The Aularian newsletter 2008 - St Edmund Hall

Transcription

The Aularian
SPRING 2008 • ISSUE 15
ST EDMUND HALL OXFORD
From the Principal
A
fter a seemingly endless and very wet
autumn and winter, spring seems to
have suddenly burst upon us - the snowdrops are providing a white carpet at the
feet of the statue of St Edmund in St Peterin-the-East for the first time and he has
been much photographed by visitors and
tourists. Students are to be seen reading
and revising on the benches in the graveyard and enjoying the warmth of the sun
for the first time this year. In the autumn
the garden behind St Peter-in-the-East was
completely redesigned and replanted and
we all look forward with anticipation to
the first flowerings of the new plants and
shrubs. This remodelling of the garden
followed designs by Sarah Ewbank and was
made possible by a very generous donation from the Broadbent family - all of this
was conscientiously overseen by the Hall’s
Garden Fellow, Andrew Kahn.
The scaffolding around the top quad will
be going down at the end of term to reveal
a new lecture theatre and common rooms
occupying the under-utilized space between
the Kelly and Emden towers. The completion date has been delayed by the heavy
rains which we have had during the winter,
but we hope to start using these facilities at
the beginning of Trinity Term. As is so often
the case, a project which started as a simple
and economic solution to a longstanding
problem has increased dramatically in price
and fallen behind schedule and our sincere
thanks go to the donors who have kept faith
with the project and allowed us to bring it
to a successful completion. In particular
I should like to thank Jarvis and Connie
Doctorow for their leading donation for the
main Hall and Martin Smith and the Martin
Smith Foundation for allowing the College
to reallocate an earlier donation for the promotion of arts in the Hall to help us complete the common rooms. These common
rooms will be available to both junior and
senior members of the College. They will
not only provide a physical and symbolic
linking of the current SCR and JCR spaces
but also have wonderful views over the Old
City Wall and the trees of New College. I
hope that those undergraduates who have
suffered the disruption and noise over the
last few months will be more understanding and sympathetic when they see the full
benefits of the new facilities.
As these developments came to fruition it
gave me the opportunity to rethink my own
future at the Hall and after some thought
and consultation with my wife, who has
been wonderfully supportive during my
time here, I announced at the end of last
year that I shall be retiring in September
2009 when I will have completed ten years
as Principal. Since my first meeting with
alumni at the Summer Reunion in 1999
I have been asked many times whether I
was enjoying the job and the question was
phrased in such a loyal and concerned manner that I found it difficult to give an economical and accurate answer which would
have satisfied their expectations. I can say
with complete honesty that I have given my
considerable energy and complete commitment to the College and tried to do the job to
the best of my ability since 1999. I gain some
satisfaction from the new buildings and refurbishments which have been completed during
my time here. I have also enjoyed the interactions with the students and have marvelled
at their sporting and cultural talents, but it is
now time to pass the baton to someone who
may come in with a fresh enthusiasm for the
role. Tony Blair provided us with a very good
example of how not to plan your departure.
I hope that by giving a clear statement of
my retirement date I have given the College
ample time to choose a successor. I wish the
new Principal and the College every success
and look forward to being a reader rather
than the author of the introduction to The
Aularian.
Professor Mike Mingos, FRS
Inside The Aularian
‘Living at this Hour’
Celebrating Milton 400 years on
Big Brother is Always Watching
The reality of Big Brother; one student’s TV experience
Oxford in Arabia
The 1958 expedition to the ‘lost’ island of Socotra
Exotic Plants Flourish at the Hall
The Head Gardener on the Hall’s most unique plants
The Hall Goes Green
Paying with Plastic
Recounting the days of College Money
Photographic Highlights of the Hall’s Charter Year
Hall Around the World
2
The Aularian - Spring 2008
The Aularian
Trivia Competition
Read The Aularian, answer the
following questions, and become
eligible to win one of three Charter
Lecture prizes listed below.
1. Aularians reside in how many
countries?
Wisteria Season, St Edmund Hall by Suzy Styles (Experimental Psychology, 2004)
The Vice-Principal on the Principal’s Retirement in 2009 A
ppreciation is not an emotion that
wells naturally in academics, least of
all at Oxford, except perhaps at funerals!
But notwithstanding my own professional deformation, it is in this case easy
to admire a consummate performance in
someone else: Mike Mingos is a splendid
Principal who has been guiding us through
not just interesting times but very troubled
waters, representing faithfully the views of
a Governing Body which have not always
coincided with his own.
Among his most notable achievements
have been the warm relations with Old
Members, which have never been better.
Mike has had a correspondingly resounding success in raising funds for the Hall
which continues to expand physically by
new buildings and intellectually by the
academic achievements of recent years
which now surely match the Hall’s sporting
prowess, past as well as present (we won
Rugby Cuppers 2008!). Although we are
financially on a sounder footing, we are
not yet safeguarded in terms of all the fellowships for which we would like to have
funding (for example in German!). But
further challenges impend where we shall
need resolute and clear-minded guidance
like that which we have had from Mike.
We shall also miss Stacey who has done
so much for the internal well-being of the
College as a community by her warmth,
common sense and kindness, which have
made the Hall feel like a family, indeed, like
home.
Mike’s decision to go now should give us
all pause for thought about our present situation in a university climate of constraint
and reform. It comes more abruptly than
we would have wished, and comes with a
sense of regret on Mike’s part that much
more could have been achieved if the fellows had been able to commit more fully
to the fundraising and alumni relations
activities of the Hall. It is undoubtedly
true that a Head of House can call on fellows much less easily now than in the past,
since the stresses and demands of fulfilling
research and administrative obligations in
the University have increased.
We wish Mike could have felt able to
stay longer, we applaud his and Stacey’s
achievements, and feel for their frustrations. The man or woman taking over will
have to cope with radical changes across
the University which will reach to the heart
of its governance and teaching practices
and to the personal bonds formed through
them in the past. Anyone we appoint will
need to confront these challenges with
eyes wide open.
Chris Wells
2. Which Aularian (current student)
was named ‘Oxford Sportsman of
the Year’ in 2007?
3. Which Oxford native recently
reappeared in the churchyard?
4. Whose harsh interrogation
earned an Aularian artist a £5,000
prize?
5. Where can you find the Island of
the Dragon’s Blood?
6.How many Aularians have
become ‘connected’ online at
www.aularianconnect.com?
The following prizes will be
awarded to the first three correct
entries drawn at random:
A signed hardback copy of
On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman
A signed hardback copy of
Barbarians by Terry Jones
Four signed paperbacks by Nicholas
Evans: The Horse Whisperer, The
Smoke Jumper, The Loop, and The
Divide
Email your answers to The Alumni
Relations & Development Office at
[email protected] or
post them to The Alumni Relations &
Development Office, Queen’s Lane,
Oxford, OX1 4AR. The closing date for
receipt of entries is Friday 30 May 2008.
The three winners will receive their
prize shortly after the closing date.
A NOTE of thanks to all those who contributed news, articles, and photos for the 2008 edition of The Aularian. This year’s edition
is twice the size of its predecessors and we hope your enjoyment reading it is equally enhanced. We sought to augment the publication by
inviting Aularians to share their unique stories and perspectives and were delighted by the number of Old Members and current students who
volunteered their time and energy to contribute. We would like to feature even more Aularian-authored articles in forthcoming issues, and so
please let the Alumni Relations & Development Office know if you would like to contribute to next year’s edition. We hope that you will enjoy
this new and improved issue of The Aularian and that it will remind you of the wonderful place that the Hall was, is, and will continue to be.
3
college news
Hall Rower to Man
Dark Blue Boat
The 154th Oxford v Cambridge Boat
Race will take place on Saturday 29
March 2008. Cambridge won the 153rd
Boat Race (7 April 2007) by one and a
quarter lengths in a time of seventeen
minutes and forty-nine seconds. St Edmund Hall is proud to have two representatives on this year’s squad. Aaron
Marcovy (D.Phil Fine Art, 2007) sitting
in 4 seat in the Blue Boat, and Andrew
Wright will be at 5 seat in the Isis Boat
(reserve crew)
Aaron is an American, originally from
Cleveland, Ohio, attended Columbia University in New York City, then resided in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania prior to coming to Oxford. He has designed the logo
to appear on the Oxford kit at the Boat
Race, and has also been commissioned
to build a Boat Race sculpture with ITV.
Norham St Edmund
Graduate Seminars
David Priestland
The Norham St Edmund graduate
seminars are now in their second year,
and are proving to be very successful
– both as a forum for graduate students
to discuss their work, and as a convivial
social occasion. Following a buffet supper, two students, normally one from the
sciences and one from the humanities,
give talks on their research; the floor is
then open for discussion and questions.
A wide range of topics has been discussed. Papers this year have included:
ultrasound and the treatment of liver
cancer; the rhetoric of Martin Luther
King; river management in China; Czech
surrealism in the 1920s; the culture of
indigenous peoples in Canada; the use of
art in education in Cambodia; the building of Chicago; and corruption in the
developing world.
MCR Magazine Debuts in Michaelmas
Meredith Root-Bernstein (Biodiversity, Conservation & Management, 2004)
This academic year, Teddy Hall MCR has
launched The Chough, a magazine produced by MCR members to share their talents and interests. Originally suggested by
recent MCR president Catherine Blair, the
magazine’s first issue came out in eighth
week of Michaelmas Term 2007.
The editors of The Chough—myself, Jean
Foster and, starting in Hilary Term, Emy Reimao—hope to showcase the range of intellectual, literary and artistic pursuits that
are characteristic of MCR members. While
forums such as the graduate seminar series
give us a chance to find out about each
others’s research projects, The Chough will
hopefully help to spark conversations in
the MCR about our
many other interests.
The Michaelmas
issue of The Chough
included photography,
essays on language
and film, a report on
sustainable energy
prospects in Chile, poetry in translation and
a book review. We
hope to have a similar
mix of submissions for
the Hilary issue, and
we are particularly
interested in publishing writing about and images from science
and engineering.
The first issue was printed in full colour,
but unfortunately the MCR budget only
stretched to fifteen printed copies, which
were distributed around college. Our plans
for the future include producing a PDF
version that will be posted on the MCR
website, and finding funds to purchase a
proper formatting program.
If you are interested in receiving
a PDF version of the next issue of
The Chough, please email
Meredith Root-Bernstein at:
[email protected]
A Piece of Hall History
Jones Day Book Awards
This academic year saw the first Jones
Day Book Awards for first and second
year law students at the Hall, and for
BCL and MJuris students. The College
is grateful to the law firm, to partner
Ian Lupson (1979), and to Stewart
Douglas-Mann (1957) and Richard
Fishlock (1957), for making these awards
possible. The winning team in 2007 was
Serena Lee and Benjamin Toms, while
the runner-up team was Edwin Chappell
and Joanna Knights.
