Monday, May 5, 2025
Blog Page 913

Drunk students buy from Hassan, but cashew Hussein

Felix Pope
-
0
Drunk students buy from Hassan, but cashew Hussein

Students have been accidentally paying Hussein through the Cashew payments app for post-club kebabs bought from Hassan, it has emerged.

Earlier this week, Hassan discovered that his intoxicated clientele had been misspelling, or simply mistaking, his name for that of rival kebab van owner Hussein.

He told Cherwell that he didn’t know how much money he had lost but that, “mistakes happen,” and despite the loss of income he bore no ill will.

Hassan has been trading from his van—ranked 68th out of 460 Oxford restaurants on Trip Advisor—on Broad Street since 1995, before which he worked in a French bakery.

In a 2016 interview with Cherwell he revealed: “My favourite item on the menu? Well, I love my chicken wrap, with cheese and chips, chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise… just a little bit of chicken and just a little bit of chips and I’m done for the whole night.

“The most ordered item has got to be chips and cheese, and then chips and cheese and meat – chicken or lamb.”

Cashew is an app based payment system created last year by Oxford students. Hassan’s, Hussein’s and Ahmed’s kebab vans, as well as several other cafes, restaurants and venues, now all accept payments made through it.

Hassan’s name on Cashew has now been changed to ‘Hass Kebabs’. He requests that students use it.

College denies telling students to use gender-neutral pronouns for God

Jack Hunter
-
0
College denies telling students to use gender-neutral pronouns for God

The theological college Wycliffe Hall has denied claims it asked students to refer to God using gender neutral pronouns in an attempt to tackle gender bias.

A report by The Sunday Times claimed the college’s Inclusive Language Policy told students and staff to refer to God using “the one who” instead of “He”.

It claimed that the policy intended to change phrases such as “mankind” to “humankind” in its preachings.

However the college, a Permanent Private Hall training Church of England priests, has strongly dismissed the claims, saying the college “does no such thing”.

The college’s principal, the Revd Michael Lloyd, said the policy contains “no suggestion that the traditional gender pronouns concerning God should be altered in any way. Indeed the Hall’s policy reaffirms that we should continue to speak of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as Christians have always done”.

The Sunday Times had drawn comparisons with guidelines at two top US divinity schools which reportedly recommend professors use “inclusive” gender-neutral language when speaking about God.

Yet Lloyd said: “Inclusive language is encouraged at Wycliffe Hall in our preaching and our writing when describing people – not ‘man’, ‘mankind’, ‘every man’, but ‘human’, ‘humanity’, ‘everyone’. Therefore careful thought is required when using older liturgy, hymnody, or Bible translations, in order to include the whole people of God. This is common sense and is common practice throughout the churches.”

The article received angered responses, with comments saying: “Didn’t God create Adam in his own image? Last time I checked, Adam was a masculine name.”

But others expressed positivity for the initiative. Mark Woods, writing in Christian Today, wrote: “Wycliffe’s inclusive language policy, in fact, looks eminently sensible. It notes that language changes and that while once it was common to talk about mankind, man, every man, we don’t do that any more.”

The college’s Inclusive Language Policy states: “The patriarchal masculine has become a form of alienation for many women and indeed many men. It reduces women to Other by normalizing the masculine.”

It encourages a use of inclusive language in the Hall “not because we have to but rather as a sign of our love for each other in Christ”.

While acknowledging that older hymns and the Book of Common Prayer are “by definition written in the language of patriarchy”, the policy says that services and preachings will continue to use them in order to respect “integrity”.

It states that the college expects teachers and visiting lecturers to reflect a “gender balance” in their topics and language, for example by using biblical passages which involve women.

The Sunday Times report, which has since been removed from the paper’s website, is the latest in a series of articles concerning the use of pronouns at Oxford which have faced claims of misreporting.

In December, following a Cherwell investigation, a claim published by The Sunday Times that OUSU had instructed students to use the ‘ze’ pronoun was revealed to be fake. The paper published an apology in January.

Christ Church votes to create controversial new Staff Liaison Officer

Cherwell News Team
-
0
Christ Church votes to create controversial new Staff Liaison Officer

In its first general meeting of Hilary term, Christ Church College has voted to attach the duties of a Staff Liaison Officer to a member of the JCR committee.

The motion, which will create a role for the JCR committee primarily involving issues concerning scouts, mandates that committee member to survey the JCR to ask them about any issues concerning housekeeping and to ask for anonymous feedback.

It will also allow JCR members to report any suspected issues between the college and scouts, after students in the meeting expressed concerns that some scouts were asked to take an English test.

