College News & Events

17 May 2012

Dr Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Fellow in History, gave a lecture to members of Exeter College, old and current, at the Sheldonian recently. He was discussing the research behind his debut novel, The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution.

You can read more about the book at www.dabhoiwala.com.

17 May 2012

Last Friday evening the Deputy Director of the Bodleian, Dr Richard Ovenden, and Professor Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Exeter College Fellow in German, launched the Early Modern Festival Books Database in the Divinity School in Oxford.

The database is a freely available online resource to enable researchers to access more than 3,000 descriptions in 12 languages of early modern festivals at courts and cities throughout Europe. These works are often splendidly illustrated accounts of coronations, christenings and weddings, of tournaments, ballets, and operas, and are a vital source of information for art historians, musicologists and historians of the period.

Professor Watanabe-O'Kelly is principal researcher on the project. She was delighted that Maria Antonia, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France, better known as Marie-Antoinette, and Maria Amalia, Princess of Saxony and Queen of Naples, condescended to drop in to the launch party (pictured above, with Professor Watanabe-O'Kelly and Dr Richard Ovenden).

11 May 2012

Philip Pullman (1965, English) has been awarded the Kingdom of Redonda Literary Prize for 2012.

The prize is one of the more unusual literary prizes, and one might say prestigious, coming as it does from the imaginary Caribbean island of Redonda. In recognition of his literary achievements Mr Pullman has been made a Duke by HRH King Xavier I, and has taken the title Duke of Cittàgazze after the thief-riddled citadel in the second volume of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

On receiving the prize Mr Pullman said, "I'm delighted to be 'enduked'. The prize was a rare and wonderful surprise, and I intend to live up to the proper splendour and dignity of a Duke of the imaginary kingdom of Redonda.

"I have always felt that I was one of nature's aristocrats, and now I have the title to prove it. Coronet, regalia, robes, etc, will soon find a place in my wardrobe."

Mr Pullman added that he chose the title of Duke of Cittàgazze principally for reasons of euphony, but also "in acknowledgement of the thefts that all writers commit every day, we being creatures of the jackdaw or magpie class."

10 May 2012

The new series of ITV's popular crime detective series Lewis starts on 16 May with an episode that was partly shot at Exeter College.

'The Soul Of Genius' is the story of a botanist who accidentally unearths the body of a professor who had been fixated upon solving a seemingly impossible riddle. Inspector Lewis (Kevin Whately) and Sergeant Hathaway (Laurence Fox) investigate.

Filming took place at Exeter College between 18 and 20 August 2011 and was helped by glorious sunshine. Should you wish to catch Exeter looking its finest the episode will be aired at 8pm on ITV1.

1 May 2012

Congratulations to Glen Goodman (2004, Latin American Studies) who has been awarded a prestigious German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellowship to research in Berlin next academic year.

The fellowship will form the second half of Mr Goodman's dissertation research for his PhD in Latin American History, the first half being funded by a Fulbright Grant in Brazil.

1 May 2012

Cat Williams (2005, Engineering) will be performing at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics in London. Miss Williams will be playing the drums and is looking forward to the excitement of the occasions.

1 May 2012

Congratulations to Exonian Tansy Castledine (1997, Music) who has led St George's College Chamber Choir to be crowned the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year 2012.

Ms Castledine is Director of Music at St George's College, Weybridge. In front of distinguished judges Russell Watson, David Grant and Suzi Digby, Ms Castledine conducted St George's College Chamber Choir as they performed their chosen inspirational song, 'Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?'

Singer and vocal coach David Grant praised the Choir for 'a remarkable arrangement and remarkable execution.'

Afterwards Ms Castledine beamed as she told her choir that they deserved to celebrate 'really hard!'

St George's College Chamber Choir also won the senior section of the prestigious Barnardo's National Choir Competition earlier this year.

The episode of Songs of Praise is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until Sunday, 6 May.

30 April 2012

Congratulations to Charles de Bourcy (2008, Physics) who has won a Fulbright Science and Technology Award.

The Fulbright Science and Technology Award provides exceptional students from outside the USA with an opportunity to pursue PhD study at top US universities. It is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world for science and technology students.

Mr de Bourcy will use the scholarship to take a PhD in Physics at Stanford University.

19 March 2012

Dr Helen Spencer, Exeter College Fellow in English, has been installed as Assessor for the proctorial year 2012-13.

The colleges of the University of Oxford elect the Assessor on a rota basis. The role was established in 1960 to support the long-standing roles of Senior and Junior Proctors. The Proctors and Assessor are available if students wish to consult them in confidence for help, information, or advice about University matters or any other matters outside the sphere of their college advisers. The Assessor has no disciplinary role but has an especial concern for University policies on student health, welfare, and financial issues.

Fellows, staff and students from Exeter College took part in the procession, pictured below.

13 March 2012

The Bennett Boskey Fellow in Politics and International Relations, Christine Cheng, recently gave the keynote speech for the National Women's Liberal Commission at Canada's Liberal Party's biennial convention. Dr Cheng presented the findings of a study on how female political candidates are selected, revealing the importance of informal factors and how the gender of party gatekeepers matters for the candidate selection process.

The Liberal Party is traditionally one of Canada's two major political parties.

8 March 2012

Matthew Tye (2009, Sociology) delivered the keynote speech at a recent British Academy conference which focussed on contemporary challenges in transitional Vietnam.

The event, hosted by the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, brought together academics from across the social sciences to consider the social, economic and political challenges facing Vietnam, and provided an opportunity to support and publicise the research being conducted in the United Kingdom on one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economies.

Mr Tye's speech was entitled Population Ageing in Vietnam - An Irreversible Truth? The speech was filmed and will be available to view on the British Academy's website shortly.

21 February 2012

The Wilberforce Academy has booked conference facilities at Exeter College out of term time. This event has attracted criticism in the student press. Frances Cairncross, the Rector of Exeter College, says:

"Exeter College has a strong record in protecting the rights and dignity of its gay and lesbian members, and we continue to champion those values. My colleagues and I have discussed the conference at length with representatives of the MCR, the JCR, representatives of Exeter's LGBTQ community and other students who have voiced views on the matter. The conference has been discussed at three consecutive meetings of Governing Body. As soon as it was raised as a potential issue, the Bursar wrote to the Wilberforce Academy to emphasise our position on equal rights, and sought and obtained reassurances that nothing in the meeting would be against our policies on basic rights and freedoms. The first meeting of Governing Body in Hilary Term also set up a working party to review the basis and terms on which the College agrees to the use of its premises by other bodies.

"We believe that Exeter College is a place where students and staff alike can be free from fear and prejudice, and we are proud of that."

A statement from representatives of Exeter's LGBTQ community is carried below.

"We as the LGBTQ community of Exeter College are uncomfortable with the perception of our college expressed in the article 'Exeter Welcomes Homophobes' published In the Oxford Student on the 9th of February 2012. We would like to highlight to readers that from the perspective of our (very well-established) LGBTQ society, Exeter College is extremely welcoming towards its LGBTQ staff and students.

"While we continue to maintain our strong disagreement with the views held by Christian Concern and the Wilberforce Academy, it is preposterous to suggest that Exeter 'welcomes' homophobia in any way.

"Through its appointments to important positions and its actions in the past, Exeter has demonstrated its support for the LGBTQ community both in Exeter and the wider University. Only a small example of this is provided by the fact that Exeter will host the University-wide Graduate LGBT dinner in 6th Week, and also in a few weeks will host its own annual dinner for the LGBTQ community across common rooms, organized by students and supported strongly by staff and fellows. The presence of a very vibrant student LGBTQ society, including undergraduates, graduates, home and international students, is testament to the atmosphere in Exeter, buttressed further by the strong LGBTQ presence in the SCR.

"Thus, from our perspective, the article mentioned above entirely misunderstands and misinterprets Exeter's position on the question of the rights and dignity of LGBTQ students. It takes the incident of the Wilberforce Academy out of context, without an understanding of the process that has led up to this point, and misjudges the college on the basis of these isolated facts.

"The conference business of Exeter College, like many other colleges, has been handled by the Steward's Office, and like in several other colleges it is not established practice to filter organizations based on their ideological views. While this may be an issue that Exeter and other colleges will put thought into for the future, the fact that an organization with homophobic views has rented the college premises does not reflect on the college's own views on this issue."

6 February 2012

Fine Art student Max Mulvany (2009) created a life-sized sculpture of the Rector yesterday, but sadly it has long since melted. The 'Snow Rector' was well positioned in the Front Quad to welcome - and surprise - visitors to the College.

3 February 2012

Exeter College was delighted to welcome Magnus Linklater, former editor of The Scotsman, to give the Burns Night address recently.

The immortal memory: Burns Night address at Exeter College by Magnus Linklater

I was told by your rector that I had to make this address light-hearted. I was told I should not presume too deep a knowledge of our national bard. And I was told that it would be appreciated if I wore a kilt. I have fulfilled the third request. Now for the other two.

This is a terrible joke. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, is being shown around a local hospital. Towards the end of the visit, he is shown into a ward with a number of people with no obvious signs of injury or disease.

He goes to greet the first patient and the chap replies: "Fair fa' your honest sonsie face, Great chieftain e' the puddin' race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm; Weel are ye wordy o' a grace as lang's my arm."

Boris, being somewhat confused (easily done) goes to the next patient and greets him. The patient replies: "Some hae meat, and canna eat, and some wad eat that want it, but we hae meat and we can eat, and sae the Lord be thankit."

The third starts rattling off: "Wee sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, O, what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, wi bickering brattle!"

Boris turns to the doctor and asks: "Is this the mental ward?"

"No" the doctor replies, "It's the Burns unit."

OK, it's not quite up to the standard you expect at Exeter College, but it gives me a way in to explaining a bit about the Burns phenomenon. And it is a phenomenon. This poet, who wrote much of his verse in the broadest of Scots, whose lines require subtitles at best, sometimes wholesale translation, lays claim to being the world's most popular poet. There are more statues of him throughout the world than any other writer - 20 in America, 16 in Australia, a dozen in Canada. In Russia last week there were more Burns suppers than in any country outside Scotland. In Japan, I'm told, when the traffic lights turn green, they play a Burns tune, Coming thru' the Rye, to alert pedestrians. The ritual of Auld Lang Syne, a Burns song whose title alone is baffling, brings to an end almost every public celebration in the world. And his work is constantly recycled. Since his death in 1796, there have been no fewer than 2,000 editions of his poetry published, and 900 volumes of biography.

In Scotland, he is virtually part of the country's DNA. Last weekend, my wife Veronica and I attended the Burns supper in our small village in Perthshire, where she once delivered the Immortal Memory, an essential component of Burns Night. Everyone knew all the familiar songs, they listened attentively to a talk on the life of the Bard and his relevance to Scotland today. They toasted the lasses, consumed haggis and drank copious amounts of whisky. It's a ritual as well-embedded as Christmas or Hogmanay. I can think of nothing equivalent in British culture.

And here is another remarkable thing. Burns's world-wide popularity really took off with the strait-laced Victorians who first clasped him to their bosom, and made a folk hero out of the simple ploughman, who loved whisky and women, and wrote extremely bawdy verse. He was hardly a Victorian role model. His famous clandestine volume The Merry Muses of Caledonia, were judged so obscene that they were banned in Britain until 1965, and even now, I am quite unable to recite any of them to you tonight for fear of committing what, in Scotland, would be called lewd and libidinous behaviour. Suffice it to say that you will find here descriptions of the human anatomy rather more intimate and hilarious than anything to be found in the Oxford Book of English Verse.

Burns's early years were spent in rural poverty, and great hardship on a farm in Ayrshire with poor land and even poorer prospects. His father was a subsistence farmer who died young. His mother could read the bible but not write. However, a maid in the house, Betty Davidson, had, wrote Burns later: [quote]

"the largest collection in the county of tales and songs concerning ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, kelpies, elf-candles, deadlights, wraiths, apparitions, giants, enchanted towers, dragons and other trumpery. This cultivated the latent seeds of Poesy; but had so strong an effect on my imagination that, to this hour, in any nocturnal rambles, I sometimes keep a sharp look-out in suspicious places..."

He picked up traditional tunes as well as stories, and Burns, who had a good ear for music, is remembered as much for his songs as his poetry. He was in trouble with girls almost from adolescence, but it was they who first moved him to write. "The sweetest hours that ere I spent were spent amongst the lasses-o" runs the chorus of one of his songs.

He was also in trouble with the church. He was made to sit on what was called the stool of repentance, to confess his sins after having got a local girl pregnant, but it does not seem to have concerned him much, and even as he as being castigated by the minister, he could not help scribbling a bit of doggerel verse:

"My downcast eye by chance did spy What made my lips to water, Those limbs so clean where I, between, Commenc'd a Fornicator."

Hardly the words of a true repenter. Burns's reputation as a ladies' man was to become a defining characteristic, and greatly exaggerated. One biography claimed that he had 70 illegitimate children. In fact, of the 13 children he was known to have had, nine were with his faithful wife Jean Armour, who not only stuck with him but inspired some of his greatest love poems.

He burst on the literary scene in Edinburgh in 1786, at the very nadir of his fortunes, when, saddled with debt and following a fraught love affair, he had decided to emigrate to the West Indies. He had even booked his passage, and was ready to join the ship taking him to Kingston, Jamaica, when he found himself lionised by Edinburgh society.

What were the qualities that made him so popular then, and still reach across the generations today? Reading his poems, or listening to them sung, one is struck by their simplicity, their directness, their poignancy, their beauty. As Ian MacIntyre, one of his biographers, puts it:

"He is not Dante, he is not Pushkin, Keats or Wordsworth. It was not given to him, as to Shakespeare, to illuminate our moral universe. He does not even, all that often, make us think. But he makes us laugh and he makes us cry, and in doing so, most precious of all poetic gifts, he heightens the sense we have of our common humanity."

His love poetry has words of the utmost simplicity, which go straight to the heart. His poem, Ae Fond Kiss, includes these lines:

"Had we never lov'd sae kindly Had we never lov'd sae blindly Never met - or never parted We had ne'er been broken-hearted

Ae fond kiss and then we sever Ae fareweel, alas, for ever Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee Warring signs and groans I'll wage thee.

And perhaps his most famous:

O my Love's like a red red rose That's newly sprung in June O my love is like a melodie That's sweetly played in tune

As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in love am I, And I will love thee still, my Dear, Till a' the seas gang dry -

Till a' the seas gang dry my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun; I will love thee still, my Dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

There is another reason for his popularity. It is his radical politics, which strike a chord with liberal opinion everywhere, and are freely adopted by anyone keen to champion a popular anti-establishment chord. He lived during the volatile revolutionary period of the 1780s, and got into trouble for appearing to endorse the guillotine and the persecution of the French aristocracy. He caused a scandal for refusing to stand for God Save the King at a concert in Dumfries, and was caught singing the French revolutionary hymn, Ca Ira in public, a highly dangerous thing to do.

He wrote a poem about William Wallace and the Scottish war of independence in the 14th century, which caught the revolutionary mood:

"By Oppression's woes and pains! By your sons in servile chains! We will drain our dearest veins, But we shall be free

"Lay the proud Usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty's in every blow Let us do or die!"

His ode to equality, "A man's a man for a' that" was as popular in Communist Russia as it is at any trade union gathering. It was even sung at the opening of the Scottish Parliament. It includes the lines:

A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an' a' that; But an honest man's abon his might, Gude faith, he maunna fa' that! ...

Then let us pray that come it may, (As come it will for a' that,) That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth, Shall bear the gree, an' a' that. For a' that, an' a' that, It's coming yet for a' that, That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that.

It was Burns who first used in public the phrase The Rights of Man, later adopted by Thomas Paine.

But just in case you think Burns fits easily into a left-wing radical mould, his own life constantly challenges the caricature. He worked for the government as an excise-man, was a member of the local volunteer army in Dumfries, and served in the Royal Company of Archers, about as establishment a body as you can find in Scotland. He was very fond of dukes and earls, and particularly duchesses and countesses, who were equally entranced with him. And when he died, he was buried with a full military bodyguard in attendance. "Don't let the awkward squad fire over me," he told his best friend on his death bed. But they did exactly that. He left behind one of his most moving love poems, written as he lay dying, and given to the pretty 18 year old who tended him during his final illness.

I'd just like to say one other thing about a poet and national hero who is hard not to love: he was a man of great wit and humour. His poem Holy Willie's Prayer, which mocks Christian hypocrisy, is wonderfully funny, and his epic poem Tam O'Shanter, has more memorable quotations in one poem than I any I can think of. This, about Tam's wife: ''our sulky, sullen dame, Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.''

Burns remains a political icon. This year, as Scotland embarks on a historic debate which could end in independence, our national bard is once again at the heart of it. Alex Salmond, First Minister, quotes him as a likely ally, pointing to his endorsement of a Scotland where equality and the common bonds of humanity are guiding principles.

But I'm not so sure. Burns was a cautious character, not at all keen on causing too much trouble, permanently anxious about his finances, worried about losing his job as an exciseman, highly critical of people who threatened the security of the state. I think he would look very closely at his bank balance, shake his head, and conclude, as he did in an article, written in 1788, that there is much to commend the status quo. It was about being "a Briton", and it applauded the Golorious Revolution of 1688 which was to bring the Hanoverian dynasty to the throne. It ends: "I will not, I cannot enter into the merits of the cause, but I dare say the American Congress in 1776, will be allowed to have been as able and enlightened, and ...as honest as the English Convention in 1688; and that the fourth of July will be as sacred to their posterity as the fifth of November is to us ..."

So here in 2012, on the 253rd anniversary of his birth, I claim Burns as a Unionist. But I doubt if the argument will end there.

31 January 2012

Dr Faramerz Dabhoiwala's debut book, The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution, was named Book of the Week in the Saturday Times last weekend.

The Origins of Sex also featured in the Sunday Times, being described as 'gloriously enjoyable'.

Dr Dabhoiwala was recently hailed as one of The Observer's new authors to look out for in 2012.

If you subscribe to The Times website you can read Saturday's review here and Sunday's review here. The Oberver's feature is available to read for free here.

The Origins of Sex will be published by Penguin Press in February. You can read more about the book at www.dabhoiwala.com.

26 January 2012

Exeter College is now on Twitter, the popular social networking and microblogging website. You can follow the College's newsfeed at @exetercollegeox.

As well as receiving Exeter's news and events updates via Twitter, you may want to join the College's Facebook group, where you can socialise with other Exeter Old Members and Friends of the College.

In 2011 the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, gave a speech at Exeter College. You can read about his speech or watch a video of the speech in full.

24 January 2012

Congratulations to Daniel Cashman (2008, Jurisprudence) who has helped Oxford to beat Cambridge in a recent mooting competition held at The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court.

Mr Cashman was one of two contestants representing Oxford University. A combination of hard work and gifted performances saw the Oxford duo win, as judged by barristers and judges of Gray's Inn.

23 January 2012

Exeter College Chapel was featured in Channel 4's Restoration Man last week as presenter George Clarke explored the architecture of gothic revival churches.

In the programme Mr Clarke enthuses about George Gilbert Scott's design, saying that it helped to assert the Anglican Church's authority at a time when it was under threat from other churches such as Methodism and Catholicism.

Mr Clarke was shown around the Chapel by Oxford University's Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, an expert on ecclesiastical architecture. Professor MacCulloch praised the Chapel for its "magnificent Victorian self-confidence" and said that the Chapel was "the Church of England at its most triumphal".

The episode is available to watch on the Channel 4 website.

4 January 2012

Dr Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Fellow in History, has been named one of the Observer's new authors to look out for in 2012. His debut book, The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution will be published by Penguin Press in February, and it has already received critical acclaim.

Dr Dabhoiwala is one of three debut authors given special attention by the Observer. You can read more about his book at www.dabhoiwala.com.

21 December 2011

Voices from Oxford have helped Exeter College to prepare a short video message from the Rector to wish all of the College's Old Members, Parents and Friends a happy Christmas.

12 December 2011

Exeter College needs your help! To mark 700 years since its foundation, Exeter College is working with Third Millennium, specialist publishers of books about great institutions, to produce Exeter: A Portrait of a College in autumn 2013. To do this the College needs its Old Members to send in their memories and memorabilia of College.

Written material on the College in the 20th century is sparse. Please send us whatever you can in the way of reminiscences, letters, menu cards, ball tickets, photographs or other ephemera to give a picture of life in the College in the middle years of the 20th century. If you have material (family letters, say) that go back further, then all the better.

If sending items by post, you are advised to use a recorded delivery service when mailing any items that you would not wish to lose. The College will return all items once we have had a chance to make copies.

Please send items to the Development Office, Exeter College, Oxford, OX1 3DP, UK or email development@exeter.ox.ac.uk.

You can find out more about Exeter: A Portrait of a College or subscribe to receive your copy on the Third Millennium website. By subscribing now you will help to make the publication possible. You will also receive a £10 discount on the published price of £45 and have your name (or the name of your nominee) printed in a special List of Subscribers within the book itself.

12 December 2011

Congratulations to Joan Himpson, Exeter's Academic Administrator, who has been appointed as a specialist Games Maker at the London Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

Games Makers are the volunteers who facilitate the smooth running of the Games. Joan will be assisting with the basketball, and as a fan of the sport she is delighted. "My reaction to being accepted was one of delight to be one of a fairly select group of people who will be involved with both the Olympics and the Paralympics," she said.

In her spare time Joan officiates at basketball matches, and she is hoping that she may be asked to perform one of the technical roles in 2012, such as time or score keeping. She will find out towards the end of this year, and we wish her luck.

6 December 2011

The teams for the 130th Nomura Varsity Match have been announced, and Exeter will be represented by Ruairi O'Donovan (2011, Law and Finance). The match will kick off at 14.00 on Thursday, 8 December. Remarkably Mr O'Donovan is sitting a written paper at the Examination Schools on the morning of 8 December, and another on 9 December. We wish him every success both in his sporting and his academic endeavours.

Tickets for the match are still available, should you wish to cheer the Dark Blues on at Twickenham Stadium. Alternatively it will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1.

28 November 2011

The 'wreckage' of a helicopter could be seen in the Front Quad of Exeter College earlier this month, thanks to the talents of third year Fine Art student Max Mulvany.

The life-size copy of a wrecked helicopter was an art project inspired by a helicopter that is alleged to have been brought down by gunfire during the US Navy SEALs' attack on Osama Bin Laden's mansion compound earlier this year. At the time of Bin Laden's assassination there was considerable speculation about the existence and nature of this helicopter, with some commentators suggesting it might have been a secret 'stealth' helicopter that the SEALs deliberately destroyed before leaving the compound.

Max Mulvany said "[the sculpture] explores the rise and fall of this beguiling piece of wreckage from media sensation to anonymous 'sculptural object'. For a brief period the helicopter was all over the television, but now nobody recognises it. The sculpture could purely be visually intriguing, possibly abstract - unless of course you know the controversial backstory.

"Exhibiting on the Exeter College Front Quad allowed me to play with this dual dynamic - some students knew what it was but the tourists were at a complete loss!"

The sculpture was exhibited in the Front Quad for several days, with an after-dark private viewing arranged which featured controlled fires and atmospheric smoke.

Images: The helicopter by day and at night, photos courtesy of Max Mulvany

28 November 2011

The Rector of Exeter College, Frances Cairncross, has interviewed Colin Mayer, the Peter Moores Dean of the Saïd Business School, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies and Director of the Oxford Financial Research Centre, for the Voices from Oxford series of online videos.

Colin Mayer has built an international reputation within the field of finance and published widely on corporate finance, taxation and governance, and on the regulation of financial markets. He was instrumental in creating the largest and most prestigious networks of economics, law and finance academics in Europe at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).

The Rector and Professor Mayer discussed a wide range of economic and financial issues, including a mobile phone banking revolution that is taking place in Kenya, the role of microfinance in developing countries, the current banking crisis and the challenges being faced in the Eurozone, and controversies over salary scales and bonus structures in the finance sector.

You can view the video online by clicking here.

24 November 2011

To mark 700 years since its foundation, Exeter College is working with Third Millennium, specialist publishers of books about great institutions, to publish Exeter: A Portrait of a College in autumn 2013.

Bringing to life the College's evolution and foundation, from political and religious upheavals to world wars and the arrival of female students, this beautifully illustrated book will most of all reflect the College that its students, current and past hold dear.

You can find out more about Exeter: A Portrait of a College or subscribe to receive your copy on the Third Millennium website. By subscribing now you will help to make the publication possible. You will also receive a £10 discount on the published price of £45 and have your name (or the name of your nominee) printed in a special List of Subscribers within the book itself.

Click here to find out more.

24 November 2011

Congratulations to Philip Sibson (2008, Engineering Science) who has been awarded a Belling Engineering Scholarship by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

The prestigious scholarship was awarded to Philip based on academic performance during university and school years, as well as a supporting reference from his tutor, Professor Ian Reid. Commitment to engineering and technology, demonstrable through past experience and responsibilities, was also assessed.

In 2010 Philip was one of two Engineering Science undergraduates at the University of Oxford awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Engineering Leadership Advanced Awards.

24 November 2011

Dr Christine Cheng, Boskey Fellow in Politics at Exeter College, has written an article about the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, for the independent broadcaster Al Jazeera. You can read the article on the Al Jazeera website.

23 November 2011

Exeter College Christmas cards are available to purchase online now! They are available from the Oxford University Shop.

Profits from the sale of the cards will be divided equally between Exeter College and the University of Oxford.

11 November 2011

Exeter College is delighted to announce that Alison Brooks Architects (ABA) has won the contest to design the College's new premises on Walton Street, Oxford, following a competitive selection process involving five architectural practices from the UK and US.

ABA is recognised as a dynamic and forward-thinking practice and is the first to have won the UK's three most prestigious awards for architecture: the Stirling Prize, the Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Among its award-winning projects are the Accordia development in Cambridge, the Quarterhouse Performing Arts Centre in Folkestone and Wrap House, London. Exeter College is excited to be collaborating with such a creative design team. This is an opportunity to create a strong and lasting contribution to Oxford's built environment.

The Walton Street site, on the corner of Walton Street and Worcester Place, will form Exeter College's Third Quadrangle in the heart of Oxford - less than 10 minutes' walk from the College's Turl Street site. The new site will combine student accommodation with teaching rooms, social spaces and study facilities.

ABA shares the College's vision of 21st century collegiate life and is recognised for having a passion for quality and craftsmanship, a delight in place making and a unique architectural approach.

The Walton Street site is intended to provide accommodation for 100 students, many of whom are currently renting in the private market. This addition to the College's campus will alleviate some of the strain on the local rental market and also reduce the financial burden on students who will benefit from the College's 30-week lets at affordable prices.

The Rector of Exeter College, Frances Cairncross, said: "As we move towards celebrating Exeter College's 700th anniversary in 2014, so too can we look forward to creating a new and exciting space on Walton Street. This Third Quadrangle will provide outstanding living, teaching and study facilities in the heart of Oxford, continuing the ancient college tradition of living and studying around peaceful communal outdoor spaces. Each of our new rooms will be a mini-bursary for a student, cutting the costs of living in central Oxford and helping Exeter College to continue to attract the brightest and most talented students."

The competition was arranged by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), a specialist architectural consultancy. The College asked for evidence of genuine fresh thinking from competitors, not just the models of the recent past. An initial long list of 26 international firms was reduced to five through a process of building visits, speaking to past clients, office visits and advice from specialists in the field and the College's alumni.

MRC carried out a thorough study and site analysis to establish a brief, mindful of the heritage of the site, the quality of urban setting and the importance of promoting world-class design in Oxford.

A former student of Exeter College and local resident, Hugh Palmer, said "I'm very glad that future students of my old college will have the chance to enjoy the extra space and improved facilities made possible by this ambitious project. The site is a significant one, right at the entrance to Jericho, and there is an opportunity not only to meet the practical needs of the College, but also to create a beautiful new building to enhance this fascinating part of Oxford."

Alison Brooks, Director of Alison Brooks Architects, said "We are delighted to have this opportunity to work in the heart of Oxford with Exeter College and to contribute to the evolution of its architecture. The Quad's combination of residential, academic, social and cultural spaces within a scholarly and urban context is every architect's 'ideal brief'. ABA very much look forward to working with Exeter College to deliver a 21st century quad at Walton Street to complement the extraordinary quality of their Turl Street campus."