This sketch of a St Edmund Hall student room (Staircase IV, Room 5)
drawn in 1884 by an unknown artist, comes to us courtesy of Douglas
Botting (English, 1954) who occupied the same room in the 1950s. The
room remains in use today and looks out over the Front Quad.
4
college news
Portrait of Sir Stephen Tumim
The College has acquired
a portrait sketch of former
Principal Sir Stephen Tumim
by the celebrated artist Maggi
Hambling, known in particular
for her bold and memorable
portraits of Dorothy Hodgkin,
Max Wall, Stephen Fry, Quentin
Crisp, George Melly, A.J.P.
Taylor, and many others, and for
her memorials to Oscar Wilde
in Adelaide Street, London, and
to Benjamin Britten (Scallop) on
the beach at Aldeburgh.
St Edmund Hall
Art & Craft Week
Participant in Oxfordshire Artweeks
19 - 24 May 2008
12.00-5.00 p.m. most days
Pontigny Room
SEH is once again holding an
exhibition of artwork by anyone
connected to the Hall. You are
invited to show your original pieces
of art (maximum of three) such as
paintings, drawings, wood/metal/
glass/craft works, sculptures,
photography, etc., at this exhibition.
Entries will not be for sale directly
and will be returned after the show.
Entry forms from
[email protected]
Exotic Plants Thrive in Hall Beds
Susan Kaspar, Head Gardener
W
hile the British climate is not known
for being hospitable to tropical
and exotic plants, the high walls of St
Edmund Hall provide warmth and shelter
for many of our garden beds. With this in
mind, several rare and exotic plants have
been introduced to the Hall’s protected
borders to add to the overall interest of
the garden.
Among St Edmund Hall’s exotics is
the beschorneria yuccoides, a native of
Mexico and described as somewhere
between an agave and a yucca and
planted along the southern bed of the
Wolfson Hall. Ours flowered for the first
time in 2006, sending up a two-meter
efflorescence with rose-coloured bracts
and taking several months to reach its
full height. In autumn, the main plant
slowly died, leaving behind a colony
of young rosettes which will flower in
the coming years. That same spring
the temperamental Chilean fire bush,
embothrium coccineum, located in the
raised bed between White Hall and Besse,
also burst into orange/red flowers along
its branches, giving a stunning display
after a seven-year maturation.
The lapageria rosea and alba vines
climb up warm shaded walls and produce
waxy blooms of shades from red to pure
white at the end of summer; sometimes
flowering well into December. In 2006,
the flowers from all three of our vines
were hand-fertilized using a small artist’s
paintbrush. The meticulous work was
rewarded when the vines produced large
seedpods, which took a year to ripen. The
mature seeds were sown immediately
after collection in late September 2007,
thus retaining the protective moisture
from the pods and now the first leaves
of the new plants are emerging. We are
hoping for interesting colour-variations
when the new plants bloom in three to
four years.
By far the most exciting and important
recent occurrence in the garden is the
reappearance of dactylorhiza fuchsia,
the common spotted orchid, in the
churchyard. This is a British native plant,
which at one time must have carpeted
large areas of grassy meadow in and
around Oxford. Its reappearance may be
due to the gardening practice of leaving
areas of grass uncut from the spring to
late summer, letting plants such as the
orchid establish and set seed. I look
forward to the development of a small
colony growing up among the gravestones
and adding a pastoral note to the
churchyard.
Photographs
from top
to bottom:
Beschorneria
Yuccoides;
Chilean Fire Bush
(Embothrium
Coccineum);
Common
Spotted Orchid
(Dactylorhiza
Fuchsia)
5
college news
‘Living at this Hour’
Celebrating Milton 400 Years On
S
t Edmund Hall English Fellow, Dr
Sharon Achinstein, has curated the
Bodleian Library’s winter exhibition,
Citizen Milton, a tribute to John Milton,
perhaps the most important Englishlanguage poet of the seventeenth
century and one of the first advocates of
civil liberties. In celebration of the 400th
anniversary of his birth, and focusing
on the ever current idea of ‘citizenship’,
the exhibition tells a story through word
and image of this great writer’s abiding
ideas, linking his artistic and political
activities. Milton, the author of the
greatest epic poem in English, Paradise
Lost, was also a reforming prose writer, a
member of a revolutionary government,
and the victim of censorship, whose
daring positions we now consider vital
to modern governance. An advocate of
freedom of the press, transparency in
government, public debate, education
for liberty, the right to divorce, the
disestablishment of the church, and
the abolition of monarchy, Milton
espoused positions radical even by
today’s standards. The display presents
Milton’s major works in important and
beautiful editions from the Bodleian
Library’s collections, including the rare
first edition of Areopagitica and the
first twelve-book edition of Paradise
Lost, printed in octavo format, with a
portrait engraving made by William
Dolle. A unique aspect of the display
explores the relationship John Milton
enjoyed during his lifetime with the
Bodleian Library through its Librarian,
John Rouse. On display are the author’s
own presentation copies of his prose
and early poetic works, as well as two
original manuscript poems written by
him as he made the gift. It was the
Bodleian Library which hid and saved
Milton’s works when in 1660 the
government ordered his books to be
burnt. The exhibition also looks at Milton
the man through the display of objects
such as his own writing case, donated by
a descendant.
In addition to showing Milton’s
original manuscripts and first
publications, the exhibition concentrates
on the lasting power and influence
of Milton’s works and his activity
in subsequent political and artistic
movements, from the later debates
over copyright to the French Revolution.
Highlights of this section include: Blake’s
original illuminated engraving of his
Heaven and Hell; Shelley’s unpublished
notebook doodles and poetic fragment
on Milton; Mary Wollstonecraft’s A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in
As well as curating the exhibition, which
runs until 26 April 2008, Dr Achinstein has
created an associated website guide:
www.cems.ox.ac.uk/citizenmilton
which she chided Milton for his poor
view of women; and, perhaps the earliest
written response to Paradise Lost, a
letter written by Sir John Hobart soon
after publication of the work which
proclaimed its sublimity.
Milton’s ideas and words have
developed a flourishing afterlife,
providing inspiration for the works of
renowned artists, type-makers and
illustrators such as John Martin, Mary
Groom, Arthur Rackham, and Samuel
Palmer, whose magnificent painting ‘The
Prospect’ is being lent by the Ashmolean
Museum. Very recent interpreters of
Milton, including the poets Geoffrey
Hill and Tony Harrison, and the novelist
Philip Pullman, who gave a speech at the
opening of the exhibition, also have their
works represented.
6
college news
The Hall Goes
GREEN
Dr Ernest Parkin, Bursar
A
s we prepare Teddy Hall to face
the challenges of the Twenty-first
Century, a major problem we will face
is rising energy costs. For economic,
political and environmental reasons, it
is important that the College control its
growing use of energy and reduce its
carbon footprint.
These challenges are particularly difficult because the older buildings were
given electric lighting and central heating
during a period when energy costs were
relatively low. Even the “newer” buildings – Emden, Kelly, and Wolfson -- date
from the period immediately before the
1973 OPEC Oil Embargo. Their design reflected the low cost of gas and oil at that
time. Alumni who have lived in student
rooms in Kelly and Emden will recall that
in winter the heat is always on. The resident controls it by opening and closing a
wooden flap. From today’s perspective,
this method is inexcusably wasteful, but
at the time it was a cost effective way of
providing controllable heat.
In every building, the College has
updated the original installations. For
example, Emden, Kelly and Wolfson were
converted from oil to gas, and Besse and
Whitehall were connected to the main
plant room. This was a good move, as it
used a cheaper energy source, reduced
pollution, and achieved economies of
scale by linking the buildings to one plant
room. Similarly, incandescent lighting
was replaced with fluorescent to reduce
consumption.
In Kelly and Emden, the
College is almost finished
replacing the original
track lighting, which used
incandescent bulbs, with
better halogen lighting and
a 33% cut in consumption.
However, much remains to be done.
In the last year we have replaced the
original control circuitry for the Wolfson
ventilation system with new. We have
discovered that the motorised valves
which distribute heat have corroded and
so the system does not respond. Their
replacement is scheduled for spring
2008. At the same time, new developments in lighting allow us to reduce
electrical consumption. For example,
second generation fluorescents allow us
to provide low energy lighting without
the sickly white pallor of first generation
bulbs. For task lighting, LED fixtures offer
the possibility of reducing energy consumption by 80% in specific applications.
At the same time, we are exploring
passive measures to avoid waste. The
age of our buildings and the compromises made when uses have changed
mean that we waste much of the energy
we consume. We are seeking to install
better windows, weather-stripping,
and insulation whenever we refurbish a
space.
Using low energy lighting during
remodelling is another way we are
reducing consumption. Visitors to the
Pontigny Room, which was refurbished in
January 2008, will see what can be done.
The two lighting circuits – a bright one
for seminar use and a subdued one for
dining – use less energy than the original
inflexible system. In Kelly and Emden,
the College is almost finished replacing
the original track lighting, which used
incandescent bulbs, with better halogen
lighting and a 33% cut in consumption.
In the near future, we expect to introduce more innovations. The College has
commissioned a design for remodelling
the Wolfson dining hall, which incorporates energy-efficient overhead lighting.
In accommodation and teaching rooms
we are committed to using today’s technology to reduce our consumption and
waste of energy. For financial reasons
we are focusing our attention on applications with a payback period of less than
ten years, but this may change if political
initiatives accelerate the process. For
example, the current government has
proposed a ban on incandescent bulbs by
2011, but Ireland and Australia have set
more ambitious schedules.
Other technologies on the horizon may
make sense for Teddy Hall. The College
insisted that our architects evaluate solar
panels and geothermal energy generated by heat stored beneath the Earth’s
surface for the new Jarvis Doctorow Hall.
These had to be ruled out for practical
reasons, but another low energy solution was found. Where we have more
open area, as at NSE, geothermal heat
may well prove the solution when we
have to replace the boilers at our three
large properties. The biggest obstacle
to solar panels at all our properties is
planning permission, but as green issues
rise to the top of the political agenda, the
Council’s objections may grow less firm.
By monitoring emerging technologies
and evaluating each maintenance decision for its energy characteristics. Teddy
Hall is mindful of its responsibilities to its
members and the planet.
All of these improvements are expensive. We are actively searching for
Government and charitable grants to
implement energy conservation measures and alternative technologies. Input
from members or friends of the College
who are active in these fields would be
most welcome.
