Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan visited Regent’s Park College last weekend to take part in a conference marking the fifth anniversary of ‘A Common Word,’ an open letter from Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, appealing for peaceful resolutions to differences and focusing on the similarities between the religions. The conference was attended by representatives and experts from all three Abrahamic faiths and was organised by the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture.

The Prince, who has served as the Regent in the absence of the King, is also Chairman of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman and one of the principal authors of ‘A Common Word.’ As a member of the Hashemite Royal Family which currently rules Jordan, Prince Ghazi claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. His keynote speech focused on the theme of love in the scriptures of the three religions.

Sulman Iqbal, Chair of the Media and Politics Committee of Oxford University Islamic Society (OUISoc), said, “The OUISoc supports free and open discussion, to that end it welcomes the chance to engage with Prince Ghazi at the talk.” He further added, “Every Muslim has a duty to represent Islam, the OUISoc therefore does not express a view on the claims of any particular family to represent Islam in a special capacity.”

Dr. Robert Ellis, Regent’s Park College Principal, gave a speech at the formal hall welcoming the Prince. He said that it was “a privilege for Regent’s Park College to host this event.” Vicky Lim, a 3rd year History and Politics student said, “After more than two years at this college, I was beginning to think it misleadingly named, it being neither in Regent’s Park nor a park for regents. It was a great relief therefore to have royalty frolicking around our quads and honouring our high table.”

When asked to comment on an Oxford College hosting a member of the Jordanian Royal Family, a spokesperson for Oxford University Amnesty International Society observed that “twenty activists have been arrested in Jordan since July as a result of peaceful protest, some with charges against them as weak as ‘insulting the king’.” Ben Hudson, a Classics and English finalist commented, “I suppose that if we can screw a monarch out of the money they’ve screwed out of someone else and put it to a good use, that’s not such a bad thing.’

Students have voiced concerns over the booking process for this year’s Varsity Ski Trip, which opened last Saturday. Following last year’s general sale, when tickets sold out within hours, many students felt it necessary to attempt to buy tickets within the opening moments of the booking process, which proved difficult for freshers matriculating on the same morning.

Tickets went on sale at 8am on Saturday 13th October, clashing with matriculation preparations for many new students. Two thousand tickets were sold in the first ninety minutes of booking.

First year Philosophy and Theology student Beth Hibbert commented that Ê»the process could have been made a lot less stressful had the Varsity organisers realised that this was Matriculation day at Oxford, and was a busy day for all freshers. She commented, “A simple glance at the University term card should have warned them away from choosing the thirteenth of October as booking day.” She continued, “I did manage to get a ticket, but my morning could have been a great deal less stressful if Varsity booking had been on another day.”

Rohan Sakhrani, Vice President of the Varsity Trip Committee, was more optimistic about the booking this year. He said “after last year’s server struggles we are pleased to announce that our completely revamped booking system handled the traffic admirably and got everyone through in a record breaking one and a half hours.”

Students at colleges who had a particularly early Matriculating slot, including Christ Church, Regent’s Park and University, voiced concerns about the ease of fitting in both booking and matriculating. Sofia Newitt, a student at Regent’s Park College, commented, “Tt was a bad idea – but we all managed to get tickets. Also the booking opened early on the Saturday, so at least matriculation meant that we were awake at that hour of the morning!”

Varsity Trip tour operator, NUCO, said “NUCO is very happy to report that the initial booking process on Saturday morning was generally a huge success. We processed over 2000 bookings in less than 2 hours with very minimal technical issues. “The increased capacity in 2012 has allowed more participants than ever to come on Varsity Trip and we are looking forward to a great week in Val Thorens.”

The Vice President of the Committee added, “We have more freshers from Oxford going this year than ever before so it seems like Matriculation didn’t get in the way of those students that wanted a place on the trip.”

Construction has begun on a new centre dedicated to bringing together Oxford University research concerning China. Based at St. Hugh’s College, the Oxford University China Centre aims to act as a focal point for around 40 academics from a range of disciplines.

The fundraising drive has raised just under £15 million to date, including a gift of £10 million from Hong-Kong based philanthropist Dickson Poon CBE, whom the building was named after. The centre will contain the new University of Oxford China Centre Library, which will house 60,000 volumes and a large part of the Bodleian’s Chinese book collection as well as providing a dining room, a lecture theatre and a roof top terrace overlooking Oxford.

The former principal of St. Hugh’s and the Chair of the China Centre Fundraising Committee said, “The study of China in all its aspects, from ancient to modern, literary and artistic to scientific and environmental, political and economic to philosophical, is hugely exciting and very important not just for this university, but for the whole world. The creation of this new centre for study, bringing together research space, teaching space, and space for the display of Chinese artefacts is a matter for great celebration.”

