Whale.FM, a citizen science project linked with Oxford University, is underway in an attempt to help scientists better understand the noises whales make.

Research so far has been hindered by the huge range of sounds that whales use to communicate and this is where the masses play their part, by visiting the website, Whale.FM, to take part in the project.

Robert Simpson, a researcher at Oxford and an important part of Whale.FM, explained that, “When you visit the site, you are presented with a sound clip of a recording of a whale. The idea is to match the big sound that you see/hear with one of the smaller ones underneath.

“All the pairings go into a database and we use that to find the best pairs of sounds and build up our understanding of what the whales are saying to each other. Basically: we need help decoding the language of whales.”

Since its launch in November of last year, more than 100,000 people have visited the site, creating almost 150,000 pairs.

Although there have been doubts cast on the efficiency of using the public as opposed to professional scientists, Dr Simpson told the Cherwell, “Efficiency may not be the way to think of it. In a broad sense, we are nowhere near as efficient, in that we require more people to take part to get the same results. But there is a term called Cognitive Surplus, coined by Clay Shirky, that describes all the spare brain power out in the world that is being used to watch TV or play on Facebook or ride on a bus looking out of the window. Whale.FM is trying to tap into that effort and make use of it for science. In that sense Whale.FM is very efficient!”

But citizen science is not just helpful for those with a burning desire to communicate with large aquatic animals. Dr Simpson commented that, “As we head into ever-larger data in science in general, citizen science may prove to be a very useful tool that allows us to put a human eye on much of what we look at”.

Students have reacted positively to the project with first year biologist at St. Anne’s Anna Blaylock commenting, “There really are loads of sounds that whales make, and this seems to me to be a good way to try and find out more about them”. Others, however, were more sceptical about the usefulness of the research, with lawyer John Huxley wondering if they were communicating, “Whale ideas that humans just can’t understand”.

Researchers at the University of Oxford have named dramatist, and former student of Queen’s College, Thomas Middleton as the most likely co-author of All’s Well That Ends Well, a play previously attributed exclusively to Shakespeare.

Inconsistencies of vocabulary, rhyme and grammar led researchers to believe that the play, like many others of the period, was not written by the Bard alone. The play’s unusually high frequency of rhymes and polysyllabic word endings – hallmarks of Middleton’s style – were seen as particular giveaways to the identity of Shakespeare’s collaborator.

Magdalen Tutorial Fellow Professor Laurie Maguire, who led the research along with Dr. Emma Smith of Hertford College, highlighted the positive effects of the team’s findings:

‘The important thing to stress when writers write collaboratively is that there is a harmonic vision,’ she said. “The picture that’s emerging is of much more collaboration; we need to think of it more as a film studio with teams of writers. In that sense, Shakespeare is in all five acts of his plays. He’s talking with his collaborators. So don’t worry, we’re not losing Shakespeare. It’s our gain, not loss.’

Though it has long been known that Shakespeare had collaborators – including Middleton himself on Timon of Athens – the Maguire/Smith hypothesis is new, and suggests that Shakespeare’s writing partnerships ran throughout his career, rather than at its beginning and end.

Though Shakespeare is often considered an isolated master wordsmith, he worked during a time in which high demand for theatre meant collaboration made practical sense. “We have a Romantic view of the creative genius having to write alone”, noted Maguire, “[but] over 50 percent of Renaissance plays were written collaboratively; it was the norm not the exception.’

Oxford Brookes students have set up camp at the university’s Gipsy Lane campus in protest against higher tuition fees and the fee waiver system. They have been staying since Friday the 18th April and have written an open letter to Professor Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor at the university, listing their demands.

The protestors raised concerns that “future generations are being sold out by the Government” and announced, “the Government is currently dismantling and destroying the Higher Education system in the UK.” They oppose “the privatisation of Higher Education in general“ and therefore called on the university to “make a public statement condemning the hike in tuition fees” and to declare “support for the principle of free public education.”