The motion has provoked considerable controversy in Oxford, with ex-Wadham Student Union President Taisie Tsikas writing on Twitter that it was “so incredibly disrespectful” to scouts and that “Staff Liaison Officer in other colleges means working for living wage accreditation and helping make sure students aren’t taking advantage”.

JCR Vice President Stuti Sarin told Cherwell: “At the last Christ Church GM, we voted to create a Staff Liaison remit for our ABE rep’s responsibility of carrying out an annual survey regarding JCR views on housekeeping issues.

“This does not entail “rating” scouts, as has been made out, and, as a result of an amendment in the GM, individual complaints against particular scouts actually don’t come under the survey’s remit. The main point is that there needs to be a centralised position in order for the JCR to be able to direct questions about housekeeping.

“It’s truly unfair that simply because the words ‘scouts’, ‘surveys’ and ‘Christ Church’ have been used in the same sentence, a few people have decided that members of the Christ Church JCR are entitled and disregard issues important to our scouts’ welfare. That’s not the case—this is a positive motion for dealing with the JCR’s housekeeping questions.”

Louis McEvoy, a student at Christ Church said: “One individual has taken a motion designed to help scouts enormously out of context. Whatever her intentions—she seems to have something of a vendetta against Christ Church—it’s an unfair and egregious misrepresentation.

Oxford graduate Niamh Mcintyre commented: “Scouts do a difficult, tiring job for very little money. Although the Living Wage campaign has made strides in recent years, many colleges still refuse to pay their staff enough to live on, in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

“If certain members of Christ Church JCR are unhappy with the state of their rooms, maybe they could try picking up after themselves, instead of harassing some of the lowest-paid staff at this University.”

Revealed: Rowers in row with houseboat owners

Felix Pope
-
0
Revealed: Rowers in row with houseboat owners

Oxford rowers claim they have been the victims of homophobic abuse and numerous attempts to force them from the river as tensions between rowers and houseboat residents escalate, Cherwell can report.

Rowers from a number of different colleges allege that they have been targeted by houseboat owners who placed tacks on the towpath and thew eggs and tomatoes at them.

Rowers have further alleged that residents have driven close enough to disturb the water in an attempt to capsize them, have intentionally driven into boats, and have hospitalised an Oxford town rower.

These incidents have been brought up at the college rowing captain’s meeting, the minutes of which report that Oxford University Sabbatical Officer for Rowing Tom Coles “had been in contact with the police and the Environment Agency about the houseboats on the bottom stretch”.

Describing one incident that occurred last term, University College team captain Ben Norbury told Cherwell: “Just as we passed the houseboats, our cox heard some splashes around our boat and then a bang as an egg hit our stern. Not really realising what was going on we kept rowing.

“On the next lap, rowing up to the top again, in the same place, we saw two guys with a dog on the river bank. This time, apparently having depleted their stock of eggs, they just threw homophobic insults at us.

“They began to follow us as we rowed to the spinning area, but gave up as we sped away. After spinning and rowing past them again we got similar shouting etc.”

Norbury also claims that during one race last week a houseboat continued to sail down the middle of the river as a boat from St Catz college approached. The houseboat collided with the rowers as they turned, ripping off half the boat’s riggers.

On rowchat.org, a forum for rowing discussion, one commentator said: “Barge driver clearly not a fan of rowing, ignored a load of marshals and then carried on afterwards without bothering to stop and see if anyone was hurt.”

In a separate incident, a Wolfson college boat was intentionally rammed by a houseboat.

Norbury believes that the boat that hit the St Catherine’s boat was only in Oxford temporarily, but that the boat that hit the Wolfson crew is permanently based here.

Rowers believe that the houseboat owners hostility comes as a result of being disturbed by rowing crews, but could not understand why it had so suddenly developed this academic year.

Mack Grenfell, a rower for University College, told Cherwell: “They claim that the antipathy is generated by us scraping/touching their boats with our blades.

“I have been rowing for 3 and a half years, and I have got no idea why incidents are occurring now more than ever.

“However, this happens relatively often unfortunately, but I think much less since all these major incidents. It’s odd though as to me this would be a minor issue.

“My guess is that a lot of them hold resentment to the student population, or are just aggressive people.

“Pretty much every day you’ll see loads of them drinking on the towpath, sometimes shouting at crews. Sometimes you’ll get a boat reeking of weed.”

This was confirmed by Alastair, a houseboat owner resident on the Thames for over ten years, who said that rowers did knock into boats regularly and wake him up due to their use of megaphones to communicate, but that he accepted it as “part of life on the river”.

He claimed that while most houseboat residents were content to share the river there were a small minority of “arseholes” who didn’t share that attitude, and that recently several “raging alcoholics” had moved their houseboat into the Oxford stretch of the Thames.

