[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA]The oldest university in Britain and, along with Cambridge, [PARA]probably the most famous in the world. It is split into 36 colleges [PARA]and 6 private halls, which all have their unique features - hence, [PARA]Oxford's catch-phrase: '...except for some of the colleges'. Each [PARA]college is self-managing, though applications are co-ordinated [PARA]centrally and the University also provides many central facilities. [PARA]On the following pages, [PUSH]push[EPUSH] spills the beans on undergraduate [PARA]colleges. 3 of the 6 'Permanent Private Halls' are dissected on [PARA]the following pages - the others are Campion (Jesuit), Manchester[PARA](mature students) and St Benet's (Benedictine). There are also 6[PARA]graduate colleges (Green College, Linacre, Nuffield, St [PARA]Anthony's, St Cross and Wolfson) - for further info about these, [PARA]please contact the University at the above address.[PARA]The citizens of Oxford manage[ITAL] to avoid virtually all contact with [PARA]students despite their influence. It's a bit like one of those Escher[PARA]drawings where monks walk up and down the same set of [PARA]stairs, but are completely ignorant of each other's existence.[EITAL] It is,[PARA]however, impossible to ignore the stunning elegance of Oxford, [PARA]the city of the 'dreaming spires'[ITAL] [EITAL]of colleges' chapels. Around [PARA]every unassuming corner is a scene from everyone's [PARA]stereotypical image of Oxford with the River Cherwell or the [PARA]Thames (or Isis, as it's called around Oxford) completing the [PARA]picture. The buildings in the city centre, date from every century [PARA]since the years reached four figures. They are all connected [PARA]with the University, but these are interspersed with shops, [PARA]supermarkets, houses and all things civic. Just 10 miles out of the[PARA]city are the villages and hills of the Cotswolds.[HDNG]LIFE IN OXFORD:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]If someone says s/he's a student at Oxford, people will [PARA]immediately think of intellectual superiority, gowns, teddy-bears, [PARA]jugs of Pimm's and 'Inspector Morse'. [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] The stereotypes are - as are most stereotypes - true in part. [PARA]Oxford is indeed a hive of tradition - it is the elephant's tusk from [PARA]which the original ivory tower of academia was carved. It is full of[PARA]pomposity and circumstance and some of the students are as [PARA]intelligent, and some are as arrogant, as the myths tell. On the [PARA]other hand, some are not so special nor so intimidating and [PARA]nobody should assume that everyone will be brainier or richer or [PARA]more deserving than them. The legends of excellence mainly [PARA]spring from an utter intensity of activity. At Oxford, it is just not [PARA]'the done thing' to concentrate on your degree to the exclusion of [PARA]all else. Not that students don't work hard - they do. Very. And [PARA]no-one should underestimate the work involved. But Oxford [PARA]students are also constantly active in other ways too: in politics, [PARA]debating, sports, drama, the media or tiddlywinks. They almost [PARA]all find some untrivial pursuit. Almost, but not all. Oxford, like [PARA]anywhere else, has its bar-proppers and room recluses. [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] Life for many is centred around their colleges. Unless [PARA]students live out, they eat, sleep, play and work in their college. In[PARA]theory, it would actually be possible to avoid ever leaving and [PARA]rumour has it that this is what some dons - as tutors are called [PARA](but not by students) - have been doing for centuries. Students, [PARA]however, usually find the colleges, which range in size from 90 [PARA](Regent's Park) to well over 600 (St Catherine's) are altogether [PARA]too claustrophobic for 24 hours a day. The atmosphere varies [PARA]enormously from college to college, from the supposedly stuffy [PARA]Magdalen to the tentatively trendy Wadham. It would be almost [PARA]as big a mistake to apply to any old college (or new college, for [PARA]that matter), as it would be to apply to just any university without [PARA]discretion. Features worth watching for are whether the college [PARA]does the course you want to do, how big it is, the sex ratio, the [PARA]accommodation, where it is and how it's designed (St Catherine's[PARA]buildings are uncommonly modern for Oxford, and New College [PARA]is ironically, very old). [EITAL][HDNG]THE CITY:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Population: 109,000 [BULL] London: 55miles [BULL] Bristol: 55miles [PARA]Birmingham: 55miles[ESTAT][PARA][ITAL]If tourists want to 'do' England properly, they must 'do' Oxford. [PARA]They must tour the colleges, go for a punt on the river and [PARA]possibly drop in to one of the city's many museums:[EITAL] the famous [PARA]Ashmolean (archaeological and artistic treasures); the Bate [PARA]Collection; Christ Church Gallery; History of Science Museum; [PARA]Museum of Modern Art; the Oxford Museum; the Pitt Rivers and [PARA]the University Museum. However, it's not all atmospheric shots [PARA]from 'Morse'; real people do also live in Oxford and for them there[PARA]are plenty of shops (including 2 shopping malls), banks, a [PARA]market, public libraries, and enough new and 2nd hand [PARA]bookshops[ITAL] to fill a village on their own[EITAL]. On the seedier side, there[PARA]are also 2 brothels in Jericho, North Oxford. Also,[ITAL] amongst [PARA]Oxford's more dubious honours,[EITAL] the city has one of the worst [PARA]homelessness problems outside London.[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains: [EBOLD]Trains draw up at Oxford Station, close to the steps of [PARA]the city's most central colleges. Main line service to London, [PARA]Paddington (1hr), Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, etc.