7
JCR President Report
2007 was a tremendously busy year
at the Hall, as the fiftieth anniversary of
the awarding of our Royal Charter was
celebrated in fine fashion. Particular highlights for JCR members were the lectures
given by Jeremy Paxman and Terry Jones;
those fortunate enough to get tickets
were treated to highly informative and
amusing talks, which were reflected upon
at great length over the subsequent drinks
reception and dinner!
The year has also been extremely successful in the art and cultural spheres,
centering on Arts Week in Trinity Term.
An enormous range of activities was
jcr and mcr news
organised brilliantly and was a huge success, the week culminating with the John
Oldham Society performance of Ibsen’s
Ghosts, which was a true showcase of the
thespian talents of a number of students
of the Hall. The students studying Fine Art
have had a particularly busy year: whilst
one of their number has hit headlines nationally for her appearance in the reality
TV programme ‘Big Brother’, collectively
they make up almost a third of the students who have been invited to do a show
of Modern Art in Oxford, a prestigious
invitation the results of which we all await
with great anticipation.
On the sporting side, the Hall has shown
great strength across a range of sports,
and achieved considerable success at both
College and University level. In College
sport we savoured Cuppers success in
athletics, swimming, mixed lacrosse, and
rugby sevens, whilst performing strongly
across all three terms in league competitions. The rugby club had an eventful
season, agonisingly losing out to Keble
in the Cuppers final at Iffley Road following strong showings in the league and
earlier rounds of cuppers. Special mention should go to the Women’s 1st VIII,
who retained their position at the Head
of the River with a commanding display
MCR President Report
This past year has again been a busy
one for the MCR, both academically and
socially. Continuing the trend of recent
years, Michaelmas Term saw our membership increase, and the MCR now consists
of approximately 230 students, including
200 graduates. The MCR has coped well
with this expansion, and it remains a
caring and close-knit community. To help
cope with the swell in numbers, it was
decided last year to increase the size of
the Committee to seven members, and
we now additionally have an Assistant
Steward and an Information Officer.
We have continued the custom of MCR
members presenting their research at
Graduate Seminar Nights. These are now
hosted at NSE by Dr David Priestland, and
are a wonderful showcase of the academic work undertaken by our members. We
have recently heard presentations on a
wide variety of topics spanning medicine,
politics, education, science, and economics. It is rumoured within the MCR that
these nights are good to attend; aside
from hearing about our friends’ research,
the food available is well worth the effort!
A committed group of members decided last year that a new MCR constitution was required, so as to clarify official
procedures and to create greater financial
oversight of the accounts. Their draft
document was passed by referendum in
Trinity 2007 and ratified by Governing
Body this term. The Committee welcome
the changes that it has brought, despite
the extra reporting burden that it demands.
The social atmosphere in the MCR has
thrived. The Freshers’ Week Events were
well attended, and we continued to host
events which seem to be part of a muchloved and recently established tradition;
the Welcome and Farewell Parties, Medieval Feast, and Wine and Cheese Night
were thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. As a new event for the term, and
to contribute to the Charter Celebrations,
we organised successful exchange dinners
with Fitzwilliam, our sister college in Cambridge. The numbers for those attending
the Christmas Party were staggering, and
Charlie Southern (History, 2006)
at Summer Eights. There have also been a
number of outstanding individual performances, with Hall students winning
Blues in rowing, cricket, athletics, football,
boxing, swimming, lacrosse, and karate,
not to mention a whole raft of half Blues.
Particular congratulations should go to
Richard Hildick-Smith, who was named
‘Oxford University Sportsman of the Year’
in 2007.
The undergraduate community at the
Hall has enjoyed a fantastic year, with a
range of sporting, cultural and social activities catering for all tastes. Another energetic and enthusiastic intake of freshers
in October has been quick to get involved
in college life, and has already enriched
the social environment of the College. The
JCR committee once again worked tirelessly to deliver a brilliant freshers’ week
which saw the welcome return of bops to
the Wolfson Hall, a Teddy Hall institution
of legendary status throughout the University! On a similar note, we look forward
enjoying a summer event in College in
Trinity Term for the first time in two years.
Teddy Hall continues to thrive as a
College - a fantastic place to work and socialise, retaining that distinctive character
which gives its students every opportunity
to flourish in all areas of university life.
Ben Chad (Mathematics, 2005)
required the Steward to make a personal
plea to the Chef to prepare lamb for over
150 guests!
So far, this year has proved to be a success. We hope that this trend continues
in Hilary and Trinity Terms, that members
reap the rewards of their academic work,
and that friendships are not easily forgotten as we slowly drift along the Cherwell
and away from Oxford over the summer
months.
8
mcr research report
Aston Martin Rust
Martin Rust (Materials Science, 2004) describes his postgraduate work
with the Aston Martin Vanquish and superplastic metals
1.
2.
M
y favourite lecturer once told me
that every scientist needs a one
sentence explanation of their research
that does not involve any technical terms
whatsoever. This is for use in polite company to overcome the normal glazed-eye
response that generally meets the phrase
‘I’m a materials scientist.’ Here is mine: I
work on the science behind the making
of the body of the Aston Martin Vanquish
(fig. 1). Completely accurate, devoid of
any scientific terms and sexy enough
to be interesting to almost anyone,
this phrase has served me well during
my doctoral studies here at Teddy Hall.
Usually the listener (or in this case, the
reader) is mildly intrigued and willing to
endure a slightly more technical explanation to satisfy their curiosity. This generally involves the question: ‘But what do
you actually DO?’
In order to answer that question, I
must usually first explain what the field
of Materials Science is and how it affects
the average person. Materials Science is
the study of the interaction between the
processing, properties, and performance
of materials in everything from shirts to
space shuttles connecting related areas
of chemistry, physics, and engineering.
An incredibly wide range of methods and
equipment are used to determine the
properties and performance of an even
wider range of materials. In Oxford, the
Materials Department has groups working in such diverse areas as metals for
the next generation of nuclear reactors,
nano-materials for quantum computers,
bio-materials for bone implants, and
dozens of other high-tech fields. Much
of this research utilises the department’s
world-famous capabilities in electron
microscopy and atomic-level materials
characterization.
My own project joins different electron
microscope techniques to study the deformation of superplastic metals--special
materials that are able to stretch very
far without breaking under the combined conditions of high temperatures
and low rates of deformation. Because
of their properties, these materials are
used in a variety of applications where
complex shapes are needed, such as the
fan blades in a Rolls-Royce jet engine.
Additionally, as these materials can be
formed using air pressure and relatively
cheap dies, instead of costly conventional
forging equipment, they are particularly
attractive for low-production applications
like railway carriages and luxury cars.
While these materials have been used
commercially for forty years, the physical
mechanism by which their amazing deformations are achieved is still unknown.
In other words, we still do not know exactly how or why they work. This makes
it difficult to predict if a material will
behave superplasticly and to solve engineering problems arising during forming. It also makes it particularly hard to
improve forming methods to lower costs
and increase through-put. Previous research has generated several conflicting
theories, mostly because the techniques
available for study were inadequate to
see and characterise key micro-scale
interactions. My research aims to resolve
these conflicts and find the mechanism
behind these materials.
To reach this goal, I have developed a
new characterisation technique to study
these materials at the micro-scale during
deformation. First, I use a specialised
electron microscope called a Focused
Ion Beam (FIB) to machine grids of
varying spacing on to large-scale metal
specimens, including several cut from the
bonnet of an Aston Martin Vanquish. The
FIB uses a beam of metal ions to knock
atoms off the surface of the specimen
and can be used to ‘machine’ features
smaller than 100 nano-metres in size.
After machining, I stretch specimens
under a variety of superplastic conditions
and then study the resulting deformation
in a scanning electron microscope (fig 2).
The images provide an incredible amount
of data on the material movement and
physical interactions and are combined
with other techniques that give detailed
structural and chemical data to form a
complete picture of what has happened.
I have already presented results from
this research at conferences in China,
Canada, the UK, and Germany to great
reviews and am very hopeful that, when
this project is complete this summer, our
data will finally provide a full picture of
the mechanisms behind superplasticity.
9
college sports update
MEN’S RUGBY
The Hall made an uncharacteristically
poor start to the season, and we were
severely hampered by the absence of key
players away on University duty. However, our fresh-faced recruits were able to
stem the tide and Hall finished fourth in
the First Division. We knew, however, that
we must improve.
The second league saw a number of
cancelled games owing to poor weather.
Hall began to show some glimpses of
their true capabilities and finished in a
comfortable third position. The domination of Keble, however, was beginning to
grate.
Next up was Cuppers. For the first time
this year the Hall was able to field a fullstrength side, with numerous University
players returning to the fold. Our first
game saw Hall defeat Linacre/Wolfson by
a resounding 80 points to nil. This was followed by a titanic clash with Univ. under
the floodlights of Iffley. Hall ran out 27-12
winners. It was commented by numerous officials at OURFC that they had witnessed the best game of college rugby in
over twenty years.
Our semi-final annihilation of St. Peter’s
would have made many an old member
weep. An absolutely ruthless forwards’
display set the platform for our backs to
run riot. The final score was 56 points to
7, and saw Hall book their rightful place at
Iffley once again.
The final was our chance to join the
immortals of the Teddy Hall Pantheon.
There was tremendous self-belief within
the side. We were going to win; Keble
were going to lose. And win we did! Numerous old members packed the stands
MEN’S ROWING
Oliver Gingell (2005)
The winter was a tough time for the
men’s rowing team; owing to lots of
rain the river was too high and consequently we could not get as much
training time as we would have liked.
The lack of experience was made up
for, however, with a very enjoyable
Easter vacation training camp held
in Cork, Ireland. Here we managed
a week’s rowing in sunny conditions
which set us up nicely for a successful summer term.
First we entered Bedford regatta; in a tough division we won four
races and advanced to the semi-finals before losing out to a very fast
crew. Following this success we had
high hopes for summer eights. After
rowing over the first day, the second
day produced a very exciting, but ultimately disappointing race, as we
were bumped by Keble after coming painfully close to catching Exeter
in front of us. We suffered another
bump the next day but recovered
well to row over on the final day to
leave us 11th in division 1.
Phil Satterthwaite (2006)
to watch Hall hold their nerve
against a monstrous Keble pack,
racking up seven tries in a final
score of 46 points to 36. One old
member was moved to comment
that Teddy Hall could have beaten
England that evening. I’m inclined
to believe him!
Next up for us is the traditional
season ender: Cuppers sevens.
Last year, Hall truly dominated this
event, all the while demonstrating greater levels of skill than any
other college outfit could muster.
