “I believe her”.

Protest organiser Bryony Streets told Cherwell: “The anger I felt […] only grew as I looked further into the case, moving me to organise a protest against victim blaming.

I hope this will show our support for all victims of sexual assault and continue to press the point that victims should never be blamed for the actions of their attackers.”

Ellie McCourt-Clarke, who attended the protest, added: “Clothing is not consent and protests like this are only the beginning to change attitudes surrounding that belief.

Everyone should come to make a stand whilst simultaneously supporting anyone affected by rape, sexual assault and its consequences.”

Revealed: the “hidden casualisation” of University staff

Libby Cherry
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Revealed: the “hidden casualisation” of University staff

Oxford University have failed to implement reforms to decrease the number of staff in ‘precarious’ jobs, despite the Higher Education Statistical Association reporting in 2016 that jobs at the University are the most insecure in the Russell Group.

An internal report by the University Administration and Services distributed to Oxford UCU members showed that 87% of research staff held fixed-term contracts in July 2017, marking a 5-year high.

55.3% of all academic staff above ‘Grade 6’, an Oxford job classification which includes all those who can act as supervisors, held a fixed-term contract in July 2017, compared to 54.6% in 2016.

The percentage of academic and related staff moving from fixed-term to permanent contracts also dropped from 1.8% to 1.5% in the year to July 2017.

The report was based on headcount rather than per contract as seen in the HESA study, in recognition that many staff members hold more than one fixed-term contract.

A spokesperson for the University told Cherwell: “We recognise that the majority of our early career researchers are on fixed-term contracts and we take very seriously the need to do more to support them.

“Our recently published Strategic Plan for 2018-2023 commits to enhancing the opportunities and support for early career researchers and we have established an Early Career Researcher Development Forum to find ways of improving their position, including doing more to build their skill sets and offer career support.

“We would also note that these figures reflect Oxford being such a research-intensive university, because the way research is funded leads to this type of contract. The figure also includes a graduate students undertaking part-time teaching and this flexibility suits them because they can balance it with their studies.”

In the April 2018 report, the University also promised that its quarterly review group would review those who had been on fixed term contracts for between 10-15 years.

The report read: “We should expect through its questioning of contract intentions that some employees will be transferred from fixed-term to open-ended contacts.”

However, Oxford UCU representative Patricia Thornton told Cherwell: “Open-ended contracts are not the same as permanent employment and do not necessarily confer job security, and the numbers of staff shifted to open-ended contracts did not represent a significant proportion of the total on insecure contracts in the end.”

The percentage of academic and related staff moving from fixed-term contracts to open-ended contracts increased from 0.6% to 0.7% in the year to July 2017.

There is no strict definition of a ‘precarious job’. The University Administration report only included percentages of those on fixed-term contracts as an indicator of precarity, while the HESA report also deemed ‘atypical’ jobs precarious.

The 2016 HESA report recorded that 76.9% of Oxford University academic staff were in these ‘precarious’ jobs, in contrast to an average 50.9% for universities nationwide. The figure for Cambridge University was 64.8%.

However, the precarity situation at Oxford and Cambridge is more serious than both the data collected by the University and HESA would suggest. As the data is based on statistics from the central University, college-only personnel, which include all college employees, Junior Research Fellows, and postdocs, are excluded from the findings.

Cambridge UCU anti-casualisation officer, Sandra Cortijo told Cherwell that such “hidden casualisation” was endemic at both universities. She said that Oxford’s own higher precarity rating is indicative of the greater teaching co-ordination at Oxford between faculties and the central University, meaning that there are fewer college-only posts.

However, Cortijo also added that some Cambridge colleges have tried to alter their model to assuage the prevalence of precarious jobs, in ways that Oxford has so far failed to emulate.

She said: “A number of Cambridge colleges have moved away from fixed term College Lecturer posts in recent years, preferring permanent College Lectureships, whereas the direction of change may not have been the same in Oxford.

