Wednesday, May 7, 2025
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Nick D’Aloisio: Oxford’s new media hero

Theo Davies-Lewis
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Nick D’Aloisio: Oxford’s new media hero

Oxford has educated some of the giants of British history: Walter Raleigh, Margaret Thatcher and C.S. Lewis are just a few examples of alumni who will go down in history.

Yet, no matter how aware we are of the past heroes of our university, we now live in a world that often looks to the future, dominated by ‘new media’: the means of mass communication in the digital age. Nick D’Aloisio—the south Londoner who sold his app Summly to Yahoo for $30m when he was only 17-years-old—embodies this era. He also happens to be an undergraduate at Hertford College.

Googling D’Aloisio’s name will result in a variety of articles: you can learn about how he has launched apps in Las Vegas, or how he won the Apple Design Award in 2014. What has attracted this teenage tech supremo to go back to work, to study, and to learn more? “I’m not at Oxford for the degree”, he once insisted, “It’s more just environment, you’re meeting others, really intelligent people who have completely different interests.”

If you head to Hertford, and marvel in the history and architectural distinctiveness on show, exemplified by the famous Bridge of Sighs, you can comprehend what D’Aloisio says. Oxford has enabled him to explore the philosophical side of his work and shown his deep-rooted competitiveness. He could already be considered as one of those Oxford figures who have shaped the tech world, such as Tim Berners-Lee or Reid Hoffman.

D’Aloisio’s views of new media have also been influenced by recent events. He’s referenced how news initially reported on social media, such as Twitter, or through WikiLeaks and other user generated sources, can lead to the proliferation of ‘fake news’.

However, Oxford is itself leading in the development of New Media. As D’Aloisio has said before, it’s not simply the computing behind New Media that is important—but those classical disciplines on offer at Oxford too.

D’Aloisio believes that Oxford has shaped him and will continue to influence his career. New Media is always evolving, and one can almost imagine D’Aloisio’s next big idea coming from the hours spent in the Computer Science department, or in a brief break when reading about design (specifically, 1960s modernism) in his spare time in one of Oxford’s libraries. Speaking in a newspaper interview, he described how it was “refreshing” to take computer science here compared to somewhere like Stanford. “In Oxford, it is seen as very theoretical or mathematical, it’s not seen as entrepreneurial”, D’Aloisio added.

D’Aloisio wants to learn in an age which is always changing and does, to a large extent, revolve around money. He could have been snapped up by Stanford or MIT, but clearly the Oxford experience is what D’Aloisio is looking for: “In the [Silicon] Valley everyone cares about making money; at Oxford they’re the opposite.”

Man dies after falling into Cherwell river

Felix Pope
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Man dies after falling into Cherwell river

A man in his 30s has died in hospital having fallen from Magdalen Bridge into Cherwell river yesterday afternoon. It is currently unclear whether he is a university student.

Thames Valley Police said this morning that he had died a “short while” after being taken to hospital following a “fear of welfare incident”.

Police spokesman Jack Abell said: “The man was recovered from the river at about 4.30pm and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital where he died a short while later. His next of kin have been informed.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”

The man was reportedly cycling along the bridge next to the Botanical Gardens when he fell. Police say he spent two hours in the water before being recovered.

According to the Oxford Mail, eyewitnesses heard the man scream as he fell.

A woman who jumped into the river in an attempt to save him was assisted from the water by firefighters, and is said to be fine.

Thames Valley Police Media Team said in a statement to Cherwell that they were called at 2:40pm and three fire engines, four ambulances and up to ten police cars attended the scene.

Rewley Road fire station manager Mr. Molloy told the Oxford Mail:”I arrived at the scene shortly after our fire crews.

“A woman had entered the river to try to rescue the man who had fallen in and she had been assisted from the water.She was very helpful in pinpointing the exact location at which the man had fallen in.

