F E L I X

N E W

P H Y S I C S

B L O C K

The New Physios blooK was opened on October 20th. by S i r John .Cookroft. A large crowd of distinguished people gat hered i n the main Physios lecture theat re to hear S i r John, introduced by the Viscount Falmouth, and the Rector, give the opening address. His description of the e l e c t r i c a l apparatus which producei a large current, poking through a hole i n the w a l l , f o r one of Professor Black ett's expf^imenisj • was very well reoeiv ea .'n_ replir,. Processor 'SSeokett paid tribute to S i r John, and saying that. S i r John was the'best s c i e n t i f i c admin i s t r a t o r i n England today.

Sir John then oalled'upon modern technology to aid him. in unveiling the large block of stone above the entrance In spite of the rain, a large number orS people watched the ceremony from across the road. After the opening, the assemb led company wandered around the block, examining laboratories and apparatus. A l l agreed that everything was well app ointed, and, so far, no major grumbles have been heard. It seems as though Professor Blaokett's praise of the arch iteots and contractors i s well deserved

T O A D S T O O L S

Historians or f i l m producers, wish-ing to recapture the atmosphere of We^l ington's tent en the eve of Waterloo, cr Montgomery' s\>aravan before^ Alatnein would have been well advised to eaven; drop on a m i l i t a r y conference held i l l an upper room of Beit H a l l i l a t e on the eve'of the opening of the JJbysios block For t h i s was the f i n a l bwtefing before Operation Toadstoo 1.

The reason f o r the Operation was simple. Several users of the new Physic block had noted i n horror that a number of iron toadstools had been planted just outside the building, i n Queen's Gate, but had been painted as mushrooms They could only be toadstools, however, being obviously u n f i t f o r human con-sumption. So i t mas decided to restore them to t h e i r proper species by paint-ing a variety of colour ed spots a l l over them.

The atmosphere was tense i n tne b r i e f i n g room as the reconnaisance p a t r o l l a i d down t h e i r cups of coffee and set f o r t h . While they were taking up t h e i r positions t o guard against the blue-uniformed enemy, a F i f t h Col-um, consisting of twfc of the p r e t t i e s t g i r l s available (both- alas- engaged), entered the building i t s e l f and engaged the night watchman i n charming convers-ation. Meanwhile, the Operation proper got under way. Armed with brushes, pots and " s t e n c i l s " (pieces of card-board with round holes i n them), a commando group gained access to the mushrooms by a secret route and completed the mux ation into to-tdstools at lightning speed. Having r e t i r e d , they deoidecrw paint the'concrete pots as w e l l , j u s t to match. Withdrawal of a l l parties was eompjaKed without any casualties, excep t a few paint covered hands and clothes

and i n f a c t , without any s l r n . f enery a c t i v i t y . Kopping-up operations we e un dertaken with a mugful of petrol.

Obsessed by the Scientist's love of symmetry, sone of the raiding party tho ught i t intolerable that the other end of Prince Consort Road should remain m decorated. Their a r t i s t i r talents turned to the statues outside the Royal School of Mines. Theseweatherworn f i g -ures now blossom forth i n resplendent • masculinity or languorous seductiveness I t i s rumoured that a stony smile has at l a s t sprecd across the l i p s of B eit and Wernher, and that the belles of the R.C M., pranoir-g primly down the street i n the morning with t h e i r music cases, are ,half-oonsoious of a roving yellow-painted eye that appears to follow them as they go*

Nor did Guilds escape. A r t i s t r y , was somewhat exhausted by than-ther e are not any statues outside Guilds anyw ay- but theredid at least appear seme indication that R.C,S. painters had been there.

The raiders' one regret i s that they were not able to correct some of the equations on the since unveiled slab, toj bring them in t o l i n e with the information given on certain of t h e i r own,exam, papers . However, i t w i l l a l l be out of date before long.

