Oxford's oldest student newspaper

Independent since 1920

Blog Page 84

Fringe: “Uncannily familiar”, Review of Cowboys and Lesbians

By
Anuj Mishra
-
Julia Pilkington and Georgia Vyvyan in 'Cowboys and Lesbians'
Photography Credits: Arabella Kennedy-Compston (@arabellakcfilm)

Didn’t we all have that one frustratingly intense and slightly homoerotic friendship in secondary school?

Such is the plight of Cowboys and Lesbians’ lovestruck protagonists. Nina (Julia Pilkington) and Noa (Georgia Vyvyan) are a deeply familiar duo: they discuss one-sided sexual fantasies about their male teachers and lament the canteen’s shortage of southern fried chicken. They are also in denial, disguising their affection for each other with a favourite line of kids who don’t want to renounce heterosexuality quite yet: “well, everyone is a little bit queer”.

As far as portraying British secondary school goes, Billie Esplen strikes the mark perfectly, and this relatability is one of the play’s major strengths. Its other strength lies in its subplot.

This subplot is the product of Nina and Noa’s collective imagination, a sort of fanfic – a parody of rom-com, set in the wild West – which is played out by the same actors. In so weaving these two strands, Cowboys and Lesbians overtly explores the relationship between our most intimate selves and the popular narratives of romance against which we gauge them.

A play of extremes in a sense, the ‘Cowboys’ narrative moves between romance tropes melodramatically while the ‘Lesbians’ mostly sit around and discuss their own lack of action (sexual and otherwise). The constant between the two was the comedy, which was astutely written by Esplen and excellently delivered.

Despite being a two-woman play, Pilkington and Vyvyan jump between characters with great skill, from the delicate bumbling of two teenagers afraid to confess their love for one another, to the aggrandised meet-cute of a cowboy and his Southern belle. Pilkington was on par with Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain in her performance of misunderstood masculinity, and Vyvyan had clearly developed a mastery of the smoulder after a month at the Fringe.

Georgia Vyvyan’s signature smoulder. Photography Credits: Arabella Kennedy-Compston (@arabellakcfilm)

Immensely funny, masterfully constructed, and, uncannily familiar – this is a play which knows how to touch its audience.

Cowboys and Lesbians is Billie Esplen’s latest play, and has been produced by Eleanor Birdsall-Smith. Both are alumni of St. Anne’s College (English, 2016) and currently work in film and television. During their time at Oxford, Birdsall-Smith wrote for Cherwell and The Isis, and Esplen for The Isis.

The play ran at Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Pleasance Dome, the playtext is currently available to purchase.

Over 400 students still await classified degrees, University confirms

By
Jakub Trybull and Bintia Dennog
-
Image credit: Tim Alex via Unsplash

The University of Oxford has confirmed that approximately 400 students have been provisionally given unclassified degrees in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by Cherwell. While these students will be able to graduate, they will do so without provisionally knowing what class degree they are receiving. 

Of the approximately 3,300 undergraduates and 6,000 postgraduates that make up over 9,000 yearly taught course graduates, 5% will graduate without fully confirmed degrees. Despite a small number being given provisional classifications, the majority of students affected, accounting for roughly 400 undergraduates and postgraduates, hold unclassified degrees. 

The FOI request also revealed that 33 students, comprising 5 undergraduates and 28 taught postgraduates, are unable to graduate due to boycott-related incomplete results, as of 22 August.

19 subjects ranging across all four academic divisions – humanities, social sciences, medical sciences, and mathematical, physical and life sciences – have reported some impact from the boycott.* 

In response to the FOI request submitted by Cherwell on 6 July, the University initially requested a one-week extension on the day the request was due, in order to compile the relevant information. Following this, the FOI was returned and Cherwell was told that no full record of the students nor the subjects affected was held. 

In further correspondence with the University’s Information Compliance Team, Cherwell noted that preliminary numbers must be available. On 17 August, the University stated they would find and provide preliminary figures, which Cherwell then received on 28 August, 53 days after the FOI was submitted. 

Students have previously criticised the University for its lack of transparency in dealing with the boycott. One History and Politics student told Cherwell: “We had to piece together all the evidence, so very much student detective work given the uni’s preference for things to remain very opaque.”

A full record of students affected is expected in November, when all exam results will have processed and exam boards met. The University’s guidance regarding the boycott, last updated on 23 August, states that all assessments will be marked, even if marks are delayed. 