“There was quite a flow on the river with rain in recent days and the man had drifted downstream. The water was about 12 feet deep so it was certainly a challenging exercise.We searched methodically with a number of firefighters in the water trying to find the man.Once we had located him and taken him from the water Paramedics immediately started CPR.”

Additional reporting by Katherine Pye

Single of the week: Arcade Fire’s ‘I Give You Power’

Will Cowie
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Single of the week: Arcade Fire’s ‘I Give You Power’

The music industry’s most loved video gaming pyromaniacs, better known as Arcade Fire, are back. Their new single, an anti-Trump anthem, feels like an attempt to do protest song by rote: the call/response vocals, the repetitive and defiant lyrics, the Mavis Staples feature—it’s all tailor made to be sung by the angry masses.

Sadly, the song lacks soul, perhaps in part because it sounds annoyingly similar to the hook from Kanye’s ‘Gold Digger’—ironic given West’s stance on President Trump. Arcade Fire must know this work is not their best: rumour has it this single does not feature on their next album. Praise be!

I think all good protest songs meet the ever worthwhile advice of Patches O’Houlihan from Dodgeball: “You gotta get angry, you gotta get mean!” Clearly the band hasn’t taken this on board: Win Butler sounds so earnest he’s in danger of becoming Chris Martin.

Look at ‘FDT’, look at ‘Alright’–protest songs succeed when they channel fury with a cause. In Dodgeball, Gordon is so incensed by seeing his estranged wife being seduced by David Hasselhoff , he furiously takes down the opposing team. If only Arcade Fire were able to muster up the same sort of anger on this track.

Shark Tales Episode 1 [Season 6]

Cherwell Broadcasting
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Shark Tales Episode 1 [Season 6]

https://youtu.be/n2SIefh_xPI

Ever wondered what Oxford students get up to on during a dark, cold and wet evening? Luckily, Cherwell Broadcasting has the answer. Shark Tales is back, with new host Sam Juniper meeting some of Oxford’s finest students.

Join Oxford Summer Courses

Oxford Summer Courses
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Join Oxford Summer Courses

This content is sponsored by Oxford Summer Courses.

What do you have planned this summer? Oxford Summer Courses is recruiting outstanding people to teach and look after international students on our 2017 summer programmes. We are an independent summer course provider seeking enthusiastic Student Helpers (ideal for undergraduates) and talented, well-qualified Tutors (graduate students and above) to deliver authentic, Oxford college based programmes for our biggest summer yet. We’re a great company to work with—take it from some of our 2016 employees.

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Gauri Ang taught Medicine with us in 2016, after completing her DPhil in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford

Describe your experience with Oxford Summer Courses in 3 words.

Engaging, educational, inspirational.

Why did you choose to apply for one of our positions?

I have always enjoyed teaching, and Oxford Summer Courses provided a good way for me to teach a range of students of different backgrounds, nationalities, and age groups.

After attending interviews from different summer schools, what made me ultimately choose Oxford Summer Courses was that their claims for providing high quality lessons and experiences for students were genuine. They do not hire staff or plan their programme by simply opting for the most economical option available—this was very important to me, as I did not want to be teaching students who felt underwhelmed by their time in Oxford. Classrooms are also located in central Oxford, which makes it extremely convenient for tutors.

What was your favourite part of working with us?

Definitely the amount of engagement with other tutors. I was very impressed by the training sessions; opportunities for tutors to give talks; and social events organised for tutors and staff. You really do feel appreciated and part of a team if you get involved.

In particular, I really valued the opportunity to give a TED talk to the students. I had always wanted to brush up my skills on public speaking and science communication—so being able to give a talk to an audience of 60-80 people on a topic I felt passionate about was extremely rewarding.

What did you gain or learn from your experience?

Prior to working with Oxford Summer Courses, I had never realised how useful tutorials could be from a tutor’s perspective. Oxford Summer Courses is the only summer school to offer tutorials for older students. This was extremely useful for me as a tutor as it allowed my students to open up and ask me questions that they were hesitant to do so in class. I was then able to alter my teaching approach accordingly.