The new site is being financed by a fundraising campaign in the period leading up to Exeter College's 700th anniversary in 2014.

The College, advised by MRC and others, will now work with the ABA team to develop the initial design, emphasising the need to respect the qualities of the site and surroundings.

9 November 2011

Dr Matthias Fripp, Fellow of Exeter College, is taking part in a ten-day online debate on The Economist website. The motion of the debate, which Dr Fripp is defending, is 'This house believes that subsidising renewable energy is a good way to wean the world off fossil fuels.' The moderator of the debate is an Exonian, James Astill (1992, English).

The online debate is based on the Oxford style of debating, revolving around an assertion that is defended on one side (the "proposer") and assailed on another (the "opposition") in a contest hosted and overseen by a moderator. Each side has three chances to persuade readers: opening, rebuttal and closing.

James Astill introduced the debate yesterday, and Dr Fripp and Robert L. Bradley Jnr (Founder and CEO of the Institute for Energy Research, acting as the opposition for the debate) provided their opening statements.

Readers of the website can contribute their views to the debate and vote in favour of or against the motion. On 11 November Dr Fripp and Mr Bradley will make their rebuttals, and on 16 November they will make their closing remarks. Readers can continue to debate the motion and cast their votes until 18 November, at which point a decision will be announced.

To read the debate so far or to cast your vote, visit The Economist website.

3 November 2011

On 26 Oct 2011, Lord Burns, chairman of Santander UK, delivered a speech entitled "Is it all the fault of the Bankers?" for the Exeter College Seminar for Macroeconomics, which is generously sponsored by Santander.

Lord Burns brought a banker's perspective on the causes of the recent crisis. He argued that the widespread use of financial innovations was rooted in a belief that better financial engineering can redistribute risk and make the system safer in a way not previously possible. The behaviour of rating agencies also played a role. Lord Burns described how lack of financial regulation combined with competitive pressure to push traditional banks into off balance-sheet activities in new financial products.

Eventually, banks ran into problems and their exposure to these products made their positions highly correlated. This accelerated the pace and magnitude of the downfall.

Lord Burns described how bank shareholders and senior bankers had lost huge sums as a consequence of the crisis, a fact not always widely appreciated by the general public. He expressed support for the recommendations contained in the report of the Vickers Commission, but was concerned that the reform of the banking sector may be proceeding too quickly, arguing that there will inevitably be knock-on effects on the economy if banks have to adjust and adapt too quickly.

The talk was well received, with the candour of Lord Burns appreciated by all.

25 October 2011

An international team, including Exeter College Professorial Fellow Carol Robinson, has published its research into the structure and function of a 'molecular motor' critical to the functioning of human organs in Science magazine. The research could increase our understanding of many conditions including cancer, kidney failure and osteoporosis.

You can read more about the team's research here.

24 October 2011

Congratulations to John Gapper (1978, PPE), who has just been named Best Business Commentator at the 2011 Comment Awards.

Mr Gapper is Chief Business Commentator and an Associate Editor of the Financial Times. He writes a weekly column on business and finance and is one of the most senior and experienced FT writers.

It was the third annual Comment Awards. Other winners in 2011 included Robert Peston and Michael Atherton.

21 October 2011

Congratulations to Robert Allen (2009, Earth Sciences) for receiving the BP Prize for the best overall performance in the second year within the Department of Earth Sciences. This is an outstanding achievement and Exeter College is delighted to be able to congratulate Robert and wish him good luck in the year ahead.

21 October 2011

A plaque has been unveiled to mark the Oxford residence of Salvador de Madariaga (1886-1978), who became an honorary fellow of Exeter College in 1942.

Salvador de Madariaga was a Spanish writer, diplomat and pacifist. He was made the King Alfonso XIII Chair of Spanish Studies at Oxford in 1928 and was one of the principal authors of the Oxford Manifesto, a document which describes the basic political principles of the Liberal International.

The plaque was unveiled earlier this month, in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Oxford and members of Salvador de Madariaga's family. It is situated at Box Tree House, 3 St Andrew's Road, Old Headington, Oxford and commemorates the 35 years that Salvador de Madariaga lived there.

7 October 2011

Thar Saile, a TV programme exploring the status of the Irish language in some of Europe's cities, has come to Exeter.

The programme explores Oxford and many aspects of the University, and includes an interview with Patrick Wadden (2006), a doctoral student in Medieval Irish History at Exeter, who introduces viewers to Exeter College and also shows them Jesus College's collection of Irish manuscripts.

Patrick teaches Irish to interested students, some of whom study it to help with their course, some of whom are simply curious.

You can watch the programme here.

5 October 2011

Exeter College's Rector, Frances Cairncross CBE, recently presented BBC Radio 4's Analysis programme. In the broadcast, the Rector debates whether state aid or more relaxed policy on economic migration might help the developing world more.

You can listen to the programme on the BBC's iPlayer here.

Frances Cairncross is a former member of the council of economic advisers for the Scottish Government and worked on The Economist for 20 years, most recently as management editor.

5 October 2011

Professor Frank Close, Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College, has published an article in The Guardian arguing that despite recent suggestions from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (known as CERN) that neutrinos may be able to travel faster than the speed of light, Einstein's theory of relativity still applies.

The article is available to read here.

Frank Close is Professor of theoretical physics at Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow at Exeter College. He is the author of several books including Neutrino (OUP) and most recently The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe (OUP).

5 October 2011

Dr Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Fellow in Modern History, has announced that his book The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution will publish with Allen Lane in early 2012.

You can read more about the book here.

5 October 2011

The Wonderful World of Relativity : A precise guide for the general reader by Professor Andrew Steane publishes tomorrow.

The book provides a lively and visual introduction to Einstein's theory of relativity. It shows how Einstein's theory forces us to understand time in a new way, and culminates in a thorough unfolding of the relation between mass and energy.

Professor Andrew Steane is a Fellow and Tutor in Physics at Exeter College. His book is available to purchase here.

30 September 2011

Dr Monika Gullerova, Fellow of Exeter College and researcher at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, featured in a supplement of The Independent recently.

Dr Gullerova received one of four L'Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women In Science earlier this year. She was interviewed for the newspaper about her experiences as a Slovakian-born woman working in science.

'My nationality is not an issue,' she says. 'Science is so international you never get a laboratory with one nationality.'

Unfortunately the same isn't true of gender. According to Dr Gullerova, only one in 10 science professors is female. 'Women cope with stress and are very competitive,' she says. 'The main reason for the drop out rate is that many women face a choice between family and academic life.'

She adds: 'It's so important for women to stay in science. not only do they bring different perspectives, but they can also change the culture from within because they are more aware of the challenges women face in balancing work and family life.'

Dr Gullerova also argues that it is important to have good role models, and she says that one excellent example is here at Exeter: Carol Robinson. 'She's a famous professor and a mother of three. She has successfully balanced work and family. In would love to emulate her.'

27 September 2011

The Wordsworth Scholar, Michael Mayo (2010, English), has been making the most of opportunities at Exeter College. Here he describes what it means to him to have found an intellectual environment like no other he has experienced before, as well as some of the ways he enjoys giving back to the College.

Life as a 'mature' student means much of your identity requires those scare quotes: 'mature' as in old, 'mature' as in wondering whether you'll be fully welcome to jump right into vigorous MCR discussions or stagger into the communal kitchen during an all-night study session. But one of the greatest benefits of that alleged maturity is having the experience and growing self-knowledge to make the right choices, to determine where in the world you'll best fit. In choosing Exeter, I couldn't have made a sounder choice. Nor, without the Wordsworth Scholarship, could I have done it at all.

One of my previous degrees, a master's from Middlebury College, brought me into tutorial with Exeter's Jeri Johnson. While I was a schoolteacher and principal, I spent two summers studying Joyce and the modern novel with Ms Johnson, and with her legendary guidance and wisdom, she helped lead me to the decision to drop everything, move from the US to the UK, and pursue a DPhil. And it was she who encouraged me to apply for the Scholarship, which allowed me to make the change.

Once I arrived at Exeter, I found that the rumours about the College - that it was small, storied, friendly, serious - happened to be true. The MCR, for one thing, could not have been more welcoming. My fellow graduate students were as smart and driven as they were unpretentious and downright helpful - qualities rarely associated with any graduate programme I'd heard of. I made the choice to live in Exeter House for my first year, and there lived comfortably (and very well-scouted) while meeting people from around the world. Again, in contrast to those of other graduate programmes and even other Oxford colleges, the culture at Exeter gave me the environment I needed to do my best work: friendship without competition, among a cadre of serious students.

In my first term, Ms Johnson and the College invited me to teach composition to some first-year undergraduates, and thus I was able to start meeting members of the JCR right from the start. This offer of a teaching job was an excellent gift to me - not only was I one of the very few first-year DPhils in English asked to teach (thus helping my job prospects in the future), but I was able, while doing my research, to engage in the task I find most sustaining: hashing through ideas and writing with students. In my previous life, I'd taught mostly 11- to 14-year-olds, so when one of my Exeter students presented me with a lovely gift and card at the end of Trinity, thanking me for what he'd learned about writing, I was gob-smacked. The College recently received funding so I can continue this work for the 2011-12 academic year, and for that I'm grateful.

In addition, I was hired as the College's Careers Officer for this calendar year, and this work, more than any other, has helped me integrate most fully into general College life. With the excellent supervision and support of Emily Watson, I've spent this year helping Exeter undergraduates and graduates find internships around the world, from working as a staffer on Capitol Hill in Washington to performing on-the-ground environmental research in Bangkok. Almost all of these internships are exclusively for Exeter students, so a great deal of the work has been meeting with partner organizations - both existing partners and potential ones - to shape the internships for the particular needs of our students. One of the most salient achievements this year has been crafting a new, intense internship programme with Essar Group, an international corporation that, under the guidance of the Rector and after innumerable meetings, planning sessions, interviews, and logistics, offered Exeter ten fully funded internships, around the world, each one tailored to the needs of each individual student. We're looking forward to continuing this relationship, and to cultivating a few more, in the coming months.

Amid all this extra-curricular activity, I managed to produce a lengthy piece of writing (10,000 words) as an application for my Transfer of Status - the English Department's formal consideration of a student from Probationary to full DPhil status. In addition to the writing - a chapter-long consideration of Joyce's short story 'The Dead' - I had to pass a viva voce, with panelists from the Department. What I told them at the start of the exam was true: I was both terrified and thrilled, and the committee expressed their pleasure with what I'd written and had to say on my topic.

Since then I've done much more exploration in my chosen field, which includes an examination of psychoanalytic practices developed by Melanie Klein. At a psychoanalysis reading group, I met a Kleinian analyst who in fact asked me to come to the session he runs for Kleinian analysts-in-training to speak about that chapter on 'The Dead.' In the fall, I'll be presenting my work on Klein with that same analyst to the same reading group in which we'd met. It's this kind of intellectual experience - these encounters with interested, critical, knowledgeable, challenging, and supportive people - that I've never found anywhere else.

And it happens to be true that without the support of Exeter and the Wordsworth Scholarship, none of this would have happened at all. As my second year begins this Michaelmas, I'm extremely grateful for their support. Whatever else 'mature' might mean, I believe, at least in this case, it can signal deep appreciation for the gifts you've been given.

23 September 2011

Congratulations to Prof Jonathan Herring, Fellow in Law, who was recently highly commended by the British Medical Association for his book Medical Law and Ethics (OUP). The book was shortlisted for the BMA Book of the Year award.

You can read more about the book by clicking here.

16 September 2011

Dr Christine Cheng, Bennett Boskey Junior Research Fellow in Politics and International Relations, has co-authored Corruption and Peacebuilding: Selling the Peace? (Routledge). The book, which was published in August, explores and evaluates the roles of corruption in post-conflict peacebuilding.

You can read more about the book by clicking here or here. It can be purchased here.

12 September 2011

Christina de Bellaigue, Fellow in History at Exeter, appeared on 'Making History' on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 13th September. Dr de Bellaigue talked about the experience of nineteenth-century women teachers who travelled across the world, setting up schools, often in places where few Europeans had ever been.

You can listen to the programme on the BBC iPlayer.

22 August 2011

John Kufuor (1961, PPE) has been awarded the 2011 World Food Prize jointly with Luiz da Silva. They were awarded the prize for their leadership and commitment to alleviating hunger and poverty in their countries while serving as the presidents of Ghana and Brazil respectively.

The World Food Prize is the foremost international award for individual achievements in improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.

During his two terms in office, Mr Kufuor implemented major economic and educational policies that increased the quality and quantity of food to Ghanaians, enhanced farmers' incomes, and improved school attendance and child nutrition through a nationwide feeding programme. Under his leadership, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to cut in half the proportion of its people who suffer from hunger, and the proportion of people living on less than a dollar per day. He prioritised agricultural policies, with Ghana seeing a reduction in its poverty rate from 51.7% in 1991 to 26.5% in 2008, and hunger being reduced from 34% in 1990 down to 9% in 2004.

The Ghana School Feeding Programme, launched by Mr Kufuor, provided one nutritious locally produced meal a day for school children in kindergarten through to junior high school (ages four to 14). This programme dramatically reduced the level of chronic hunger and malnutrition while improving attendance. By the end of 2010, over a million primary school children were benefitting from this programme.

Ghana's political stability, economic reforms, agricultural development, and significant reduction of hunger and poverty led to an award of $547 million from the US Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2006. The Kufuor government put the entire grant to use modernising agriculture for rural development, increasing the production and productivity of high-value cash and food staple crops, and raising farmer incomes.

22 August 2011

Exeter students Charles Brendon (2003, PPE) and Tim Hele (2007, Chemistry) were honoured during the Encaenia ceremony this year. They were both asked to "do the most immodest thing for an Oxford student: to stand and receive [the congregation's] applause" in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements.

The congregation included Nobel laureates, Knights and Dames, the heads of colleges, this year's recipients of honorary degrees, and the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Patten. Mr Hele said after the ceremony, "it is an incredibly humbling experience to be congratulated by those who are much, much greater than I".

Among the honorands were the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, novelist and essayist Dr Marilynne Robinson, and record producer Sir George Martin.

19 August 2011

After a comprehensive initial investigation, Exeter College has formed a shortlist of five architectural practices keen to design the recently acquired Ruskin College campus on Walton Street. The design concepts for Exeter's 'third quadrangle' will be available for alumni to view in September.

The designs will be on display between 12pm and 5pm on 8 September in The Economist's premises in Red Lion Square, London. It is hoped that they will also be displayed in Singapore, Hong Kong, and New York City, as well as in Oxford and online.

To attend the exhibition in London please contact Hannah Leadbetter at development@exeter.ox.ac.uk by 7 September. Entry to the exhibition is by prior arrangement only.

With the help of feedback from alumni, a winning architectural practice will be chosen by the end of September, moving us one step closer to creating outstanding new facilities in the heart of Oxford.

The shortlisted practices:

• Alison Brooks Architects is the first UK architecture practice to have won the UK's three most prestigious awards for architecture - the Stirling Prize for the Accordia housing development in Cambridge (2008), the Manser Medal for Salt House in Essex (2007), and the Stephen Lawrence Prize for Wrap House in London (2006).


• Eric Parry Architects is an established and award-winning practice. It was responsible for several prestigious developments in London and Cambridge (Pembroke College) and for cultural venues such as the Holburne Museum in Bath and the restoration and renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square.


• Haworth Tompkins works in the public, private and subsidised sectors with projects for schools, galleries, theatres, housing, and offices, including the London Library. It prides itself on putting great effort into understanding a building's context and the needs of its users, and has won over 50 design awards.


• Richard Sundberg Architects is a Seattle-based practice with an international reputation for museum, civic, and residential buildings. Richard Sundberg designed the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, which won a 2010 Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award. His practice has undertaken large projects for Seattle University and Seattle Public Library.


• Wright & Wright Architects has built up a strong portfolio in higher education and cultural building as well as housing. The practice specialises in designing well-functioning, durable, and low-energy buildings using traditional materials in innovative ways. An example of its work can be seen at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

19 August 2011

Kevin Whately and Lawrence Fox returned to Exeter College this week to film an episode of ITV's Lewis.

The episode being shot is called The Soul of Genius and is going to be aired in the spring of 2012. Filming has been aided by brilliant sunshine, and so the College - which is renamed Carlisle College in the episode - should be looking at its most magnificent.

19 August 2011

Dr Helen Spencer, Exeter College Fellow in English, has been elected Assessor for the proctorial year 2012-13. She will take up office in the spring of 2012.

The colleges of the University of Oxford elect the Assessor on a rota basis. The role was established in 1960 to support the long-standing roles of Senior and Junior Proctors. The Proctors and Assessor are available if students wish to consult them in confidence for help, information, or advice about University matters or any other matters outside the sphere of their college advisers. The Assessor has no disciplinary role but has an especial concern for University policies on student health, welfare, and financial issues.

Dr Spencer teaches literature of the medieval period and the history of the English language. Her subject of research is medieval religious prose and the history of the Church in the 14th and 15th centuries.

17 August 2011

Congratulations to Dr Antony Eagle, whose son Sylvester Eyre Eagle-Maughan was born just after midnight on 8 August.

Sylvester weighed 3605 grams (just under 8lbs) when he was born. Mother and baby are both very well. Everyone at the College wishes them all the very best.

16 August 2011

Exeter College has moved up to ninth in the Norrington Table rankings. It is a jump of 17 places from last year, and is testament to the fantastic achievements of 2011's finalists, as well as the hard work of their tutors.

The Norrington Table ranks the University of Oxford's colleges in order of the performance of their undergraduate students in Finals.

2011 saw the greatest number of firsts for Exeter College's finalists for a decade. Congratulations to all involved!

The full Norrington Table can be viewed here.

8 August 2011

Each year Exeter College welcomes 24 students from Williams College, Massachusetts. Williams College is now officially the top college in the United States, according to the Forbes rankings for 2012.

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), which also has a relationship with Exeter College through the Alberta Bart Holaday scholarship, is ranked tenth in the list of 650 institutions.

The Williams and USAFA students contribute enormously to life at Exeter College. They have a reputation for achieving outstanding sporting and academic success, as well as for being outgoing and fun. Exeter College is delighted to see both partner institutions performing so well, and looks forward to receiving the next intake of talented Williams students in October.

29 July 2011

'You need to be willing to die to live.' Or, to put it in more entrepreneurial terms, 'in order to succeed spectacularly, you need to be willing to fail spectacularly.' That was the first maxim from Biz Stone, the co-founder of social networking and microblogging site Twitter, when he visited Exeter College in June.

Mr Stone's own definition of a successful company, as he described to a fascinated audience in the Saskatchewan Room, was one that could change the world, build a viable business, and have fun while doing it. Mr Stone recently left Twitter to focus on philanthropic activities, but the enjoyment that he took from working on the web site was evident in every moment of his speech. He admitted that from a very early stage he had become emotionally invested in the product; that he wanted to work on it no matter how many people told him it would fail.

That Twitter has changed the world is equally evident. Its 200m users generate 350m tweets (text-based posts of up to 140 characters) and 1.6bn search queries worldwide every day. According to Pear Analytics, 37% of these tweets are purely conversational, while 40% are pointless babble, but nevertheless the way that the world's news is transmitted, digested, and even created has shifted radically in recent years. When US Airways flight 1549 ditched in New York's Hudson River in January 2009, Twitter users had spread the miraculous story around the globe approximately 15 minutes before the mainstream media began to report it. When asked whether he had any objection to Twitter being used for trivial posts such as what people are eating for breakfast, Mr Stone argued that not only should people follow whatever interests them, but that regular tweeting of even the mundane makes people fluent tweeters when extraordinary events unfold. Whether natural disasters or political rallies, people are now used to receiving the live accounts of witnesses to news events anywhere on the planet. Twitter has even been proclaimed for facilitating revolutions, including in Moldova, Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt, where the discontent of a vociferous few snowballed into mass demonstrations and activism.

Whether Twitter is truly a viable long-term business is more debatable, with some commentators questioning the company's lack of revenue. Indeed, during a Q&A session after Mr Stone's speech, the question 'how is Twitter going to make money' was boldly put to him. The answer is that Twitter made improving uptime (the time that a web site operates without outages) its top priority in its early years, ahead of generating revenue. But in mid-2010, after considerable improvements to the infrastructure of the site, Twitter began selling unconventional advertising space. Rather than banner advertisements, Twitter sells the promotion of tweets, trends, and user profiles. In other words, companies can pay to make their Twitter profile more prominent when users browse and search the site, rather like Google's AdWords. The company made revenues of $45m in 2010, and is projected to earn $150m in 2011. In 2011 a private market auction valued the company at $7.8bn.

In Mr Stone's speech, he repeatedly spoke of the importance of doing something meaningful, of believing in what you are doing, and of being a force for good. His messages to businesses: that altruism pays compound interest; that the only deal worth doing is a win-win deal; that if you do all right by your customers, your business will do all right too. Beyond that, Mr Stone expressed his belief in the fundamental benevolence of man; that giving people a tool like Twitter allowed them to prove this every day, whether using the web site to overthrow oppressive regimes, to organise relief during natural disasters, or just to share a joke. 'If Twitter was to be a triumph,' he said, 'it was not to be a triumph of technology; it was to be a triumph of humanity.'

To watch Biz Ston'e speech in full click here.

20 July 2011

The Queen has formally approved the appointment of Professor Graham Ward, former Chaplain of Exeter College, as Regius Chair of Divinity at the University of Oxford.

The professorship is one of the oldest in the University, having been founded by Henry VIII.

Professor Ward was Official Fellow and Chaplain at Exeter College from 1992 until 1995. He will take up his position at the University of Oxford in October 2011.

12 July 2011

The special relationship between Exeter College and the Province of Saskatchewan, in Canada, has been celebrated with the dedication of a floret from the College Chapel. The floret, which was rescued when the Chapel masonry was restored in 2008, has been installed on a pillar in the nave of the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist in Saskatoon. It marks the strong links between the College and the province, which began when the first of many Saskatchewan Rhodes Scholars to study at Exeter, John Francis Leddy, matriculated in 1933.

To read more about the dedication and the links between the College and the Province of Saskatchewan click here.

12 July 2011

Exeter College is delighted to announce that the Right Honourable Lord Williamson of Horton (1952, Lit Hum) has become an Honorary Fellow of the College.

Lord Williamson was a senior British and European civil servant and is an active cross-bencher member of the House of Lords.

11 July 2011

Congratulations to Monika Gullerova, Fellow of Exeter College and researcher at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, who has received one of four L'Oréal UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women In Science.

Dr Gullerova received the award for her outstanding research into how cells ensure their chromosomes are distributed equally, as they grow and divide, among the new cells formed.

The Fellowships are run in partnership with the UK National Commission for UNESCO, the Irish National Committee for UNESCO and the Royal Society of Great Britain. They were launched in January 2007 and aim to promote the importance of increasing the participation of women in science.

28 June 2011

Exeter College is delighted to announce the creation of the Rivka Carmi Scholarship, in partnership with Ben Gurion University (BGU) in the Negev, Israel. The scholarship is for top graduate students from BGU wishing to read for a postgraduate degree at Oxford University.

The Rivka Carmi Scholarship, worth the full cost of tuition fees and a generous maintenance grant, is funded for five years in the first instance, although it is hoped that it will eventually be funded in perpetuity. The Scholarship is open to all graduates of BGU who secure a place at Oxford for a Masters or DPhil degree in any field of study. There is a particular focus on supporting women, and those from minorities or underprivileged backgrounds.

"The Rivka Carmi Scholarships will broaden the horizons of BGU students through the one-of-a-kind relationship with this exceptional educational institute," said Professor Raymond Dwek, of the Glycobiology Institute at Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College who has been a close partner in the creation of the Scholarship as well as in the creation of the British-Israel Life Sciences Council of which he and Professor Carmi are co-chairs.

Professor Dwek noted that collaboration between Oxford and BGU was foreshadowed by David Ben-Gurion, first prime minister of Israel, when he remarked, "...I dream of a sort of Hebrew Oxford in the Negev."

The Scholarship is named after the current BGU President, Professor Rivka Carmi, who became the first female Dean of an Israeli medical school and the first woman President of an Israeli University. Carmi has also devoted much of her professional career - both medical and administrative - to working with those on the margins of society, and striving to improve their lives. "I am humbled and honored by the initiative of BGU's great supporter and my personal adviser and friend Professor Raymond Dwek, whose commitment to help BGU realise David Ben-Gurion's dream to create an Oxford in the desert has inspired us all. I hope that this initiative will open new opportunities for collaborations between the two Institutes to promote education and science," Professor Carmi said.

23 June 2011

Oxford's leading chess and quiz players, including two Exeter students, were recognised recently at the University's second annual Mindsports Blues awards evening.

Mindsports Blues were established in 2010 to recognise outstanding Varsity Match performances in sports which involve mental rather than physical exertion. Six quizzers and eight chess players received their awards from C.J. de Mooi, who is president of the English Chess Federation and a panellist on BBC2's Eggheads.

Alex Bubb (2008, English) was awarded for his quiz knowledge. Alex was part of a four-man team that defeated Cambridge 330-185 in the Varsity Quiz Match earlier this month. Previously Alex helped Christ Church win the BBC's University Challenge in 2008.

Steffen Schaper (2005, Physics) was one of eight students to receive awards for their chess skills. Steffen helped Oxford beat Cambridge 4.5 points to 3.5 points in the 129th Varsity Chess Match.

The criteria for membership of the Mindsports Committee are virtually identical to those laid down by the Men's and Women's Blues Committees, except that there is no requirement that the sport should involve specifically athletic endeavour. These criteria are:

• There should be an annually contested Varsity Match against the University of Cambridge.


• The Mindsport should be a major one within the University of Oxford.


• The Mindsport should be played at a standard which compares favourably with that of other amateur clubs in the United Kingdom.


• There should be an inveterate organisation and tradition of participation in the Mindsport within the United Kingdom and the University of Oxford, including the existence of an inter-collegiate tournament.

23 June 2011

Exeter College's Rector, Frances Cairncross CBE, has written an article for The Scotsman arguing that the Scottish Parliament should avoid making the mistakes of Westminster by creating a graduate tax.

In the article the Rector suggests that the Scottish Parliament's decision to provide free university study for Scottish and EU students comes at the detriment of university education provision in Scotland. Government grants for universities are being slashed across the UK. The Rector argues that without new funding mechanisms in Scotland, there will be a shortfall that will affect the quality of teaching and facilities and, ultimately, harm the ability of Scottish universities to compete with universities in other countries, including England.

Nevertheless the Rector does not advocate a deferred tuition fee system, as the Westminster Government has decreed for English students. Instead she proposes that the Scottish Parliament make up the shortfall in funding using a voucher scheme, the value of which might vary from university to university and even from course to course, and then recoup the cost of that scheme by introducing a capped graduate tax from 2015 onwards.

Frances Cairncross is a member of the council of economic advisers for the Scottish Government and was previously on the staff of The Economist for 20 years, most recently as management editor. Her full article, which is the first of a four-part series on higher education from the David Hume Institute, is available to read on the Scotsman website.

16 June 2011

Oxford-India

Oxford has long-established connections with India, dating to 1579 when Father Thomas Stephens, from New College, was the first recorded Englishman to visit India. In 1832 the Boden Chair in Sanskrit was created, and in 1871 Oxford welcomed its first Indian students. Today students can read a postgraduate degree in Modern South Asian Studies or an MSc in Contemporary India.

Celebration

To celebrate and strengthen its links with India, Oxford is holding its first ever 'Oxford-India Day' on 17 June. The event will bring together Oxford scholars with a select group of Indian business, academic, and policy leaders for a day of discussions and celebration.

Historically Exeter College's strongest links were, understandably, with the west country of England. Today the College is home to a community of students from around the world, and is a very popular choice with Indian students.

The pinnacle of scholarship

'Most Indians perceive Oxford as the pinnacle of scholarship on the global stage' says Michelle Fernandes. 'As an undergraduate studying medicine in India, research was always a passion and I tried my best to get involved in it. However, there were many limitations to pursuing research as a young Indian medic - facilities for training were modest, infrastructure was scarce, funding was almost non-existent and multi-disciplinary, international collaborations almost never involved young researchers. Oxford offered me all these things and more.'