However, the University and College Union (UCU) previously announced that its Higher Education Committee voted to “take further strike action before the end of September and to begin preparations for a new ballot in order to renew UCU’s industrial mandate in the pay and working conditions dispute.” The re-ballot, expected to take place before 30 September, could prolong disruption into 2024.

In a statement to Cherwell, the University said: “While recognising the right to take industrial action, we regret the impact the UCU’s marking and assessment boycott is having on some students. 

“The overwhelming majority of examinations and assessments have taken place as planned, and in most cases the mitigating actions taken by departments have enabled the vast majority of students to graduate. We are grateful to colleagues across the University for their hard work in managing this situation and minimising the impact on students as far as possible.”

The University further stated that they are working on minimising delays and supporting students progressing to further study or jobs. 

* The full list of affected subjects includes Anthropology, Area Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Biochemistry, Computer Science, International Development, English, Experimental Psychology, Geography, History, Human Sciences, Law, Maths, Modern Languages, Linguistics, Physics, Politics, Social Data Science/Social Science of the Internet, and Social Policy and Intervention.

‘ASMR Eat Your Heart Out!’: A Review of The Metamorphosis

By
Anuj Mishra
-
Credit: Kobi Mohan

If you were exposed in any way to Matchbox Productions’ The Metamorphosis this term, the words ‘binaural sound system’ probably accompanied it. For the uninitiated, it’s a fancy phrase for headphones. So, as the last members of the audience squeezed into a packed Pilch, I sat taking in the whispers of Sonya Luchanskaya: ‘You should be hearing this in your left ear.’ ASMR eat your heart out.

This course of action – fiddling, people-watching, ASMRing – was so enjoyable to me that it was only after a good five minutes that I decided to scrutinise the set: a table, already scattered with a messy ensemble of plates, and a floor-length net curtain, behind which was a bed, and a small stand with a charming photograph of Franz Kafka himself. And, of course, the barely visible, and apparently lifeless body of Gregor Samsa (Joe Rachman), as he slept.

Making excellent use of binaural sound (by Alva Orr), The Metamorphosis is delivered (as is done in Kafka’s novella) as the internal monologue of our protagonist, Gregor. The visual perspective is, however, reversed: in the novella, we follow Gregor’s voice, yet director Lily Berrell’s production inverts this, with the actions of the family taking the foreground. The effect of this was interesting, as Gregor is cordoned off in a way which allows the audience to forget him periodically, just as his family slowly begins to. However, Rachman’s constant movement never allowed us to truly forget he was there: here he was in paroxysm, there he stood contorted into one of many “bug positions” (as Rachman described in an interview with Cherwell). This inversion of perspective also allowed the character of Greta Samsa (Juliette Imbert) to take on much greater importance, and rightly so, given her place as Gregor’s caregiver. Imbert did an excellent job of the role, conveying Greta’s slow growth (or decline) from naïve, devoted sister, to chronically irritated, Gregor-hating “fine young lady” (in the words of her parents).

The excellent performances of Gregor and Greta, at the centre of the play, were complemented by the mother-father act, comprising the well-meaning Frau Samsa (Millie Deere), and the stalwart Herr Samsa (Jo Rich). Deere shone in her role, playing the scorned wife, the overbearing mother, as well as the disgusted keeper of a house infected by the “thing” that is Gregor. Berrell performs a master-stroke in leaving Gregor as just that, a “thing”, allowing the metamorphosed character to retain all the ambiguity of form that Kafka intended. Although, in English translation, Gregor is often made a cockroach, Kafka made no such elucidation, and so, we see Rachman slightly bruised up, but with no discernible ‘insect’ costuming: he is stripped down to a pair of white underpants, and his acting does all the work.

The family stay on stage for most of the performance, with no discernible shifts in set or in personage as the play progressed. The temporality of the play was, therefore, masterfully contrived: episodes shifted from one to the other fluidly, months of narrative passed by in what was only a handful of scenes and 45 minutes of performance. The production was well punctuated by the swift entries and exits of the Clerk (Hal Gavin), and then the Lodger (Susie Weidmann). Both burst onto the stage, acknowledging the audience and scrutinizing us as though we were a collection of bric-a-brac on a shelf, and garnering rounds of laughter for their over-the-top roles.

The Metamorphosis was, understandably, intense, and weird – in a good way. Blessed with excellent performances, and clever use of technology, the play captured all the absurdity of Kafka. All in all, a wonderful and careful adaptation of the novella which, as any good adaptation should, took the source material, and ran with it.

