27th FEBRUARY, 1973
NEWSPAPER OF IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION
F R E E S No. 330
ENTS TO MERGE . . .with Dramsoc, Filmsoc, Opsoc, Folk
Club and Jazz Club Ents is to be merged with Dramsoc, Filmsoc., Folk
Song Club, Jazz Club and the Operatic Society in a
new "Social, Cultural and Amusements Board" (or
S C A B for short) if a proposal to the effect was accep
ted by Union Council last night.
Included in the propo
sals is the new post of
Soc ia l Secretary to co-or
dinate the various com
mittees. Imperial College
is one of the few colleges
or universities in the
country not to have one
of these already; in many
polytechnics and at least
one university he is sab
bat ica l .
The Objects of the
B o a r d , given in its draft
constitut ion, are " the
provis ion of Enterta in
ment for members of the
Un i on (and) fullest co-or
d inat ion and co-operation
of a l l the organisations
represented on the Board
for the benefit of the mem
bers of the Imper ia l C o l
lege U n i o n and other
members of the Imper ia l
Col lege of Science and
Technology. "
Essential ly the board
w i l l provide an opportun
ity for joint operation of
the entertainments act iv i
ties of the Un i on , and it
w i l l also be responsible
for the financing of its
constituent committees
and societies. A block ap
pl icat ion for funds w i l l be
made to the U n i o n F i n
ance Committee.
Un i on C o u n c i l w i l l re
tain the final veto over
the activities of the Board
however. Except for the
w i l l carry out the same
joint financing, the Board
functions for entertain
ments as the Publ icat ions
Boa rd does for Fel ix ,
Phoenix-, U S K Handbook
and S T O I C .
Criticisms
One of the major rea
sons for the setting up of
S C A B has been the dis
satisfaction of many union
members over Ents pol i
cy this year. It has been
frequently argued that
Ents caters for the gener
a l publ ic and students out
side IC , and tends to ne
glect the I C U membership.
S C A B is the result of
negotiations between
Pau l Wadsworth , Ents
C h a i r m a n , and the U n i o n
Exec.
ntjj^jffipsSJHi
• GRANTS DEMO
HUSTINGS Thursday
1300 Great Hall
'$ BIT
on
Elections The following candidates were proposed and fully-
seconded:
President: S. R . G . A l l n u t t proposed by M . T . Phi l l ips .
J . Her r i ck , proposed by W. J . S. Col lett .
Honorary Secretary: R . A . Armi tage , proposed by M .
F. Doherty, F . R. Matthews proposed by
K. L ipscombe.
Editor of "Felix": A . R . D . Campbe l l , proposed by P.
W. Jowitt .
Please note: The Candidates names have been pr in
ted in alphabet ical order.
A n y errors in init ials or spell ing should be notified to
me by 10 a.m. on Thursday, 1st M a r c h , 1973.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING
TOTALLY BORING O N T H U R S D A Y
T H E R E IS A U N I O N
M E E T I N G
U n i o n meetings are held
in the Great H a l l , they
start at 1 p.m. (1300
M C B ) . Y o u are a mem
ber of I C union so you
can come a long too. O n
Thursday you w i l l hear
the proposed candidates
tell ing you why they de
serve your vote, you can
ask them questions, take
the piss or cheer them.
T h e fo l lowing week
there is voting. Y o u can
vote as we l l ! The votes
are counted and if more
than 25 per cent of the
members have recorded
a preference or an ab
stention, the person wi th
the most votes wins, (ab
stentions are counted as
one person). So you see
you can have a real in
fluence in U n i o n affairs.
Wha t Fe l ix is saying is.
come to the hustings, l i s
ten to the arguments, and
record a vote—take part! !
T w o of the four candi
dates sent in a joint mani
festo and it is printed on
page 3 so that you can
think of questions before
Thursday, (The U n i o n
Meet ing you ' l l remember
is on Thursday) .
It is very important to
vote in the elections and
a student who takes no
part in them really has
no right to criticise the
decisions and policies of
the successful candidate.
. . . report page three
Victory for the
People's Republic! A lasdha i r Campbe l l is t o be next year's editor o f
" F E L I X . " H e was unopposed when nominat ion pap
ers were taken down on F r iday afternoon.
A second year Physicist, A l a sdha i r joined the staff
of " F E L I X " earlier this term and has been a regular
contr ibutor to our pol i t ical co lumns and has under
studied E . J . T h r i b b (17) on more than one occasion.
H e first sprang to fame last year as co-editor o f
"Someth ing , " a sat ir ical broadsheet which or ig inal ly
appeared i n K ing ' s College, w i th D a v i d Beeson. now
President-elect of K ing ' s . O n l y one issue has appeared
this year; it concentrated on Fe l ix , wh ich it renamed
"Fee l s i ck , " and perhaps d id more than anything to
make the Ed i t o r of Fe l i x actual ly read the articles
he printed before they went to press, and. indeed, t o
commission some readable ones.
Or ig ina ly coming f rom the West Country , A l a sdha i r
now hails f rom the People's Free Repub l i c of Leyton-
stone H i g h R o a d . Ma j o r points in his manifesto (which
we don't now have to print) were the continuance of"
polit ics in " F e l i x " and live act ion pictures of IC sports
men thrashing their opponents together with live actioiiL
interviews w i th sports heroes. Wonder Boy . here we
come . . . .
I n the meantime, there are another eight issues to
appear under the current regime.
Page 2 F E L I X February 27th, 1973
Letters GET WELL
SOON Dear Sir,
It has been drawn to my
attention that one of the
messengers of this college
has been in hospital now for
nearly three weeks, after
being the victim of a vicious
attack at his home. He is
Mr. George Butler, the mes
senger from Aero. I am
writing this letter not only
to let more people know why
he has not been at work re
cently, but more importantly
"> express the wishes of so
many students that he will
>*v}£e a full and quick re-
fivery.
It is as a result of a des
picable act of violence that
Mr. Butler is in hospital.
Someone threw a brick into
his face damaging his sight.
Many of the messengers
with whom he works have
been to see him and so have
some of the students who
have got to know him. I
think it is important now to
let as many people as pos
sible know that students do
care about the people who
help the departments so
•*nch.
Yours,
ADRIAN E. SMITH.
P.S.: This college runs a
large personnel department
to deal with their employees.
Since they did not even know
about this incident, I am
forced to wonder whether
they spend their time deal
ing with all the individuals
they employ or simply trying
to force through productivity
deals.
FREE
PLUG Sit,
Last week David Hum
phreys, Chairman of the
Methodist Society, strongly
disputed Mr. Campbell's sug
gestion that "God is a crutch
for people who can't come
to terms with objective rea
lity".
But it is true that many
people cannot come to terms
with objective reality. God
is a crutch for these people,
just as surely if it is religion
as if is is sex, money or alco
hol. And an escape from
reality comes as surely to the
religious type who expects
all to be well in the end as
to the drug taker who finds
a reality only when he is
high or the Communist who
expects a golden age to fol
low revolution.
Let us make no mistake,
however, by failing to recog
nise that these gods are not
the God of the bible, who
revealed himself in objective
reality in the person of Jesus
Christ who went about doing
good. And we find that this
God did something about the
reality of our universal ten
dency to do what we know is
wrong.
When one looks at some
of these realities one has to
agree with Mr. Humphreys.
In Jesus Christ is the only
true answer to living a life
of reality.
For those interested rele
vant literature (some free)
is available from the Chris-
tion Union bookstall, Thurs
day lunchtimes in the JCR.
Yours sincerely,
R O B E R T . J . H I G G I N S O N .
E l e c . E n g . 3.
POVERTY
STRICKEN Sit.
I would be very interested
in learning for whom Mr.
Fenner was working at a
£4,750 rate, and whether
this was a monthly or an
nual salaty, as I need a bit of
cash myself?
Surely it couldn't have
been for reviewing plays?
Youts faithfully
and poverty-stricken,
D A V I D G U R N E Y .
NO WAGE
INCREASES Sir,
When I first came to work
in IC, I was informed that
the College had an excellent
reputation in the world of
Science and Technology.
Since the entrance require
ments were also rather high,
I assumed that all the stu
dents were of a reasonable
level of intelligence.
Last week's "Felix" had
one glowing example to the
contrary, J. H. Fenner's let
ter. Never have I seen such
ridiculous words in print!
His advocacy of the typical
Tory laissez-faire ideology
was not even cleverly put for
ward in the way of most
bright-eyed Tories.
It would be quite easy to
present notional figures on
the frequency of wage in
creases (salaries to you, Mr.
Fenner), including figures
for that small minority of
degree holders. But as Felix
concerns itself with IC it is
to this area that I will res
trict myself.
Imperial College messen
gers, male cleaners, refectory
staff, female cleaners and
laboratory staff have not re
ceived any wage increase
since December 1st 1971.
IC barmen and security
guards have waited a simi
lar length of time, and if
one were to look at the cleri
cal staff situation it might be
even worse. Of course, as
Mr. Fenner has such faith
in the idea of meritocracy,
he might as well claim that
the above group of workers
do not merit any increase.
Well, besides simple things
such as the thousands of
pounds saved as a result of
staff reductions and in
creased productivity there is
another slight matter to be
considered, i.e., the rise in
the cost of living since 1971.
Or doesn't that count, Mr.
Fenner?
May I suggest, Mr. Fen
ner, that you report imme
diately to your parents and
primary school so as to
undergo the complete socia
lisation and education pro
cess again, as something ob
viously went wrong last
time.