The toadstools, incidently, rever ted to mushrooms shortly before the buildiflgrwas opened. P i t y

F E L I X 3

m i NEm

Suddenly, i t ' s The Jazz Consortii-n! This cosmic group went into orbit i n tht top chophouse of Imperial College l a s t Saturday. Man, they blew l i k e they were i n the Galaxy K81 i n Ursa Major. (Like, dig the extended astronomical metaphor, Dadl) Unfortunately, i t - w i l l probably take several l i g h t years before the squares dig this sort of 3olid noise. Components of the Consortium are: Dick iadraore(tpt.), Walter Skinner(alto), Kichard Bush ton (piano)-, Frenetic Farnsworth(bass), Mike Smith(drums), Qh Buddy-boo, Walter just knock me out, he's so funky. I mean, he has certainly gotten Birds message. And Kike crouches there battering his s o l i d steel tubs. At present the Consortium are running through the Miles Davis book. Norman Granz. had better duckl

The forthcoming Jazz at the P h i l , tour looks l i k e being a knockout. I mean,with Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley i n the side, i s there anything else? Another a t t -raction f o r you plutocratic bums i s the f i l m "Jazz on a Summer's D a y . " s t i l l show-, ing at the Cameo-Holy.I believe i t ' s a gas,but,of course, I haven't seen i t my*r self,due to a lack of lettuce. Like, that's the way the cookie crumbles!'

The l a t e s t news fla s h from Doc. i t t t n chard i s that he i s running out of bead s mirrors and shotguns, essential for t r a d -ing with the Alberta natives. Konksvillel

V i s i t o r s I have had from overseas t h i s week include new harp star, Emily Flue, the g i r l who has set the Punjab an f i r e ; way-out bop euphonium player, Gloria Quink; and steel erector Harry Stashing** ton.

Sales of my "Do- i t -yourself-hard-bop-kit" are f a l l i n g , due to competition! from lfenitoys. They are producing a com-prehensive "Jazz set" for l/lOd. But . they're small potatoes, Man, i n fact Cubesville, man, Cubesville. By throwing i n a p l a s t i c a l t o , and l i f e size model of Uranus, hard-bop k i t sales should h i t the top.

This weeks book choice i s Ephraim Sewers' erudite tome,'The significance

of the bassoon i n wallpaper design". To get Sewers' message, the only thing to do i s f l i c k through those swinging pages while simultaneously playing a whole-tone blues on an ocarina.

Eimahot.

" T H E U N .

B o u n c e

R U S H

"Now dig this Atomic solo,Man!"

M U S I C

A student i n London has one big ad-vantage over his provincial counterpart, and that i s ' that London offers a large number of theatres,two opera hou3es,two resident b a l l e t companies and two large concert h a l l s with nightly concerts of both c l a s s i c a l and more modern music However i t i s am«?i1ng how many students f a i l to make use of these almost u n r i v a l l -ed opportunities;so to encourage- them the following notes have been compiled. This week's a r t i c l e i s devoted to opera,but i t i s hoped i n l a t e r numbers to mention the theatre,ballet and forthcoming concerts.

The opera season opened on Oct.19th .fith a gala performance of "La Somnabula? This seldom heard I t a l i a n opera i s sdde-l i g h t f u l work and the veteran I t a l i a n con-ductor Serafin contrived,with Miss. Joan Sutherland and the rest of the cast,to make this performance a great success. The same conductor and soprano triumph-ed i n 1958 i n the production of Donnizettl ' s "Lucia di. Lanmermoor"which w i l l be heard again l a t e r i n the season.

don stage.The sets and costumes f o r these two very well known operas are r e a l l y f i r s t class,and when your correspondent saw t h i s "couplet"last term,the resident company did the music f u l l justice.

