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No. 825 Friday 24th February 2017 varsity.co.uk
Championing independent student journalism in Cambridge since 1947
Divestment Emergency silent protest organised by Zero Carbon Society to put pressure on University Council NEWS 4
‘Ridiculous’ Corpus Christi guest policy arouses anger Charlotte Gifford Senior News Correspondent
on Sidgwick Avenue. Christ’s and Pembroke both shut to the public on safety grounds, while Wolfson College head gardener Phil Stigwood told students to “take extra care and do not stand or walk under the large trees at Wolfson if a safer path can be taken”. The gardens of Newnham were closed entirely on the advice of the Domestic Bursar, due to “branches and even
The Corpus Christi JCR is to meet with College on Monday to discuss the current policy on guests visiting student rooms, after rising complaints amongst individuals that the policy is too severe, with allegations of bedders informing on students and relationships having to be publicly declared. The current Corpus Christi policy states that a student cannot have a guest stay overnight for more than seven nights a term. If guests want to stay for more than three consecutive nights special permission must be obtained from the Dean. The guests should vacate their host’s room by 9am. Such policies differ from college to college. For instance, Newnham college’s rules state that, “A guest may stay overnight in a student’s room for a maximum number of three nights in a week running from Monday to Monday.”’ The College Rules detail the punishment for non-compliance: “failure to enter a guest in the book will incur an automatic fine of £10 in the first instance.” The enforcement of the policy in Corpus Christi has caused controversy within the college recently. One Corpus student, who also asked to remain anonymous, was punished this term for having a guestVINCENT stay over HASSELBACH regularly without signing in, and felt that the punishment they received was too severe. The student pointed out that they had not been signing their partner in because, firstly, they and their partner often would only decide to stay the night together after designated time of 10.30pm and, secondly, because signing in would mean limiting their number of overnight stays to 7 nights a term, which seemed unreasonable to them. After initially receiving a warning for having their partner stay overnight without signing them in, the student was then fined £10 the second time, and put on cleaning duty for five days the third time.
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AOIFE HOGAN
Doris takes Cambridge by storm Matt Gutteridge Deputy News Editor Gale force winds from Storm Doris caused disruption and damage across Cambridge on Thursday, with gusts exceeding 65 miles per hour during the day. High winds led to windows being smashed at several colleges, prompting several colleges to send emails to stu-
dents warning them to shut their windows immediately, and to keep them closed until further notice. An email sent to Magdalene students reported that open windows had left some rooms “unprotected from the storm” and, as a result, there was “broken glass everywhere”. A window in the tower of Selwyn College was blown out by the strong winds, leaving the leading hanging off the roof of the college. At Newnham, an entire
windowpane was ripped off entirely, shattering on the ground. Newnham student Celia Petrie told Varsity: “The wind suddenly picked up and an entire windowpane from the second floor of the building was ripped off. It landed about 10 metres to my right and glass shattered everywhere.” Colleges further advised their students to avoid areas particularly susceptible to falling debris, as gusting winds felled a number of branches from trees