Author and playwright Alan Bennett has generously bestowed his entire life’s work to the Bodleian Library for free. He said the gift was “a kind of recompense” for the free education he received at Oxford, which he contrasted with the “burden of debt” that today’s graduates face.

Bennett told Cherwell that when he attended Exeter College in the 1950s there was “no question of ending up with a massive debt. You never even had to consider the question of money. If you got in, that was the only thing you had to think about.”

His remarks come as implicit criticism of Oxford Chancellor Lord Patten’s recent remarks, which called for a complete removal of the cap on tuition fees, as well as government policy on tuition fees. He added, “It should be possible. It should be the state’s job to fund and organise state education. It ought to be possible.”

Speaking of his own experience, he said, “It’s not fashionable to thank the state but I’m very grateful the system was in place.” He added that such a situation would be a dream to today’s students.

In recognition of this, Bennett has donated his entire archive to the Bod, a stark contrast to many other writers or their heirs who chose to make a fortune selling the papers. Bennett’s bequest follows news of the £500,000 purchase of Ted Hughes’ manuscripts by the British Library in mid-October.

Bennett said, “There’s so much I’m quite glad to see the back of. I just pity the poor research student who may have to make sense of it all.” Among the collection are original manuscripts, typescripts, drafts and handwritten notes for all of Bennett’s stage and television plays, his memoirs and various novellas and short stories.

Dr Sarah Thomas, Librarian and Director of the Bodleian, called Bennett’s generosity “a model and inspiration for others.” She added, “it’s marvellous to have the papers of such a gifted writer, but absolutely extraordinary for them to be given, not sold, to the Bodleian. In a time in which many people are worrying about material success, he points the way to a different value system.”

Richard Ovenden, the Bodleian’s assistant director, spoke of the library’s “great joy” at receiving the work of “one of the greatest writers to have written in the English language.” Gaining the papers, he said, was the first great acquisition of the 21st century.

At a reception held to mark the gift on Monday, Bennett was presented with the Bodleian medal, awarded in recognition of his services to the Bod. David Vaisey, ex-librarian of the Bodleian and long-standing friend of Bennett, presented the award.

Vaisey called the medal, which uses copper taken from the library roof “the greatest honour the Bodleian can bestow upon anyone”, and a fitting gift for the “the most admired and most loved contemporary English playwright.”

Laura Spence, the comprehensive schoolgirl whose UCAS application was famously rejected by Magdalen College despite her being predicted five A grades at A-Level, has graduated from Cambridge University.

Spence was awarded a degree in medicine with distinction from Wolfson College and now plans to work as a doctor.
She became the focus of an elitism row eight years ago when Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, attacked Oxford’s decision to reject her application as a “scandal” and an “absolute disgrace.”

Brown argued that elitism was entrenched in the Oxford admissions system, adding that it was “more reminiscent of the old boy network and the old school tie than genuine justice in our society”.

He blamed Magdalen College for refusing Laura on the basis of her comprehensive school background. However, an inquiry by the Commons Education Select Committee found no evidence of bias or unfair conduct in the Oxford admissions process.

Following her rejection, Spence won a £65,000 scholarship to study biochemistry at Harvard University, before moving to study at Cambridge as a postgraduate.

A pupil from a state school in Monkseaton, Tyneside, Spence became a popular symbol of alleged Oxford snobbery in the press, and is frequently mentioned in attacks on the University’s admissions procedure.

She said in 2001 however that she never doubted Oxford’s decision. “I was a bit upset when I came out of the interview because I hadn’t done as well as I thought I could have.”

Speaking of Gordon Brown’s comments, Spence told the BBC in 2001, “I don’t think I was a perfect example of what I was trying to point out because I don’t feel that being from the North or a comprehensive mattered in my case.”

After collecting her degree this week, Spence refused to speak in detail to the press, saying “I’m starting work as a doctor now but I don’t want to say anything more than that.”

An animal rights activist planted two home-made petrol bombs at Oxford University, a court heard this week.

Mel Broughton was said to have worked with others to wage a terrorist campaign against the University’s plans to build a controversial animal testing laboratory.

The jury heard this week that two devices allegedly set off by the defendant ripped apart a sports pavilion owned by The Queen’s College and that a further two unexploded bombs were found beneath a portacabin used by the then Templeton College.