Dame Elish Angiolini, newly appointed Principal of St Hugh’s, also expressed enthusiasm, commenting, “This historic and spectacular development is particularly thrilling for me as new Principal. The Centre will enrich the academic community in Oxford and provide wonderful new facilities for the students, Fellows and wider community at St Hugh’s.”

Andrew Goudie, Director of the China Centre, was keen to emphasise that the centre will prove important for both college and the University as a whole commentin, “The construction of the new China Centre will cause huge excitement amongst those in Oxford who are interested in China, but it also demonstrates in a very tangible way the value of collaboration between a college and the University.”

However, second year Chinese student Danny Parrott commented, “I don’t think we need it – each year group has a tiny 10-15 undergraduates and we are very well resourced. I think it is a bit of a shame that we have so few undergraduates and it’s a shame the faculty isn’t bigger because Chinese is not only a very interesting degree comprising of the best bits of history, literature and language but also as everyone is beginning to realise there is an the intense need for Europe to begin engaging properly with the Chinese world. It would be brilliant if this centre and the extra funds enabled Oxford to recruit more students and hire more staff, if it’s just a building then I’m not so fussed.”

Oxford University has announced this month that Julian Duxfield, the current director of human resources at security provider G4S in the UK and Ireland, has been appointed as the new director for human resources at the University. His work will commence at the opening of Hilary Term 2013.

G4S’ much publicised failure to produce the promised number of staff over the Summer months resulted in the government seeking extra support from the armed forces. However, a spokesman for G4S was clear that the Olympic shortcomings should not impact on Mr. Duxfield’s reception from students and staff; stating, “The London 2012 contract was run as a discrete, stand-alone contract with a separate management team which did not include Julian.”

A University spokesperson responded positively to his selection, commenting, “We look forward to working with Julian; his wide-ranging past experience in human resources in both the private and public sectors will be an asset to Oxford”. On his work for G4S, they added, “The University took additional references in the light of the recent difficulties experienced by Julian’s current employer. All these references were more than satisfactory, and the University is satisfied that the difficulties G4S experienced in no way reflect on Julian personally.’

When asked for an opinion on the new appointment, Simi Nijher, a second year English student, answered optimistically, “I have the utmost faith in Mr. Duxfield, his extremely impressive career to date should fill all Oxford students with confidence in his ability”. She added that his lack of involvement in the Olympic contract meant that any failings within it should not reflect on his reputation.

An undergraduate from Exeter College was less than impressed with his appointment, claiming that, “As head of human resources for a major company based on human resource work he was obviously involved, so he was certainly partially responsible for the errors made.”

One second year studying Economics and Management quipped, “The army were well received at the Olympics, so if there are any problems here hopefully they will be met the same way!”

Oxford University has turned down a new interview format that is being adopted at a number of universities this year.Students at the universities will not be sitting down for a conversation with tutors – instead, they could be ‘speed-dating’ them.

Known as ‘multiple mini interviews’ (MMI), the format replaces sit-down panel questioning for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science at more than five UK institutions, including Dundee University, Cardiff University, Queen’s University Belfast, St George’s London and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC)

Oxford Medical School admissions said, “It is unlikely we will introduce MMI for pre-clinical entry. It would not allow us to develop the sort of questions we would wish to ask for entry.”The new approach is scenariobased and said to test relevant and useful skills, such as communication, teamwork and empathy, rather than just eloquence.

However, a University spokesperson said, “MMI is primarily considered by universities that do patient-centred learning. The strong scientific focus of the lab and teaching-based Oxford pre-clinical course makes the academic interview an important part of the selection process.”

Candidates assessed under MMI are given a series of tasks. They have five minutes to complete each moving between tutors at the sound of a buzzer. Dr Nigel Goode, RVC Head of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, described MMI as an “adaptable and robust test of ability and potential”

Oxford University claimed, “Interviewing is designed to specifically assess the aptitude of candidates for a course, We are confident that all the different measures we look at in combination address any potential concerning bias.”

Jocelyne Aldridge, senior policy officer of the Medical Schools Council, which represents UK medical schools’ interests, informed Cherwell, “No conclusive evidence supports a single approach to the selection of medical students; our members use a range of selection methods to suit their particular emphases.” 

Dheemal Patel, a medical student at St George’s, thought MMI was “a great step forward”. He remarked, “More interaction and application adds more rigour and thoroughness so that the best candidates can really shine.” 

In Oxford, second year St Anne’s medic Isra Hale agreed. “Doctors should be able to deal with such on-the-spot scenarios,” she said.

However, MedSoc President Sophie Vaggers disagreed, criticising the new method, “only one person hears their opinions in each mini interview and therefore it is inherently biased”.