Felix Issue 0297, 1971

IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION, FEBRUARY 25, 1971 No. 299 mSmmm JULIE EGE It III OPENS FETE Carnival Week began at midnight on Friday, 12th Feb. at the Lyceum, and ended on Saturday with the incredible fete opened by the equally impressive Miss Julie Ege. The Lyceum all-nighter was attended by an appreci- ative audience of around 1600. Considering the ex- cellent entertainment for 15/-, it was surprisingly (or typically) supported by only Tavern in Tottenham Court tit-illating smiles. 100 or so people from I.C. Road for a few small beers; Anyway it made £1,100, of the proprietor seemed un- "Tailor made" which Carnival received concerned until the "unex- 10 per cent. pected" timely arrivel of the THE END was in sight on ELSEWHERE IN FELIX Saturday morning saw Rugby Club en masse from Saturday with Miss Julie tiddleywinks No 2 which U.C., when he finally called Ege-without-the-'D' opening turned out 60 enthusiastic the police to clear the pre- the Carnival fete half-an- Page 2—To Hell with Exams winkers and a gorilla, all of mises at half past ten. hour late due to her being Page 3—Judith whom proceeded along the The two barrels left ruined waylaid in Linstead Hall new underground section of any hope of sponsorship, as bar. Having cost nothing Page 4—Physics the course from Marble Arch did the Met Police who cun- and done everything, she Page 5—Essex to Bond Street, finishing with ningly built a police station was "tailor-made" for the carol-singing in Piccadilly not a hundred yards away. occasion, and brought a fit- Page 7—Sports Circus and an attempted A quiet Thursday gave ting end to a Carnival Week break-in to Emperor Rosko's way to the Carnival Revue which has apparently made live Radio 1 show in Lower with full supporting artist(e)s, about £800, bringing the Regent Street. and a self-supporting strip- Carnival total to date to If this wasn't enough for per, delighted us all with her about £3,300. any masochist, the Carnival XI and a gorilla turned out on Sunday to play football against the Thighs XI. The final score, 7-2 for Thighs, was not surprising consider- Mike Migrates! ing that half the Carnival team joined forces with the link door (fire escape) is not ance some years ago, and be- Thighs at half-time. An ex- Only a few weeks after the installation of I.C.'s mascot lockable. Two windows fore any of the present haustive match which was from the former S.C.R. on- members of WHO were at finished early due to a fas- on its plinth, the 4ft. micro- meter "Mike", has been to the roof at street level be- I.C.) Moreover, the letter cist gardener from Hyde hind the Union building had of challenge sent out to the Park telling us to b. off and stolen, and the plinth in the Union lower Lounge left been forced to allow an easy other Colleges in 1966, when this was followed by a mini- getaway. Mike was first installed, had invasion of Speakers' Corner smashed, presumably by students from another Col- When asked to explain how specified that the plinth was where the gorilla more than inviolate. made his presence kown. lege. its supposedly unbeatable alarm system had failed to At the time of going to Multi-farious events oc- Mike's theft was discover- go off, WHO (the Wooden press, no clues had been re- curred, not least the contro- ed by the Security Guards at Horse Organisation) said ceived as to who had stolen versial tube collection, so 5.40 a.m. last Friday morn- that not all the alarms had Mike, and so no attempts highly praised by the public ing. Maria, the plinth, had been installed, due to per- have yet been made to re- that 89 letters of congratula- been raped with crowbars son or persons unknown cover him. However, when tion were handed in at Char- and chisels, and Mike had pushing their Araldite into the need arises, WHO will ing Cross. been torn out from its plinth, Maria's locks some time need more members—apply complete with clamp assem- ago. In any case, no alarms via the Union letter rack Fitzroy bly. No clues or messages were envisaged to detect ('W'). In the meantime, I.C. were left at the scene, smashing of the plinth, as carpenters have constructed though a large cold chisel such a circumstance had a strong wooden chastity And so on till the attempt was found on the floor. to drink a pub dry on Wed- never been considered. The box to protect Maria from nesday morning/afternoon/ The raiders appeared to plinth had always been be- further violation, and to evening when 100 revellers have entered from third floor lieved to be unsmashable (it hide from the Public the re- turned out to the Fitzroy Old Beit Hall, where the was built by I.C. mainten- mains of her shattered virtue. Page 2 FELIX February 25, 1971 Late Letters TO HELL WITH EXAMS! But what ways are there out of the rigid exam system? of one's self, that one has at the end. Teaching should be We can make teaching much more work and sMU oriented, designed to give every student the opportunity to feel these A day in the life less tied to syllabuses, and more 'liberal.' And it is necessary skills growing inside him, and because what students can do to be aware of a great danger here. The danger is that be- varies enormously from one to another it is quite silly to Dear Diary, more of my text book. The coming more 'liberal' is seen to mean having more diverse try to force them into the same mould and measure them all afternoon was spent in the studies, and I think this is quite mistaken. There is enormous by the same test. Today I got up at 8.30 laboratory where I completed value in specialisation: it gives the specialist authority and I have come to dislike exams rather strongly because they a.m. I ate my breakfast and a very important experiment confidence. It gives him the experience of doing things in wreck the relationships I try to establish in teaching: with caught the bus to college. on the Transistor Amplifier. fields in which he can exercise initiative, and education for clever students they are an unnecessary bore in every sense, During the journey I read an At 5.30 p.m. I came back life is equipping people to use their initiative, to feel confi- with weak students they are quite pernicious because they Electronics text book. to my digs and, after tea, I dent with some justification, to feel responsible, to feel that impose on the teacher and student the task of grooming him completed all my problems they understand their judgements and are not passing the for a kind of athletic performance he is no good at and I arrived at college at 9.20 real responsibility elsewhere. The mere fact of being a spec- not helping him to grow into the best person he can be. All and since I had ten minutes from today and copied up my lab. Afterwards I read my ialist gives a person something that a well-rounded, liberal the nonesense about discipline that we hear in connection to spare before the lecture minded, balanced person who is not a specialist can never with exams arises because we are trying to do silly things started, I didn't waste them text books in preparation for tomorrow's lectures. I am have. The experience of operating specialist skills is exhilar- with the wrong people, and so of course we have to introduce but continued reading my ating and is, incidentally, a path to experiences which some some form of artificial compulsion. text book. When the lecture just about to go to bed at 10.30 p.m. people seek through drugs (and do not ever grasp because Students who argue the case against exams will carry most started I took notes on all the skills never become built into their conscious and con- weight if they show that they positively want to get on with that the lecturer said. It was But, dear diary, today I trolled selves). some other aspect of the learning business and that exams very interesting. At the end met a strange sort of student. Exams are a terrible imposition on those who do not get in the way of this. It is less credible if the student com- he gave out a new problem He was telling me that he plains he is being persecuted by the system (even though it is sheet. expect to be successful. It is no use talking about lazy had only done the first prob- students. People do not fail through laziness but through true), and that side of the argument should be left to the At 10.30 we had no lecture lem sheet and he was five labs lack of incentive. One of the great justifications for exams teachers, who feel it strongly and are more likely to be so I went into the study behind in copying up. His is that they provide incentive, and if they fail to do this believed. The students, will, I hope respond with enthusiasm room. Since I was up to reason was that he didn't in any individual case, that person becomes a victim of a to opportunities to get on with real work.

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