A further complaint raised dissatisfaction at the university’s fee waiver and bursary package. The protestors have labelled the system of fee waivers a “con trick” that will make little impact since “most students get their debt written off before they pay it all back”. Rather, they propose more bursaries, to give students “money now, when you need it.”

Finally, the students suggested that academics are being given too little freedom to organise teaching; they wish to see an end to “the increasingly centralised management style.”

Oxford Brookes university have released a statement saying, “we believe we offer a sector-leading package of support for students”, including “a very strong package of bursaries, which are cash in hand and don’t have to be paid back.” The university also cited their programmes to support students experiencing financial hardship and their “continued funding of outreach schemes into schools that have low levels of higher education participation.”

The protestors are currently waiting on a reply to their letter of demands and are keeping spirits up with various workshops and entertainment, including sing-alongs, samba classes and debates about the education cutbacks.

The Occupy Brookes movement is optimistic that the university will give their demands careful consideration and believe their requests are achievable: “certainly we’ve yet to see a compelling argument against ditching fee waivers, and other universities have done it so it must be feasible.”

Oxford university students have greeted the news with mixed support. Some agree that bursaries are a better form of financial assistance than fee waivers, while an anonymous 1st year commented, “if the Brookes students care so much about education, they should pack up their tents and get on with their work.”

In response to such criticism, members of the Occupy movement maintain that they are committed to their studies and it is a mark of the “critical importance” of this issue that they have begun this occupation, despite “lectures, seminars, coursework deadlines and exams looming.”

Oxbridge’s traditional domination of university rankings was called into question this week after the release of a new league table suggested LSE was the second best university in the UK.

According to the latest statistics, compiled by the Good University Guide, poorer job prospects for Oxford graduates is the principle reason for this year’s slip down the table.

Cambridge University, Oxford’s traditional rival, retained top spot.

The rankings take into account a range of considerations, including research quality, entry standards, staff-to-student ratios, student satisfaction, and job prospects. 2012 is said to be the first year in which Oxford has been ousted from a place in the top two.

LSE’s bid for second in the rankings was particularly boosted by the highest employment rate in the country: 87.8% of graduates were reportedly in ‘good jobs or further study’ within six months of leaving. By contrast, the same figure for Bolton University was 41.1%.

Dr Bernard Kingston, chief writer for the latest guide, said, “the employment market for graduates remains challenging and this is reflected in the rankings. Some universities have been more successful than others in adapting to the new conditions.

“What is beyond dispute is that all three institutions – Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Oxford – are outstanding in their fields’

A spokesperson for the university suggested that Dr Kingston’s comments showed how small the differences were between the UK’s top three universities.

Jonathan Black, Director of the Careers Service, said, ‘it is unclear what CUG do to the raw data as their score is not a measure of total employment but of ‘graduate level employment’ – though the specifics are unclear. We feel that total employment is the more important figure than some arbitrary definition of ‘graduate level’ employment.

We recognise that LSE and Cambridge students study a different set of subjects. LSE (a much smaller institution) in particular is quite financially focused and their employment score in the CUG plummeted from 91% in 2010 to 82% in 2011, rebounding with the financial services industry to the 88% in this report. Oxford has been steady between 80% and 84% for the last 5 years.’

One Economics student at the LSE, who said he would prefer to remain anonymous, intimated to Cherwell that the news would be greeted positively by LSE students.

“We’ll be hitting Bridge in a big way tonight – London branch that is”, he continued.

Robin Bhaduri, a first year chemist at Keble, remarked, ‘This is embarrassing, first the boat race and now this’. Tom Jesty, a music student at St Peter’s, was equally cryptic, stating “LSE? Don’t you mean LSD?” 

A historian at St Hugh’s claimed that the latest results were probably the work of a “bunch of liberals”.

Taking the findings more seriously, however, was ex-student and moderately well-known cleric James Lockwood, who claimed that they “might signal the beginning of the end for Oxbridge’s dominance”.

Oxford University Careers Service have launched a new program of assertiveness classes exclusively for female undergraduates.