Yours sincerely,
A. J. O'BRIEN,
Messenger and
NUPE shop steward.
E d i t o r ' s n o t e : C o r r e s p o n
d e n c e o n t h e s u b j e c t o f IC
e m p l o y e e s ' s a l a r i e s a n d c o n
d i t i o n s a n d t h a t o f w o r k e r s
in g e n e r a l i s n o w c l o s e d .
INTERESTING
LETTER Sir,
I found David Humphteys
letter in FELIX last week in
teresting, as it exhibits many
of the elements of confused
bourgeois religious ideology
prevalent in students today.
Unfortunately he has ne
gated the first half of his
letter by ignoring the adjec
tive "objective" in the
phrase "objective reality" in
my poem of the week be
fore. I am not in the habit
of adding superfluous modi
fiers to my lines for the sake
of scansion alone. In that
one word lay the crux of my
philosophical argument: in
order not to fall into the so
phist and solipsist contradic
tions inherent in all idealist
philosophies, which include
the theistic religions, one
must assume the existence of
objective reality. In other
words, that there exists mat
ter outside of mind, this im
plies that mind is but the
highest stage of matter and
has no spiritual existence.
(For further substantiation I
refer Mr. Humphreys to
"Materialism and Empirio-
Criticism" by V. I. Lenin).
Those who turn to alco
hol and drugs are living proof
of how consciousness is very
much secondary to reality.
These people, finding the
reality of life in present-day
society unbearable, have no
recourse but to resort to es
capism—they are not search
ing for reality, Mr. Hum
phreys, but retreating from
its contradictions.
To try and differentiate be
tween changing social struc
ture and changing people is
impossible, for any change in
one is a change in the other-
it is clear that a social struc
ture cannot be imposed by
anyone outside society. Jesus
Christ was a revolutionary of
his time, though in his time
he had almost no effect —
his death is recorded in the
annals of the era as that of
just another troublemaker.
It was not until the 4th cen
tury A.D. that Constantine,
Emperor of Rome, needing a
unifying structure to hold to
gether his crumbling empire,
adopted Christianity. Its
elements of rigid hierarchy
and autocratic rule from
above made it the perfect
philosophy of life, tailor-
made as it indeed was, to
keep the ruling class and
him in particular in power,
and that oppressed class of
the time in its place.
This also accounts for re
ligions of a similar structure
being associated with all
class-based societies and the
continuing popularity of
Christianity in Britain today.
This is further borne out by
the fact that whenever a
state has arisen out of
class conflict by the fact
that whenever a state has
arisen out of class conflict,
as it must to ensure the con
tinuing power of the ruling
class, one sees the decay of
pantheistic and other poly
theistic religions and the
adoption of a monotheistic
religion promoted by the rul
ing class of the time.
ALASDHAIR RD
CAMPBELL.
F E L I X No. 330: Tuesday, 27th
Feb rua ry 1973.
E d i t e d by Ol iver Dowson ,
with the words, insp i rat ion
and t ime of ( in a lphabetical
order ) M a r t i n C . B lack ,
A lasdhai r Campbe l l , Bob Car
ter, Dave Gr ibb le , Dave H o b -
man, J o h n Hors fa l l , G r a h a m
K i n g , J o h n Lane , A l f Per ry ,
Go rdon Reece, M ichae l Si lver-
leaf, M ichae l Southon,
Steven Swailes and Jock
Vea l l .
F E L I X is pr inted by F . Ba i ley
and Son L td . , Durs ley , GIos.
GL11 4BL .
Adver t i s ing is by Un ive rs i ty
Press Representat ion, G r a n d
Bui ld ings , Tra fa lgar Square,
W.C.2.
F E L I X inhabits a r o o m o n
the top f loor of the U n i o n
Bu i ld ing , address: Imper ia l
Col lege U n i o n , L o n d o n SW7
2BB , te lephone 01-589 5111
ext. 2229 (PO) , 2881 (Int.).
The Ed i to r ' s boudoir is R o o m
14, Weeks Ha l l , te lephone:
01-589-9808 (PO) , 4236 (Int.).
Contr ibut ions and help for
F E L I X are always welcome.
Pub l i shed by the E d i t o r for
and on behalf of the Impe
r ia l Col lege U n i o n Publ ica
tions Board .
A l l r ights reserved. (£) 1973.
F E L I X is a founder member
of the L o n d o n Student Press
Associat ion.
I S R A E L ^ Be there for the 25th Anniversary
celebrations
TOURS TICKETS
TRAVEL KIBBUTZ
Complete programme of ISTC flights, trains, ships from
HOSTS STUDENT TRAVEL SERVICE LTD. 161 GREAT PORTLAND ST, W1N 6NN
Telephone 01-580 7733
The JLandsiiapper Sneeze
February 27th, 1973 F E L I X
65,000 STUDENTS ON THE STREET Staff R e p o r t e r
Last Wednesday accor
d ing to the N U S 65,000
students marched, i n 7
regional centres around
the country, i n protest
demanding a l iv ing grant.
I n L o n d o n 15,000 stu
dents f rom the southern
region led by the I C con
tingent marched f rom
M a l e t St. to the D E S
across Water loo bridge.
The wet and miserable
weather wh i ch continued
for most of the afternoon
dampened them but not
their enthusiasm i n the
fight for higher grants.
I n Ma l e t St. the pol ice
split the demo into two
sections and the first half
led by I C set off for the
D E S w i th the second hal f
200 yards behind. B y the
A l d w y c h the two halves
had joined up and cont in
ued to the D E S , chanting
slogans and handing out
leaflets to passers-by. A t
the D E S the demo went to
an area on the south bank
to listen to speakers f rom
the N U S and various
trade unions.
A R R E S T
The first half of the
demo had hardly gone
200 yards f rom Ma le t St.
when a pol ice inspector
threatened to arrest the
whole demo unless they
walked five abreast. N o t
having a megaphone he
went unnoticed and the
students continued to f i l l
their lane as before.
R o u n d the corner out
of sight of Ma l e t St. I
saw six pol icemen dis
guised as short-haired
pseudo trendy students
step out of a police van
and jo in the march , they
were easily recognisable
however as they were the
only people on the march
holding large b lack regu
lation police umbrellas.
N O N - A R R I V A L
A m o n g the speakers
who were going to address
the students was R o y Hat -
tersley (Labour M P ) . H e
was being dr iven to the
south bank to make his
speech when he saw some
students leaving the area,
informed sources to ld me,
assuming the ra l ly to be
over he turned round and
left for St. Pancras to
catch a t ra in out of L o n
don. N o representative
f rom the Labour Party
turned up.
I N A U D I B L E
Unfortunately the Pub
lic Address system ob
tained by the N U S had
had its speakers spread
round the perimeter,
which was fine for the
people spread round the
perimeter, but those near
est the speaker's p lat form
could not hear any of the
speeches. The students
nearest the p lat form frus
trated at not hearing any
thing started to heckle,
demanding a march o n
Par l iament and death to
fascist N U S bureaucrats.
Judy Cotter (President
U L I E S A ) said that they
couldn' t do that as it was
not on the agenda.
S C U F F L E S
A cameraman f rom
A B C news got up on the
speakers' p lat form and
f i lmed a cameraman f r om
the Beeb who was stand
ing near the p lat form
f i lming the A B C news
cameraman f i lming h im .
Th is accounts for the scar
city of f i lm of the demo
on the television news that
night — 10 seconds was
devoted to it by the B B C .
Some demonstrators near
the p lat form tried to pu l l
out a wire powering the
camera but were re
strained by others. Soon,
owing to lack of inspira
t ion f rom the inaudib le
speeches, students started
to dri ft away and the
demo dispersed remark
ably quick ly .
S U M S W R O N G
A l though the N U S
cla imed a turn-out of
15,000, the police estimate
was 7,000 and this was
echoed by the television
news, and a l l nat ional
dail ies the morn ing after,
except the G u a r d i a n
which printed both fig
ures. Fe l i x abacus opera
tors counted 12,000, of
which 500 were f rom IC .
It is the police that
choose the route the demo
wi l l fo l low and the f ina l
place of the ral ly. They
assured us that the area
on the south bank where
the ra l ly took place could
hold 20,000 and it was
packed, a l l bar a smal l
area behind the speaker's
plat form.
The turn-out f rom Sus
sex university was disap
point ing — only 20 peo
ple, but the contingents
f rom polys and non-
university colleges repre
sented a far bigger per
centage than f rom IC .
Las t year (in fine weather)
800 people f rom TC took
part in that anti-Thatcher/
G i lber t Longden registra
t ion of student unions
demo and that b i l l was
postponed. Don't forget
the N U S Nat iona l Day of
A c t i o n for the Grants
Campa ign on M a r c h 14th
— be sure to give it your
support or students may
not escape this time.
C O M M E N T S
Editorial 10 per cent of students showed their sol idarity at Wednes
day ' s demonstrat ion. A s a show of sol idarity it was
pathetic and unconv inc ing . A s a vehic le for canvass ing
publ ic support it fai led miserably, at least partly through the
lack of people along the chosen route. It wou ld be pure
pipe-dreaming to imagine that it had any effect on the
Government ' s attitude.
Yet the a ims of the Grants Campa ign are good and justi
fiable. No student can deny that, any more than a properly-
informed publ ic c ou l d .
