Saturday 12th July 2025
Blog Page 2225

OED celebrates 80th birthday

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The Oxford English Dictionary, labelled as “the greatest humanistic project in the world,” has celebrated its 80th birthday.

At a meeting to mark the anniversary, participants praised the book, which currently lists 415,000 English words.

The first OED is credited to Dr Samuel Johnson who compiled it during the 18th century, but panelists argued that his work was actually quite sloppy by today’s standards. According to Simon Winchester, “Johnson seems to get ‘sex’ into as many definitions as possible….”

 

Fast food trader serves glass

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The owner of an Oxford fast food stall has been fined after a customer was served food containing pieces of broken glass.

Mohammed Ali was ordered to pay £3000 at Oxford Magistrates’ Court after his Falafel House in Gloucester Green was caught serving the substandard food.

The unfortunate customer, who cut his mouth trying to eat the dodgy produce, was also awarded £100 compensation. An environmental health investigation later found that food stored under a heavily chipped glass shelf was the cause of the problem.

 

Green and Templeton colleges merge

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Green and Templeton College have merged to create one postgraduate college.

The move comes after Oxford declared its strategy to increase its provision for postgraduate students. It is the first such joining of colleges in the modern history of the University.

The new college will be located at Green College’s Radcliffe Observatory site, and Templeton will relocate from its original site, three miles from the city centre. The merger was approved by the University’s Council.

 

Interview: Iris Robinson

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For a brief moment this year, Iris Robinson was at the eye of her own personal media storm. The controversy centred on remarks made concerning the mental health of homosexuals. She suggested that homosexuals ought to have psychiatric counselling to help cure their ‘disorder’.

The subject raised important questions not only about the problem of homophobia in Northern Ireland, where the PSNI recorded a 3.2 % increase in homophobic incidents and recorded one murder alongside 53 assaults and woundings in the past year, but wider issues of free speech and what some perceive as the marginalisation of Christian belief.

Misrepresented?

The Strangford MP and wife of First Minister Peter Robinson has since attempted to draw a line under events, subsequently claiming her remarks were misrepresented. But she refuses to show contrition in the aftermath, stating, ‘I make no apology for what I said, because it’s the Word of God … and if anyone takes issue they’re taking issue with the Word of God.’ The subject is emphatically not up for discussion.

Yet the public uproar, evidenced by mocking Iris costumes worn at Pride week in Belfast, makes it clear this will follow Mrs. Robinson for the foreseeable future.

Iris Robinson is no stranger to controversy. In November 2007 she was suspended from Stormont for a day for unparliamentary, though some felt fair, remarks directed at Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey. In a debate over the draft budget, she accused Mr McGimpsey of ‘lacking the bottle to make decisions.’ Speaker Willie Hay, a fellow member of the Democratic Unionist Party, barred her from the chamber for twenty four hours.

An evangelical public servant

It is clear that her evangelical faith is integral to her role as a public servant. It was her desire to ‘serve those who couldn’t help themselves’ which drove her to join Reverend Ian Paisley’s DUP after leaving Castlereagh Technical College. She is quick to cite ‘those in the media who use their own bigotry to castigate those in Christian circles’ as a pet peeve. A practicing Pentecostal Christian, she is actively involved with the Multiple Sclerosis Society, amongst other charities. Some consider her prickly public persona at odds with this religious streak.

Perplexing as it seems, Mrs. Robinson’s zealous beliefs and directness are probably her greatest asset and simultaneously her Achilles heel.
Her Strangford constituency, which she represents in both Westminster and Stormont, contains a sizable evangelical community. They have proved receptive to Mrs. Robinson’s views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality.

However, as recent events demonstrate, such views also ensure a fractious relationship with a generally secular media, whilst potentially alienating other elements of the electorate. However, it must be noted she draws support from a much wider group than merely the evangelical community. One should certainly be wary of writing her off simply as a religious extremist.

It cannot be overlooked that she holds top positions in the country’s biggest political party and as such is a major political player. She is the DUP Deputy Chief Whip and Health Spokesperson. Moreover, she is married to Peter Robinson, Ian Paisley’s successor as both DUP Leader and Northern Ireland First Minister. Mrs Robinson herself won 56.5% of the vote in her constituency in the 2005 general election, with a majority of 13,049.

