Keble’s Governing Body have clamped down on poor academic performance in response to a disappointing performance in the 2010 Norrington table.

Collections have been renamed “College Examinations” and all marks are now monitored by a newly established tutorial board. The proposals originally stated that all students must obtain a 2:1 or above in College Examinations, although following pressure from the JCR, this was withdrawn.

Instead, Acting Senior Tutor Michael Hawcroft told Cherwell, “If it is felt that a student has performed at a level that would not allow him or her to have a chance of securing a 2:1 by the end of their course, the board, on the tutor’s recommendation, can require the student to re-sit the examination either later that term or at the beginning of the following term.”

The changes will also see College Examinations “more closely resemble University examinations”, as students will be seated randomly by number, as opposed to the alphabetical system currently in place. Hawcroft stressed, however, that “There has been no change to the College’s Academic Disciplinary procedures, which have been in place for a number of years.”

JCR President Basil Vincent seconded such a view, stating, “So far there has been no visible change in discipline, although a more rigorous collections procedure means that students are expected to achieve a 2:1 standard.”

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed the changes were “good”. He pointed to an example of a student last year, who was “doing hardly any work” and “fell behind.” He claimed the college was “too relaxed” about the matter, and resultantly, the student “failed prelims and his retakes.”

Another student, James Nottage, commented, “Norrington display has been oscillating wildly over the past few years, but last year actually Keble actually went up nine places – though I think the plans were probably given some impetus by the previous year’s 28th place”. He also stated that the demand for a 2:1 in College Examinations is entirely “discretionary” and that any retakes are “basically up to the tutors”.

Sarah Herdan, the JCR rep for Academic Affairs commented, “The increased formalisation of Keble’s “College Examinations”, coupled with a system of more standardised feedback for students, is an attempt by the college to both better prepare students for the experience of undertaking University exams and to raise the overall academic standing of the college. The requirement to achieve a 2:1 standard in these Exams, or else resit, aims to benefit the students as well as the college.

“Understandably, given the novelty of this system in Keble, certain issues have arisen, in particular regarding timing, and workload as a result, of resits, but the college is working to address these.”

Keble second year, Vyas Adhikari, suggested that the new policy hasn’t really changed the mentality of the students. While acknowledging that “the new policy has good intentions”, he told Cherwell, “there is a sense among the students that they [collections] don’t matter, which is true, they don’t.”

He added, “The threat of a retake is just an incentive to cram the night before instead of doing some useful revision that is remembered in the long run.”

One second year, from Univ, commented, “I hope my college doesn’t adopt this kind of policy. I don’t want to waste my youth in an exam hall.”

Members of Harris Manchester JCR have been embroiled in conflict this week, after the narrow defeat of a motion to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal.

The motion, proposed by law student Edgar Mkrtchian at a JCR meeting last week, argued that the Wall Street Journal “has some of the most knowledgeble, deeply-analysed, and well-written articles on business and financial news.”

However it was brought to the attention of the JCR that last term, following a suggestion by second year PPE student Calum Proctor, another motion had been passed to unsubscribe from all Murdoch publications. The proposal to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (owned by Murdoch) then failed by a single vote.

Proctor justified the boycott by criticising the “journalistic standards” of papers such as The Times, claiming the standard of content had “rapidly fallen”. He also expressed fears regarding the “monopoly of print media” and referenced the recent phone-hacking scandal which tarnished the reputation of Murdoch’s News Corp.

Such criticisms were dismissed as “misguided and inaccurate” by Mkrtchian however, who argued that The Wall Street Journal “has some of the best writing on business and financial markets which is recognised by even their fiercest critics”. He also criticised the “dig on journalistic standards” as “a kind of dog-whistle for attacking the opinions espoused on the editorial pages”. He claimed that these “do not affect the news sections of the paper.”

Mkrtchain further expressed his anger at the boycott, blaming it for the failure of the motion. He told Cherwell, “Universities and institutions of higher learning hold as a central tenet the free pursuit of knowledge,” adding, “Deliberately not subscribing to a newspaper because of a dislike of the ownership of a holding company that in turn owns the publication runs counter to that goal.” He questioned the “haphazard” and “misguided” nature of the boycott, commenting, “We currently support 20th Century Fox and other Murdoch-owned properties.”

Proctor countered this, stating, “We do not “support” 20th Century Fox. Our library holds some of its films and many of the members of the JCR enjoy certain content which is transmitted by Murdoch-owned properties.”

He continued, “The apparent inability to distinguish between the news content of a press monopoly and profit-driven activities to which the content is (beyond its popularity) entirely incidental is either a petulant smokescreen or an indication of imbecility.”

He concluded, “I do not believe that many people would seriously contend either that the Murdoch Empire has been good for journalism or that subscribing to its output is essential for “the free pursuit of knowledge”. Neither I nor the JCR are advocating book-burning, we merely believe that our budget is not best spent providing Edgar with personal reading material of dubious origins.”

