Students were left disappointed after James Blake’s perceived “no-show” gig last weekend, but Cherwell can reveal that the critically acclaimed Dubstep artist was in fact never booked in the first place.

Flyers and the Facebook event page clearly advertised Blake as a special guest at the top of the bill at the club night called ‘Meditate’, held at The Bullingdon Arms last Saturday. But when Cherwell contacted Lucy Dickins, Blake’s agent, she said that Blake had never been booked to play.

The night’s promoter, second year Teddy Hall student Noor Rashid, was responsible for organising the event, which included booking the acts and the venue, as well as advertising and selling tickets for the night. He charged £20 for a standard price ticket, or £11 online for ‘early bird’ tickets for the event.
When contacted by Cherwell, Rashid declined to comment.

Cherwell spoke to Dickins, Blake’s current agent at International Talent Booking (ITB) as well as his previous agency, Reprise, and both said that Blake was never booked to play at the Bullingdon Arms.

A spokesperson at Reprise said, “I had contact with Rashid about the possibility of booking James but we never even agreed a fee, let alone a booking. 

“If he’s claiming that Blake was supposed to play in Oxford last week, that’s completely false.”

Dickins said, “James was certainly not booked to play the Bullingdon in Oxford. I have never had a contact with anyone under the name of Noor Rashid.

“This is disappointing for his fans but I must re-iterate that James was never booked to play this night so is in no way responsible.”

Students who attended the event thought that Blake would be playing between 12 and 1am. However, by the night’s close at 3am Blake had still not appeared.

Suspicion about the real reason for Blake’s no-show was aroused when the Facebook event page was completely deleted on Sunday morning, which led some to believe that Blake was never actually booked to perform, a fact clarified by Cherwell yesterday.

On hearing that Blake was never booked for the event, Kevin Ferriter, a second year at St John’s, said, “At first I was angry at Blake for not turning up and that I’d wasted £20; but if it is the case that he was never booked, then I feel like I’ve been cheated, and now I am angry with the organisers. Without James Blake, it was just an average night with varying qualities of dub and drum and bass music.”

Ferriter continued, “I had invited some of my friends from home, and they came… especially for this event, so it was all a wasted trip.”

A full-time promoter in Oxford, who asked not to be named, contacted Cherwell about Saturday’s event.  He expla

ined that he was suspicious of the booking as soon as he heard about it.

“There was no information about a Blake gig or DJ set in Oxford on any of his official websites, and I should know because I’ve been trying to book him for a while.

“James Blake was clearly advertised as being at the top of the bill.

Given his current stature I would suggest that he has five times more selling power than the rest of the Meditate bill put together.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the level of radio play he has been receiving in recent weeks, far in excess of the other artists. Customers would invariably be buying tickets to the artist in question and not the ‘Meditate’ event as a whole.”

Widget White of the Bullingdon Arms said, “We’ve had lots of complaints about people wanting their money back but it’s nothing to do with us: Rashid just hired out the room from us.

“We’re pretty pissed off ourselves that people paid £20 for a pretty average night.  It was the first night Rashid had ever promoted [at The Bullingdon Arms], and we’ll never be having him back.

“If people want their money back then they should get in touch with Rashid, or if they paid for the early bird tickets online, We Got Tickets.”

Oscar Harry, a student at Cambridge, had come all the way to Oxford for the night. He said, “As a James Blake fan I am bitterly disappointed. £11 is quite a steep price for a night of lacklustre drum and bass.

I took a long coach journey from Cambridge and had to travel through Milton Keynes – do you know how horrible that is?”

James Grant, a second year Historian at Queen’s commented, “I’m shocked and appalled.”

‘Meditate’ is a new event, which advertises itself as “championing a very unique style of music”.

Plans put forward by Oriel College to build 31 graduate rooms on the site of a former nursery school in the Bartlemas conservation area, off Cowley Road, have been met by opposition from both local residents and the council.

The College has owned the  land since 1329 and has tried to build on the site numerous times in the past, but each time the plans have ultimately been rejected.