Saturday,0ot.22nd,Franco Z e f f i r e l l i ' s beautiful production of "Cavelleria Rua-ticana"and "Iagliacoi"return to the Lon-

The published programme includes future performances of these three pp*-eras,as well as revivals of "Peter Grimes" "Carmen" (i n EnijLish)Il Barbiere d i S i v i g -lia"and "Macbeth" (both i n Italian)and "Der Rosenkavalier'(in German}

Among other revivals to date,probably one of the most successful i s "La Cener-entolla";Rossini's gay,fairytale opera being well-suited to the intimate at-mosphere at Sadler's Wells.Once again the English translation helps to put aoross the inherent wit and charm of this piece i n which Denis Dowling i s p a r t i c u l a r l y successful as "Dandini",repeating the performance he gave at Glyndebournethis year.

At Sadler's Weils,the season started somewhat e a r l i e r with a new production of "La Traviata".As with a l l performances at this theatre,it i s sung i n English and so provides an excellent opportunity f o r the newoomer to opera to f a m i l i a r i z e himself with the music.- and plot without having to contend with I t a l i a n dialogue.

—

Gallery seats at Sadler's Wells can always be obtained on the night of a performance at 3 / - . Tickets f o r Covent Garden should,however,be bought w e l l i n advance f o r f i / - or 7/6 depending on the performanoe.

N O V . 5 * .

This year's "Guy Jawkes Wail" w i l l be held on Saturday, 5th. Noveriber, at the College Sports Ground at Bipson Lane, H Harlington.

Tiokets w i l l be on sale from 1st. Nov ember and w i l l be obtainable from the Union Offioe at lunch time. The price of 2/6d.' inoludes hot dogs, transport to and from Harlington, and entrance to the dance.

Ilaice sure of your tioket by coming punctually on the 1st. since t h i s i s on extremely popular function, and t i c k e t s w i l l s e l l out q u i c l i y .

4 F E L I X

Editorial Comment

Vffl NEED TOTTERS. Every Editor .01 "Felix" has made t h i s appeal. This Edit-or i s no exception. Regular fortnightly a r t i c l e s , occasional a r t i c l e s , any art i c l e s i r i l l d o . A s i x page " F e l i x " i s not a good r e f l e c t i o n on the l i f e of the Un-ion, and i f % of the College wrote one a r t i o l e per fortnight, we should get 28 a r t i c l e s , enough to f i l l about' 9 pages. I f you f e e l the need to burst i n t o print about lectures, the Union, women or anything else, do so. Immediately.

ICWA Election.

Due to the non-return of Sue Coombs, President elect of ICWA,another election, iias been held, and Mary Tones i s the new President. Ann Hodnett was elected Hon.Sea.

Dear S i r ,

I t has been my misfortune to eat another meal in. Ayrton H a l l . Of the food,the- catering s t a f f and the general setting I have no complaints,but the an-imals that were.also eating have provided yet another example of why the youth of the country i s ao widely condemned today.

Provision of cloakroom f a c i l i t i e s has been made i n the building, together with a h a l l porter to take oars of a r t i c l e s deposited therein. Either i t i s the hab-i t of the I.C. animals to throw brown bags, duffle-ooats,and other garments a l l over the tables from whieh they eat at home,or dare I suggest that the I.C.anim-al s do not possess tables at t h e i r homes, to say f a r less of hooks and cloakrooms. This i s by no means the f i r s t occasion oh whioh suoh squalor has been endured, t o ' make i t possible to eat an early meal at I.C.;in f a c t i t occurs in. Ayrton H a l l every evening.

May I therefore suggest an addition to the "oulturs" programmes-that of a course e n t i t l e d "Elementary Etiquette"or "Manners Maketh Man",so that these 1.0. animals may have the opportunity of becoming gentlemen,

lours F a i t h f u l l y , A.S.Tarte.

F r e e S p e e c h

We have recieved the following l e t t e r from George Bacynski,who l e f t l a s t year with a degree i n Chemical Engineering and i s now doing a postgraduate course at Per-due University.

Dear Jim,

Since I've only been here about tbr«e weeks,I shouldn't i n a l l fairness, try and draw any conclusion from what I've experienced of University l i f e on t h i s side of the A t l a n t i c .