T h e main need now is for publ ic sympathy. T h e publ ic
have been led to believe that students are (and you 've heard
it all before) a bunch of long-haired, shodd i ly -dressed lay
abouts, who spend their t ime dr inking , smok ing pot and
engaging in orgies. However m u c h you may believe that
picture to be true, the publ ic needs to be to ld of the other
s ide of a student 's life —• studying (yes, studying) and
surviv ing. N o demonstrat ion will do that. For not only
are the publ ic bored with demonstrat ions, but so are students
(witness the 10 per cent turnout) .
Yet demonstrat ions are just about the only publ ic rela
t ions exercise (other than strikes) that the N U S and the rest
of the student leadership can conce ive of. H i gh IQ's don 't
seem to breed originality. A l l students fall in the top 5 per
cent of the populat ion, intel l igence-wise.
W e need to show our intel l igence by having an intelligent
and original campa ign — not by resorting to the pointless
methods of the trades unions.
So let's raise a cheer for the Scott ish region of the N U S —
Britain 's only functioning N U S area — who dec ided that
d emos were no good weeks ago. Instead of having a march
and rally last Wednesday , like all the other areas, they e m
barked on a mass publ ic educat ion campaign .
T h e y ca l led for 4 0 0 articulate students f rom all over
Scot land to c o m e to Edinburgh on W e d n e s d a y to be fully
briefed on the Grants Campa ign , then to be turned loose on
Pr ince ' s Street (Edinburgh 's equivalent of Ox fo rd Street) to
go up and talk to passers -by about it. In the event, 1,200
students turned up, vast numbers of the publ ic eventual ly
expressed their support, and they got the best Press of any
of the 11 regional " c en t r e s of ac t iv i ty " .
Surely this is the sort of action that students shou ld be
taking. Responsib le and intelligent act ion. A n d it's the
sort of thing we should be do ing on the Day of Ac t i on
wh ich take 's place a fortnight tomorrow.
Now that Oxford Street is nearly a pedestr ian precinct,
it's idealy suited to the purpose. It's one hell of a s ight
better idea than going on strike, wh ich is the N U S line . . .
all that' l l get us is a bad Press and a worse publ ic reaction.
We ' r e students because we 've got brains — let's use
them!
John Lam Last week 's grant demonstrat ions were a very substantial
success . Over 10 per cent of the N U S membership were
involved in them. Th i s represents by far the biggest national
action ever taken by students — in some regional centres
the turnout was three t imes that of last year over the " au to
n o m y " issue. In organising the London demo, we had hoped
for 10 ,000. Wi th the rain and co ld weather, prospects d id
not look too good on the day. In fact, well over 15 ,000
marched — the co l leges of educat ion and F E col leges being
particularly strong. The mass med ia made themselves
rather r id iculous by saying 7 ,000 ( B B C & ITN News) right
up to the late night news on B B C 2 which (after a recount?)
sudden ly dec ided on 15,0001 But we can thank the media
for the excellent coverage of the IC contingent!
G O V E R N M E N T R E A C T I O N
The question remains. What will the Tor ies do about all
those tens of thousands of unruly students shouting nasty
things at their w indows , withhold ing their rents or having
catering boycotts? After the meeting between N U S and the
Government on M a r c h 1st we should be a bit clearer. Thei r
most likely reaction wil l be to concede someth ing but do it
in such a way as to d iv ide the student movement .
For instance, they cou ld introduce subs id ies for halls and
refectories. The idea wou ld be that students in hall would
stop the rent strike campa ign , leaving the rest in the lurch
facing increasing rents in private accommodat i on on the
present grant. Or they cou ld give everybody a smal l in
crease but do nothing about the basic injusticies involved
in the discret ionary award system with the hope of buying
off the majority of students with smal l carrots. If students
are in a frame of mind which al lows them to be d iv ided
from each other there are an unl imited variety of tact ics
which the Government cou ld use.
T H E M A R C H 14th D A Y O F A C T I O N
If the Tor ies reject our c l a im out of hand , or attempt
to d iv ide the N U S , there must be sol id united reaction
from every co l lege in the country.
T h e Grants Campa ign co-ordinat ing committee are there
fore ca l l ing for a National Strike on M a r c h 14th with the
aim of c los ing down totally the higher educat ion system for
one day.
T h i s is the first E V E R national strike ca l l ed by N U S and
if we are ser ious about defending the l iving standards of
both ourselves and future generations of students it must
be a success . It should not be seen as s imi lar to an indus
trial strike — the effect on the economy is insignif icant. It
is, however, probably the most effective form" of demonstrat
ing our unity and determination.
Organis ing the strike will require a large number of act i
vists and widespread support f rom the ordinary union m e m
bers. If it is a success , the government wil l know that, g iven
an issue on which students feel strongly enough, we 're cap
able of organising the same again. in other words, by
striking on M a r c h 14th we are saying to the Gc w n m e n t
that unless they maintain our l iving standards and g ive all
students the full grant they cannot expect anything but
continual trouble in higher educat ion.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU EARN ?
L a s t w e e k I b o u g h t n o t h i n g out of the o r d i n a r y , I w e n t
o n n o e n o r m o u s s p e n d i n g s p r e e and I d idn ' t travel anywhere
a g r e a t d i s t a n c e f r o m here. Nevertheless, I managed to
o v e r s p e n d o n m y grant by n e a r l y 2 0 per cent. I 'll a g r e e that
I w a s n ' t being particularly careful, but I wasn 't b e i n g i n the
least extravagant and it was quite a s h o c k to d i s c o v e r just
how much I had spent.
A t least this year I'm relatively l u c k y ; I 'm l i v i n g i n h a l l .
When I go out into the big w ide world o f privately owned
accommodat i on I 'll have to pay at least £6 a w e e k merely
to have a roof over my head. I'll also have to pay t h i s for
3 9 weeks a year so that the room will be held over the
Easter and Chr istmas vacations. If you add in the cost of
feeding mysel f during term it's quite obvious that the
notional e lement of £ 2 7 5 for board and lodgings in the
grant is hopeless ly inadequate.
We l l , why don ' t I get a job? Yes , I suppose that's quite
feasible and probably a good idea for the first year. But
what about the s econd and third years? Only the geniuses
will f ind that they don't need to study for a cons iderab le
period of the vacat ion. Anyway , I'm already doing a job.
I'm studying to become a more useful member of soc iety
so why should I have to take a second job in order to sur
v ive? I think I deserve a better deal than I'm getting at
the moment .
I don ' t suppose, however, that James Fenner wou ld agree
with me. He thinks that when you deserve a pay rise you
get it without having to ask. O n that basis , I don ' t deserve
a higher grant because it hasn ' t been offered undemanded .
Maybe if he had to live on what I do at the moment he
might admit he cou ld be wrong.
Mr . Fenner stated in his letter last week that he " w o u l d
like to debunk the attitude of the lunatic left that students
are workers " . I wou ld very much like to know what he c o n
siders students to be if they are not workers. It seems to
me that, like all other workers, they are sel l ing their ability
to execute particular tasks. That they are being trained
does not alter this in the least. Apprent ices are cons idered
by their employers to be employed . They do not receive the
full rate for the job because they are not fully trained, but
then it cou ld not be said that students receive anything like
the full rate for the sort of jobs they will do when they
f inish their studies . Undoubtedly , it wi l l be argued that the
courses run here are not necessari ly vocational and thus this
argument cannot be appl ied to us. W h y then is it that
employers in many fields trample all over each other to
persuade IC graduates to work for them. ( ? — E d . ) . They ,
at least, must believe that the studies undertaken h e r e offer
something that cannot be obtained elsewhere.
M r . Fenner seems to b e even further out of t o u c h with
t h e s o r t o f a v e r a g e s a l a r y y o u n g graduates receive. I d o n ' t
t h i n k t h a t it c a n p o s s i b l y b e c o n s i d e r e d normal t o t r i p l e o n e ' s
salary in a period of five years. O n that basis Mr . Fenner 's
annual salary when he retires should be in the region of
£ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , and there a r e n ' t v e r y many people w h o earn
that m u c h . I think also t h a t M r . Fenner may h a v e b e e n
l e s s than h o n e s t a b o u t t h e origin of the money he earned.
H e d o e s n o t s t a t e in h i s letter that he is in fact A m e r i c a n ,
a n d t h a t he w a s no t working in this country w h e n he was
e a r n i n g t h e s e e n o r m o u s salaries. I have been t o l d that,
i n t h e c o u n t r y w h e r e h e was working, the average p a y f o r
t h e j o b he w a s d o i n g i s much greater than i t is h e r e .
B y t h e w a y , I g u e s s y o u a l l think I'm a member o f t h e s o -
c a l l e d " l u n a t i c le ft " . W e l l , I 'm not; and, if y o u d o n ' t b e l i e v e
me, y o u c a n a s k a n y b o d y w h o m Mr . Fenner c o n s i d e r s be
l o n g s to t h a t f a c t i o n .
M I C H A E L S I L V E R L E A F
A C T I O N OR I N A C T I O N
Probably the most important thing about M a r c h 14th is that
we shou ld not all stay in our beds. There will be a national
lobby of Parl iament by delegates f rom all co l leges on that
day. A teach- in , alternative c lasses , d i scuss ion on wider
education issues, on the White Paper on Educat ion , publ ic
leaf letting, publ ic ity stunts — g iven numbers and imagina
tion we can make a big publ ic impact , stimulate students to
think more deeply about educat ion and in general make it a
real day of action and not just a " S l e e p - I n " .