“In Oxford, there is some evidence of tutorial teaching and other time-intensive contact with students being shifted away from permanent Tutorial Fellows and on to fixed-term early-career staff, or even graduate students.”

While in Cambridge posts to cover for staff on paid research leave often “provide comparable work conditions to a permanent academic position”, despite being fixed-term according to Cortijo, Oxford’s equivalent positions fail to offer the same level of security.

Cortijo added: “Oxford has in recent years advertised posts which involve — and pay — for only the specific teaching hours required, with no allowance for research time and no payment outside the teaching term.”

Fixed-term contracts in Oxford vary enormously in duration. The majority of academics Cherwell spoke to were on three-year contracts, but some had contracts as short as one to six months.

A current associate professor told Cherwell: “At the time that I received my doctorate, temporary positions were still relatively rare: the norm was that newly minted doctoral degree holders either applied for and received post-doctoral research positions for a year or two, or slipped right into permanent, tenure-track positions.

“In my case, I succeeded in landing a post-doctoral research position for one year, and then moved right into a tenure-track position. However, within ten years of that, I discovered that the new norm had become not just one fixed-term contract following the conferral of degree, but several.

“Most newly-minted academics that I know of— including my own DPhil students and recent graduates— can expect to spend up to a decade moving from fixed-term post to fixed-term post before landing a permanent job.”

The number of fixed-term contracts available varies throughout the year, with posts often only open for a single term.

One academic, who tutored at another college last Trinity to help with finals, said: “I was teaching 15-25 hours a week – at 15 hrs you start getting counselling because it is such mentally exhausting work, teaching.

“In the end I got £1500 out of it and an exhaustion related illness.”

Fixed-term contracts are notorious for their vagueness, and often it is up to the discretion of the employer what they will actually entail.

One laboratory manager told Cherwell: “In some of our contracts it is stated that working hours are as many as necessary to perform the duties, which leads to abuse from some line managers regarding how many hours you work a week.

“It is not uncommon to find people working 70+ hours a week as if they fail to do that, their short-term contracts won’t be renewed.”

One academic spoke of experiences where jobs, despite being classified as ‘research’ posts, would actually involve teaching and supervision.

One MPhil student revealed that he spent £6,000 a year on his degree despite only officially meeting his supervisor twice a year. In order to cover the costs, the same student was obliged to take on teaching posts at two different colleges, as well as tutoring A-Level students for six hours every Sunday. His monthly income is £800, and his rent costs are £625.

They said: “At the end of my one-year contract, it was renewed – something that was due to my employer’s generosity, who knew that I couldn’t finish my PhD otherwise, because I wouldn’t have had enough money.”

They added: “These people are the most academically qualified, yet they can’t afford to rent one room in one house.

“I’ve seen people have to pack up boxes and walk out because they can’t afford to pay rent – they’ve had to give up on PhDs halfway through.”

Neither does security seem to improve with age or experience. According to one academic, it is normal for academics not to obtain a permanent post until the age of 35, which is “insane in any other business”. He recalled a lecturer who had a series of five prestigious lectureships at a single college. However, once her contract expired she was left unemployed with no protection or provision.

However, despite the promise of overwork and little pay, competition for contracts remains fierce, with one academic suggesting that 200 applicants for a single Junior Research Fellowship was not unusual.

He continued: “My job won’t exist in June – there won’t be another Graduate Teaching Assistant. I’m going to have to apply for my own job, and we’ll see if I get it. But they can’t just keep me on forever – they are not allowed to.

“I’ll apply for upwards of 20 jobs, and I might get one – even though I should be top of the pile, I have a lot of experience in teaching, I’ve been in the Oxford system, I’ve got a book contract with a well-known publisher.”

Successful applications also frequently rely on references from current employers, meaning that employers will become aware as soon as academics begin looking for new posts.

Speaking to Cherwell, one researcher said: “This also puts us in a very difficult position. A position where regardless of how badly you are treated, you still have to put up with that in order to make sure you get a half decent reference to secure another job.”

One academic also believed that attitudes to recruitment had changed in the university in recent years.