What I s h a l l do f i r s t of a l l , t h e n , i s to describe Purdue University to you,and then give you my f i r s t impressions of the place.(I warn you,though,that I disclaim, any r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r any l e g a l proceed*, ings r i s i n g out of the contents, of these letters,and that i n the event of ay being subpoenal by the Senate Investigation Sub-Committee,I expect F e l i x to pay f o r the best lawyer I oan get.)Well,here goes!

Purdue University i s located i n the township of West Lafayette,across, the Wabash r i v e r from the parent town of l e f -ayette,and about 120 miles south of Chic-ago. The University i s situated ekcaocam-juiA^approximately 360 acres i n area,but the 70 or so main (educational) buildings are concentrated i n a s t r i p l A m i l e wide and! mile long. The remaining 200 acres are devoted p r i n c i p a l l y to h a l l s of r e s -idence f o r students, and recreational.' fac-i l i t i e s ,

Perdue i s a large University by English standards, although i t i s ranked only 15th i n s i z e i n the States.It has about 20,000 students of whioh^abbut 1/j are post grad-uates. The main f i e l d s of specialisation, roughly i n order of importance,'are:-Science and Engineering, Agriculture, Education and the Humanities,and Home Ec-onomics.

Now that I've set the soene,I'd. better give some idea of what i t ' s l i k e to be at Perdue. In the f i r s t place,I was struck by the. si z e , London University i s so spread out that i t i s very d i f f i c u l t to vsualise i t as a whole. Here everything i s concent-rated i n a small area, and as you look • around a l l you can see(or so i t seetasj i s row after row of very large four or f i v e ajtory red-brick .buildings. Perdue bss,o6. course,ope important advantage over Lon-don i n that,being compact,there i s no wasteful duplication of f a c i l i t i e s , a n d one large building about the size of the Hoderic H i l l building,is usually s u f f i c i e n t to hold a complete department.

The second thing I noticed was the i n f -ormality of the relationship between s t a f f and students. For example,a few days ago the s t a f f of the Chemical Engineering dep-artment i n v i t e d new graduate students to a p i c n i c ( I should say, i n passing, that pio-nioi n g ( ? ) i s every popular weekend pastime i n the 3tates,but i t has been so oommerot-aliaed that i t bears l i t t l e resemblance to pieniolrig i n England,apart frEm the f a c t that one eats out of doors.) After the meal,the s t a f f challenged the students to a game of s o f t b a l l ( a cross between base-b a l l and rounders.)That they got soundly fceateh i n the end was due mostly to the shortness of breath rather than a saakt-o#3skillband they were on l e v e l terms, f o r most of the game thanks to some fine pitching by the head of the department, whose curving deliveries were very hard to h i t . I oouldn't imagine t h i s sort of thins, happening'at Imperial College^or any other English Bniversity and i n many;ways I think i t ' s a p i t y because everyone enjoyed themselves,and i t broke the i c e i n no un-certain manner.

F i n a l l y I suppose I'd better say someth-ing about Perdue tr a d i t i o n s . These are many and varied,and are always-being thrust down our throats(when I say "ours" I'm i n c -luding myself among the Freshmen.). I had heard i t said quite often that Americans were ooncioua of Itheir lack of t r a d i t i o n s , but i t wasn't u n t i l I got here thet I r e a l -ised f u l l y what was meant. They have many

traditions over here,but,although everyone goes through the motions,one gets the im-pression that their-traditions are s l i g h t -l y ridiculous,and that they are s l i g h t l y ashamed of themselves f o r going through the motions but that they are taking cour-age i n numoers.Now I'm not a rabid nation-alist,and I'm w i l l i n g to admit that many English traditions are now s l i g h t l y r i d i c -ulous. The b i g difference i s that very few English tr a d i t i o n s started out by being ridiculous from the very moment of t h e i r inception.