JCR President Lois Sage stated that the JCR “review their subscriptions regularly at JCR meetings,” adding that the decision was made as some students “believe that the Murdoch group does not deserve our support” and that others had concerns regarding “the quality of journalism.”

He added, “I believe that, as a student body, the JCR is capable of making rational and considered decisions and we could not for a moment suggest that the other papers we subscribe to do everything right, which is why we reserve the right to change our minds and vary our reading matter every few terms.”

Harris Manchester have confirmed that they are planning to construct a new clock tower after receiving the backing of a wealthy Thai couple.

Ms Maevadi Navapan and Dr Sukum Navapan have decided to fund the £1.4 million project despite already having gifted funds for the college to build an eight room accommodation block last year.

The Bangkok based couple hold the positions of CEO of City Sports and Executive Director of Recreation Public Company Limited. Prior to taking on this role, 65 year old Ms Maevadi Navapan worked as a barrister and was once the Director of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the International Federation of Women Lawyers. Her husband has spoken as a Special Lecturer at Thammasat University.

Student Milja Fenger suggested that Thai influences could be incorporated into the tower’s design, suggesting that elephant designs could feature. JCR president Lois Sage told Cherwell that “there has been some talk of the clock itself being rather special.”

The new clock tower will be built behind the Alternative Tuck Shop. The construction process will involve the rebuilding of the gate leading into the Arlosh Quod from Mansfield Road. The building will be multifunctional, containing five ensuite study bedrooms.

Sage added that the college community are “incredibly grateful for the generosity and continued support of the college” offered by the Navapan family. She added, “The plans have met with approval from the student body and will make a lovely addition to college.”

“Comparing the cost of this building project to recent more large-scale accommodation buildings at other colleges, we will be getting very good value for what will be a beautiful building.”

A 36 year old male was arrested within the grounds of Mansfield College last Thursday afternoon.

Police received reports at around 2.30pm that Andrew Cribbes, from Cowley Road, Oxford, allegedly stole merchandise from the HMV store on Cornmarket Street before being pursued by police for at least half a mile across town. He was eventually arrested after climbing into Mansfield grounds, via a path located behind the college.

A butcher who works in the Covered Market witnessed the incident. She expressed her amazement that the police had managed to catch up with the man, commenting, “He flew by.”

A third year Geography student who also witnessed the proceedings said, “It happened at about 2.45pm. I was in the library, heard a commotion from the far wall and then witnessed a police officer on foot ordering a man to stop running, as he clambered over the path behind college.”

He continued, “Moments later several police cars arrived at the scene and at least ten officers were at hand to apprehend the suspect.” The suspect was subsequently arrested behind the Principal’s lodgings.

Mansfield College was not available to comment on the arrest, but dispelled rumours that a porter had supposedly rugby tackled the suspect to the ground.

Andrew Cribbes has been charged with one count of theft and released on bail until his appearance at the Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 9th March.

A second year Mansfield student commented, “I thought the actual situation was handled really well – there was minimal disturbance to those in college. However, since then nobody has really known what has gone on. We haven’t really been told anything.”

However another Mansfield student expressed disappointment that events were handled so calmly, commenting, “I really thought that for once something interesting was going to happen in the college. This could have been even more exciting than the time hats were banned from hall.”

Following “laddish” behaviour at a recent Student Union meeting, members of Wadham’s feminist group held a discussion on ‘Feminism and Lad Culture’ at their weekly meeting on Sunday.

Anna Bradshaw, one of the organisers, said, “’Feminism and Lad Culture’ has been on our list of potential discussion topics for a while, but we decided to talk about it last week in particular because of events in our SU. It’s something that a lot of people have been talking about at Wadham for the last few weeks.

“In my opinion, lad culture is a problem when it stops being cultural, and starts to become connected to a structure that should be more universal. Having ‘laddish’ sports teams is not a big problem, but sending offensive emails through their mailing lists is.”

Members were invited to “bring your thoughts, speculations, and angriest examples, and get ready to solve (or chat about) ALL THE PROBLEMS (or at least some of them).”

The initial Student Union meeting, which prompted recent discussions on “laddish behaviour,” had involved a motion lobbying college to abolish Meat-Free Mondays. Prior to the meeting, an email was sent out to the Wadham football team mailing list, calling on all members to attend. The email claimed that “vegan rainbow cake-loving wankers” would be “out in force,” and if the motion did not pass “we’re gonna [be] stuck playing find-the-cashew-nut in our shit veggie meals every Monday!”