Hopefully this year we can retain
our title, firmly underlining the
dominance of the Hall in all matters rugby.
The bedrock of this year’s team has been
a group of wily old campaigners from the
third and fourth years. They have been
ably supported by an outstanding group
of second years and a committed set of
WOMEN’S ROWING
The weather seems to have defeated
rowing this term as the Christ Church novice regatta was cancelled owing to high
stream and river levels. This proved to
be a most disappointing result as the Hall
had produced some of its most promising
novice rowers for years. A week before
the regatta the two crews were given the
chance to get some valuable racing expe-
freshers. A special mention must go to
Jay Taylor who played in his third Cuppers
final this year; I am incredibly proud to
have sent him off into the big wide world
with one last win!
Helen Taylor (2004)
rience whilst competing in Nephthys regatta. Against many other
novice college crews, both boats
performed well in the first round
with the B crew winning a closely
fought race and the A crew rowing
five lengths clear of their opposition. The next round proved to be a
tougher affair with the B crew losing by two lengths and the A crew
losing to the eventual winners by
only a length. The novice squad
will now join with the seniors, who
have been training hard over the
term both on land and in a IV, to create
the 1st Torpid and lower crews. Looking
ahead to the summer, we will have many
rowers returning to the fold including four
university squad rowers and a blues swimmer. Combining them with the eager and
talented novice squad, it looks encouraging that the Hall will dominate the river
once more.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
The 2007/ 08 season has seen our squad
bolstered by considerable American talent
in the shape of Jean Foster, Billie Koopervas, and Stevie Bergman whilst fresher
recruits Lou Cantwell, Rose Manley, and
Jane Rudderham have proved invaluable.
More popular than ever and the fastestgrowing sport at the Hall, women’s football has also enjoyed the addition of numerous finalists. With fitness coach and
team favourite Ben Toms alongside new
coach Chris Watkin, the season looked full
of promise. And, so far, this has proved to
be the case.
Unbeaten in both the league and Cuppers competitions we are fast gaining
a reputation as formidable opponents.
Former captain Mari Tomos is our leading goal scorer, having found the net in
every one of her appearances, while Lou
has been a rock at the back in all of our
Helena Heaton (2006)
matches. Special mention must also go to
Jean who scored a hat trick in our stunning 6-2 defeat of Catz/Balliol MCR as well
as Cressie Holmes, who, back from her
year abroad in Paris, marked her return
with two goals in our hard fought victory over Cuppers favourites, Osler Green.
With training twice a week, even in conditions resembling a mud bath, we are a
dedicated, close-knit squad and look set
to go far this season.
To regain our touch after Christmas a
match against the men’s thirds is on the
cards, although their captain keeps avoiding the issue – perhaps that is saying
something…?!! Next term sees the crucial
knockout stages of Cuppers and the conclusion of the league, so fingers crossed
for the business-end of the season!
10
college events
Our Charter Year in Photos
More than 575 Aularians
attended Hall events in
2007, our anniversary
year. Here are just a few
photographs from the
events that drew in the
Aularian crowds.
The Charter Lecture
Series, sponsored by the
Martin Smith St Edmund
Hall Arts Trust, brought
(from left to right) Jeremy
Paxman, Terry Jones, and
Nicholas Evans to the
Hall.
The SEHA made a gift of Rodney Munday’s sculpture of St Edmund, which was
installed in the gardens of St Peter-in-the-East.
Ibsen’s Ghosts was resurrected by John Cox and the John Oldham Society during
the Charter Weekend.
The Charter Ball recaptured the 1950s.
The Charter Arts Celebration, sponsored by the Martin Smith St Edmund Hall
Arts Trust, brought together Aularians for an evening of music and poetry.
Clockwise from top left are James Harpham, Jonathan Van Tulleken, Kevin
Crossley-Holland, Natalie Raybould, and the St Edmund Hall Choir conducted by
Stephen Carleston.
11
college events
Nicholas Evans Charter Lecture
T
he final lecture in the series
celebrating the 50th anniversary of
the Hall’s Charter saw Nicholas Evans,
author of The Divide, The Loop, The Horse
Whisperer and The Smoke Jumper sharing
a series of fascinating insights on his life
and career with a packed Old Dining Hall.
Dedicated Charter Lecture fans
seeking a career in the arts will by now
have noticed common thread, running
through the lives of Nicholas Evans
and his predecessor in the series, Terry
Jones: early success in – followed by total
neglect of – rugby. Evans, Head Boy and
Captain of Rugby at school, walked into
his interview and was met not by the
expected spin-pass, but by the darklymuttered phrases, ‘oh, another bloody
gladiator’. He took the hint, ‘didn’t touch
a sporting implement in his time here’,
and spent three years engaged in more
profitable pursuits; he took to scrawling
‘Matriculation Makes You Blind’ along
Queen’s Lane, and, most significantly,
acting; a bit-part in a touring production
of ‘Hamlet’ took him to America,
rekindling a childhood passion for the
West which would emerge later through
the American narrative voice of his novels.
Alastair Hird (English, 2005)
After leaving Oxford,
Evans turned away
from his law degree,
entering the ranks of
the Thompson empire
as a cub journalist. From
an early placement on
the Newcastle Evening
Chronicle, he slowly
manoeuvred himself
towards arts journalism,
then screenwriting;
despite initial success,
he found himself
Nicholas Evans (Law, 1969) and his former Law tutor
moving deeper into debt. Professor Sir David Yardley at the third Charter Lecture
He stumbled across the
about people; writing it led him through
practice of horse whispering at dinner,
a difficult passage of life, just as healing
overhearing the words at the other end
a horse can heal its owner. Indeed, his
of the table; seeing the potential of the
reputation as ‘the animal man’ has been
concept, Evans decided to abandon
a bugbear: admittedly, making wolves
screenwriting as a vehicle, a move which,
central to The Loop was ‘a bad idea’,
ironically, led to the shooting of Robert
though he ‘didn’t even put a mosquito in
Redford’s ‘The Horse Whisperer’, a film
the next two, to shake the tag’.
which had a huge impact on Evans’s
Literature fans should keep an eye out
career, for both good and ill, increasing
for the appearances by several sheep
his profile whilst tying him forever to a
in his next book; the post-lecture meal
distorted version of his work.
featured exquisite lamb, and it’s bound to
He was at pains to point out that the
have had an influence.
book is not a book about horses, but
2007 Reunion Event Photos
1967 Gaudy
1970-1976 Gaudy
1957 50th Anniversary Lunch
12
alumni news
HALL
AROUND
THE WORLD
You can find Aularians on 6 continents and in 107
countries across the world, so chances are that no
matter where you are, there is an Aularian neaby.
Aularian Connect, the Hall’s online alumni database, makes it easier
than ever to get in touch and stay in touch with fellow Aularians.
Aularian Connect is free, secure, and available exclusively to St Edmund
Hall alumni.
Looking to get back in touch with friends from College? Search
for Aularians by name. Thinking of organising a reunion? Use the
database to search by matriculation year. Moving to a new city? Find
Aularians in the area. Pondering a career change? Contact an Aularian
for career advice. Planning a holiday? Take a look at the dozens of
holiday homes, tours, and more on offer by Aularians on Aularian
Connections. Move house or change jobs? Update your details quickly
and easily online.
To date, more than 4,380 Aularians have published information on
Aularian Connect with more logging in everyday. To log on, visit
www.aularianconnect.com
Where on Earth?
There are Aularians all over,
but here are the countries
where you can find at least
ten:
Australia
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Czech Republic
Mexico
France
Germany
Greece
India
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
New Zealand
The Netherlands
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
South Africa
South Korea
Switzerland
UAE
USA
Your College Needs You
International, Regional & Year Group Volunteers Wanted!
St Edmund Hall alumni are based in
over a hundred countries from Albania to Zimbabwe. Working with the St
Edmund Hall Association, the Alumni
Relations & Development Office hopes
to facilitate a programme of regional,
international, and year group events
designed to help alumni to keep in touch
with each other and the Hall. These
might include drinks parties and networking events, dinners, talks and seminars and perhaps even sporting events!
The organisation of such a programme
requires enthusiastic alumni to organise Aularians in San Francisco, hold an informal preevents on a local level, with the support Christmas gathering at a local brewery.
of the Alumni Relations team at the College in the background.
We would like to see all Aularians continue their association with the College
and the St Edmund Hall Association and
also keep in touch with their contemporaries and other Old Members. With
your help, we hope to provide all Aularians with just such opportunities.
If you would be willing to act as a
regional, international, or year group
organiser, or have any other ideas for
alumni events and activities please get
in touch with the Alumni Relations &
Development Office. Alternatively log
on to www.aularianconnect.com and
sign up in the Opportunities to Help the
Hall section of the site.
After meeting at the SEH New York dinner in
November, Yves Desgouttes (Geochemistry), Ingrid
Bengtson (PPE) and Benjamin Beck (English) got
together for a day of skiing in beautiful conditions
and an apres-ski slope-side dinner at Jackson Hole
Mountain Resort in Wyoming.
13
alumni news
St Edmund Hall Association Report
Y
ou are selected, you spend three years
bouncing from one excitement to another, and afterwards, you wonder what might
have been achieved if it had not all been
such fun. Familiar? Thus the presidency of
the St Edmund Hall Association passes.
Surprisingly there were three achievements during my tenure. They required
masterly skills of active non-intervention
and passive interference in processes initiated by my predecessors. Thanks to them,
and to all our supporters, we now have
Aularian Connect, the truly amazing statue
of St Edmund, and the potential of opportunities to visit (by arrangement) the crypt
of St Peter-in-the-East! I hope too that the
concept of year group leaders for Aularians
will find favour and support. It will enable
contacts to be maintained and revived
when wanted and in whatever form appeals
at the particular time.
The range of activities in the last three
years followed the patterns of the centuries.
The London Dinner continues as it was, is,
and will be, and is great fun to be at. There
are grand meetings of the Executive Committee. Watching the ‘Syndicate’ at eights
week is an experience which is different.
Summer Reunions and Gaudies are generous, gentle and enjoyable.
I happened upon 2007 which was the
Friends of the Boat Club
T
he Friends of St Edmund Hall Boat Club
have raised thousands of pounds over
the fifteen years since they were formed:
all that money has gone towards equipping the Boat Club, paying for coaching,
and defraying incidental expenses such as
transport costs. As a result, the Hall now
has one of the best equipped college boat
clubs on the Isis.
We have been very fortunate in securing sponsorship from Jones Day, one of
the most recognized and respected law
firms in the world; this has taken the form
of funds for new equipment and for rowing kit which proudly bears the firm’s logo.