Well,I've opened my mouth,and I.'.ve put ary foot i n i t up to the knee, so I think t h i s would be a good point to f i n i s h .

A l l the best!

George Bacynski.

Dear S i r ,

May I , through the colu/ms of your paper, enquire i f anyaejjhers of I.C. would be interested in forming an Qrni> thologioal Society within the college. Many uni v e r s i t i e s i n the countrv have made valuable contributions to the un-derstanding of b i r d behaviour. I f e e l that Imperial College oould well pro-vide s u f f i c i e n t people of energetic and s c i e n t i f i c disposition to do the same.

The w t i v i t i e s of such a society would involve lectures, films and demon strations, with a considerable amount of outdoor f i e l d work. Such f i e l d work could include surveys, trapping and r i r ging and the study of specialised top-i c s . Such a c t i v i t i e s could even be a r r -anged on an expedition scale.

Contact would be established with other societies i n t h i s oountry and ab-road, and the publication of reports jphuld-further- our i n t e r e s t s , and one w^-uld hope, reputation.

I f anyone i s interested i n such a .aociety would they contact me v i a the Union Rack, i n order to co-ordinate e f f orts and henoe resort to the usual off i o i a l channels.

lours f a i t h f u l l y ,

Roger G. Thompson.

Dear S i r , there must surely come a time

when a man having passed his prime and the inevitable quiet shadows of the l u l l a f t e r the storm appear,looks at the mirror and says to himself " I have had my say,done my b i t , l e t the young new members take over."This man would remember the pathetic pioture of an elder statesman jeeringly rejected by the youngsters who grew t i r e d of that interference that so annoyed him e a r l i e r . Some suoh are amongst us,having served u . p o l i t i c a l and sporting court jesters "for many years ana l a s t year" very ably as chairmen of the various committees. One oan only hope that the discrimination that comes with the years w i l l a l l a y the l i k e l i h o o d of an unnecessarily distaste-f u l experience. Please Sirs,thank you" we say,but please put your pens i n your poe-i-ets and leave i t to us.

Yours F a i t h f u l l y , A.Hall.

Dear S i r ,

I am writing to correct an error i n the a r t i c l e on the SCO,which appeared i n your l a s t edition. The Christian Union does not require i t s members to accept' ten points of doctrine. One beoocies a member on agreeing to a three point declaration of belief,which i s acceptable to members of a l l Christian denominations. Although we have a membership, non-members are warmly weloomed at any of our meetings.

We should be glad i f you would be so kind as to publish this l e t t e r i n order to correct any f a l s e impression that may have been given.

Yours F a i t h f u l l y , Martin Atkins

President.I.C.C.U.

F E L I X

S . C . C .

The f i r s t meeting of the SCO was held onOotober 17th.and at t h i s meeting Mr,

Brian Ford was elected Hon.Sec.

A report was given of the SCC Executive ooamxttee meeting which covered four main points. F i r s t , i t was noted that Council had requested the student o f f i c e r s of the SCC to investigate the problems of ove»-seas students. Second, the question of the obscuring of notice boards by the cloak-room doors was referred to the Bouse Committee. Third,olubs were asked to make more i n t e l l i g e n t use of the i n t e r n a l not— iceboard. Lastly, i t was agreed that orders for engraving pots 'should go v i a the Chair-man of the SCC to the trophy o f f i c e r .

jar.KaoHierson.representing the Debating Society,stated that Council had placed the society i n the ECC. He thought that the major a c t i v i t i e s of the society were d i s -cussing, arguing and debating of r e l i g i o u s , philosophical and p o l i t i c a l issues and that,therefore,the Debating society was more «Hn to the SCC clubs than the ECC c l u b 3.lt was also more convenient i f the Efcaaidentoof dBebaees could attend the SCC meetings In order to contact speakers for' debates,The fact that i f the Dab.Soo. were i n the SCC i t would be the only one award-ing colours was dismissed as t r i v i a l . A request that the Chairman at. the SCC ask Council to reverse i t s previous deoision was carried,neirucon.