That is what made the remarks, made in June on BBC Radio Ulster’s popular Stephen Nolan Show, and the ensuing police investigation all the more potentially embarrassing for the party. Some critics feel that Mrs. Robinson’s strong position within the party ensures that a public retraction or apology will not be forthcoming anytime soon.

A strong female figure

In a field overwhelmingly dominated by men it is hardly surprising that Mrs. Robinson is no shrinking violet. One could surmise that her toughness has been essential to her survival as a public representative since first being elected in 1989 to Castlereagh Borough Council. In the 2005 elections a paltry 19% of candidates fielded in Northern Ireland were female. This statistic makes for dismal reading especially when compared to a national average of 23%.

Mrs. Robinson is quick to point out that there are a number of factors which would deter young women who aspire to a career in politics. She identifies the media treatment of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and, closer to home, the tone of the campaign against fellow unionist Arlene Foster in Fermanagh as indicators that the media is more ‘critical’ where female candidates are involved. She doubts that it would help or encourage any woman to pursue a career in politics.

From this list a sense of pride at her achievements in a hostile field can be detected. She takes some satisfaction from the fact that attitudes are changing, albeit, slowly. The admiration that several members of her office staff expressed for her handling of a busy schedule when I phoned to arrange our interview and the numerous satellite surgeries made available to her constituents indicate a relentless commitment to her electorate and a formidable work ethic. Indeed, she seems to relish the challenges facing the Executive.

The future of the party

When asked if she believes the Democratic Unionist Party can hold on to its diverse electorate as the executive becomes less divided along sectarian lines and increasingly focused on bread and butter issues such as education and health, she replies, ‘We have as a Party always earned the respect of our electorate as these issues have been at the fore.’

Chief amongst her current concerns are ‘the underspend of Direct Rule Ministers over 30 years and the unfair price structures for energy compared to the rest of the UK.’

So our interview ends, for as Mrs. Robinson informs me, she has constituents to attend too. There is very little love lost between herself and the media. She has fought hard to reach her position and it is clear that she will not easily relinquish it no matter how great the public uproar. It would seem she lives to fight another day, unrepentant and unfazed.

Oxbridge access drama reaches TV soaps

Rows over university access have hit national television after EastEnders featured an Oxford admissions storyline.

Oxford University officials have already been in contact with the producers of the BBC One soap regarding the direction of the plot, in which teenagers Libby Fox and Tamwar Masood consider applying to Oxbridge.

The move followed revelations earlier this summer that Cambridge University had approached several television programs in a bid to try and challenge ancient perceptions about the institution.

Officials suggested storylines to the writers of EastEnders as well as its rivals Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

The makers of Top Gear were also asked if Jeremy Clarkson & Co. would be willing to recreate an infamous 1958 stunt in which engineering students winched an Austin Seven to the top of Cambridge’s Senate House.
A spokesman for Cambridge University explained that measures comprised an attempt to tackle myths about elitism at the university before its 800th anniversary in 2009.

However, a spokesperson for Oxford University added that the university did not and would not be following Cambridge’s active attempts to control the institution’s presence in popular culture.

“We do not have a policy of contacting scriptwriters to place stories about the university in television programs,” she said.

“We would, however, work closely with production teams if the university was part of any storyline.”

The spokesperson also addressed fears that the new adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Brideshead Revisited would reignite age-old perceptions among prospective Oxford students of outdated customs and snobbery at the university.

She admitted that, “sometimes the beauty of Oxford can work against us.”
“We want to work against the ‘Brideshead’ image – people think it is all about impressive old buildings but there are actually very modern things going on here. Beauty and tradition can be enjoyed whatever your background.”
However, asked to comment on Cambridge’s approaches to television programmes, OUSU’s VP for academic and access affairs, Paul Dwyer, was sceptical as to whether more modern portrayals in the media would make much of a difference.

The VP for Access and Academic Affairs elaborated: “While a Doctor Who storyline based in Oxford might make compelling viewing, it is more likely to be schemes such as the Sutton Trust Summer schools and the Young Ambassadors programme that reach out and help widen participation.”