Michelle came from Goa to read Psychiatry at Oxford in 2008, and she hasn't looked back. 'Oxford looks for potential more than anything else, and transforms that potential into excellence and leadership. If you glowed before, Oxford will make you shine.'

A contribution to society

She is by no means alone in her praise. 'Oxford has been a great learning experience, so much so that I would now consider my education to be incomplete without having come to Oxford,' says Akshat Rathi, an Organic Chemistry student born in Nashik. 'Studying at Oxford has given me a chance to mingle with the top minds from many fields. As a part of Exeter College, I've gained confidence to start my professional life. Being surrounded by highly motivated people has made me more determined to make a contribution to society.'

A number of current students from India are filling important roles within College and the wider University. Michelle is the College's present Junior Dean, while Deeksha Sharma (2009, Law) from Delhi has served as the Graduate International Students Officer of the Oxford University Students Union, the MCR President at Exeter College, and the Secretary of the Oxford Indian Society and the Oxford Transhumanist Society.

According to Deeksha, her endeavours on these bodies 'have helped me immensely to develop as a person and a leader.' She feels that she will take away from Oxford 'not only a rich set of transferable skills but also some really invaluable experiences and relationships.'

Open your mind

So what advice would Exeter's current Indian students give to students considering coming here? Michelle spent August 2010 visiting universities across India as the SKP travelling Fellow. 'I would say to students, if you're going to make the effort, make a good effort because Oxford is absolutely worth it. I was amazed at the large numbers of excellent candidates who were working on their applications to Oxford.'

'Grab this opportunity with both hands' is Akshat's advice. 'A lot of India's great leaders have studied at Oxford and the University is spoken about with a breath of reverence in India and around the world. When at Oxford, always look out for what more you can do with the valuable resources at your disposal.'

Deeksha enthuses, 'Oxford is a place full of opportunities. You can do whatever you want here. Just come with an open mind and manage your time well and you will extract the maximum out of this place. Exeter is a very warm and always welcoming community. For international students, it feels like and is your home away from home.

To read further comment on the contrasts between studying at Oxford and studying in India click here.

10 June 2011

Former Exeter Fellow, Professor Andrew Blake, was presented with the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award last week for work on the Microsoft Xbox 360's Kinect.

Professor Blake, who was Fellow in Engineering at Exeter College from 1987 to 1999, led a team of five as they took the Kinect from concept to shop shelves in just over two years. The award of 50,000 pounds was presented to the team at London's Guildhall on Monday, 6 June.

The Kinect allows controller-free computer gaming and has opened up new possibilities for computer console enthusiasts and novices alike. However the possibilities aren't limited to gaming. To take just one potential use, it is anticipated that 'Kinect' technology will allow surgeons to operate hands-free computers in the operating theatre.

"For our work on machine learning for Kinect, and indeed the field of computer science, to be recognised by the top engineering award in the UK, makes us very proud," Professor Blake said on receiving the Award.

In the first two months after its launch in 2010, the Kinect sold eight million devices, making it the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever.

2 June 2011

HRH The Prince of Wales highlighted the musical achievements of Sir Hubert Parry in a BBC television programme screened recently.

Parry, who read Law and Modern History at Exeter College, was a major influence on Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and it is perhaps for this that he is most recognised in music chronicles. But Prince Charles has set his sights on invigorating appreciation for this somewhat overlooked English composer's own work.

Several of Parry's pieces of music featured in the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding, including the well-known Jerusalem and I Was Glad. In The Prince and the Composer, a broad range of Parry's work is showcased, including many songs and symphonies that are not widely known but that contain 'a kind of domestic grandeur,' as Prince Charles puts it.

The Prince and the Composer is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 4 June 2011.

20 May 2011

Congratulations to David Thomas, who was recently awarded the inaugural Kaneda Award at the Tenth Annual Carroll Round Conference in Georgetown, USA.

The PPE undergraduate, who is in his final year at Exeter, won the prize for his paper, "A Robust Approach to Price Stickiness". He faced competition from 25 of the world's top undergraduates in the field of economics, and was awarded the prize for demonstrating 'the highest level of excellence in both paper quality and participation'.

David based the journal-length article on his thesis, which he is carrying out under the direction of Michael Cohen Fellow and Tutor in Economics, Professor Martin Ellison. He travelled to America over the Easter Vacation for the prestigious conference, a unique economics forum for discussion and presentation of research.

In addition to his outstanding personal achievement, David was able to take part in scholarly discussion and had the privilege of seeing leading economist keynote speakers Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Dr. Jagdish Bhagwati.

He said of the experience, 'it's an incredibly rare opportunity to go and meet with people who care about the same things as you, and who worry about the same problems as you, but who have come from a different background to you. As our knowledge and experience combined and collided we learned a huge amount we never could have learned alone.'

David plans to enter the world of education through the Teach First scheme after graduating, but hopes that the international recognition he has achieved through the Kaneda Award will help him to secure funding for postgraduate research in the future.

15 April 2011

Exeter College is delighted to announce the appointment of Rev Stephen Hearn as Chaplain and Fellow of the College in succession to Rev Dr Helen Orchard. Stephen Hearn, who has a degree in English from Lincoln College, is currently curate at St Guthlac's Church in Market Deeping. He will take up his appointment at the beginning of Michaelmas Term, and we look forward to welcoming him into our community.

During Trinity Term the Reverend Lister Tonge will be Acting Chaplain of the College.

8 April 2011

Christine Cheng, Bennett Boskey Fellow in Politics and IR at Exeter, has had an op-ed placed in the Wall Street Journal on the subject of "Justice and Gadhafi's Fight to the Death". In it she argues that everyone wants to see wrongdoers punished when war crimes are committed, but safe exile can be the least bad option for handling figures like Ivory Coast's Gbagbo and Libya's Gadhafi.

The WSJ has a pay-wall, but for those not subscribed, Ms Cheng gave permission to Real Clear World to re-post the piece.

7 April 2011

The 2011 Telephone Campaign was a fantastic success, raising almost £190,000 in pledges. 11 dedicated student callers spoke to 659 alumni between 13th and 27th March, and over one in two decided to make a gift to Exeter. The students loved hearing anecdotes about College life from Old Members around the globe, and finding out how the College has changed over the last fifty years - and yet how it manages to stay very much the same! Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to speak to one of our students, and to all those who made a gift to the College - your donations will help Exeter continue to thrive and excel!

6 April 2011

This year's Marett Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Professor Terence S Turner, Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University. The lecture, held by Exeter in association with the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, is entitled "Beauty and the beast: Humanity, animality and animism in the thought of an Amazonian people". It will address ideas about relations between humans and animals, cultural values and the loss of culture.

The lecture will take place on Friday 6 May 2011 at 5pm in the Saskatchewan Room, and will be followed by drinks at 6pm.

06 April 2011

Oxford University have arranged an Open Day for Graduate Students looking to study Humanties and Exeter College is pleased to announce its involvement in the event.

The Open Day is planned to take place on Friday 11 November 2011. For further information please see the University webpage available to view here.

28 March 2011

Congratulations to Ben Myers (2008, Physics) and all the Oxford rowers in this year's Boat Race on their resounding victory this weekend!

Cambridge had been thought to be the favourites ahead of the race but on the day itself Oxford led from the start. They were already a length ahead by Hammersmith Bridge, and Cambridge failed to produce a much-needed surge in order to overtake them. In the end, Oxford won by four clear lengths.

Exeter's Ben Myers, President of OUBC and a veteran of last year's race, was clearly delighted as he spoke to reporters afterwards.

Exeter was also represented in Isis, the Oxford second boat, where Ben Snodin (2007, Physics) was part of the crew who beat Cambridge in the Isis v Goldie race earlier in the day.

Congratulations to both our rowers!

Image: Ben Myers, copyright Getty

21 February 2011

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) announced this month that Professor Carol Robinson, Fellow in Chemistry at Exeter, is to receive the 2011 FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award.

The Award rewards the exceptional achievements of a female researcher in molecular biology over the previous five years, and acknowledges those who are considered role models, inspiring future generations of women in science. Professor Robinson has been recognised for her pioneering work in the development of mass spectrometry as a tool used for investigating the structure and dynamics of protein complexes.

Her research has opened up a new area of mass spectrometry; nominating her for the award, one of her collaborators stated: "she had the courage to do what experts regarded as not feasible and has succeeded in the face of strong scepticism."

Professor Robinson's career has been marked by distinction. She became the first female professor of chemistry at Cambridge University in 2001; three years later, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded the Royal Society's Rosalind Franklin Award.

The 2011 FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award of 10,000 Euros will be presented to her on 28 June at the 36th FEBS Congress in Italy, where she will present a special lecture.

15 February 2011

The College was delighted to host Mr Kofi Annan, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, on Sunday 13 February, when he delivered a lecture as part of the lead-up to the College's 700th Anniversary in 2014. The lecture also coincided with the launch of the publication Pilgrims of the Night, edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah with contributions by the Rector and former Ghanaian President, John Kufuor (1961, PPE). (For more information about Pilgrims of the Night, please visit the publisher's website)

Mr Annan was guided around the Ghost Forest exhibition by its creator Angela Palmer (2002, Fine Art) before giving the lecture in the Sheldonian Theatre. Over 700 people crowded into the theatre to hear the lecture, entitled "The Future of Africa", including the Vice-Chancellor, His Excellency John Kufuor (1961, PPE), former President of Ghana, the Rector, and students, staff and Fellows from across the University. Mr Annan argued that the quality of the continent's governance and leadership is the one area that will, above all else, determine Africa's future.

The lecture was followed by a tea party for 90 Exeter alumni and other invited guests in the Divinity Schools, before Mr Annan returned to Exeter for a black-tie dinner in Hall with the Rector and prestigious guests including former President Kufuor and the Director of the African Studies Centre. Following the meal, he answered questions from the crowds of Exeter students who had packed the Hall to capacity.

During his visit he also formally opened Oxford's African Studies Centre in refurbished offices.

Mr Annan rose through the ranks of the United Nations to become its seventh Secretary-General, serving two terms 1997 to 2006. In 2001 he and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for bringing new life to the organisation. He is currently the Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation, which aims to promote better global governance and a fairer, more secure world.

15 February 2011

Two Old Members at the Kofi Annan lunch at Exeter College found a common interest. Angela Palmer (2002, Fine Arts), now a distinguished artist, brought a ceremonial Ashanti stool that she had bought at a local auction, and presented it to former President of Ghana HE John Kufuor (1961, PPE), with a request that he return it to its land of origin. The stool is the most potent sacred symbol to Ghanaians and this particular one was stolen from the Queen's palace by the British in August 1900. John Kufuor, and Kofi Annan, who was there when she presented it, were very excited about the stool's return to Ghana after 110 years in British possession.

Angela Palmer had earlier welcomed Mr Annan to her exhibition, The Ghost Forest, which has installed the stumps of vast Ghanaian trees on plinths outside Oxford's Museum of Natural History, as a potent reminder of the perils of deforestation and the urgent need for countries to follow Ghana's example, in striving to protect from uncontrolled logging the forest that remains.

02 February 2011

Dr Kerstin Luhn, Monsanto Research Fellow, has become the latest Exeter Fellow to welcome a new arrival to her family! Her daughter Uma was born last month. Congratulations to Dr Luhn and her family.

27 January 2011

The toast to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns was this year given by Sir David Forbes Hendry, former Head of the Economics Department at the University of Oxford. His speech can be read in full below.

The Immortal Memory

Scotland at the time of Burns's birth on January 25, 1759 was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 had only recently ended in a disastrous battle on Culloden Moor; housing was crowded, squalid and unsanitary; disease rampant; a bad harvest spelled famine; the average age of death was around 40; and most children died before age five. Jean Armour, Burns's wife, bore him nine children, but only three survived infancy. Hardly propitious times.

Yet all was not lost due to the unintended consequences of the religious fundamentalist, John Knox, 200 years earlier. Knox believed that everyone should read the Bible, so required every parish church to provide schooling for its local children. Once literate, many read much more than Bibles. Even by 1583, Scotland had four universities, whereas its much larger and richer neighbour to the south still only had two in 1820. By 1760, Scotland had a highly educated population. Consequently, following the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, Scots had taken over many enterprises from the English including most of the Port wine trade (quintessentially English since the Treaty of Windsor in 1373—the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world, which is still in force), and much of the tobacco and cotton trade. American Higher Education still follows the Scottish tradition of four year degrees with a broad curriculum. About a third of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 were Scots despite comprising a small percentage of the colonists.

Edinburgh was already known as the Athens of the North, by analogy to Athens in the Age of Pericles around 450BC, not just because Scotland was forging intellectual, cultural and technological revolutions but also because, in an act of outstanding vision, the Town Council of Edinburgh, under the leadership of Provost George Drummond, in 1766 commissioned the development of a New Town of splendid mansions set in circles, squares and park-lined wide streets, an early example of high quality town planning.

The 'Select Society' formed in the 1750s was at the centre of Edinburgh's path-breaking discussions of the intellectual issues of the day. Its members included economists like Adam Smith and David Hume, Lord Kames and Frances Hutcheson (philosophers), John Playfair (mathematician), Joseph Black (chemist), James Hutton, the founder of geology, Robert Adam the architect, and James Watt of steam engine fame. A friend of many of these was a certain Duncan Forbes of Culloden, who was Lord President of the Court of Session for Scotland. He knew both Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Duke of Cumberland, and had tried unsuccessfully to prevent the 1745 battle near his house. He was my 8th great grandfather, and in the family tradition, I have Forbes as my middle name.

The time was ripe for a talented ploughboy such as Robert Burns to startle society with his extraordinary poetry, when almost all farm workers elsewhere in the world were illiterate. Burns himself had had a mixture of schooling, receiving some from his tenant-farmer father. Robert Burns had a fine eye for the details of life, from a fieldmouse disturbed by his ploughing (To A Mouse), through celebrations of eating (Ode to the Haggis, Selkirk Grace) and drinking (Tam O'Shanter), love (My Luve is like a red, red rose) and friendship (Auld Lang Syne), to an early appreciation of the beauty of the countryside (The Banks O' Bonnie Doon), combined with an extraordinary gift for recording his feelings in poetry.

Burns wrote mostly in Broad Scots, the majority language of Scotland at the time, where Gaelic was spoken in the North, and English was also common. His contemporaries Adam Smith and David Hume also both spoke Broad Scots, yet wrote some of the finest English prose of their day. There is an amusing correspondence between them, as Hume lived mainly in London, with one letter by Hume regretting that on meeting King George III, he could, to quote 'control my pen but not my tongue'. Often, Broad Scots was used to tease the English, so some commentators have thought that Hume insulted the King, but actually he probably inadvertently spoke in Broad Scots, so left the King as bemused as some of you might be by Burns poems!

Burns could of course also write beautiful English, as in:

'Pleasures are like poppies spread, you seize the flower--the bloom is shed, or like the snowfall on the river, a moment white, then gone forever'.

Much of his trenchant political writing was in English, so his choice of Broad Scots emphasized his strong Scottish nationalism, though it must have limited his potential audience to those who could understand that language. Doing so restricted his income, which was a perennial worry for him. A classic is his 'Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn' which begins:

Scotts, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, Scotts, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome to your gory bed, Or to victorie.

Now's the day, and now's the hour; See the front o' battle lour; See approach proud Edward's power- Chains and Slaverie!

Many of you may have seen Braveheart, where Scots' shields appear to stop English arrows—well, a longbow was the nuclear weapon of its day, as French Knights learned too late at Agincourt, and it still outperforms a Colt 45 in terms of penetrating armour. The key reason the Scots won Bannockburn was Edward's stinginess: archers cost about twice foot soldiers, so he took too few of the former.

The wars with England essentially began in 1057 when they were invited to help overthrow the last of the Northern Scottish Kings, called Macbeth. While Macbeth had killed Duncan to acquire the throne, Shakespeare's version misrepresents Macbeth, as he brought peace and prosperity to Scotland for almost 20 years. The lowland nobles led by Duncan's son Malcolm Canmore (whose English wife, Margaret, established the feudal system in the lowlands, but failed in the Highlands) then ousted and killed Macbeth. Canmore paid homage to William the Conqueror, precipitating 250 years of English interference and wars of independence, ending at Bannockburn in 1314—the year Exeter College was founded.

Burns published his first volume of poetry in 1787, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect and it was an immediate success: he was suddenly a celebrity. He had planned to flee his debts and abandon Jean Armour by going to the West Indies to oversee work on a plantation, and had actually recorded his feelings in Lines Written On A Banknote in 1786:

Wae worth thy power, thou cursed leaf! Fell source o' a' my woe and grief! For lack o' thee I've lost my lass! For lack o' thee I scrimp my glass! I see the children of affliction Unaided, through thy curst restriction: I've seen the oppressor's cruel smile Amid his hapless victim's spoil; And for thy potence vainly wished, To crush the villain in the dust: For lack o' thee, I leave this much-lov'd shore, Never, perhaps, to greet old Scotland more.

Instead he went straight to Edinburgh, where he was hosted by all the gliterati and nobles of the time, including the Select Society of which he became a member.

Burns was a prolific writer, with around 550 attributed works in his short life. His writings came at the start of the ‘romantic revival', influencing Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley as well as Walter Scott. The Banks O' Bonnie Doon begins:

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu' o' care!

That worry arose from his love life, which was profligate to say the least—he had children with several women and affairs with many more, perhaps a reason for his prolific love poems, some to facilitate seduction (often unsuccessful), some as parting billet doux. The most famous example is:

O my Luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June: O my Luve's like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

Unfortunately, the reality is that Burns was a fickle and unfaithful lover, but perhaps he drew inspiration from his many failed affairs.

Burns views on fellowship and human relations seem to have been influenced by Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments published in 1759 (when Burns was born). As an aside, his friend David Hume wrote to Smith humorously at the time 'I proceed to tell you the melancholy News, that your book has been very unfortunate: For the public seem disposed to applaud it extremely.... You may conclude what Opinion true Philosophers will entertain of it...' That book is where the famous phrase 'Invisible Hand' first appears, with the Wealth of Nations—published in that vintage year of 1776—written to reconcile markets with fellow feeling.

This is a pertinent topic in view of the recent financial crisis, especially as Burns own life and his father's suffered greatly from the collapse of the Ayr Bank of Douglas, Heron & Co in 1773 after the Bank of Scotland, founded in 1695, refused it loans: Bank of Scotland itself was taken over in 2009 facing a similar problem.

Perhaps Burns most famous writing relates to this theme of friendship and recognizing the worth of others, including Auld Lang Syne, and A Man's a Man for a that:

That Man to Man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that. For a' that and a' that A Man's a Man for a' that

Having sold the copyright of his poems to his publisher, Burns had no royalty income so joined the Customs and Excise in 1789. He wrote sarcastically about it in The Deil's Awa Wi' The Exciseman in 1792.

We'll mak our maut, and we'll brew our drink, We'll laugh, sing, and rejoice, man, And mony braw thanks to the meikle black deil, That danc'd awa wi' th' Exciseman.

Worse still, until his death at 37, the demon drink took a large a hold on him. Yet he wrote some memorable works during that time, including his great poem Tam O'Shanter. It is estimated 10,000 people turned out for his funeral in the small town of Dumfries.

So why do Scots remember this man every year rather than its heroes, kings, scientists or engineers, of which it has plenty? Scotland has had a turbulent history, with major tussles for power between the lowlands and highlands, which the lowlands won. My distant ancestor played a part in that, by helping towards legislation which essentially endowed Clan Chiefs with ownership of Clan lands, eventually leading to the Highland Clearances as those Chiefs abnegated their responsibilities to their clansmen, and turned the land over to more profitable sheep farming. So much for fellow feeling.

Thus Scotland had a double Diaspora—a voluntary 18th Century one to England and the colonies, benefiting from a comparative advantage in education; and a forced 19th Century Clearance amid great misery. The desire to uphold memories of their beautiful homeland led to creating traditions—kilts were an ancient dress in the Highlands, but unique coloured tartan kilts associated with specific Clans were designed by Walter Scott for the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822.

What better way to pay homage to and maintain a real link with Scotland than by celebrating this great and extraordinary poet ploughboy; an ardent nationalist who wrote in the vernacular on the grand themes of love, friendship, brotherhood, and Scotland's countryside. That is why there are Burns Suppers, and that is why we are here tonight. Please be upstanding and toast Robert Burns, poetry, Scotland, and the Immortal Memory.

David Forbes Hendry, January 2011

27 January 2011

The College was delighted to be informed that Old Member Stephen Green (1966, PPE) has been raised to the peerage, and is now Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint.

Lord Green has stepped down as Group Chairman of HSBC at the end of 2010, and took up a post in the coalition government in January this year as Minister of State for Trade and Investment.

27 January 2011

The husband of former Rector, Marilyn Butler, received a knighthood in the 2011 New Year's Honours List for services to political science. Sir David Butler was a prominent expert on the BBC's election night coverage for many years, and was a co-inventor of the "swingometer". He has appeared as an electoral analyst on a range of television and radio programmes, and his Political Change in Britain: Forces Shaping Electoral Choice (written with US political scientist Donald Stokes) is regarded as a pioneering work of analysis. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Nuffield College.

25 January 2011

Professor John Quelch (1969, Modern History) is to become dean of the prestigious China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, viewed by many as the best business school in mainland China.

As he prepared to take up his new position, which he will do at the end of this month, he was interviewed by the Economist. In this fascinating piece, he reveals how the origins of his career lie in his student days at Oxford, and looks ahead to the vibrant cultural differences he will encounter in his new role. Professor Quelch has spent much of his career at Harvard, and in many ways these two universities could not be much more different, but as he moves to a nation where "business education is still in its infancy", he is clearly relishing the challenges and rewards which lie ahead.

25 January 2011

Congratulations to Exeter's hockey team who finished top of Division 1 in Michaelmas term. They will now face St Catherine's College, Cambridge, in the annual Varsity match on Tuesday 8 March.

We wish them all the very best of luck for victory!

21 January 2011

Congratulations to two of the College's Fellows who welcomed new arrivals recently!

Dr Christina de Bellaigue's baby daughter Elise was born on 10 December 2010, and on 11 January 2011 Dr Matthias Fripp and his wife welcomed their baby son Jehan. All are doing well.

11 January 2011

Exeter made news in India over Christmas, when an article was published in the New Delhi Education Mail outlining Exeter's plans to expand its scholarships for Indian students. The article reported on the Rector's flying visit to India in December, when she aimed to gather support for new scholarships which would bring "clever young people from modest homes" from India to Exeter. The Rector talked about the position of Indian students at Exeter, as well as about life in Exeter in general. To read the full article, click here

11 January 2011

After nearly five years as Chaplain to Exeter College, Rev Dr Helen Orchard will be leaving us at the end of Hilary Term to become Team Vicar of St Matthew's Wimbledon in the Southwark Diocese. The College will begin work this month to recruit a new Chaplain.

Rev Dr Orchard has been a wonderful support to the College in many ways, playing a full and important role in College life. Not only has the Chapel flourished under her care, with memorable services and marvellous music, she has also played a key role in the College's welfare and pastoral support to students and staff alike, who will miss her greatly.

17 December 2010

This year's service of Nine Lessons and Carols in the College chapel was busier than ever before. Almost 300 people attended, with many sitting on the floor in the sanctuary or standing in the antechapel.

Fellows and students joined in singing traditional carols and listening to a selection of anthems from the choir, expertly directed by Organ Scholar Joshua Hales (2009, Music). One special guest at the service was the contemporary composer Cecilia McDowall, recently signed by Oxford University Press. The choir sang her beautiful and festive setting of the 15th century English carol Now may we singen. Despite the pressure of singing before the composer, they sang extremely well and Cecilia McDowall was most complimentary about their rendition.

Another highlight of the service was the dimming of lights and lighting of candles for the reading of the Christmas Gospel. The chapel looked truly magical lit by 300 candles and the choir's finale, Taverner's God is with us, was all the more dramatic and awe-inspiring in such a stunning and atmospheric context.

Old members are welcome to attend the carol service but should arrive early unless they are happy to sit on the floor with the students!

16 December 2010

Old Members Michael Coombes (2005, PPE), and Stephen Carolin (2007, PPE) have been working at the core of a research team writing a book on Gordon Brown's Premiership. Brown at 10: the Downing Street Story, by Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge, offers a behind-the-scenes account of British politics between 2007-2010, meticulously sourced through some 200 interviews with figures at the heart of Brown's premiership. It looks at how history will judge Brown's time as Prime Minister as well as at contemporary assessments of his performance.

Working throughout the summer on interviews with politicians, special advisers, civil servants, political strategists, army generals, and journalists, Stephen and Mike gained an incomparable insight into the Brown premiership and the machinations of politics, in addition to better understanding the process of researching and writing a book of contemporary history from start to finish.

"This book digs deeper into the psychology of Brown's premiership - reconstructing and exploring the behind-the-scenes arguments first, and leaving a primary source for future historians of the period," said Mike. "This approach to contemporary history does not seek to let Brown off the hook, but rather to offer a penetrating account of analytical utility... the book offers the fullest behind-the-scenes account of the extraordinary British response to global financial meltdown."

Stephen added, "It has been so exciting to work with two people of the standing of Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge, to discuss Brown's three years in Number 10 with those who were there with him."

Brown at 10: the Downing Street Story was published in November.

8 December 2010

Oxford University has rebutted claims in yesterday's Guardian of entrenched discrimination against black students. The University's response is reproduced here.

Black students and Oxford admissions

Labour politician David Lammy recently made a series of allegations about the small numbers of black students admitted to Oxford. The numbers are certainly low: in 2009, 27 black UK students were admitted to Oxford. Beyond black students alone, 22% of Oxford's overall student body is non-white.

The University's own research shows that school attainment is the single biggest barrier to getting more black students to Oxford. In 2007, for example, around 23% of all white students nationally gained three As at A level (excluding General Studies), but just 9.6% of black students. In 2009: 29,000 white students got the requisite grades for Oxford (AAA excluding General Studies) compared to just 452 black students.

Once black students do apply, Oxford's own analysis shows that subject choice is a major reason for their lower success rate. Black students apply disproportionately for the most oversubscribed subjects: 44% of all black applicants apply for Oxford's three most oversubscribed subjects (compared to just 17% of all white applicants). That means that nearly half of black applicants are applying for the same three subjects, and these are the three toughest subjects for admission. Take Medicine. After Economics & Management, it is the most oversubscribed subject at Oxford. There are about eight applicants for every place available, all predicted top grades. A massive 29% of all black applicants to Oxford apply for Medicine - compared to just 7% of all white applicants.

Obviously this raises crucial questions for Oxford about what more it can do in its work with schools, teachers, and prospective candidates about subject choice. But much has been happening.

State school applications have risen by about 80% over the last ten years. And when black students get the grades, they apply. In fact, black students gaining top grades are actually more likely to apply to Oxford than their white peers, which suggests outreach work is paying off: In 2009, nearly half of all black students nationally who got the requisite grades applied to Oxford - compared to around 28% of the white students with the grades.

Differences in school attainment are important not just in getting more black students to Oxford, but also in other areas: socioeconomic groups and regional spread. Knowsley in Merseyside, for instance, which Mr Lammy cites as failing to get students into Oxford and Cambridge, is the worst area in England for school achievement - only 1.4% of students got AAA or better in the most recent year (and no females).

"If Britain has become a 'classless society' then Oxford hasn't got the message", says Mr Lammy. But sadly for children from poorer homes and for many black students, the key decisions are made long, long before they apply to university.

3 December 2010

Exeter College, having never before won a hockey trophy, won the league at the end of this term. The team led Division 1 heading into the last round of matches, where they were due to face New, and when the match was forced to cancel, Exeter (having won 4 and drawn 1 of their previous matches) were declared winners of the league. They will now face the best college from Cambridge in the varsity match next term. Congratulations to all the team.

26 November

Exeter put up a brave struggle in this year's Christ Church regatta. The first day held promise, seeing victories for Exeter's Men's Novice A crew against St Cats, and the Women's Novice As against Christ Church - no mean feat against these top rowing colleges.

Although the final results were not as strong as had been hoped, with New College Women and Worcester College Men taking the final victories, all the novice crews put in some fantastic performances and the Boat Club is hopeful for great success in Torpids next year!

