Are Oxford's students running riot? Plus the Student Loans Company gets some help with its New Year's resolutions
Antisocial or antistudent?
Known for its medieval statuary and broad avenues, Georgian terraces and riverside pubs, Oxford sounds idyllic. But all is not well in the city of dreaming spires, where some residents feel concerns about students' rowdy behaviour are not being taken seriously enough.
By day, there is litter and swearing, say locals. And when the clubs and bars close at night, there are broken windows, fights, students walking over parked cars and even assaults.
But attempts to flag up concerns to police or the local council often fall on deaf ears, says Sietske Boeles, of the Divinity Road Area Residents' Association. When residents raised objections to the building of a new block of student flats, they were accused of "anti-student vitriol" by local councillor and chair of Oxford City Council's planning review committee, Tony Brett, who wrote that their concerns sounded "horribly like the racism of the 60s, the homophobia of the 80s and the sexism of the 70s".
Boeles also says complaints are not always followed up appropriately; students are handed back to the universities for punishment, who "might take their library card away or some other very lenient sanction", she says. And she points out that around 15 of the 48 councillors ? including the council leader, Bob Price, who is HR director at Oxford Brookes University ? have studied, worked or volunteered at one of the two universities. Some councillors are "simply eyeing up the student vote," says Boeles.
Both the city's universities were quick to dismiss the idea. A spokesperson for Oxford Brookes said: "We believe the university adds the equivalent of �1m a day to the local and national economy."
An Oxford University spokesperson said: "The university ? is the largest employer in Oxford, supporting over 18,000 jobs, so it's not surprising that in any given grouping of local people you do find university employees."
Must try harder
The Student Loans Company should have no problem compiling a list of New Year's resolutions. Perhaps it could simply recycle last year's list.
According to its annual report, the SLC failed to meet around 62% of its targets for the year, with slow service, poor communication and late payments topping the list of student complaints.
The company started 2010 on a sour note, having failed to fully process 209,000 students' grants and loans ? more than half of all applications ? in time for the start of the academic year. The fiasco resulted in the departure of two senior staff.
In the report, the SLC blames its lacklustre performance last year on not having "sufficient numbers of trained staff in place" ? and an increase in complaints, which it puts down to the fact that it has recently taken on responsibility for assessing students' eligibility for grants and loans.
The company remains optimistic. A spokesperson said: "We have seen a major turnaround of the performance over the last two years. These figures relate to last year's performance and our 11/12 processing figures show an even better service for our student customers."
Janet Murray and Martin Williams
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/02/oxford-students-row-residents
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