Alastair alleged that they stole coal from other boats, threw beer cans around, and were regular drug users.

Grenfell claimed the police “have a fat file on all the incidents”, but that they are unable to act as the water is not within their jurisdiction. He further stated that the incidents that took place of the towpath were considered by the police to be a “nuisance” and not worthy of investigation.

Thames Valley Police have been contacted for comment.

Applicants of colour still less likely to receive an Oxford offer

Felix Pope
-
0
Applicants of colour still less likely to receive an Oxford offer

New admissions data released by Ucas has revealed a continued racial deficit in Oxford admissions. Of the 2,555 offers made in for 2016 entry just 45 were to black applicants, compared to 2,090 to white applicants.

This represents a drop compared to the 50 offers made in 2015, but is higher than every other year since 2011.

The percentage of offers given to black and asian applicants was also significantly lower than the percentage rate for those that are white. Offers were made to 26.3 per cent of white applicants, but only 16.8 per cent of Asian and 16.7 per cent of black applicants.

Across all universities only 70 per cent of black applicants received places, compared with 73 per cent of white applicants and 73 per cent of those from Asian backgrounds.

The Ucas data also revealed continuing disparity in terms of the wealth of applicants. Oxford received over 5,000 applications from the richest fifth of teenagers but just 420 from the poorest fifth.

Of those that did apply 20.2 per cent of the poorest received offers compared to 26.2 per cent of the richest.

The data follows David Lammy’s critique of Oxford’s “unconscious bias” that he claimed systematically disadvantages applicants from ethnic minority backgrounds. The Labour MP, speaking at a symposium at Lady Margaret Hall, said that “we all tend to recruit in our own image”.

Dr Samina Khan, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach at the University of Oxford, told Cherwell: “The number of offers given to students from Black, Asian and mixed-heritage backgrounds has risen significantly over the past five years, which is encouraging.

“However, we are aware that there is still work to be done, particularly in terms of offer rates to Black and Asian students.

“We have therefore introduced a number of tailored outreach programmes aimed at high-achieving students from under-represented groups, which we hope will pay dividends in the coming years and help make Oxford an even more diverse community.”

In terms of gender the picture is more balanced, with young women and men securing Oxford offers at exactly the same rate. 1,275 applicants of each gender were made offers, however 30 fewer women applied than men.

This meant that for the second time ever a higher proportion of female 18 year olds were given offers than male 18 year olds, as there are fewer female 18 year olds in the population.

Dr Wendy Piatt, Russell Group director general, said: “The root causes of under-representation are complex and a wide range of factors need to be taken into account to fully understand them.

“Our universities are working tirelessly to encourage bright candidates to apply as we want talented, able students from all backgrounds to know that a place at our universities is well within reach.”

Pink Week in Oxford

Cherwell Broadcasting
-
0
Pink Week in Oxford

It’s Pink Week in Oxford! This initiative has been run by students to raise money and awareness for breast cancer treatment in the UK. Cherwell Broadcasting went along to one event to talk to a leading figure in breast cancer medicine, Professor Stephen Johnston, and talk to the organisers about why the initiative is so important.

Think Pink

Jasmin Yang-Spooner
-
0
Think Pink

Styled by: Anoushka Kavanagh

Models: Isabel Nield, MollyCarlin, Jojo Dieffenbacher

Make-up by: Angelica Wolanska

Cocktail of the week: negroni sbagliato

Julia Alsop
-
0
Cocktail of the week: negroni sbagliato

Normally a drink that involves replacing gin for another type of alcohol is totally off the cards for me, but I’ll make an exception in the case of the Negroni Sbagliato. The decadence of this drink makes it not only acceptable, but totally worth it. Traditionally, a Negroni is made from Campari, a sweet vermouth, and gin. ‘Sbagliato’ is the Italian word for ‘mistaken’—the drink was created, supposedly as a fortunate accident, when a bartender used prosecco rather than the intended gin. As such, it makes for a good celebratory aperitivo or an exciting brunch drink, if you want to switch up your mimosa.

There are lots of variations on the ratios in a Negroni, but I like to make it 1:1:1.

Ingredients:

Campari
Sweet Vermouth
Prosecco

Method:

1. Pour your Campari and Vermouth into your mixer with ice to chill, before straining it into your champagne flute.

2. Top up your glass with Prosecco.

3. To garnish, cut a circular slice of an orange; detach the peel from the pulp and cut one part of the peel such that you have a strip of peel. Twist the peel into a spiral (it will hold the shape), and place it in the glass.

Salute!

