The News from the Dark Blues

Michelle Obama is a pretty big deal, and Oxford was rather caught up in her visit. The First Lady came to Christ Church (no fair – Harry Potter was filmed there and now this) last Wednesday to give a talk to girls from Elizabeth Garrett School, a comprehensive from London that is listed as amongst the 2% most deprived schools and with which Obama has links. The pupils were there for an ‘immersion day’ as part of Oxford’s access scheme. They were treated to some fairy inspirational stuff – as well as some typical American politics-style guff. A favourite is “you have to practise who you want to be”. This means, well, what exactly?

Sticking with education, the backlash against University Minister David Willetts continues. “What Willett Come to Next?” asked The Oxford Student, reporting on the University Vice Chancellor Andrew Hamilton being in direct correspondence – from one 50-something bald man to another – with Willetts. Underpinning the tension between the two men is the news that the University plans to pass a motion of no confidence in the minister. Willett be all over for David? We shall see.

Moving from high politics to low, day-to-day matters, the University sex survey has caught our attention as well as yours at The Tab. Though admittedly fewer than 50 students replied from each, Oxford came 32^nd in terms of how many sexual partners the average pupil had had. Cambridge was markedly lower (56^th), but one Tab student responded by telling Cherwell: “I think it’s all about quality rather than quantity – someone at Cambridge would definitely give a better shag.”

Not all Oxonians were happy with the news.  One member of the Christian Union was reported saying, “it’s a real shame that the value of chastity is not as high as it once was… it’s disappointing to hear that Oxford is moving away from old established values.” Perhaps they should move to Cambridge, where excellence in tiddlywinks has its downsides.

As if FIFA weren’t bad enough, there’s been talk of electoral malpractice in the St Catz JCR elections, where the claws are out. The IT officer monitoring the election leaked ballot results to someone running for treasurer before the polls had closed, who was able to see the names of those who voted. The JCR subsequently scraped ballot papers and ordered a new vote the next day. It was an incident Michelle Obama could probably understand well from her husband’s days in the rough-and-tumble of Chicago politics. Or maybe not.