@TheOxStu
Hilary Term, Week 1 | Friday 24 January 2025
OXFORD STUDENT The
The University of Oxford’s Student Newspaper, est. 1991
New Year’s Irresolutions All you didn’t do this January Read more on page 29
In conversation with: Stephen Fry
Fires in LA And the social media furore caused Read more on page 16
Read more on page 13
Christ Church investment wars Yunzhang Liang
C Credit: Kate Bansmer
Postgrad society in legal squabble with Oxford Union Aamna Shehzad
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n a letter to the Oxford Union sent on 11 October 2024, the Oxford Postgraduate Society President, Lyle Hopkins, accused the Oxford Union of passing off by using the name “Graduate Lounge” for its event on 18 October 2024.
The Oxford Postgraduate Society’s Graduate Lounge events are the society’s signature black-tie socializing events that include music, snacks and drinks, and other activities and performances. The first Graduate Lounge was the society’s inaugural event and took place on 4 March 2023 at the Goodman Library in the Oxford Union. The Oxford Union Graduate Lounge took place on 13 October 2024 and was advertised in the Union’s term cards-both digital and physical-and on its
social media pages. When asked for comment on when the Postgraduate Society was first made aware of the Union using one of its main event names, Hopkins replied: “The day the Union released its MT24 term card, up until that point no one had told us so it was quite the shock to see it printed.” “Passing off” is an established “‘civil wrong’ or tort” that “involves one trader somehow misrepresenting its goods or services as being those of another trader, or vice versa”. According to the Postgraduate Society’s letter, “Graduate Lounge” is a trademarked event title and the Oxford Union’s use of the title takes advantage of the “goodwill” of the Postgraduate Society and its event. Goodwill is “the benefit and advantage of the good name, reputation, and
hrist Church has announced that it will be voting against the proposals of activist hedge fund Saba Capital, which has waged an investment battle against several UK investment trusts. Saba Capital, a US-based hedge fund, has launched attacks against 7 UK investment trusts, including Herald Investment Trust, a major backer of UK tech-driven businesses. Saba’s founder Boaz Weinstein dubbed the 7 trusts “the miserable seven” because of their poor investment performance over the past 3 years. Herald is the largest of the 7
UK-listed investment trusts targeted by Saba.
Saba currently owns 21% of Herald’s £1.2 billion trust. It has proposed sacking all incumbent Herald directors, placing its own non-independent nominees on the board, and dismissing Herald’s longtime fund manager Katie Potts. In response, Herald has hit back at Saba, accusing Saba of pursuing an “unknown and unproven” strategy to seize control of the trust. It also urged shareholders to vote against Saba’s proposals during a meeting on January 22, where Saba will also be present. Continued on page 3
The Rad Cam Period Problem
connection of a business”. The Elly Bailey Many people in Oxford menPostgraduate Society’s position is that the Oxford Union’s use struate regularly, and yet, of the trademarked event name when walking around the city for one of its events would or entering its crowning jewel erode the goodwill that the Ox- – the Radcliffe Camera – one ford Postgraduate Society and struggles to find any trace of its Graduate Lounge events this extraordinarily common have gained over time. Speak- phenomenon. This is certaining about the costs that the ly true for the beautiful, albeit Postgraduate Society incurred, painfully impractical, UniverHopkins replied: “We had to sity-owned-and-run library, deal with messages of people which doesn’t offer period confused over which event products in any of its bathwas genuine. The reputation Credit: Faith Caswell of the event was also affected as many of our members that did go to the Union event felt it wasn’t as good value as the real Graduate Lounge that we put on in MT24. There is also a cost associated with the legal advice we took.” Continued on page 4
rooms. When Oxford University welcomed its first female students to Lady Margaret Hall, the nine pioneering women lived and worked under rules that prevented them from, for instance, walking “unsupervised” with a man. Until 1920, they were not actually able to graduate with a degree. Oxford has come a long way over the past century but provisions Continued on page 15