Notice: 

The Oxford International Relations Society will be welcoming BBC Africa Correspondent, Andrew Harding, to speak on the subject of his latest book, The Mayor of Mogadishu: A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia.


Where: Danson Room, Trinity College
When: Tuesday 3rd Week (25th October), 7.30pm
 
Andrew Harding has worked as a foreign correspondent for the past twenty-five years in Russia, Asia and Africa. He has been visiting Somalia since 2000. His television and radio reports for BBC News have won him international recognition, including an Emmy and an award from Britain's Foreign Press Association.


This event will be FREE for IRSoc members, with specially discounted membership available on the door. Entry will be £3 for non-members. As with all our events, this talk will be followed by a free drinks reception for all attendees.


'Some of the most beautiful writing about Africa that I have ever read.' —Fergal Keane, BBC journalist


Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/195224487577247/
Website: http://www.oxirsoc.com/upcoming-1/?view=calendar&month=October-2016

Hello Everyone!

My name is Holly and I am a second year DPhil in Developmental Biology. As your friendly neighbourhood GREEN person, I work to represent Lincoln's graduate students to college on environment and sustainability issues. I have missed freshers due to pesky degree commitments, but I am back in Oxford on Monday. If you have any questions about what’s going on at Lincoln or how you can reduce your environmental impact, check out the “Environment” section of the website, or feel free to get in touch :)


A few notices for all of you lovelies:

***IMPORTANT EVENT STUFF FIRST***

***BIKE INFO EVENT 7pm MONDAY WEEK 3  (This is NOT on the termcard) ***
On Monday 3rd week (the one coming) at 7pm in the Lower lecture room of the garden building (the room next to the MCR) there will be a BIKE INFO TALK hosted by the wonderful Broken Spoke Bike Coop, a not-for-profit based next to the story museum on Pembroke Street, 5 mins walk from college (I am big fan of these folk). We have asked them to come and give a talk for MCR and anyone else who cycles already or those who are thinking about cycling. Anyone who commutes, be it by bus, car or foot, will get something out of the event. It will be especially useful if you have not had any formal cycling or driving tuition (i.e. cycling proficiency or driving theory) with focus on techniques for good bicycle control, communication with other road users and advice on how to improve confidence on the road. Oxford is a great city to cycle in, but it can be dangerous too with hazards such as buses with blind spots and pedestrians who believe the entire city centre is pedestrianised! There is also some really handy stuff to know - such as that as Oxford students, you are entitled to 6 hours of free bike lessons worth £240!!! 

There will be cake and cookies and such, and also a RAFFLE with 5 Broken Spoke workshop vouchers up for grabs, where you can take your bike along and they not only help you fix it, but TEACH YOU how to it yourself for next time. It is also before the Ghost walk so you can definitely do both (and we can get a drink from Simon in between - it would be so lovely to meet as many of you as possible!)


*** VEGGIE PLEDGE FOR NOVEMBER***
#1: The college participates in Meat Free Mondays, which many of you have probably come across already. While it is still possible to sign up to eat meat, students are encouraged to choose the vegetarian option and reduce greenhouse gases.

#2: Eating less animal products is the number 1 way we can reduce our carbon footprint, and this year you are encouraged to do just that for ONE WHOLE MONTH! The MCR is joining OUSU and several other colleges by participating in Veggie Pledge November. You are encouraged to take a Veggie (or Vegan) pledge for November, with recipe swaps and film screenings to help us do the single biggest thing we can to reduce our carbon footprints: to eat a little bit greener.
We will be kicking things off with a screening of Netflix-famous Cowspiracy on Thursday of Week 3 (on the termcard) to get you motivated, and I should be receiving some info from Beth Currie (OUSU charities and community) very soon, but here is what I have been told so far:

• Sign up on the facebook page (coming soon)
• prizes for colleges based on both % of students involved as well as individual prizes (some random draw, some for those who have committed to an exceptional lifestyle change, like eating meat every day to full veganism)
• Veggie Starter Packs for all students which will have a Vegetarian lifestyle magazine, some vegetarian and vegan recipe cards and a few other things (like seed strips, or vegan chocolates etc.),delivered to student pidges.
• This year we will also hold a social at the beginning on 1st of November and the end of the month, to bring everyone together and celebrate.

So, if you have ever thought about going Veggie or Vegan (or even cutting back and doing meat-free Mondays), now is the perfect opportunity for you to do so with plenty of support. I have been an on/off veggie for a while, but I am going to be committing to fully vegan for the month... and I will need help too! 