Former SU President-Elect who resigned over insensitive social media posts releases book detailing harassment and “injustice”

By
Cherwell News
-
Image credit: Ray Harrington via Unsplash

Rashmi Samant was elected as the first female Indian president of the Student Union in February 2021. However, within five days of her appointment, student outrage over insensitive social media posts led to her forced resignation. Her new book “A Hindu in Oxford” delves into how her life “turned topsy turvy by accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and transphobia” and the bullying and harassment that ensued. She previously stated that her posts were “dug up, mischievously misinterpreted and weaponized to browbeat me into resigning.” 

The controversies stemmed from Samant’s Instagram posts: she captioned her visit to Malaysia with the phrase “Ching Chang”, separated “women” and “transwomen”, and used a play on words in reference to the Holocaust Museum in Berlin: “The memorial *CASTS* a *HOLLOW* dream of the past atrocities and deeds.” Additionally, Samant also drew a comparison between Cecil Rhodes and Hitler at a Student Union debate. 

On a Twitter post announcing her new book, Samant stated that her “historic election victory rapidly transformed into a distressing nightmare of bullying, harassment, & threats,” which included death threats and police intimidation. 

In an article dwelling on cancel culture, published in the Times of India, Samant explained that the attacks she faced were spearheaded by “an academic at the University who directly targeted and insulted my Hindu identity and upbringing. She added that the “cyber lynching”  that occurred “was so intense that I was bullied into resigning. I caught the first flight back home, had a nervous break-down and ended up in hospital.”

Following the comments made by the academic, Oxford investigated the matter. Although the result remains confidential, Samant’s lawyer, Adhitya Srinivasan, tweeted: “Oxford has finally concluded its investigation into the harassment complaint filed by Ms Rashmi Samant. I am delighted that a decision has been reached, and I am pleased with the outcome of the investigation.”

Samant also said that these attacks had led to her issuing “a wholly unwarranted apology”, as she “did not do anything wrong in the first place, something which has been validated by experienced lawyers and a senior Jewish rights activist.” 

At the time, Oxford’s Jewish Society told Cherwell: “Her caption of a photo at the Berlin Holocaust Memorial exhibited severe insensitivity and ignorance, as did her ill-thought-out parallel between Cecil Rhodes and Adolf Hitler.” The Oxford International Society and the SU LGBTQ+ Campaign also called for her resignation. 

In the Times of India article, Samant also explained that cancel culture has become “a personalized witch-hunt that aims to permanently destroy the character and prospects of those who fail or choose not to conform to political correctness and unreasonable, wokish insanity.” 

She stated: “It is clear that those who purvey a trigger-happy cancel culture are power-hungry hypocrites who derive fulfilment by imposing misery on others. Their combination of sheer ignorance and over-confidence is as dangerous as it is nauseating. They also flagrantly use and abuse the public spirit of accountability to deleterious effect.”

Samant’s successor, Anvee Bhutani, also responded to Samant’s tweet, stating: “When Rashmi resigned, I ran, was elected, and served a successful term as an Indian Hindu President of Oxford University Students Union.

“Racism exists in Oxford, but Rashmi was not bullied because of her race, religion, or nationality. This novel propagates a false narrative.” In response, Samant told her to “read the book before judging it by your bias.”

No evidence connecting Facebook usage and psychological harm

By
Anika Gupta
-
Image Credit: Dawid Sokołowski via Unsplash

An independent study, conducted by Oxford scientists, found no evidence that Facebook had an adverse impact on well-being.

Despite widespread claims about the negative impact of social media platforms on welfare, research piloted by Professor Przybylski and Professor Vuorre at the Oxford Internet Institute, found that their conclusions were quite the opposite. 

Their research paper reflects that, though evidence of detrimental psychological effects linked with Facebook – and social media in general – is popular in academic and non-academic circles alike, indication of harm is always “more speculative than conclusive.“

In supporting this, Oxford researchers analysed well-being data over twelve  years from 72 countries, representing nearly a million people. As much of past research into social media usage and health has been exclusively focussed on data amassing from the Global North, resulting in inaccuracies, Professors Przybylski and Vuorre understood that to distil the best possible results on any plausible associations, they would require a wide-ranging, international database. Some co-operation from Facebook was also required, but only in providing vital data for the project. 