Chancellor calls for limitless tuition fees

Oxford University’s Chancellor has fuelled the continuing debate over Oxbridge admissions by arguing for a complete removal of the cap on university tuition fees.

Speaking at the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference annual meeting on 30th September, Lord Patten called the government’s fee capping “intolerable” given the paucity of UK university endowments.
He said that the government should not demand that universities, “make up for the deficiencies of secondary education,” claiming this was “a fool’s mission.”

Un-capped fees could leave graduates with up to £50,000 of debt.
Patten argued, “it is surely a mad world in which parents or grandparents are prepared to shell out tens of thousands of pounds to put their children through private schools to get them in to universities, and then object to them paying a tuition fee of more than £3,000 when they are there.”

However, the university has distanced itself from Patten’s comments in official statements, saying that he had made the remarks purely in a personal capacity.

‘Oxford hasn’t made any decisions’

A press spokesperson said, “Oxford University hasn’t made any decisions” on the issue of fee capping and that a working group to discuss tuition fees policy is in “very early stages.”

John Denham, the former Secretary of State for Universities, has responded, accusing Lord Patten, of having “outmoded views of the central issues.”
Speaking at the Aimhiger Awards, a scheme which tries to widen access to higher education, Denham insisted that most universities now accept that, “the current system does not yet capture all the talent that exists in young people across the country.”

Paul Dwyer, OUSU VP for access and academic affairs, said that OUSU policy was against any lifting of the cap but recognised the need for “a contribution from graduates in some form.”

Concerning the question of the university’s role in correcting inequality, he said that “education is an extremely important tool” for social equality but added that the burden of responsibility “should not lie solely with the university.”
He said that, although Oxford required funding to continue its work, the current cap on fees was “certainly not intolerable.”

Unsurprisingly, students have not welcomed the suggested rise in fees. A Magdalen fourth year labelled Patten’s suggestion “massively, massively unfair.” She also accused the chancellor of being “more interested in money than students.”

Patten used his speech to rebuff government attacks on Oxbridge elitism, saying, “we are an easy cheap shot for left-wing politicians on a quiet weekend.”

He added, “It is odd that Oxford and Cambridge take a regular drubbing. They are after all among the few world-class institutions we have in this country.”
Patten’s remarks are the latest highlight of an admissions row that has raged all summer.

Postcode controversy adds to debate

Oxford University attracted attention from the national press during August when the university announced that admissions tutors would screen future applicants’ postcodes as a way of determining what students were applying from disadvantaged social backgrounds.

In response to controversy over the plan, a university spokesperson said that the move was not about “massaging our figures” but “finding the brightest students with the greatest potential to succeed at Oxford.” She insisted that academic excellence would not be compromised.

Tutors will also look at the collective results achieved by the applicant’s school, whether the student has spent time in care, or attended a program for disadvantaged pupils.

Any sufficiently able student who is flagged up in at least three of the criteria will be interviewed.

Oxford insisted, however, that the screening would play “no part in deciding who will receive an offer, or what that offer is.”

Following the announcement of postcode screening, Oxford’s Director of Admissions, Mike Nicholson, attempted to silence claims that the university failed to attract enough students from disadvantaged backgrounds by saying that the majority of candidates eligible for Oxbridge places already apply.
Nicholson said that, of the 28,000 students achieving 3 A’s at A Level, 11,000 already applied to Oxford, and a similar number to Cambridge. The remainder, he suggested, often wished to study subjects such as dentistry, which neither university offers.

Nicholson was responding to a recent Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) report which advised that a national bursary scheme be set up to help poorer students.

The report concedes that such an arrangement would “would benefit some universities and disadvantage others” but argues that the current system penalizes, “those very universities that recruit the most students from poor backgrounds.”

Beyond Oxbridge barred from Freshers’ Fair

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The Oxford University Students’ Union has been strongly criticised following a decision to ban a company from the Fresher’s Fair because it is not in their own commercial interests.

