Thursday 30th July 2026
Blog Page 491

Vibrant Winter Veg

Isobel Sanders
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Vibrant Winter Veg

I’m writing this sitting on the floor of my student room at university in France. I thought I would be spending lockdown alone but all my flatmates decided to invade Lyon; there isn’t too much space, but we get on alright. We watch films together, do yoga every evening and, most importantly, inspect our basket of fruit and vegetables that we collect each week. We signed up to a scheme called AMAP (the French love their acronyms) which roughly stands for the Association for Supporting Small-Scale Farming, a nation-wide distribution system that ensures a fair price for both parties and fresh, in-season vegetables for us. Now every Tuesday we wait to see what mud-covered, gnarly, sometimes-past-their-prime veggies have been harvested from fields nearby. 

When our basket first arrives, there are moans and groans. “Why have we got 30 radishes? What on earth is that?”. Then comes a little meal plan; chard risotto Friday evening, fennel gratin Saturday lunch, squash soup and bread Saturday evening… Those knobbly, dirty seasonal vegetables are transformed into something delicious.

We normally think of winter as a barren season, however it is anything but. Go on the hunt for seasonal vegetables and you’ll be amazed at the variety. Okay, potatoes are a-plenty, but keep an eye out post-halloween for sweet-fleshed pumpkins, all kinds of leafy green veg, beautiful purple beetroots and the unassuming fennel, cabbage and cauliflower. 

As the clocks turn back, the culinary holy trinity – onion, carrot and celery – should all be easy to find. Why are they sacred? Because with them you can form a base, a soffritto, for a myriad of soups, stews, and sauces. The basic ratio is 2 onions : 1 carrot : 1 stick of celery. Chop into a fine dice and sauté on a low heat in olive oil for around ten minutes. Then go from there. Take inspiration from my October article and make a minestrone. Or how about a chilli con or sin carne for a weekend dinner with your flatmates? And if you’re feeling lazy, add to scrambled eggs for an outrageously tasty breakfast. 

Pumpkins often have a rather sad fate after halloween. The UK bins about 8 million pumpkins after halloween each year. However these winter squashes are perfect for pieces, warming bowls of soup and festive veggie loaves. Check out the first wonderful winter recipe:

Squash, Mushroom, Spinach and Onion Pie

This recipe is quite involved but no stage is difficult. To cut down on time, make sure you start to defrost your spinach earlier in the day, and consider roasting the butternut squash at the same time as you cook your rice and fry your onion and mushroom. 

Pastry preparation

Roll your pastry into a rectangle a bit bigger than an A3 sheet of paper. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with a piece of baking parchment and place in the fridge for at least two hours. 

For the butternut layer 

  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed 
  • Olive oil 
  • Salt 
  • Pepper 

Roast the butternut squash cubes in the oven drizzled with oil and seasoned at 180C until soft, around half an hour, turning as necessary after twenty minutes. Leave to cool. 

For the rice layer 

  • 100g rice (I used Camargue red rice for its nuttiness and chewiness but basmati, brown, long-grain would all work equally well) 
  • Cumin seeds 
  • Bay leaf
  • Olive oil 
  • Cloves 
  • 2 onions 
  • 250g mushrooms 

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, adding a sprinkle of cumin seeds, five cloves, a bay leaf and a drizzle of olive oil to the cooking water. I strongly recommend to follow the instructions for a light, dry rice – we don’t want stodgy student rice here. I know it’s good, but it just won’t work! When cooked, remove the bay leaf and cloves. 

Chop your onions into thin slices. Add to a pan with a drizzle of olive oil on a low heat and cook for around eight minutes. Meanwhile chop your mushrooms into thin slices. Add the mushrooms to the onion and cook until soft. 

Mix everything together and leave to cool. 

For the spinach layer 

  • 300g frozen spinach 
  • 50g pine nuts 

Leave to thaw in a sieve. When thawed, wring out in your hands. Wring out again. You want to get out as much water as possible. Toast your pine nuts in a pan.  

Assembly

Start with the rice layer – spread an even layer of the mixture on the middle of the pastry in a rectangle about 45cm x 12cm. Then on goes a layer of spinach, pine nuts scattered over. After that pile your butternut squash chunks on top. Don’t overdo it! Wrap one side of the pastry rectangle over the filling, then the other. Make sure they overlap with an inch of pastry – use a knife to cut any excess. Carefully turn over so that the ‘seam’ is underneath. Tuck the top and the bottom underneath, pinching to seal. Use the extra pastry for decorations; mushrooms, leaves, holly branches, whatever takes your fancy. Score the pastry with diagonal lines and place your decorations on top. Crack egg into a bowl and whisk. Cover the entire pie with this egg glaze. Then into a preheated oven at 170C for 20 minutes or until the pastry is gloriously golden and crispy. Present on a wooden chopping board and listen to the crackle as you cut through the pastry casing to reveal three gorgeously colourful layers.