The College appealed the rejection of its latest bid at a Planning Inspectorate hearing held in the Town Hall on Tuesday.

Oriel believe that their new plans will preserve the character of the area, which used to be the site of a medieval leper hospital.

In its written submission to the new appeal, the College said, “The East Area Parliament has come up with nothing new, no different angle. It has, having considered exactly the same issues as its professional advisers, taken the opposite view.”

It added it was “very unlikely” that the graduates resident in the proposed accommodation would cause any disturbance in the area.

A spokesperson for the Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association said, “The important sense of seclusion and isolation of the conservation area and the green buffer on its western edge which protects the listed buildings of the rural and medieval hamlet will be undermined”.

The Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association are have urged residents to participate in the campaign in order to preserve the site as a resource for students and residents alike.

According to the website of architects Marcus Beale, the proposed buildings are specifically designed to be eco-friendly, and will be environmentally friendly, with “low CO2 in construction” and “use of passive solar heating through orientation, shading and solar chimneys”.

Siestke Boeles, from Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association, said, “Local residents would like to see the redevelopment of the Old Nursery site, but for a development which has a community purpose and is in keeping.

“Both universities have sufficient student accommodation sites, and East Oxford is already saturated with students.”

Green city councillor Nuala Young said, “This is a very special little settlement in Oxford, and it is one of the few remaining sites of a medieval leper colony in the UK.

“Because of that, it is really important we defend its wonderful sense of isolation, peace and apartness. It could be a wonderful resource for people and students in the future.”

The results of the appeal will be released at the end of the month.

Christ Church JCR has unanimously passed a motion to employ a masseuse during exam time in an attempt to knock Magdalen off the Norrington table top spot.

In the minutes of the General Meeting on Sunday, Andy Pearson, the Christ Church finalist who proposed the motion, is quoted as saying, “Magdalene [sic.] came top of the Norrington table last year.

“We all know that we should dick all over Magdalene [sic.].

 “So I thought to myself ‘what do they have that we don’t’ and the answer is a professional masseuse during exam season.”

Pearson later told Cherwell that the Magdalen masseuse “may not actually exist” saying he had heard about it “through a complicated string of Chinese Whispers”.

Lauren Daum, the President of Magdalen JCR said, “I’m afraid we do not have a masseuse…if only!”

Magdalen topped the degree classification table for the first time last year with over 50% of its finalists earning a First whilst Christ Church came seventh out of the thirty colleges, with a third of its students making the top class.

Figures show that Magdalen has consistently attained a higher position then Christ Church in the table over the last five years.

However Pearson claimed, “I can tell you that a similar scheme is in place at Tufts University, and is extremely popular (they also have puppies and kittens brought in during the exam season- perhaps this will be next…).” 

He also stressed the serious side of the motion, saying, “While it looks like a joke motion, it does address a real problem that many finalists face: they’re very stressed, and the methods that they use to counter this stress aren’t always particularly good for them.

“Hopefully some massage, combined with simply taking the time out of the library, will make things a bit better.”

Regarding the financing of the masseuse he said, “The money for this would come primarily from welfare, however I personally would find a massage very entertaining so maybe some from entz as well.”

Christ Church’s JCR President, second year Matt Barrett said, “I think the motion is excellent, everyone knows that exams are stressful and a free massage would be an excellent way to chill out.

“The JCR obviously has the welfare of its members at heart and we’ll do what we can to make exam season bearable.

“The proposer expressed a preference for Swedish massage but the specifics are yet to be worked out.”

He also said that the meeting was “well attended” although concerns over reaching quorum in general meetings were raised in a separate motion at the meeting.

Speaking about the success of the motion, Magdalen JCR President Daum, said, “We would encourage Christ Church to take whatever steps they feel are necessary in order for them to present us with a credible challenge in the Norrington-Table-stakes.

“Sadly we feel it may take (much) more than employing a masseuse.  In the mean time, we will continue to enjoy giving them an ‘intellectual whopping’ year on year.”