Beyond Oxbridge is an independent careers website providing job vacancies, internships and careers advice for Oxbridge students and graduates. However, OSSL, OUSU’s business arm, also have a similar website, called Oxbridge Careers.

OUSU claim that the two are in direct competition and have therefore banned them from the fresher’s fair – despite having initially granted them a stall.
Members of the Beyond Oxbridge team have expressed outraged at the decision, saying that it has left a “bad taste” in their mouths.

They also criticised OUSU for being “hopeless” and for “picking fights to try and demonstrate their own importance.”

One law student from Merton added, “I think it’s OUSU just trying to throw its weight around to try and get a bit more recognition.”

Beyond Oxbridge was initially granted a stall by Jake Leeper, organiser of the Freshers’ fair, but the offer was later overturned by Ed Batty, the advertising co-ordinator for the fair.

An OUSU representative told Beyond Oxbridge managers that because their company ran in direct competition with Oxbridge Careers, they would not be allowed to sign up new students at the Freshers’ Fair.

The representative stressed that this was not intended to single out Beyond Oxbridge, but was in line with OUSU’s firm anti-competition policy.
Jessica Bland, part of the Beyond Oxbridge team expressed her anger at OUSU’s actions, suggesting that theirs was a venture that the Students’ Union should be supporting.

Bland also questioned OUSU’s claim that the sites are even in direct competition, citing a lack of content on Oxbridge Careers.
“They haven’t filled the site with anything,” she said. “They may do very soon, but right now it’s not populated, it’s not providing the service they said it would do.

“And if they’re not providing the service then why exclude another graduate-run website that is providing it?

“OUSU tried to shut us off immediately, there wasn’t a negotiation, they just said ‘no you can’t have any contact with students’, even if we were willing to pay to have a commercial stall like every other commercial company.

“We thought this was something that needed to be there because it wasn’t there. To suddenly have part of the university turn against us left a bad taste in my mouth in my last few weeks at uni.”

OUSU President Lewis Iwu admitted that the decision had been taken in line with their “anti-competition policy,” which is in place to ensure what is commercially best for the organisation.
He stressed however that this was not only reason the booking was overturned.
“We have a strong anti-competition policy because we also provide a service through the careers handbook and the website,” he said.

“We don’t allow people providing a similar product to what we’re providing to provide that at the Freshers’ Fair.

“We’ve had discussions in the OSSL board, and the board as a whole felt that there was a conflict between the aims of OSSL and Beyond Oxbridge.”

Iwu also claimed that another reason for Beyond Oxbridge’s exclusion was “to ensure that there are no conflicting messages presented at the fair.”
He said that the overturning of Leeper’s decision was a routine review of the bookings for the Fair that was conducted throughout the summer.

He denied that OUSU was officiously stamping on student enterprise, saying: “across OUSU we recognize the importance of student enterprise but that doesn’t mean that sometimes we don’t have to take a holistic approach and it might mean enforcing our anti-competition policy.”

However, Iwu has been criticised from within OUSU. An OUSU College rep who wished to remain anonymous said, “the Freshers Fair should be about helping new students to get involved in university activities, not an exclusive promotion exercise for OUSU-sponsored enterprises.”

Students make waves in Gibraltar Strait

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Three Oxford post-graduate students became record breakers this summer after swimming across the 22km Gibraltar Strait in just 3 hours and 38 minutes.

Lennard Lee, Harry Fisher and Nicholas Berry conquered the mammoth swim in July in an effort to raise money for the Variety Club, a charity for disabled and disadvantaged Children.

Celebrity swimmers David Walliams and James Cracknell had swum the Strait in March this year. The Oxford team beat Walliams’ and Cracknell’s time by almost an hour.

Gibraltar-based law firm Marrache & Co. offered sponsorship to the Oxford team after being impressed by their determination and commitment – financial aid which helped the swimmers raise over £1,600. The Olympic athlete Duncan Goodhew, a long-time supporter of the Variety Club, also lent his support, describing the swim as ‘an incredible achievement’, and joined the International Vice President for the Variety Club, Ronnie Nathan, in praising the team’s commitment to the challenge.