And now for something a little more lowkey! The winter vegetable with the worst reputation has to be the Brussel sprout. When I was little, I hated them. Each Christmas I would beg that no more than two be put on my plate. Now I’m older, know better, and am less sensitive to the bitter compounds that make them so widely hated. And all the better, since Brussel sprouts are high fibre, contain more potassium than a banana, and (so long as there aren’t shortages…) should be great on a student budget. Still not convinced? Next time you make a stir fry, shred a few and chuck them in. At worse, you won’t even notice them. At best, you’ll be able to navigate the Christmas table much better. 

Then come the winter vegetables that leave you perplexed; fennel, cabbage and cauliflower. Fennel tastes too strong, cauliflower, too weak, and cabbage is just a bit, well, gassy. You could make a cauliflower cheese, a coleslaw, or a cheesy fennel gratin, but adding cheese feels like cheating and anyway, isn’t the aim to be able to taste these winter veggies rather than drowning them in dairy in the hope that no-one will notice what they’re actually eating? So, to put these baffling oddballs in the spotlight, I really recommend a good roasting. It’s shockingly simple. For fennel, chop in half, then cut inch-thick wedges and put carefully into a roasting tray. Likewise for cabbage. For cauliflower, separate the head into florets. Then cover in olive oil. A couple of cloves of garlic or some sliced onion would make a nice addition. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar for extra sweetness. Thinly sliced lemon works a treat too. If you’re feeling like it, add some spices, such as cumin, ginger, or turmeric. Use your hands to make sure your veggies are evenly covered with mixture. Then pop into the oven at 180C for around three quarters of an hour, turning every ten minutes, adding more oil if needed, until melty, oily, and slightly blackened at the edges. These can then be stored in the fridge in Tupperware for up to five days, and make a brilliantly quick and simple lunch paired with pitta, hummus, falafel.

For a winter spin on hummus, look no further than the beet greens family, to which Swiss chard and beetroot both belong. If you don’t make your own hummus and you have a blender, start now! It is infinitely better than the shop-bought stuff which is bulked up with a disgraceful volume of water. Take a jar of cooked chickpeas (save the chickpea water), three tablespoons of tahini, a couple of cloves of garlic, crushed, and the juice of a lemon and blitz together. To make a brilliantly fluffy, silky hummus, add a good amount of the chickpea water back in. Taste as you go and add more garlic or lemon as necessary. (Sometimes I get up to five cloves, depending on the strength of the garlic and whether I’m in a particularly garlicky mood!) In winter, add a couple of medium-sized cooked beetroots to your hummus for a stunning colour. 

However, what about Swiss chard? Last but by no means least, is my recipe for purple pasta with sautéed chard.

Purple pasta with sautéed chard

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 200g 00 flour (normal flour does work too, but 00 flour shouldn’t be too difficult to seek out and is more authentic) plus extra for rolling 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 bunch of Swiss chard 
  • 2 small cooked beetroot 

Method: 

Mush the cooked beetroot with the back of a fork or blitz, until you have a fine purée. Then make the pasta dough. This is not as complicated as you might think, though if you are a beginner you might want to make a batch or two without the beetroot and then move on to this recipe when you’ve got the hang of how a pasta dough works. To make it easier to clear up, put your flour into a large mixing bowl and add the eggs and beetroot purée to a well in the middle. Use a fork to draw the flour in and start kneading as soon as you can. Knead for around eight minutes, adding a little flour when necessary, until you have a smooth dough. Cover in plastic wrap and put in the fridge to rest for half an hour. 

At this point, get a large saucepan of water up to the boil and add a big pinch of salt. Cut your chard into inch long pieces and sauté in a large frying pan (larger than you think you need, you’re going to add the pasta to this pan), adding the tougher stems first, then the leaves at the end of cooking. While this is cooking, make your pasta ribbons. Take a quarter of the dough at a time, keeping the rest underneath the plastic wrap, use a rolling pin to roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface as thinly and evenly as possible. Cut into ribbons and leave on a floured baking tray while you roll and cut the rest. Add to the boiling pasta water, making sure that it doesn’t stick at the beginning. Fresh homemade pasta cooks in no time at all. Sometimes just a minute does it, depending on how thin your noodles are, so keep tasting every 20 seconds or so if you don’t feel confident. Add a good glug of oil to the Swiss chard pan and when your pasta is cooked, transfer directly into this pan, not worrying too much if you don’t manage to drain all the water. Toss and serve as it is, or with a big dollop of pesto on top (head over to @greens_and_grains for two scrumptious pesto recipes).