Page 4 F E L I X Page 5
The Inte l l i gent I C S tudents ' Gu ide to E x t r a m u r a l Ente r ta inment and E d i f i c a t i o n
T H E BIG W A L L S OF B A F F I N
I S L A N D -Mountaineering in the Canadian Arctic
In the early months of 1971, a
nucleus of climbers from the Not
tingham Climbers' Club decided to
launch an expedition to a small iso
lated island off the Cumberland Penin
sula in the Canadian Arctic. Amongst
these few was Doug Scott, a Notting
ham schoolteacher, who, with climb
ing experience, in the Alps and the
Hindu Kush, was to assume the role
of leader.
Baffin Island is remote and conse
quently there was a great deal of
opportunity to conquer the unclimbed
peaks—sheer rock pinnacles rising
6,000 feet from the sea. The rock
climbing there is of high technical
difficulty and it was a serious under
taking to attempt an original route up
a rock face, from which retreat was
sometimes impossible. The weather
in this part of the world is savage and
not in the least conclusive toward
outdoor activity in any form. Fierce
snow storms may arise within hours
of a spell of fine weather. Unlike the
Alps, one does not have the comfort
ing thought that one may be extri
cated fram an unpleasant situation by
helicopter rescue. Here the moun
taineer is on his own with only his
wits and skill as his tools for sur
vival.
Because of its isolation, the expe
dition required a fair amount of organ
isation and capital. It was originally
decided that the size of the expedi
tion would be limited to a group of
close friends, amongst whom, com
petitive climbing and ego-tripping
would cut no ice. The intentions were
noble but they soon ran into prac
tical difficulties — mainly lack of
funds. This problem could only be
resolved by increasing the size of the
expedition to include big names of
the mountaineering world such as
photographer, Mick Burke. A film
would be made for the John Players'
cigarette firm, in return for financial
aid.
Scott returned from Baffin Island
and almost immediately set off for the
Himalayas on the abortive Inter
national Everest Expedition. He re
turned to Baffin Island in the summer
of 1972 and many more peaks were
ascended.
Imperial College Mountaineering
Club presents Doug Scott on Tues
day, the 27th February. Extracts from
the Players' film and slides will be
shown illustrating some of the exhil
arating climbs achieved by the party
on both trips.
Doug Scott, Lecture Theatre A ,
College Block, Imperial College,
Prince Consort Road, Tuesday, Feb
ruary 27, 7.45 p.m. 25p at door.
C. Brown, I.C.M.C.
G O D T H E M A N
PAN SCIENCE FICTION
Joseph Green, 30p
For science fiction fans this novel
is a real gem.
Mankind is threatened with exter
mination by a race of 300-foot high
aliens from another star system, but
no one can understand why these
creatures have developed such an
overwhelming desire to destroy us.
Fortunately, one of these super giants
is captured alive but. his brain is
severely damaged by oxygen starva
tion.
Earth at this stage in her develop
ment has created two super humans,
humans with enlarged and improved
brains, one of them is Russian, the
other American. Petrovna, the older
and more experienced of the pair de
cides to remove the tiring giant's now
useless brain and install himself in
side the head and from there with
the help of control mechanisms re
turn the giant to his home planet and
discover the meaning behind the fa
natical attacks on earth. Gold be
comes involved in the plot when
Petrorna discovers that he is not phy
sically well developed to be able to
operate the keyboard of the com
puter in the brain fast enough the
simulate the realistic giant move
ment.
The story becomes even more in
credible when eventually the giant
returns home and through his eyes
views their gigantic planet.
T O W A R D S INFINITY
PAN SCIENCE FICTION
Edited by Damon Knight, 35p
The usual collection of S.F. stories
some very good like "March Hare
Mission", some bad like "The Man
Who Lost the Sea" . This really is
not the sort of book that I enjoy, the
stories only just seem to be beginning
when suddenly they stop — abruptly
and leave you gasping, waiting for
more. This is all very well once —
but nine times . . .!
This collection contains some well
known names in the field of S.F.:
Ray Bradbury, Isaac Ascmor, A. E.
Van Vogt, but why does it need
Damon Knight to bring these people
together to publish, why can't they
manage themselves?
Felix Diary
CHEAP POSTERS From tin's week. P A C E Posters \ , i l l be on sale,
cheap, in the Room At The Top. on the Cheap
Records Stal l . The catalog re, in the form of
miniatures of the originals, is displayed in the
R.A.T.T. Orders, giving title and catalogue num
ber, to Colin McCal l , R.A.T.T., with cash prefer
ably.
PRICES: Large size 70p reduced to 55p.
(riant size 95 preduced to 70p.
p.S.—Record Covers also available, besides records, at 19 f/ f off.
Tuesday, 27th February
12.35 I.C. Catholic Society: Mass. Mech. Eng.
703.
13.00 STOIC Television service: Music alive with
Roy Harper. J .C.R. and Southside.
13.15 City and Guilds Union Meeting: Hustings.
Mech Eng 220.
13.30 Monsieur Henri Orteu (Tutor in French at
Imperial College and formerly Senior
Tutor, Institut Francais) Francais, anglais,
franglais (M. Orteu will speak slowly in
French). Elec Eng 408.
Miss Sarah Thomas: listening to contemporary music 7. Music now. Mech Eng 342.
14.30 Admission Policy Committee. College.
Block 328.
18.00 I.C. Transcendental Meditation Society: Introductory talk. Elec Eng 606.
Holland Club Art Society. 15 Prince's
Gardens.
Holland Club Bridge Club. 15 Prince's
Gardens.
18.30 Mr. Adrian Neville—a lecture demonstration on the classical guitar. Haldane library
I.C. Photographic Society: Slide criticism (please bring slides for comment). RSM 2.28.
19.30 Hall Dinner. Union.
RCS Mathematical Film: "The Ipcress non-members 15p).
and Physical Society Fi le" (members 10p; Mech Eng 220.
19.45 I.C. Mountaineering Club: Mr. Doug Scott. The big walls of Baffin Island (an illustrated account of the Anglo-American Expedition, led by Doug Scott in 1971, and of his return to the Island in 1972). Admission 25p at the door. College Block Theatre A.
20.00 I.C. Catholic Society: Shared prayer.
53 Cromwell Road.
Wednesday, 28th February
13.30 Advanced class in Hebrew. Elec Eng 1009.
14.30 I.C. Africa Society Film show: "End of dialogue" (depicting the stark brutality of the political system of southern Africa). Elec Eng 407.
Beginners class in Hebrew. Elec Eng 1009.
18.00 Holland Club Photographic: Mr. Bill Cutler. Lenses and their uses. Elec Eng 209.
18.30 I.C. Islamic Society: Meeting and discus
sion. College Block 002.
19.00-I.C. Art Club (behind Huxley Building).
21.00 Royal College of Art.
Thursday, 1st March
09.30-Paintings toy Stephen Chaplin (until 23rd
17.30 March). Consort Gallery.
13.00 I.C. Union General Meeting: Hustings. Great Hall.
I.C. Catholic Society: Bible study group. Falmouth 118.
13.15 I.C. Stamp Club (students and staff welcome). Civ Eng 412.
13.30 Mr. Dominic de Grunne: Mediaeval aesthetics—the arts in a feudal and mercantile society. Physics Theatre 1.
Rev. Ivor Smith-Cameron (Canon of South-wark Cathedral) Christianity and other faiths. Mech Eng 542.
Lunch-hour Concert: Elizabeth Wilson, cello; Kathron Sturrock, piano. Kodaly, Sonata op. 4; Mendelssohn, Sonata in D major. Library, 53 Prince's Gate.
16.00 Refectory Committee. College Block 328.
19.00- I.C. Art Club (behind Huxley Buildings) 21.00 Royal College of Art.
19.00 I.C.S.S.R.S. Slide show: "The Electronic Battlefield". College Block Lecture Theatre B.
19.30 I.C. Wives Club Fork Supper Party. (Academic visitors and new members of the college are particularly invited to attend); charge £ 1 . 5 0 per head; further information is available from the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. R. C. Schroter, 47 Lillian Road, S.W.13. Tel. 748 8754. College Block SCR.
H. G. Wells Society Film show: the Pacific." Mech Eng 220.
'Hell in
Friday, 2nd March
12.45 I.C. Islamic Society Congregational Pray
ers—Juma. College Block 002.
13.00 STOIC Television Service: " T o p i c " magazine programme. JCR and Southside.
18.00 STOIC Television Service. Repeat of 13.00 transmission. Southside only.
18.30 I.C. Christian Union: Mr. Bill Caldwell.
Radio Worldwide Missionary Evening.
Library, 53 Prince's Gate.
19.30 Public Meeting on "India Today." Speaker just returned from India. Organised by Communist Party of Britain (M.L.). 155 Fortess Road, NW5 (Tufnell Park Tube).
Saturday, 3rd March
Antique Fair and Auction by ICCAG. Pro
ceeds to Task Force and Westminster Play
Association. View from 10 a.m. Auction
from 2 p.m. Christie's Auctioneer. Union
Concert Hall.
Touchstone Weekend: Human rights. Dr. David Raphael (Academic Director of Associated Studies) and Professor Sergio Cotta (University of Rome). Silwood Park.
Sunday, 4th March
10.00 Holy Communion.
Block.
Ante Room, College
11.00 I.C. Catholic Society: Mass. 53 Cromwell
Road.