They said: “There is no recognition of loyalty at this University. In any other profession – business, medicine, law – the biggest thing you can give to an employer is loyalty, and you are rewarded for showing that loyalty.

“Here, loyalty is seen as the worst thing, a kind of waste product. They now value those who have taught somewhere else, they value experience from outside of Oxford.”

Hiring in Oxford is still a highly opaque process however, with many positions still being awarded without being openly advertised.

“I got a job at a college through knowing people. One of the professors was on leave for this term, and I got a call over the summer from a candidate who asked me if I wanted the job, without an interview, and without an application.

“By the time the college had conducted an interview process, which would have cost them time and effort, they would have ended up selecting someone just because they ticked a few boxes.”

The stress of continually looking for jobs in order to survive in one of the UK’s most expensive cities, has been suggested to have repercussions not only for academic staff’s own mental health, but also the quality of their teaching.

One academic sighed: “It’s kind of ironic because you hear about mental stress from students on an undergraduate level, and you are supposed to be giving sympathy.

“But you go home and you are single, underpaid, overstressed and fucked off about everything.”

Although the Oxford UCU have made raising awareness of job precarity one of their key campaigns, academics complain that raising issues with the University is futile. Strikes, one academic admitted, “make absolutely no effect on anything at all”.

The researcher said: “I haven’t complained about this as it is kind of our understanding that is how the university operates. I don’t think that it is a fair system but not sure what can we do to change it.

“As many other things in this university, including bullying, equality and other policies, we feel that is a bit of façade to make the university appear as a wonderful employer but the reality is very different.

“When we raise complains about any matter, we are quickly shut down, ignored or even mistreated. And as we are in a fragile employment situation we just have to shut up and carry on, otherwise we won’t be able to secure employment.”

They said the University should be “making sure that these contracts are not legal”, and offering alternatives to HR for staff to report their concerns.

Oxford UCU rep, Patricia Thornton told Cherwell: “The entire phenomenon is profoundly detrimental to what a university is and ought to be. It literally renders the notion of academic freedom irrelevant, as no one on a fixed-term contract can be guaranteed to be able to exercise their right to conduct and disseminate resource.

“If the new norm across the University becomes precarious employment in academe, then the University will have failed to observe both the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel, which charges universities with the responsibility of ensuring effective support of academic freedom.

“We are not quite to that point yet, thankfully; but, personally, as time goes by, I’m getting more and more uneasy about how closely we are skirting that line in academic research.”

Cellar reaches £80k crowdfunding target

Isabel Morris
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Cellar reaches £80k crowdfunding target

The Cellar, the Oxford nightclub facing imminent closure over fire safety requirements, has raised enough money to undertake the building renovations needed to stop it from closing.

The nightclub announced it had reached its £80k crowdfunding target today, an amount that will fund building work to widen the club’s fire escape to comply with city council standards and to make up for financial losses.

In October, independent music venue began its crowdfunding campaign, which was backed by students, residents and artists, including Radiohead drummer Philip Selway.

In a Facebook post, The Cellar team wrote: “WOW we are awestruck. Through the power of the people, thanks to you we’ve now got the crowdfunding we need to save The Cellar.

“It’s been an incredible journey and one we hope also communicates to people out there, just how crucial small venues are to our music and arts community. This is a live situation and we have been working really hard to get all the other things in place before the building work can commence.”

In June, Cellar was forced to cut the maximum capacity from 150 people to 60, as the fire escape was 30cm too narrow for Oxfordshire County Council requirements. 

The nightclub was set to close on 3rd December unless it could raise enough money increase its capacity and make up for any losses incurred.

The Cellar management has since gained approval from the landlords to submit the building plans, consulted with structural engineers, had the club building has been surveyed, and drawn up detailed drawings of the building.

Their submission to the planning office is pending approval by 4th January 2019. They have consulted with building control and received quotes from various building firms, all of which are available to commence in January 2019.

They have also met with the landlord’s surveyors to finalise our their rent agreement.