And that brings this whirlwind tour of winter veg to a close. Surprising, delicious and certainly not boring.

Photos: Isobel Sanders

In Conversation with Tim Webber

Sasha Mills
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In Conversation with Tim Webber

Going from an Oxford Physics degree to winning an Oscar for your work on Gravity seems like, strangely, a fairly linear career path. For Tim Webber, the world of Physics and the world of film were appealing to him for the same reason: his desire to follow a creative path.  

“I’ve always had a wish to be creative, I suppose. And then you can totally be creative in the world of physics. […] I suppose going and doing typical research didn’t particularly appeal to me because […] I wanted to get started doing something creative straight away.”

During his Physics degree, Webber spent “as much time doing drawing as I did doing Physics, which isn’t to say much.” He graduated with a portfolio of art and a short film he had made, and started looking for jobs in the film industry. 

“It was sort of a Golden Age, the very early age of videos when people were doing very interesting stuff with what was then cutting edge technology, and doing very creative things with that technology. And I was looking for some way of combining my technical skills, as a general term, and my artistic and visual interests and abilities. And videos sort of attracted my attention as being a combination of those two things.”

For the entirety of his career, Webber has worked at Framestore, a visual effects company based in London. He started out in the way that many people in this industry do, as an assistant. “I managed to get a job making coffee. […] It’s sort of how you have to start in the film industry, generally, you just have to start at the bottom and work your way up.” 

“It was a very small company at the time. So I quite rapidly did a mix of different things. You know, I was still officially a runner whilst I was also a librarian keeping track of all the tapes, and then also a sort of technical operator managing the machines in the machine room, and also starting to work on the creativity of the machines as well. I was one of the few people who actually bothered to read the manuals.”

After a few years, Webber moved onto working creatively on short-form video projects, such as adverts and music videos. Eventually, he became the Chief Creative Officer at Framestore. In the time since he started his career, Webber has worked on some of the biggest films of the last two decades, including The Dark Knight, Avatar, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Gravity. 

While working on Gravity, Webber found that his degree became surprisingly useful. “Because of my background in Physics, I had to do a lot of work educating our team of animators. […] When you create computer animation, one of the hardest things to do is […] to make [a person] feel like it has weight. […] To look as though there’s weight to his limbs and his body and the gravity is affecting him.”

“And then suddenly, we were asking them to animate people where there was no gravity. They have no mass, and so there’s still a momentum issue. But there’s no gravity, and there’s no air resistance to slow anything down. They had to unlearn […] a lot of […] the natural things they learned to do in animation. And in order to help them do that, I gave them lectures on physics, lectures in as far as I stood in front of them with a whiteboard, and talked through how the physics of space works.”

Webber credits Gravity as the most difficult project that he’s ever worked on, in part because of the level of computer-generated imagery involved. “It’s hard to give a percentage, but it was like 85% of the images on the screen were created in the computer. […] We were creating every bit of the image apart from their faces.”

“When they’re floating around in their spacesuits outside the ISS, all we were filming was their faces, and then we’d render the spacesuit, even down to the visor in front of their faces, and the breath on the visor.”

“When we set out, a lot of people were saying you can’t do that, that’s impossible. You need to wait 5 years until the technology’s caught up. […] So it was quite a scary endeavour.” While Avatar involved high amounts of computer generated imagery, it “was slightly different, because it was a fantasy world […] whereas [in Gravity] what we were trying to create was something that had to look real.”

The most challenging scene was the opening long shot, which lasts for 17 minutes without any cuts. “It was the first shot that we really started working on in the movie, and the very last shot that we finished at the end of the movie.” The birth scene in Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men presented similar challenges. 

“He loves his long shots. […] He wanted it to be four and a half minutes long. […] First, we had to create a digital baby, and back then, it was a while ago, no one was actually creating believable digital humans back then. No one had created one at all. […] But someone heard people coming out of the cinema talking about the shot, going ‘I can’t believe they’ve managed to persuade the actress to give birth on camera!’ When you hear things like that, that people […] completely believe that moment that you’ve created, it’s very satisfying.”

Still, Webber has enjoyed working on Cuarón’s long shots. “[It’s] a big part of his language, telling films that way. […] If it’s a camera living in the world, and having to physically move from one place to another, [and] the action is actually continuous action, it feels more like these things are actually happening and I think you get immersed in the story much more.”