18.00 I.C. Catholic Society: Folk Mass. 53 Crom
well Road.
19.30 I.C. Catholic Society: Miss Geraldine Hall.
The relevance of religious life. 53 Cromwell
Road.
'LAST OF THE RED-HOT LOVERS'
(X) Paramount, Piccadilly Circus
When you go to the People's disco
on a Friday night in the Union, do
you have trouble making out with the
chicks? Yes? Do you want to know
what you'll be like in 20 years? If
you do, go and see 'Last of the Red-
Hot Lovers'. Alan Arkin is Barney, a
nice 45-year-old person, who has a
nice fish restaurant in a nice district,
nice friends, a nice wife and a nice
house. He has also nice morals and
nice habits—in fact the whole of his
life is nauseatingly nice. So Barney
decides to explore an extramarital
affair just for the experience. He
reckons that just one liaison will give
his life that missing ingredient, so
that on his deathbed he can look back
on that brief engagement and think—
'well, I did it, once.' Unfortunately
Barney is not fortunate at all in his
relationships. Apart from being handi
capped by having to use his mother's
sterile apartment, and by being re
stricted to only a couple of hours in
which to make out, his choice in
women-friends is unfortunate, to say
the least. The first is a married
woman who comes to his fish res
taurant four times in one week, and is
only, interested in the animal lust bit.
That upsets Barney. Strike one. The
second one is an attractive young
failed singer, who besides having a
persecution complex, is thoroughly
degenerate and paranoid. That also
upsets Barney. Strike two. The third
is one of his married friends who
makes a pass at him at a party, be
cause she is upset at the gossip that
her husband is having an affair. She
is frigid, neurotic and has a habit of
discussing their affair at the top of
her voice in restaurants. Poor old
Barney—strike three and out.
"JEREMIAH J O H N S O N "
Superficially "Jeremiah Johnson"
bears a strong resemblance to one of
those Walt Disney 'Nature' films.
There is the same central 'mountain-
trapper' type figure, and there are
the same superb, sweeping shots of
the massively beautiful Rocky Moun
tains scenery. The film fits in strongly
with a certain eternal American
mood — the desire to be somewhere
else and to 'up and away' from the
city.
But this Disney 'image' disappears,
for Johnson (heavily-bearded Robert
Redford) is a very real character. At
the beginning of the film he is utterly
inexperienced, and often seems near
perishing in the winter snows. But he
learns, and in this is the fascinating
part of the film, for all the time we
feel that the Crow Indians are watch
ing, and that his existence continues
Alan Arkin (of 'Cath-22') is here
recreating the type of role Jack Lem-
mon made famous a few years a g o —
the slightly neurotic, but very ordin
ary American, who finds himself way
out of his depth in circumstances he
cannot cope with. It is a scaled-down
character role, if you like. I am not
sure if he is as adaptable as Jack
Lemmon, but he is just as convincing.
Sally Keilerman (of 'Mash') and Paula
Prentiss (of various bad movies) as
two of his girlfriends are given a wide
scope of moods and do very well in
deed. The dialogue is typical scaled-
up T.V. Situation Comedy stuff, pre
dictable at times, but occasianally
priceless. The film as a whole starts
off very well, but tails off by the third
liaison, mainly because everything's
been said, and the ending is rather
predictable as well. I reckon it's the
kind of film vou either like or hate,
depending on whether you like Ameri
cans in general or their humour in
particular. However, don't expect any
wild action to match the X-Certificate,
because there isn't any—it seems to
me to be standard A A material. Per
haps the morals are dubious, but
how it can be classified in the same
category as 'Last Tango in Paris' (no
I haven't seen it yet), I don't know.
Still, for 100 mins of mental titilla-
tion, it does quite well.
'Sergei'
Footnote—
For those people who didn't see
Kenneth Williams on 'Parkinson' a
couple of weeks ago, I must repeat
his definition of critics (no love lost
betwen them and Ken)—He reckons
they are like eunuchs in a harem.
They are there every night, see it
done every night, but can't do it
themselves.
only by their consent.
The last part of the film, however,
is very different, for Johnson's re
venge against the Indians (wholly
justified), and their subsequent hunt
ing of him is violently primeval, leav
ing Jacobean Revenge Tragedies far
behind. This is Johnson's testing
ground, and, at the end of the film
he emerges triumphant as the Crow
Chief accepts him in a final gesture
of peace, caught in a poignant frozen-
frame.
Try as I can, I can find no fault in
this film. Redford's performance is
superb, especially in the early 'Jack
London' style of sequences, the
music, which consists of Western
ballads, fits exactly, and I can re
member no film that I have enjoyed
so much for a long time.
David Gurney.
Page 6 F E L I X February 27th, 1973
Nemesis We've been talking a good deal lately about
monev—where to get it, what to spend it on, what
not to spend it on, and—wel l , it's been mainly
about acquiring the stuff.
But just supposing you've been wise enough to
follow all the advice handed out in these columns,
and have got some cash and spent it wisely.
The next problem is to prevent the Income Tax
man from taking a large part of it back.
You want to know how best to avoid this painful
process. The answer—as it so often i s — i s to find
good professional advice. And that means an
accountant.
So what is an accountant? Do you think imme
diately of Bob Cratchitt, high-legged stools and quill
pens?
Well , this week, our expert Derek E. Cummings,
takes a look at an important section o f the f inanc ia l
community.
There are two cer ta int ies about be ing born into
th i s w o r l d these days . One is that, s ome t ime , y ou
are go ing to d ie . The other is that, s ome t ime , you
are go ing to have to pay taxes .
Bo th are fa i r l y m o r b i d thoughts and at first
g l ance there is not a great dea l y ou can do about
t h em . Cer ta in l y not the first, anyway . But the
s e c o n d , w e l l , perhaps there is s o m e t h i n g to be done
about that.
In the first p lace , you have to cons ide r how to
pay as l i tt le tax as poss ib l e , w h i l e r e m a i n i n g — o f
c o u r s e — s t r i c t l y w i t h i n the iaw. There is a fine dif
ference be tween tax avo i dance and tax evas i on .
T h e major d i f f e rence is that you can go to ja i l for
evad ing tax, but a v o i d i n g the pa in of pay ing more
than you have to is per fect ly l eg i t imate .
A n d th i s , unfor tunate ly , is where the average
taxpayer gets into a k i n d of A l i c e in W o n d e r l a n d
s i tua t i on . U n l e s s you k n o w the way a round , it 's a
pretty imposs ib l e puzz le to try to untang le .
There are so many laws, so many ru les , so many
excep t i ons , so many legal l oopho les that even the
br ightest taxpayer w i l l eas i l y become con fused ,
d e p r e s s e d — a n d probably over - taxed.
M o s t tax experts w i l l cheer fu l l y a d m i t that a
large percentage of Br i t i sh taxpayers are pay ing
more tax than they s h o u l d .
T h i s usua l l y ar i ses because the i nd i v i dua l is un
aware of cer ta in i t ems for w h i c h he might c l a i m
tax e x empt i on . A n d it 's not su rp r i s i ng , w h e n you
cons i d e r the way the taxat ion laws are arranged
in th is country , under w h i c h the onus is a l w a y s —
a l w a y s — o n the taxpayer to prove his status to the
In land Revenue .
Y O U fill in your tax returns. Y O U state whatever
c l a i m s for tax rel ie f you think you are ent i t l ed to.
Y O U mus t prove the c l a i m to the tax man . Y O U
have to f ind out what it is you are ent i t l ed to.
The Inland Revenue w i l l never a d v i s e y ou , un l ess
you are prepared to make an issue of it and go to
your l oca l Inspector of Taxes and pore through the
law w i t h h i m l ine by l ine . A n d mos t peop l e have
nei ther the t ime nor the inc l i na t i on to do that.
W h a t many peop le do is to pay an accoun tan t to
m a k e the ir tax returns. T h e i r ra t iona le is that a l
though it cos t s a l i tt le money to put their f inances
and tax affairs into the hands of an accountant , the
l i k e l i hood is that he w i l l save them money in the
long run , by r e d u c i n g the i r tax b i l l .
The l og i c of it is that if the accountan t saves
you just one pound more than the b i l l he charges ,
y ou are ahead of the game .
For anyone w h o objects to pay ing more tax than
is n e c e s s a r y — a n d that su r e l y i n c l u d e s e v e r y o n e —
i t ' s an idea wor th th ink ing about .
Wha t , then, is an accoun tan t ?
In the first p lace the t i t le is s ome th ing of a m i s
nomer . These days , an accountant does a great dea l
more than make up accoun t s . He has to have a
good know l edge of the theory and prac t i ce of b u s i
ness : he has to be f ami l i a r w i t h the w o r k i n g s of the
s tock exchange : he mus t k n o w c o m p a n y law and the
legal invo l vements of s u c h th ings : a n d he has to
k n o w a l l there is to k n o w about taxa t ion .
In short , a good accountan t is a k ind of ma thema
t i ca l lawyer . A gu ide and interpreter for the l ayman .
C l ea r l y , s u c h a man can be of i m m e n s e va lue
whenever you are invo l ved in any k i n d of f inanc ia l
s i t u a t i o n — a s , i nde ed , w e a l l are f r om the momen t
we start earn ing money and pay ing taxes on it.
Of course , if and w h e n the t ime comes , you
w i l l need to choose a g ood accountan t . The most
re l iab le gu ide to this is to look for a char te red
accountant , and the pos t -nomina l in i t i a l s ' A . C . A . ' .
