News in Brief

By Unknown Author

Chirac to speak

French President Jacques Chirac will address an invited audience of students at Rhodes House tomorrow morning. The event follows today's UK-French summit held in London. President Chirac will be greeted by the Chancellor, Chris Pattern, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, and his predecessor, Sir Colin Lucas.

Thefts faked

One in four reported thefts in Oxford is fraudulent, according to Thames Valley Police. A spate of such incidents have involved students at Oxford Brookes, with one girl faking an assault and several others covering up lost phones by claiming theft. Two students are set to become the first to receive the Fixed Penalty Fine, which comes to £80.

Literary Pattern

It has been reported that Chris Patten has personally intervened in an attempt to keep the Abinger Papers, which include the first manuscript of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in the Bodleian Library. Despite having raised £850,000 since The National Heritage Memorial Fund granted £3m, there still remains a further £100,000 outstanding until the reserve price, due next April, is acheived.

Light advent-ure

Oxford City Council have entered into the spirit of Christmas by pledging to increase the amount of lights festooning the city over the next two years. Additionally, Broad Street will play host to a larger Christmas tree, and increased efforts will be seen in Worcester Street car park, Thames Street, the Plain roundabout and New Street. It appears they really do know it's Christmas, after all.

Access open to journals

OULS Director Ronald Milne has announced a new policy to ensure access to online resources. Some bona fide readers had complained of being denied access to online journals, despite the Bod's status as a publicly funded copyright library.

McClelland slammed

The No campaign in the Student Union Referendum on their policy against directive pregnancy advice has been dealt a blow by being ordered to return ten barcodes to the election staff. The ruling, made by the Returning Officer, was implemented after St Hilda's JCR President Suzanne McClelland circulated an email to her college's mailing list that contravened referendum regulations.

State school increase

The number of students at Oxford University from poorer backgrounds has risen dramatically in the last five years. State school admissions at Oxford have increased from 47 per cent to 55 per cent, mirroring a national increase from 61 per cent to 68 per cent across all universities.

18th Nov 2004