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4 NEWSChief News Editors: Katherine Faulkner, Katy Lee and Camilla Templenews@varsity.co.ukFriday November 2 2007varsity.co.uk/newsStudents demand divestment from SudanKatherine FaulknerChief News EditorThirty Cambridge students protestedoutside the Sudanese Financeand Investment Conferencein London on Tuesday, claimingthat British investment in oil companiesis indirectly funding theconflict in Darfur.Sudan Divestment UK, an organizationset up by Cambridge students,aims to convince companieswhich they believe to be providingthe Government of Sudan with revenue,arms or diplomatic cover toinvest elsewhere. They claim that“foreign investment, particularly inthe oil sector, is central to the Governmentof Sudan’s ability to fundmilitias and therefore perpetuategenocide in Darfur”.Despite a last minute reschedulingand change of venue, SDUKmanaged to fill a minibus with Cambridgestudents armed with banners,placards and a megaphone.“The media interest in the conference,which has been generated bySDUK, cannot have made organisationeasy for what was meant tobe an under the radar conference,”said Arjun Chandna, a finalist atCaius and member of SDUK. “Theycouldn’t ignore our presence.”Conference participants were unwillingto engage with the protestors.When one SDUK member addressedthe conference on the ethicsof investment in Sudanese oil, an attendeereplied, “I don’t believe thereis such a thing as ethical policy”.Labour MP Martin Salter attendedthe event and extended his supportfor the issue by being photographedwith protesters. Salter hadpreviously signed the Early DayMotion 1338, in which MPs voicedtheir support for the implementationof the UN peacekeeping forceby the 31 st of December 2007.“The protest was a success,” saidChandna. “We ensured that theconference did not go unnoticedand was associated with a lot ofnegative publicity. It would havebeen a disgrace if a conferencepromoting investment into the Sudaneseoil sector had been allowedto progress seamlessly, despite theUK parliament advising againstany such investments until Sudanhad upheld the ComprehensivePeace Agreement.”Hamish Falconer, John’s finalistand Director of SDUK, agreed.“People were obviously angry aboutthe conference, and more protestorsthan delegates actually turned up.Our next aim is to encourage theUniversity to divest itself of sharesin these companies, which would bean important symbolic gesture.”Students protesting outside the Sudanese Finance and Investment ConferenceKARL ZAMMIT-MAEMPELOxbridge access targetsare ‘unachievable’Decca MuldowneyThe head of an Oxford college hasstated that Oxbridge will miss itstargets for admissions and applicationsfrom state schools “for theforeseeable future”.Alan Ryan, Warden of New College,Oxford, argued last week thatboth universities were “foolish” tothink they could achieve targetsset in 2006, when Oxford pledgedto increase applicants and Cambridgeto increase admissions fromstate schools.His comments follow suggestionsby the Universities Secretary JohnDenham last month that the “mostsought-after” universities werebiased against those from lowersocial backgrounds, resulting in “ahuge waste of talent”.The University disagreed withRyan’s analysis, claiming: “It is byno means a foregone conclusion thatthe University will miss these milestones.”A spokesman stressed thatthe University is “committed to ensuringthat it is accessible to youngpeople of the highest intellectual potentialwhatever their background”.However, figures publishedearlier this year showed that theproportion of new undergraduatesfrom the lowest social classes felllast year at both universities. Accordingto figures from the HigherEducation Statistics Agency, just57.9 per cent of students at Cambridgeare from state schools, whilethe figure for Oxford was only 53.7per cent last year.Ryan called Denham’s accusations“silly”, arguing that Oxbridgespend a great deal of money sendingambassadors to state schools andorganising summer schools.CUSU access officer CharlotteRicher supported this view. Shetold Varsity that Cambridge spendsin excess of £3m a year on outreachwork. “The level of criticism aimedat Oxford and Cambridge is hugelyfrustrating to those of us who devoteconsiderable amounts of timeto breaking down misperceptions,”she said.