Oh, I also realised I actually like teaching younger students too! I was initially interested in only teaching older students but was invited to teach younger students as well. I was very glad I took up that opportunity, as they were truly fun to teach.

Would you recommend working for Oxford Summer Courses to a friend?

Of course, and I already have.

Every other summer school out there claims to be the best and it is hard to know which to go for. Prior to applying, I did not know anyone working for Oxford Summer Courses. I relied only on their website to gain information and was worried that they would not live up to their claims. But from my experience working for them, it has been a delight knowing that it really is what it says on the tin. I think Oxford Summer Courses is great for anyone with a passion for teaching and who does not settle for the bare minimum. You get to meet new people, challenge yourself, and gain new skills.

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Christian Holland was a Student Helper with us in 2016, and is a 3rd year Trinity medic

Describe your experience with Oxford Summer Courses in 3 words.

Fun, varied, exciting

Why did you choose to apply for one of our positions?

I wanted to use part of my summer to get a job, and loved the idea of being able to stay in Oxford over the summer and enjoy the city without always having an essay due.

What was your favourite part of working with us?

Getting paid to play sports, watch films, go on day trips and eat out in restaurants every night. Teaching students how to play croquet, and taking trips to Bletchley Park, Kensington and Windsor Castle was a fantastic way to spend two weeks and didn’t feel like work at all. A particular highlight was the staff entry to the karaoke night after the first formal of the course…

What did you gain or learn from your experience?

Beyond having a great time, it was really useful to be able to gain experience of working in a position of real responsibility. Looking after a group of 20 students from across the world, many of whom have never been away from home by themselves before, is a challenging task, but being able to say that you’ve done so looks great on a CV and lets you prove your reliability and responsibility to prospective employers.

Would you recommend working for Oxford Summer Courses to a friend?

Absolutely: it’s a fantastic job, I can’t think of any other way I could get paid for punting, eating out and generally having an all-round great time in Oxford over the summer!

 

Build your experience in international education with Oxford Summer Courses: Recruiting Student Helpers and Tutors Now

Work for us for 2-6 weeks, 25 June-12 August 2017, and help us share the magic of Oxford with the world. We have vacancies to suit everyone; undergraduates to postdoctoral researchers; and offer competitive pay for a fun and rewarding summer experience.

We operate a rolling recruitment policy: apply now to avoid disappointment!

Apply online: http://oxfordsummercourses.com/jobs/

Thousands protest Trump’s travel ban in Oxford

Ethan Croft
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Thousands protest Trump’s travel ban in Oxford

On Monday night approximately 2,500 people took to the streets of Oxford to protest President Donald Trump’s latest executive order, which bans refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

The protesters began assembling at Carfax Tower at around 5.30pm this evening to take part in the march organised on Facebook by Oxford Stand Up to Racism, Oxford Momentum, and Oxford University Islamic Society. It was also supported by Oxford and District Trades Council and Oxfordshire UNISON Health Branch.

Students, residents and protesters marched from Cornmarket Street down the High Street to Magdalen Bridge and back again.

There were a number of chants during the march, including: “No Trump, no KKK, no fascists USA,” “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,” and “Theresa May hear us shout, Muslims in, racists out”,

Those marching also held various homemade banners, with slogans such as “I hope Humpty Dumpty falls off his wall,” “Donald Trump makes me gag and not in a good way,”, “Feed him to the corgis” and the motto of Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign “love trumps hate”.

A spokesperson for Oxford Stand up to Racism told Cherwell: “Tonight’s protest was an absolutely fantastic show of solidarity with migrants, Muslims and refugees; those affected by President Trump’s ban, and those who are being demonised by his racist rhetoric.

“The protest was also a show of defiance against politicians using racism as a political weapon to distract and divert people. The energy was incredible and there’s a strong sense of people going away to build for the national Stand Up To Racism demonstration on March 18.”