#3: If you are interested in checking out the Veggie food at other colleges, and hosting at Lincoln, check this group: out https://www.facebook.com/groups/ouved/


*** Less important but speaking of Food, Glorious Food (markets) ***
Every Friday 4-6pm there is a student run FOOD CO-OP at The Hub (room above the Turl Street Kitchen). They sell seasonal fruit and veg boxes sourced from the lovely Sandy Lane Farm, about 8 miles out of Oxford, in addition to wholefoods, organic, fair trade, free from foodstuffs and household supplies - everything from pasta to eco-laundry detergent (and yes they have vegan-friendly marshmallows!) You can check out their website here http://www.oxcoop.com/, or search for and like OxCo-op on facebook, to see a full list of their products and prices (which are often below the RRP). To pick up VegBoxes on the Friday, you need to order them online by Sunday night, so don't forget (occasionally they will spares on the day, but don't count on it!) 
The VegVan will be stopping by Little Clarendon Street 12-6pm Friday. It is run by Cultivate, a not-for-profit stocking fruit and vegetables grown without artificial pesticides and fertilisers on 10 acres of land just outside Oxford, and other local produce such as eggs and honey. http://cultivateoxford.org/
Also check out the South Oxford Farmers' Market in Lake St community centre (Sundays, 930-12) and it's sister East Oxford Farmers' Market in East Oxford Primary School (Saturday 10-1), just off Cowley Road. Both markets are about ~20mins walk from college, source food from within 30miles of Oxford, the South Market is part of the Low-Carbon South Oxford community action group and the East market is at a low-carbon school. They also have very stringent requirements for their stalls, such as animal and environmental standards, prohibiting use of air-freight to transport ingredients, and having at least one person with full knowledge of production on stalls at all times. You can read about it in their manifestos, as well as look at the stalls they have:


http://www.eastoxfordmarket.org.uk/
http://www.southoxfordfarmersmarket.org.uk/about.html
As another note, many market stalls and in e.g the covered market (Mon-Sat), Gloucester Green (Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) are happy to weigh and sell you products in your own tupperware, so do bring some along to save on packaging! 




That is plenty of info to be getting along with for now. I am back next week to meet all of you, and in the mean time I hope everyone is settling in ok <3
Tree-hugging love,
Holly xx

Dear MCR members, old and new!

Here we are, at the beginning of a new year supporting charities near and far! 

First of all, let me thank my predecessor, Henry-Martin Demasco, and the rest of the team, for the great job done last year: £4500 were raised in total! More details on how that money was raised and how it has now been distributed among the charities we supported can be found on the newly updated MCR website http://lincolnmcr.weebly.com/charities.html

However, that was really the result of the generosity of the whole of the MCR, so thanks to everybody who contributed, and I shouldn’t forget the Sports Reps and Welfare Reps either for organising events which helped the Charities Fund!

I should also thank those students who last year donated their duvets, books, clothes, bedding, towels, basket balls, and much more to find a new home with this year's freshers: I am glad to say that all donations have now been allocated.

Enough with the nostalgia and onto present and future matters. 

Let me introduce you to the new Charities Team (all brand new freshers as well!! :) ): Amber, Audrey, Claire, Kate, Ruby, and Yumna! A round of applause! Soon you will be able to see their faces on the Charities Team website page. 

Finally, a few important charities events that you should definitely write down in your diary:

- New Charities Proposals: next week I will send around the forms that you will have to use to propose new charities for the MCR to support. On Wednesday of 7th week (23rd November) you will then be asked to give a brief presentation of your proposed charity at the pre-election Charities presentation evening. Everyone from the MCR is encouraged to attend this session. 

- New Charities Elections: during the final General Meeting (Tuesday in 8th week) we will elect 5 new charities! All the money raised at our events plus the £8 automatically batteled as “MCR Charities Fund Scheme” will support these charities. More than half of the total money raised comes from this scheme, so if you would like to opt-out from the £8 Charities Scheme we encourage you to wait until the election to decide. 

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST: The Charities Casino Night!!! Saturday, 12th November, from 8pm, in the MCR. SAVE THE DATE! This black-tie event is the main fundraiser event of the year: casino games, poker, cocktails, a raffle with prizes and much more! A very entertaining night for everybody, even those who don’t like games, or alcohol! Also, it looks like the theme for this year’s Casino Night will have something to do with someone who died 400 years ago…can you guess who? 

And that is all for now! Sorry for the rather long email (never again!).