The team added: “There are many pieces of the jigsaw to slot into place to keep The Cellar alive. We are hoping that the building work will start in January 2019, and we are working flat out to ensure this happens.

“It’s important to us, and to all your incredible efforts, that we do not accept the money until we are 100% sure we can deliver. We will keep you updated via the crowdfunder updates, every step of the way.

“Thank you so so much for your patience on this, and we are so grateful we now have the chance to save our beloved venue. #cellarforever.”

The Cellar has been contacted for comment.

Wang Dan – “There are a lot of lies about true democracy”

Libby Cherry
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Wang Dan – “There are a lot of lies about true democracy”

It is immediately clear that Wang Dan would prefer not to focus on his own past, but in-
stead on China’s future. An outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang has spent almost half of the last 30 years in prison and is still banned from the country
to this day. His campaign for democracy in China has defined his life since his days as a student leader during the Tiananmen protests in 1989, but
he refuses to think of himself as a martyr. Today’s China couldn’t be more different from the government he challenged decades ago, but until his dreams of a democratic China are realised, he isn’t prepared to stop.

Rather than becoming disillusioned, or worse, during the eleven years he spent in a single cell, he describes the experience less in terms of its horrors than its formative influence on his thinking. “Reading was the only thing I could do,” he explains, “I still think it is beneficial for me to have read so many books.”

Yet contemplative solitude is evidently not Wang’s preferred course of action. While undoubtedly an intellectual appreciation for democracy provided the incentive for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, it was a movement that was as firmly grounded in the experiences and thoughts of individual students as in abstract philosophies. In 1988, Wang set up the first “campus salons” at his university, engaging his fellow students and teachers on the issue of China’s democratic development.

“We tried to form an atmosphere in the campus,” he says. “To do this we tried to encourage our students to participate – I mean, if you want something to happen you have to do something.”

It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that when I ask Wang about his influences, he answers not with a political theoretician – although he admits he got the initial “idea of democracy” from high school classes – but with his teachers.

“I’m not just referring to those supervisors,” he clarifies, “but I mean young teachers – when I was a student, I had very close relationships with young teachers. They were like family, they had a lot of influence on me.”

Even today, Wang is still trying to foster these kinds of constructive conversations, melding academic principles of democracy with individual and contemporary circumstances. He has set up the think-tank Dialogue, a group of mostly Chinese overseas academics, who hope to bring public attention to the issues surrounding China’s current constitution.

Part of the group’s project is to create a series of video clips, each describing a different benefit of democracy which they intend to disseminate to the public over social media. He proudly tells me that his current YouTube channel has 4,000 followers, with “some of them from mainland China.” His optimism, however, is noticeably forced. Although he claims that the mainland population often circumvent the government’s online firewall, there seems little hope that his attempts at social “enlightenment” will reach anywhere near the levels required to establish a native movement.

“My opinion is pretty negative because – the Chinese government did a lot of things so that there are a lot of lies about what is true democracy.

“I mean, they pick up a lot of the shortcomings of democracy, they pick up the problems of the UK and the US and they try to say that democracy does nothing helpful and that the Communist Party is better than them.

“The Chinese government has done a lot of this kind of propaganda and it has worked. A lot of the younger generation, that are not going abroad, they really have no idea, no channel, they just listen to the government’s propaganda, so maybe younger generations, they don’t have a good impression about democracy.”

While there are recognised democratic parties in China, they are compliant with the current Communist system, mostly acting as groups of academics and professionals who advise the main party, the CCP, on scientific aspects of policy, rather than championing any abstract democratic ideals. However, even if Wang did hear of any activist groups in China, he would be nervous about contacting them.

“I think it is too dangerous for them. If I tried to give them some money or offer some instruction, it would be giving the government an opportunity to crack down on them.” The Chinese government’s chokehold on discourse has led to what Wang calls a lack of “common sense” among the Chinese population.

“There is a lot of common sense in the US and the UK, but we don’t have it.