“In the media, it quickly becomesa blame game, with the University,the government and the schools inturn becoming victims or victimisers.The truth is probably somewhere inthe middle: the University does needto continue to do more, but can onlyachieve so much within the limits ofthe wider education system.”Cambridge University TM Society presentsThe David Lynch Lecture“Consciousness-Based Education: For Stress-freeSchools and Academic Excellence”Guest Speaker: Dr Ashley Deans, head teacherof the award-winning Invincible School usingTranscendental Meditation to develop students’full brain potential.Gonville and Caius College,Senior Parlour, Thursday 8th October11:30am – 2:30pm. Light lunch provided.Booking advisable: patrice.gladwin@ntlworld.com01223 570873 No conference fee“My Peak challenge: to give every studenttotal consciousness, a coherent brain.”www.DavidLynchFoundation.org
Friday November 2 2007varsity.co.uk/newsGot a news story?01223 337575NEWS5Sidney Sussex bursary fundmanager embezzled £56,000»First known case of major theft by a senior member of staff in the University’s historyKaty LeeChief News EditorA former employee of Sidney SussexCollege has been given a suspended12 month jail sentence afterstealing more than £56,000 from thecollege. Robert Page, the college’sformer bursary manager, was foundguilty of one charge of theft andnine of false accounting at CambridgeCrown Court last Friday.In 2001 Page began to removemoney from the college’s bank account.He would replace the sumsusing cheques payable to SidneySussex by other Cambridge colleges,local businesses and CambridgeCity Council to repay sumshe had taken from the college’sbank account. On several timesbetween 2005 and 2006 Page stolecash directly from college bar takings.The court heard that he hadbeen moved to steal from his employerafter accumulating largecredit card debts due to extensiverenovation work on his house.“Sidney Sussex College discoveredhe was stealing from the barproceeds last year, when they noticeda discrepancy in the collegebank account,” said DetectiveConstable Peter Savage, headof the Counter Fraud InvestigationDivision at Cambridgeshirepolice. The college carried out aninternal investigation in May 2006and Page admitted to the theft.He was dismissed from his postand the case was handed over tothe police.“The college did not realise thefull extent of the fraud up untilthis point,” said Detective ConstableSavage. “It was only duringthe year long police investigationthat the cheque replacementscheme, which he had used a lotmore, was discovered and the collegebecame aware that a lot morehad been stolen than they initiallythought.” Page has since used hispension to pay back £34,000, butthe college believes that £22,614remains outstanding.Sara Walker, prosecuting, saidPage’s crimes had remained unnoticedby the college for five yearsSidney Sussex has not yet fully recovered the moneybecause of his seniority. But DrGeorge Reid, Acting Bursar ofSidney Sussex, said: “The difficultyin discovering Mr Page’s theftwas the result of his position,rather than his seniority. He wasa trusted employee of the Collegeof very long standing who seriouslyabused that trust.”Dr Reid told Varsity that thecollege has modified its financialsystem to ensure that large scaletheft by employees does not happenagain. “The College has madea number of changes of procedureafter consultation with its auditors,which should serve to preventa similar incident in the future,”he said.In court, Page pleaded guiltyto one charge of theft and nine offalse accounting. He also asked for38 other charges linked to the caseto be taken into account. In additionto a 12 month prison term,which has been suspended for 18months due to concerns over thecare of his wife, Page has beenordered to carry out 120 hours ofunpaid work.Melanie Benn, defending, arguedthat Page’s grief after thedeath of his nephew and the illnessof his wife and mother should betaken into account. “He has showna great deal of remorse over whathas happened. He didn’t believethere were any victims, but thecollege is a victim.” Before histhefts were discovered, Page hadamended his will to include the donationof his house to the college.But he believes this bequest mayno longer be appropriate.Judge Jonathan Haworth toldPage, “I have no doubt you feelthe utmost shame. It is a big fallfor someone who was as respectedas you were in the college.”Page had been working at SidneySussex College for more than 40years. He joined the college as apart time waiter in 1961 