Because of the unique challenges the film presented, the visual effects in Gravity had to be heavily researched. “It was very interesting to do all the research about life in space and how things worked.” Part of NASA’s remit is to share knowledge with the public. “They take their role in spreading information about space very, very seriously, so there was an unbelievable amount of material to do that research from,” including books about the realities of life on the ISS. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Webber describes The Dark Knight as notably free from CGI. “Christopher Nolan, I think very sensibly, loves to do as much for real as possible. He likes to use his visual effects, but will do as little in visual effects as he possibly can. When he does do stuff in visual effects, he tries to make it as based in reality as possible.”

“When you start to have characters moving around in sort of physically impossible ways, you know that what you’re looking at is not a real human being. […] And I think you lose any human connection with that character.”

One scene that exemplifies Nolan’s approach to The Dark Knight is a scene where the Joker blows up a hospital. “We could have done a hospital exploding in visual effects, but Christopher Nolan, being who he is, found an unused building that was about to be demolished, and actually blew it up for real.” A few days before shooting, the windows were stolen from the building, so Webber and his team had to add them in during post-production. 

Nolan’s minimalistic approach is in some ways quite similar to the way that visual effects used to be done, at the start of Webber’s career. “It was a totally different way of working to what you have to do now, because you were sort of working with rubber bands and a piece of string.”

“But it did teach me to be more innovative and inventive, because we had very basic tools and you had to find ways to do interesting and complex things with the very, very simple tools. You had to bring together all sorts of techniques, whether it was using the digital tools that we had, or filming very particular things in very particular ways to create any effect that you wanted to do.”

Webber told me that, despite his background in visual effects, some of his favourite cinematic moments are those with only simple techniques. He credits one scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark for instilling his love of cinema in him: “It’s a perfect piece of storytelling. It may not be the most amazing visual effects, although it is very, very good for its time. But it’s a perfect piece of storytelling that is just the right moment at the right point in that film.”

Now, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a new set of challenges. In March, the employees at Framestore moved to a working from home approach indefinitely. Working separately has been a particular challenge for their team.

“We have, not much short of 1000 people in the building, and we had to get everyone set up working from home with very, very complex computer systems. It’s a very collaborative process, visual effects, you need teams of people working closely together. So, we did it. You know, it took a couple of weeks, but actually, it’s phenomenal that we managed to get that to happen at all, […] it took a lot of technical innovation and teamwork to make that happen.”

They started out working on footage filmed pre-pandemic, “but now there is suddenly no work.” Crowd scenes have proved a particular challenge, as the ability to bring together large groups of people in real life seems distant. Webber credited his team for their ability to adapt to the new way of working, but pointed out that the film industry may be facing challenges for a long time, with a large number of films delayed until next year. “Even if cinemas open, there’s not going to be an awful lot of material.”

Despite these challenges, Webber and the Framestore team have been involved in some exciting new projects, including Disney’s live-action Mulan remake. Webber himself has now moved on to start directing alongside visual effects supervision, as “It’s the storytelling that I enjoy.” Given his clear passion for doing just that, I’m excited to see what he comes up with next.

Covid-19 immunity lasts months

Daisy Aitchison
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Covid-19 immunity lasts months

An Oxford study has shown that people who have had coronavirus are likely to be immune from the disease for at least six months. 

The research was conducted by University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust over a six-month period. 12,180 healthcare workers were regularly tested for coronavirus to analyse COVID-19 reinfection rates.  

Antibody tests showed that 1,246 employees had already had the virus. 89 of 11,052 staff who had not had the disease at the start of the study went on to develop a symptomatic infection. However, only 3 of those who had previously been infected tested positive for coronavirus a second time.  

The findings show that those who have had Covid-19 are unlikely to test positive again within six months of infection. The study also noted that those who caught the virus for a second time were all asymptomatic. 

These findings mark the first large scale study of the levels of protection those infected by coronavirus have against contracting the disease again. 

Previous research involving staff at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had concluded that antibody levels dropped quickly following infection. This meant individuals were potentially exposed to contracting the virus for a second time. 

The study noted that the drop in antibodies was most significant in young adults. However, the findings are yet to be peer-reviewed.  

Professor David Eyre, a member of the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, highlighted the importance of the new research. 

“We know from a previous study that antibody levels fall over time, but this latest study shows that there is some immunity in those who have been infected. 

 “This ongoing study involving a large cohort of healthcare workers has shown that being infected with COVID-19 does offer protection against reinfection for most people for at least six months.

“This is really good news, as we can be confident that, at least in the short term, most people who get COVID-19 won’t get it again”. 

The study follows announcements of successful coronavirus vaccine trials from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford. There is now optimism that subject to regulatory approval, the UK could begin its vaccination programme next month. 

In the meantime, the country will exit the nationwide lockdown on the 2nd December and move back to a regional three tier system. 