Many Friends have generously contributed to an endowment fund for the benefit
of the Boat Club which, after including Gift
Aid tax relief, now amounts to close on
£100,000.
Will Hatcher (History, 1962)
50 (or 750th, as you will) anniversary of
our charter and status as “college.” There
were charter lectures and dinners, events
and memorabilia and the great Charter
Weekend which celebrated the perfectly
timed installation (just) and unveiling of St
Edmund in the churchyard.
It has been a great joy for me to have had
the pleasure of contact with very many old
and new friends. Throughout the period,
we enjoyed unfailing courtesy and great
support from the Principal and the Fellows.
The Alumni Relations and Development Office, primarily Betony, contributed helpfully
with both energy and tolerance.
Now I return to the semi-retirement of
the Oxford University Society (Shropshire
Branch) where we have a committee of
two (including the officers!) which meets
without fail every five years at least. I give
my very best wishes to my successor, Jon
Shortridge, and my genuine thanks to all
who played a part, however large or small,
in maintaining and strengthening the spirit
of the Hall over the last three years.
th
Darrell Barnes (Modern Languages, 1963)
The Friends’ Annual Dinner is held
every year at the beginning of Michaelmas Term and this year will be held on
Friday 17 October. This is an opportunity to meet current crew members, to
catch up on Boat Club progress as well
as to dine in the Old Dining Hall.
We have been occupied recently with
drawing up an appropriate constitution
for the better governance of the Friends
and hope that this will soon be enacted.
We try to produce a Newsletter for
the Friends once a term, containing
news of the latest Boat Club successes
(the Newsletters can now be downloaded from the Hall website - follow
the Alumni link).
We are always looking for new faces on
the Friends’ Management Committee and
so if you have time to spare and would
like to be involved, please contact Dick
Fishlock at [email protected]
or Darrell Barnes at
[email protected]
Aularian Golfing Society - 2008 Fixtures
The second season of the newly established Society, with some fifty members, is about to get underway. If you have not already
signed up but would like to be involved in any of the events on the list below, please email [email protected]
11 April
Oxford Alumni Inter-Collegiate Tournament
& Dinner in College (optional), Frilford Heath GC
22 April
AGS Spring Meeting, The Berkshire GC
May/June (tbc) Match v St John’s College, Royal Mid-Surrey GC
29 July
AGS Summer Meeting or Match v Fitzwilliam
College Cambridge, Wimbledon Park GC
29 August
AGS Oxford Meeting & Dinner in College (optional)
Studley Wood GC (tbc)
16 September Match v Corpus Christi College, Huntercombe GC
14
aularian contribution
Aularians Off the Beaten Path
Jessica Hatcher (Modern Languages, 2001)
I
think nearly everyone who goes to Oxford University will agree that it gives
you the opportunity to meet the most
remarkable people - a springboard for
life. My mum entertained the thought of
me settling down with a Windsor after a
long and dreamy-spires courtship, while
dad thought I’d go into advertising – a
projection of his creative unfulfillment?
Either way, it’s not what you know, it’s
who you know, and as far as they were
concerned, I was bang on track.
Imagine then how they felt when I announced I was quitting my job, getting a
“shock/horror” vocational qualification,
gulp, and planning to spend four months
cycling around rural Africa.
Oxford, or more specifically Teddy Hall,
had once again trumpeted opportunity
into my path, only this time the opportunity in question was neither lucrative nor
conducive to grandchildren.
Barty Pleydell-Bouverie, a great friend
from Teddy Hall who is one is one of the
few from my year still to be at the Hall
(doing a D.Phil in neuroscience), had an
idea. Barty loves Africa, see. You catch it
like a bug, I am told. And Barty caught it
pretty bad some years ago.
Having spent several years working
on various development and conservation projects across the continent, he
has designed a 5,000 mile unsupported
bicycle expedition that would visit and
support the work of twenty different rural conservation projects dotted around
Southern and East Africa - taking in eight
countries, from Namibia to Kenya. All
too often, African conservation projects
have had a detrimental socio-economic
impact on the communities that are affected by them (for instance the impact
of relocation from protected reserves,
or the economic effects of restricted
hunting). Current practice now aims to
support community-based initiatives that
place education and poverty reduction
as central aims alongside conservation.
Barty has carefully picked twenty of such
schemes that are well managed and are
creating conditions where both the wildlife, and the communities that depend on
it, can flourish.
Early comparisons to Ewan MacGregor
in the Long Way Down were flattering
but misplaced, and Barty was determined the expedition would not to be
a ‘gap-year’ challenge or a small-time
fundraiser – he once raised upwards of
£30,000 by running a marathon through
a game reserve in northern Kenya and is
not one to set ‘realistic’ targets. In this
case, £100,000 will only just be enough
to provide each of the projects visited en
route with the sort of long-term financial
support structure that would allow them
to develop at their own pace; over and
above that will be better.
Prince William is the Royal Patron
of Tusk Trust, the African conservation
charity with which Barty has organised
the Cycle of Life. When Prince William
heard of the expedition he offered his
endorsement and persuaded us to team
up with another of his patron charities,
Centrepoint, which is the UK’s leading
youth homelessness charity. As a result,
the expedition has offered some of the
young people from Centrepoint the
opportunity join us, something that it is
hoped will change their lives forever.
Barty, Chris Stephens (another Africaphile and first-class engineer who
prefers to dwell on his Hall rugby career)
and I (please note, I have never been
to Africa) are thus being joined on the
expedition by two young people from
Centrepoint, together with their keyworkers. It will be an incredible convergence of perspectives as we delve
into rural African communities without
the distraction and limitation of motor
power. At sixty miles per day, it should
take us a little under four months. We
depart on 10 April and hope to make it a
story worth following. Take a look at our
website www.cycleoflife2008.com and
find us on facebook, use the web to chart
our progress, and help us make a difference by giving generously – all donations
go straight to the field. We will also be
holding a launch evening at some point,
so look out for that.
Oh, and if you see my parents, tell
them it’s a good thing.
15
Listening & Hearing
Yann Lovelock (English, 1960) discusses some aspects of the public faith agenda
Yann Lovelock leads the alms round
during a period of monastic training at
the Staffordshire Buddhavihara Temple
in August 2007
I
n the period when St Edmund Hall was
founded, it would have been a bold
man who advocated interfaith dialogue
as a theological tool. Such activities were
only possible between the likes of St
Francis and the Sultan of Egypt, or those
in the far-flung Mongol dominions.
Nor in 1960 was it a subject I discussed with my Aularian contemporaries
John Austin and Matthew Joy.
There was no question of dialogue
between an irreverent black-clad Beat
poet and the kind of visibly committed
Christian that in those days we used to
call ‘the grey men’. Besides, my upbringing was in a fundamentalist sect with
very decided views on the errors of
Anglicanism.
The next time I met that pair was
in Birmingham forty years later. John
was by then Bishop of Aston and had a
special interest in interfaith dialogue.
Matthew had an interfaith role too, having established friendly relations with the
predominating Muslims in his parish. Our
paths crossed because I was emerging as
the Buddhist interfaith adviser in the city.
Each of us had acquired a social conscience in the meantime and had made
a critical assessment of what our own
faiths should be contributing to achieve
social harmony. The crisis brought
about by 9/11 therefore found us better prepared than many. Even earlier,
Government had had a policy of religious
consultation. As that moved into higher
gear, suddenly we were of interest to
local authorities as people with solutions.
There are problems about how you
approach interfaith relations at different levels. In Birmingham we have had
a Council of Faiths since 1973 which has
had periodically to reinvent its role according to changing circumstances. There
are several strands to its membership
which are difficult to reconcile. Some just
want to listen, others are mostly interested in advocating their own position;
then there are supporters who believe in
the process of dialogue but not in taking
part, and finally there are the networkers
and facilitators.
Nowadays, too, there is tension between those keen to engage in the civic
process and those wary of any political
involvement. This surfaced, for instance,
when our Council of Faiths became
involved in helping to organise the rally
held in Birmingham after the 2005 London bombings. The Anti-War Alliance and
Respect were poised to take it over as a
political platform; the Council of Faiths
collaborated with Islamic Relief, the
Young Muslims, and the Islamic Society
of Britain in keeping it unconfrontational.
Shortly afterwards we were awarded a
seat on the Birmingham Strategic Partnership.
Multi-faith consultation is the proper
name for dialogue on social policies with
local, regional and national government.
Theoretically each ‘representative’ is
there to advocate the position of their
faith but out of the process grows trust
and respect for each other as common values emerge. It soon becomes
When St Edmund Hall
was founded, it would
have been a bold man
who advocated interfaith
dialogue as a theological
tool.
clear that people of faith have a shared
outlook which it is vital for the various
authorities to understand if there is to be
any sort of fruitful co-operation.
The need for ‘faith literacy’ in public
bodies is increasingly discussed nowadays. What is important to those of us
devising courses is that this involves
more than learning about the beliefs
and cultural practices of others. Faiths
are lumped together with the voluntary
sector since one third of all social provision is delivered by faith associations.
The difference, however, is that religious
conviction inspires the latter where
Rotarians (say) act purely out of humanitarian concern. This has its bearing on
how much outside direction faiths will
tolerate in return for official funding. The
recent clash between Government and
the Catholic Church over gay adoption
(and the way this was manipulated by
the media) arose because of lack of understanding. ‘Consultation’ may involve
listening but does not guarantee hearing;
to achieve that there must be a process
of dialogue.
Equally important (but more problematic) is intra-faith dialogue. The Network
of Buddhist Organisations was formed
in 1994 to encourage precisely this but
it was not long before Government was
casting a speculative eye in its direction.
Buddhists may be notoriously uncentralised and achieving consensus among
them practically impossible, but here
was an ecumenical organisation ready to
look at almost anything. Our secretary’s
email address was soon being added to
ministerial data-bases.
Article continues on page 17
16
Oxford in Arabia
Douglas Botting (English, 1954)
L
ife, I have found, tends often to be one damn bend in the river
after another. This was certainly true of my Oxford career at St
Edmund Hall.
After passing the entrance exam to read English, I was obliged
to do two years National Service in the Army, and in due course
was commissioned as an infantry subaltern and posted to the
King’s Africa Rifles in East Africa - first in Kenya, where the regiment was engaged in containing the Mau Mau terror war, and
later to Uganda, where one day I happened to have lunch with the
newly crowned Queen of England at the source of the Nile.