Third-year student Alex Shickell, who attended the protest, told Cherwell: “I went because coming from a family which has been shaped by displacements caused by war, dictatorships and autocracies, I sympathise with the Muslim cause and want my voice to be heard.

“I think Facebook activism helped to spread news of the event really fast, and there’s generally a strong anti-Trump sentiment amongst the student population.”

Pembroke undergraduate Imogen Runswick commented: “I think Oxford students speaking up shows that our generation won’t tolerate such nationalistic xenophobia.”

Alfie Steer of University College said: “I marched out of complete horror at Trumps Proto-fascistic program in the last 8 days. I hope that the campaign demonstrates our solidarity with the American people terrified by this as well as a clear message to Theresa May that her appeasement of Trump is totally unacceptable to the American people.”

St Peter’s student Isabella Rooney told Cherwell: “It was very well organised and really well attended, it was inspiring to see such a high turnout of young people, especially leading the chants and holding signs.”

Councillor Dan Iley-Williamson, who represents Holywell Ward for the Labour Party on Oxford City Council, said: ‘Tonight’s protest was a powerful rejection of division and hate. Donald Trump’s policy is not intended to make anyone safer. It is a cynical move aimed at stoking people’s worst fears and suspicions. Theresa May has chosen to go hand in hand with Trump – not just down the Whitehouse steps, but politically, by prioritising immigration policy instead of protecting people’s living standards and public services. Millions of people across Britain are making clear that they will not go along with her strategy of appeasement. The planned state visit by Donald Trump should be cancelled immediately.’

Oxford University Islamic Society, Oxford Stand up to Racism and Oxford momentum have been contacted for comment.

With additonal reporting from Lucy Enderby and Jack Hunter

Man rescued and another missing after falling into river Cherwell

Katherine Pye
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Man rescued and another missing after falling into river Cherwell

Emergency services have been called to Magdalen Bridge this afternoon following reports that two people have fallen into the river Cherwell at Magdalen Bridge.

Thames Valley Police Media Team said in a statement to Cherwell that they were called at 2:40pm and three fire engines, four ambulances and up to ten police cars attend the scene.

BBC News reports that one man has been assisted from the water by the fire services, and that searches for the second person are ongoing as emergency services continue the operation.

It has been reported that a specialist boat is also searching the river.

The bridge remains open to traffic but the incident has caused minor congestion.

Walking the pilgrim’s way

Sophie Jordan
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Walking the pilgrim’s way

Singaporean-born painter and Ruskin alumnus Alvin Ong spends his life in-between continents, unsettled and unsettling. As he travels through countries, he moves lightly across art and forms of representation, depicting scenes stuck between internal, near-fictive visions and the everyday world.

He studied architecture for two years before choosing painting as his primary medium, for its versatility and the flexibility it offers. “In architecture school, my drawings acquired the camouflage of the designer, dedicated to the ceaseless production of preliminary ideas, false starts—lines that suggested wall, floor, concrete, garden, bush.” This brings him to his years at the Ruskin School of Art, which ended with the highlight of the 2016 Ruskin show put on by the year’s graduating students. “I think because of the linear instruction I received in my previous education, I found it initially difficult to adjust to life at the Ruskin. So I continued accepting commissions, doing one for Chelmsford priory, and a few for the Oxford Oratory down the road from my college, St Anne’s.

“Gradually, I began to devote my energies away from commissions and toward the rhythm of a self-driven practice. At the same time, I also found through the presence of my neighbours a creative energy in the studio, as we spurred one another on to take bigger risks. The school became a safe space for experimentation.”

‘We will meet’, Alvin Ong’s second solo exhibition was shown last year in the Chan Hampe galleries, set inside the prestigious white walls of Singapore’s Raffles Hotel Arcade. The initial idea for the exhibition came to the artist and poet friend Theophilus Kwek during their years in Oxford, leading to similar experimentation which took three years to finalise. The result is a collection of large canvases and short, free verse poems each with the same titles providing them with a common starting point from which they then build their own atmospheres.

