MICHAELMAS TERM / ISSUE 34 FROM THE MASTER Term is over and the College is in the in 2007) to 625. Applications have risen midst of ‘admissions week’ – in reality, a across the university, but Univ has recorded fortnight rather than a week of interviewing, the third largest increase (at 44% in the past assessing and ranking hopeful applicants for two years) among all the colleges. an undergraduate place at Univ. Inevitably The pressure is not just a matter of many of them are nervous – only an managing larger numbers. It comes partly exceptionally self-confident eighteen year old from the growing difficulty of fairly wouldn’t be – but the College does its best to differentiating applicants on the basis of relax them both on their arrival and in the predicted A level results (and uniformly Sir Ivor Crewe interviews. Contrary to longstanding myths, enthusiastic school references) alone, when so precisely what weight to give the uncertainty the interviews take the form of friendly many more A grades are awarded than a of future performance over the fact of conversations, not ferocious interrogations. generation ago. But it also arises from the examination results. It would not justify There are no trick questions to trip up the hotly disputed definition of a ‘fair’ admissions offering places to applicants with B grades or unwary, or clever debating points designed to procedure. lower, whatever their personal circumstances, knock candidates off balance or irrelevant The government’s recent ten-year given the unrelenting growth in the award of enquiries into family background. The forward look on universities (‘Higher A grades. Potential is notoriously difficult to purpose of the interview is to encourage Ambitions’) yet again calls upon ‘the most judge reliably and past performance must be applicants to demonstrate their intellectual selective universities’ to take contextual data an important indicator, even if it is not the and imaginative abilities, in particular their and academic potential, as well as only one. capacity to think for themselves. performance, into account when offering Competition for places at Oxford is The pressure is on the Fellows too. The places, implying that this would be a new spiralling, with many more outstanding admissions system is now designed to ensure departure. It would not be. Oxford has done candidates (from overseas as well as the UK) that candidates are neither advantaged nor as much for years. The whole purpose of the than there are places. A fair admissions disadvantaged by virtue of the college they interview is to judge potential as distinct from system, which incorporates academic choose as their first preference, so in performance and applicants who fall into potential and looks deeper than A levels do, admissions week Fellows work from dawn to educationally and economically disadvantaged cannot be based on a mechanistic formula. It dinner rank-ordering all the candidates for categories are summoned for interview, so must rely on the integrity and experience of Univ in their subject and ensuring that strong long as they are predicted to obtain three A the Fellows who will be teaching those whom candidates who meet the criteria are found a grades at A level. they admit to the College. From everything I place in Oxford even if it is not at their first- Assessing potential as well as performance have learned since arriving at Univ, I am choice college. But at Univ the strain has is surely right, but that doesn’t make it any confident that our Fellows exercise their been compounded by a surge in applications easier for the admissions tutors. It begs the judgement with scrupulous sensitivity and to the College, up from 494 in 2008 (and 435 question of how to measure potential and fairness. FELLOWS’ NEWS PROFESSOR TIFFANY Nationalism in Europe, 1890-1940 by DR On 2 and 3 October, THE MASTER, SIR IVOR STERN, Beaverbrook and OLIVER ZIMMER, Fellow and Praelector in CREWE, convened a small conference in the Bouverie Fellow and Modern History, will appear in Japanese College on ‘Policy Failure in UK Tutor in English, has translation this year, and in Chinese Government’ attended by leading academic published Documents of translation next year. specialists and former senior Government Performance in Early officials. Among the participants was Lord Modern England DR CATHERINE HOLMES, Fellow and Butler, the former Master. The conference (Cambridge: CUP, 2009). Praelector in Modern History, organised a was held in preparation for a research With Australian colleagues one-day workshop at Univ in July 2009 on investigation on the causes and consequences she has won an ARC the theme of ‘Political Culture in Three of policy and administrative failure in UK (Australian Research Council) ‘Discovery Spheres: Byzantium, Islam and the West (711- domestic policy, co-directed with Professor Project Award’ of $88,500 (Australian) for 1453)’. This