I loved Africa, and especially its Indian Ocean coast, and when
I finally came up to the Hall I still longed to get back there and
struggled in vain to sign up for courses more relevant to my
interests. But neither Arabic nor anthropology were available to
undergraduates, and so while I wrestled my way through medieval
literature and Anglo-Saxon, I joined the Oxford University Exploration Club. There I was received very cordially, and advised that if
I proposed to go off on some far-away expedition I should decide
where to go exactly and to do what precisely, and where the hell I
thought the money was coming from.
So it was, by pure chance, while idly flicking through a world
atlas and putting a ring round every island round the African continent, I came across a place I had never heard of - Socotra, off the
Horn of Africa.
Not only had I never heard of it but nor had anyone else. More
than that, it wasn’t even in my ancient edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. This surely was the place I was looking for
- remote, unknown, unexplored since the 19th century. Though I
didn’t know it, this was to usher in a monumental change in my
life - and for that matter Socotra’s.
While remaining an undergraduate on the one hand, I became
a postgraduate project director (so to speak) on the other, deal-
Douglas Botting in the expedition headquarters - the stable in
St Aldate’s - surrounded by all the stores and equipment to be
shipped out to the Arabian Sea.
A typical splinter group on a trek to the interior. From
left to right, Professor Peter Shinnie, Dr Richard Lister,
John Weakley, Douglas Botting, and three Socotran
donkey drivers.
ing with government departments at home and abroad,
and research directors at other Universities, including
American ones. Having drawn up a pioneer field research
programme involving anthropological, linguistic, archaeological and zoological research, together with international
media projects, I managed to raise BBC interest in a documentary TV series (only youthful David Attenborough’s
second job in his brief career back at BBC TV HQ to date)
to be shot by me, plus a book as well.
Though the Hall didn’t yet know it either, the college became the organisation centre for the first scientific exploration of this remote and extraordinary Arabian island in the
modern era. My little room above that of Graham Midgley
(my English Literature tutor) in the Front Quad became the
Expedition HQ. And as boxes of supplies and equipment
donated free by British firms began to pile up in the Hall’s
front entrance, it soon became evident we would have
to find our own planning and storage HQ, and both John
Weakley (the other Hall undergraduate on the expedition,
reading French) and I moved into a deserted stable in St
Aldate’s, with our office and camp beds in the hayloft and
our stores in the horse pens.
Most amazingly, from starting as a modest undergraduate adventure, the project was fast becoming a major
postgraduate field research expedition. The original team
included American medic Dr Baruch Blumberg (later Master of Balliol and winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine)
and Professor Ahmed Abou-Zeid (Head of the Department of Anthropology at Cairo University). But for reasons
we were yet to discover, both the American and Egyptian
academics were banned by the British Government, and
I replaced them with two Cambridge medics, Dr Neil Orr
and Dr Richard Lister in addition to two other scientists
- Dr Michael Gwynne, biologist (Oriel, later Head of the
17
Continued from page 15
Listening
& Hearing
by Yann Lovelock
A Socotran Bedouin cave home. Dr Orr is sprinkling DDT to get rid of the
itchy fleas. Douglas Botting met the Bedu on the right again when he
returned to the island nearly forty years later. When the Bedu was asked
if he knew who Douglas was, he replied, ‘Yes, he’s one of the six giants,
his job was pictures.’
UN Global Environmental Monitoring Service) and Prof Peter Shinnie, archaeologist
(Christ Church, formerly Head of Antiquities for the Sudan Government).
Eventually the crunch came. To fulfil my obligation to the expedition and all its
backers (the University of Oxford included) I would need a sabbatical year when I
got back. Though this was an odd request from an undergraduate, to my eternal
gratitude, the Principal, John Kelly, agreed.
The next seemingly insuperable problem was getting there. No ships could land
there in the summer monsoon. There was a rough dirt airstrip on the island but no
planes normally flew there. And from our humble horse stable in St Aldate’s I wrote
to the topmost British airman of all - the Supreme Commander of Allied Air Forces
in Europe - begging him to help. It seems the words ‘St Edmund Hall, Oxford University’ did the trick. The Supreme Commander replied by return post. Of course the
RAF should help, he wrote. He would fix it.
And so we went. The RAF flew us to the island. Camels and donkeys carried us
up and around its primordial mountains and desert plains through the monsoon
weather. The Stone Age bedouin cave-dwellers of the island’s ancient wild uplands
became our friends. The scientists did their researches. I shot my film. All was going well in this fantastic lost world when we received an unexpected emergency radio message from the Aden Government via the two-man Bedouin Legion outpost
marooned on the island: ‘Oxford Expedition uplift immediately two RAF planes
arriving two days time’.
When we got back to Aden we were informed that only one ship was now sailing
to the UK via Suez until further notice and we had been booked on it as distressed
British subjects travelling first class free of charge. Only when we finally got home
was the mystery finally explained. British, French, and Israeli forces had invaded
the Suez Canal Zone. Britain was now at war with Egypt. We had been squeezed
on the last ship to get through the Canal and sail home.
And so this pioneer research expedition, which had kick-started world-wide interest in this forgotten island, published its scientific results, my documentary films
(the first about the island) were broadcast on BBC TV and around the world, and
my book Island of the Dragon’s Blood, the first book about the island since the 19th
century, was published in Britain and America - and a signed copy of the recently
published new paperback edition (‘a work of genius’, The Observer) is now in the
Hall library!
Having helped set up a regional Buddhist council in 2002, I joined the NBO
three years ago to act as its Information
Officer and Interfaith Co-ordinator. This
year alone I was renominated as Buddhist representative to the Inter Faith
Network’s executive and continued to
attend a Government faith think tank and
a committee advising the Equalities and
Human Rights Commission. After briefing
on the new immigration procedures, I
reported these to our membership in accessible language. I have consulted them
on the Health Service’s proposals for
Near Death Care and reported back the
results. I have given a presentation to the
Cohesion and Faith team at the Department for Communities and Local Government on the complexity of Buddhist
organisations in Britain. I have written an
essay for the Institute for Public Policy
Research about the Buddhist attitude to
citizenship, nationality, multiculturalism,
and secularism.
After decades of neglect, and in the
new demographic circumstances of the
21st century, authorities are now hungry
for information about this newly realised
marker of self-definition. So far as I can
learn, this is set to continue, whichever
party is in power. Whether those of us in
the minority faiths will be able to keep
up with the demand, or think the results
worth while, is more debatable.
It soon becomes clear
that people of faith have
a shared outlook which
it is vital for the various
authorities to understand
if there is to be any sort of
fruitful co-operation.
18
Big Brother is Always Watching
Amy Jackson (Fine Art, 2005)
Amy Jackson was chosen to be one of twelve housemates
on E4’s reality series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack which
ran from 3 January to 28 January 2008. The series
brought together a group of British 18 to 21 year olds, all
with a special talent, competing to avoid ‘eviction’ from
the House and a £50,000 prize. Amy is a multi-award
winning conceptual artist pursuing her BA in Fine Art at
the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. She finished
the Big Brother competition in third place.
R
eading through a fifty-page contract I
knew I could be signing my life away.
I read and understood that anything E4
wanted to do was out of my hands and,
as the 40-page rule book stated that ‘Big
Brother can change the rules at any time.’
It was certainly a gamble, but sensible
thought and fears aside I signed my soul
away on the dotted line.
Walking into the House for the first
time the bright lights and bold colours
were overwhelming. The atmosphere was
tense and awkward, like a party in which
no one has met yet. There was no sound,
only polite and guarded conversation, in
which everyone was well aware was being
watched.
At first the House resembled a playground. Excited, we ran united around
the rooms exploring new spaces and
eyeing up the décor. By the next day the
House seemed less like a playground and
a lot more like a prison. For hours at once
we were locked, with no explanation into
one particular room. None of the rooms
had locks we could control, a coloured
eye stood above each doorway. Red for
closed, green for open.
Initially the moving cameras in every
corner, on every wall, behind every mirror
felt inescapable. I was guarded, wary, and
The moving cameras in every
corner, on every wall, behind
every mirror felt inescapable.
I was guarded, wary, and
watched whilst others, singers,
musicians, performers, revelled
on the stage.
watched whilst others, singers, musicians,
performers, revelled on the stage. They
sang, danced, and improvised as though
they were in an Andrew Lloyd Weber audition. Yet the cameras soon became part
of the furniture and conversation became
free and easy.
As evictions commenced, and tears
trailed down cheekbones and fists found
their way to walls, I was determined not
to descend into depression. They could
take away my hot water, put us on rations,
and wind us up to their hearts’ content,
but I had sworn to myself that I would not
give them the satisfaction of seeing me
cry.
Perhaps it was my lack of visible emotion, which prompted them to choose me
for the SAS task. We were each given a
secret four-digit code and were told that
two housemates would be interrogated
by Andy McNabb, a former SAS regiment
member. The winning housemate would
be immune from the week’s eviction and
would go home £5,000 richer.
One night I went to sleep at 5 a.m.
not suspecting that two hours later two
masked black balaclava-clad men would
burst in and kidnap housemate Anthony
and me. With my hands above my head
for a forty-minute journey the cramp in
my arms was enough to make we wish I
was back in the House.
Alone in the interrogation room I
stood for an hour listening to white noise
pounding in my ears. The sounds of dogs
barking, footsteps clambering and a
baby crying were enough to send anyone
insane and after a couple of weeks in
the Big Brother House, my senses were
already weird and warped.
One of the most fearful aspects of taking part in Big Brother is the inevitability
of eviction and the dread of walking out
those doors plays upon each contestant’s
mind. My interrogator knew this and used
my fear to his advantage.
‘There’s been a change. You and
Anthony both have a number. At the moment your fellow housemates are trying
to crack a code in the house. They need
both yours and Anthony’s digits to finish
the task. This is the real task… If they do
not complete the code, everyone will be
up for eviction except you. Anthony is a
team player and so has selflessly given up
his numbers. This task was not to find the
strongest housemate, it was to see who
the most selfish housemate was. At the
moment that is you.’
My interrogator enforced on me how
selfish and arrogant everyone watching
would find me. However, just for that
shadow of doubt and possibility that the
task could still be real I kept my numbers
secret. Hours of shouting about my selfish behaviour, arrogant attitude, and impending private and public hatred did not
break me. The cramp in my arms and legs
worsened, but so did my determination.
Eventually we were led to the Diary
Room and told the task was real. I had
lasted the longest and won the prize.
Anthony and I were greeted with hugs
and smiles from the House, yet I could
not shake my interrogator’s shouts about
selfishness from my head. I became
convinced the public would take offence
to my determination to win over my consideration for the rest of the housemates.
Of course this was not the case but SAS
interrogation is enough to brainwash the
19
Paying with Plastic
Recounting the Days of College Money
Jonathan Warner (PPE, 1976)
T
strongest of wills.