Sue Hopkins, one of the authors of the paper, spoke of the broader importance of the recent Oxford research: 

“This study is a fantastic example of how well-structed long-term cohort surveillance can produce hugely useful results. Studies like this one are absolutely vital in helping us to understand how this new virus behaves and what the implications are for acquired immunity. This, as well as Public Health England’s SIREN study, are key to ensuring that we have the information we need to respond to the pandemic in the most effective way”.

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine up to 90% effective

Amelia Wood
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Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine up to 90% effective

This week, the vaccine being developed by Oxford University and Astrazeneca was found to be highly effective at preventing COVID-19 symptoms.

The preliminary data from phase III clinical trials in Brazil and the UK suggests that the vaccine is 70.4% effective across two different dosing regimes – better than the seasonal flu jab. The vaccine had 62% efficacy when two full doses were given to nearly 9,000 people at least a month apart. However a further study of 3,000 people found that the vaccine was 90% effective if a half dose was administered first, followed by a full dose at least a month later. It is not yet clear why the two regimes produced such different rates of immunity. 

The full phase III analysis and safety data will now be submitted for independent peer review as well as to government regulators around the world. 

Astrazeneca has already agreed orders for hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine, including up to 400 million to Europe’s Inclusive Vaccines Alliance and 300 million to the US. The UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, which given the optimal dosage regime, should be enough to immunise the entire population. Four million doses of the vaccine are ready to be distributed, pending regulatory approval. Although it is unclear who will receive the first available doses. Astrazeneca has said that it is prepared to produce up to three billion doses in 2021. 

The announcement is excellent news for global access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Hailing its effort as the “vaccine for the world”, Astrazeneca has promised to produce the vaccine at cost for the course of the pandemic and ensure that low-income countries are not at the back of the queue for doses. 

The Oxford vaccine is much more accessible in cost and storage than its Pfizer and Moderna counterparts, which both announced around 95% efficacy last week. The vaccine is stable at standard fridge temperatures of between 2-8 degrees celsius. This makes it much easier to distribute than the other vaccines, which all require sub-zero temperatures to remain stable. It is also much cheaper at around £3 per dose compared to £15 for Pfizer’s or £25 for Moderna’s. 

Oxford has taken a completely different approach to both Pfizer and Moderna. The Oxford vaccine is developed from a genetically modified common cold virus (adenovirus). Adenovirus vaccines have been in use and researched for decades. Pzifer and Moderna have taken a more experimental approach called mRNA, which involves injecting part of the virus’s genetic code into the body in order to train the immune system against it. If this strategy proves effective, it will pave the way for a new era in vaccine technology. 

Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford, said:

‘This is a great day for the University of Oxford and for universities everywhere. Pushing at the frontiers of knowledge with partners across the globe and putting our extraordinary brainpower in service to society, is what we do best.’

Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said:

‘Today marks an important milestone in our fight against the pandemic. This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency. Furthermore, the vaccine’s simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad, equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval.’

Image credit: Retha Ferguson / Wikimedia Commons

BREAKING: Some students won’t return to university until February

Abigail Howe
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BREAKING: Some students won’t return to university until February

The Department for Education, outlining plans for returning to universities in England after Christmas, has asked that institutions stagger the return of students over five weeks in order to “ensure the safety of students and staff”.

Students who will be prioritised for an early return include those on placements or practical courses with a need for in-person teaching (including music, dance, drama, the sciences, medicine, nursing and dentistry).

Subjects starting later, according to the BBC, will include “English literature, history and maths”. By 7 February, all students should have returned.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “This is a step forward, but plans for next term still pose a risk to staff and student safety. Universities must work with the government to support students who decide the reality of life on campus during this pandemic isn’t for them, including releasing them from accommodation contracts.”

Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said when announcing the plans: “The health and wellbeing of students, staff and local communities is always our primary concern and this plan will enable a safer return for all students.

“But we must do this in a way which minimises the risk of transmission. I know students have had to make sacrifices this year and have faced a number of challenges, but this staggered return will help to protect students, staff and communities.”

Students will also be offered two lateral flow tests when they arrive back, echoing the current optional lateral flow tests provided for students as they leave for the Christmas vacation. Speaking regarding these tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I encourage all students to play their part in bringing this virus under control by getting tested twice, and by following the restrictions in place when travelling to and from university this term.”

It is not yet clear how these plans will be implemented at the University of Oxford.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as further information is provided.

Image Credit: Pixabay.

Oxford alumnus funds bursary for visually impaired students

Trudy Ross
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Oxford alumnus funds bursary for visually impaired students

Former Oxford student Christopher Moore has established a new bursary to improve the experience of visually impaired undergraduates.