Critically, research looked closely at Facebook’s trends in global penetration in its earlier days (2008 – 2019), where speculation on connection between social media and wellbeing were at the forefront. In addition, they also linked data tracking Facebook’s global adoption with “three indicators of well-being: life satisfaction, negative and positive psychological experiences”. From this, the scientists found positive correlations between Facebook usage and well-being measurements in many cases.

Oxford experts also explored differences in relation to gender and age. Results found that Facebook usage and well-being had, on balance, more of a positive association among youth. Further, a more positive correlation amongst the factors was seen more for males than females. The paper stresses that while the impacts were small, they should not be overlooked.

The Facebook study aligns with previous research from Oxford’s researchers, which found that the use of technology has not increasingly over time become linked with harmful psychological outcomes. 

Professor Vuorre emphasises that their findings should now “help guide the debate surrounding social media towards more empirical research foundations.”

The full study will be published on the Royal Society website after the news embargo lifts.

Oxford students to receive £500,000 from new engineering scholarship

By
Faris Firoozye
-
Image credit: Jpbowen/CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Two leading UK defence, aerospace, and technology companies, Cobham and Ultra Electronics, have announced a scholarship programme for engineering undergraduates from underrepresented groups. The Cobham & Ultra Scholarship Programme is aimed at six universities, including Oxford, where £500,000 of the fund will be donated.

The scholarship pledges a total of £5 million to the six universities, seeking to support 500 students most in need of financial support over the lifetime of the fund. Over a hundred students starting in September 2023 will be receiving funding from the scholarship for each remaining year of their undergraduate studies. 

The scholarship hopes to provide additional benefits by working with the engineering faculty to provide first-hand mentoring and guidance to those who request it. The newly merged company seeks to allow students who study a variety of engineering-based degrees to “explore work experience opportunities and even a year in industry.”

For Cobham & Ultra, this fund will constitute a continuing significant investment in “advancing defence capabilities and staying ahead of the ever-evolving threat.” 

Cobham and Ultra Electronics work on technology and service innovation and mission-critical defence electronics respectively. The Chairman of the Board of Cobham and Ultra Electronics, Shonnel Malani, stated that “through this investment we are ensuring the UK maintains this defensive capability moving forward.”

This aligns with the continuation of the Formula 1 Engineering Scholarship Programme for undergraduates from non-privileged backgrounds. This currently provides four fully funded scholarships to students undertaking MEng in Engineering Science, with six further scholarships to be awarded until the 2025/6 academic year.

Why do we drink?

By
Molly Dineley
-

Some drink for good reasons. This might be a tipple after a hard day, or a few drinks and a dance every so often to unwind with friends, or maybe a vodka-mixer for liquid courage before a date. Some people drink for other reasons. It’s not for fun per-se – maybe it is at first – and it’s not exactly satisfying. Some people drink self-destructively, to excess, to shame, to falling over, to spinning out on their bed wondering what happened. I can’t blame anyone for these – we’ve all been there. University students are renowned, nowhere more than England, for their alcohol use and abuse. 

And yet I’m told that we’re drinking less as a generation – a fact that feels unreflective of my experience. According to SOS in 2022, 53% of students drink alcohol more than once a week, and 81% of them think that drinking and getting drunk is part of university culture. Something seems natural about drinking here.

I used to be adamant I’d never drink. It was a running joke in my family – I didn’t see the point. I had seen people drink in pubs and bars and I noticed them turn into grotesques of themselves as they drank: their tempers snapped quicker; their hugs got tighter. Sure, I knew that these emotions must have existed while sober, but I also knew that alcohol made it worse.

In my late teens, I began to see alcohol as something different: a social crutch. Alcohol didn’t change people, just loosened them, exposed them. They drank so they could say the thoughts in the back of their throats. Liquid courage. 

I first drank properly on my eighteenth birthday. My conviction about not drinking earlier helped me hold off for a while, so I lost out on the quintessential British Teenager Lifestyle, but the drinking won out eventually. I handled it well: I found that I could drink as much as the rest of my family and still walk straight. I had a jaeger-bomb at the end of a night out, something I thought was the guaranteed thing to get me very drunk but I just felt giddy.

Then I came to uni. Freshers’ week was uneventful for me – not a week of ragers, just tonsillitis. I was homesick and lonely, slowly adjusting to a new place with lots of new people I didn’t know. I met people, but slowly. Like many at university, the way I hung out with friends was through drinking. I knew I didn’t have to, but also that I enjoyed it a lot more if I did. This meant for a while I felt I didn’t know a lot of people very well. I think what I knew was partially a drunk version of them I had seen a few times and forgotten. They were almost strangers I knew very well. 

