[HDNG]OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION (OUSU):[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]P4[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] 4 sabbaticals [BULL] Turnout at last ballot: 30%[ESTAT][PARA][ITAL]The big thing about OUSU is that it doesn't have a union building. [PARA]Well, they feel really insecure about it anyway. Being a strongly [PARA]collegiate University, the colleges provide most of the services [PARA]that students' unions offer elsewhere. The purpose of OUSU is [PARA]largely to step in at a University-wide level on representation and [PARA]campaigning. It also provides a soap box for students who find [PARA]their college's Junior Common Room ('JCRs' are mini students' [PARA]unions) too parochial. The JCRs affiliate to OUSU and give it [PARA]much of its funding and so OUSU isn't a member of NUS, but [PARA]some JCRs are. Confused? Well, don't worry, it's not important.[PARA]The important thing to know is that every student is a member of [PARA]OUSU, but, like anywhere else, it is run by a collection of hack [PARA]activists. It is also worth noting the phenomenal number of clubs [PARA]OUSU co-ordinates and their excellent publications such as the [PARA]Oxford Handbook, the Alternative Prospectus (see above), [PARA]Freshers' Guide, a variety of handbooks and so on. Politically, [PARA]OUSU is a bit to the left of many Oxford's students, but the far [PARA]left are conspicuous by their relative rarity. Many Oxford [PARA]students (and this applies particularly to OUSU) are [PARA]self-consciously tolerant and open to new ideas, but, at the end of[PARA]the day, expect other people to listen to them and agree.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]SU facilities: [EBOLD]Stationery/sweetie shop and student discount cards.[HDNG]CLUBS (NON SPORTING):[EHDNG][PARA]Acoustic Music; Africa; Air Squadron; Alice (Lewis Carroll [PARA]appreciation); Amnesty International; Apathy; Arcadian Singers [PARA](unaccompanied singing); Archaeological; Architectural; Art; [PARA]Arthurian; Artificial Intelligence; Arts; Asian; Astronomical; [PARA]Australia; Bach Choir; Ba'hai; Ballroom Dancing; Bell Ringing; [PARA]Book-Lovers; Black Caucus; Bonn (Oxford's German twin town); [PARA]Bow Group (Conservative ideology); Brazilian; Buddhist; [PARA]Caledonian (Scottish dancing); Friend of Cambodia; Campaign for[PARA]an Independent Europe (anti-Maastricht); Canadian; Caribbean; [PARA]Caving; Central America Support; Ceroc (French-style jive [PARA]dancing); Chamber Choir; Champagne Socialists; Choice (teacher[PARA]and pupil support); Christian Aid; Student Christian Movement; [PARA]Christian Science; Classical; Alternative Classical; Classical [PARA]Drama; Colombian; Comedy Cellar; Comic Books; Community [PARA]Church; Computing; Contemporary Music; Cranmer (Anglican [PARA]Christian); Creative Writing; Cribbage; C S Lewis Appreciation; [PARA]Cypriot; Dangerous Sports; Diplomatic (tactical board games); Dr [PARA]Who; Douglas Adams ('Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy'); Early[PARA]Music; East Asian Research; Educational Exchange (studying [PARA]abroad); English-Speaking Union; Enterprise; Esperanto; [PARA]European Community; Exploration; Film Foundation; Alternative [PARA]Film; Food and Wine; Freedom (dance music); French; Gamelan [PARA](Javanese percussion); German; Gilbert and Sullivan; Go (oriental [PARA]game); Greek; Guitar; History; History Alive!; Homeless Action; [PARA]Hong Kong; Humanist; Hunt Sabs; Indie Music; Inner Temple [PARA](Law); International Political Economy; Investment; Israel; Italian; [PARA]Japanese; Juggling; Kites; Laissez-Faire Dining (individual [PARA]freedoms and food); Latin American; Law; L'Chaim (Jewish [PARA]cultural); Legal Aid; Light Entertainment; Links (St John's [PARA]Ambulance); Literary Society; Living Marxism; La Maison [PARA]Franìaise (French cultural); Malaysia-Singapore; Malaysian; [PARA]Middle-East; Middle Temple (Law); Monty Python Appreciation; [PARA]Motor Drivers; Natural History; Natural Philosophy; New [PARA]Testament; Numismatic (Coins); Ockham (academic); Opera; [PARA]Ornithology; Pacific Rim; Past and Present Historical; Pastorate [PARA](Christian); Peripheral Vision (film/Third World issues); Club de [PARA]Petanque (French game); Philharmonia; Plough [PARA](bio-environmental); Poetry; Polish and Central European; Politics;[PARA]Pooh Sticks (A A Milne appreciation); Practical Arts; Psychology;[PARA]Railway; Reformed Church; Role-Playing Games; Russian; Save [PARA]the Children; Schola Cantoram (Chamber Choir); Scientific; Sci-Fi[PARA]and Fantasy; Scottish Dance (not the Caledonian Club!); Scout [PARA]and Guide; Sherlock Holmes; Sinfonietta (chamber orchestra); [PARA]Soul Appreciation; Soviet Jewry Campaign; Space Exploration; [PARA]Spanish; Star Trek; Strategic Studies; Tawney (discussion); [PARA]Theatre-Going; Tolkein; Tory Reform; Turf (horse-racing and [PARA]gambling); UNICEF; Upfront (soul/hip-hop/house disco); Vedic [PARA](Indian); Vegetarian; Visual Productions (film/video); Wagner [PARA](appreciation); Wargaming; Welsh; John Wesley (Christian); [PARA]Wheatsheaf (pub philosophy); Wind Orchestra; Wine Circle; [PARA]WWF; Wychwood Warriors (dark ages); Yank (Americans).