was part of a longer-term project Anthony King of the University of Essex and ‘Rehearsal without a director: Rethinking involving medieval historians from across the funded by the Economic and Social Research theatre history’. UK, Europe and the US. Council. COLLEGE NEWS This summer, current Univ student, IVO It was a very happy occasion, and both our to bobsleigh, ultimately earning himself a GRAHAM (2008, MODERN LANGUAGES), nonagenarians were on splendid form. Chris place in the GB team. Qualification for the won first prize in the leading comedy new act Pelling (Fellow and Praelector in Classics 1974 2010 Winter Olympic Games is certainly competition, ‘So You Think You're Funny?’, –2003 and now Regius Professor of Greek) within reach for Henry, given that he finished previously awarded to the likes of Dylan and David Bell (Sollas Fellow in Geology 1970 22nd at the World Championships in Lake Moran and Peter Kay. Since first becoming –2000) respectively toasted George and David, Placid, USA, alongside John Jackson in interested in stand up last Christmas, Ivo who both gave appropriately lively speeches February earlier this year. performed every day in a show at the in return. Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year and has also German overseas imperialism in the late recently set up his own Oxford comedy club, George Cawkwell thanks all those who sent him nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has the Ministry of Mirth. greetings for his 90th birthday, too many he been neglected in literature for far too long regrets to say for individual replies. although it strongly contributed to the On Sunday 26 July, PROFESSOR MICHAEL political culture especially of the Wilhelmine COLLINS, Pye Fellow in Mathematics and CHISATO KUSUNOKI (1998, MUSIC) gave a era. In fact, the consequences of German Chairman of the Univ SCR, successfully magnificent piano recital on Tuesday 28 colonialism were to be felt in many areas of completed the San Francisco Half Marathon, October in the Master’s Lodgings, where the life and even stimulated exotic phantasies. In coming 4th out of 123 men over the age of hospitality of Sir Ivor and Lady Crewe was Emeritus Fellow, HARTMUT POGGE VON sixty (only two minutes away from third much appreciated. Chisato has donated to the STRANDMANN’s place!) and 1,022nd out of nearly 8000 College a number of copies of one of her recently published participants overall. recent CDs which illustrates her great talent book, the economic and range in works by Schubert, Medtner, interests concerned and Chopin, Liapunov and Hackbridge Johnson. their influence on The CDs are available to Old Members to colonial policy in purchase for £12.00 (postage free); Chisato Africa, China and the wishes the proceeds to go to the Annual South Seas are analysed. Fund. Please email Brian Loughman Although the book is ([email protected]) to buy a currently only available copy. in German, it is hoped that it will be translated into English in the near future. On 3 November, HENRIQUE MEIRELLES, Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil, came DR GRAHAM TAYLOR, former Weir JRF at Two former Univ English graduates, MARTIN to Oxford to give the Global Economic Governance Annual Lecture, 2009-10, at the Univ and now Tutorial Fellow at Jesus, has READER (1986) and SIR ANDREW MOTION been involved in groundbreaking research (1971), met on 30 September when Andrew University’s Examination Schools. Meirelles, whose lecture was entitled ‘Why we need a into the secrets of long-haul insect flight. opened a new English building at Wellington A team of five academics employed high-speed School, where Martin is Headmaster. They new global economic order: Brazil, the BRICs and the world economy’, was named by video cameras to capture how locusts’ wings shared many fond memories of English at change shape during flight, used computer Univ including tutorials with Dr Roy Park. Euromoney as Central Bank Governor of the Year in 2007, and more recently as Brazilian modelling to reconstruct those shape changes The former Poet Laureate held a creative in 3D, and finally ran aerodynamic writing workshop for sixth-form students of the Year 2008 by Brazil’s ISTOE magazine. The event was part of the Global Financial simulations to discover how the wings enable followed by a poetry reading and book such tiny locusts to make inter-continental signing. Regulation Speaker Series and was followed by a drinks reception, also in the Exam flights. Graham and his team concluded that by changing shape, insect wings produce 50% Schools. It was as an undergraduate at University more lift for the same power input than College Oxford that STEPHEN SPENDER comparable rigid wings. The team now aim to (1927) first became associated with such build this same technology into an efficient British literary figures as W. H. Auden, flapping wing for use in miniature air vehicles.