After I turned nineteen, I became better at separating these things, knowing that alcohol wasn’t a substitute for confidence. I became better at separating drinking from social interaction. I managed a bit, but still found my most stressed self reverting to a drunk night at Plush. But, I also found from observation that it wasn’t just me. I could see that people’s cravings for intimacy led them to drink uncontrollably so they’d meet someone at a club and be able to do something about it. Or they felt separate from the others in a club, watching people trying to connect in the darkness and seeing only phantoms dancing past them. 

I felt like a phantom. I knew that I wouldn’t find connection or meaning there. I mostly found myself sitting on the faux-leather stools at the back of the club and looking on. Or walking out at 1AM to go to sleep. 

Nights out had become a chance. When you weren’t seeing people in the day – stuck in libraries and at opposite ends of the city – the club was an enclosed space where you could imagine something different might happen. Different clubs, different venues, same space. Maybe you could forget about reason, about time, about differences. This well-worn routine is okay until you get tired.  Until you’ve spent too many mornings walking with a hangover, trying to both remember and forget. Then you try to heal, find what needs to be changed. You’ll do it again, and maybe it wasn’t all bad, maybe there’s a way that you can do it without the stress or shame.

The lines between healthy and unhealthy drinking are blurred and difficult to distinguish. I hear people say that drinking can never be healthy; that any drinks are crutches, coping mechanisms, or distractions. If you can enjoy things sober, what’s even the point of drinking? I reflexively kick back: “Could it never [be healthy]?” It might be an anti-puritan reflex more than anything, but I wonder if it is truly possible that there’s no joy to be brought from drinking.

For every memory of seeing people cry and shout drunk, I have the memories of people jolly and smiling like they’ve never done before. I remember the glow of a warm smile in a club dancing under the neon lights. An arm at your waist in abandon, linking arms with your friend on the way home. 

All of this to say that alcohol is everywhere in Oxford, whether you drink or not. While pervasive, it is almost invisible – it’s hard to know how to find the words about feeling uncertain about your alcohol use when so many don’t think twice before going out multiple times a week. Do you stay quiet and accept it as part of the way things are? Do you work on it yourself, let other people do what they want? Openness is probably the way forward – look at the reasons of others and yourselves, talk about it and be open to seeing how unhealthy habits form. Maybe the good reasons could stick around.

Image credit: Lawnpylon / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia

Nearly £25k allocated to purging Oxford’s streets of chewing gum

By
Julia Amann
-
Image credit: Antonio Lorenzana Bermejo via Pexels

Oxford City Council has accepted a grant of nearly £25,000 to clean up improperly discarded chewing gum, which they described as a “blight” on local streets in a recent press release.

The grant will be primarily directed towards steaming and sweeping gum off of streets frequented by students, including Magdalen Street, Broad Street, and Cornmarket Street. The remaining sum will fund specially designed signage encouraging responsible gum disposal. Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said in a statement that such efforts have been found to “[reduce] gum littering by up to 80% in the first two months” by participating councils.

According to the Council, chewing gum litter is a “constant source of complaints” from local residents, businesses and tourists. Beyond it being a “nuisance”, the Council noted that gum has the potential to inconvenience tourists; erode public feelings of pride in the city; jam wheelchair wheels; and stick to shoes to be carried into buildings.

The independent charity Keep Britain Tidy awarded the £24,960 grant via their Chewing Gum Task Force, which has funnelled over one million pounds towards gum clean-up efforts in 56 cities across the UK since its conception last year. The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, but city councils are chiefly responsible for footing the roughly seven million pounds that are directed at chewing gum clean-up annually across Britain. 

In a statement, the Council’s leader, Susan Brown, said: “It would be really great if more people would dispose of their chewing gum responsibly in a bin rather than discarding it on our streets where it causes damage and increases our cleaning costs.”

Oxford City Council’s stated four key priorities for the city are to promote business and employment opportunities; to address an acute housing shortage; to reduce economic inequality; and to reduce carbon emissions in light of a climate emergency. While it is not clear which of these priorities the initiative is addressing, the cleaner does not use chemicals and is said to be housed on a repurposed 1973 electric milk float, allowing it to pass through the trial Zero Emission Zone in Oxford’s city centre.

No students faced disciplinary action for trashing, reflecting limited enforcement of ban

By
Julia Amann
-
Philip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Geograph

No Oxford students faced disciplinary action, including fines, for post-exam celebrations this academic year, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed. 