“In my painting titles, I find myself often drawing from poetry and song, mediums which give voice to that which can be felt, but not necessarily understood. One of my personal favorites, for example, is the painting, ‘A Shadow and a dream’. I took the title from Tavener’s choral work, ‘Song for Athene’, which I felt vacillated between the feelings of arrival and departure. In very much the same way, I also see the function of the text, alongside Theo’s poems, as given to suggestion, as opposed to illustration.”

Working with newly-assembled words on ‘We will meet’ was not an exception for Alvin Ong. Theophilus and him share an interest in travel, in the way history is presented today and in all the possible consequences of this on a rather unstable notion of identity, which had already led them to work together on the writer’s poetry collection Giving Ground, where roles were switched as Alvin’s art completed the text.

“’We will meet’ came out of an ancient pilgrim route I undertook on foot over Easter last year, traversing around 800 kilometers of the Spanish northern coast from Irun to Santiago de Compostela, and then to the cape of Finisterra, the ‘end of the Earth’. Each day, I found myself in a different town, sleeping under a different roof. ‘Home’ became a place to rest my aching feet, to share a meal, to sleep and to clean oneself. Some of these pilgrim inns were ran by volunteers, while others were convents, monasteries or farms.”

These foreign images became the basis of Alvin’s next paintings, mixing in the various atmospheres and by then slightly blurred faces he met during his travels.

“Along the way, I also met and walked with other people. We would trade stories, share our food and our lives with one another. I am left with the memories of these encounters, no matter how fleeting, and these are the starting points for each of my paintings in this series.”

Alvin’s paintings are lit by fuzzy back and sidelights, making his journey companions into silhouettes whose outlines are reinforced by startling colours. The grain of the canvas and the thick lines of painting bring a confusing sense of materiality in his images of monks and ritual processions.

“The wee hours past midnight on Good Friday in Seville were the most dramatic of the Easter processions, against miraculous icons and objects surrounded by flowers, incense, and candlelight. These were the memories that inspired ‘The miracle’.

“Like them, the convents and monasteries that sheltered me in Spain always seemed to belong to another place and time. There was one night in Ziortza when after the evening prayers, the monks switched off all the lights and just sat in silence. I sat with them, in that stillness; it was such a memory of indescribable simplicity and beauty. These are the places I return to in painting. Fictional places I found myself revisiting, all mixed up in wonder, fascination, and alienation.”

A thistle amongst the roses: to be a lone Scot in Oxford

Emma Leech
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A thistle amongst the roses: to be a lone Scot in Oxford

Full disclosure: my parents are English and despite having lived in Scotland all of my life (before moving to England for university) I had never really considered myself Scottish.

No part of me particularly enjoyed the obligatory bagpipe music, that seemed to accompany every mildly significant event. I had never tended towards the tossing of any kind of caber. Therefore, finding myself reduced to tears in a nightclub after the first few bars of ‘500 Miles’ (our unofficial national anthem) during Freshers’ week came as quite a shock.

In all honesty, as a chronic conformist, I had expected to adopt a Hermione-esque accent and attempt to blend in with the south-west Londoners who dominate the scenery of Oxford. However, somewhere along the line, all the Irn-Bru and deep-fried mars bars seem to have seeped into my arteries, and also my sentimental heart.

Whilst I assure you that I no longer suffer from such club meltdowns, I do find myself longing to hear rolled ‘R’s and the occasional “awa an beil yer heid quine” (a charming phrase which translates to “please go away and boil your head, young lady”).

Word of the elusive ‘ScotSoc’ came to me like a coarse Glaswegian whisper on the wind. However, further research concluded that it had died a slow and painful death several years ago, seemingly due to lack of enthusiasm. This is somewhat unsurprising considering that the closest you often are to a Scot in Oxford is someone with inherited land in the Highlands or a Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award.