A member of the Wadham feminist group said, “Recent occurrences like the ‘rainbow vegan cake-eating wankers’ email and finding out about the rugby team’s ‘lady’s half-hour’ were definitely a part of why the Wadham feminists thought it was particularly relevant to have a meeting about lad culture. Although in the past Wadham has always seemed a fairly safe space from all of these things, there are definitely some social spaces in the university that can be threatening to people who don’t fit in with ‘laddish’ ideas about how people ought to present their gender, sexuality and political opinions.’

She added, “In my opinion ‘laddishness’ is the grinning, infantilised face of modern rape culture, and attempts to write off manifestations of it such as Uni Lad, The Lad Bible etc as humour that doesnt hurt anyone are privilege-denying bullshit.”

Although she was reluctant to go into detail about what was discussed, Bradshaw said, “Very generally speaking, we spoke mainly about lad culture as a continuation of the masculine normal; differences and similarities between feminism and lad culture as groups; lad culture as a threat to the feminine, particularly in men; and whether feminism and lad culture are class-specific phenomena.”

“Wadham Feminists meets weekly, and is open to anyone, of any gender, from any college.” Wadham student and member of college football team, Omar Salih, commented, ‘Sorry have you already been to print as I was at an outdoor BBQ this afternoon?’

An online petition has been launched which calls on Oxford City Council to prevent future establishment of lap-dancing clubs in the city.

The petition currently has 274 signatures and is targeted at Councillor Bob Price, the Leader of Oxford City Council.

The petition notes that the council has previously taken a strong stance against lapdancing clubs and ‘Gentlemen’s clubs’ in the past. It claims that lapdancing clubs “demean women and contribute to a view of women as ‘sex objects,’” and suggests that such clubs encourage the use of women’s bodies “purely for men’s sexual pleasure in the pursuit of creating profits for the club owners.”

A second year History and Politics student at Oxford University remarked, “It is disgusting and demeaning that in this modern day and age, women can be viewed in such a derogatory and objectifying light. I wholeheartedly endorse the online petition.”

Another undergraduate described the “commodification of women” in lap-dancing clubs. A feminist student at Oxford offered a different perspective however, saying, “Feminist movements are mainly about giving women choices. How can a petition to ban women from doing a job which many of them have chosen truly be feminist?

She continued, “Lapdancing is associated with crimes and abuses, but so is excessive drinking. When it comes to drinking, however, it is accepted that each person has free¬dom of choice.”

Bob Price told Cherwell, “The Council’s consultation on the licensing of sex entertainment venues has just ended and shows a strong popular view in opposition to any such venues in Oxford. I believe that this view is shared by a majority of members of the Council and it is my intention to bring a report to a fu¬ture meeting of the Executive Board, identifying how this policy can be implemented with due regard to the relevant statutory provisions.”

A team of researchers claim to have discovered that men are more naturally predisposed to violence than women.

The study, published by a team including Oxford University researchers, argues that ‘men are biologically programmed to be warriors because of their deep ancestral history of inter-tribal war and conflict.’

By contrast the researchers suggest that females have evolved a ‘tend and befriend’ response to protect their offspring.

Their findings may help to explain the origins of aggressive behaviour in modern-day tribal groups, both large and small, from nations at war to street gangs and even football hooligans.

Professor Mark van Vugt, Research Fellow at Oxford’s Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, noted the continued significance of these evolutionary traits in modern society. He commented, ‘A solution to conflict, which is an all too common problem in societies today, remains elusive,’ adding, ‘One reason for this might be the difficulty we have in changing our mindset, which has evolved over thousands of years.’

The study’s findings are based on examination of the ‘Male Warrior Hypothesis’ in contemporary evolutionary anthropology. The hypothesis suggests that men are more likely than women to discriminate against others considered outsiders. This trend is apparent across different time periods and cultures.

van Vugt added, ‘The human mind is shaped in a way that tends to perpetuate conflict with ‘outsiders.’ Our research finds that conflict between rival groups of men has presented opportunities to gain access to mates, territory and increased status. We believe this has resulted through natural selection in an evolved psychology amongst men to initiate and display acts of intergroup aggression.’

However Emily Cousens, Sarah Pine and Ali Johnson, representatives of the Wadham Feminists, placed emphasis on social convention as the cause of tribal male aggression. They told Cherwell, ‘Society creates and constructs what we think of as masculine and feminine and encourages and rewards different traits amongst males and females. This does not necessarily have a biological basis.’

An English fresher from St. Peter’s College gave a typically agressive male response, ‘I only eat raw flesh from creatures I have killed with my bare hands. I sustain myself upon the blood of the weak. I drink cement. I once impregnated a wild gorilla with pure evil. I bleed whisky. I simply walk into Mordor.’

Consultations are continuing after initial proposals to close the History Faculty Library were leaked to the press last week.

On Monday, the History Committee for Library Provision met to discuss the responses they had recieved from tutors and students.