Since the 1970s, students have celebrated the end of exams by covering each other with substances including foam, food and alcohol in a tradition known as “trashing.” 

This year the University warned students that “[a]nti-social celebrations including throwing, pouring, or spraying substances of any kind” would be subject to £150 fines, to be “strictly enforced.” Similar warnings were issued in the previous two academic years.

The Proctors’ Office, the University’s central body responsible for student discipline, recorded relatively few citations for trashing in recent years. Last year, the Office fined eight students, while no discipline was administered in 2021.

In spite of the University’s warnings, trashing has continued as standard student practice. One student estimated that over 90% of his college year group took part in at least a “more limited form of the tradition,” with some students spraying water rather than foam and confetti. Other students, deterred by University security around the Examination Schools, simply moved their trashing elsewhere, such as to Port Meadow, an area of common land outside of Oxford city centre. 

In a press release from April, the University said that trashing causes environmental damage and worsens relations with the local community. The University estimates annual costs of £45,000 for trashing-related safety and clean-up services. Data from 2017 revealed that a minority fraction of the total cost went to cleanup efforts, with a significant majority directed at paying security staff. 

Last year the Oxford Student Union called the University’s fine policy “punitive” and said it would cause students “distress and upset.” They also argued that fines would pose a greater or lesser deterrent to students depending on their financial situation.

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “We are pleased that so many students chose to mark the end of their exams in a responsible and respectful way this year. There was a marked decrease in antisocial behaviour, with students complying with requests not to litter. 

“The fact that there was no need to issue fines this year highlights our student community’s commitment to sustainable exam celebrations, and we would like to thank them for their positive engagement. 

“We will continue to ask students to celebrate sustainably in the years ahead, with fines in place for those who breach the University’s Code of Discipline.”

Voi crosses one million rides in Oxford

By
Kush Bhautik Vaidya
-
Michał Beim / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Since the start of the e-scooter trial in February 2021, Voi has numbered one million rides in Oxford. They have estimated that this has reduced CO2 emissions by 160 tonnes. Currently, there are over 68,000 riders registered in Oxford who use Voi scooters to commute to work, education, and social events.

Voi’s trial has led to more than 750 e-scooters being available around the clock. It started under the ‘Emergency Active Travel Plan’ of Oxfordshire’s County Council, to provide an alternative, socially distanced mode of transportation during the pandemic. The current extension by the government lets the trial run until May 2024. Legally, only e-scooters rented through this trial may be used in public spaces.

“Any journey that I can make shorter using a Voi scooter I will,” New College student Joe Thompson told Cherwell. “One of the main reasons I use Voi is because I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which essentially makes me not want to use up energy moving places when I’m already running on a low battery 24/7 anyway.” He explained that, unlike a bike, you do not have to lock up or exert any energy riding Voi’s.  

He added that Voi becomes extremely economical with a monthly pass as it removes the unlocking cost: “Before I had the pass it would’ve been different, I’d only use it for longer rides because the ~£1 unlock fee can be quite pricey if you’re using it regularly for short rides.”  

A survey by Voi among riders in Oxford found that 14.5% of its users were students. To encourage this usage, Voi provides a 20% discount to verified student riders. Wolfson College also established a six-scooter docking station in front of the College as part of its sustainable partnership programme. 

A voluntary service that patrols Oxford’s streets to improve women’s security, Oxford City Angels (OCA), also works with Voi. Since the launching of OCA last year, Voi has provided four long-term rental e-scooters to the OCA. The e-scooters help volunteers patrol large areas of Oxford’s streets efficiently and quickly.

In Great Britain, there were 1,369 collisions involving e-scooters in 2022. To improve e-scooter safety, Voi will host a free in-person e-scooter safety event at Thornhill Park and Ride from 8:00 am until 2:40 pm on Saturday 29th July. Participants will get a pass worth £10 to use during the session, 15 minutes of free riding time after the event and a helmet.

Aside from safety sessions, Voi also utilises other safety features to ensure riders use the e-scooters properly. To register as a rider, you need a valid driver’s licence, be above 18, and complete a safety briefing. During certain hours, the app also requires riders to do a reaction test to raise awareness about riding while intoxicated. Additionally, Voi bans reported reckless drivers to prevent injuries.

1...838485...2,439Page 84 of 2,439

Explore

Follow us

Oxford Student Publications Limited © 2024 - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy