FRIDAY OCTOBER IOH-. 1958. NO. 123. IMPERIAL COLLEGE ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE I.C. STUDENT'S CAR USED IN £7000 HAUL KARAKORAM A T LAST AN I.C. STUDENT HAS HAD CAUSE TO WELCOME THE INTERVENTION OF THE POLICE. /\ LAST JUNE, WITH LONDON STILL IN THE THROES OF THE BUS STRIKE AND THE IMPERIAL JL COLLEGE ENVELOPED IN THE PERSPIRING VORTEX OF EXAMINATIONS, A GENEROUS FATHER KAOS DEIGNED TO ALLOW HIS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SON THE USE OF HIS CAR - AN M.G. MAGNETTE. THE DUTIFUL SON, ARRIVING FOR AN EXAMINATION, CAREFULLY PARKING HIS CAR IN FRONT OF THE RODERIC HILL BUILDING, VANISHED FOR THE REQUISITE PERIOD OF MENTAL EXERTION. "The most ambitious project spon- sored by the Exploration Board during Later, when the doors disgorged the unhappy band of examinees, the same stu- its two years' existenoe was a full- dent was further confounded to find that his oar had disappeared. At first, sus- scale expedition to the Karakoram. pecting a student prank, he did not call the police but performed a painstaking Only a preliminary report on the work search of the area, unaware that the MG Magnet te was speeding Northwards in des- of this expedition oan be given at perate hands. The following day an elderly lady reported the loss of a new Rover this stage." from outside her Chelsea flat. Some 48 hours later in Derby, a Thus reads part of the 1S55-57 oar was rammed by a Rover, the occup- Report issued by the Imperial College ants attacked and deprived of a case Exploration Board last year. oontaining £7,000 by two men who es- caped in a waiting MG Magnette. For those whose memory has been The oar was found weeks later clouded by the passing years, allow me abandoned, lacking number plates, with to give a few details concerning the a burnt out engine. In due course, Karakaram Expedition; six students four men involved in the robbery were under the leadership of Mr. Eric Ship- caught (C.I.D. knows how!) and pre- ton, with Dr. Budd as Medical Officer, sented themselves last week at the local left England at the end of June 1957, Magistrates Court. The student, mho returning three months later. After wishes to remain nameless, appeared at examination of the glaciers in this re- the preliminary trial. He confesses ucte region of the Himalayas, the party that he was treated with rather less oorapleted geological, surveying and respect than were the prisoners (whom general exploratory work. one presumes were well known to the Magistrate!) He cited as an example the following dialogue:- The cost of this very enterpris- ing expedition to the Exploration Board i.e. IN ICELAND was £5,052, together with a donation of Clerk: to accused, after student had £1,000 from the Mount Everest Founda- been questioned organised by a College or University "Would you like to ask the witness any tion. Prof. H.H. Read, the Chairman in this country. But in the long run of the Board has stated that in general questions?" it has been a fiasco, leaving behind Accused shake their heads. terms the aim of the Board has been to a story of bungling inefficiency. make available to as many students as possible the valuable experience affor- Clerk: (to student, who has just signed ded by soientifio expeditions. Sure- statement) Speaking very rapidly. ly it cannot be denied, however, that Fifteen months later the only result another «1» should be to publish the has been a miserable half-hearted "IfcurGracicualjadyHMtheQueenshouid work in a report. Not only would 700-word report within the College. requireitwillyoubepresentaswitnessat No scientific report has been publish- suoh a report enhance the reputation theAsaizeCourtorfailingthisforfeitthe ed, and the unique and valuable col- of the College, but would prove to sumoffiftypounds?" certain organisations who have been so lection of geological specimens has remained unexamined in a crate since financially generous to the Board that its arrival. What is lacking here? the work of the Expedition teams does Not imagination, but something more Student looks at Clerk blankly not cease when they return to Imperial important; the ability to oomplete a College. job. From the Board of Governors to Long pause. the Freshers have we not some sort of a leader in this meoca of soientifio Clerk: (impatiently) and administrative efficiency. Flans are going ahead at the moment "Do you understand what this involves?" to send an expedition to Peru in 1959 to complete surveying and geological Student: work in the Andes. Not all the money Is this the way to publioise required oan be found within Imperial "No" (The accused grin at him) Imperial College and to obtain further College, and hence outside assistance financial assistance for future expedi- is essential. Clerk: (furiously) tions? "WELL, YOU SHOULD! It should not be necessary for me to read it again .... IfourGraoiousLady eto" INTRODUCING Therefore,let not only Imperial College know what is happening, but Two more regular features:- One suspects that the court has also the general public and soientifio had to deal with students under some- world by the daily press, lectures, . page 4. what different circumstances. and radio. The Karakoram Expedition has been the most ambitious and one of . page 6. We are awaiting the result of the most successful expeditions ever the Trial. 2 FELIX PROFILE Gill's interests are not confined to I.C. but extend in other directions MOUNTAINEERS IN ALPS also. She has travelled extensively LCWA. PRESIDENT and speaks several languages fluently, as well as being able to make herself understood in a limited, though im- This summer, ten members of the portant, field of social life in many Club, assembled by devious means in others. Cortina. d'Ampezzo to climb in the Dol- omites. With no previous experience of the region, the short routes offered GILLIAN by the Cinque Torri were selected as an introduction to the area, and several Gill has strong views on the part fine, exposed climbs were had by all whioh I.C.W.A. should play in college parties. life which she divulged during an early TILDEN-SMITH interview the morning after a party, between sips of black coffee. (Pause to extract wasp from the room with Spurred on by this taste of simultaneous loss of Gill to the depths dolomite climbing, nine members of the of her bed and one correspondent up party reassembled at the Cimo di Lav- the wall). arado to attempt a series of mare ex- tended and ambitious routes, the tenth member remaining in Cortina to effect A Cockney by birth, and proud of repairs to a back axle. Amongst it, GUI was without hair until the age Cn reappearing Gill told us that their elimbs, including the 1,400 feet of two, a precedent set by a past she thinks small groups of women oan north east corner of the Cime Grande, President. She has had a varied do more good than large ones, that two parties climbed an excellent very osoreor - from Convent School to Paris, feminine influence on oommittees is a severe route on the Piooolissima. the Northern Poly and at last to I.e., good thing and that $ postgrads are we doubt if the circle will be completed insufficiently brought into oollege in the cloistered solemnity of a life. nunnery. The oamp was now moved to the Passo di Sella and a great deal of fine steep climbing was dons on the Cinque Dita Gills ambitions are modest, She and the Sella and Vaiolet Towers. Our Although Gill is perhaps best wants to: stay in the Dolomites terminated with known in the field of sport for her a riotous dinner at the Refugio di Sella. cricket, having organised the famous 1) Visit every capital in the world. I.C.W.A. v. 1st XL match, she also 2) Marry a multi-millionaire. plays tennis, table tennis and bad- 3) Ply Mr. Garnett's pyjamas from the minton and is an active member of the flag pole. Agreeing to reassemble in Zermatt, under Water Club, even having been seen (4) Write a book on the idiosyncracies four members drove to Venice to facil- on wet days practising with her flippen of carrots. itate car repairs, while en route for in the quad. Zermatt, two others in a blue sports oar We left her happily crunching one" had a slight disagreement with a stat- and declaring that "she can't be ionary Mercedes. Minus wing and with bothered to lead a sordid life - it's bent front axle, driver and a somewhat A Botanical genius, she took part too exhausting". shattered President miraculously appeared in last summers expedition to Norway, in Zermatt some days later. where a wet 6 weeks must have been considerably enlivened by her high spirits and ever present sense of hum- our whioh prevailed even when washed out of her tent on the first night and In spite of the changeable weather, later persuaded to vacate it in the good snow and ice climbing was had on A glance at his room in the Hos- early hours of the morning by an in- the Dom, Monte Rosa, Nordend, and Pelix- tel is very revealing: the first thing quisitive horse. jooh, when one weighty member tested that strikes the visitor is that room his partner's skill by jumping into 58 is bigger and better thai all the a sixfeet wide crevasse. Recovering others and it come3 as no surprise to their composure, he was duly hauled out. find that John chose it himself. Sport- ing activities are apparent from the HON.