The bursary includes three separate stages of funding: funding for travel to Oxford and accommodation before the student starts their degree, in order to familiarise them with their surroundings; funding for activity or equipment which is not covered through statutory funding but is likely to enhance their Oxford experience; and funding for internships which will cover travel, accommodation, daily stipends, and any costs specific to the needs of visually impaired students.

Moore, who attended University College between 1994 and 1997, is himself registered as blind. His personal experience as a visually impaired student propelled him to set up the scheme.

Moore told the university’s press team: “In setting up this bursary, I wanted to prevent anyone visually impaired with the academic ability to get into Oxford, being daunted from applying or accepting their place because of their disability. We need to challenge this belief that visual impairment prevents you from achieving potential: academically, socially, or that it should impact your career ambitions.

“When I was applying to Oxford, my biggest concern was getting the grades I needed. I was so convinced I wouldn’t, that I almost turned down my offer, until my headmaster reminded me that “you do not reject Oxford”.

“I feel I was lucky educationally, to have attended a mainstream secondary school and then to live in-college at Univ throughout my time as an undergraduate, which given its central location was very helpful in maximising my mobility around the city. And, I think there are things that non-visually impaired students take for granted that visually impaired students do not – lots of little things that can put them off accepting offers.

“A lot of visually impaired students could well be academically able enough to get into Oxford, however their school journey may limit opportunities for teenage social interaction, which would make them even more nervous about being away from home in a new environment. There are obstacles that either the University or the city might present, including adapting to such a unique style of learning as Oxford’s – even the tutorial system is quite an adjustment that relies on the recognition of facial expressions and body language. I want all visually-impaired applicants to have the same opportunities as I have, and not let anything hold them back.”

Professor Martin Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at Oxford, said: “At Oxford we are working hard to remove the barriers that disabled students face, but we know there is more to do. I’m therefore very excited by this new bursary, which is an important source of support in helping visually impaired students to achieve their potential. From the orientation visit through to the internship support, each phase of the bursary has been carefully considered to enable students to concentrate on important aspects of university life: the academic demands, social life and future career opportunities.”

You can visit the Disability Advisory Service pages on the Oxford University website at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability to find out more about the support offered to visually impaired students at Oxford.

Image Credit: Eugene Birchall. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Oxford study identifies prisoners for priority vaccination

Eilidh Roberts
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Oxford study identifies prisoners for priority vaccination

A new Oxford study identified prison inmates and staff as top priorities for the impending coronavirus vaccine.

The study, by the university’s Psychiatry Department reviewed outbreak studies of 28 highly contagious diseases including Covid-19, influenza and measles. They concluded that those living and working in prisons should be front of the queue for any prospective COVID-19 vaccine. 

According to Professor Seena Fazel at Oxford University’s Psychiatry Department: the sub-optimal prison environment means that “prisons are high-risk settings for the transmission of contagious diseases and there are considerable challenges in managing outbreaks in them”.

Inmates are also disproportionately affected by outbreaks. Many prisoners have underlying health conditions or are from minority ethnic groups, making them more at risk from the disease. Moreover, the high number of staff who work at these institutions provide a vector for the virus to spread throughout the rest of the community.

Prisons have been a hotbed for coronavirus transmission. At the end of October, the Ministry of Justice announced that there had been over 1,500 positive cases of Coronavirus in England and Wales’ 99 prison establishments since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, the UK Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation does not currently list inmates and prison-staff in those who can apply for early vaccination. 

The situation in US prisons is worse than that of the UK. As of November 16th, just under the same number as have tested positive in UK prisons have died from coronavirus-related complications, and over 200,000 individuals have tested positive for the disease, according to the New York times. The Association’s Public Health reference committee said that 19 out of 20 of the US’s largest Covid clusters are in prisons or jails, with a“growth rate that doubly outpaces the general population”. 

As a result, the American Medical Association has echoed the Oxford study’s findings: a recent meeting saw overwhelming support for prison inmates and staff to be first in line for the vaccine. One medical student delegate from Tallahassee said that safety measures like physical distancing were “simply infeasible” in prison settings. Additionally, inmates’ mental health was a concern, with the Association’s Tiffany Bell of the Section Council on Psychiatry noting that 20% of inmates suffer from serious mental illness.

The Association also went a step further than the Oxford study, suggesting that inmates with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of less than twelve months should qualify for early release, allowing them to return home for the remainder of their lives and hopefully avoid contracting COVID-19.