Based on the Springboard Women’s Development Program, a course offered by Springboard Consultancy, it aims to “ensure female undergraduates are equipped for their career after graduation – be it in academia, business or the third sector!”.

The four day program had its first run last week, and consists of three one-day workshops, as well as guest speakers from RBS and BP, which are sponsoring the course. A small number of sought-after internships at the two companies will be made available to the Oxford course participants.

The program hopes to encourage undergraduates in “taking initiative when making decisions in lives, careers and academic work’, improved ‘confidence and assertiveness as women’ as well as ‘increased awareness of their place as women in society and the world around them”.

Jonathan Black, Director of the Careers Service, said, ‘The program aims to give women the chance to focus on and understand their values, set meaningful goals, and build confidence and assertiveness so they feel more able to reach for their aspirations. It’s not about making them more aggressive or demanding to adjust to a man’s world, but encouraging them to be confident in themselves. The three day course also provides very practical steps from female professionals on how to achieve their goals.

“When we did a survey three years ago with the student union on what Oxford undergraduates thought about the industry, and what we found was women in general aren’t applying to high achieving jobs. In more male dominated industries they count themselves out before they’ve even applied because they think ‘they won’t want me’. We’re not saying that all women should aspire to these jobs in the City, but we are trying to show that they should feel able to apply for them.’

“What we find is that women can be pretty assertive in some parts of their lives but not in others,” said Jenny Daisley, the chief executive of the Springboard Consultancy which will run the programme along with staff at the university.

“The undergraduate sitting quiet as a mouse in supervision, giving the impression that they have not got anything to say, may have lots to say but needs positive advice so that they are not invisible.”

Balliol undergraduate Alice Hallewell, who took the course in 0th week, told Cherwell “I decided to apply for the program as I felt that I lacked academic and professional confidence, and this was holding me back in my uni work but also in pursuing my career goals. I had an overall aim or wish but no way in which to start working towards it. The highlight of the course for me was meeting a lovely supportive group of women and being able to open up to each other in a very honest way, it was quite liberating.”

 “The program provided frameworks of how to approach things and take a step back to reflect on things before making decisions. It’s helped me to focus on what I really want and how to go about finding out about it and starting to take small, acheivable steps towards it. I now feel more confident in professional situations and more confident that I am making decisions and taking action for myself.”

Brasenose student Anna Broadley commented “Boys seem to have more self conviction, even when their self-belief is not necessarily based on any greater academic merit. While the girls are freaking out about whether they have done enough work for a tutorial, the boys are more likely to say ‘I’ll just blag it”. 

Last Saturday, St Anne’s students were surprised upon entering Baby Love Bar to find that they were to share their ‘Song Titles’ bop with sixty remaining revellers from a fortieth birthday party.

Although the St Anne’s students had expected to have the club exclusively after 11pm, Martin Forde, owner of Baby Love, stated that they had not requested for the venue to be private.

Some St Anne’s students commented on the queue length and the birthday guests’ behaviour but St Anne’s Entz reps, Stephanie MacGillivray and Alison Hinds, explained that, “although the situation wasn’t ideal and it felt a bit awkward, it wasn’t too much of an issue and people generally had a pretty good night”.

St Anne’s bops, usually held privately at the club and starting at 10pm, started at the later time of 11 on Saturday owing to the privately held birthday party taking place beforehand. 

MacGillivray and Hinds told Cherwell, “the reality was that we were allowed entry from 11, but the guests of the 40th Birthday party were still there. Obviously this caused a few problems because the club soon became very full due to both events being held there, and so some St Anne’s students had to queue, resulting in a few people leaving and going elsewhere.” However, they also commented on the “helpful” nature of the bar’s staff when trying to resolve the issue, adding that “the remainder of students did manage to get in”.

One St Anne’s student, who did not wish to be named, commented on the slightly raucous behaviour of some of the birthday guests, telling Cherwell that one woman was seen “chucking in the toilets” and that a group of men were “lined up at the bottom of the stairs making pervy comments as students walked down”.