T h i s ind i ca tes that the name on the plate be longs
to a m a n w h o has p a s s e d the s ea r ch ing e xam ina
t ions set by the Institute of Char t e r ed A c c o u n t a n t s .
Na tura l l y , these qua l i f i ca t ions w i l l not necessar i l y
e x c lude foo ls and knaves , but it is a w o r t h w h i l e
ind i ca to r . A f t e r a l l , anyone at a l l c an ca l l h imse l f
an accountant and set up in bus iness w i th no
qua l i f i ca t ions whatever .
A n d how does an accountant h imse l f def ine h is
w o r k ? I t a lked to a char te red accountan t about it.
L ike doc to rs , accountan ts are f o rb idden by their
c ode of c onduc t to adver t i se , so his remarks must
remain a n o n y m o u s .
"I suppose the best de f in i t ion of an accoun tan t ' s
w o r k , " s a i d he w h o sha l l be name l ess , " i s to say
that w e offer a t rans la t ion se rv i ce . So m u c h of the
law re lat ing to bus iness and taxat ion is qui te i n
comprehens i b l e to the layman that w i thout expert
interpretat ion he has no chance of unde r s tand ing
it.
"I w o u l d agree that vast numbers of peop le do
pay more i n come tax, for example , than they real ly
need to. In most cases , it amounts to sh i l l i n g s and
it w o u l d therefore not be wo r th pay ing pounds to
c o m e to one of us to correc t the assessment .
" B u t the th ing is that un less you are fami l i a r
w i t h the law re lat ing to taxa t i on , you can never be
sure wha t it is you are ent i t l ed to c l a i m for. There
CONGRATULATIONS I 'd l ike to offer my congratulations to those wonder
ful crusaders who removed a l l those unsightly publ ic i ty
notices around college advertising the nat ional grants
demonstration. It was an utter disgrace that students
should display notices advertising a demonstration on
such an unworthy cause as student grants. It was good
to survey the thoroughness w i th wh i ch every single
poster was disposed of f rom their places of erection,
inc luding student noticeboards.
T h e most clever part of it was the way in which
the authorities disclaimed a l l knowledge of having re
moved them and their method of confusing students
as to where they were al lowed-to put up notices and
who was pul l ing them down.
A t least some people have got the strength of mind
to stand up to student propaganda; who knows, one
day students might even get organised and begin to
think . . . or even start discussing P O L I T I C S (ghastly
word). Obv ious ly we can't tolerate such things: after
a l l , th ink of the effect that si l ly student pranks l ike
demonstrations could have on the cutback i n educa
t ion expenditure. W e musn' t have them disturbing the
peace just because they don't th ink their grant is h igh
enough, let alone rationalisations or refectory price i n
creases (such topics are, after a l l , way above their
heads).
Prof. F o r d (whoops, let it slip), M r . Seaford and
(signed) A n admirer of the mighty crusaders.
Company .
React ionary Jacks ( M R A )
P.S. I hope M r . Seaford w i l l give the male cleaners
a bonus for the extra work involved ( including danger
money for going up ladders to a height of 20 feet or
more) for taking down the posters rather than getting
in contact wi th the indiv iduals involved who (horrible
blokes) actual ly gave an undertaking to remove the
posters on Wednesday after the demonstration. A few
more students might have read those b i l l s ; that would
have been a bit sil ly.
P.P.S. W h y not censor the student notice boards a l l
of the t ime, not just some of it?
(Name and address of contributor supplied)
is no p rov i s i on for the Inland Revenue to po int out
th ings l ike that to the taxpayer . It is the taxpayer ' s
o w n r e spons ib i l i t y to f ind out. A n d that takes a good
dea l more d e d i c a t i o n than mos t people are pre
pared for. On the other hand , accountants are
tra ined to look for s u c h i t ems .
" A n d there is one other th ing w h i c h is we l l
wor th po in t ing out to anyone con temp la t ing the
idea of c o n s u l t i n g an accountan t , a n d that is not
to leave it too late. If, for examp le , you think you
are be ing over - taxed , take pro f ess iona l adv i c e as
soon as y ou c a n , o the rw i se it c an be a long and
c o m p l i c a t e d bus ine s s . Remember , the tax man does
not have to prove he is right, y ou have to prove
he is w r o n g .
" O f course , persona l taxes are far f rom being
the mos t important e l ement in our pro fess iona l
l i ves . L ike legal men , w e have to know a good deal
about most th ings in l i fe. A f t e r a l l , w h e n a man
c o m e s ' t o y ou to lay h is f inanc ia l affairs before your
eyes , he 's s h o w i n g you a lot of h imse l f , w h i c h
means that an accountant is deep ly and persona l l y
i n vo l v ed in a w i d e range of men ' s do ings .
" O d d l y enough , a lot of the story-book image
of a c c o u n t a n c y s t i l l c l i n g s . M a n y people s t i l l see
us s i t t ing on high s too l s , a d d i n g c o l u m n s of f igures
and enter ing them in ledgers w i th qu i l l pens . But ,
l ike many such images , it is a gro tesque ly inaccur
ate one.
" W e have to be au fait w i t h the mos t mode rn
bus iness me thods such as compute r s , cost-ef fect ive
ness p rog rammes , c ompany o rgan isa t i on and the
w h o l e m a s s of l aw re la t ing to mone tary matters .
But it a l l bo i l s d o w n to one th ing , rea l ly . M a k i n g
money wo rk to the best poss ib l e advantage of the
c l i en t w h i l e s tay ing w i t h i n the l a w . "
February 27th, 1973 F E L I X Page 7
Joint Election Manifesto
FELIX announced its
intention of printing can
didates' manifestos sev
eral weeks ago. At the
deadline time, 1700 hrs
on Friday, we had re
ceived a joint manifesto
from Messrs. Rob Armi
tage and Simon Allnutt,
and this is reproduced
below. The other candi
dates did not send in
manifestos.
M y name is S imon A l l
nutt. I a m a th i rd year
physicist. H a v i n g entered
the college as an engineer
anu changed to physics
means that I have been
here an extra year. R o b
Arm i t age and myself are
standing wi th same mani
festo, given below.
It is our belief that both
sabbat ical officers wishing
to attain the same forward
look ing objectives, results
i n a more active union.
One person, in general,
w i l l have less chance of
seeing the problems the
union w i l l face in the first
place, w i l l not produce as
many ideas on how to
tackle them, and finally, of
carry ing them through to
a successful conclusion.
T H E C O L L E G E
C O M M U N I T Y
A s many people as pos
sible should be involved in
the union's activities at a l l
levels, producing the ideas
to improve the union for
its members. Contact be
tween sabbat ical officers
and the students for ex
change of ideas would be
most direct at departmen
ta l level. A s wel l as this
departments should have
more contact between a l l
students, both post-gradu
ate and under-graduate,
and staff of a l l denomina
tions for a better education
and satisfactory commun
ity.
The college community
consists of more than just
the academic staff and
students. I n these times
when the students are suf
fering economical ly we
are under a mora l obl iga
t ion to protect the jobs of
workers i n the college who
have dependants to sup
port.
A D V E R T I S I N G F E A T U R E
Why Life Assurance? C O U R S E S T R U C T U R E
In the present situation
of graduate unemployment
the f lexibi l i ty of our edu
cation is of paramount im
portance.
One of the great benefits
of the course unit system
said to operate in this
Col lege should be the
choice of courses offered
to students, enabling them
to qual i fy i n a broader
field, whilst a l lowing spe
c ia l isat ion should the stu
dent wish it.
W i t h the present job
situation, it is a great ad
vantage to have a broader
field of interest, even i f
this is used temporari ly
unti l the " r ight j o b " arises.
Does this apply at
, present? No t satisfactorily.
The recent appointment
of the Academic Director
by the college indicates
that now is the t ime for
we students to suggest new
course contents where nec
essary, to make courses
more flexible, more useful.
M a k e no mistake, more
f lexibil ity is an improve
ment in your chances
when y ou graduate and
start look ing for a good
job.
E D U C A T I O N
Educa t i on should bene
fit everyone — part icu
lar ly those being educated.
One of the major points of
the " L i m i t s to G r o w t h " re
port of the group f rom
M I T was that to achieve
a stable economy is to use
a much larger percentage
of the gross nat ional prod
uct for education. In this
context it is our responsi
bi l i ty to press for more ex
pansion in a l l areas of edu
cation, to press for equal
ity of opportunity and
transfer methods between
courses to cater for
changes of interest as the
course progresses. The cut
backs in the Whi te Paper
entitled " E d u c a t i o n : a
Framework for E x p a n
s i o n " (the exact opposite
of its contents), are thor
oughly deplorable.
N .U .S .
W e should be able to
further our aims through
N U S . A s a nat ional union,
its negotiating power, and
The days when an Insurance Manager wept as a
student entered his office are fast disappearing.
True, the odd one or two still want to insure them
selves to drive a hearse backwards to Basutoland,
but the rapid growth of student interest in life
assurance is the main reason for the new benign
attitude now pervading insurance circles.
A n d the s tudent interest in l i fe a ssurance rea l ly
has g r o w n . A t a conserva t i v e es t imate T W E N T Y
M I L L I O N P O U N D S of l i fe a s su rance is bought by
undergraduates each year .
I believe it is not near ly enough .