The Undergraduate Historians’ Assembly met on Thursday to discuss the responses from the student body.

Before the meeting a member of the UHA said that the general feeling had been “very negative” and that “many find the idea that history, the second largest subject, losing its library would not keep it on even footing with the other subjects who can use both the Bod and their own libraries.”

College representatives raised various concerns about the plans such as the expected lack of space and seating in the Rad Cam.

Queens’ historian Edmund Potts said, “the Gladstone Link is already full at peak times, as is the Rad Cam, so there’s no way they can accommodate a large influx of HFL users,” with other History undergraduates adding, ‘it would be a disaster’ and ‘adding more seats would just make the Rad Cam an unpleasant place to work.’

However, Isabel Holawaty, the Bodleian’s History Librarian explained to the UHA that, “the net change from opening the Gladstone Link and transferring from the HFL is a notional increase of 65 seats.”

Another major concern raised at Thursday’s meeting was the “total lack of transparency” with which some feel the process has been handled.

Ed Potts commented, ‘The way in which we found out about the closure was completely unacceptable.” He added that this meant “we cannot have any serious confidence that the final decision reached will have been arrived at in a satisfactory manner and with the best interests of us library students at heart.”

Lincoln student Nathan Akehurst said he would consider the idea of organizing a “work-in” protest in the HFL were the proposals to get through this term’s consultation process.

The idea of protesting more actively was also raised at the latest meeting by a representative from Corpus Christi. The chairs of the meeting commented that this would only be considered as a last resort.

The transfer is being proposed as an emergency solution after lack of funds and space meant that the HFL was unable to comply with calls from the Estates Department make the building more disability friendly. Students at Thursday’s meeting also raised The consultation process has now been extended until the 5th March when the curators of the University Libraries will make an official decision.

The chief executive of the Student Loans Company has not paid Income Tax or National Insurance on his £182,000 pay packet.

Ed Lester received a new SLC contract in January 2011 but requested to stay on the terms of the temporary contract he had held since taking the position on an interim basis in May 2010.

This agreement saw Lester receive £900 per day for his work, paid by a private firm rather than on the standard SLC payroll. This allowed the parties to agree a deal where tax and National Insurance contributions would not be deducted from his wages.

This agreement was accepted by Universities Minister David Willetts and Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell. The information was revealed on Wednesday night, bringing a storm of criticism of the arrangements in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Labour asked an urgent question on the matter, with Shadow Business Minister Shabana Mahmood commenting that in current economic circumstances “the news that ministers approved the contract of a senior official, which allowed tax and National Insurance to be avoided, shows just how out of touch they are.”

However Danny Alexander told the Commons that he was “not made aware” of any tax benefits in Lester’s contract when he approved it. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury he is responsible for signing off civil service salaries above £142,500 but claimed that in fact the salary level had been “reduced significantly” in the negotiated contract. In response to the criticism he announced that the SLC will now change the arrangements and “deduct tax at source.”

Vince Cable, the government’s Business Secretary, stated that Lester was “an exceptionally useful individual who has helped to turn round [the SLC].” He described the agreed arrangements as “substantial value for money for the taxpayer,” although agreeing that tax issues should be investigated.

However second year Classicist Ben Hudson was less supportive of the positive effect of Lester’s management. He told Cherwell how a paperwork issue had left him with only a non-means tested loan which barely covered half his rent this year, commenting, “I’ve got off lightly, the year before hundreds didn’t get their loans for months and months, including people with no source of income.”

He added, “You expect people to be paid ridiculous sums of money, but the quality of service isn’t improving. It’s our money that’s paying his salary.”

Lizzie Fortin, a Drama student at UWE, added that she had spent “Two years in a row virtually starving because they haven’t got my application sorted.” She commented, “I think it’s absurd that he doesn’t pay tax, and also that money is going into pockets instead of into improving the efficiency of a poorly managed system which leaves hundreds of students without the loans they are entitled to for completely unacceptable periods of time.” Univ college PPE student Alex Lynchehaun added, “A civil servant who earns more than the Prime Minister shouldn’t need to be exempt from tax.”

However Mansfield student Beth Hodgett gave a more measured response, stating, “He is providing a service that is used literally by every student in the UK, if he’s doing the job well he deserves a salary that recognises that he’s running a company that lots of students depend on. I can understand the logic of paying people who are good at their jobs lots of money, if he’s the best person for the job he should be rewarded.”

However she added, “I think it’s unacceptable to have all the benefits of society without contributing towards that by paying tax on their salary. It makes me wonder who else is doing this without being caught.”

The Student Loans Company issued a statement to Cherwell, revealing that they ‘will now be taking forward the changes to Ed Lester’s contract as announced by the Universities Minister, David Willetts.’ They added, ‘SLC followed all government guidlines on the appointment and remuneration of the CEO.’