Disney princesses and ‘Lolita’: the danger of men writing women

Carolina Earle
-
0
Disney princesses and ‘Lolita’: the danger of men writing women

Having been born in the 1990s, I recall watching the ‘old’ Disney. Those hand-drawn cartoons were Vermeer in comparison to the three-dimensional blobs that pervade the flat-screens of today. We wore velvet trackies, scrunchies and those hideously sequined baseball caps, and my Disney princesses were blonde and beautiful, of course.

My room was pink and my prince was always Charming, white, on his white horse. Now, my sister and I, we both loved those princesses and Disney, and the little toys that came with it all, but we are mixed race: even though our nursery classroom was a rainbow of races, and my first loves Indian and Chinese, these weren’t the days of your (one) black princess.

Disney’s version of Sleeping Beauty is a dangerous woman. I ask you: what would the world have looked like if the prince who tries to awaken Sleeping Beauty from her sleep was black, and if she was Mongol. If the princess had been gender neutral, or if there had been black, mixed-race, size 16 dolls by my bedside, the world would have been a very different place.

If I had seen a commercialised version of myself lining the shelves of Toys R Us, I may never have bothered buying a pair of straighteners—wearing your afro high may not have been solely reserved for the ‘New Style’ pages of fashion magazines and ‘normal’ may not have been hair hanging straight down to our shoulders. There is danger in the staples of childhood being so distant from what I was, and what many of us are.

From the scripture of the early Church, which condemned a sinning Eve, to the glorified images of a modern day domestic goddess, our society has a prominent and undeniable history of the ‘ideal’ woman, with any ‘other’ a dangerous divergence. Why would I ever need Prince Charming to save me? Yet, lo and behold, while Disney churned out its films in the 1950s, another breed of woman was born in the Paris of 1955: “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins” in Vladimir Nabokov’s infamous novel. He subverts our expectations, drawing us closer even as we are repulsed.

Lolita, unlike a Disney princess, is hurt not by a wicked stepmother, but instead, by Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged man. The tale of her rape and perverted prostitution was so dire that it almost went untold, and yet she is sexual, and leaves a trail of broken men behind her—quite literally, in the case of protagonist Humbert Humbert, who dies “in legal captivity, of coronary thrombosis”.

However, as Craig Raine put it, it is because Lolita “hasn’t a shred of self-pity”, that “she survives—by not recognising she is a victim.” Lolita is a tragic tale. Yet, just as it is Nabokov who fashions Lolita, Disney’s Aurora was scripted by a man, and it perhaps because of this that these bastions of femininity are dangerous. The little girls dancing to ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ are dancing to the tune written for them by a man, who in turn draws his ideal of the princess, in the image of what he believes ‘woman’ should be.

Lolita ends up married, pregnant, and still dependent on Humbert Humbert for money. And it is Prince Philip who saves Aurora. One could say that all it takes is a critical eye for us to sit quiet, watch those blonde Disney classics and still wear our ‘afro’ hair higher than ever. But we’re women, we’re female, and we are dangerous—the right kind of dangerous.

So, though I’ll have to settle for the good old 90s, hopefully we can start painting our women in all kinds of beautiful, so that one day, a mixed-race boy, girl, or none of the above can have their princess too.

Head to Head: All-Time World XI

Karl Frey and Sam Pace
-
0
Head to Head: All-Time World XI

Karl’s XI

I have chosen a 4-2-3-1 formation, which I believe accommodates the quality in my team best.

Goalkeeper: Lev Yashin

The Soviet Russian is regarded by many people the best goalkeeper of all time. I have chosen Yashin, because he is the only keeper to have ever won the Ballon d’Or (1963).

Right Back: Cafú

I am a very big fan of offensive full-backs, and Brazilian legend Cafú definitely is the best. He is the most-capped Brazilian player of all time, with 142 senior international appearances. He captained Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title in South Korea and Japan.

Centre Backs: Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta

100 per cent Italian Chemistry. Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta are regarded by many as two of the greatest defenders of all time. Maldini, who is eight years older than his colleague, acted as Nesta’s mentor during the closing years of his career at AC Milan. Maldini made a total of 647 first team appearances for the Italian giants. Nesta made 224 apps and is currently working as the current coach at Miami FC.

Left Back: Roberto Carlos

The full back is famous for his powerful left boot, which has added some absolute screamers to Real Madrid’s and the Brazilian team’s scoresheets. Roberto Carlos has won 3 Champions Leagues and one World Cup and is essential in my All Time XI.