In the Big Brother House, eviction
doesn’t feel like a game, it feels like a
death. When someone walks out of that
door there’s an emptiness in the House.
The contestants console each other with
ridiculous phrases such as, ‘they’ve gone
to a better place’ and ‘I bet he’s watching
us now’. Housemates cry and stare longingly at empty beds, feeling regret for all
those arguments, all those bitter words.
When that house is your entire universe it
feels as though someone has been wiped
from the world.
With no mode of guidance, idea of
the outside world, or adult responsibility in the Big Brother House we became
childlike. Big Brother became a parent.
The housemates became brothers and
sisters and sibling rivalry was strife. Our
only voice of authority or guidance was
Big Brother and seeking that approval
becomes paramount. Kids run out of
the diary room with excitement, ready to
show off about their latest loving conversation with the Brother. It hurts when
Big Brother favours another or makes his
disapproval clear. So you try your best
to behave, you seek guidance from Big
Brother, existing in a constant dichotomy
between love and hate.
Somehow I survived eviction until the
final night. Leaving the House and walking through a sea of strangers and familiar
faces (which somehow looked foreign),
I realised it was over and was filled with
relief. Adapting back was going to be difficult.
On the tube a couple of days later I
couldn’t help but notice how happy the
voice on the tannoy made me. “The circle
line is subject to delays due to signal failures” was enough to make me feel back
at home. Although I still sometimes have
a sense of suspicion at an innocent mirror
on the wall, gradually the feeling that I
am being watched is fading away but with
CCTV cameras on street corners perhaps it
is still always there, just slightly.
here are many reasons why
people might choose to
use a special form of token
money, and examples
have been known in
Britain from at least
the reign of Charles II,
when a shortage of coin
encouraged merchants
to issue their own metal
tokens. In the United States
numerous mining and lumber
companies issued tokens and
paper money to meet the needs of
their employees for cash, and during the
periodic crises of the nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, and again in
the Great Depression, certificates were
issued by associations of banks backed by
blocked deposits. Later, back in Britain,
special tokens were issued for use in onearmed bandits – Bell fruit tokens became
especially common – thereby adding to
the rich variety of money substitutes.
It is perhaps not surprising that impecunious gentlemen found St Edmund
Hall’s token money a useful way of obtaining credit for buying lunch and other
services. Anyone who was at the Hall
during the 1970s no doubt remembers
College Money. Small round plastic tokens that you could use around college,
and booklets of paper notes that, rather
like travellers’ cheques, you had to sign
when you received, and then again when
you used them, and which after one use
were destroyed. The paper money was a
way of postponing
the day when
you had to
pay for
what you’d
bought
(rather
like a
Blackwell’s
account), as
the amount
you signed for
was added to your next term’s battels
bill. For the impoverished, this was a
great attraction – and, as the last term’s
College Money was paid for out of the
£5 a term prepayment for final expenses,
you could cheerfully use it and thereby
merely reduce the amount of your
donation to the Hall, when the begging
letter asking whether you really wanted a
refund of your prepayment overpayment
arrived a few months after going down.
The picture above shows the Hall’s 10p
and 1p tokens (both sides were identical). There was also a 5p token, which
was red. The yellow token on the bottom
left, also for 10p, is an imposter from
Keble College – but was nevertheless
accepted in good faith, and at full value,
by the staff in Wolfson Hall (from whom I
obtained it in change).
Like the better-known College stamps
(which flourished briefly in the 1880s, as
a way of paying for the inter-Collegiate
Messenger Service), College Money has
disappeared – probably being rendered
technologically redundant in the 1980s.
Today’s students know only the joys of
swiping cards through readers, not of the
frantic search for change in one’s pocket,
and the subsequent triumphal proffering of a small piece of plastic that once
passed for money.
Author’s Note: Both the origins and end of College Money seem to be lost in the
mists of time. If anyone has any memories of when the use of College Money
started, or when it finished, or any stories of being able to use it in the world
beyond the Porters’ Lodge, I’d love to know. Email: [email protected]
20
Midsummer Photography
Suzy Styles (Experimental Psychology, 2004)
I
n July of last year, I received funding
from the SEH Master-Class and Training Fund, established to provide Teddy
Hall students with otherwise impossible
opportunities to pursue extra-curricular
activities at a high level. In my case, I was
able to take part in a three-day photography course with top international photographers instrumental in the annual
Travel Photographer of the Year Award.
The course was called Shoot-Edit-Print,
and was aimed at photographers at the
amateur-to-professional level. The course
was conducted at Iridius, a digital design
and printing studio in Banbury.
We began the course with the threat
of public ridicule: a show-and-tell criticism session to which each participant
was instructed to bring their five best
photographs. I chose two shots from a
winter trip to Paris, one from Barcelona,
and two from Japan. My photos lay on
the table surrounded by Swiss mountain
goats, lions on the savannah, coastal
panoramas and abstract macros of the
hearts of flowers. I didn’t realise until
Unimpressed, Inari Jinja, Tsuwano
afterwards, but three of my five subjects
were entirely architectural (The Louvre,
La Sagrada Familia and Tsuwano Castle
ruins). Perhaps this is the domain I am
most comfortable shooting in, as the two
instructors insisted that my final shot
(a candid shot of a very grumpy teenage schoolgirl on her visit to a mountain
shrine) was by a completely different
photographer! As for the critique, across
all our photographs, cropping was in,
composition was critical and underexposed shadows were simply unacceptable. We needed more experience with
filters, better preparation, and to shoot
only in film or high resolution RAW. We
should not waste photos on bad subjects
or unsuitable light or be tempted by the
prospect of digital studio salvation.
We travelled to Broughton Castle for a
shooting session with practical exercises
manipulating dynamic range, and a halfhour three-shot photo-essay. We had
detailed sessions about photographic
theory, examining the techniques of
famous photographic artists, and the
tricks of world-weary professionals. We
shot on the Banbury Canal, with speed
and movement as our themes, and in a
local park, where the goal was manipulating f-stops. In one amazing theoretical
session, a guru from the world of digital
printing explained the ins-and-outs of
professional colour-management, colour
space, and device calibration. Both my
camera and my laptop pale in comparison to the machines I was able to use for
the three-day course… but I am better
able to use them now! And I know what I
want to achieve next.
Suzy Styles is in the 4th year of her D.Phil
in Experimental Psychology. Since starting at SEH, Suzy’s photography has been
published in the annual black-and-white
photographic calendar Intra Muros:
Oxford from the Inside, The Chough: St
Edmund Hall MCR Magazine and in Our
Oxford, a book of student photography
raising money for local children’s charities. In 2007, she was involved in officially
documenting the Charter Ball.
21
Prisoners Abroad
John Walters (History & Theology, 1959)
‘W
hat are you doing now that
you’re retired’ is a question I am
often asked when I meet friends I first
knew at Teddy Hall. What has replaced
the pressures but also the satisfactions of
a busy working life? One answer is that,
like many other retired people, I have
found that the skills, knowledge, and
contacts I needed for work are tremendously useful to a number of voluntary
organisations.
I worked for 35 years in the probation service, the last sixteen of these as
a chief probation officer. My choice of
career had its seeds in my time as college
rep for Crime a Challenge, a University
society which others may remember offered us a chance to look at some of the
progressive criminology of the time and
which probably accounted for a number
of careers in the prison and probation
services. As a chief probation officer I
had taken the lead for my colleague on
international issues and so I was not surprised when, after I retired, I was asked
to join the board of Prisoners Abroad, a
charity I had known and admired while I
was still working. I am now the chair of
the board of trustees and I imagine that
it may be a charity about which most
readers of The Aularian will know little.
Each year Prisoners Abroad works
with about 1700 British men and women
who are in prison in some 80 countries
around the world. Some have been longterm resident in the countries where
they have been arrested. Others were
travellers. About half have been arrested
for drugs offences. I knew a lot about
prisons in the UK and internationally but,
until I became involved with Prisoners
Abroad, I had not really appreciated all
that is involved in being in prison away
from home. Some things are obvious:
distance from friends and family with
little or no prospect of visits; unfamiliar
languages; exclusion from a wide range
of programmes which are not geared to
foreign prisoners; uncertainties about
release dates. But in some countries
the situation is much worse. In many
prisoners barely survive if there is no-one
John Walters with President of Ireland Mary McAleese and her husband Dr
Martin McAleese at the Longford Prize event at Church House, Westminster
in November 2007
on the outside who can bring in decent
food, basic toiletries, and urgent medical
supplies. In the worst prisons there is no
hope of getting a decent space to sleep
unless you can pay the criminal gangs
who run the prison.
We work with the consular service to
provide a range of services to help British prisoners survive. We take no moral
view about what they have done but we
believe that everyone who is in prison
has the right to help to get through their
sentence and to prepare for a decent
life after release. Without our support
some prisoners would be all but forgotten. We provide information about being
in prison abroad but we do not provide
legal advice. We pay monthly grants to
those in the most extreme situations to
buy food, toiletries, and medical supplies. We pay for medical care. We send
out books, newspapers and magazines.
We organise pen pals. We never forget a
birthday. We provide support for families
coping with all the anxieties of a loved
one in prison far away. We help them
keep in touch and assist with the practicalities of visiting. We get just under 40
percent of the £1 million we need to do
this work from Government.
If going to prison is one sort of crisis,
being released is another. The much
longed-for freedom brings its own challenges and anxieties. For about 250
men and women each year release from
a foreign prison means being put on a
plane to Heathrow or Gatwick with nothing. Some of these people have been deported though they have been long-term
resident in the country in which they
have been imprisoned. Others have simply lost everything while they have been
away and have no family or friends here
to pick them up. There is, amazingly, no
statutory provision for these people and
it is to Prisoners Abroad that they turn
for help in getting somewhere to stay
and for accessing a whole range of essential services. Without us they would
be on the street and with no legitimate
source of income.
We were recently delighted to be
awarded the Longford Prize which
recognises a contribution in the area of
penal or social reform which has shown
‘outstanding qualities of humanity, courage, persistence and originality’.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to learn more about Prisoners Abroad and
the ways that you can help, visit www.prisonersabroad.org.uk or contact
John Walters at [email protected]
22
from the alumni relations & development office
The 2008 Annual Fund
T
he St Edmund Hall Annual Fund was
established in 2006 to provide direct
funding for specific projects. A total of
850 alumni, parents, and friends have
become Annual Fund Donors since its
inception. Over £531k has been secured
to date in actual and pledged donations
from old members, parents of students,
and friends of the College.