[PARA][BOLD]Coaches: [EBOLD]As well as National Express, there are 2 other coach [PARA]companies (Oxford City Link and Oxford Tube). [ITAL]For London, the [PARA]bus is much cheaper, more frequent and only slightly slower than[PARA]the train. [EITAL] National Express services to London (ú5.50, 1:40hrs, [PARA]every 20mins), Bristol (ú1.10 2:25hrs,5/day), Birmingham (ú6.50, [PARA]1:25hrs, every 2hrs).[PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] 5 mins off the M40. Also on the A40, A34, A23, A43 and [PARA]A420. However, there is very restricted access to the city centre[PARA]and parking is either limited or expensive. Car theft is also a [PARA]problem - remember the University is only a few miles from the [PARA]infamous joyriders of Blackbird Leys.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching: [EBOLD]Pretty good on the M40 or the larger local A roads, but [PARA]get out of the city by bus.[PARA][BOLD]Local: [EBOLD]Several local bus companies with frequent and cheap [PARA]services (40p to get as far as digs in Jericho), [ITAL]but they're not [PARA]really worth it for shorter trips[EITAL] and they give up at about 11pm.[PARA][BOLD]Taxis:[EBOLD] Enough of them, but they cost about ú3 a mile.[PARA][BOLD]Bicycles:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Ah yes. Paradise on pedals.[EITAL] Oxford is flat, many [PARA]roads are closed to cars and most colleges have sheds. [ITAL] [PARA]Everyone cycles - it's an integral part of being an Oxford student.[PARA]Two words of warning: (i) a good lock and a cheap bike is the [PARA]safest defence against theft; and (ii) pedestrians, beware of [PARA]pedal-powered hells angels. That's 21 words. [EITAL][PARA][PARA][ITAL][HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Books: 8million[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA][ITAL]Contrary to popular belief, Oxford students tend to spend more [PARA]time in libraries than pubs. This isn't just because the opening [PARA]hours are longer, but also because the choice of libraries is [PARA]virtually unparalleled.[EITAL] The famous Bodleian Library is the [PARA]collective title given to the University's main research libraries [PARA](including the Radcliffe Science Library, Hooke Library, Bodleian [PARA]Law Library, Rhodes House Library and Indian Institute Library [PARA]mainly housed in the Old and the New Library Buildings, the [ITAL][PARA]architecturally astonishing [EITAL]Radcliffe Camera and the Clarendon [PARA]Building). It is one of the country's 5 copyright libraries which [PARA]means that it can demand a copy of any book published in this [PARA]country and, as a consequence, it has over 8 million books, [PARA]including [PUSH]push[EPUSH]. Only 859,000 of these - yup, a mere 859,000 - [PARA]are on open shelves and most of them can't be borrowed. In [PARA]fact, Oxford students don't have the right to use the Bodleian, [PARA]until they've undergone one of the University's many bizarre [PARA]initiation rituals. Like so many others, this one involves wearing [PARA]subfusc (gown and white tie) and swearing oddly practical oaths [PARA]such as agreeing not to set fire to the buildings. Nude dancing [PARA]and sacrificing virgin goats is not usually an essential part of this [PARA]ceremony. Pity.[PARA][ITAL] Although most students pop into the 'Bod' regularly, the college[PARA]libraries tend to be more useful. Whether students are able to [PARA]find the books they need depends on their course.[EITAL] Every [PARA]University department also has its own library, most of which [PARA]lend books[ITAL].[EITAL][PARA][ITAL]The story for computer facilities is less impressive[EITAL] although most[PARA]colleges have computer rooms with a few Amstrads or Macs -[ITAL] [PARA]okay for word processing, but a bit of a byte-size bummer [PARA]otherwise.[EITAL] There is also the Computer Teaching Centre with 100 [PARA]networked terminals and the Computer Service which provides [PARA]support for students' research where their departments fall short.[HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 11full/6part [BULL] Unemployed [PARA]after 6mths (1992): 2.6%[ESTAT][PARA]There is a theory that certain fields of employment won't take [PARA]anyone unless they've been to Oxford (or maybe Cambridge). [PARA]The professions particularly pin-pointed include politics, the civil [PARA]service, journalism (the BBC especially), law and high finance. [PARA]Some say this is just paranoia, but that doesn't mean they're not [PARA]out to get us non-Oxbridge types. Whatever the truth, the [PARA]Careers Service is [ITAL]big [EITAL]and offers a variety of services including [PARA]vacancy lists, careers library, talks, counselling and so on.[HDNG]SPECIAL FEATURES:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL]Oxford has terms of just 8 weeks, though it would be a tragic [PARA]error to think that means long lazy days of vacant vacation. [PARA]Exams such as 'mods' (nothing to do with parka-wearing [PARA]bike-riding Jam fans), 'collections' (nothing to do with church [PARA]plates and small change) and 'prelims' await students' return.[PARA][BULL]Oxford is full of ritual, especially when it comes to exams [PARA]where students have to dress in subfusc and look like batman on[PARA]the way to a dinner dance. It is rumoured that once a student [PARA]turned up for his finals exams and demanded a glass of sherry in[PARA]accordance with an ancient rite. After the exam, he was fined a [PARA]shilling by his college authorities for not wearing his sword during [PARA]his exam - another forgotten statute. Rites like these seem [PARA]ordinary when compared with some of the continuing traditions.[HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][PARA]Prospectuses for undergrads and postgrads. Also available are [PARA]the Alternative Prospectus (ú3.95) and the Oxford Handbook [PARA](ú4.75) from OUSU - [ITAL]both excellent[EITAL]. Most colleges produce their [PARA]own prospectuses and some JCRs also cobble together their [PARA]own alternative guide.[PARA][PARA]