The date of the next SCC meeting was f i x e d as Nov.21st,junior treasurers were, reminded to c o l l e c t their account books from Dr.Owen,and volunteers were obtained to decorate the pavilion at Harlington on Nov.5th.

Clubs were reminded of the Onion rule against d i s t r i b u t i n g l i t e r a t u r e i n the refeotories.

CluBs-were -aske4 not to arranmt meet-ings on Nov. 15 t l i as there would os, a Union Meeting oh that day. Some dlsaatis£ fa c t i o n waa expressed that t h i s date had not been announced e a r l i e r . .

A suggestion was made that olubs be allowed the use of the oollege internal postal system.

Overseas Students.

On Thursday,Oct,20th,the SCC o f f i c e r s met Mr.Taylor of the registry and the Presidents of the International Relations Club,the Indian,Pakistani and Arab societ-ies to discuss the problems of overseas students. Mr. and Mrs. Cox and Mr.Ng Wing Kong were also present i n advisory capac-i t i e s . The discussion lasted several hours and the main points are summarised below.

* 1) The Hector's Sunve-jia showed that a large proportion of overseas students f e l t that the Union was not diving enough f o r them.

2) B r i t i s h students,though r a r e l y pred-judioed against coloured students,are too reserved or elae too patronising i n their relations with them,and overseas students want,above a l l else,normal genuine friend-ship.

3) Some overseas students are al30 at f a u l t i n that they are looking f o r colour prejudioe and ascribe too many- of" the vicissitudes of everyday l i f e to t h i s cause and rebuff attempts at friendliness on the part of B r i t i s h students.

if) There i s nothing the Union oan do to combat colour, prejudice outside c o l l ege where the coloured student i s most l i k e l y to f i n d i t .

5) -Admitting a l l .eolelBwsd tAsfienta ,%a: hostel or running a �l&Ssri&)^'\WXjt& am t h e i r behalf .although aWVmwjmwxTae, presents great p r a c t i c a l di« T l a u l t i e s i

6) The organisation of" fresners'reo-eptions and dinners f o r overseas studentr would accentuate t h e i r uneasiness rather than relieve i t .

71 The President of the International

VIEWPOINT

Despite well-meant attempts to damp down controversy,it appears that d i s -cussion of important Union matters has continued unabated. The Rover orew have recently voted 12-11 against wearing tro-users «t one of the most heated meetings yet helm a t I.C. Soon, the S o c i a l i s t Soc-i e t y w i l l be the government at an I.C, mock Parliament, and w i l l be led as Prime Minister by the. only pro-Saitakellite i n the society. The Debating Society,placed against i t s w i l l i n the Recreational Clubs Committee,have received unexpected support from the Social Club-* Committee whioh. decided unan-uaously to ask f o r the returs of the Debating Society to the S.C.C.

The publication of the deliberations of Council i n F e l i x was a welcome improve ement on previous practice but may I go a step further by mentioning issues not yet decided?Cbuncil have rightly'' l e f t the decision on.-. • the destination, of t h i s year* carnival proceeds to the I. C.Executive Co-mi t tee. We certainly should try to avoid an annual controversy on t h i s matter. Might X suggest,however,that any member of the Union with strong views on t h i s subject, see members of the Executive Xu advance? This should ensure that the decision this year i s not completely at variance with the wishes of Union memb-ers,even i f unsatisfied customers s t i l l e x i s t .

Anotner issue to be decided soon,this time by Counoil, i s whether ttev-^£>n-aeab-ers should have to pay f o r casual use of the tennis courts. The present practice i n a l l other sports la' that a membership

Tee Is charged by a l l oluDs and t h i s fee e n t i t l e s the member to the use of the appropiate f a c i l i t i e s . The situate ion i s a l i t t l e d ifferent f o r the tennis courts(and squash presumably)where a very high proportion of the users of the courts may only play one or two games per year. I t has been suggested that the tennis courts should be considered as a rec-reational f a c i l i t y of the Union just l i k e the television room o r the Union lounge and that no charge should be made for tne hire of the courts. The regular users of the courts would become members of the tennis club in the usual manner.