With Love,
Charities Team

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Hi friends,


I wish I wasn't writing this email under such sad circumstances. I'm sure by now you've all heard about the tragedy in Orlando. As Hansjochen and Mel have already notified you, there is a vigil in New College Chapel at 9:30 tonight, where the Gentlemen of the Choir will sing Compline, and where prayers will be offered. Unfortunately due to train delays I won't be able to make it, but New College wants to particularly welcome LGBTQ+ and American students. 

This Wednesday the OUSU LGBTQ+ Campaign is holding another vigil at 8:30pm on Radcliffe Square. We'll be meeting at 8:15pm in the lodge if you would like to walk over with us. More info on the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/522462964613072

More personally, I want to extend my deepest condolences to anyone who might have been affected by this heinous act. I will be in Oxford from tomorrow on and am available to talk to for anyone who would find this helpful. I will try to organise a more formal opportunity to sit down and talk with one another later in the week.

In times like these, it is vital that we visibly stand together, proud and defiant. Too often our community suffers losses such as this. This attack comes on the back of a troubling period for LGBTQ+ and Latinx people in America. We must not allow the same people who would prevent trans people from using the toilet they feel comfortable with or who would build a wall and split up innumerable families prey upon our fears and turn us against our Muslim brothers and sisters. Hate will never triumph over love, and that includes islamophobia. We stand together, all of us.

I know in times like these that I feel particularly frustrated by how impotent I feel and how unable I seem to be to respond in a real and meaningful way to prevent this sort of attack from happening again. If any American students feel similarly and want to act, I suggest you read this article on how to contact your representatives about gun control: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-silverberg/guide-elected-representatives-gun-control_b_8708154.html 
You can check how your state's senators voted on expanded background checks in 2015 here: http://everytown.org/senate-votes/?source=etno_ETActPage&utm_source=et_n_&utm_medium=_o&utm_campaign=ETActPage 

Love and peace to you all.

Yours truly,
Alex Foley
Vaux Lab

Please find here volunteering activities you could get involved with over the summer (and beyond!!):

KEEN is a student-supported Oxford-based charity that provides free social and sporting activities for young people with special needs in Oxford and the surrounding area. Behind every single one of our sessions is a dedicated group of student volunteers who plan and deliver the activities and provide one-to-one support for our participants so that they can join in regardless of their ability level. The people who participate have a very broad range of needs and disabilities and many have limited social interaction in their day-to-day lives. At KEEN they have the opportunity to take part in activities similar to those enjoyed by their able bodied peers, and can make new friends while having a lot of fun!

Prospective volunteers can find out more at www.keenoxford.org/volunteer. Volunteering with KEEN is extremely flexible as volunteers can attend our regular events as and when they please. You can drop in occasionally or be more actively involved in organising a whole range of events, from bringing stories to life at our “Zig-Zag” drama and crafts session, to helping our users get active at our “AllSorts” Saturday Sports sessions with giant footballs and many other fun bits of kit!
If you have any questions or would like further information, please do get in touch through keen@keenoxford.org.

Dear MCR,

This is just a reminder for the upcoming Charities events, namely food collection and clothes/books collection!

Please do not throw away things which could find another home! Donate for charity!!

With Love,
The Charity Team



 •    Food collection - from tomorrow to the end of 9th week you will find a box in your halls and in the MCR where you will be able to leave unopened and non-perishable food. Find your nearest box for collection:
Bear Lane - tv room
EPA - common/tv room
Little Clarendon St - kitchen on top floor
Lincoln MCR (near the tv!)
 
 •    Clothes and books collection - if there is anything you would like to give to charity please come to the MCR on these dates between 12 and 6pm:
7th week - Wednesday 8th June
8th week - Wednesday 15th June
9th week - Wednesday 22nd June

Dear fellow MCR Members

As newly-elected Academic rep one idea I want to introduce are Thesis/Essay/Writing groups. These will run Tuesdays 2.30pm - 6.30pm in the MCR and chocolate, cake, fruit and tea/coffee will be provided. 

The idea is to have a space to work productively, but with the added stimulus of sugar, company and caffeine as stimulus. I plan to vaguely follow the pseudo-scientific revision method of 45-50 minutes of studying followed by 10 minute breaks. So that horrific conclusion to the chapter you have been avoiding can be cut into four easy and manageable chunks. You can almost see my earlier life as a teacher re-emerging. Perhaps I'll bring my sticker chart along as well. 

Location and/or time may change in the future but lets see how this goes. 

Much love

​Heather Mann