‘Fuzzy Ducks’, the club night held at the O2 Academy and once voted by FHM magazine as the easiest place to pull in the country, will run no longer.

It has come under constant pressure from local residents and has reportedly experienced a recent fall in attendees.

‘Fuzzy Ducks’ was held at the O2 Academy in East Oxford on Wednesday nights for more than a decade. The venue has a capacity of 1,350 and the night attracted a variety of guests, from Out of the Blue to David Hasselhoff.

Behaviour at the O2 Academy and the surrounding residential area led to numerous complaints of anti-social behaviour from local residents. The mid-week night, called “notorious” by the Oxford Times, promised cheap alcohol until the early hours of the morning.

Police patrols were extended to the area in 2010 to cope with students exiting the club, and a recent application to extend opening hours at the venue received more than 60 complaints.

Ed Chipperfield, a member of the East Oxford Residents’ Associations Forum, is glad to see the end of the night. He commented that “Fuzzy Ducks was marketed as an ugly night of excess, and that’s precisely how the customers treated the area before and after they went. You can’t blame the customers for behaving exactly as the promoters wanted them to, really.”

‘Fuzzy Ducks’ is to be replaced by a new night run by the O2 Academy and the Oxford Brookes Student Union. The concern for residents remains a return to previous behaviour under a different name.

Mr Chipperfield is cautiously optimistic about the new night, saying, “I think everyone here – students as well as ‘locals’ – is cautiously optimistic about a higher expectation from a new event promoted by Brookes.”

‘But if it falls below expectations, then people living in the area will have no problems bringing their troubles up with the relevant people – the local police.”

However, residents’ complaints have been a pressure for the decade Fuzzy Ducks ran, but the night has only just ended. Reports are that the popularity of the Brookes night decreased significantly in the final term of this last year. According to one Brookes student, the 1,350 capacity venue failed to get above 300 clubbers on most Wednesdays.

Club management would neither confirm nor deny if the decision to end the night was a response to pressure from residents or the waning popularity of the night among students.

Oxford Brookes Law student Joseph Ware reacted positively to the closure. He said, “I just see it as an excuse for people to get blind drunk with the promise of sex.”

“But in reality it’s a sweaty pit of hormonal sports teams embracing a social fad. And besides the special guests, it has nothing to put it above another night elsewhere.”

Oxford University has recently altered subfusc regulations in order to respect the needs of transgender students.

The decision, which will come into force on 4th August, will see subfusc becoming gender-neutral and will allow transgender students to wear what they wish without needing to obtain permission from University Proctors before sitting exams. All students will be able to make their own decisions about what they wear to exams and formal university occasions and will be free to choose whether to wear a bow-tie or ribbon, or a skirt or a suit.

The campaign, led by OUSU’s LGBTQ Officer Jess Pumphrey, was initially passed by OUSU in February and was then taken to the University Proctors for further information. Pumphrey told Cherwell, “This is an important and very welcome change, which will greatly improve the experience of transgender students, particularly during the exam period.”

They added, “This change allows transgeander students to fully, comfortably and safely participate in the tradition of subfusc, without worrying about whether their gender will be scrutinised by examiners.”

Simone Webb, President of LGBTQ Soc, also told Cherwell about how the changes would benefit transgender students, saying, “I think this is a brilliant change which, while small, will lessen the stress which transgender students face around exams.”

Former Trans rep for LGBTQ Soc, Gail Bartlett, also welcomed the changes, adding, “The real motive of this change is that students who may be transitioning gender will no longer have to have the added stress of worrying that they will be challenged on their clothing”.

They both expressed disappointment over how the news had been covered in the national press. Webb commented, “I am saddened by much of the national reporting on the changes, which has misleadingly claimed that the new rules are aimed at facilitating cross-dressing”, whilst Bartlett told Cherwell, “much of the popular press has missed the point, with provocative and inaccurate headlines such as ‘men in dresses’ and ‘gay dress code’”.

Although the University was unable to offer an opinion on the changes, a spokesperson said, ‘The regulations have been amended to remove any reference to gender, in response to concerns raised by Oxford University Student Union that the existing regulations did not serve the interests of transgender students.’

The changes have met with positive reactions from students. 1st year Keble Biology student, Jessica Norris, said that the changes would “bring subfusc up-to-date’ and that ‘people in today’s age should be able to express themselves how they wish and not be constrained”. She added, “I don’t think the new rules should be abused though but I don’t see how that could be policed”.

One first year at Magdalen, who did not wish to be named, continued, “The rules just allow people to wear a different set of clothes so I don’t see why they would cause anyone to get upset. One concern might be misuse, which could undermine the integrity of subfusc, but is that really a bad thing?”

An Olympic ode in ancient Greek written by Jesus classics professor Dr Armand D’Angour was read out loud by London Mayor Boris Johnson at the Opening Gala for the International Olympic Committee last Monday.

Performed to the Olympic committee, which included royal members such as Prince Albert of Monaco and Princess Anne, Johnson’s reading recieved enthusiastic applause and cheering.

The ode, inspired by the Olympics, was commissioned by the London mayor and has been engraved in Greek and in English on a Bronze plaque placed within the Olympic Park.

Dr D’Angour explains that “Writing an Ode for the Games revives a musical and poetic tradition from ancient Greece, where Odes were commissioned to celebrate athletic winners at the Games.”

Written in the style of Pindar, a 5th Century BC poet from Ancient Greece, Dr D’Angour’s ode remains faithful to ancient style and form whilst reaching out to a modern audience.

The English version of the ode, written in six stanzas of rhyming couplets contains references to Usain Bolt (“the lightning bolt around the track”), the chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Lord Coe (‘Join London’s Mayor and co within’), as well as diver Tom Daley (‘as medallists are daily crowned’).

Dr D’Angour also makes a playful pun on Boris Johnson’s name in Greek “Barus,” which means ‘weighty’ both in the physical sense and in the sense of a man of authority.

“Of course the puns may make people groan, but Pindar’s audiences may have done so too,” commented the Dr D’Angour.

“Boris certainly did it justice [when reading it to Olympic dignitaries], he brought it off with typical brio and panache, and even a bit of dramatic action when the Greek says ‘(watch) the archer draw his bowstring tight’!” added the doctor.

About the writing process Dr D’Angour said “It was terrific fun writing the ode, getting the Greek and the metre right, and working out how to make it effective as a performance vehicle for the Mayor.”

Dr D’Angour was previously commissioned to write a Pindaric Ode to Athens which was recited at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

First year classicist, Lydia Stephens enjoyed the puns, commetnting, “It’s very clever, Dr D’Angour did a great job.”

Ronan Magee a second year classicist added, “I think it’s brilliant, Dr D’Angour cooked up a fabulous Ode with lots of great jests. Let’s just hope that Adidas and LOCOG don’t object too much to the penultimate line’s reference to νίκη (Nike)!”