Holding Midfielder: Franz Beckenbauer

‘Der Kaiser’ (the emperor) spent the majority of his career at Bayern Munich as a centre-back or holding midfielder, scoring 64 goals in 439 official games played. Beckenbauer is one of two men (with Mario Zagallo) to have won the World Cup as team captain as well as manager, both for West Germany.

Central Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane

Zidane is one of the most complete players in football. The Frenchman scored the famous winning volley with his weaker left foot for Real Madrid in a 2-1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions league final. In the 2015/16 season, Zinedine won the trophy in his first season as a Real Madrid manager.

Right Wing: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner. He has scored 489 goals in a total of 585 career appearances for Barcelona and the Argentine national team. He has won four Champions League titles (including two trebles). In my opinion there has never been a better player in this sport.

Attacking Midfielder: Diego Maradona
The Iglesia Maradona is a religion, created by fans of retired Argentine footballer, who they believe is the best player of all time. The no.10 jersey  was retired from Napoli in his honour. In 1999 he came runner up for the title of Football Player of the century (behind Pele). Before 1995, only european footballers were eligible to win the Ballon d’Or award. In 1996, Maradona received an honorary Ballon d’Or for services to football.

Left Wing: Ronaldinho Gaúcho

In the summer of 2003, Ronaldinho signed for FC Barcelona in a €30 million deal from PSG. ‘Ronni’s’ arrival marked the start of what would become one of the greatest football teams in the history of the sport. The Brazilian won the 2005 Ballon d’Or and shortly after the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League for Barcelona.

Striker: Ronaldo Nazario

Also know as ‘fat Ronaldo’ or ‘Brazilian Ronaldo’ – but to me he is just Ronaldo. And he’s the best one. His career was marked by controversies; he enjoyed spells at rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as AC Milan and Inter Milan. He is a two time Ballon d’Or winner (1997 and 2002) and won two world cups with Brazil (1994 and 2002—with possibly the worst haircut ever seen in sport).

Sam’s XI

I have opted for a 4-3-3 formation, which enables me to accommodate a pivot midfielder, Xavi Hernandez, who will control the pace of my midfield.

Goalkeeper: Lev Yashin

I have chosen Yashin, because he is the only keeper ever to have won the Ballon d’Or (1963). In 1998, he was selected for the world’s team of the century and in 2013 for the world soccer greatest XI of all time. Right Back: Cafú Cafú is the most capped Brazilian player of all time. The wing back captained Brazil to the 2002 world cup title in South Korea and Japan and was also part of the winning squad of 1994.

Centre Backs: Franz Beckenbauer and Bobby Moore

Beckenbauer started his career as a holding midfielder, but became famous for his performances at centre-back. Despite his strong defensive attributes, ‘The emperor’ still managed to score 64 goals in 439 official games. Bobby Moore captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, and was cited by Pelé as the greatest defender that he had ever played against.

Holding Midfielder: Xavi Hernandez

Since Xavi’s debut at FCBarcelona he has played 700 matches, scored 82 goals and made more than 180 assists for over 50 players. Xavi is the first player in Barcelona’s history to play 150 international matches.

Central Midfielder: Andre Iniesta

Iniesta’s 32 trophies make him the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time. He has won 2 trebles with FC Barcelona and now serves as team captain. Iniesta’s famous extra time goal against Netherlands earned Spain the 2010 South Africa World Cup. Central Midfielder: Zinedine Zidane Zidane can cover the role or a roaming midfielder or play as a number 10. Zizou’s left foot volley earned Real Madrid the 2003 Champions League. He has now also won the trophy as Real Madrid manager, in that famous victory against Atletico.

Right Wing: Lionel Messi

Many say that Messi’s trophy-less senior international career has stopped him from becoming the best ever player in football. I disagree. Messi assumed Argentine captaincy in 2011 in accord with then-captain and Barcelona team mate Javier Mascherano. Messi’s Argentina lost the 2014 Brazil World Cup final to Germany and the 2016 Copa America final to Chile.

Left Wing: Cristiano Ronaldo

CR7 received his fourth Ballon d’Or in 2016, the most for a European player in the history of the award, and the inaugural Best FIFA Men’s Player. In 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th senior career goal for club and country. Striker: Pelé The name says it all. In 1999, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century. That year, Time named him in their list of 100 most influential people of the 20th century. In 2013 he received the FIFA Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur in recognition of his career and achievements as a global icon of football.

1...912913914...2,491Page 913 of 2,491

Support Student Journalism

Cherwell is Oxford’s oldest independent newspaper, established in 1920. We are entirely student-run. By supporting us, you will contribute to keeping our paper in print and online. Every donation makes a difference.

Donate

Explore

Follow us

More

Oxford Student Publications Limited © 2025 - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

Website by James Ashley