[HDNG]OTHER ORGANISATIONS:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]Students who spend their days at Oxford doing nothing but their [PARA]degrees are made to feel like Sonic in Marioland. [EITAL]There are [PARA]plenty fields of endeavour to choose from including various [PARA]sports, OUSU and college JCRs as well as the following:[PARA][BOLD]The Oxford Union Society: [EBOLD]Not to be confused with OUSU (the [PARA]students' union), 'The Union' is Oxford's world famous debating [PARA]society. Ted Heath, Edwina Currie and Benazir Bhutto are [PARA]among the many, many famous ex-presidents. Its high profile [PARA]has attracted some of the world's most famous speakers to take[PARA]part in debates and discussions. 'The Union' is also their HQ [PARA]building which offers a social scene, a bar, restaurant, the [PARA]Comedy and Jazz Cellars, a library and all the paraphernalia of [PARA]traditional gentlemen's clubs - but women can join too. That's the [PARA]good news. The bad news is that it costs ú90[ITAL] and The Union is a[PARA]nest for some of the University's most arrogant and obnoxious [PARA]nobs. It's a group so tight-knit it's lycra. Most students join in their[PARA]first year and then avoid it like the proverbial Bubonic. [EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS):[EBOLD] Almost every day [PARA]of every term, the population of Oxford is faced with a choice of [PARA]several student theatrical performances. Thesps visit each [PARA]other's productions and thus the shows go on. [ITAL]The standard [PARA]often reaches a thoroughly professional level, but sometimes, [PARA]well, it doesn't, and the selection is as diverse as any legal [PARA]experience in a theatre can get. Whether the star of Spielberg's [PARA]last pic or the third sheep in the primary school nativity effort, [PARA]new talent is welcomed to auditions with open arms, kisses on [PARA]both cheeks and the words 'lovely, daaarling'. The post-audition [PARA]reception is more discriminating and bitter cries of 'Clique!' have [PARA]echoes of truth, although drama at Oxford is so widespread that [PARA]even the most wooden pretenders get a chance to try their [PARA]board-treading technique.[EITAL] Meanwhile, there are just as many [PARA]opportunities to play the non-singing part of unsung hero [PARA]backstage. OUDS is the organisational body which co-ordinates [PARA]and supports this plague of plays and runs the Cuppers drama competition.[PARA][BOLD]The Media:[EBOLD] Magazines come and go as fast as the tourists in [PARA]Oxford but there are several long-standing publications [ITAL]with [PARA]excellent reputations[EITAL]. Primarily, there's Cherwell, Oxford's [PARA]award-winning weekly student newspaper. There's also The [PARA]Word - nothing to do with Terry Christian - [ITAL]which concentrates on[PARA]more artsy, featuresy matters and most definitely plays second [PARA]fiddle[EITAL]. Last of the newspapers[ITAL] and least[EITAL], is OUSU's The Oxford [PARA]Student. For magazines, there's Isis,[ITAL] the students' answer to [PARA]Vogue and verbosity[EITAL], and various others such as International [PARA]Review, Amazon (women's), The Phoenix (termly magazine of [PARA]student writing - both poetry and prose), Stomping Scene [PARA](student comic), Verdict (law) and a toilet bowlful of college [PARA]gossip/scandal rags and societies' newsletters.[PARA][BOLD]Music:[EBOLD] It would be unfair not to mention Oxford's many student [PARA]bands and classical music groups, so now, we've mentioned them.[PARA][BOLD]Rag: [EBOLD]With its own sabbatical co-ordinator, Rag raises over [PARA]ú50,000 a year with all the standard pranks, stunts and events.[PARA][BOLD]Student Volunteer Action:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Traditionally, Oxford has had a touchy [PARA]town-gown relationship.[EITAL] According to the University, things are [PARA]getting better, but they would say that. Volunteer Action links [PARA]students up with nearly 40 help groups both in the University and [PARA]the local community.[HDNG]RELIGIOUS:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]Put any group of self-consciously intellectual people together - [PARA]such as Oxford students - and within minutes they'll have [PARA]established as many different religious groups as they can invent [PARA]and then some. The fervour for activity amongst Oxford [PARA]students extends to religion as much as anything else.[EITAL] Many of [PARA]the colleges owe their existence to funding from Christian sinners[PARA]in fear of hell and the religious rock rolls on...[PARA][BOLD]Christianity: [EBOLD]Students at Christ Church who say they're popping [PARA]down to the college chapel are talking about Oxford's Anglican [PARA]cathedral. The other colleges have less 'high church' chapels and[PARA]most have at least one chaplain. Other Christian denominations [PARA]are also catered for around town: Catholics, Baptists, [PARA]Evangelicals, Methodists, URC, Seventh-Day Adventists, [PARA]Christian Scientists, Pentecostals, Unitarians, Quakers, [PARA]Orthodox, Cliff Richard Fan Club, and so on. The Inter-Collegiate [PARA]Christian Union brings these Christian groups together [ITAL](Ireland [PARA]could do with them).[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Islam: [EBOLD]Mosque and prayer room at the Islamic Studies centre.[PARA][BOLD]Jews: [EBOLD]Local synagogue and large Jewish student population.[HDNG]PAID WORK:[EHDNG][PARA]With nearly 25,000 students (including [ULNE]Oxford Brookes [PARA]University[EULNE]) living in - well, let's face it - not one of the world's great [PARA]metropolitan centres, the number of job opportunities is [PARA]somewhat limited. But with the hectic pace of academic and [PARA]social life at Oxford, it'd be hard to find the time anyhow, although[PARA]some students earn a bob in college bars. If you really need the [PARA]cash, rob a bank.