18 November 2010

As part of one of the College's four annual Subject Family Dinners on 11 November, Julian de Hoog, a DPhil candidate in Computer Science, gave a talk on his work on rescue robotics. He described to an attentive audience of students the difficulties of designing a robot that could rescue people trapped in the College's lecture theatre by a falling asteroid. This image gives his impression of what the College might look like if the asteroid hit!

Other presentations by graduate students at the pre-dinner seminar included Earth Scientist Laura Gregory on studying the development of faults in the Mongolian Altay mountains; Physicist Steffen Schaper on using theoretical physics to understand the principles of biological evolution; Computer Science student Alex Flint on computer vision; and undergraduate Chemist Tim Hele on ring polymers.

At dinner, Tom Standage, Digital Editor of The Economist, asked students to consider what things that are obscure today will be ubiquitous in 2020. Smartphones, social networks and music players all existed but were obscure a decade ago, and are now ubiquitous. A lively but inconclusive discussion ensued.

16 November 2010

We are pleased to report that Dr Carolyn Evans (1995, Law) has been appointed Dean of the Melbourne Law School - the first female Dean in the law school's history.

Dr Evans is an internationally recognised expert on religious freedom and the relationship between law and religion. She has spoken on the subject around the world, and her publications include: Religious Freedom under the European Court of Human Rights (OUP 2001) and Australian Bills of Rights: The Law of the Victorian Charter and the ACT Human Rights Act (LexisNexis 2008) (co-author).

Dr Evans was a graduate student at Exeter, having come to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and she held a stipendiary lectureship at Exeter for two years before returning to Melbourne. In 2010, she was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to allow her to travel as a Visiting Fellow at American and Emory Universities to examine questions of comparative religious freedom.

Congratulations to Dr Evans on her historic appointment.

09 November 2010

Exeter's front quad was filled with the lights and sounds of fireworks on 3rd November, as the College celebrated the Indian festival of Diwali.

Exeter's Diwali festivities have become a highlight of the College's year, as both undergraduate and graduate students come together to enjoy fireworks and a delicious Indian meal in Hall.

This year's event began with a talk by Faisal Devji, University Reader in Modern South Asian History, on Gandhi in the Rector's Lodgings, before everyone headed out into the front quad for fireworks and traditional Indian sweets.

Once the fireworks had all been extinguished the guests went into Hall and enjoyed a meal of samosas and bhajis, chicken makhani (or paneer butter masala for vegetarians) with rice and naan bread, and rice kheer, all accompanied by mango juice and tea.

02 November 2010

A three day Maths conference is to be held in Exeter this month.

The conference, organised by Professor Cornelia Drutu, Fellow in Maths at Exeter, will be discussing "Geometry and Analysis on Graphs and Groups", and will take place between 11-13 November. Speakers will include academics from the Universities of Rennes, Marseilles, Caen and Lyon, as well as Oxford and other British universities. For more information on the conference, the papers on offer and the research specialities of the speakers, please visit the conference website.

29 October 2010

Oxford University's fundraising campaign, Oxford Thinking, has reached the milestone of £1 billion in record time, in spite of the global financial crisis. Oxford's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrew Hamilton, described the generosity of donors as "fundamental to Oxford's future".

The campaign is the largest in European university history, with a goal of a minimum of £1.25 billion to support world-class teaching, research and facilities. Professor Hamilton, the Vice-Chancellor, said: "For almost half of the six years that Oxford has been raising funds for the Campaign, the world has been in an economic downturn - yet our alumni and supporters have continued to give. In the last year alone we have raised more than £230m. Their generosity, which is a huge vote of confidence in Oxford, is fundamental to Oxford's future at a time when government funding is so stretched... Though we are well on the way to achieving our initial goal of £1.25 billion, it is very clear that the extraordinary generosity of our donors will become even more important in future. Given the major recent cuts in government funding for teaching, they have a particular role to play in the preservation of the tutorial system."

The University website has reported a few of the many ways that funds raised by Oxford Thinking are already transforming Oxford life:

• This month, the first ever Indigenous Australian students started studying at Oxford thanks to scholarships from the Charlie Perkins Trust, supported by the Australian and British governments, Rio Tinto and Quantas. They join numerous other students supported by new scholarships raised through the Campaign.


• The only research in the UK into a very rare, incurable condition that turns muscle into bone (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva) is continuing at Oxford thanks to a donation from Richard Simcox.


• Oxford's study of China has received a major boost with a £10m donation from Dickson Poon towards a dedicated building for the new Oxford University China Centre at St Hugh's College.

15 October 2010

The College was delighted to formally open its redeveloped Exeter House site on Iffley Road last week, and to welcome special guests Mark Houghton-Berry (1976, Literae Humaniores) and his wife Meganne, whose generosity helped make the redevelopment work possible.

To honour their philanthropy, the Pavilion through which people will enter the new Exeter House site has been named the Mark Houghton-Berry Pavilion.

The redeveloped and expanded Exeter House site will provide accommodation for 106 graduate students (more than double the number who could be accommodated on the old site), mostly in en-suite rooms grouped into small apartments. Not only will this create a more "collegiate" home for our graduate students, but the site's green credentials also mean it will be leading the way in environmentally-friendly University accommodation.

The Rector was pleased to welcome Mr and Mrs Houghton-Berry, their sons and Mr Houghton-Berry's parents to the opening ceremony on 8 October, which was also attended by Fellows, staff and graduate students. Professor Gregory Hutchinson, Fellow in Classics, delivered an Encomium in Latin in tribute to Mark, and Barbara Havelkova (2008, Law), Warden of Exeter House, gave a speech.

Mr Houghton-Berry unveiled the foundation stone placed on the outside of the Pavilion, which commemorates his generosity, and was presented with the letter-box from one of the old Iffley-Road buildings as a memento of the occasion. A drinks reception followed the ceremony, before Mr Houghton-Berry and his guests returned to Exeter with the Rector for a private dinner in the Benefactors' Gallery (which was also refurbished due to the generosity of Mr and Mrs Houghton-Berry).

Mr Houghton-Berry's philanthropy was also recognised recently by the University, which appointed him to the Chancellor's Court of Benefactors - the highest level of recognition for a benefactor.

Photo by Rob Judges

15 October 2010

A barbeque was held in College at the start of term to welcome both Exeter and Williams College students to the start of the new academic year.

Dr Nancy Rosen, Director of the Williams-Exeter Programme, and the Rector's husband, Hamish McRae, acted as chefs, serving up a delicious array of barbequed food for vegetarians and carnivores alike!

BBC2 will be marking National Poetry Day on 7 October with a dramatisation of the poem The Song of Lunch by Christopher Reid (1968, English).

The poem tells the story of two former lovers who meet again, 15 years after their relationship ended. Over a nostalgic lunch in the restaurant they used to frequent together, their bittersweet reunion gradually turns to recrimination.

Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson play the two leads, and the BBC has described the project as 'a unique fusion of poetry and drama'.

Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two, said: 'We hope that audiences will enjoy this dramatisation of Christopher Reid's touching and witty poem and maybe feel inspired to indulge in a little more poetry themselves.'

Reid won the Costa Book of the Year prize for his anthology The Scattering at the start of this year.

Dr Joanna Dunkley, a lecturer in Astrophysics and Senior Research Fellow at Exeter, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant. The grants are awarded to promising researchers who have proven potential to become independent research leaders.

The grants are awarded to individuals at an early career stage to create and strengthen new research teams. Dr Dunkley will receive € 1.5m over the next five years to fund her group's research in cosmology. She will be using observations of relic microwave light that has been travelling for almost 14 billion years, carrying a picture of the universe in its infancy. These will come from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile, and ESA's Planck satellite, and will allow her group to investigate the first moments of the universe's expansion after the Big Bang, and to better determine the nature of the 'dark' 95% of the universe.

Professor Peter Sleight, Emeritus Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine, has been awarded a European Society of Cardiology Gold Medal at the ESC Congress 2010 in Stockholm.

The Gold Medal recognises exceptional doctors for their contribution to medicine, holding them up as an inspiration to fellow doctors and scientists. The Congress is the biggest Cardiology meeting in the world, and was attended this year by over 30,000 professionals.

Professor Sleight is one of the founders of multicentre trials in cardiology and was appointed to the first ever British Heart Foundation chair at Oxford. He told the ESC that the Gold Medal has given him enormous personal satisfaction, adding: "The thing that really matters in science is the recognition of your peers."

Professor Sleight is currently collaborating with Luciano Bernardi from the University of Pavia, exploring the effect of music on the circulation. Their work, which has shown that music with faster tempos uniformly results in increased breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, while slower music causes declines in heart rates, may open the door for using music therapeutically.

Oxford University Boat Club has elected Ben Myers (2008, Physics) as its President, after Alec Dent resigned following a back injury that could keep him out of the Xchanging Boat Race next March. Ben rowed in the Oxford boat in the 2010 Boat Race, and talked about his experiences in this year's Exon. We look forward to hearing great things from him in the future!

Congratulations to Exeter graduate student Alonso Patron (2006, Engineering Science), who has won Best Industrial Paper at the recent British Machine Vision Conference. The BMVC is the main UK conference on machine vision and the related areas and took place this year in Aberystwyth.

His paper addressed the problem of recognising interactions between two people in realistic scenarios for video retrieval purposes.

Alonso was first author, and his co-authors were Dr Marcin Marszalek, Professor Andrew Zisserman and Dr Ian Reid, Fellow in Engineering Science.

Exeter kitchen staff recently undertook the Monster Munchies challenge! Monster Munchies, a TV programme due to air in the autumn, challenges organisations across the country to make monster-sized dishes of food. Previous challenges have included a giant scone, and a huge bakewell tart. Entries are judged on size, presentation and taste.

Exeter's challenge was to compete against a local Jericho pub to see who could construct the largest trifle. Sadly, victory went to the opposition - but the challenge was great fun for all involved, and it looks like there were plenty of tasty left-overs once the judging was done!

Exeter College has celebrated the formal opening of SKP House, a new accommodation block for graduate students funded by the generosity of long-standing benefactor and Friend of the College, Mr Shri Krishna Pathak - founder and Chairman of the Al Basti and Mukhta group, one of the major construction groups of the United Arab Emirates.

SKP House is part of the College's redeveloped Exeter House site on Iffley Road, and will provide a home to 25 Exeter graduate students from all over the world. The acclaimed new complex will contain three new quadrangles and 106 student rooms, most of which are en-suite and grouped into small apartments, creating a more collegiate community for graduates based around a single site. Its quality and its green credentials look set to place Exeter at the top of the league for graduate accommodation.

SKP House was officially opened by Mr Pathak on Friday 27 August 2010 in the presence of his family and friends. Guests included Ashok Advani, founder publisher of the Business India Group of Publications; Farrokh Kavarana, a director of Tata Sons and Tata Industries, and a director of several other Tata Group companies; Paul Schoenle, the foremost Traumatic Brain Injury specialist in Germany; Hussain Sultan, former Chairman of the Emirates National Oil Co. in Dubai; Vijay Israni and Shyam Bhatia, as well as the Rector, Fellows of the College, current Pathak scholars and graduate students. The ceremony was followed by a tour of the site, a drinks reception and lunch in the Rector's Lodgings.

A photo gallery is available, showing some of the highlights of the day.

Photo: Mr Pathak unveiling the foundation stone, by Rob Judges

Next week, pupils across the country will be receiving their A-Level results - including, for some, the coveted new A* grade, brought in to distinguish students who score 90% or more. Perhaps unsurprisingly, some have questioned whether this is more evidence of "grade inflation" - so how hard is it to get an A* at A-Level?

Actress and Exeter alumna Imogen Stubbs (1979, English) has recorded a Radio 4 documentary to find out - a process which involved getting her husband, the renowned theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn, to complete a question on Hamlet's revenge from a recent English paper.

Her interest began as she tried to help her daughter with A-Level revision, and as she began to look further into how exams have evolved since her own school-years, she discovered how very different the exam system has become.

"You absolutely cannot sit an A-level now without understanding the marking system," she concluded. "That's the fundamental difference with my education. I didn't have a clue how examiners marked. I thought they were nice old people who smoked pipes and chuckled at my use of the semicolon. Now kids are just ticking boxes."

You can read more about Imogen's look into the A-Level system in the Daily Telegraph.

As for how Sir Trevor Nunn did with his thoughts on Hamlet - you will have to tune in on Monday to find out!

How to Get an A-Star will be broadcast on Monday 16 August on Radio 4 at 11.00am.

Congratulations to Chetan Gupta (2007, Law), who has made news in India after securing a landmark ruling in a legal case relating to the application of the Indian Right to Information Act to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Central government organisations, such as the Indian Army, which are based in the state had previously been covered by an immunity clause which meant they did not have to disclose information applied for under the RTI Act.

Now the Delhi High Court has ruled that such establishments are not exempted from the transparency law and are obligated to disclose information to the family of those posted in the state.

Mr Gupta was appearing on behalf of a widowed mother who had sought information about how her son, an officer serving with the Army in Jammu and Kashmir, died. He was alleged to have committed suicide, but suspicions arose that he may have been murdered after uncovering corruption.

Mr Gupta appeared pro bono - not only because of the facts of the case, but also, he said, "because I feel very strongly about transparency and the free dissemination of information as key bulwarks in a democratic society." As he explained: were the government's argument to be taken to its logical conclusion, any ministry could refuse requests by relocating all their records to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Hundreds of applications which were denied on this basis will now have to be allowed.

Chetan Gupta came to Exeter as a Pathak Scholar. He has worked with Mr. Harish N. Salve, former Solicitor General of India, who is widely considered to be India's leading silk. He has been in purely private practice since April 2009.

This case is Mr Gupta's first reported judgement, and it has been reported in The Indian Express, a leading national daily.

Professor Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Exeter's Fellow in German, appeared on Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 this morning. Professor Watanabe-O'Kelly talked to presenter Jenni Murray about her new book, Beauty or Beast, which examines the figure of the woman-warrior in German literature from the Renaissance to the present.

She discussed the evolution of the woman-warrior figure through German history, its links to the development of Germany itself, and the influence this figure had on the theories of Freud.

You can listen to the programme on BBC iPlayer.

The College proposes to elect a graduate to a Senior Scholarship in Theology from 1 October 2011. The Scholar is to study for the Final Honour School of either Theology or Philosophy & Theology (2nd BA).

The closing date is 15 September 2010.

For more details,click here.

Congratulations to our Earth Sciences students, who have truly excelled this year. Amy Gilligan was awarded a First in her Finals, and came second in the entire class. She is also the recipient of the Schlumberger prize for the Best Fourth Year performance in Geophysics. Amy is now going to do a PhD in Seismology at Cambridge, and we send her our best wishes.

Cai Durbin was jointly awarded the Pergammon Press prize for the best Science essay. Richard Walters, who received a First in 2008 and is now working on his DPhil here, was awarded the Guralp prize for Outstanding Progress in Graduate Research. And congratulations also to Robert Allen for his Distinction in Prelims, and his exceptional performance.

Professor Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly, Exeter's Fellow in German, and Dr John Maddicott, Emeritus Fellow in History, are between them currently dominating the window display of OUP's prestigious book shop on the High.

One of the shop's two large windows is entirely filled with imposing displays of Dr Maddicott's Origins of the English Parliament 924-1327 and Professor Watanabe-O'Kelly's Beauty or Beast? The Woman Warrior in the German Imagination from the Renaissance to the Present. An enterprising member of staff has even created a little woman warrior figure to sit in the middle of Professor Watanabe-O'Kelly's books with a helmet, long Brunnhilde-plaits and a sword!

This eye-catching display is a wonderful testimony to the contributions Exeter and its Fellows are making to academia today.

Dr John Maddicott, Emeritus Fellow in History, has recently published a new book, The Origins of the English Parliament, 924-1327. The book, an expanded version of the Ford Lectures which Dr Maddicott gave in 2004, is dedicated "To the undergraduate historians of Exeter College, Oxford, 1969-2006, who made me take the long view".

The book is "a magisterial account of the evolution of parliament". Starting with the national assemblies which began to meet in the reign of King Æthelstan, it carries the reader through to the fully fledged parliament of lords and commons of the early fourteenth century, which came to be seen as representative of the whole nation and which eventually sanctioned the deposition of the king himself in 1327.

Dr Maddicott emphasises this evolution as a continuous process, and identifies common themes which run throughout its development, as well as the unforeseen events which helped to shape it. The Origins of the English Parliament spans a remarkable period of time, taking readers right to the roots of this pivotal institution, and questioning assumptions which have long been made about its origins.

The College is likely to host a launch party in London, so please email the Development Office if you would be interested in receiving an invitation.

Congratulations to Professor Carol Robinson, Professorial Fellow in Chemistry at Exeter, who has been awarded the Royal Society's Davy Medal for her ground-breaking and novel use of mass spectrometry for the characterisation of large protein complexes.

The Royal Society's Medals were created to recognise excellence in science across the disciplines and to reward those who have made outstanding achievements. The Davy Medal is awarded annually for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry.

Professor Robinson said: "I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded the Davy medal. When I look back over the history of this award, first presented in 1877, I can't help but feel extremely humble. Previous awardees include the initial recipients Bunsen and Kirchhoff, Emil Fischer, van't Hoff, the Curies, Le Chatelier, and Pauling to name but a few. I feel privileged to join such famous chemists."

Prominent writer Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth, chose Jeri Johnson, Exeter's Fellow in English, as her hero in the Guardian this weekend.

"My hero" is a regular series of columns run in the Guardian, in which notable figures nominate a person who has had a profound effect on their lives. Mosse described how Jeri Johnson "transformed my experience of university" - teaching her new ways to think, as well as the importance of standing her ground.

Past contributors have also included Exonians Will Self (1979, PPE), who nominated JG Ballard, and Christopher Reid (1968, English), who nominated the little-known heroes commemorated in Postman's Park in London.

The Rector will be presenting the Analysis programme on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 13th June - ahead of the programme, she has written an accompanying article on the BBC website, examining how the new Office for Budget Responsibility will work. The programme will consider the implications that the deficit crisis and the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility may have for politicians' power over spending and taxing. Interviewees include Rachel Lomax, former top civil servant and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Further information about the programme can be found on the BBC's website.

If you miss the broadcast on Radio 4, you can download the podcast .

The programme will air on Sunday 13 June at 21.30pm on Radio 4.

Students of Exeter College and the Williams-Exeter programme joined yesterday in mourning for the loss of Henry Lo, a Williams College student who was killed by an avalanche while on a hiking trip in the Swiss Alps. Another Williams student, Amy Nolan, was injured but is being cared for in a Swiss hospital. Henry's parents have been informed, and Amy's parents are flying to her bedside.

Five other Williams students and two Oxford students were on the trip, none of them injured.

The Rector, Frances Cairncross, said: "Henry was a popular student, who played on the Exeter College football team. He had many friends both on the Williams Programme and among Exeter College students. We will miss him greatly. Our thoughts are with his parents and with Amy and her family."

The 25-year-old Williams-Exeter programme brings 26 Junior Year students from American's top liberal arts college to Oxford for a year as Visiting Students. The programme and its students are closely integrated into the life of Exeter College, with many students taught by Exeter College Fellows, and with many activites run jointly.

Friend of the College, Mr Sathi Alur, has been named a Distinguished Friend of Oxford, in recognition of his generous friendship and the help he has given the College.

The Distinguished Friend of Oxford Award recognises volunteer service, honouring those who give Oxford "what money can't buy" - whether this is representing the University in the wider world, leading a long-term fundraising effort, or undertaking a major project on behalf of the University.

Mr Alur is an Economic & Social Policy consultant who works with the World Bank as well as with companies in the UK and Sweden. He introduced Exeter to Krishna Pathak, the benefactor responsible for the Pathak Scholarships. Mr Alur helped to design and publicise the scholarships, and has helped guide the College's relations with India.

The Award was presented at Convocation House on Friday 28 May, and was followed by a reception in Divinity School and a dinner for Distinguished Friends of Oxford and their guests held in the Lodgings at Exeter.

Other recent recipients of the Award include Thelma Holt, who persuaded Cameron Mackintosh to establish the Professorship named after him, and Michael Howarth, for 50 years the Director of the Canadian Rhodes Trust Scholarship Foundation.

Well done to all the Exeter rowers who competed in this year's Summer Eights. As ever, the week was one of the highlights of Trinity Term in Oxford, with plenty of sunshine, and plenty of friends and supporters on the banks cheering on crews from every college.

The week got off to a good start for Exeter, with M3 securing the much coveted "Summer VIII's First Blood" Award by bumping Balliol 4 on Wednesday. As the week went on, W2 bumped St Anne's 2, M3 bumped Merton 3 and Christ Church 4, and M2 bumped Oriel 2, Teddy Hall 2, and Corpus Christi 1. M3 was involved in a highly controversial bump on Corpus 2, which resulted in a lengthy appeal process - the most recent report was that it was still ongoing.

At the end of the week, the Oxford University Rowing Clubs' website announced that Balliol W8 and Christ Church M8 were "Head of the River". The site also has full details of the final results

Since Exeter's famous Gormley sculpture was installed on the roof overlooking Broad Street, he has been spotted wearing a kilt and tartan hat in honour of Burns' Night, as well as an evening dress - and last week he expanded his wardrobe still further.

On May 18th Oxford United football team mounted a victory parade which took them from the Kassam Stadium, on the outskirts of Oxford, through the city centre to finish on Broad Street. As the city celebrated the team's promotion to the Football League in the streets below, it wasn't just at ground level that you could see bright splashes of OU blue and yellow: the Gormley too had its own Oxford United shirt and cap, courtesy of one of the College's porters!

Exonians from across the College community took part in the annual Oxford Town and Gown run this month, raising money for Muscular Dystrophy. The Exeter team was made up of both students and staff, including Fellows, scouts, the Conference Manager, Assistant Bursar, and one of the College chefs.

Students Aamir Saifuddin (2005, Physiological Sciences) and Daniel Cashman (2008, Jurisprudence) were Exeter's fastest runners, completing the 10km run through central Oxford in 41 and 42 minutes respectively. They were closely followed by Conference Manager Philip Munday, who finished in 46 minutes.

There is a trophy for the College which raises the most sponsorship money. Exeter lost it to rivals Jesus College recently, and we have been keen to retrieve it ever since. We hope that, when the totals are revealed during the summer, the trophy will be returning to the right side of Turl Street!

Following the General Election on 6th May, Exeter is proud to have three Old Members serving as MPs.

Matthew Hancock (1996, PPE) is Member of Parliament for West Suffolk. After Exeter, he first worked for his family's computer software company, and then for the Bank of England as an economist. In 2005 George Osborne approached him to advise on economic policy. He rose to become Osborne's Chief of Staff, managing the Party's Treasury Team, and advising on policy, before stepping down in February 2010 to concentrate on West Suffolk. On being elected, he said on his website: "I am delighted to be elected as MP for West Suffolk. Those of us who are elected must never forget that it is an honour to be in Parliament."

Patrick Mercer (1977, Modern History) is Member of Parliament for Newark. After Oxford he joined the Army, where most of his service was in Northern Ireland though he also served in Germany, Canada, Uganda, Brunei and the Balkans. He was made MBE in 1992 and elevated to OBE in 1996 for service in Bosnia. After leaving the Army in 1999, he became defence correspondent for BBC Radio 4's Today programme, and became prospective parliamentary candidate for Newark in 2000. In 2001, he took the Labour-held seat and converted a Labour majority of 3000 to a Conservative majority of just over 4000. Following the events of September 11th 2001, he served on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee and then moved into the Tory Defence Team where he acted as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Defence Secretary during the second Gulf War.

Nick Hurd (1981, Literae Humaniores) is MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner. He is also Minister for Civil Society, responsible for charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations in the Cabinet Office. Before entering politics, he had a career in business. He has been a private sector adviser to the British Government on export advice for British companies, and set up the Small Business Network to advise the Shadow DTI team on the priorities of the Small Business Sector. Outside politics, he is interested in sport, music and working to help young people realise their potential.

All three are Conservatives.

Congratulations to Lizzi Porter (2006, Fine Art). As one of the seven winners of the Red Mansion Art Prize 2009, her work is being exhibited in London this month, as part of the Red Mansion Foundation's "Winners' Work Exhibition".

The Red Mansion Art Prize was established to promote artistic exchange between China and the UK, and the 2009 panel of Judges was composed of Iwona Blaswick (Director of Whitechapel Gallery), Patricia Bickers (Editor of Art Monthly magazine), Katie Patterson (Artist and recent graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art) and Nicolette Kwok (Director of The Red Mansion Foundation).

Becoming one of the 2009 winners is a fantastic achievement and we look forward to hearing more about Lizzi's successes in the future. And in the meantime, Exonians in or visiting London can view her work at the A Foundation, Club Row, London E2 7ES until 23rd May.

Alumna and BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti (1984, English and French) recently returned to College. During her visit, Dr Sung Hee Kim (2001, English) took the opportunity to ask her about her work, and what advice she would give to aspiring young journalists and broadcasters eager to follow in her footsteps.

To hear Reeta's thoughts on returning to Oxford for a celebration of 30 years of women students at the College, and her advice for young would-be journalists, click here to listen to the interview on YouTube.

Every year, Exeter marks Ascension Day with a service at the top of the tower, with hardy members of College rising early to climb the tower and welcome the day with readings by the Rector and students, and singing by the College's acclaimed choir. This year the service proved as popular as ever, and one of the students who attended wrote this report for us.

"Climbing the winding stairs above the lodge, to emerge under a pristine blue sky, we gathered to celebrate Christ's ascension into heaven.

With the sun newly risen above distant hills and the spire pointing up to a cloudless sky, we listened as the choir sang the quietly potent psalm, 'Dixit Dominus'.

Nearly a hundred members of the college huddled above the lodge between the railings and sandstone crenellations, a dazzling yellow in the early morning light. Despite the vertiginous climb, the spectacular views across Oxford left many students wishing they had brought a camera.

Following the readings, and as the rest of college stirred beneath our feet, our thoughts were drawn upwards as the choir sang Charles Stanford's antiphonal and literally uplifting, 'Coelos ascendit hodie' - 'Today has gone up into heaven Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, Alleluia!'

After the calm of the prayers came the rousing hymn, 'Hail the day that sees him rise', and snatching one last glimpse of the town from above, we returned to start the rest of the day, a day observed by millions worldwide, with a cooked breakfast in hall."

Mark Gilbert (2008, Mathematics)

Photo by Akshat Rathi (2008, Organic Chemistry)

Congratulations to Exeter's Fellow in Inorganic Chemistry, Simon Clarke, who has been awarded the first Royal Society of Chemistry Gibson-Fawcett Award. The Award was established in 2008 to honour the contributions of two great chemists, Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett, and it recognises original and independent contributions to materials chemistry.

Dr Clarke has been a Fellow of Exeter College since 2000. His research in solid state chemistry focuses on the synthesis of a range of new solids and correlation of their electronic and magnetic properties with their structures.

Exeter's MCR football team was narrowly denied Cuppers triumph at the Iffley Road stadium recently. The team (a mixture of MCR and JCR members) had beaten Green-Templeton College 9-1 in the semi-final last term, and this was reportedly the first football final Exeter had reached for approximately 10 years. After a hugely successful season, in which the team had remained unbeaten and promotion to the premier division next year, hopes were high for victory.

Unfortunately these hopes were dashed on Saturday 1st May, when Exeter lost 2-1 to Wolfson College. It was 0-0 at half-time in a very close, evenly-matched contest, but Wolfson scored from a free-kick about 10 minutes into the second half. The match remained quite balanced, with Austin Platt (2008, Mathematics) scoring a header from a corner shortly afterwards for Exeter, bringing the score to 1-1. Then in the fifth and final minute of injury time, the Wolfson striker managed to score a goal from over 20 yards out with the last kick of the game, securing triumph for the Wolfson team.

Aamir Saifuddin, (2005, Physiological Sciences) said: "It was a very disappointing end to an excellent, well-fought match and the team can be proud of putting up a strong fight and giving a good account of ourselves against Wolfson, who were the favourites, in front of a large crowd."

Congratulations to Exeter student Philip Sibson (2008, Engineering Science), who has received one of the Royal Academy of Engineering's "Engineering Leadership Advanced Awards".