When asked about this behaviour, Forde responded “If there was something inappropriate, why didn’t they say? I would have sorted it out and [I] take complaints very seriously”. Another student also commented, “If we wanted to club with other people then we could have gone anywhere, bops are about having fun with college friends”.

MacGillivray and Hinds, however, explained, “The guests of the other party did stay at Baby Love, but they kept themselves to themselves, and so did we”. One St Anne’s fresher seemed unconcerned by the extra guests at the bop, telling Cherwell, “Our college supports fun regardless of age. I look forward to attending the next Babylove diamond wedding anniversary”.

MacGillivray and Hinds acknowledged the misunderstanding saying, “While we are obviously disappointed that they were not more transparent about what they meant by the club being ‘ours’ after eleven, they were helpful in resolving the issue.” The pair also hoped that there would not be “any similar problems in the future”.

Trenton Oldfield, the 35 year-old Australian who dramatically halted the University Boat Race earlier in April by swimming into the path of the Oxford and Cambridge crews, was charged with causing a public nuisance on Monday.

Oldfield swapped his wetsuit for more formal attire when he appeared in front of the Feltham Court magistrates.

Mr Oldfield entered no plea and was granted bail with a series of strict conditions.

The activist is forbidden from entering the City of Westminster on May 9 for the state opening of parliament and entering the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead prior to his next court appearance on May 28.

A number of events planned to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will take place in the borough during this time.

A further bail condition bans Mr Oldfield from using or being within a hundred metres of roads which form part of the Olympic torch route.

The conditions were put in place after prosecutors referred to the “manifesto” which Mr Oldfield allegedly posted on line before disrupting the race.

The post entitled “Elitism leads to tyranny,” describes his actions as “an act of civil disobedience,” and encourages others to do the same. His suggestions include asking security guards to set off fire alarms during important meetings, and asking pest controllers to “fail at destroying pests” of elitist households.

On the same post, Mr Oldfield lays out his strategy of peaceful protest against “elitists and those with elitist sympathies” which involves using “guerrilla tactics” like “local knowledge, ambush, surprise, mobility and speed.”

Ben Myers, a former University Boat Club president criticized the protestor’s actions, “it was totally the wrong stage for Trenton Oldfield to voice his opinions,” he said.

He described the Boat Race as a “very meritocratic event” in which competitors “work extremely hard to be part of the respective crews.”

Ed Eliot, a first-year from Exeter College described the protest as “really stupid,” but said that he could “understand the reasons behind it.”

Writer and director Armando Iannucci has raised over £4,700 for a specialist pregnancy care unit at John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington – by leaping off the top of it.

Mr Iannucci was one of 90 people taking part in the charity abseil on Sunday at John Radcliffe Women’s Centre, which raised a total of around £30,000 for five different causes within the Hospital.

Best known for his creation of BAFTA Award-winning political sitcom The Thick of It, Iannucci, an English alumnus of University College, Oxford, is a patron of the Hospital’s Silver Star Baby Unit, where all three of his children were born.

On his JustGiving page, Mr Iannucci explains why he was taking part. “I’m no John Bishop, can’t run for toffee, am a rubbish swimmer and find cycling a bit sweaty.

“I am however prepared to use the power of gravity to drop to the ground from a high building to raise money… I’ve seen first hand the amazing work [the Silver Star Unit] does saving the lives of mums and babies every day.”

The Silver Star Baby Unit was set up in 1971 to provide intensive care for women with pregnancy complications – the world’s first specialist maternity centre. It has delivered around 20,000 babies since then, and also leads research into treating serious prenatal conditions, notably pre-eclampsia – the development of often life-threatening hypertension during pregnancy.

“Nationally, we are a unique unit,” Silver Star Society Secretary Maggie Findlay told Cherwell, “Women in Oxfordshire are, of course, our priority, but we receive referrals from all over the country.