Image credit: Pixabay

Final consultations for Zero Emissions Zone

Sonya Ribner
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Final consultations for Zero Emissions Zone

The final consultation period for the Oxford Zero Emissions Zone (ZEZ) launched this past week and remains open until January 17, 2021. Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council are asking residents, businesses, and visitors for their position on a revised ZEZ Pilot proposal, after a similar consultation was paused in March 2020 due to the pandemic. The “Red Zone,” or the ZEZ pilot area, will comprise Bonn Square, Queen Street, Cornmarket, part of Market Street, Ship Street, St Michael’s Street, New Inn Hall Street, and Shoe Lane.

Under the current plan, non-zero emission vehicles using the zones between 07:00 and 19:00 will be subject to charges. This summer, the charge will go into effect in the “Red Zone.” Discounts have been proposed for residents and business vehicles, as well as Blue Badge holders, for the first years of the ZEZ’s enforcement. The revenue raised by the ZEZ will cover costs of implementation. Any remaining income will be directed toward assisting Oxford residents and businesses with the transition to zero emissions vehicles.

While it remains to be seen how the charge on diesel and gas cars will impact tourism, local businesses, and constituents’ daily lives, the ZEZ will certainly improve the living conditions of the Oxford community. In January 2020, a study conducted by the Centre for Cities found that at least 1 in 17 deaths in Oxford is related to air pollution. A report issued by Public Health England in 2014 showed that long term exposure to poor air quality in Oxford could be responsible for 6% of all deaths of people aged 25 and over.

The increase in Oxford’s toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels between 2018 and 2019 due to extreme episodes of cold weather emphasizes the need for decisive climate action. Oxford City Council’s ZEZ initiative reacts to the recent findings of its Source Appointment Study that transport sectors are the most significant source of NO2 emissions in the city, accounting for about 68% of total emissions.

Oxford has been billed as the first “true” zero emissions zone in the world. After the ZEZ Pilot, the ZEZ will be widened to cover the entire city center by Spring 2022. The Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council share the aim to make the whole of Oxford a Zero Emissions Zone by 2030, consistent with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent announcement that new cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel will not be sold in the UK from 2030.

Although neither council currently has a plan to work with other localities on the implementation of a zero emissions strategy, the Oxford Zero Emissions Zone can serve as an instructive model for cities and counties that wish to take concrete steps toward combatting the climate crisis.

Image Credit: Ceridwen. Licence: CC-BY-2.0.

“Trans-exclusionary” group Woman’s Place UK received £20,000 “consultancy fee” from University

Abigail Howe
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“Trans-exclusionary” group Woman’s Place UK received £20,000 “consultancy fee” from University

Woman’s Place UK received £20,000 in return for consultancy work as part of the University of Oxford’s project Women and Equalities Law: Historical Perspectives on Present Issues. In their 2018-2020 financial statement, the group explained: “We received a consultancy fee of £20,000 from Oxford University to support research into women’s sex based rights… The funding from Oxford University went towards the costs of the Women’s Liberation 2020 conference and in support of The Political Erasure of Sex research project.” £20,000 is the largest single amount recorded in the financial statement and represents 15.7% of the group’s total income from January 2018 to October 2020. The group does not publicly advertise any consultancy services.

This funding has culminated in a research project titled The Political Erasure of Sex. On the project’s website, the first report, Sex and the Census, is described as one which “explores how the almost exclusive reliance on consulting with stakeholders from LGBT organisations led the census authorities to conflate the concepts of sex and gender identity, confuse what they are measuring, and redefine the sex question on the census as a gender identity question. This process, we show, has happened without democratic transparency or accountability, and to the detriment of the interests of people who are protected in law under the characteristic of sex, and to the needs of data-users more widely”.

Sex and the Census claims that “the UK census authorities are jeopardising our ability to collect robust, high quality sex-disaggregated data in the forthcoming UK census” due to “changes to the sex question in the census” so “the sex question now records ‘self-identified sex’, or gender identity, rather than biological sex”. The report concludes that “the demands of groups which claim to represent the interests of the trans community have been privileged to the detriment of women, but also to those who require robust data on sex to plan public services, allocate public resources and monitor equalities outcomes”.

The History Faculty, which hosts Women and Equalities Law: Historical Perspectives on Present Issues, has described the project further, explaining how it was “funded by Strategic Priority QR funding allocated to Oxford University. It is led by Professor Selina Todd and aims to use existing research to inform policymaking in the area of women’s equalities… An outcome of the project is a report examining the importance of collecting data on men and women in national records such as the census. This report has been disseminated to policymakers and bodies responsible for designing and delivering the next UK census in 2021 (2022 in Scotland)”.