St Edmund Hall remains one of the
‘poorer’ Oxford Colleges with an endowment of under £30 million. The challenges facing higher education in the UK
will increase over the coming years and
by supporting the College’s Annual Fund
you help to maintain and strengthen its
financial security and to ensure that the
Hall can continue to deliver on its commitment to provide a first-class education
and to develop individuals who go on to
forge successful and distinguished lives
and careers.
The money generously donated to date
has supported a wide range of important
and vital projects and funds, including
the equipping of the new multi-purpose
lecture theatre, the Jarvis Doctorow Hall.
Work is planned for the Wolfson Hall,
including improvements to the lighting
A total of 850 alumni, parents,
and friends have become
Annual Fund Donors since its
2006 inception.
Betony Griffiths, Deputy Director of Development
and the acoustics and redecoration of the
walls and ceiling. Funds raised have also
supported awards of the Oxford Opportunity Bursary scheme, which supports
students from low-income families, and
the Clarendon Scholarships, postgraduate
awards which attract the most academically-able international students to study
at Oxford. Many gifted students have also
benefited from Masterclass awards in areas as diverse as triathlon, dance, rowing,
photography, and creative writing. The
awards have enabled current students to
pursue their extra-curricular talents to a
high standard as a complement to their
academic studies.
This year we are seeking to raise funds
to support the construction of the new
tutorial suite above the Senior Common
Room. The eight new tutorial rooms will
not only provide excellent facilities for
tutorials (the cornerstone of our teaching)
but will also make available study bedrooms in the Besse building for students.
We are also seeking to fund the refurbishment of the College Chapel and Archive.
Last year, water leaks damaged interior
paint and plaster within the Chapel. The
subsequent roof repairs were successful
and the masonry has dried. However,
further repair and refurbishment are
required to return the Chapel to its former
glory. The Archive adjacent to the Chapel
is also water damaged and needs refurbishment to provide better storage and
improved access to research materials.
New filing cabinets, lighting, and workspace are also needed.
From 31 March to 13 April, fifteen enthusiastic current students (pictured with
the Principal and St Edmund above) will
be contacting as many Aularians as possible to update them on life at the College
and the exciting developments outlined
above, to inform them of the many
alumni events taking place this year and
to seek support for the Annual Fund. We
hope that the conversations will prove to
be an enjoyable experience for both the
students and alumni alike – if you receive
a phone call please take the opportunity
to share your experiences and feedback
about how you feel we can develop our
relationship with Old Members of the
College.
We thank all those who have supported
the St Edmund Hall Annual Fund to date
and also those who supported and continue to support the College as a result of
the Campaign for the Hall which ran from
January 2000 to January 2004. We plan to
publish a full list of recent donors to the
College in the 2008 Hall Magazine.
If you would like to donate to the Annual Fund, please contact the Alumni
Relations & Development Office or visit
the Alumni section of the Hall website
(www.seh.ox.ac.uk) where you can donate
online via a secure payment facility operated by the Charities Aid Foundation.
23
Fundraising Update
I
n my six months since starting at the
Hall, I have had the pleasure of meeting
many Aularians. The much mentioned
‘Hall Spirit’ is still going strong. Although
we are not conducting a major capital
campaign at the moment, fundraising is
vital to the Hall’s continuing success. Since
August 2007, the Hall has raised almost
£1 million through donations from alumni
and friends. This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the deep affection and loyalty felt by Aularians towards
the Hall.
I was lucky to join at a very exciting time
– the construction of the Jarvis Doctorow
Hall is well underway, with the new SCR
tutorial suite not far behind. We have
raised over half the necessary funds for
the new Hall and hope to raise the remainder by the end of the academic year.
Our US based Aularians are continuing to support the Charter Scholarship.
We are halfway towards reaching the
$1 million target. The interest from this
endowment will be used to provide a full
undergraduate scholarship (£25,000 per
year) to the Hall for a US student who
Yvonne Rainey, Director of Development
would not normally have the financial
means or opportunity to go to Oxford
University. We are working in partnership with QuestBridge, a US non-profit
organisation, which specialises in connecting high-achieving low-income students
with admission and full scholarships to
20 partner colleges in the USA, including
Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia.
This is a potentially life changing opportunity for someone and we are very grateful
to all the US donors who are making
this possible. Especial thanks to Gareth
Roberts (1971), James Lyle (1980), and
David Scharer (1961), and to Nick Howard
(1976) for co-ordinating the project and
making lead donations.
We continue to raise money for smaller
projects such as the refurbishment of the
Wolfson Hall, the Chapel and the archives
alongside scholarships, bursaries, and fellowships. The Hall is committed to being
one of the best Colleges in the fields of
Geology and Materials Science. We are
therefore extremely grateful to Gareth
Roberts (1971) for his pledge of $666,000
to support our second Geology fellowship
and to Sir David Cooksey (1959), who has
generously donated £100,000 towards
endowing the fellowship in Materials
Science. We must also thank Paul Stanton
(1982) and Stephen Rosefield (1971) for
their continuing support of the Law fellowship.
Legacy News: Making a Difference
T
he Hall has been very fortunate over the last couple of years to receive several
substantial legacies. They are an effective way for individuals to make a more sizeable contribution to the future of the Hall than they could manage in their lifetime, and
therefore they have become an increasingly popular and tax efficient way of giving.
Kenneth Barton (1929), who died last year at the spectacular age of 97, made a
very generous donation to the Hall in his Will. Mr Barton read English, and in true Hall
fashion, immersed himself in extra-curricular activities as diverse as chess, cross country
running, amateur dramatics, and politics.
Mr Barton was a school teacher until his retirement in 1971, and he and his wife (who
passed away several years ago) lived very modestly. Unable to help the Hall as much as
he wanted to during his lifetime, Mr Barton pledged to leave a third of the residue of
his estate to us. His legacy was £235,000, a very substantial sum, which will go towards
the construction of the new lecture hall. We really depend on legacies such as these in
order to improve the facilities of the Hall and endow student support which will enrich
the experience of a future generation of Aularians. Fortunately, we were able to recognise Mr Barton’s generosity through membership of the Floreat Aula Society.
A more unusual example was a legacy we received last year from John Chamberlain,
who actually died in 1954! He left five-sixths of the residue of his estate in trust to the
Hall. The trust was administered by his bank so that his widow and step-daughter might
draw an annual income from it. On his step-daughter’s death, the remainder came to
the Hall.
Another valuable legacy which came to the Hall last year was from Hubert Beales
(1936), also a member of the Floreat Aula Society. Mr Beales read Physics and after the
War he became the Bursar of St Edward’s School, Oxford, a position he held for thirty
happy years. We are very grateful to Mr Beales and his family (his son, Tony, is also an
Aularian) for the gift of £5,000 which he wished us to use for the upkeep of the Hall
gardens.
All gifts made through Wills, no matter what their size, make a significant difference
to the Hall. If you would like to discuss leaving a legacy to the Hall, please contact the
Director of Development, Yvonne Rainey, on 01865 279096 or email:
[email protected].
SPRING 2008 • ISSUE 15
ST EDMUND HALL OXFORD
new events programme:
Subject Reunions
The Alumni Relations & Development Office plans to incorporate subjectbased reunions into its existing programme of alumni events. We hope that
doing so will provide alumni increased opportunities to reunite with their
contemporaries, meet fellow Aularians in related fields, and also re-visit the
College. This programme of subject-based reunions will start in March 2008
with the Joe Todd Memorial Engineering Dinner on Friday 14 March 2008. A
medics reunion is planned for 13 September 2008.
College Events 2008
2 April
October
date tbc
West Coast Dinner
Cicada Restaurant, LA
Floreat Aula Society Dinner
St Edmund Hall
New York Aularians Drinks
Drinks Reception
OU NYC Reunion
Waldorf=Astoria
London Summer Drinks Event
location tbc
Parents’ Garden Party
St Edmund Hall
Donors’ Event
St Edmund Hall
Summer Reunion
St Edmund Hall
Old Members Cricket Match
New College Sports Grounds
Aularian Golfing Society Mtg
St Edmund Hall
Medics Dinner
St Edmund Hall
Oxford Reunion Weekend
St Edmund Hall Dinner
John Knight Retirement Lunch
Invitations to be posted
1977-1982 Gaudy
St Edmund Hall
1958 50th Anniversary Lunch
St Edmund Hall
December
date tbc
London Winter Drinks Event
location tbc
4 April
4 April
5 April
Subject Reunion Schedule
YEAR
2008
2009
2010
MARCH/APRIL
Engineering
Law
Philosophy/Politics/Economics
SEPTEMBER
Medics
Geography/Geology
English/Psychology
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Mathematics/Education
Modern Languages
Music/Fine Art/Theology
Medics
Geography/Geology
English/Psychology
Physics/Chemistry/Materials
History/Classics
Physics/Chemistry/Materials
History/Classics
Engineering
Law
Philosophy/Politics/Economics
Mathematics/Education
Modern Languages
Music/Fine Art/Theology
2008 Oxford Alumni Weekend
Friday 19 September - Sunday 21 September
Programme details and useful information regarding the 2008 Oxford Alumni
Weekend may now be found online at www.alumniweekend.ox.ac.uk. The
programme now has more than 120 confirmed sessions, from a panel looking
at the role of China in the 21st century, to David Dimbleby hosting a University
Question Time. Alumni will also have a number of opportunities to have their
say at the Open Forum (What should Oxford be doing for its alumni?) and at
the Vice-Chancellor’s Question & Answer session, both on Saturday.
Friday 19 September & Saturday 20 September: St Edmund Hall will have 50
rooms available to Old Members and their guests only. No parking available.
Saturday 20 September
6.30 pm Drinks reception for Old Members and their guests
7.15 pm Dinner for Old Members and their guests
For more information on College events during the Oxford Alumni Weekend,
or to RSVP, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at the address
below.
The Aularian Editor: Professor David Phillips Production Editor: Kate Roessler
Photos by Laurence Whyatt (2005), Kate Roessler, and submited by article authors
The Aularian is produced by the Alumni Relations & Development Office
St Edmund Hall, Oxford, OX1 4AR Tel: +44 (0)1865 279055 Fax: +44(0)1865 279030
email: [email protected]
website: www.seh.ox.ac.uk or www.aularianconnect.com
The views expressed in The Aularian may be those of the author alone and not
necessarily held by the SEH Governing Body
May
date tbc
24 May
June
date tbc
21 June
22 June
29 August
13 September
19-21
September
20 September
27 September
Details of all events can be obtained by visiting the
Events page of the College website or by contacting
the Alumni Relations & Development Office at the
address below.

The Aularian newsletter 2008 - St Edmund Hall

Transcription

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