This national award scheme recognises and supports some of the most exceptional engineering undergraduates in UK universities. The Academy gives no more than 30 in any one year, and the awards are extremely prestigious.

The awards aim to help those who want to become role models for the next generation of engineers. They provide mentoring, support in planning for the future after university, and financial support which will enable each recipient to gain industrial and research experience during the holidays and to learn a new language. Receiving the award will enable Philip to fulfil his potential at university, and will help him and move into an engineering leadership position in UK industry soon after graduation.

Philip told the Engineering Department website: "It is an honour to receive this Award and an excellent opportunity".

Congratulations to Gechun Liang (2007, Mathematics). Gechun, a third-year DPhil mathematics student at Exeter, has been offered a position as Research Fellow at the Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance, starting this autumn.

The Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Oxford. Founded in June 2007, it brings together faculty, post-docs and students throughout the University who are interested in quantitative analysis of finance problems.

This is a great achievement, and a very exciting development in Gechun's academic career.

Philip Pullman (1965, English), author of the hugely successful His Dark Materials trilogy, has released a controversial new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

The story is a re-imagining of the life of Jesus with some crucial alterations made to the familiar tale. Here, the Virgin Mary gives birth to twins, and while Jesus grows up to be a popular preacher, his less gifted brother Christ becomes manipulative and deceitful. Taking on the task of writing up Jesus' life and teachings, Christ embellishes as he writes, inventing miracles and supernatural flourishes solely for good effect. Eventually the myth he has created gathers such power that Christ betrays Jesus to the Romans to create the dramatic martyrdom he needs to ensure a great "organisation" will live on based on his brother's teachings

Pullman is known for his strong views on God and religion: His Dark Materials had a strong anti-religion theme which provoked both praise and opposition, and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ looks likely to ignite debate once again.

The book has received a lot of press coverage, including an examination in the Guardian by Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, and a "Lunch with the Financial Times" interview in the Financial Times, published at the weekend, where Pullman explained some of his inspirations for the book.

The Christopher Little Literary Agency (CLLA) - famous for representing JK Rowling, amongst others - is offering an annual prize, through Exeter College, for student novelists at Oxford University.

The prize, worth £1,500 cash, is to be awarded annually for the best synopsis and opening three chapters of a novel by an Oxford student. It is open to graduates and undergraduates on any full time course of the collegiate University, provided they are not already represented by an agent.

In addition to the prize on offer, both the winner and the runners-up - to be chosen by the Agency - may be offered the possibility of representation by CLLA. The Agency deals with over 175 publishers in over 100 countries world-wide, so this is a wonderful opportunity for budding novelists in the University.

Any student wishing to enter the competition should send a synopsis (maximum two sides of A4) and the first three chapters of their novel in hard copy to:
Ms Jeri Johnson
Exeter College
Oxford
OX1 3DP

Entries should be accompanied by a declaration that the student is free from representation at the time of submission. Please note that electronic copies will not be accepted. Please mark your envelope "CLLA/Exeter College - Literary Prize".

The closing date is 18th June 2010 (Friday of 8th week) and a presentation will be held for the winner at Exeter at the start of Michaelmas Term (early October 2010).

Professor Raymond Dwek, Emeritus Fellow of Exeter, will receive the Honoris causa award from the Romanian Academy of Science on 23rd March 2010. This award is reserved for Academy Presidents and other outstanding cultural and scientific personalities.

The distinction recognises Professor Dwek's contribution to the development of Romanian science in the field of Biochemistry and Glycobiology. Throughout the political transition in Romania there was collaboration between the Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest and the Oxford Glycobiology Institute, so that many of the Romanian students were trained at Oxford. On their return to Romania, these highly qualified scientists have provided expertise which has improved the level of science in Romania.

Those wishing to read more about Professor Dwek's work may like to read an interview he gave in the most recent edition of Exon.

Today, 17 March, Exeter signed a contract for the purchase of the site of Ruskin College, on Walton Street, on which the College plans to create its Third Quad.

Ruskin College, an independent college based in Oxford that specialises in providing educational opportunities for adults with few or no qualifications, is consolidating its activities at its Headington campus, and will complete this process by the end of September 2012. Exeter will then undertake a substantial programme of refurbishment on the site to create high-quality teaching and research space, and student rooms - as well as facilities for extracurricular activities and social life for the students who will live there. The College expects to hold a competition to select an architect for the work over the summer, and will keep the Exeter community informed as we progress.

As part of the deal, both colleges will develop a programme of joint academic, cultural and social activities to engage their student and academic bodies and to strengthen Ruskin's links with the University. And, in order to ensure that Ruskin's outreach and educational work continues in central Oxford, Exeter will give Ruskin a lease of space in the Walton Street building.

The Rector said, "We are immensely excited to acquire this historic site... Not only does the acquisition of the Walton Street site give Exeter College a third quadrangle, helping us to break free of the space constraints of our historic home on Turl Street and allowing us to develop new accommodation and study opportunities for our students. It will also be an inspiration for our continuing work to encourage applications from promising students from all educational backgrounds."

This April, Oxford and Cambridge will take to the river Thames in the 156th Boat Race. For the first time since 1914, Exeter will have a student rowing in the dark blue boat. Ben Myers is also one of the youngest members of the team. We asked him about the challenges of preparing for the race - and his plans for the future...

Name

Ben Myers

Subject

Physics

Matriculation Year

2008

Position in the boat

Bow

What first got you interested in rowing?

I wasn't especially gifted at other sports, having tried quite a few! So when the opportunity arose to try rowing out at school, I leaped at it!

Had you rowed much before coming to Exeter?

I started rowing at Kingston Grammar School at age 13. Initially I didn't take it particularly seriously, but by the time we started racing other schools the training gradually became more challenging. I definitely owe a lot to my coaches at school for providing encouragement and inspiration throughout my rowing career. However, I have undoubtedly progressed significantly during my time at Oxford. Even at the start of this year, a seat in the Blue Boat was only a very distant possibility.

What are you most looking forward to about the race?

The race will be the pinnacle of seven months' training. Cambridge will be very strong, so I am eager to experience our crew's peak performance in the coming weeks.

And what is the greatest challenge in preparing for it?

Of course, the main difficulty has been managing my time to fulfill all my rowing and academic commitments. The constant pressure to be at my best in two completely separate areas has been incredibly taxing.

What will you go on to do next?

In the immediate future, my focus will certainly shift towards academia, in preparation for finals in Trinity term. However, I still wish to row for Exeter in summer eights - college rowing definitely plays an important role in the continuing success of the university boat club.

A researcher from Exeter College has found what is believed to be the oldest evidence for animal locomotion in the fossil record. Alex Liu (2007, Palaeontology) and his collaborators report in the journal Geology on a series of fossilised trackways from Newfoundland, Canada, which are 565 million years old. The structure of these impressions, recording the movement of an early organism across the deep sea floor, suggests that they were likely to have been created by a creature with muscular tissue - a feature which is only known today in animals. The beast would probably have moved in a manner similar to that of modern sea anemones.

If this interpretation is correct, it has important consequences for the study of animal evolution, suggesting that rather than a rapid "explosion" of animal diversity around 540 million years ago, as previously suggested by the fossil record, animals have a much more gradual evolutionary history stretching back at least 20 million years earlier. Alex now intends to search for further evidence of animals in rocks of that age, both in Canada and the U.K., in order to further constrain the early evolution of life on Earth.

Useful links:

• Nature
• Science
• New Scientist
• Geology
• Economist

Readers may have seen the news that three Exeter students would be earning Blues in the Varsity Fencing match last month. There was victory and defeat in store for the Oxford teams, as both the second teams, and the Women's Blues, lost to the Cambridge side.

However, Oxford clinched triumph in the Men's Blues, thanks to a thrilling final, in which Matt Baker (2005, Life Sciences Interface) battled to victory for the Oxford team. A video of the final tense five minutes of the match is available here - battling from 15 hits down, Matt needed to win by at least 15, and the atmosphere in the Exam Schools was at fever-pitch on both sides.

Matt is a 4th year DPhil student, and this was his last eligible Varsity Match. Congratulations to him on finishing on such a high note.

Exeter College are to enter a team in The Oxford Town and Gown 10K fun run to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy.

The race itself is taking place on Sunday 16th May 2010 and is approximately 6 miles long. It starts and finishes at the University Parks with the route passing Keble, St John's, Exeter, Balliol, Trinity and Wadham Colleges before a leisurely stroll along the banks of Cherwell.

The event is open to anyone and further information can be found here and the Muscular Dystrophy Flyer is available to view here.

There was wonderful news for Exeter this week, as it was officially announced that Exeter student Ben Myers (2008, Physics) will be rowing in the Oxford boat in this year's Boat Race, and Ben Snodin (2007, Physics) will row in Isis.

Ben Myers is the youngest member of the squad and the two Bens are two of only three undergraduates in the squad. Ben Myers rowed for Wales while he was at school, and his chance at a place in the Blue Boat came while substituting for under-23 international Ed Newman, when he impressed the coach so much he clinched a late selection.

Ben Myers is the first Exeter student to row in the Oxford boat since James B. Kindersley in 1914. He will be the 36th Exonian in all to secure a place in the Oxford boat since the race began in 1829.

There is little to choose between the two crews this year: Cambridge are half a kilo heavier, a margin too narrow to be significant. Perhaps more worryingly they have three returning Blues to Oxford's one, but Oxford make up for that by having all three of the Olympians in the race. Cambridge currently lead the series by 79 wins to 75. Oxford won last year's race.

The 156th Boat Race takes place on Saturday, 3 April 2010 at 16:30

Congratulations to Satish Pandey (2004, Archaeological Science), who has been awarded a 3 year postdoctoral Fellowship from AHRC under the Science and Heritage Programme. The fellowship is based at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. His project involves two sites: St Botolph Church, Hardham, West Sussex and Nagaur Palace, Rajasthan, India, where he will be studying the influence of varying climatic conditions on activation and damage in wall paintings.

He selected these two sites because they have very different geographical locations and environmental conditions, and used very different materials - and yet they exhibit very similar patterns of deterioration.

The wall paintings at St Botolph Church are amongst the oldest in the UK (dating from the 11th century) whereas the wall paintings of Nagaur date from the early to mid 18th century. Both sites have been affected by previous conservation attempts, aggravating the rate of deterioration. This fascinating contrast between English church and Indian palace will certainly be an interesting and challenging project.

The JCR has just elected its second female JCR President in a row - Katharine Moe (2008, Maths and Philosophy) follows on from Katy Minshall (2007, History).

The two common rooms have been remarkably alike this year, as the College has also elected a female MCR President - Therese Feiler, (2007, Theology) - and Vice President, Mandy Izadi (2009, History).

We wish them all success in their new positions.

More details on the JCR and MCR are available on their websites.

One of Exeter's most recent graduates, Quentin Macfarlane (2006, PPE), is about to embark on an epic quest. Along with two other young Oxonians, he aims to drive from England to South Africa, all in aid of landmine disposal charity, The Halo Trust.

The three travellers will depart from the UK on 15 March, driving through Europe to Genoa, where they will pick up a ferry to take them across the Mediterranean to Tunisia. From there, they will drive south through Africa, arriving into Cape Town (if all goes to schedule!) just over 100 days later.

Their journey will offer them amazing opportunities, from visiting Roman ruins in Libya, to witnessing the first elections in Sudan since the end of the civil war - as well as taking them through some of the world's most magnificent natural scenery. One of the highlights, however, is sure to be their stop in Mozambique, where they will have the chance to see how the money they raise will be used to help The Halo Trust's mine clearance programmes.

These three intrepid Oxonians are aiming to raise £1 for each of the 9761 kilometers they will travel. If you would like to make a donation, they have an online giving page set up at justgiving.com. They also have more details on other ways to give on their website, where you can also follow their blog of their travels, and see photos as they go along. And if you would like to find out more about the charity they are supporting, visit The Halo Trust's website.

In December Tim Hele, Philip James and Charles Rowe (all 3rd year chemists at Exeter) entered the BP fieldtrip, a competition to design a method of carbon sequestration from gas-fired power stations. The prize is a paid internship to see BP's operations in Scotland, the North Sea, and Norway.

In January they were informed that their initial submission was one of 15 (out of 52) successful in progressing to the semi-final, which was held in London last Friday. This week they heard that they have been one of five teams successful in progressing to the final, to be held in April in the Natural History Museum in London.

Congratulations to them, and we wish them the best of luck in the final!

The Ken Colyer Legacy New Orleans Jazz Band came to Exeter College at the start of the Turl Street Arts Festival, on February 13th. The Arts Festival is jointly run by Jesus, Lincoln and Exeter. The day began with a parade around the quads of the three colleges, (pictured) with Lord Krebs, the Principal of Jesus, joining the procession and Michael Dunne, a second year mathematician and trumpet player, carrying the banner.

After lunch, the musicians held an improvisation workshop to hone the jazz skills of some of the College's fine classical musicians. In the evening, these student musicians played along with the band at a concert in Hall. You can watch a short video from the evening, featuring the band and College musicians playing When the Saints Go Marching In, on YouTube.

If you are thinking of attending Oxford University Orchestra's Hilary term concert tonight, look out for sculptures by an Exeter student on show outside.

The concert is on at the Sheldonian at 8pm on Friday 19th February, and Hannah Jones (2007, Fine Art) will be exhibiting two sculptures outside the venue which attempt to reflect the nature of the musical works - Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.

For the first time, the College celebrated Chinese New Year with a specially themed evening on Sunday February 14th. Exeter's Chinese students decorated the Hall with some traditional Chinese decorations, and traditional New Year music welcomed people into the hall.

Before dinner there was a talk in the Saskatchewan Room by Rana Mitter: Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, Institute for Chinese Studies, on "How China's wartime past is changing its present - and future", and between courses, performers entertained the guests with traditional Chinese music.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Santander UK, marked the creation of a new macroeconomics lecture series at Exeter on Wednesday 10th February by delivering the inaugural lecture. The series will run for three years, with complete funding from Santander, and the company have also generously created Santander scholarships at Exeter.

This is wonderful news for Exeter and an important extension of Oxford's relationship with Santander. Oxford University is now in its third year of collaboration with Santander, who fund scholarships, student travel awards, and academic research, and Exeter joins St Antony's as the only Oxford colleges to have signed collaboration agreements with the company. Mr Horta-Osorio described the relationship on Wednesday as "a key part of [Santander's] social responsibility programme".

Having signed the scholarship agreement, which will provide funding a year's funding for two MPhil students per year for three years, Mr Horta-Osorio delivered a lecture on The Legacy of the Banking Crisis. The Saskatchewan room was bustling as students, Fellows, and representatives of Santander's Oxford staff all gathered to hear Mr Horta-Osorio examine the wide-range of factors at the roots of the banking crisis, and its market consequences. He outlined Santander's own position, and how it had acted to weather the storm, highlighting factors which, in his opinion, were vital for banks to survive a situation such as this one. He concluded his lecture by taking a look ahead to the future for the banking industry in the wake of this crisis. The key message which he gave to his listeners was that "it is easy to be wrong together, and tough to be right on your own."

After the lecture, Mr Horta-Osorio took questions from the audience. He then stayed for a drinks reception and dinner in the College.

The College is extremely pleased to be able to promote the study of macroeconomics in Oxford, and is delighted to have this relationship with Santander. We look forward to working with the new scholars when they arrive at Exeter in October.

A report by David Merlin-Jones, a third-year historian, has attracted attention in the national press.

David worked over the summer for Civitas, a leading think tank, and his work was published in January's Civitas Review. He argued in the report - "Time for Turning: Why the Conservatives need to rethink their industrial policy (if they have one)" - that the next Government "would do well to follow in the footsteps of their Thatcherite predecessors and get involved in industry". He concluded that "contrary to popular belief Thatcher and her ministers were not very laissez-faire in their industrial policy" - in the 1980s, Mrs Thatcher had "demonstrated a stimulating balance between intervention and non-intervention that could act as a template for today".

His report attracted the attention of the Daily Telegraph, and can be read in full here.

The Varsity Fencing match against Cambridge will be held in the Oxford Exam Schools this Saturday, 13th February. Amongst the Oxford Blues will be three members of the Exeter MCR: Matt Baker, Mike Coombes, and Caterina Franchi in the Womens' 2nds team.

They will fence between through the afternoon, starting with Sabre, then Foil, then Epee for the Mens' 1sts. It is a spectacular venue, and a lot of fun for competitors and spectators alike.

It is wonderful to see so many Exeter students competing at Blues level, and representing the University - and we wish them the best of luck as they take on Cambridge!

Andrew Farmer, one of our Fellows in Physiological Sciences, has been awarded a personal professorial chair, and now becomes Professor of General Practice. This honour is particularly impressive, because Professor Farmer came to academic life later than most of his colleagues, after a career as a practising GP. His special interest is the management of patients with diabetes.

In his time at Exeter, he has helped the College with everything from responding to swine flu to promoting our scholarships in India.

Exeter celebrated Burns Night in traditional dramatic style this week. A piper piped over guests for Burns Night Dinner from the Rector's Lodgings to Hall, and then piped in the haggis accompanied by the College chef. The haggis was duly toasted before a dagger was plunged into it, and the meal began.

Guests at the dinner were served a thoroughly Scottish menu of haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by slow cooked brisket of beef, and sticky toffee pudding with whisky and praline ice cream. As is traditional, the College choir sang Flower of Scotland - and of course no Burns Night would be complete without the toast to the lassies and a reply.

Even Exeter's renowned Gormley sculpture entered into the spirit of the night, sporting a tartan hat and improvised kilt for the occasion. No one is quite sure who ventured out onto the roof to dress the sculpture, but perhaps this new addition to the festivities will in time become as traditional as the piper and haggis!

Exeter College proposes to appoint a distinguished scholar to a Visiting Fellowship. The Fellowship is intended for a scholar who is already provided with financial support, and who will be spending between one and three terms of the academic year 2010/2011 in Oxford.

Further information available here.

Matthew Selfe, a second year mathematician at Exeter College, has just won one of four top prizes in an essay competition organised by the Mathematical Institute.

During National Pro Bono Week (9th - 13th November), the Oxford Law Faculty is launching Oxford Legal Assistance (OLA). Professor Sandra Fredman, Fellow of Exeter College, and Daniel Cashman (Jurisprudence 2008) both sit on the executive committee of OLA and have been heavily involved in the development of the programme. OLA is the first pro bono programme at Oxford open to both undergraduates and postgraduates, as well as the University's first programme involving practical legal work for the benefit of clients in Oxford. Students will be trained to take the first draft of instructions for fixed-fee legal aid cases, allowing solicitors to spend more time on aspects of the case which require expertise in the area of law concerned. OLA provides an exciting and rewarding opportunity for all involved and practically demonstrates the university's commitment to helping the local community.

A former Exeter College student, an extremely talented artist called Angela Palmer, is putting part of the Ghanaian rainforest on display in Trafalgar Square in November in order to draw attention to the need for sustainable forestry and to the danger of climate change. You can read about this amazing project in the Financial Times.

This extraordinary exhibition is inspired partly by Angela's contact with Antony Gormley when he came to Exeter College to unveil his scultpture on the roof of the Thomas Wood building. It opens on the morning of November 16th.

The Rector and Fellows regret to announce the death of Prof John Brown, Emeritus Fellow of the College. Prof. Brown was Fellow and Lecturer in Chemistry from 1983-2008. He died having bravely fought an illness and will be greatly missed by the whole College community.

Katy Barrett, who has been both an undergraduate and a graduate student at Exeter College, has won a slot on the plinth in Trafalgar Square. Do go along to cheer her on. She'll need encouragement: her appearance will be between 3am and 4am on Friday August 21st.

The two American colleges with which Exeter has the closest relationship have both appeared in the top ten listed in Forbes Magazine. Williams College, which sends 26 junior year students to Exeter each year, comes fourth after the US Military Academy, Princeton and the California Institute of Technology. And the US Air Force Academy, which annually sends to Exeter the cadet awarded the Alberta Bart Holaday Scholarship, appears in seventh place, after Harvard University and Wellesley College. Congratulations to both!

Exeter College has elected three new Honorary Fellows. Two are alumni of the College. Stephen Green is Chairman of HSBC, the world's largest banking group (and the world's 6th largest company). He is also author of a new book, "Good Value: Reflections on money, morality and an uncertain world". Thomas Cromwell is a distinguished Canadian lawyer and member of Canada's Supreme Court.

The third, Morton Schapiro, has been the 16th president of Williams College since 2000 and will become the president of Northwestern University in September. His publications on the economics in higher education include five books and many articles. He is a widely admired figure in American higher education.

We are delighted to honour all three.

Dr Cornelia Druţu, Exeter College's Fellow in Topology, has been awarded the Whitehead Prize for her work in geometric group theory.

The Whitehead Prize is awarded yearly by the London Mathematical Society to a mathematician working in the United Kingdom who is at an early stage of his or her career. The prize is named in memory of homotopy theory pioneer J. H. C. Whitehead.

The College is thrilled by the news.

A project to show various aspects of life at Oxford University, led by Dr Sunghee Kim, a former graduate student at Exeter College and produced under the auspices of the Oxford Internet Institute, features the College in three separate videos.

There is:

• an interview with the Rector, Frances Cairncross;
• a film of the installation of the sculpture by Antony Gormley on the roof of the Thomas Wood Building;
• and an interview with Emily Ball, President of the 2009 Exeter College Ball committee.

Alexander Mehra, a third year lawyer at Exeter College has been selected as one of just eight young people from around the world to present a paper at the World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights. The Congress will be held in Novia Scotia in August this year. Alexander's paper will be looking at how children's rights can be effectively enforced.

On the 18th of March, Exeter and Lincoln Colleges hosted an evening for science teachers. The event included talks from tutors on the courses available, what tutors are looking for in applicants, and a student's view of Oxford. The evening concluded with dinner at Exeter, and the chance for more informal conversations.

The event was a great success, with teachers from almost 40 schools and tutors from all of the science courses offered at Exeter and Lincoln attending.

Some comments from the teachers:

• "Very useful in terms of advising on A Level choices, personal statements and references."
• "The whole approach was very open"
• "I had some knowledge confirmed and some misconceptions clarified"

We hope to host a similar event for the humanities and social sciences next year. Full details will be posted on the college website in 2010.

For details of other events open to schools and teachers please see the Schools Liaison pages of the website.

The Oxford University Mens Blues ice hockey squad is having a tremendous season this year, thanks in no small part to Exeter students Landis Stankievech and Julian de Hoog. Julian, in his fourth year on the squad, is this year's team captain and Landis, in only his first year, has taken over coaching responsibilities and is playing centre on the first line.

Unbeknownst to most, the Oxford-Cambridge rivalry is the oldest of its kind in the sport of ice hockey, with the first match having taken place in 1885. In this year's instalment on 7 March, Oxford came out on top, 4:2, to win its fifth consecutive Varsity crown. Landis scored two and set up both of the other Oxford goals, rightfully earning him overall man-of-the-match honours.

The win against Cambridge was the Blues' final regular season match, in a season that saw them go 8-0 for their first undefeated season since joining the BUIHA, Britain's top level of university ice hockey. Having clinched the UK South title, the Blues are now due to play against the University of Nottingham on April 19 for the title of national champion.

On the international stage, the Oxford Blues recently returned from an annual international universities' tournament in Fuessen, Germany, where they were pitted against top university teams from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. Following round-robin victories over Innsbruck (7:0) and defending champion Munich (5:2), the Blues faced Swiss team St. Gallen in the semi-final and won 3:0. In an exciting final against Prague, the Blues came back from a 4:1 deficit to come within one goal of tying, but a frantic finish didn't lead to the necessary goal and Prague won 4:3. Nevertheless, second place in a tournament of nine teams was a very strong placement for Oxford in their first appearance at the tournament.

It has been an incredible run for the Blues, and a national title, if won on April 19, would be the first for this team in more than half a century. With Landis, Julian, and several additional key players returning for another season next year, there is great potential for further success yet.

The annual winter bumps races this year were the most successful ever for Exeter women's rowing. The W1 rose inexorably from third in Div II to tenth in Div I, bumping up in every single race for a total of five bumps in four days. The W2 also got five bumps, moving from ninth to fourth position in Div IV. Exeter was the top-performing women's boat club in Oxford this year: every time an Exeter women's crew raced in Torpids 2009, they brought home a bump. No other women's boat club this year was able to achieve the same.

The achievement of the W1 is historic; never before has an Exeter women's crew been in Division I and they made their debut in fine style, achieving bumps in all three of their Div I races. With Ruth Barber in the cox seat they caught Hertford just coming out of the gut within sight of the boathouse, while Thursday provided a 'boathouse bump' on high-powered Balliol, moving the Exeter W1 into Div I the same afternoon, where they quickly bumped Wadham before Donnington Bridge. On Friday, coxed by veteran Mike Floyd, the speed of the Lady Galadriel crew was proven yet again as Exeter bumped Merton in less than 60 seconds. On Saturday they were prepared for a longer row, but Pembroke failed to put up much of a fight and the Exeter crew with cox Mike Floyd in classic form bumped them in two short but aggressively powerful minutes to win Div I blades for the first time in Exeter Boat Club history. Not once did the crew have to empty the tank, which bodes well for future races.

The fastest W1 in Exeter's history was stroked by captain Jess Houlgrave (2^nd year, E&M) with the unflappable Rachel Harland (1^st year, DPhil, Modern Languages and Literature) in the 7 seat. The engine room was powered by Katherine LaFrance (3^rd year DPhil, Byzantine Studies) at 6, Sarah 'the Guns' Livermore (1^st year DPhil, Particle Physics) at 5, Meredith Riedel (4^th year DPhil, Byzantine History) at 4, and the powerful Emily Rockett (Williams exchange student) at 3. Abi 'Never Say Die' Dickens (2^nd year, Law) and the deceptively strong Frances Rose (2^nd year, Modern Languages) were the formidable bow pair. The crew would like to acknowledge the extraordinary privilege of rowing in a brand-new bright red Stämpfli shell, recently provided by the generous donation of an Old Member. The Lady Galadriel is not only gorgeous but light and stiff, so when the crew puts down power, the boat springs up like a striking cheetah.

Enormous credit goes to volunteer coach Lynch 'the Lioness' Mason for her technical expertise, inspiring sense of humour, and great encouragement. The crew is also grateful for the support of novice cox Sami Husain (1^st year, Physics) who trained with the W1 all term, despite being barred from coxing at Torpids when OURCS disallowed all novice coxes for the regatta due to high river levels. He will be coxing the red-hot Lady Galadriel at the Eights Head on March 7 in London.

With the election of Jess Houlgrave to Exeter College Boat Club President (effective TT09), the W1 anticipates even greater success as they compete in more national regattas this spring and seek to do even greater damage to the unfortunate crews ahead of them at Summer Eights this May.

A sculpture by Antony Gormley, titled "Another Time", now stands on the roof of Exeter College's Thomas Wood Building, overlooking the junction of Board Street and Turl Street.

Dubbed "The Iron Man" by the local press, the sculpture was unveiled by Oxford's Lord Mayor, Susanna Pressel, on February 15th in the presence of Antony Gormley. It looks towards the site in Broad Street where Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer were burned at the stake for their beliefs in the 16th century.

The sculpture is the gift of an anonymous benefactor. It was erected by Kingerlee and the location designed by Berman Geddes. Both companies donated their services to the College.

The Thomas Wood building is the work of Lionel Brett and was opened in 1964. It commemorates the 650th anniversary of the foundation of the College, the fourth oldest in Oxford.

Frank Close's new popular book, "Antimatter", will be Blackwell's Book of the Month in February.

As the antidote to Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" (which comes out as a movie later this year), it discusses things such as: could you make an antimatter bomb; is it true the US Air Force were researching antimatter weapons; could antimatter ever solve the worlds energy supplies; could it fuel Star Trek; did antimatter hit Siberia in 1908. etc.

Answers: no; yes; no; maybe not; unlikely.

Frank also explains what antimatter actually is, how it is made and used, and also reveals that there are two correct statements in Dan Brown's book.

Find out all about it at the OUP Website.

You can see a short video of Frank explaining the fact and fiction of antimatter at Meet The Author.

On January 21st, Exeter Hall was the scene for a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, culminating in the traditional Toast to The Lassies and the Reply.