Professor Selina Todd has been described as having “anti-trans beliefs” by the Oxford SU LBGTQ Campaign and was disinvited from the Oxford International Women’s Festival in March on the basis of her views regarding gender identity. Todd has also described herself as a “strong supporter” of Woman’s Place UK and co-signed a letter to the Labour Party regarding the Party’s inclusion of transgender women within their all-women shortlists. The letter claimed that this stance was “asserting gender identity over sex-based exemptions” and did not uphold women’s rights to “sex-segregated spaces”. The letter continued that “we will not tolerate women being slurred with the misogynist insult TERF [Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist] or being called ‘cis’ against their will”. The Labour Campaign for Trans Rights has criticised Woman’s Place UK, describing them as a “trans-exclusionary hate group”. The campaign’s pledges labelling WPUK as such were signed by politicians including Lisa Nandy, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Dawn Butler, and Emily Thornberry.

The Oxford Student Union LGBTQ Campaign responded to Woman’s Place UK’s consultancy work: “The campaign is horrified but not shocked to learn of the university’s financial contributions to WPUK. We do not believe that the presence of WPUK in Oxford or the university’s monetary support of them is compatible with any effort to create an environment that is welcoming or supportive of trans students and employees, but the institution’s failure to listen to its trans students makes its repeated positive engagement with this group less surprising than disappointing”.

Woman’s Place UK declined to expand on the precise nature of their consultancy work for the University and referred to the claims of the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights as “scurrilous and unevidenced”, continuing: “We are against all forms of discrimination. We believe in the right of everyone to live their lives free from discrimination and harassment…We were established to ensure that very real concerns about how changes to the GRA might impact on the Equality Act were considered in the government’s public consultation… Sadly, several LGBT+ organisations (Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence, Scottish Trans Alliance) have actively lobbied to have these single sex exemptions removed from the Equality Act. It is perfectly proper that women should be able to campaign to keep them”.

When approached for comment by Cherwell, the University provided a link to the project’s website.

Professor Selina Todd and the History Faculty have been approached for comment.

Image Credit: Pixabay.

University Covid-19 cases this week at record-low of 21

David Tritsch
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University Covid-19 cases this week at record-low of 21

Oxford University’s testing service has confirmed a record-low of 21 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff for the week 21st-27th November, with a positivity rate of 15%. Following a drop from 126 to 40 confirmed cases, this marks a further reduction in weekly numbers by 50%.

This term started off with close to 200 new cases confirmed in each week, until new case numbers began falling in weeks 4 and 5. However, the number of tests conducted in these later weeks was down almost 50% compared to earlier this term, while the test positivity rate reached record highs. By week 5, the University’s testing service had recorded almost 1,000 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff (Oxford’s current student population is close to 24,000). Week 6 marked the first substantial drop in the positivity rate to 17.2%, down from its peak at 34% in week 4. New case numbers also dropped by 70% that week. This week continues a trend of rapidly dropping new case numbers, with several colleges recording no active cases at all.

This week, the University will provide Lateral Flow Immunoassay Tests (LFIA) to all students before they leave. In an email to students, the Vice Chancellor confirmed that “Colleagues across the collegiate University are working hard to ensure that we will be able to offer two lateral flow tests to all students in 8th week so that you can safely travel home for Christmas confident that you will not be endangering the health of your family and friends.” The test requires individuals to take a swab of their nose and throat and insert it into a tube of liquid for a short time, with a result provided after 20 to 30 minutes. They are aimed at potentially supplementing, rather than replacing, the standard use of RT-PCR (reference test polymerase chain reaction) tests.

Lateral Flow Tests have received criticism for not being sensitive enough to allow for a “test and release” strategy to allow students to go home from university. The ongoing assessment, carried out by Public Health England’s Porton Down laboratory and the University of Oxford, tested a number of lateral flow devices in different settings including hospitals, schools, and universities. The test’s sensitivity was reported at 58% when used by the public, with a false positive rate of 0.38%. This would mean that the tests may miss half of COVID-19 cases. However, the test’s sensitivity rose to over 95% in individuals with high viral loads, meaning that it will likely identify those who are most likely to go on to infect others. Jon Deeks, Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, has noted that of 100,000 people being tested, Lateral Flow Tests, would, on average, find 630 positives – of which only 230 would actually have the virus, while 400 would be false positives.

Students who are travelling overseas may need to provide a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test result, which is more reliable than Lateral Flow Tests. Some colleges are offering standard RT-PCR home test kits, including Lady Margaret Hall and Green Templeton College, who are offering travel tests at a price of £115 to their students.

The University has implemented a four-stage emergency response, depending on how wide the spread of Covid-19 is. The current status is Stage 2, which allows the University to operate “in line with social distancing restrictions with as full a student cohort as possible on site”, with teaching and assessment taking place “with the optimum combination of in-person teaching and online learning”. A Stage 3 response would imply “no public access to the University or College buildings” and “gatherings for staff and students only permitted where essential for teaching and assessment to take place”.

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