John Price, prosecuting, told the jury at Oxford Crown Court that Broughton was a prominent member of SPEAK, the animal rights organisation that has been campaigning against Oxford University since it announced plans in 2004 to build a bio-medical research laboratory on South Parks Road.

“a fanatic”

“He is a renowned self-proclaimed activist – a fanatic,” he said.

“He is a, if not the, leading figure of SPEAK, which campaigned against Oxford University’s laboratory.”

The organisation was formed to conduct legal and legitimate protest, but the court heard that there were those within the group that waged a violent and very frightening terrorist campaign against the University.

The jury was also told that Broughton’s DNA was found on one of the components used within one of the discovered unexploded devices.

Speaking as a witness, scientist Dr Rosalyn Hammond confirmed that traces she found on a swab used on one of the unexploded bombs was a match for the defendant.

“The match corresponds with Mr Broughton,” she said.

“The probability of getting this result profile from someone other than Mr Broughton is one in one billion.”

Mr Price added that Broughton had a history of being found in possession of incendiary devices and was convicted in 2000 at Northampton Crown Court of conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

Hidden notebook

He told the court that police who raided the defendant’s home in Semilong Road, Northampton, found items used in the home-made explosives and a notebook containing a list of those people he had been targetting hidden under the carpet.

The officers also found 14 packets of sparklers, a security pass for Oxford University and a battery connector hidden inside a water tank in his bathroom.

“The devices shared one feature, which was of particularly distinctive importance,” said Mr Price.

“They all, the two devices found at the sports pavilion, and the two devices at the portacabin, were improvised from fuses involving ordinary fireworks bound together as a thread.”

“He did not have them (the sparklers) for use at a future children’s firework party,” said Mr Price.

Mr Price said that the portacabin owned by The Queen’s College was targeted by activists claiming to work for the Animal Liberation Front on the 18th November 2006, with familiar unexploded devices found in an office at Templeton College on February 26th in 2007.

Authorities found 12 litres of fuel in the device at Queen’s College, and 20 litres of fuel in the device found at Templeton College.

Police who searched the destroyed premises found two home-made devices in the roof which had used ordinary firework sparklers as a fuse.

“Bite-Back”

Mr Price said that on both occasions anonymous messages had been placed on the “Bite-Back” animal rights website claiming responsibility for the attacks.

Extremists have consistently posted threats on the website pledging to continue direct action against those associated with the University until the laboratory project is scrapped.

Mr Price said other petrol bomb attacks had also been carried out by the group on cars owned by professors and the University boathouse, although neither of these particular cases necessarily involved the accused.

Broughton denies conspiracy to commit arson, possesion of an article or articles with intent to destroy or damage property, and keeping explosive substances with intent.

He listened carefully as the evidence was given about him and intently studied paperwork relating to the matters before the jury during hearings this week.

The trial continues.

Brasenose has allegedly spent £18,000 on plants and plant pots emblazoned with the college’s iconic knocker as part of their quincentenary anniversary celebrations in 2009.

The quads of Brasenose have been littered with an array of plants and pots, though the flora and fauna are already withering and wilting in the cold. The Bursary refused to deny that they had spent the reported amount of money on plants and plant pots.

Students and staff alike expressed bemusement over the amount purportedly spent of the plant pots. One student remarked, “I was quite impressed to think that we were a college so satisfied and contented by our financial prowess that such a sum could be deemed viable.”

Members of the JCR were quick to suggest other ways in which college money could be spent. One finalist suggested, “hiring a boiler-man – or several at that price – to work out how to control temperature in the library – I go in there merely to perspire.”

Another student proposed “room improvements, student welfare, or a sizable contribution to our ever diminishing sports funds. They could even lower the price of college accommodation if that’s the excess of cash they’ve got lying around.”

Balliol College has invited Shimon Peres, the current President of Israel, to give a special lecture entitled ‘The Globalisation of Peace’.

In 1994 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Oslo Accords. Last year Peres became the first Israeli President to address the legislature of a Muslim country when he spoke in Turkey and this year he has pursued joint economic initiatives with the Palestinians in a plan known as the Valley of Peace initiative.

The lecture is scheduled for 18th November and is open to all members of the University.