Lee, Fisher and Berry had to dodge strong currents, busy shipping lanes and killer whales to cross the Strait, a notoriously dangerous stretch of water which has only ever been swum by 200 people. Lennard Lee, who studies Medicine at Queen’s College, said that the difficulty involved was an attraction for the swimmers: “We enjoy challenges and this was a big one. The winds and waves are unpredictable and strong. You need to be a competent swimmer to do it.”
Teddy Hall postgraduate Harry Fisher, a Material Sciences student, described how the trio had been aware of large black objects near them in the water as they neared the end of the swim. The team decided to ignore the objects and keep swimming, but were told when they reached the African shore that they had been followed by a pack of five killer whales.

Lee said, ‘Our pilot boatman told us they were circling us for about thirty minutes, getting closer and closer. If they had got any closer, they would have had to pull us out for our own safety.’

But Lee’s team was not the only group of Oxford students battling across the Gibraltar Strait this summer. In August, a second group took part in a relay crossing to raise £6,150 for the World Cancer Research Fund, a cancer-awareness charity that promotes preventative information about the disease.

St John’s postgraduate student Ginger Turner helped put together a team consisting of James Briaris, Ginger Turner, Emma Penn, Nate Singer, Darek Nehrebecki and Nicholas Staubach. Although their challenge was intended as a relay, in which each member of the team would swim a particular length of the Strait, Emma Penn swam all 22km in four hours and thirty-five minutes, an achievement in itself which was a minute faster than the Walliams and Cracknell record.

The team said that they chose to raise money for the World Cancer Research Fund as they felt it was a cause they could all relate to, especially as each member of the team has lost friends or relatives to cancer. Engineering student James Briaris felt particularly motivated to tackle the Strait after witnessing the mother of a close friend lose her life to stomach cancer five years ago. Briaris said he felt more research into cancer prevention was needed to help other patients and their families.

Emma Penn commented, ‘I received a phone call from Dariusz Nehrebecki (a St John’s graduate), who informed me that one of the other St John’s grads, Ginger Turner, was thinking about putting a team together to do an ‘extreme’ sporting event for charity. He knew that I was an experienced swimmer and asked if I was interested, so I agreed on the spot!’

The second Oxford team also had their fair share of anxious moments. Penn recalled losing her team-mates halfway across the Strait, ‘My goggles were completely useless and they were covered in grease, so I couldn’t see a thing. After taking them off, I looked around and couldn’t see any of the other swimmers behind me, or the guide boat in front – this is when it really dawned on me that I was all on my own in the ocean.’

Penn also described the frustration she, like the Variety Club team, experienced during the last few minutes of the swim. ‘I had visions of swimming to a beautiful beach in Morocco and feeling complete elation. However, it was rather different in the end. The last 1.5 km really hurt and I started to feel angry; the shore line just didn’t seem to be coming any closer.’
The experience did not, however, put the team off completely the challenge again. Emma spoke for the whole team when she described their feelings after successfully crossing the Strait, ‘We had a team celebration upon returning to Spain, and only then did it start to sink in how well we had all done. I’m so grateful that I was given this opportunity and I’m so proud of the whole team. I’d do it again with them any day.’

Student savaged by hit-and-run thieves

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There are fears that an Oxford postgraduate may have suffered permanent brain damage after he was bludgeoned over the head during a brutal robbery.
Kentaro Ikeda, a student at St Edmund’s Hall, was riding along a cycle path in the early hours of the morning when he was suddenly set-upon and savagely beaten.

Shocked passers-by later found the 26-year-old victim lying unconscious on the deserted track in a pool of his own blood.

They immediately dialled 999 and frantically tried to revive the unconcious student whilst paramedics raced to the scene.

He was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital and put into intensive care after doctors discovered that he had suffered a severely fractured skull.

With the Japanese postgraduate recovering in hospital, detectives launched a major hunt to track down those reponsible for the mugging.

The scene of the horrific attack, between Ferry Road and the University Parks, Marston, was cordoned off by police whilst forensic investigators combed the area for clues. It was not long before officers had recovered Kentaro’s rucksack in a nearby road and the weapon believed to have been used to batter him over the head.

Days later, officers from Thames Valley Police arrested two 18-year-olds suspected of carrying out the crime.