“For example, like people cannot easily just shoot other people – gunmen can shoot other people – but in the case of June 4th [The Tiananmen protests], a lot of Chinese people think if government do this its OK.”

However, although Wang seems to frame the debate about democracy around highly Westernised terms – alongside “common sense”, he suggests that China should accept democracy to gain the “respect” of Western countries. As the interview continues, it transpires that he is far from satisfied with the UK and the US’s attitude towards an increasingly totalitarian China.

“Western countries can do a lot, for example like use their personal relationship with Xi Jinping or other high-level officials to persuade them to start doing something – say “This is something you can do,” or something like that.”

One of the most problematic facets of Xi Jinping’s current policy, in Wang’s opinion, is the national attitude to Taiwan. A democratic state with its own distinctive entrepreneurial spirit, yet still unrecognized as a country by many, including the UK, and increasingly reliant on China economically, Wang tells me the re-capture of the island state has become one of Xi’s most important ideological principles. To reunite Taiwan and China would satisfy a Communist obsession that has plagued CCP leaders, and most significantly Mao himself, since the Kuomintang retreat to the island in 1949 following the Civil War.

“Taking back Taiwan [is] more important than any other thing for him, and maybe the most important thing [for Xi],” Wang says, “He won’t be the hero in the party’s history [if he doesn’t do it].”

Nor is Taiwan the only symptom of Xi’s aim to take up Mao’s legacy. In February of this year, China’s President Xi Jinping eliminated the two-term rule for China’s premiership, which would allow him to remain the nominal head of state for the country indefinitely. Imperial ambition, Wang believes, is manifest.

“Xi may not be called an emperor, he may be called a President but he wants to be that kind of person that can do anything.”

Although obviously an ambivalent figure, Wang describes a country that still hasn’t shaken off the aspects of Mao’s original cult of personality. Government officials still harbour effigies of Mao in their homes and village squares are often graced with his stony presence.

The longing for security in a world increasingly characterised by economic and political turbulence means that strongman rulership – and not just in China, but indeed worldwide – couldn’t be more in vogue.

“Xi grew up in Mao’s area,” Wang tells me. “That is very important for him and he’s not a person with a background in high level education. So all his education comes from Mao’s era – his ideas about the war, about how to be a person, has all come from the cultural revolution. [Mao is] still really a hero for younger generation, including him. This kind of shadow or influence still keeping in his mind I think.”

While ‘democracy with Chinese characteristics’ may have been a stock phrase in recent decades, Wang rejects the idea that there is “just some Western democracy”, which can be superficially altered to fit China. He believes in democracy (rather than a “vague definition”) as a series of “concrete policies” that have been borne out of the specific concerns and material problems for China’s population.

Privatisation is his key policy: freedom, he believes, can only be achieved with the disassembly of state monopolies over industry, and by returning the land to the “peasant” class in China’s still highly rural economy.

Wang’s principal model for this economic change comes immediately – China in the 1980s.“I think the 1980s is the golden time, because at that time there is cooperation between society and the State and I think that now you can see that there is no cooperation between society and state. This cooperation is very important for our country if you want developments , mostly – so in 1980 we have links – in 1980s we have a democracy idea, what people want to do something not only for themselves but for their country.”

Paradoxically perhaps, Wang condemns the current system of unified state control as killing patriotic fervor in the young.

“Today we cannot see this kind of -ism, this kind of ideology, to persuade young generations to work for their country, for the country benefit, they just want to make money for themselves.”

Wang views economic freedom and political freedom as a kind of symbiosis, claiming that the democratic outcry in 1989 in Tiananmen Square itself was a natural product of the entrepreneurial, independent-minded spirit that was cultivated in the preceding decade, as China began to open up their cities to Western trade.

So which will begin first? As I pose the question, the interview is brought to a hasty close. Wang earlier pinpointed the urban middle classes and the younger generation as the “driving force” for democratic revolution. But will he ever gain revolutionary commitment from the group that has, benefited the most from Xi? Without real pressure from the West, itself mired in the democratic question, Wang’s vision of a democratic China perhaps does not look rosy.