I know that near l y 9 0 per cent of ma le under
graduates w i l l take out a l i fe a s su rance po l i c y
before they are 27 or so .
I am sure that if they a l l rea l l y k n e w the g ood
hard e c o n o m i c r easons w h y they s h o u l d do it n o w
— m o s t of them w o u l d .
Let m e spe l l these out.
The younger you start a p o l i c y the cheaper it is
the provis ion of services
l ike Trave l and Insurance,
are far greater than any
college union can muster
of its own accord. It is an
advantage to be associa
ted w i th N U S : if we dis
agree w i th its policies,
then we can campaign to
change and improve them.
The N U S has very cum
bersome machinery, but
I.C. has in the past been
among the leading expo
nents of improved pro
cedures, a trend we would
l ike to continue. T o bury
our heads in the sand leads
nowhere.
C O M M U N I T Y A C T I O N
Commun i t y act ion is an
area in which this union
is tak ing the lead in i m
proving the communi ty as
a whole. A s such, and to
gether wi th Eco-act ion it
should have the greater
financial support f rom the
union.
O V E R S E A S S T U D E N T S
Twenty per cent of our
students are f rom overseas
and at present have no
representative o n counc i l .
Th is must be rectified if
we are to help them effec
tively to fight any further
increases in their fees, at
present too high anyway.
U N I O N F E E
A t present the U n i o n
receives £8.50 for each
ful l-t ime student. W i t h ris
ing costs (don't say you
haven't noticed!) the
U n i o n might soon be as
impoverished as its ind i
v idua l members. The per-
capi ta fee should be in
creased to a level so
that expanded program
mes can take place. It is
not sufficient merely to i n
crease the U n i o n income
to cover r is ing costs.
V O T E
If you support our aims
outlined here we ask you
to reflect i t by voting.
A l l n u t t for President and
Armi tage for secretary.
Please feel free to
approach us on any point
you wish to discuss.
Vo t e for the other can
didate i f you prefer his
views, but vote. Th is
makes a democrat ic union.
R O B A R M I T A G E
S I M O N A L L N U T T
and the cheaper it s tays . O n c e your rate for the
p o l i c y has been agreed it cannot be i nc r eased , irre
spec t i ve of inf lat ion or any de ter io ra ton in your
hea l th . A s tudent of 19 w o u l d pay w i t h one l ead ing
c o m p a n y £30.00 per a n n u m for a £4,000 l i fe p o l i c y
(the s tudent average ) . A graduate of 27 w o u l d
pay £40.50 per a n n u m for the s a m e th ing (if the
rate r ema ined the same in these in f lat ionary t i mes ) .
Over 2 0 / 3 0 years , the sav ing runs into h u n d r e d s
of p o u n d s .
The nex t reason w h y c o u l d invo lve a sav ing of
thousands of pounds.
The brokers operat ing in the s tudent f ie ld t end
to r e c o m m e n d very g o o d cont rac t s , if on ly on the
g rounds that a s tudent c l i ent today is a (r ich) g r adu
ate c l i en t t omor r ow and by then he w i l l be more
aware and s h o w h is apprec i a t i on or o the rw i se by
p l a c i n g h is bus iness w i t h the broker he k n o w s a n d
trusts . M y o w n c o m p a n y wr i t e many m i l l i o n s of
pounds wor th o f bus iness each year f r om our thou
sands of graduate c l i en t s .
The cho i c e of p o l i c y is mos t important . In 1 9 7 2
the pay out di f ference on two p o l i c i e s — f o r i den t i ca l
o u t l a y s — w a s £2,949. That is 2 ,949 reasons for
tak ing the a d v i c e of a g ood broker . O n c e r e m o v e d
f rom un ivers i t y you w i l l be up aga ins t many ha rd
s e l l i ng insurance conce rns w h i c h migh t mean less
good adv i c e .
A g ood broker w i l l a l so be able to he lp you to
buy that h o u s e you w i l l wan t s oon after g r adua t i on .
T a k i n g a l i fe p o l i c y n o w is on ly the first s tep. It
car r i es no guarantee , but my o w n c o m p a n y is da i l y
a r rang ing mor tgages for our graduate c l i en t s . I
have every reason to be l i e v e that severa l other
insurance brokers in the s tudent f i e ld -are a l so pro
v i d i n g th is se rv i ce .
W o r t h w h i l e po l i c i e s for s tudents can beg in f r om
2 0 p per week and if you c o u l d forego the o d d pint
or packe t of c igare t tes it is in your o w n interest to
s e r i ous l y c ons i d e r e m b a r k i n g upon your future
f inanc ia l p l ann ing now . C o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h a broker ,
pre fe rab ly one w h o is e i ther a member of the
A s s o c i a t i o n or Co rpo ra t i on of Brokers w o u l d be a
use fu l s tar t ing po int , as p ro f ess i ona l s t and ing car
r ies w i t h it p ro f e ss i ona l r e spons ib i l i t y .
A . J . B r o a d ,
M a n a g i n g D i r ec to r ,
E. H a r r i s o n ( Insurance Brokers ) L td .
1 —
H E L P ! Help yourself to a good
Life Assurance investment plan
2 — Help yourself to our
House Purchase plan
3 — Help yourself to our advice (it's free)
4 — Help yourself to our coupon
Then we ' l l he lp you , just as we 've he lped t h o u s a n d s of
s tudents s i n c e 1951.
E. Har r i son : A s s o c i a t e d Insurance B r o k e r s
To: Harrison's, R o u n d Church Street, Cambridge.
1 N A M E
I
1
I
I
I
T E R M A D D R E S S
"Heading quote successful elimination of factors tending to exacerbate
abnormal behaviour among undergraduate students unquote."
* Please send m e your comprehensive leaflet on Life Assurance. '
Page 8 F E L I X February 27th, 1973
hockey Centrepoint
Last Sunday out at Har l ing ton and in the surround
ing pubs, the annual piss-up w i th the Poachers took
place. The game that preceded this was won by the
Poachers 2—1 after they were a goal down at half-
time.
The game was extremely scrappy and after a hard
night I missed most of what happened — especially
their two goals — so I ' l l end this report by thanking
W .B . , R o n (he is the pissed one), R i c h and Dave for
keeping the I.C. f lag f ly ing in the surrounding pubs.
O n the previous day the 1st X I played their penul
t imate league match against Smiths and lost 3—0. The
only comment about this match that reached me was
that it wasn't wor th reporting. O n the same day, the
never reported 2nd X I entertained G . W . R . l i s and won
1—0.
Saturday's br i l l iant sunshine brought out the best
in the 3rd X I players, who proceeded to record their
third w in of the season. In order to give G . W . R . I l l s
a chance, I .C. turned up w i th only nine men.
The first ha l f was fa ir ly even w i th both sides creat
ing chances, but neither getting o n top. G . W . R . took
the lead mid-way through this half w i th a simple goal
fo l lowing a bad defensive mistake. The second half
was completely different. Despite G . W . R ' s . two m a n
advantage, I .C. completely dominated the game. U s i n g
their superior fitness (thanks to J.J.?) I .C. forced the
pace and eventually scored a very scrambled goal f rom
a goa lmouth melee. Russ Eason was the scorer. The
same player scored the winner a few minutes later
when he beat three players before putt ing the ba l l
into the empty net. A t this stage G . W . R . were unable
to raise their game and I.C. eventually emerged the
comfortable winners.
Team:- R. Ba teman; D . M u r c h , C . Scott; J . Heffer,
Ju l i e , R . Cr i tch ley ; W. B igg in , J . Preston, R. Eason .
A s mentioned earlier M r . Eason scored twice dur ing
the match, his hat-tr ick being completed later that
same evening.
W i l l a l l members please note that the annua l d inner
w i l l take place on Monday , M a r c h 19th. The price for
this nosh-up wh ich w i l l be fol lowed by a grand dr ink
ing session in 414, is at the moment, set at £2.40. F o r
a l l o f those who are br inging guests of the opposite
sex, and who isn't, a double ticket is settling d o w n at
£4.50.
r o w i n g Saturday the 10th February saw the I.C. 1st V I I I
in act ion for the first t ime this year. The occasion was
the London R o w i n g C l u b Colleges Regatta. A l though ,
as its name suggests, this is essentially a colleges event,
L o n d o n R o w i n g C l u b decided to enter two crews. One
of wh i ch was their domestic 1st V I I I , only lacking
the heavyweights of their continental regatta G r a n d
V I I I .
The first heat saw I.C. caught i n a hai lstorm whi le
wai t ing on the start, as a result of which their new
blue boat c lub sweat shirts spent the rest of the day in
the dry ing room and I.C. had to revert to their prac
tice tops for the rest of the regatta. Q . M . C . , the cause
of the delay, only had 7 men and had had to pick up a
spare man f rom L o n d o n R o w i n g C l u b . I n fact, they
needn't have bothered, as they, along w i th L o n d o n
R . C . II were left standing by I.C's. very powerful start.
I.C. were in fact clear of both crews in the first twenty
strokes. A l t hough I.C. d id not row part icular ly well
for the rest of the race they beat L o n d o n by about 4
lengths and Q . M . C . by 7 lengths.
In the Semi -F ina l I.C. met C h u r c h i l l College, C a m
bridge. In rough water I.C. went clear in the first min
ute and f inal ly won by 4 lengths.
A l t hough I.C. had won a l l their heats easily they
never rowed part icular ly wel l together and it was wi th
some doubts that they went into the f ina l against
London R . C .
I.C's. powerful start gave them . f length in the first
minute but they d i d not settle together i n the middle
of the race and could not go clear. The i r lack of
cohesion in the rough water coupled wi th the fact that
they had had one more race than L o n d o n , began to
tell even on this very fit crew. I n the closing stages
London rowed through f .C . to w i n by 1 length.
The result is very promis ing indeed for the boat
c lub. A l l the other college crews were wel l beaten, and
the very next day the same L o n d o n crew were easily
held over 7. mins. Even more promis ing have been some
of the other practice outings, i n wh i ch I.C. have bea
ten most of the other tideway clubs. The highlights of
the practice rows were I.C's. defeat of Isis (the Ox fo rd
university 2nd V I I I , thought by many to be very good
this year) by 1/3 length over 2 mins., and the defeat
of T y r i an , the U . L . 2nd V I I I b y 2 lengths over a
3 min . row.
The indicat ions are that this could be one of the
boat clubs best seasons for many years.
C E N T R E P O I N T began
as an exper iment on De
c ember 16 th , 1 9 6 9 , in
the d i s u s e d basement of
S t . A n n e ' s House , S o h o ,
w h o s e front door is in
D e a n Street , next to the
bomb s i te w h i c h was
once S t . A n n e ' s C h u r c h .
The ent rance to Cent re -
po int is in Sha f t esbury
A v e n u e , th rough s o m e
r omant i c i ron gates, and
the d e c a y i n g c h u r c h y a r d ,
p a s s e d u n n o t i c e d by
thousands of peop le ev
ery day . It began here,
r ight in the heart of the
W e s t E n d (the centre
po int ) because th is w a s
where a numbe r of
g roups were w o r k i n g , es
p e c i a l l y w i t h d r u g abus
ers. A m o n g them w a s
Father Kenne th Leach at
S t . A n n e s ' , t r y ing to he lp
peop le w h o are very sev-
3relly d i s tu rbed , many ir
reparab ly so . He w a t c h
ed y o u n g peop le d r a w n
to the W e s t E n d l ike
moths to a c and l e , a l
mos t inev i tab ly to be
burnt , a n d he l onged to
f ind s o m e way of s a v ing
s o m e of them f rom the
f a m i l i a r s y n d r o m e : no
money , nowhere to
s l eep , " v a g r a n c y " , petty
c r i m e , d rugs a n d the
pros t i tu t i on of both boys
a n d g i r l s .
The e x p e r i m e n t — i n i t
i a l l y for three m o n t h s —
a i m e d to p rov ide new
comers w i t h first a i d : a
p l ace to s l eep , some
th ing to eat, s omeone to
talk to, and a d v i c e es
p e c i a l l y about how to
f ind wo rk and a c c o m m o
d a t i o n . It hoped to g i ve
a f ew of them a c h a n c e
to sett le in London w i t h
out b e ing d a m a g e d by
it, or to go home aga in ,
or to do whatever it w a s
t h a t — b y the t ime they
r eached C e n t r e p o i n t —
they rea l ly w a n t e d to do .
Cent repo in t is un ique
in L o n d o n in p r o v i d i n g
emergency a c c o m m o d a
t ion c omp l e t e l y free,
every n ight of the year .
F i f teen to twenty young
peop l e have c o m e in
every n ight and there
have been s o m e fi fteen
thousand a d m i s s i o n s
s i n c e the centre opened .
It n o w has a fu l l t ime
p ro f ess i ona l s o c i a l wo rk
er as a d i r e c t o r — D a v i d
N a i r n — b u t , other than
that, it is ent i re ly staffed
by vo luntee rs . Imper ia l
C o l l e g e C a t h o l i c S o c i e t y
s en d two vo lunteers ev
ery n i g h t — t h e y w o r k on
a f o r tn ight l y r o t a — t o
wo rk there, and o rgan
i sed a long s p o n s o r e d
w a l k through the S u s s e x
W e a l d o n Sa tu rday . T h e
a i m w a s to ra ise money
for Cent repo in t H ouse , a
short t e rm hoste l the or
gan i sa t i on is to set up at
B a r o n ' s Cour t . It w i l l
house fourteen res idents
a n d offer those w h o use
it a suppor t i ve add r e s s
w h i l s t they wo rk a n d f ind
other a c c o m m o d a t i o n
d u r i n g the ir n o n - w o r k i n g
hours . The average ex
pec t ed length of stay
w i l l be a for tn ight . U n
for tunate ly no space w a s
ava i l ab l e for th is a r t i c l e
in our last i ssue , so w e
c o u l d not urge y o u to
sponso r a wa lke r . Nev-
the l ess , Cen t r epo in t s t i l l
needs d o n a t i o n s — i n a l l ,
they need £10,000. If
you c a n , s e nd a f ew
pence . M o r e de ta i l s c an
be ob ta ined f r om J o s e p h
C u l l e n , M e c h Eng P G ,
w h o is o r gan i s ing the
C a t h s o c cont ingent to
Cent repo in t .
rapid rambles Hyde Park Road
Relay
If you were by the A l
bert M e m o r i a l on Sa tur
day a f t e rnoon , y ou may
have w o n d e r e d at the
emergence of s o m e 5 0 0
be t racksu i t ed p e o p l e
f r o m the U n i o n . T h e o c
c a s i o n for a l l th is ac t i v
ity w a s the 2 5 t h H y d e
Park Road Re lay o rgan
i s e d in t ime -honoured
(and some t imes cursed )
t rad i t i on by Imperial C o l
lege in its man i f es ta t i on
as the C r o s s Coun t r y
C l u b in genera l , and
Steve W e b b , Pete J o h n
s o n , N e i l B o a g a n d R o b
Parker in par t i cu la r .
M a n y thanks to a l l
those w h o b raved the
wea ther (the o d d s n o w -
flake or two) to he lp on
the day : the t imekeepers
a n d judges , the markers
( in par t i cu la r , w e ' v e
been a s k e d to men t i on
the " l o v e l y l i t t le lady
f r o m L o u g h b o r o u g h " . . .
say no more M a r s h a l
P a d ? ) , the r esu l t s run
ner, Ian, w h o w a s on a
b i ke . Dave J o n e s ' re
su l t s t eam (at one stage
on ly three) w h o sought
to prove that a r i thmet i c
is not yet, in s ome
sense , a lost art, s o m e
D r a m s o c peop le for their
t i m e a n d ampl i f i e r , a n d
the lad ies of M o o n e y
w h o d i s h e d out the teas
and w i thou t w h o m . . .
A t 3 o ' c l o c k by the
t r ad i t i ona l l amp - post ,
w h o s e number I've for
got ten . Lo rd Penney ,
a r m e d w i t h the A C C
W e b l e y ( w h i c h w o r k e d ) ,
u n l e a s h e d a s t r a in ing
pack of s o m e 8 0 runners
d o w n Rot ten R o w a n d
a round the 3 m i l e (al
most ) course . F i r s t back
w a s J . Reade of Por ts
m o u t h Po ly , but that
g l o ry d i d n ' t last l ong ,
s l i p p i n g to s e c o n d on the
next lap a n d later to
2 6 t h .
Bo r ough R o a d C o l l e g e
managed to w i n both the
cups th i s year, ins tead
of just the ir usua l one
(we on ly hope w e ' l l see
the Lady R o d e r i c k H i l l
cup aga in ! ) , in a t ime of
8 5 m i n 3 0 sec . B i r m i n g
ham Un ive rs i t y , w i n n e r s
for the past two years ,
were t h i r d , m o v i n g up
s l o w l y f r om 2 4 t h after
the f irst lap . The fastest
lap w a s run by A n d y M c -
Kean of E d i n b u r g h U n i
vers i ty in 13 m i n , 3 0
sec , 3 s e c o n d s short of
the lap r e co rd (his left
l eg w a s not m u c h s l ow
er ) .
Of c ourse the resu l t
you ' r e a l l w a i t i n g for is
that of I C . W e were 3 9 t h .
Rob A l l i n s o n s tar ted us
off w e l l at 5 3 r d in 15
m i n 2 9 sec , a n d th is
pos i t i on was conso l i da t
ed by Stuart L i t t l ewood
(15 :56 ) a n d Dave Payne
( 1 6 : 3 2 ) . T h e effect, how
ever w a s s omewha t
spo i l ed by J o e Kea t ing ,
who p i c k e d up 14 p laces
in a t ime of 14 m i n 37
sec , re turn ing so qu i ck l y
that he was the cause of
a hurr i ed d i s robement
by our next runner Pau l
C l a r k e , w h o d i d 15 m i n
4 9 sec . Our last runner
was Rob Parker , and
least s a i d , soones t m e n d
ed . The overa l l t ime was
9 4 m i n 59 sec .
A f ter the race Lady
Penney w a s k i n d enough
to present the meda l s to
the w i n n i n g teams a n d
i n d i v i d u a l s , a n d Steve
W e b b made a speech
a n d got it r ight .
A n d so, as the U n i o n
sank once more , for an
other year, into its
peace fu l s lumber , a
group of B e l g i a n runners
led by Fore i gn Teams
organiser Pete J o h n s o n
(none other) j o i n ed the
IC T e a m and hal f the
other U K co l l e ges in a
cer ta in house of re f resh
ment in Sou th K e n s i n g
ton. H n n n ! ( that 's F r e n c h
but I guess those B e l
g i ans u n d e r s t a n d
F r e n c h ) .