This year, the Toast to The Lassies was led by JCR President Ed Moores, while JCR Secretary Katie McGettigan countered with The Reply.

The Toast to The Lassies

"I have been a devil
the feck of my life,
but never was I enheld
til I met with a wife"

Robbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, certainly had an eye for the ladies, although usually this 'aye' was in response to the question, 'Oi, poor boy, fancy a quick one?'!

It has long been observed,

"A woman can make an average man great, and a great man average."

Burns could not have attained the status he has so long enjoyed, were it not for the fact that he was surrounded by remarkable women. They raised him from the man he was, to be the iconic Scotsman whose poems have rung down the ages. He held them very dear to his heart and looked at them as a source of comfort, a source of inspiration and a source of strength - none more so than Burns' only bride, Jean Armour, who bore him 2 sets of twins, before their wedding, and a total of 9 children in all, inspiration for A Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing.

The irresistible beauty, and the sensuality, of the women who inhabited the world of Burns is evidenced by the fact that he was responsible for, or heartily irresponsible for, no fewer than 13 children through liaisons with at least 5 women whose names are known to us, and all this over the course of only 11 years. Quick work indeed for any man!

But the relationships were not always as sweet as all that. One can imagine the scenes that led to Robbie writing these lines in Tam O'Shanter:

"Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,
To think how many counsels sweet,
How many lengthen'd, sage advices,
The husband from the wife despises!"

And isn't it true that whilst we love ladies, which man here has not had cause to curse them at some point in his life. They infuriate us with what we see as a lack of logic, they astonish us as they can change their minds in an instant, but above all this the most maddening thing is that we will go along with whatever they say because we adore them and would do anything to please them.

And how well Burns knew this. He knew that man, for all our faults would ever be in thrall to women:

"To see her is to love her,
and love but her forever,
for nature made her what she is,
and never made another."

Women must acknowledge that men, who when we try our hardest to please you all and keep you happy, are worth persevering with, thought it may not seem it all the time!

We for our part acknowledge that we will ever be in debt to the fairer sex for it is to you that we owe everything, our wealth, our health and our happiness and Burns knew that we were never going to match up to you all:

"Auld Nature swears the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes;
Her 'prentice han' she tried on man,
And then She made the lasses!"

So I ask all the Gentlemen here present to please stand, and raise your glasses in a toast "To the Lasses".

The Reply

Ladies and Gentlemen, it falls to me, your allocated Lassie for this evening, to take up the challenge of replying to Ed's toast. And what a great toast it was, so I'd like to thank him very much for being so lovely about us Lassies. Unfortunately it falls to me to lower the tone and talk about men - not that I'm in any way suggesting those two things might go hand in hand.

But no, Ed was absolutely right when he said men try to please us women. Yes, they try… But like Sigmund Frued, most men don't know what women want. Some of them get very strange ideas indeed, including Roberts Burns. He wrote a poem called 'Nine Inch Will Please a Lady' - I can't imagine what that's about… Then there's the other lot, with less inches, who think they can compensate by driving a really big car.

No, sometimes men just don't get it right. Women might be accused of lack of logic, but we are quite good at dealing with the unexpected. Men sometimes flounder. Burn's father-in-law, for example, who upon hearing that his daughter was pregnant with Burn's illegitimate child promptly fainted. His WIFE had to go and get the cordial to revive him.

I'm going to stop comparing men and women now, because I actually don't believe in this Mars and Venus stuff. You know the sort of thing I mean, women can't read maps and men don't listen. I think women and men can be equally good at the same things. Multi-tasking for example. Men can't multi-task, so people say. Well, I think that Robert Burn's impressive record, as quoted by Ed, of 11 children by 5 women in 13 years shows that men most certainly CAN multitask, especially if it's something that's important to them. Burns's wife Jean, however, for going to Burns's funeral and giving birth to his last child on the same day probably wins the multitasking prize in that family.

But no, I'm certainly not going to mock Burns, because I think he's a wonderful example, even 250 years after his birth, of what women want in a man. As Ed showed us, Burns not only wrote wonderful poetry, but he was honest with it too - we women know our faults, and don't mind having them pointed out to us with good humour. He might have been monogamously challenged, but he looked after all his women, working hard to provide for his family. In fact, Burns is such a great example of a man that they've put him on the Clydesdale Bank £5 note to symbolise all Scottish men - cheap.

You know I'm only joking… For all their shortcomings, we women couldn't get along without men. If nothing else, we'd need someone to boss around. And your little foibles are usually why we like you so much - as Burns himself said 'A Man's a Man For A'That'. So, although as a women, it pains me, I'm going to give the last word to a man - the man of the hour - Robert Burns, before we toast the Laddies. It's Burns who gives the best picture of the perfect harmony of men and women getting along:

We will big a wee, wee house,
And we will live like king and queen;
Sae blythe and merry's we will be,
When ye set by the wheel at e'en.
A man may drink, and no be drunk;
A man may fight, and no be slain;
A man may kiss a bonie lass,
And aye be welcome back again!

So please, raise your glasses 'To the Laddies'.

Full Size Poster

Following on from last year's highly successful performance of Handel's Messiah as part of the Turl Street Arts' Festival, this year, at 7.30 p.m. on February 21st, the College Chapel will play host to Mozart's valedictory Requiem.

It will be performed by musicians from throughout the College, alongside those from our Turl Street neighbours.

It promises to be a great event, with professional soloists and a full orchestra accompanying the singers, all conducted by the Organ Scholar of Exeter College, Alistair Reid. The first half will showcase 2009's anniversary composers, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and Purcell, with the Mozart forming the second half.

Tickets to this concert, which last year was a sell-out, are available at any Turl Street College Lodge.

The College has won an award from the Oxford Preservation Trust for the lighting of our spire. The new lighting arrangements are part of the "Cross of Light" initiative, funded by Mr & Mrs Ian Laing, which provides lighting for key buildings in Oxford city centre. The initiative aims to reinforce the beauty of the vista between Exeter's spire and the tower of Wesley Memorial Church on New Inn Hall Street, and the spire is now lit at night with a cool grey light on the spire itself, contrasted with a warm light within. The Trust described the project as "making a very special contribution to the character of Oxford at night".

The Rector's portrait has been unveiled in Hall. The painting was done by prestigious artist Mark Roscoe, and shows the Rector at her home in Scotland. A dinner was held in Hall to celebrate the unveiling, and was attended by Fellows, staff and students, as well as alumnus Philip Pullman and former Rector Marilyn Butler.

Roscoe's previous subjects have included Heads of House, public figures, and even on occasion royalty (Prince Tunku Abdullah of Malaysia and his family).

If you are visiting College, do take the opportunity to drop into the Hall and view the portrait.

Alan Bennett (1954, History) is to present his papers as a gift to the Bodleian Library. The archive includes original manuscripts, typescripts, handwritten notes and drafts for all Bennett's stage and television plays, plus the manuscripts of his novellas and short-stories, including his latest book The Uncommon Reader (2007). In due course, the Bodleian will also receive Bennett's annotated editions of his published writings, together with letters and other materials arising from his own marginal notes and afterthoughts. There are also diaries in an unbroken series from 1974 onwards, only a small selection of which have so far been published.

Alan Bennett said of his gift: "I think its appropriate too that my stuff should be here in Oxford. My writing is nothing if not English and however universal and unboundaried scholarship may be these days I wouldn't want to be lodged in some mid-western university. At the Bodleian I shall be rubbing shoulders with Thomas Hardy and Philip Larkin. They might not be all that pleased but I am."

Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley's Librarian, commented: 'Alan Bennett has shown extraordinary generosity in presenting his archive to the Bodleian. He is one of the world's greatest living writers, and the Bodleian is honoured to become the home of the Bennett Papers and preserve them for generations of scholars to come. The archive is one of the most important acquisitions for the Library in recent times, and will be a major resource for researchers.'

On 6th October at 8pm, Exonians everywhere will have a chance to cheer our team as it competes on BBC Two in University Challenge.

The programme was recorded in advance, as Guy Pewsey, a third-year English student, writes:

It was with great excitement that a bright group of four Exonians entered this year's competition. On Sunday 22nd June the team arrived at Manchester's Granada studios after a lengthy audition process, excited and delighted to fulfil their dreams of being involved in the show. Cheered on by family and fellow Exonians in the audience, chemist Tim Hele, linguist Patrick Howard, captain and English student Katie McGettigan and historian Emily Williams battled against St Andrews in a highly impressive display of general knowledge.

It was an instantly tense match, with no clear winner emerging in the early stages. Indeed, the show seemed to test speed on the buzzer as much as a grasp of trivia, and quiz stalwart Katie McGettigan particularly rose to the challenge, supported valiantly by science expert Hele and the historical, geographical and social know-how of Williams and Howard which became so invaluable during the bonus sections. With questions that would make most loyal pub quizzer's toes curl, Exeter's team, the youngest in this year's competition, carried themselves with dignity and good humour through a truly nail-biting experience. A generous contingent of Exeter College undergraduates made sure that their fellow students' correct answers were applauded with gusto, especially as the lead position changed on several occasions. Question master Jeremy Paxman, who seemed to take an instant shine to Exeter's team, provided much needed relief from the tension in the studio between rounds with his famous put-downs and witty asides. It was a truly memorable occasion for all involved, hopefully laying the foundation for future teams to accept the University Challenge once more.

Exeter College is proud to announce an exciting new publication showcasing the wit and artistic talent of undergraduates in the 1950s.

The 'Exeter College JCR Suggestion Book' contains a series of witty dialogues and drawings by Exonians including Brian Brindley, Ned Sherrin and Russell Harty, offering a unique and vivid insight into undergraduate life in the 1950s at one of Oxford's oldest colleges.

The publication features a foreword by Alan Bennett, on the agreement that it should not be reprinted elsewhere, thus making the book a unique edition.

Old Members John Speirs (1956, Literae Humaniores) and John Leighfield (1958, Literae Humaniores) have compiled the book, at the suggestion of former Rector Marilyn Butler.

The book can be bought through Exeter College Development Office, and is currently available at Blackwell Bookshop on Broad Street.

Commenting on the book, the Rector of Exeter College, Frances Cairncross, said: 'this book is a work of both literary genius and scurrilous schoolboy humour. Exeter is proud of the talents of its students, and immensely grateful to the Old Members who have brought this project to fruition.'

For more information, contact:

Notes to Editors

JCR Suggestion Book
The Junior Common Room (JCR) Suggestion Book exists for undergraduates to write comments about aspects of College life for the attention of fellow students, and in particular the annually elected JCR President. The late 1950s have become known as the 'golden age' of the book, as the number and content of suggestions expanded greatly, especially with the addition of drawings and cartoons.

Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett matriculated in 1954 and obtained a First Class degree in Modern History before remaining at Exeter as a graduate student and JCR President. During this time he began work on the Beyond the Fringe series with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore and has since written and acted in a number of stage and radio works, including The Madness of King George and The History Boys.

Marilyn Butler
Professor Marilyn Butler was the first woman to head a previously all-male Oxford college, becoming Rector of Exeter College in 1993. She was previously King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge, and is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Frances Cairncross
Frances Cairncross became Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, in 2004. She was a senior editor at The Economist for twenty years, and chaired the Economic and Social Research Council from 2001 to 2007. She was also President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science from 2005 to 2006. She is married to the financial columnist, Hamish McRae.

Brian Brindley
The Reverend Brian Brindley was a distinguished Anglo-Catholic canon and writer. After graduating with a BA in Modern History at Exeter, Mr Brindley was ordained as a priest in 1963. He died in 2001 aged 69. A book of reminiscences, Loose Canon, was written after his death and is edited by Damian Thompson.

Ned Sherrin
Edward Sherrin read Jurisprudence [Law] at Exeter from 1951 to 1954 before embarking on a distinguished career as a television writer and director. He devised and directed the popular BBC satire That Was The Week That Was, which first aired in 1962. Mr Sherrin died in 2007, aged 76.

Russell Harty
Frederic Russell Harty was a television presenter and broadcaster. He read English at Exeter from 1954. Becoming a household name in the 1970s with his series Russell Harty Plus, he died in 1988 aged 53.

John Speirs
John Speirs matriculated in 1956 and read Literae Humaniores [Classics]. He became a Managing Director at one of the world's largest aluminium products companies, holding several key positions including President of the National Society of Clean Air and Environmental Protection. Mr Speirs is now retired and has two sons and several grandchildren.

John Leighfield, CBE
John Leighfield matriculated in 1958 and read Literae Humaniores [Classics]. A distinguished IT businessman, Mr Leighfield is Chairman of RM plc, which provides information communications and technology services to educational establishments in the UK and around the world. John Leighfield was awarded a CBE in 1998 and lives in Oxford.

The theme of the Exeter College Ball 2009 will be 'Alice in Wonderland'.

At Williams College's 219th Commencement ceremonies in Williamstown, Mass, on June 1st, Morton Schapiro, President of Williams, conferred an honorary degree on Frances Cairncross, Rector of Exeter College.

Williams College has close links with Exeter. Each year, some 26 Junior Year students come to Oxford as Visiting Students, under the Williams Exeter Programme, created in 1985. The students are full undergraduate members of the University, eligible for access to virtually all of its facilities, libraries, and resources.

President Schapiro also conferred honorary degrees on George Shultz, former Secretary of State; on Richard Serra, an artist and sculptor; on Robert Lipp, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Williams Trustees; and on Dr Nawal Nour, a women's health advocate.

Summer Eights is now well under way on the Isis. More information can be found on the Boat Club website (external link).

Exeter College is delighted to announce that the Governing Executive of Ruskin College has agreed that we should acquire its Walton Street site.

This is terrific news and an outstanding opportunity. It effectively creates a Third Quad, expanding our space in central Oxford for teaching, research and student accommodation by roughly half. It will bring much of our student body closer to our main site. Together with our plans to build new accommodation for our graduates at Exeter House on the Iffley Road, it will give us some of the finest student facilities in Oxford.

As part of this historic arrangement, Exeter and Ruskin will develop a programme of joint academic, cultural and social activities. Ruskin will continue to undertake some activities on the Walton Street site. We hope that this new relationship will, in time, expand the range of academic interests of our College, create opportunities for our graduates to undertake teaching, including teaching students from non-typical backgrounds, and widen the social and ethnic diversity of our student body.

There is still a long road between here and a move into the Ruskin site. Ruskin will relocate most of its activities to a large site in Headington, for which it does not yet have full planning permission. We may not be able to get on to the Walton Street site till 2011, or to inhabit it fully till 2014. But we can begin at once to discuss how we use this fantastic opportunity for the benefit of future generations of scholars.

There is a nice historical twist to this arrangement. William Morris was an undergraduate at Exeter College, and had close links with John Ruskin. Ruskin College in turn was founded to educate those who were otherwise excluded from education - on principles established through the collaboration of these two social and educational pioneers.

We will be coming to the whole Exeter College community for advice and support in order realise the full potential of this exceptional opportunity; please be part of that discussion. This acquisition will form a central part of the major fund-raising campaign that the College will launch next year to celebrate our 700th anniversary in 2014. We will enter our eighth century with a truly exceptional range of possibilities - academic, cultural and social - to reinvigorate and develop the collegiate ideal.

Frances Cairncross
Rector

Garrett Johnson is a 2006 Rhodes Scholar at Exeter College, but he is also a champion shot-putter. Johnson won the 2006 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Shot Put Championship - and he will know by the end of June whether he is to represent the United States in the Beijing Olympics.

Speaking at the College on Wednesday March 5th, 23-year-old Johnson described the differences between being an athlete at Florida State University and at Oxford, where athletes have to make most of their arrangements for training and matches without help from others.

In June, Johnson will complete his exams for a a Master's degree in Migration Studies, which has focuessed on the study of sport as a tool for integration of refugees in their host countries. Within days of completing his exams, he will compete for selection for the Olympic team.

Johnson spoke in Exeter College Chapel - as Sir Roger Bannister, another Exeter College student, did last autumn. He amused his audience by describing how he had acquired a kilt in order to compete in Highland Games in Scotland - and rivetted them by demonstrating along the Chapel's Victorian Gothic nave the exact movements required for putting a shot. Luckily, he was empty-handed.

On Sunday 18th May 2008, The Oxford Town and Gown 10K Fun Run will take place.

This is a fun run of approximately 6 miles and is open to anyone. The route is literally on our doorstep. It starts and finishes in the University Parks, and passes Keble, St John's, Exeter, Balliol, Trinity and Wadham Colleges before a leisurely stroll along the banks of the Cherwell.

Last year we entered a team of 24 (see picture) and I would like to enter another Exeter College team this year. The emphasis is on this being a fun run, so it is open to those with little or no running experience, but also to those who are looking for a good race time. It is also an opportunity to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy.

There is also a College trophy for the college that raised the most money. We won this in 2006, but Jesus College took it from us last year!

If you would like to join the team on Sunday 18th May, or just find out more, then please call Philip Munday in the Bursary on 279653 or e-mail me.

There is also a website for the race here and you can register online, putting Exeter College as the Team name. (Please tell me if you register in this way).

This Fun Run is open to anyone connected with the college.

I look forward to hearing from you

Regards

Philip

Philip J. Munday
Steward
01865 279653
Exeter College

Garrett Johnson, a 23-year-old Rhodes scholar student at Exeter College, produced the fourth longest throw in the world this year to win the shot put on the first day of the Norwich Union World Indoor Trials in Sheffield on February 9th.

Garrett won with a best of 20.66m, 3cm further than the 31-year-old championships record set by Geoff Capes, who was European champion three times and the most capped British male athlete of all time.

Garrett's "Obama for President" shirt caused a stir. From here, he should have a clear run to the Olympic team. He will talk about preparing for the Olympics at a College event on Wednesday March 5th.

On Sunday 10th February, Exeter College welcomed politician Frank Field to the Saskatchewan Room to what might be one of the most controversial, yet informed talks yet. MP for Birkenhead since 1979, he made headlines soon after 1997 when, 'thinking the unthinkable' regarding social security reform, he came into conflict with the new government and resigned his ministerial position shortly after.

Field began - not without a few twitches from the audience - in praise of Rowan Williams. 'The Archbishop', he said, 'has started a debate we should have held forty years ago', the matter in question being the curfuffle over Sharia law in the national press. From there, the talk pressed on to the urgent question of what it means to be British, and, in a political system whose role should be to nurture 'character', how such an identity can be upheld. 'The politics of class has been replaced by the politics of behaviour', Field believes, 'and the political class over the last twenty years has been guilty of not nurturing a sense of national identity'.

For Field, a country where only 21% of the electorate voted for the party in power needs 'to seriously remake what we mean by a representative and responsible government'. 'Although as a Labour MP I'd like to put in one or two votes for the government, I am only able to do that by not listening to their arguments!'

The Rector Frances Cairncross called Field 'one of the most interesting of all Labour MPs', and one who in 'nearly thirty years has shown a real concern for poverty and for his own constituents.' Following his talk, few of Field's listeners would disagree.

On Wednesday 30th January 2008, students of Exeter College gathered to hear the former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke MP give a speech and take questions on his political career, his thoughts on the future of the Labour Party and his views on civil rights. Standing up in front of a packed Hall, with some having to stand in order to get a space, Mr. Clarke began by offering an overview of his views on the Labour Party. He discussed his belief that Labour needs to hold firm to two key beliefs - firstly, that politics matter for real people outside of the circus of Westminster and secondly, that individual people and policies have the capability to reshape the political landscape. He spoke of his own political career and in response to questions regarding his own responsibility for perpetuating the internal Blairite/Brownite divide, admitted he had to assume some responsibility, saying he now believed internal unity was more important for the success of the party than internal divisions which harm public confidence in the government.

In his opening address, Mr Clarke joked that speaking in front of a group of students would undoubtedly prompt explanations on his support of top-up fees. Indeed, Exeter students rigorously questioned the impact of top-up fees on the cause for ensuring wider access to university from students of all socio-economic backgrounds. The former Education Secretary said that his support for top-up fees was based in the fact that it facilitated a wider distribution of talent across different institutions and that both he and the Labour government were committed to improving access for individual students.

Perhaps the most contentious point in the evening's proceedings came when Mr. Clarke was asked about his public support for Identity Cards and detention of terrorist subjects without trial. Though he restated his commitment to civil liberties, he said believed the ultimate human rights of the public to be free from the threat of terrorism was a greater priority and so the implications of ID cards were a necessary sacrifice to this end. After concluding his speech, Charles Clarke answered further questions on the future of the New Labour; he said that now he fully supported Gordon Brown in the next general election. In addition, he openly remarked that though he enjoyed the freedoms of a backbench role, his ultimate preference was to be in government, but felt it was unlikely he will ever fulfil a ministerial role again. Undoubtedly, the talk promoted extensive and, often, heated debate but Exeter's community enjoyed the chance to meet one of the most influential figures in recent politics.

Jonathan Fenby is perhaps best-known for his newspaper work; he has worked in some form of editorial capacity for The Independent, The Guardian, The Observer, and, more unusually, the South China Morning Post. He is also an author. On Wednesday 6th February, he came to Exeter College to discuss the future of China; a topic which, considering the numbers in the Lodgings, is as interesting for Exonians as those in Beijing.

With over a billion people, and an area almost forty times bigger than Britain, China can become extremely difficult to fathom. In less than twenty minutes however, Fenby gave a whistle-stop tour of its history, from the end of the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century, to Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms of 1978. Questions from the audience ran to topics as wide-ranging as human rights, the environment, military might, and even the Chinese language.

'China does not want to take over the world', says Fenby: 'it wants influence'. But for Fenby, this influence is by no means secure, and several 'looming issues' - the sustainability of its population, its widening wealth gap, the matter of North Korea - all pose significant challenges to its future.

Fenby's latest book, The Penguin History of Modern China, will hit shelves in May 2008.

J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, famous for his Middle Earth-based novels as well as his respected academic career. This great man's life is inextricably linked with Oxford, and particularly with Exeter, the undergraduate college which he always looked back on so fondly. It is for this reason that Exeter was lucky enough to host an evening with Priscilla Tolkien, youngest daughter of the late writer, providing an opportunity to discover the more personal aspects of her father's life and, in turn, how her own life has been affected by the attention brought about by the enormous success of novels such as 'The Lord of the Rings'.

The many Exonians in attendance found great pleasure in Ms. Tolkien's recollections of her father, including childhood memories of his almost childlike enthusiasm for life; it seems as though he saw college loyalty as vital, suggested by his narrow escape from a run-in with the police after an egg aimed at Jesus College missed its target, instead finding the head of a bobby on the beat. Parts of his time at Oxford however were tinged with tragedy as, according to Priscilla, the outbreak of war which led to mass conscription separated her father from many of his friends and peers.

While it was indeed a great pleasure to hear about the author's time at Oxford from such a reliable source, Ms. Tolkien's musings concerning her own life was equally compelling. She spoke enthusiastically of her enjoyment of the famous Christmas letters sent to her as a child by her father, and described her fondness for the books which made him famous, citing its timelessness and intensity of emotions as the reasons for its success. Priscilla also revealed her fondness for the bust of her father on display in the chapel, and certainly seemed pleased that her father's old college is still home to so many of his fans. Ms. Tolkien was a lively speaker with a sunny disposition and a fondness for a good cup of tea, and all present found her talk both stimulating and informative, revealing the human side to the famous name.

Photo by Kitty Jansz.

On Wednesday 7th November, the drawing room of the Rector's Lodgings was packed with refugees from the bitter Michaelmas cold; they had come to hear Bob Malpass, the College's Buildings Manager, talk about the sacrifice made by hundreds of Exonians during the Great War, the armistice of which the nation commemorates this Sunday.

Bob wove a compelling narrative that wedded the historical perspective to the personal, allowing us a moving glimpse into the horror and the suffering of the war, and making all present profoundly aware of the human cost of conflict. Bob's talk was punctuated by renditions, superbly performed by Exeter's choir, of Stille Nacht, When this bloody war is over, and Willie McBride, adding powerful musical colour to Bob's description of war and its effects on its participants on both sides.

In a presentation that revealed the depth of his painstaking research, Bob teased from the collective anonymity of the fallen tales of Exonians, Fellows and Junior Members alike, who displayed heroism and incomparable bravery amidst the blood and shrapnel, disease and death of Gallipoli, the Somme and Passchendaele, etching on our minds the depths to which the human soul can plunge, and the heights to which it can soar.

The camaraderie of the trenches was re-enacted this cold November night as staff, students and Fellows together heard tales of another community of Exonians from nearly a century before; it is thanks to the efforts of researchers like Bob Malpass who keep the sacrifice of previous generations alive in our minds, giving the Remembrance period renewed vigour and emotional resonance, that the names of those men are lifted from the stone on which they are inscribed, and brought to life again.

On Halloween, Exeter College was honoured to receive Rosalind Savill, Director of the Wallace Collection, to hear her views on art, work, and modern attitudes to a middle-sized gallery.

As Director of the "most intimate art gallery in the world" since 1992, Ms Savill has overseen a great deal of change and development to a closed collection. Donated to the nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace, wife and widow of Sir Richard, it contains a range of fine and decorative arts, Fragonard's girl on a swing (her favourite), several other masterpieces, including Franz Hals' "Laughing Cavalier" and also houses one of the world's most impressive collection of Sevres porcelain. This diversity and range reflects its origins as a family collection.

What was most striking about Ms Savill was her business know-how mixed with a sincere passion as she spoke of trying to raise publicity, maximise space, and raise funds, and referred to her relationship with her colleagues as more akin to that of a "dysfunctional family" in a unique family home setting. Indeed, Ms Savill was keen to stress this sense of community and the importance of youth in the future, even foreseeing a new director for the Wallace legacy of art who would keep it up-to-date and attractive to modern tastes and ensure its lifespan.

"You have to love something to change something" - a sentiment clearly echoed in her work towards the recent renovations to the building and extensions to the grounds which are a result of her enthusiastic and sincere attempts to make art accessible - she wished for "no ropes, no boundaries... real rooms on a human scale." Though admitting herself to be "not in the least bit ambitious" and declaring her career to be a fortunate mix of "luck and serendipity", there is no doubting the strength of determination and personality which renovated and continues to inspire new people to art's sake and theirs.

A man who has been a constitutional lawyer, Minister for Justice and Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland, and a leader of the Progressive Democrat Party can probably admit to being called a lot of things. In Michael McDowell's case, these have included Charles Haughey's famous taunt that he was "the nastiest piece of goods that has ever crawled into this house". Given that Haughey was once described as an 'Irish Peron' this should probably be taken as a complement.

On his visit to Exeter College however, McDowell was nothing short of charming, and his talk, which covered Ireland's politics from as far back as 1918, delightfully clear and insightful.

For McDowell, the situation in Ireland was reminiscent of a ptarmigan's plumage; it changes to white to adapt to the snow, but take away the snow and its future is doomed. The same, he believed, could be said of the Irish terrorists; the events of 9–11 made violence 'no longer tenable' as a political act, and those responsible for it, 'almost completely isolated'. This, combined with the disappearance of heavy industry has, according to McDowell, fed a situation in which hopes for a united Ireland, or at the very least a proper realisation of the Belfast Agreement, seem optimistic and unimpeded. 'The notion of the Spartans and the Helots', said McDowell, 'is certainly going.'

The talk, which was followed by some demanding questions from the audience, probably taught everyone something they did not know about Irish politics. Rather than unconvinced, McDowell's audience seemed to leave the talk feeling both informed and optimistic; a united Ireland, not a dream, but a tangible, practical option.

Two underreported Exeter victories last term. Catherine Page reports that the Exeter/Jesus women's rugby team won cuppers, "demolishing all in their path!"

And Russell Gammon emails to say that the College pool team won the top division within the university. "Exeter has actually achieved considerable success over the years, winning the title 6 times previously in only 13 years of existence," he says. Warming to his theme, he adds: "It is the fourth most played sport across the university, with some 63 teams playing across 7 leagues." The website can be found here.

That's enough sport. Happy Christmas and a good New Year to all Exonians, past and present.

Known to host the best Thanksgiving dinner in Oxford, Exeter College was jam‐packed last Thursday evening, November 22nd, with students, faculty, and administrators alike eager to indulge in some turkey, stuffing and Americana.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday in November. At Exeter the celebrations began with a service in the College Chapel at which Dr Guy Hedreen, Co‐Director of the Williams at Exeter Programme, read Abraham Lincoln's declaration of 1863, exhorting Americans everywhere to set the day aside as a day to give thanks. The festivities continued in the Rector's Lodgings, where members of the college, donning academic gowns, gathered to mingle over mulled wine and orange juice. At around 7, the doors to hall opened and the tables quickly filled.