Teenagers Craig Knowles and Thomas Mack, both from Marston, Oxford, were later charged with robbery and carrying out grievous bodily harm with intent.
They both appeared to answer the charges at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on August 4th. They were remanded in custody until another hearing they were due to attend at Oxford Crown Court next Monday.

Meanwhile Kentaro has recovered sufficiently enough to return to Japan, after spending a month in John Radcliffe Hospital.

The student’s mother arrived from Japan shortly after the incident. It is understood that she was arriving in Oxford on a planned trip, and was only told that her son was in a critical condition in hospital when she landed.
Kentaro has lived in Oxford since November last year, when he began studying for his Masters degree in Educational Studies at St Edmund ‘s Hall.
He is said to have been just weeks away from finishing his thesis when he was brutally beaten.

Fellow postgraduates at St Edmund’s Hall said that they had been astonished and horrified on hearing news of the horrendous attack.
One stunned student, Johannes Kaminski, said that he felt completely helpless, having only heard about the awful attack on his freind whilst he was away in Vienna.

He revealed that Kentaro may have been partly paralyzed following his traumatic experience.

“Rumour has it that he can only move the right side of his body,” he said.
“He can only communicate by writing at the moment, but he can distinguish Japanese from English,” he added, implying that Kentaro’s brain damage may not be as severe as previously feared.

Johannes added that the appalling assault had brought safety for students around town into sharp focus for many of his fellow students at St Edmund’s Hall.

“We try not to scare the graduate freshers but make them aware of the dangers in Oxford.”

ChernEin Oon, another friend of Kentaro’s, said that he would “need some time to really really recover” following the incident in the early hours of July 31st.
Fellow postgraduate Evan Innis added that he simply could not comprehend what had happened to his friend.

“Kentaro loved to play around and is a very very friendly person. He is a real fun-loving guy. This attack is just unfathomable.”

“This has obviously caused a lot of shock in the MCR. It was a rather unpleasant way to find out he was back in Oxford.

A spokesperson for the Thames Valley Polce said, “Kentaro is back in Japan but he has lost the power of movement in his left side, although he is now conscious.”

 

 

Failed novelist successful at last

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A member of the University’s Failed Novelist Society is to have her novella, Lizard, published. Leonore Schick of Jesus College is the first member of the society to cease adherence to the group’s raison d’etre after getting a publishing deal for her Kafkaesque story.

The plot follows the adventures of a girl who wakes up one day to find that part of her calf has become lizard-like. Schick’s story made her a winner in the Roastbooks competition earlier this year. Roastbooks Limited, established by Oxbridge graduates, is a new publishing organisation specialising in short novels and novellas.

Schick states that the key themes of her novella are “selective memory, imaginary relationships, anti-coming of age”. She had been writing creatively since she was a child, including for Jesus’ JCR magazine Anonymous and The OxStu, but this is the first work she has submitted for publication. When asked whether following her recent success she intends to pursue the life of a novelist, she replied that, since a writer might have to cope with financial difficulty, “[I’m] not sure what the life of a novelist is, but I’ve heard it is all about being very poor. It depends how poor. I’d draw the line at having to grow my own potatoes.”

Lizard will be one of six titles coming out in Roast Books’ first series Great Little Reads. Director of Roastbooks, Faye Dayan, says the series is “ideal for our busy modern lifestyles”. Her advice to any ‘failed novelists’ trying to get their work published is “just don’t give up and don’t be afraid to share your writing… Like Sylvia Plath said, the worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

She commented on Lizard, saying, “The immediate attraction to Lizard was the protagonist, Eliza, who is a vehicle for these wonderful and unique dialogues between thought and speech, reality and make-believe, the magic of childhood and the sobriety of growing up. In Lizard, the idea of loss is something I think many readers will relate to.”

The Oxford University Failed Novelist Society is far from a defeatist or gloomy group. Selena Wisnom, president of the Society, explained that the group’s name “is not pessimistic” but “a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously. All novelists are failed novelists, because no novel you write is as good as the one you want to write!” One member of the society reported that everyone had been delighted with Schick’s success which has “made us all more excited about writing”.