whilestudying for a business qualificationat Anglia Polytechnic, nowAnglia Ruskin University.He acquired a full time job atChurchill College after graduatingbut continued to work as awaiter at Sidney, and left Churchillfor good in 1974 after he was offereda position as steward’s clerkin Sidney’s college office. The lastpost he held was that of bursarymanager, a managerial post underthat of Bursar.Page considered himself a popularmember of college staff. In aninterview with Sidney’s collegemagazine ElSid in 2005, he said,“I still get letters from all overthe world. Daughters and sons offormer students drop in to see mewhen they come back as studentsor visit Cambridge.” He was alsoan active member of the communityin his home village of Longstantonand had been trusted withDYLAN SPENCER-DAVIDSONthe management of funds as treasurerof the Longstanton Sportsand Social Club.Detective Constable Savagetold Varsity that this is the firsttime to his knowledge that a majorcase of theft by a member ofstaff has occurred within CambridgeUniversity.Oxbridge ‘indoctrinates our future leaders’Angela FanshaweBritish forces are “overstretched”in Iraq and Afghanistan because thegovernment is suffering from imperialisticdelusions of grandeur, the historianCorrelli Barnett has claimed.Addressing an audience atChurchill College last Thursday ata seminar to celebrate his eightiethbirthday, Barnett, a Churchillfellow and outspoken critic of thewar in Iraq, said that Britain’s politicalelite still mistakenly regardtheir country as a world power. Headded that this view was a relic ofthe days of the British Empire andhas remained “the besetting sin ofBritish total strategy right up tothe present day”.“At the present time, the Britisharmy and its air support arejust too small to fight simultaneouslarge-scale guerrilla wars in Iraqand Afghanistan,” argued Barnett,calling the invasions “a case of trueoverstretch. It is why our commitmentin Iraq is being gradually cutback – simply to enable us to concentrateour limited strength onAfghanistan.”Barnett went on to the question ofwhy Britain has retained such “foliede grandeur” in post-war times. Hesuggested that the elite of today followedin the mindset of the 1950s elite,who “remained prisoners of their indoctrinationat public school and Oxbridge”and were “programmed tobe house prefects to the world”.He drew comparisons betweencurrent British leadership andSir Anthony Eden, Prime Ministerduring the Suez Crisis of 1956.Quoting Eden as saying in 1952that “our worldwide commitmentsare inescapable”, he went on toargue that “Gordon Brown andDavid Cameron would probablysay the same today. Tony Blair certainlydid.”The public seminar, entitled“Overstretched? The making andimpact of the UK’s defence reviewssince 1957”, was attended bysenior military and governmentalfigures, including the British Army’sformer chief of general staff,General Sir Mike Jackson.Sir John Nott, the former ConservativeDefence Secretary whoalso spoke at the seminar, was incomplete agreement with the historian.He described British forcesas “doing far too much”.But Dr Piers Brendon, a historyfellow at Churchill, told Varsity: “Idon’t subscribe to the notion thatthe political elite is a prisoner of itspublic school and Oxbridge ‘indoctrination’;it is too simplistic.“I do admire the sustained andcourageous way in which CorrelliBarnett opposed Tony Blair’s disastrouspolicy over Iraq.”Dr Martin Stephen, High Masterof St. Paul’s School, has commented,“It is quite extraordinary thatBarnett sees independent schoolsand Oxbridge as ‘indoctrinating’their students. Can he reallybe talking about the schools thatproduced George Orwell, ClementAttlee and Anthony WedgewoodBenn, and thousands uponthousands of other independentlyminded people?”He was otherwise full of praise forCorrelli Barnett, describing him as“a superb interpreter of the past”and “one of the most stimulating historiansthis country has produced.”Concluding his address, Barnettsaid that he had not had time todiscuss the current British Tridentnuclear missile system. But he didremark that the programme was“the supreme example of overstretchstemming from ‘folie degrandeur’.”
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Page 16 and 17: Careers ServiceAutumn Careers Event
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Page 28 and 29: Europe, piercing, necromancy and al
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