Rector Cairncross delivered grace not just in the traditional Latin but in "the language my country gave to the United States". Praising Exeter's strong undergraduate and graduate American contingencies as well as the good relations between the United States and the United Kingdom, the rector gave the go‐ahead to begin a meal hailed as one of the year's best.

The dinner was as good as any Thanksgiving meal I have enjoyed in America, with a certain gourmet English twist. The Exeter chefs outdid themselves with an array of delicacies, including mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, chestnuts, mushrooms, sweet potatoes and much more. The wine flowed generously, and the desserts were sinful. I ate three pies. As good as the food was, though, the highlight of the evening was enjoying the company of fellow Exonians. I felt lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family here at Oxford, and it seemed that sentiment rang true for many, given the smiles and lively conversation that filled the hall. In light of the recent tragedies that struck our college, I believe all of us at Exeter realized how very much we have to be thankful for. The Thanksgiving dinner we enjoyed together was an appropriate celebration of both this gratitude and our community.

His first television appearance was on David Starkey's Behave Yourself in the 1970s. They needed a historian apparently — and of all the ones the team could find, he was supposedly 'the least boring'.

That was how David Starkey proudly recounted his media debut on Wednesday night, and the laughter it caursed set a precedent for the rest of the evening. Exceedingly entertaining, and brilliantly witty, Starkey struck a deft line between wooing his audience and making a serious point: a point about the validity of media in academia.

Starkey's talk quickly became more of a discussion, or in his words, 'more like Question Time but without David Dimbleby's protuberant bottom'. Starting with a brief account of his childhood and family background, he quickly moved on to the subject of history at university; in his case, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. Starkey's focus was what he called the 'high analytical' school of post‐1950s history, a school which relied heavily on evidence and emphasised historians' detachment.

A school, for Starkey, which ran completely counter to common sense.

'I think most historians are boring,' he said: 'Really, seriously, boring. They are eminently forgettable, and likely to end up with an extremely small and dismissive obituary in The Times. Or maybe The Guardian', he then added. 'History', he said, 'is the succession of events in time; the very notion of causation depends upon narrative', making 'the essence of the subject best served in media, not in the universities'.

Starkey's argument was, of course, not uncontroversial; but with hilarious references such as those to his friends in re-enactment societies — 'terribly into uniforms' (cough) — it was frankly impossible to get too cross with him.

Starkey is most famous for his studies of Tudor England, and his widely acclaimed Channel 4 series Monarchy is set to return later this year.

Exeter is one of the most beautiful of the Oxford colleges, and with the spire's illumination on Sunday 18th November, its buildings have become just that bit more so. It was fitting then that Geoffrey Tyack, an expert on college's history, came to give a short history of its buildings and particularly its chapels — all three of them!

As well as being one of the most beautiful colleges, Exeter is also one of the oldest, and as Tyack made clear with his fascinating slide show, a lot can happen architecturally in 700 years. From its early (and somewhat meagre) beginnings in the early 14th century, the college's story has been one of great expansion, to the point where it has actually moved southward from the original site. Palmer's Tower for example, the first gatehouse and the oldest part of the present college, once marked the entrance; now, it sits snugly between the Rector's Lodgings and the rest of the front quad, and plays host to ICT technicians, not guards.

Following in the wake of the rest of the university, Exeter continued to grow through the early 1600s, adding a new hall (which still stands) and a new chapel (i.e., the second chapel). This chapel was almost as unique as the current one, having the unusual structure of two parallel naves; it was also slightly smaller as the Rector's Lodgings would have occupied some space. In 1703, the Townsend family, responsible for much of the building in Oxford, built a new, classical gate tower, of a similar height and position to today's gothic equivalent. The door to the college at this time would have held closer resemblance to the Sheldonian Theatre, Worcester College, and Queen's.

The most interesting part of the talk was the history of the present chapel, designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1853. Tyack dispelled several of the myths surrounding this building, such as the widely held notion that it is an out‐and‐out copy of Paris's Sainte‐Chapelle, and he showed images of its old woodwork, now harboured in part at the Oxford Museum and in part around the country, as well as prints of other proposed designs.

Tyack spoke enthusiastically and passionately on a subject potentially dry (unlike the weather!). In spite of the rain however, students turned out to watch the spire light up, and, having been initiated into the more arcane histories of the college, must have felt all the more proud to be here.

On the 14th of November Dr Tariq Ramadan, renowned Muslim scholar and theologian, was invited to come and give his reaction to the stark and potentially controversial question 'Should the West fear Mohammed?'

The talk which followed was both balanced and clear and his response to the question unambiguous. Dr Ramadan believed that the current tensions between the West and the Muslim world were due not to a 'clash of civilisations, but a clash of perceptions.' He acknowledged the significant diversity within the Muslim community and the differing interpretations of Mohammed's teachings, and emphasized the importance of staying faithful to the principles of the book without resorting to dogmatism. He explained that if the West has anything to fear, it is the potential for a literalistic approach to the Koran rather than the message it contains.

'The main objective of Islam is peace. I have never met anyone, whatever religion, who wanted the opposite of peace. We have differences, and there are tensions, but we all want the same thing.'

Although he felt literalistic readings of the Koran did not represent the Muslim mainstream he accepted that it was nevertheless a problem, and one that needed to be tackled from within — 'It is the Muslim world that should challenge such interpretations.' Seemingly unaware of his own appeal and credentials to fill the position, Dr Ramadan emphasized the need for the community to stop passively waiting for a charismatic intellectual or scholar to 'speak for the people,' and to instead implement their own grass-roots initiatives. 'It's our business.'

His final comments were certainly the most surprising and introduced the issue of women's role within this 'business'. 'They are the ones who can push men to come back to the true meaning of things as they are the ones who truly understand the meaning of liberation.'

13 November 2007

Frances Cairncross, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, said: 'Exeter College is devastated by the deaths yesterday of two of its first-year students, Sundeep Watts and Harcourt ("Olly") Tucker. Our hearts go out to their families and friends.

'The deaths are entirely unconnected. Sundeep Watts was diagnosed on Saturday with meningitis. Olly Tucker died of a heart attack while playing hockey on Sunday morning. All the specialists dealing with him have assured us that there is no connection whatsoever between the two cases.

'The College has taken advice at every stage from the public‐health authorities. Their view is that our other students are not at any increased risk. However, we have reinforced from Saturday onwards knowledge of the warning symptoms of meningitis. Our staff have worked non‐stop to answer questions from the student body, and will continue to do so. We have arranged an extensive network of counselling for anyone who requires it.

'The information we have been given is that it is preferable that the students remain in Oxford than that they return home early. The college doctor and the medical authorities are extremely alert to signs of meningitis, and the John Radcliffe Hospital has an outstanding capacity in tackling it.

'The College is closed to the general public for the time being, in order to ensure that our students have peace at this difficult time.'

On Monday 29th October, Exeter College welcomed back one of its most celebrated sons, the President of Ghana, John Kufuor.

Mr Kufuor had earlier on in the day given the inaugural lecture for the Black Association of Rhodes Scholars at Rhodes House. With inspirational delivery, he reflected on how his time at Oxford (where he studied PPE) prepared him for 30 years of public service in Ghana and seven years as a Head of State.

Back at Exeter College, Mr Kufuor joined students for an packed reception in the Rector's Lodgings. The reception was followed by a delightful formal hall dinner.

Before the evening drew to its close, Mr Kufuor invited questions from the students who had dined with him. These covered a variety of topics including his thoughts on African political leadership, the Ghanaian diaspora, and his analysis of some of the challenges facing Africa.

On the night Mr Kufuor also announced the launch of a special College scholarship which will bear his name. No doubt this will go a long way to preserving the special relationship that exists between Exeter College and Ghana.

On Wednesday evening, students at Exeter were lucky enough to meet none other than Bianca Jagger; a pioneer described by Rector Frances Cairncross as 'an iconic figure who has used her name and her brains for many good causes'.

Bianca's talk, 'In the Name of Progress and Development', was a fascinating and radical overview of poverty, climate change, and the oppression of women — and how the most popular attempts to improve these issues are not always the best.

Some of the most interesting topics to arise from the discussion were the unseen importance of the IMF, the vital need for a post-Kyoto protocol in the G8, and the way in which 'the EPA has been gutted since George Bush came to power'.

'We are locked into an ineffecient, pollution-based economy,' Bianca said. 'Countries from the global north continue to rape and pillage the countries of the global south'.

She also spoke a great deal about the situation in Iraq, recounting her experiences of being in the country ten days before the invasion. 'Even the most fervent opponents of Saddam Hussein did not want an invasion,' she said. 'We do not bring democracy at gunpoint.'

But behind these matters of international importance was a powerful human story. Bianca told rapt listeners about life under the Nicaraguan Samoza regime, her parents' break-up when she was barely a teenager, and what it was like to see the oppression of women 'first-hand'.

In particular, she spoke of her mother's profound influence on her life. 'My mother was my role model,' Bianca said.

The students gathered together at the end of the evening agreed the talk had made them readdress their views. Perhaps when it comes to Make Poverty History, Bono and Geldof are not saving the planet after all.

On Wednesday 17th October, Exeter College was delighted to welcome back academic and writer Timothy Garton Ash to his alma mater.

Straddling the worlds of journalism and academe — or, quoting Conor Cruise O'Brien, having 'one foot in each grave' — Dr Garton Ash managed to squeeze 'Brown, Britain, and the rest of the world' into a modest speech of just 15 minutes. With roughly five minutes for each section, Dr Garton Ash joked, 'our prime minister would think it appropriate.'

Some of the key issues in his wide-ranging talk included The War on Terror, Britain's role in Europe, and the so‒called 'Chinese renaissance'. But, as if these were not enough, Dr Garton Ash also responded dextrously to an extremely tough set of questions from the audience.

Topics ranged from poverty in Africa and the political legitimacy of Gordon Brown to — an easy little matter to end on — the role of religion in the Middle East peace process.

Despite the heavy nature of the issues he covered, Dr Garton Ash was a charming and extremely amusing speaker. Highlights include an anecdote about seeing Gordon Brown with Dr Henry Kissinger and Larry Summers — '[Brown] spoke like a nervous grad student', a guide to Britain's options in Europe 'reduced Shakespeare'‒style, and the amusing comparison of the Blair-Bush relationship to Jeeves and Wooster — or, as Dr Garton Ash added, 'Alfred to Batman'.

Dr Garton Ash, who read Modern History at Exeter, is the author of eight books of political writing, including "The History of the Present" and "Free World". He has also travelled extensively in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, listing on his website that he lives 'mainly in Oxford, though also in Stanford and airplanes'. A syndicated columnist in The Guardian, a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, he has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The speaker events at Exeter College consistently challenge their audiences intellectually but rarely do they move to the extent achieved by the poetry readings given this Sunday by the eminent Elaine Feinstein and Oxfam's poet in residence, Todd Swift. The event was held in conjunction with Oxfam and particular emphasis was placed on the current relief effort in Darfur.

The compassion that drives Oxfam's global campaigns was brought out by the highly personalised subject matter of the two poet's latest works, both of which were inspired by the loss of a close loved one. It was a privilege to be able to hear two such different poetic styles read in person; from skating penguins playing tennis to love that comes as a Macintosh.

On the one side, Todd Swift described his writing as a mix of 'camp humour' and 'seriousness'. He acknowledged Beckett's Waiting for Godot as an influence on his exploration of the presence of humour in bleak situations.

On the other hand Elaine Feinstein's collection 'Talking to the Dead' draws on intimate memories of her marriage to create poetry that contains a rare honesty and directness about life's emotional experiences. Her concern with pinning down the poignant moments in a relationship is perhaps in no small way down to the influence of her non-poetic husband. His preference for poems that shared the presence of the subject with the reader is born out by Feinstein's own faithfulness to the task of bringing his personality back to life, such as through the portrayal of his characteristic stubbornness in "Wheelchair".

The presence in the lodgings this Sunday of both the poets and the subjects that they reverently induced to accompany them, was greatly valued by all in attendance.

Both poets work features on a fundraising CD for Darfur — highly recommended.

Sir Roger Bannister, who was a student at Exeter College in 1949, is also the man who broke the four-minute mile, an eminent neurologist and the former Master of Pembroke College. He returned to his alma mater last Wednesday night to give a lecture in the Chapel to members of the College community.

Bannister focused his talk on recalling his watershed athletic achievement that occurred first on the Iffley Road track at Oxford in 1954. "The most common question I get asked is, 'were you trying to break the four-minute mile?' I usually defer this question to my wife. 'If you think running for nine years, six days a week to exhaustion is training to break the four-minute mile, then yes.'"

He described in detail the trials and tribulations of his athletic career, ranging from his admission into and early running days at Oxford to his disappointing fourth-place finish in the 1952 Olympics — where he was the heavy favourite. After concluding his talk, he fielded questions from the crowd.

When asked about the natural physical limits of mankind in running the mile, he believed the 3:30 and 4:00 threshold for men and women respectively would never be crossed. Bannister also noted that steroids and drug use, which are afflicting the sports world, can alter the capabilities of the human body, citing runners like Marion Jones who recently relinquished five Olympic medals after admitting to steroid use.

The unique location for a lecture — the College Chapel — took Bannister on a trip down memory lane back to his days at Oxford. He encouraged students to listen to the Chapel Choir's evening serenades — something he remembered vividly. Bannister ended the evening, urging students to take advantage of all Oxford has to offer and to treasure the life-long friends that one will make here.

Grazia, 27 August 2007

In the weekly glossy Grazia, recent Exeter College graduate Hannah Redfearn, 23, writes about life as a full-time Oxford student and mum to two boys aged six and two.

She says: "I'm very lucky; during my whole time at Oxford I received only support from my peers and tutors".

On Wednesday 25 April, Exeter College was fortunate enough to have the former cabinet minister and current journalist Michael Portillo to speak to members of the college. Although a Cambridge student, he was more than willing to address an eager and sizable Oxford crowd. His speech ranged from his earliest experiences working with Thatcher to his current occupation observing the dominant meerkats in a scorching Kalahari Desert - as he quipped, two experiences not entirely unrelated.

Littered with witty anecdotes, his speech was nonetheless satisfying from an academic perspective, with its insightful analysis of contemporary politics and cautious predictions for the future of the current labour government and its opposition. Far from being a biased account, it offered a measured evaluation of the modernizing Tory party and suggested possible routes for David Cameron's newly invigorated party - something we have come to expect from Portillo's columns in the newspapers. His personal experiences working intimately both as a cabinet minister and as a shadow with his labour peers, give a salutary warning to those contemplating British politics in the post-Blair era: his relationship with Gordon Brown seemed less than amicable.

Michael Portillo spoke impressively off the cuff; his relaxed and charismatic approach went down well with the assembled audience. We were very lucky to be able to hear such a distinguished speaker and hope that he may be persuaded to return in the future.

For the intrepid few who come to university with a child, the skills needed to manage these two incredibly demanding responsibilities are already being wielded. To the rest of us, however, the prospect of making the most out of both kids and a career remains an enigma. Rita Chakrabarti a successful BBC television journalist and mother of three, recently helped clear those Wuthering-Heights inspired, feminine mists that gather around the subject in a talk she gave at Exeter this Hilary term. Having been there, done it and got the baby wipes she was able to generously impart a few trade secrets. The first of these was to be ultra-organised. Living up to the needs of a child and a job may mean there is little spare time left in a day. In this situation finding a career that you love but that is manageable in terms of schedule and location is important. Once the perfect job has been secured, the perfect (supportive) man should be next on the hit list! This may seem a daunting task but Rita reassuringly claims that men are much more collaborative now than the previous generation (I hope my male housemates are reading this!). Finally there probably will never be an ideal time to make room for those stork-delivered-bundles but perhaps the most essential advice is not to miss out on placing an order! Listening to the experiences of Rita and our own rector was heartening and at times hilarious (especially one multitasking nightmare involving a home-made lunch appointment with a multinational boss, a four year-old and a blender!). These events will hopefully continue to be a great women's forum within the college.

The talk given by the eminent American political theorist Joseph Nye was arguably an embodiment of everything one expects from the concept of "university" both in terms of scholarship and stretch of discourse. A past Rhodes scholar at Exeter College Nye's personal history and his approach to politics impressed on the audience the need to think in terms of a global community. His eloquence, clarity of thought and sense of humour were enough to make you believe that the idealism of the West Wing might just be a reality.

Contemporaries have posed the question of whether Iraq will have the same significance for America as the Boer war did for the British Empire in terms of a tipping point of power. Nye complicates this premise by attacking the concept of power and identifying three different dimensions to the "chess-game" of international relations. In terms of military power he argues that the world is uni-polar since no other nation can realistically compete with America. However, in terms of economic power and the third form of "soft" power the board is wide open. "Soft" power is an intriguing term, coined by Nye, which denotes the fundamental attractiveness of a nation and is something that neoconservatives among the American administration admit not to understand. This lack of appreciation is reflected in the US's declining ability to wield "soft" power. A situation influenced by the disastrous after-math of the Iraq war. Nye cited a BBC poll which revealed that in 2006 36% of people in eighteen countries polled, believed the US had a positive influence on the world yet in a year this has dropped to just 29%. However, instead of nihilistically pointing to the many ways that history seems to be repeating itself, Nye uses history to suggest that there is hope that America can recover its lost credence. He points to the unpopularity of the American government after Vietnam but then also to the remarkable recovery that was made in the succeeding decades. A repeat performance is however, conditional on a change of direction in government policy.

Nye refuses to see the rise of fundamentalism as an apocalyptic clash of civilisations. Instead he delves below the rhetoric to stress the internal divisions that exist within the Islamic community between moderates and extremists. He also warned against cultural blindness and stressed the need to appreciate the complexity of any political choice. For example he articulated the possibility that Sadam Hussein's reluctance to allow free access to weapons inspectors may have been a defence mechanism against ambitious neighbouring powers since it left Iraq's ambiguous nuclear status as a powerful deterent.

Nye brought a wonderfully light touch to the immensely complex and some may say gloomy state of international affairs. By constantly referring to historical precedent he made a powerful argument against historical determinism. And by pointing out the essentially surprising and unpredictable nature of history he promoted a feeling of great hope and belief in the possibility of wielding power to change even the apparently inevitable.

Eric Bennett, the home bursar at Exeter College, and his staff were amazed when they saw the staggering bill for £4,679,601.32. The bill covered a period of 19 days in December. Mr Bennett said: "It was a bit of a shock but we knew something was wrong — our bill is normally £2,000 or £3,000."

British Gas blamed the error on an "inaccurate meter reading". The firm said it had apologised to the College."

• This Is Oxford Coverage

Stuart Jeffries, an Old Member of Exeter College who is now a senior journalist on The Guardian, went back to see what had changed. Here is his report.

• http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2014597,00.html

The British launch of a campaign to plant a billion trees worldwide in 2007 took place at Exeter College on February 10th. Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai planted a walnut tree in the Fellows Garden to replace a large horse chestnut that died two years ago. The campaign, led by Professor Maathai, is sponsored by the UN Environment Programme.

Speaking at the tree-planting, Professor Maathai, urged everyone to take action to combat climate change. "Everyone can do something," she said. "For example, you can plant a tree." Professor Maathai is the founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement, which combats deforestation in Africa.

The launch was preceded by a seminar entitled "Keeping Our Promises to the Earth." Speakers included Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director-General of ther World Conservation Union, Bianca Jagger, a human rights campaigner, and Marie-Claire Cordonnier-Segger, a graduate of Exeter College and a Director of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) in Montreal, Canada. The seminar marked the formal launch in Britain of the Earth Charter, an internationally agreed document on environmental sustainability and human rights. The CISDL also announced the start of an annual lecture series on environmental law at Exeter College.

The tree-planting was preceded by a procession along Turl Street, led by the Ken Colyer New Orleans Jazz Band, which later played a concert in Hall.

Relevant Links:

• Billion Tree Campaign
• The Earth Charter
• CISDL
• Green Belt Movement Blog

Dr Alexandre Akoulitchev, Fellow of Exeter College and Senior Research Fellow of Oxford University, and his team have discovered a way to use "junk" DNA to create molecules that could be used in cancer-fighting treatments. Their paper, published in scientific journal Nature, details how they have discovered a way to create an RNA molecule that disables a gene which controls the rapid division of cells.

The particular RNA molecule that is of interest to Dr Akoulitchev's team inhibits the dihydrofolate reductase gene, which produces an enzyme that controls the molecules required for rapid division of cells. Existing anti-cancer drugs have worked by inhibiting the action of the enzyme; with this new approach, treatments could deactivate the gene directly, and neutralise the enzyme at the source of its production.

Read some of the press coverage:

• The Independent
• The Telegraph

Dr Teresa Shawcross has won an award from the Hellenic Foundation of the Academy of Athens for the best British theses in Hellenic Studies on a Byzantine or Mediaeval subject. Her doctoral thesis, on "The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greece", was written while she was a graduate student at Exeter.

On Thursday 14th December the fourth annual Awards for Catering Excellence (ACE's) were held at Christ Church College. Exeter College Head Chef, Mark Willoughby, was nominated for the category of "Chef of the Year"

The requirements of this award were as follows: A Head Chef with an established reputation for excellence, recognised within and outside his college, together with a proven track record for innovation and developing the staff team. The Chef of the year is expected to demonstrate not only first class culinary skills, but also good management ability and excellent customer focus.

Against tough competition, Mark was awarded this fantastic accolade, in front of a packed Dining Hall, with representatives from the majority of the colleges.

This is truly a remarkable achievement and we all congratulate Mark in gaining this award.

Seven Exeter crews were entered in the Christ Church Novice Regatta this year: three Men's crews, and Four Women's. Although the Regatta was cancelled after just two days, because of poor river conditions, Exeter crews still managed to do themselves proud. The biggest success story was the Women's A crew, who beat Linacre A's in their first race. The Men's A crew lost their first race, but by a very small margin, and came back in their repêchage race to win by half a course!

Both the Women's and Men's B crews won their repêchage races. The Women's C's raced dressed as pirates for their first race, and then had to 'scratch,' as almost half of the crew couldn't make it to the repêchage race. The Men's Cs got themselves disqualified, barely 50m from the start line, by crashing into a boat in the transit lane, causing a klaxon! The Women's Ds lost both their races, but if prizes were being given to the best dresses, they would have won hands down: they raced their first race with each person in the boat wearing a different colour of the rainbow — right down to the hair, and one rather distinctive luminous pink wig; and their second race dressed as white swans, complete with beaks! It was a great shame that the Regatta was brought to an early finish, but the determination of our crews offered a glimpse at a promising future for Exeter.

"A jack of all trades and a master of none" was how journalist Matthew Parris introduced himself to a group of Exeter students on Wednesday 25th October. Nevertheless, the civil servant turned politician turned newspaper columnist was still able to use his wide experience to provoke a fascinating and even controversial discussion and debate in the Rector's Lodgings. Mr. Parris amazed students with a description of his being groomed for MI6 and his brief spell as a Diesel engineer before entering Parliament. Undoubtedly one of the most engaging issues covered in his speech was his views on Iraq, where he argued that the British government should have diplomatically excused itself from involvement in the war but retained good relations with the USA. Describing himself as a "gamekeeper turned poacher" in the political world, Mr. Parris gave a colourful portrait of his views regarding the current political landscape at Westminster. He argued that the role of Parliament had been in decline for at least a century and therefore could not be blamed upon Tony Blair. Questioned upon the relative merits of New Labour and the Conservatives at the next general election, Mr. Parris gave a scathing description of Gordon Brown as the Wizard of Oz — a celebrated figure who would ultimately disappoint expectation. However, despite remaining a resolute Conservative he also pointed out that Cameronism was "an update as opposed to a U-turn" on traditional Conservatism and had some distance to travel before being able to convince the public. Mr. Parris was also able to adopt a lighter tone when asked about his television appearances and dabbling in the genre of "reality TV," thus providing a thoroughly enjoyable evening that had something for everyone.

As the title of the talk suggests, Exeter students were treated to a lively and rather out of the ordinary talk on the current political situation from Evan Harris, Liberal-Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon.

Harris began by criticizing the government's "control freakery" (although he described this as an "understatement") and evasion of issues surrounding sex and religion. He accuses them of "control freakery" on the basis of their extensive use of Whip votes for "conscience" issues such as the blasphemy law which are subject to private belief and thus have traditionally been free-vote issues. Harris pointed out that the government even had to be persuaded to allow a free-vote on embryonic stem cell research and reproductive cloning. As for abortion, Harris underlined that the government has not only managed to avoid any votes on the issues, but has not even debated it since 1991, which he deemed "outrageous, democratically speaking." This is because, according to Harris, it is vital that parliament debates and reviews legislation on non-party issues after elections if they are to continue to be respected.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill and the government's attitude to assisted death and Faith schools were highlighted by Harris as demonstrating the "crisis of the impinging of religiosity on the State". As a leading campaigner for the National Secular Society, this is one of his key concerns. Harris was a key figure behind the successful move to "ambush" the vote on the religious hatred Bill as he considered it a dangerous step away from free speech. He suggested that it was simply a way for the government to make up for the loss of Muslim support caused by the war on terror, since it was only put forward in response to demands made by the Muslim council of Britain. The government's silence over assisted death (despite overwhelming public approval in polls) demonstrates that it is unwilling to tackle the religious lobby when it is united. Harris was particularly critical of government plans to introduce more faith schools, including proposals to introduce a "faith test" for head teachers and up to 25% of teaching staff of such schools. He used the example of Northern Ireland to point out that separating young people along religious and racial grounds ultimately results in hatred and unrest. During his enthusiastic acceptance of the challenges and questions from the audience, he was keen to argue that he did not disagree with the religious lobby's right to exist but that he was against the preferential treatment of faith communities as opposed to non-faith ones.As evidence, he cited special meetings between religious leaders and ministers, faith schools and the huge amount of government funds put into "inter-faith" work .

Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, started his talk to Exonians on Sunday 22nd October by comparing the institution of which he is in charge to Exeter College...driving economists mad but retaining a great deal of cultural credibility!

Mr Thompson went on to outline some of the challenges facing the BBC, both in its worldwide and national broadcasting and internally. While emphasising that a key reason for the BBC's success is its conservation of what are seen to be core values, he also talked of the need to evolve and adapt, in particular in expanding its provision of digital and multimedia technology. The BBC's website is one of the largest in the world, for example, getting over 3.2 billion page views per month, but Mr Thompson felt it was part of the first digital wave and needed reconceiving. Internationally, the BBC has prospered in North America thanks to a growing lack of confidence in the US Media, and he felt this was due in part to the BBC's underlying values of impartiality, accuracy and excellence. The challenge it faces is how to continue to ensure the service's relevance to most of the UK population, while remainin distinctive.

Mr Thompson took questions afterwards on subjects ranging from BBC presence in Asia to the demise of living room TV in favour of solitary watching on the internet. A packed Saskatchewan Room certainly appreciated his clear and informative talk and comprehensive responses to questions. Students also enjoyed the chance to chat to him at post-chapel sherry later in the evening.

On Wednesday 18th October, Exeter College was visited by the former Director General of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, whose status as the service's first female Director General earned her, upon appointment, such tabloid headlines as 'Housewife Super Spy'. Dame Stella certainly put paid to any such perceptions among the audience of undergraduate and graduate students present, speaking about both the demands of her position and how this could affect the life of a single mother, as well as the male-dominated culture of the service ('men in cardigans with leather elbow patches, smoking pipes'!) when she first entered it at the end of the 1960s.

After an informative opening talk, outlining the structure of the intelligence services, their relationship with the government and how their officers are recruited, Dame Stella went on to take questions ranging from her opinion on the controversial 1987 'Spycatcher' book by Peter Wright (she made it clear that this was, in the main, full of factual error, in particular concerning the intelligence services' relationship with the Wilson government) to the inaccuracy of the popular BBC series 'Spooks'! There were also questions about her opinion on how far intelligence gathering can encroach upon civil liberties, the changing nature of anti-terror work and the relationship between the police and MI5. Rector Frances Cairncross described the talk as a 'fascinating, if slightly chilling' insight into the new challenges facing our intelligence services, and it certainly gave all Exonians present a glimpse into an important and much misunderstood profession.