“People don’t realise that, even nowadays, not everyone can have an easy pregnancy. There are about 6,500 births at the John Radcliffe each year, and over 400 of those come through us.”

Iannucci was characteristically wry about his descent. “I’m told I just need to stand at the edge of the building and lean back. That sounds stupid”, he quipped to well-wishers on Twitter.

“If I abseil past someone as they give birth, the whole exercise may prove counter-productive though!”

Mr Iannucci was instrumental in generating support for the Unit when it was threatened with closure over two years ago. “For small charities like us, patrons like Armando are invaluable. He raises our profile considerably,” stressed Ms Findlay, “He is very supportive, and always comes to events if he’s around.’

The John Radcliffe Hospital voiced encouragement for charitable undertakings, “Fundraising across all our hospitals is hugely important and pays for a vast array of additional medical equipment and patient facilities for patients. We have another abseil in June which is particularly focussed on cancer fundraising.”

Iannucci addressed followers after the event, saying, “Big thanks to everyone from Mr Shakeylegs… Came home and celebrated a successful abseil with a glass of wine and 5 minutes in the garden clearing dog poo.”

The comedy writer has no shortage of fans within the Oxford student population. St Anne’s finalist and political enthusiast Robin McGhee said, “Besides his day job as a genius Armando Iannucci spends his time being a really lovely man.

“He has always been a brilliant supporter of Oxford charities. I’m sure I join everyone in wishing him well and expressing relief that he didn’t fall off.”

Candidates for wards representing Oxford University students have clashed over key issues ahead of city council elections on May 3.

The hustings at Oriel College on Wednesday evening saw prospective councillors for the Carfax, Holywell and North Wards pitch themselves to an audience of students and local residents, facing a multitude of questions on topics ranging from education to wheelchair accessibility in the city centre.

The twelve candidates include three current Oxford finalists, Alex Harvey, Sam Hollick, and Robin McGhee. There were also two University members of staff: Anne-Marie Canning and John Howson.

Classic battlegrounds of housing and bicycle theft were hotly debated. Accusations were levelled at Labour and the Greens by the Liberal Democrats, with their candidate for Holywell, Robin McGhee, bemoaning a stifling of housing availability. He said that the two parties “just don’t get the point” about the use of caps.

However, Adam Ramsay, Green candidate for Carfax, later released a statement denying that he supported housing quotas.

The Conservatives currently have no councillors in Oxford and are expected to suffer from the factor of incumbency on a national level.

Tim Patmore, Conservative candidate for Carfax, comparing Oxford to other local authorities with “less council tax and regulations”, said that he “would like to transform Oxford into a town more like Banbury”.

His fellow party candidate for Holywell, Robert Sargent, said, “Bringing in a couple of Tory councillors will bring some sanity to the city.”

The Green Party is looking to boost their presence in Oxford, one of places in the country where they are best represented. Amongst other proposals they pledged “sensible measures” to bring back the recently scrapped Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

When asked to explain how he would fund the EMA, Ramsay vowed to tax four- and five-star hotels, bluntly declaring, “We want to take it off rich people.” He believes that government policy has led to pupils being unable to finish school, and remarked, “In the city famous for education, I think it’s a disgrace.’

Robin McGhee, however, pointed out, “City councils don’t actually have the powers to do that.”

Ramsay’s Labour rival Anne-Marie Canning, defending the council’s record, maintained that “the Labour vote’s the only vote for a student”.

National politics inevitably also framed the debate. Adam Ramsay claimed, “We’re seeing inequality widen across the country at the fastest rate we’ve seen since Victorian Britain.”

Labour Party candidate for Holywell, Alex Harvey, took a swipe at the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government: “They can’t play politics with people’s lives in the name of deficit reduction.”

“This is a government that is both economically incompetent and morally incompetent.”

Robin McGhee was defiant in the face of perceived popular disaffection with the Lib Dems. “I haven’t been amazingly pleased with everything we’ve done in government, but I’ve been proud by the way we’ve prevented the Tories from doing some very bad things indeed.”