My experiences made me wonder about national societies. Why do we yearn for them? Why do we feel the need to surround ourselves with people who simply share an accent and potentially a third cousin twice removed? Surprisingly, the longest running Oxford society, with the exception of the Union, is not a clandestine meeting of tail coats and port but, rather, the Welsh society. Every few weeks, Welsh people from across Oxford meet up to share sandwiches, memories, and very few vowels.

Many of these types of societies exist within the university. They unite people who have left their hometowns for the Oxford tumult. And, they support those who perhaps seek to cling to some semblance of familiarity in order to ride out the eight weeks until they can return again.

I assume it is natural, in moving away, to at least slightly idealise your nation and pine for its comforts. But, personally, I did not expect to be so close to the brink of exchanging my everyday make-up routine for a Braveheart-style half-blue face.

Over time I came to realise that when searching for people who came from my home, that wasn’t actually what I was looking for.I was, rather, trying to find the same kind of unappreciated comfort that one only really feels around family and friends, and away from essays and tute sheets.

Not only did I associate the Scottish accent with tartan and haggis, but also with childhood, friendships, and the pre-Oxford kind of life where the opportunity to stop and breathe is frankly taken for granted.

Despite not having moved very far, relative to some others (it is but a short eleven hour Megabus journey between what I now consider my two homes), there are certain things that are undeniably different.

This was not something I had expected, and I can’t even begin to imagine how distant home must sometimes feel for those from even further away.

No doubt one of my favourite things about starting university has been meeting people from different backgrounds and nationalities. However, it sometimes is comforting to know that you have someone to speak to who understands your schooling system, your quirky foods, and why, when drunk, you feel the need to sing Loch Lomond.

So, as I plaster my walls with saltires and listen to Runrig in the library, I make a call into the red and white void. Are there any other lone Scots out there in Oxford, weaving their way through people who think that Jack Daniels is real whiskey, and clamouring to hear ‘bath’ pronounced correctly? Come and find me; we can dance the Gay Gordons until our feet bleed and it is time to go home again.

P.S. England, your water tastes weird.

Mindfulness through a camera lens

Sophie Cheng
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Mindfulness through a camera lens

My parents gave me, at around age five, my first disposable camera. Of course, then, I had no idea that photography would become a lifelong passion.

As someone for whom words do not flow easily, I love creating visual memories: capturing emotions and events in colour and light, creating physical and digital photo diaries with images I have taken.

In today’s age it is so easy to take a photograph. It often becomes one of the many thousand halfheartedly-taken snaps on our phone, never to be looked at again.

What seems to me increasingly important is that, amongst this visual deluge, we find a way to sweep aside the cacophony of the senses that is 21st century living. We should appreciate the offline life going on in front of us, and interact with the images we take in a more meaningful way.

My relationship with photography took an unexpected turn when I found my vision impaired by two cataracts towards the end of my first year at university. As seeing clearly became more difficult, with things looking much brighter and more blurred, I found the most joy in using a film camera to capture moments I wanted to look back on.

Surprisingly easy to use, and yielding better results without editing, there was the added benefit of having a finite roll of film as the curator of the click. Each photo I took with thought. With the ability to immediately view the picture and the subsequent option of retaking now lost, I thought less about appearances and spent more time appreciating the moment.

After having one of my cataracts removed, I noticed how yellow-tinted my vision was in the eye with the cataract still intact. Somehow my eyes had adapted to this, and the colours my ‘new’ eye was seeing were much stronger and clearer. Everything looked better, as if my eyes had a filter to out-filter all others.

This experience helped me become more mindful of the beauty in everyday things—leaves on frosty mornings, how different sunlight can be even ten minutes apart, what washing-up bubbles look like up close. It has realigned my perspective on what’s important and brought me clarity in an increasingly cloudy and crowded world.

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