 

Students protest colleges’ ‘unethical’ investments

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Students protest colleges’ ‘unethical’ investments

Oxford students, staff, and residents marched through the city on Wednesday calling for specific colleges to divest millions of pounds from fossil fuels, arms and tobacco companies.

Protesters marched past colleges deemed to have the worst-offending investment portfolios, after a Cherwell investigation last week revealed over £150 million invested by Oxford colleges in offshore tax havens, as well as direct investments by New and Hertford in fossil fuels and arms corporations.

At Pembroke, Exeter and New colleges, protesters put up notices bearing the slogan, “Time is Up.”

The protest demanded full divestment, over a period of two years, from direct and indirect holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies as listed on Carbon Underground in the University’s endowment fund and in the funds of its colleges.

The protesters further demanded “an end to research partnerships with fossil fuel companies that have no plan to comply with the Paris Agreement”, and that the University “honour its ethical responsibilities by immediately terminating its investments in, and all institutional links with, companies and institutions – including Mitsubishi Electric and Rolls Royce – which produce arms and thus profit from exploitation, illegal wars and ongoing settler-colonisation abroad.”

Lastly, they demanded “an end to arms companies recruitment drives at Oxford”and “transparency” about relationships with arms companies.”

The march was organised by a coalition of student groups including the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign (OCJC), Free Education Oxford, and Demilitarise Oxford, and coincided with the student network People & Planet’s National Day of Action for Divestment.

Oxford Climate Justice Campaign spokesperson Rachel Qiu said: “Climate change – and the natural disasters and critical impoverishment it causes – has created business opportunities for many unethical industries.

“These industries’ activities disproportionately impact the formerly colonised, the global working class, and communities of colour who are considered sacrificeable for profit.”

Chair of OCJC, Julia Peck, told Cherwell: “The fact of the matter is that about 60 universities in the UK have already divested from fossil fuels, and Oxford is lagging behind. So we are part of that National Day of Action; but, also, ours is a quite urgent situation, because Oxford has rejected calls for divestment whereas other universities have actually heeded those calls.”

Approximately 100 people took part in the march, which culminated at the Clarendon Building with rallies and speeches.

Demilitarise Oxford founder, Naomi Miall, told Cherwell: “For too long Oxford University has gone unchallenged on its role in the international arms trade.

“Today, students marched through the city to show that it is time for Oxford to end its contribution to oppression and violence – towards humans and towards the world we live in. The arms industry has a tight wrap on our University – shaping research directions, benefiting from investments and recruiting Oxford students.”

A New College spokesperson told Cherwell: “A discussion with the JCR over its concerns in relation to Cherwell’s recent reporting on colleges’ investments has commenced, with a view to any JCR proposals for updating the New College ethical investment policy and socially responsible investing policy being considered by the Endowment Committee and then by Governing Body in February.”

Associate Professor in Human Geography Dr Amber Murrey told Cherwell: “From an environmental justice perspective, we know that the risks and the benefits of extraction are highly uneven.

“Fossil fuel extraction, refinement, consumption and resulting climate changes affect communities and regions unequally. My research is with communities along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline, an area where we have seen the social fracturing and ecological degradations of crude oil extraction play out for over a decade in ways that harken back to colonial-era extraction.

“Student-led movements for divestment are important spaces for the critique of the uneven politics, economics and ecologies of profit and risk within the extractive industries. An important part of the movement at Oxford must also be creating a vision for an alternative – so that we’re not just critiquing environmental and racial injustices but also pushing for alternative energy sources, alternative economic arrangements, alternative employments and so forth.”

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “In May 2015, responding to a Student Union request and following a wide-ranging consultation, Oxford University’s Council made a statement on fossil fuel investment which restricted investment in coal and tar sands.

“This statement remains the University’s position and all investment decisions are made in accordance with it. The Oxford Endowment Fund has low exposure to the energy sector and has actively sought to invest in groups targeting resource efficient companies.”

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