On Wednesday 11th October, Bill Rammell, Labour MP for Harlow and now the Minister for Higher Education, visited Exeter College for a fascinating evening of discussion and debate. Following a High Table dinner in Hall, during which Mr Rammell was able to meet some graduate students as well as members of the SCR, the minister fielded challenging questions from an extremely keen undergraduate and graduate audience who certainly made the most of their opportunity for discussion. After a brief introduction outlining his vision for higher education in the future, which included advocating post- qualification application to university, Mr Ramell was questioned on educational issues ranging from the inevitable top-up fees (which he deemed necessary in order for British universities to remain internationally competitive) to higher A-level pass rates, a phenomenon he painted in a positive light, saying those pupils gaining three A's in the sixth form this year were no less able to benefit from university life than those who did so in the past. Mr Rammell spoke in addition of the need to stimulate more of a US-style endowment process in order to help higher education institutions struggling for funds, and was also keen to point out the recent success of vocational qualification schemes. The minister provided a memorable chance for Exonians to take on one of those most directly responsible for the system in which they are educated. Their rapid-fire questioning from the floor certainly displayed as keen an appetite for debate as for Formal Hall food!

At a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre on Friday September 29th, Professor Jim Hiddleston received one of the University's highest honours, a D Litt. Professor Hiddleston, who was Fellow and Tutor in French at Exeter College for 37 years, retired in 2004. At a special ceremony in the College Chapel, the Rector said, "This is the first time for 30 years that any of our Fellows have received this distinguished degree, and we are all enormously proud to have you here."

Exeter College has teamed up with Oxonia, the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy, to run a series of seminars by distinguished economists from outside Oxford on the theme of globalisation. The series, which is sponsored by HSBC, features Professor Amar Bhide from Columbia University in New York; Professor Nick Crafts from Warwick University; Stephen King, Group Chief Economist of HSBC; and Clive Crook, of the Atlantic Monthly and former Deputy Editor of The Economist.

In a speech to the annual Festival of Science, Frances Cairncross, this year's president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, called for more emphasis on adaptation to climate change. "Even if we put in place all the most energy efficient technologies we now have, we are still likely to see a rise in the concentration of greenhouse gases," she said. "We need to plan for a warmer climate, as well as trying to reduce the pace of global warming." She suggested particularly the development of drought resistant crops, the construction of flood defences and protected north-south corridors across continents to allow species to migrate.

The Rector also said that she had been "scandalised" to discover, from figures produced by the Independent Schools Council, what was happening to the teaching of maths and sciences in Britain's state schools. She pointed out that roughly 45% of A grades in A-level Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics and 58% of A grades in Economics came from independent schools - which educate only 7% of Britain's school children. She also called for a bonus payment to those students and their teachers in state schools who achieved an A grade in A-level Maths.

The full text of the address is available here

President John Kufuor of Ghana, who graduated in 1964, visted Exeter College for dinner on July 5th. The President, who studied Law and then took a degree in PPE, met Christopher Kirwan, one of his former tutors, and Mawuli Ladzekpo, a student of Ghanaian descent, who is studying PPE. He also climbed to the top of Staircase 9 to see his old room, with its view down to Blackwells and Broad Street. The President was accompanied by a large group of distinguished Ghanaians, including the High Commissioner, H.E. Annan-Cato; Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations; and Sir Sam Jonah, non-executive president of AngloGold Ashanti.

Professor Parveen Kumar, in her Presidential address to the BMA on Wednesday June 28, described an experiment in which a group of her students from Barts and the London Hospital had taken part in an event at Exeter College. The aim was to compare the effects of the Problem Based Larning approach with which the Barts and the London students were taught with the classical way in which Exeter College students learn. Emily Pull, a third-year Exeter student, also reviewed a paper from Nature.

"At the end of the day," said Professor Kumar, "the Oxford students thought that my students were very confident and able to tackle problems, whilst my students felt that the pure science, and in particular the paper from Nature reviewed by the Oxford student, was totally over their heads."

For the full transcript visit
https://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/ARM2006presidentaddress

You are warmly invited to join world experts at Exeter College, where Tolkien was an undergraduate, to learn more about his inspiration and extraordinary achievements. The College plays host to a week of seminars and papers given by leading international specialists on Tolkien's Exeter years, the influence of the Great War, the healing power of his narrative, its relevance to religious studies, the authors friendship with French theologian Louis Bouyer, Tolkien and the English Language, Tolkien and Vico and more.

Speakers include Alison Milbank, Verlyn Flieger, John Garth, Marcel Blles, Christina Scull, Stratford Caldecott, Robert Lazu, Marek Oziewicz, Patrick Curry and Wayne G. Hammond. Accommodation in Tolkien's own college is offered at a reasonable price, with full catering served in Exeter College's early seventeenth-century Dining Hall — all right in the heart of Oxford.

For more detailed information on the conference programme, speakers, paper abstracts please visit the conference website.

Sir Michael Jay, Foreign Office Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service, visited Exeter College on Sunday 28th May to give an informative and extremely interactive address on the challenges and main concerns for the UK Foreign Office in the coming years.

Speaking to a Rector's Drawing Room packed with College Fellows, MCR members and undergraduates, many of whom were international students, he began with an outline of the context of today's particular foreign policy issues, from the end of the Second World War to the collapse of Communism and the new post-9/11 era, before going on to explain some of the FCO's current strategic priorities. These he identified as counter-terrorism, conflict prevention and resolution, reducing climate change and building an effective European Union, but also stressed that with whom and how Britain would best work to achieve these goals was another key issue to be addressed.

Sir Michael went on to look in more detail at the shorter term issues of Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, all of which are currently at the top of the foreign policy agenda. He then threw the floor open to questions from his audience, who proved to have interests ranging from the power of the American media to the difficulties of implementing democracy in Iraq, as well as freedom of information and the very topical question of Iranian nuclear development. Many audience members were also interested in his role as the Prime Minister's chief negotiator at last summer's G8 summit at Gleneagles, the results of which he summed up as being "less than I'd hoped but more than I'd feared."

Sir Michael answered all questions in great detail, and while coming to the conclusion that the challenges faced by the UK and the West are as difficult as they have ever been, given the greater uncertainty of a world increasingly lacking in fixed points, he also conveyed great enthusiasm for the work being done at the Foreign Office, which, thanks to its increasing links with domestic policy over issues such as immigration, he described as "a very exciting and interesting place to be." Sir Michael and his wife Lady Sylvia completed their visit to Exeter with a High Table meal in Hall.

On Wednesday the 31st of May the College was visited by the philosopher A C Grayling. Professor Grayling came to speak about his latest book "Among the Dead Cities: Was the Allied Bombing of Civilians in WWII a Necessity or a Crime". He began his talk by giving a very engaging exposition of the ethical debate taking place in the run up to the Second World War surrounding the use of air bombing in warfare. Surprisingly, there was much public resistance to a practice so common in contemporary warfare. However, once WWII was underway, the attitudes of many in the military, government and the general public about the use of bombings changed. Professor Grayling argued that bombing raids, though perfectly legitimate in times of war when targeted on industrial, administrative and other strategic sites, should not be used explicitly against the public, as in the case of WWII. In defence of his argument, his poignant historical account of the suffering of the inhabitants of the German cities bombed spoke for itself. Professor Grayling's talk truly turned tables as he questioned what the constraints of war should be, even on the part of the "good" side.

On Friday 26th May, Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation, gave a thought provoking and fascinating insight into his role within government and the areas he has been involved with throughout the eight years held in this position. The discussion included information on a broad array of topics including: energy resources, GM food, the teaching of science and, the highly controversial subject in Oxford, of animal rights protesters.

Lord Sainsbury was open to questions on both general political issues and his associated areas within government and evoked a lively debate on the communication between basic science and applied science and the problems, and possible solutions, of improving the relationship between the two fields in order for further progression in both disciplines. Lord Sainsbury gave a highly interesting and informing speech which illustrated and discussed many of the past, present and future issues involved in science.

Crew	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
M1
W1
M2
W2
M3

Saturday

Saturday of Summer Eights has always drawn the largest attendance out of all of the regattas held on the Isis, and the bad weather did nothing to discourage the rowers, their families and numerous supporters this year. Exeter's boat house was once again full to bursting point and the crews were delighted to have such an audience.

The Exeter Men's Third VIII rowed well, inspired by the presence of "Macy", the resident Exeter cheerleading teddy bear, but were sadly caught by St John's just before the gut. The crew then challenged the Christ Church Third VIII to a mini row-off on the paddle home, which involved more splashing each other than rowing!

Exeter's Men's and Women's Second boats both lost out to blades-winning crews, the women to Jesus, and the men to Wadham. Both crews put on a good performance and held the chasing crew for a good stretch of the river.

The Women's First VIII showed their impressive strength by bumping Linacre early on in the race. The crew and coach, Tom Williams, were very pleased, in spite of being denied blades by the unfortunate events of Thursday's race. The Men's First VIII put up a heroic effort and were both technically impressive and aggressively fast off the start but sadly could not hold off the University College VIII for the entire 1.5km course length.

Exeter's crews performed excellently and the hard work and intensive training undertaken were clearly evident in all of the races, but the competition from other colleges was fierce: three of today's bumps were won by crews that had bumped each day and will now collect their "blades." Tonight Exeter plays host to the annual ECBCA dinner, where the Men's and Women's First VIIIs will have a chance to relax and swap stories with Old Members who raced in Summer Eights when they were students.

Friday

Today saw yet another eventful day down at the boat house, this time with the added bonus of Pimms being served! The weather started off patchy with light rain, but soon ameliorated into blue sky and calm river conditions. The Men's 3rd VIII rowed well and were close to gaining a bump, but unfortunately were bumped by Trinity III before they could close on LMH II. The Women's 2nd VIII continued the trend of being bumped with the added excitement of being blown into the trees, and their cox, Holly Mears, being hit by a St Anne's blade! Nonetheless, their spirits remained buoyant and were heard singing "row row row your boat" on their return journey.

The Men's 2nd VIII rowed over for a second day, whilst the Women's 1st VIII satisfyingly bumped Brasenose, their opponents from Thursday, after a mere 28 strokes. The Men's 1st Division was delayed by a pleasure boat full of cheering children who were promptly booed by spectators at the boat houses. When the division was finally able to begin, it was klaxoned because of a faulty starting gun! After an eventual restart, the Men's 1st VIII were unfortunately bumped by a "lucky" (according to the crew) St Catz boat.

From elsewhere on the river, Christ Church bumped Oriel for the first time in twenty one years! All in all, a good day's rowing was had down on the Isis with mixed results.

Thursday

ECBC as a collective put in a resilient performance on what eventually became a bright and warm second day of Summer Eights. Both the Men's Third VIII and the Women's Second VIII recorded successful row overs which were later emulated by the senior crews. The Herculean efforts of the Men's Second VIII saw them hold off a confident Lincoln crew, proving their commitment and fitness after the misfortune of Wednesday's bump. Endurance and passion saw the crew open up a substantial distance between themselves and their ardent Turl street pursuers.

The Women's First VIII were cheated out of a bump that would have set them up for another round of "blades." Confusion and the eventual decision of a technical row over left a sour taste in the mouth of a crew that is markedly superior to the remainder of the division. We can only hope for better luck on the penultimate day of racing. The Men's First VIII, however, once again held their ground in the 1st Division; a clear sign of the rapid development of a young crew that can now stand up to the world class opposition with which they are faced. Tomorrow will see a tougher test as the fast St Catz crew challenge our men for sixth place in the river. Let us hope that Friday will bring success so that the sound of "floriat exon" may drown out the unimaginative and more abrasive chants of lesser rowing colleges.

Wednesday

Like the weather, the rowing today saw a mixed range of results. The Men's Third VIII heroically kept the boat behind them at bay to "row over" while the Women's Second VIII conceded a bump from a crew provocatively dressed in snazzy sailor outfits — their tactics were clearly those of distraction rather than technique!

The Men's Seconds were also bumped but the Women's First VIII managed to lift Exeter's spirits by securing a speedy bump — hopefully the first on the way to a second round of "blades" in two terms. The Men's First VIII rowed over, a tough feat in a competitive division.

Overall, Exeter Boat Club displayed some solid rowing that will hopefully stand us in good stead for the rest of the week.

On May 10th Dr Klaus Leisinger, special advisor to the UN secretary General on the Global Compact and head of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, spoke to students about the role of business in upholding human rights. As his very presence at Exeter demonstrated we are truly living in a globalised world in which our "spheres of influence" stretch further than we can imagine. Dr Leisinger that, if companies were to operate with in failing states and to compete with "integrity", they must think hard about how exactly they define their own "sphere of influence". Respect for human rights, enlightened management and concern for the welfare of those connected to an individual business should not stop at the factory gates but should also apply to business partners, suppliers and even the governments to which the companies paid tax. Although Dr Leisinger accepted that it was virtually impossible for a company to take responsibility for each stage, large companies must set an example.

Dr Leisinger accepted that there might be differences in the extent to which companies should be held accountable: for instance, in developing economies, businesses must be given a chance to get on their feet. Yet, while keen to emphasis the importance of context, he also was clear about the need for a key set of rules that should be kept unconditionally, such as a requirement for a living wage.

For companies, concern for human rights could bring benefits, if it acted as a stimulant to good economic performance or as a safe guard against harmful law suits and even more harmful bad publicity. Reputation can account for 40-60 percent of a company's value, and maintaining this is critical. A company that focuses on transparency and discussion of such issues will also have an early warning system if an unexpected crisis does materialize.

Dr Leisinger persuaded his audience that the issues surrounding business and human rights will only grow in importance as markets become more and more open and transactions with China expand. The issue seems set to be hotly debated in the lead up to the Bejing Olympics.

Julia Higgins gave her perhaps unorthodox career progression (from reading Physics at Somerville College as an undergraduate, followed by a doctorate in Physical Chemistry, and ending up as Professor of Polymer Science at Imperial College, London) as an example of the usefulness of conversation between scientists from different backgrounds. It is often when techniques or experiences from one field are applied to a novel problem or situation in a different discipline that a breakthrough is made.

Her position as Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) enabled Dame Julia to give an insight into what makes a successful application for graduate study funding. In her view, the best applications proposed well-considered, interesting, achievable, and useful projects. Professor Higgins is also Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society and spoke of celebrations being planned to mark the organization's 350th anniversary in 2010. The audience at the seminar enjoyed the opportunity to question Julia Higgins about her diverse experience in an impressive number of areas.

Tom Melia, a second-year physicist was runner-up in the Physics speaking competition 2006 for his talk "Harmony and discord in music". The judges described the standard as "very high" and commended competitors for the way they handled the last-minute change of venue and the technology - especially when it did not behave properly!

Professor Raymond Dwek, Fellow of Exeter College and head of the Oxford Biochemistry department, has been elected a Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society.

Frances Cairncross, the Rector, has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

On Thursday 4 May, life scientists from Exeter's JCR, MCR, and SCR gathered for an evening of discussion, dinner, and debate. The event was designed to stimulate interdisciplinary conversation between biochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, cellular pathologists, and medics. Proceedings began with short presentations on the current research of three members of the MCR: Andy Tsun, Bevin Gangadharan, and Matthew Locke. Each presentation was followed by a question and answer session in which the students explained and defended their projects well! The final talk was a light-hearted but genuine advertisement from fifth year medic James McCaffrey encouraging the undergraduate pre- clinical medics to consider staying at Exeter to complete their clinical school. Exeter now has a Fellow in Clinical Medicine and is keen to retain as many of its undergraduate medics as possible.

Following pre-dinner drinks in the Rector's Lodgings, the party moved to hall where Dr James Kennedy gave a pre-dinner speech considering the need to improve dialogue between basic scientists at the bench and clinicians at the bedside. Following insightful contributions both for and against aspects of this proposal from other members of the SCR present (Profs Vaughan-Jones, Watkins, and Griffiths, and Drs Taylor and Brain), graduates and undergraduates were invited to contribute and the debate turned to other contentious issues such as research on animals and drugs trials. An enjoyable evening was had by all, and hopefully this valuable initiative by the Rector will have succeeded in doing that which was being discussed over dinner - providing a forum for debate and stimulating beneficial dialogue between different disciplines within the life sciences field.

Does Africa need more aid? Paul Collier, Professor of Economics at Oxford and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, gave a cautious "yes" when he spoke to Exeter students at the Rector's seminar on Wednesday 3 May. Africa's average growth per head in the past few decades had been a mere 0.1 percent per head in the past few decades. But it would have been negative without aid. And natural resources, such as oil, was even less help: Nigeria, Africa's largest oil-rich country, had become poorer, not richer. Overall, Africa's growth was diverging from that of the rest of the developing world by around 5 per cent a year.

Professor Collier was scathing about recent populist campaigns to increase aid and extend debt relief. Aid would be more effective, he argued, if bolstered by better and more accountable governance, protection for African goods from Asian competition, and more appropriate targeting of funds.

The College has elected to a Fellowship in Mathematics (with effect 1^st October 2006) Professor N I M Gould.

Nick Gould is a worldwide leader in the field of numerical optimization, widely known for his methods and software for solving large-scale nonlinear problems.

After a First in Mathematics at Corpus in 1979, followed in 1972 by a D.Phil. in Numerical Methods he spent three years teaching at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He returned to work at Harwell Laboratory, and moved from there to the Rutherford Laboratory in 1990. While based at these laboratories he has held many visiting appointments, and since 1998 has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Nick's webpage tells us that his other interests include church-bell ringing, hill walking, messing about on canals, mushroom collecting, and appreciating cask-conditioned ales of all varieties. He is a long-suffering supporter of Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Further Details

The entire site of Exeter College was turned into a gangster era playground on the night of Saturday 22^nd April, for the college's annual black tie ball. Complete with live bands (including Exeter's own 'Hammer Versus the Snake'), human roulette, speakeasies and not one but two chocolate fountains, there was enough to ensure that everyone could get a taste of the '20s.

Old Members were able to enjoy a champagne reception in the 'Golden Ticket' area in the Lodgings. One of the biggest highlights was the dodgems on the front quad, on which even the Rector was seen to be enjoying herself! The hard work of the ball committee resulted in a sellout occasion and one which will be remembered for terms to come!

David Willetts MP, the Shadow Education Secretary, visited the Rector's Lodgings on Wednesday March 1^st. The visit was particularly well-timed given that just a day earlier the Government's controversial education bill was published. He described the bill as "a step in the right direction" and pledged to support the Government as long as it remained so.

During his speech, Mr Willetts was candid about the challenges facing the Conservative party and expressed his confidence in the David Cameron's leadership. He also reminisced about days as an Oxford student, where he developed a fascination for free market economics that ultimately led him into the world of politics.

Towards the end of his visit, Mr Willetts showed exactly why he is known around Westminster as 'Two Brains', answering his audience's questions on a wide range of topics, from early years learning to American politics, in remarkable detail.

Exonians packed the Saskatchewan Lecture Room on Sunday afternoon (26th February) to hear Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and Oxford alumnus, speak on the changing mission of the police force.

Sir Ian highlighted the challenges now faced by London's police as they adapt to new counter-terrorism needs and attempt to balance these with a greater focus on community based policing. As well as acknowledging such difficulties, however, he also emphasised the many positive aspects of the Met's work, in particular the increase in ethnic minority recruitment and the cohesion of British anti-terror networks relative to the U.S and Europe.

Much of the talk was given over to questions, whose topics ranged from ID cards and data retention to firearms and bobbies on the beat, and all of which Sir Ian answered with panache.

It is terrifying how quickly one becomes accustomed to Exeter College.s status as a historical treasure house; the seventeenth century dining hall becoming as much a part of the daily routine as the Kellogg's Frosties we eat in it. However, the tremendous pool of resources, material and human, that Exeter supplies us with is breathtaking.

This fact was underlined on Wednesday when Correlli Barnett, an ex-Exonian and now prestigious author of English military and economic history, came to speak at the Rector.s lodgings. He gave a fascinating talk on the influence of moral imperative and Christian piety on the decision to enter into armed conflict. The breadth of his historical insight, which spanned over two centuries, was impressive, yet the overall subject of his talk - imperial overstretch - managed to bring the past into a highly provocative dialogue with the present. Barnett argues that Britain is currently facing a severe overstretch of her military resources. The government's refusal to reduce its commitment in a long list of politically unstable hot-spots from Kosovo and Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan is practically un-viable as well as economically damaging. The reason behind what Barnett sees as this irrationality is the personal Christian piety of the Prime Minister combined with the cultural and political hangover of an obsolete Victorian identity.

Barnett traces this motif of moral fervour in government from the early nineteenth century. He points to the drive of Matthew Arnold, the great Victorian headmaster, to build a Christian, intellectual elite that would pursue moral 'duty' in international relations. He sees the Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy as an example of this mentality in pre-war Britain. By 1937 Britain faced military and economic overstretch. It faced a list of Imperial commitments, responsibility as a member of the League of Nations and the triple threat of Germany, Italy and Japan. Barnett claims that the "strategic overstretch of Empire led to its strategic collapse" after the war. The subsequent post-war economic weakness of the British economy was partly attributable to the inordinate size of Britain's defence budget. The justification for this spending was that it fulfilled the "nostalgic delusion" that Britain could maintain its status as a first-class world power in the cold-war period. The same "high minded interference," Barnett argues, led a post-Imperial Britain into a whole range of new military entanglements in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The only way the military could be saved from overstretch in the contemporary world is through the overturn of a political agenda that places moral and religious responsibility before national economic and strategic interest. This argument raises provocative questions that reach straight to the heart of contemporary issues of the legal legitimacy of war, political power, cultural identity and globalisation. Barnett's position seems to suggest ideally an insular political system, concerned with economic success rather than principalled intervention abroad. Yet this gives rise to perception of selfish self-interest. There is no straightforward moral position.

Barnett's insights into this much debated problem were refreshing and powerfully thought-provoking.

Gareth Tilley, an Australian student reading for the BCL at Exeter this year, together with James Chegwidden of Magdalen College, has won the Shearman & Sterling University of Oxford Mooting Competition, undefeated.

Of the 46 teams that entered the competition, the top 12 were selected to contest the oral rounds last Saturday at St Catherine's College. Gareth and James defeated a team from Brasenose in the grand final, judged by Mr Justice Walker of the High Court of England and Wales. In addition to prize money of £500, they will both take up seasonal clerkships in the London office of law firm Shearman & Sterling.

The Right Reverend Michael Langrish, the 70th Bishop of Exeter, whose predecessor Walter de Stapeldon founded Exeter College in 1314, made a visit to the college on Sunday 12th February to preach to a packed chapel at Evensong.

The Bishop's sermon reported a debate on slavery at the General Synod, in which one speaker had pointed out that a former Bishop of Exeter, Henry Philpotts, had been a slave-owner. Focusing on chapter three of Paul's letter to the Philippians, the Bishop remarked on the apostle's twin qualities of disciplined analysis of the past and vision for the future, and linked this to current campaigns to 'Make Poverty History', saying that both these approaches needed to be applied in tandem if such efforts are to succeed.

The chapel choir's performance of Herbert Howell's setting of a Prudentius poem, 'Humnus circa Exsequias Defuncti' added to the atmosphere of what will be remembered an evocative and thought provoking service.

Tim Harford, columnist with Slate and with the FT Magazine, and former World Bank employee, visited the Rector's Lodgings on Sunday February 12th. He gave a very engaging expose of the history of game theory, from its influence on the Vietnam War to its origins in poker playing. Though his talk was entitled "How Economics can change your Life", Mr. Harford conceded that game theory is unable to explain many types of behaviour: the jury is still out on whether with game theory economists may have been dealt a bad hand.

Mr. Harford's forthcoming book - 'The Undercover Economist' - will be published in March.

Exeter was delighted to welcome popular exponent of mathematics Marcus du Sautoy on 8th February. Professor du Sautoy addressed an audience of mathematicians, as well as students from other disciplines, as he explained the history and importance of prime numbers.

Drawing on examples from Beckham's selection of the number 23 football shirt to cryptography, du Sautoy, the University's Royal Society research fellow, presented a complex topic in clear terms, with interludes from films such as "Pi" and "Sneakers."

Following his talk, Prof. du Sautoy answered questions about the elegance of mathematics, and the threat to modern cryptography from quantum computers.

Continuing a succession of recent visits by high profile figures from the media scene, Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian newspaper, talked to a large audience of Exeter students on Friday 3^rd February about the ongoing challenges faced by the newspaper industry.

Citing the example of the success of the Californian-based information site 'Craig's List', he underlined the extent of the competition faced by the print media, in advertising as well as sales revenue, from online sources, and went on to outline some of the methods being developed in order to bridge the gap between the expanding online industry and the decreasing market for printed newspapers. Famous for his bold move in taking the Guardian to its current continental shape, the passion for innovation displayed by Alan 'Berliner' Rusbridger made it clear how he has managed to buck this trend for decline.

Before enjoying a high table dinner, Mr. Rusbridger also took questions on a variety of subjects, including his recent decision not to publish the infamously inflammatory Danish cartoons, providing a thought provoking end to an insightful evening.

Diners at Exeter's Sunday formal hall were treated to an after dinner speaker with a difference on 22nd January. Professor Lord Robert Winston, Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College School of Medicine, dined at high table before engaging in a lively question and answer session with assembled students, who were keen to discuss not only his current research on transgenic pigs but also the many ethical questions that endeavours in the field of genetics and embryology inevitably raise.

In an evening attended by many non-scientists as well as biochemists, chemists and medics, Professor Lord Winston's clear explanation of his work, in addition to detailed discussion of the issues involved in current genetic research, was much appreciated by all who attended. Rector Frances Cairncross commented that it had been a fascinating evening of 'intellectual fireworks'.

Two members of Exeter College, Jan Dominique Decard and David Maren, have won the prestigious JP Morgan award for the best New Business Development Plan at the Said Business School for 2004-05.

The pair were required to write and present the plan as part of the completion of their MBA degrees, and came up with a strategy for the international launch of a popular American baby product, called the 'Boppy' pillow, for use specifically with newborn babies.

In his acceptance speech for the award, which was contested between some thirty five-person teams at the Said, David attributed his team's victory to its distribution plan, fuelled by bio-diesel. And the prize? A sum of cash which David promptly used to pay off his battels!

Will Hutton, Chief Executive of the Work Foundation and former editor of the Observer newspaper, visited Exeter College on November 30th to talk about the power of the media.

In a demonstration of media power, Mr Hutton broke off the seminar early in order to broadcast on Radio Four's The World Tonight about Lord Turner's report on pensions. However, he compensated by taking several people in his audience to the studio at Radio Oxford to watch the interview take place. As one student commented, "It was a true multi-media experience."

On November 26th, about 40 members of Exeter College's Middle Common Room spent a day in Cambridge, visiting Exeter's sister college there, Emmanuel. The group were given lunch by Emmanuel's MCR, which offered honemade sandwiches and cakes. In spite of the rain and cold (weather that Oxford never suffers from, of course), the graduates spent some time sight-seeing in the city before being invited to drinks by Lord Wilson, Master of the College and his wife. Lord Wilson is former Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet.

The graduates were amused to discover that neither he nor the Rector of Exeter knew why the two colleges were sisters, and left Cambridge promising to discover and report the result in next year's Exon magazine.

After a hard term of training, Exeter's Men's A boat rowed to victory in Christ Church Regatta, competing against more than 70 crews in the annual novice event.

Christ Church regatta is held at the end of Michaelmas term and gives new rowers a chance to compete with crews of a similar ability. Exeter has enjoyed much success in this regatta, coming first three times in the last four competitions. The Women's A boat finished in the top four, building on the experience of the blade-winning First Eight this summer. With the addition of a new boat, the Phillip Pullman, to Exeter's boat house, this achievement is a sign of great things to come for Exeter College Boat Club.

Bow	Christopher Lee
2	Andrew Williamson
3	Matthew Yeowart
4	Julian de Hoog
5	Christopher Beaumont
6	Evren Cubukgil
7	Nick Niedermowwe
Stroke	Andrew Platt
Cox	Madeleine Warnick

Coaches: James Arthur, Dirk-Jan Omtzigt