A recent Oxford University study has shown that nearly one third of people who have access to the internet have visited internet dating sites.

The research also showed that 15 percent of people asked had found their current partner online. This was especially common among middle aged men and women who had found their partner since 1996, of whom nearly 40 percent had met online.

The research  concluded that, while church, family and hobby-groups have become less common routes to love, the usage of both clubbing and mutual friends have increased alongside online methods.

Bernie Hogan, member of the Oxford Internet Institute and co-writer of this study, said, “what the online world does is makes things findable – it makes people findable”.

An Oxford academic has predicted that major UK stores will need to stock and accept Chinese currency in the next few years, such will be the strength of the Chinese economy and the impact of Chinese tourists. 

Dr Karl Gerth of Merton said, “With China’s huge population and spending power it is no surprise that big firms are bending over backwards to meet the demands of the Chinese consumer.”

Some luxury stores in London have already taken the unprecedented move of setting up China Union-Pay debit card terminals, which are seldom seen outside of China, to take advantage of the vast spending by China’s millionaires.

Gerth suggested that with the growth of China’s middle class and the ever-increasing popularity among the Chinese for foreign travel, acceptance of Chinese currency in UK stores will inevitably become widespread.

Oxford University’s Undergraduate Admissions team has won two awards for innovation and best practice at the Higher Education Liaison Officers’ Association (HELOA) National Conference.

The admissions team was recognised for its series of self-guided audio tours. Oxford’s Student Recruitment Team’s Julia Richardson, who designed the tours, said, “The Audio Admissions Tours helps students navigate their way around the University whilst providing them with useful information and advice about the admissions process.”

University College’s Alternative Prospectus also won a prize for its innovative newspaper format with features such as tutor interviews, crosswords and a pull-out Oxford map featuring their recommendations.

Last Saturday, local campaigners took to Cornmarket Street in Oxford, handing out Valentine’s Day cards that urged people to “follow their hearts” and back the Alternative Vote, which would allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

The Yes To Fairer Votes campaign hopes to persuade people to vote “Yes” in the referendum on adopting AV on 5th May, by claiming that it would eliminate the need for tactical voting.

Andrew Mell, a campaigner and Oxford University student, cited evidence that showed that 20% of people in the South East feel forced to vote tactically in elections.

He said, “With AV we’ll never have to choose between our heads and our hearts again.”

The Lord Mayor of Oxford, John Goddard, joined the campaigners to voice his support for a system which he believes, “will give voters greater influence over their MP.”

The Yes To Fairer Votes Oxfordshire group have said that will campaign up until the 5th May, with weekly street stalls across the county. A phone bank was launched this week to “get in contact with as many voters as possible.”

Zoe Tyndall, one of the phone bank organisers, said “Oxfordshire is a vast area to cover and we don’t have the money or the established organisation of the political parties.” She added that calling voters was “a lot more fun that stuffing envelopes”.
Mell told Cherwell, “We’re not taking anything for granted…this is going to be a very close campaign.”

Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan announced the introduction of new African scholarships in a talk at Exeter College on Monday.

The scholarships will cover full fees and living expenses and will be awarded to three students each year from Ghana, Angola and Nigeria who demonstrate the potential to become future leaders in politics, business or public life.

The funding, paid for by Italian oil giant Eni, will allow candidates to study for a one or two year taught Master’s degree at St Antony’s College.

Kevin Lindsay, a first year with family in Ghana, said the scholarship is a “sure step in the right direction towards helping to alleviate the problems of the cost of educating Africa’s brightest minds.”

University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton, said, “I am very grateful to Eni for creating this scholarship programme with St Antony’s. Oxford has a proud tradition of undertaking scholarship on Africa, and encouraging scholars from Africa.”

Annan came to Oxford to give a lecture entitled “The Future of Africa” as part of Exeter College’s 700th anniversary celebrations. He also  opened a new home for Oxford’s African Studies Centre.