Previously a minority administration, Oxford City Council became a majority Labour council after the last local elections in 2010. Labour currently hold 26 out of 48 seats, whilst the Lib Dems hold 16 seats and the Greens hold 5. 

Polling will take place between 7am – 10pm next Thursday.

The full list of candidates is as follows:

Carfax: Anne-Marie Canning, LAB; Tim Patmore, CON; Adam Ramsay, GRN; Duncan Stott, LD. Colleges: Balliol, Blackfriars, Brasenose, Exeter, Jesus, Keble, Lincoln, Pembroke, Regent’s Park, St John’s, St Peter’s, Nuffield, St Benet’s, St Cross, Trinity

Holywell: Alex Harvey, LAB; Sam Hollick, GRN; Robin McGhee, LD; Robert Sargent, CON. Colleges: All Souls, Christ Church, Corpus, Harris Manchester, Hertford, Linacre, Magdalen, Mansfield, Merton, New, Oriel, Queen’s, St Catz, Teddy Hall, University, Wadham

North: Sushila Dhall, GRN; James Fry, LAB; John Howson, LD; Samantha Mandrup, CON. Colleges: Green Templeton, Kellogg, LMH, Somerville, St Anne’s, St Antony’s

Colleges in other wards – St Margaret’s: St Hugh’s, Wolfson; St Mary’s: St Hilda’s; Jericho and Osney: Worcester

A disabled second year student at Keble College has gone viral on YouTube with 150,000 hits and counting for his drum cover of “Hot Right Now” by DJ Fresh.

Cornel Hrisca-Munn, a student of Philosophy and Theology, was born with a twisted right leg and without any lower arms. In spite of such disabilities, he recorded and posted thirteen videos of his drumming during the Easter vacation, several of which have received well over 100,000 views.

Asked about the reasons behind his snowballing success, Hrisca-Munn answered “I guess there aren’t that many disabled drummers on YouTube.”

Hrisca-Munn is no stranger to media attention, and his entrance to Oxford was documented by the Daily Mail in an article which championed his strength in overcoming his “bleak” upbringing. He was abandoned in an orphanage by his parents at the age of seven months. Two aid workers brought him back to England for treatment, including amputation, and subsequently adopted him.

Hrisca-Munn told Cherwell that he became passionate about playing the drums in high school, explaining, “Initially it was an instrument I thought I could manage, that I could start learning. Then I really took to it and just carried on. I did not think I would get this far!”

When asked for the reasons behind his turning to YouTube, he explained, “I’ve always wanted to do some drum covers, some songs are just begging for drums. Initially I started [recording videos of his drumming] out of boredom. I thought I would do it as I had so much time on my hands

“I just wanted to do it for fun,” he continued, “I saw other people posting covers on YouTube and thought I would give it a go.”

Hrisca-Munn recorded all thirteen tracks in a single day during the vacation, including a cover of “Call me maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, which has received over 120,000 views, and “The Adventures of Raindance Maggie” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He describes his technique as improvisation, explaining, “I sort of make it up as I go along.”

When asked how far he wished to pursue his passion, Hrisca-Munn answered, “I’m not sure really. It was so causal to start with and it went a lot further than I could ever have imagined.”

He thinks a lot of the interest has been fuelled by “curiosity,” though added, “Some of it might be pity, which is a shame.”

The YouTube videos have gathered momentum over the past few days following coverage by CBS News and the Huffington Post. Hrisca-Munn explained, “I came back from a tute this week and I had received 500 email notifications from Youtube comments.”

Hrisca-Munn has also been asked for an interview by one of the chief editors of MTV this Sunday. “It will be amazing,” he says, “this should really push things further.” He has also been invited to play at several festivals in the Netherlands in June.

Response to the videos has been unanimously positive, with one commenter posting on the Huffington Post article, “This is a demonstration of the human spirit and its ability to endure. Difficult to compare to so many who have much to be thankful for but do nothing but complain out of an undeserved feeling of entitlement.”