The contrary viewpoint,expressed i n the preliminary discussion on Council, i s that the tennis courts,like the boat-house etc.,may be useful sources of income to the Union and should be ignored. The point was also made that casual users of the o-siujts might act.-, more responsibly i f they had had to pay for the p r i y i l e g i and that., i n axr/ case She sum i n question (tOs max.per annum)was not excessive by any standard. The issue i s due to be dec-ided at the next meeting of Council.

SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE.

.Relations Club said he did not think hi s club had organised enough meetings f o r overseas atudents recently,and pro-mised to r e c t i f y the s i t u a t i o n .

8) Formal club meetings However,did not r e a l l y meet the desire of overseas students f o r personal contact with B r i t i s h students, and the idea was ccnoeived of appointing sympathetic and enthusiastic Unionmembers to be "contactera"ie. to arrange small informal gatherings of B r i t -i s h and overseas students at intervals

I throughout the year .This scheme' s t i l l requires more attention to d e t a i l but seems to present some chance of meeting

I the current d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n of. overseas students.

Bob Finch.

T H E * W O R L D O F A R T

P r a c t i c a l l y everyone i n the English book reading society i s awaiting with baited breath the r e s u l t of the Crown vs Penguin Books case. The most used word i n the language at the moment appears to be unexpurgated. LADY CHATTEBLEY'S LOVER, always a sensation,has now reaohed over-whelming heights of notoriety. Lawrence w i l l soon be as famous as Shakespeare,ar<l yet we may never be able to read this famous(infamous?) book.

There i s a big weakness somewhere when a legal system c a l l s upon twelve ordinary people with absolutely no l i t e r a r y qual-i f i c a t i o n s whatsoever to judge whether or not a book by a very able writer should, t

or should not be placed on the bookstalls fo r everyone to buy and read.

Surely a much more r e a l i s t i c approach would be to appoint a committee of, say, q u a l i f i e d writers, o r i t i o s and readers to judge suoh a work.

Let us hope,anyway,that the case goes to Penguin Books giving us the opportunity to judge f o r ourselves.

Muriel Sparke has just produced another

book c a l l e d "The Baohelors."(price 16/-)

Dissapointingly,it f a l l s sadly short of her previous book,that very successful and amusing novel,"The Ballad of Peckham Eye." In her l a t e s t attempt,she again chooses to highlight a par t i c u l a r section of the Com-munity; t h i s time the bachelor society of Kensington,Chelsea and Hampstead.

She never quite finds or keeps the osphere of these d i s t r i c t s and this gives the story rather a hollow r i n g , the per-s o n a l i t i e s of a couple of the main char-acters have been b u i l t up quite satisfac-t o r i l y , but the secondary characters are rather weak, due to only, one short descrip-tion of each at the time of entry into the action.

The plot of the novel centres round a group of s p i r i t u a l i s t s and,particularly, their medium,who i s on a charge of forgery and fraudulent conversion. Intrigue sprouts everywhere,even interupting the bachelors' search f o r free love and meals.

The story i s s u f f i c i e n t l y involved to hold the readers interest,but never quite reaches the point where the reader cannot put the book down. Miss Sparks l i v e l y s t y l -r e l i e s mainly on dialogue,which i s both witty and amusing,and never boring.However, i n t h i s book she has not managed, to bring the reader into the story and make him r e a l l y care what i s going to hflrpen. One more or leas feels l i k e a disinterested outsider being t o l d about friends of friends.

On the whole,a rather dissapointing follower to her previous book,but one w e l l worth reading,at least to the keen reader.

To finish,there are three interesting Penguins published this month that are worth buying.Two are by William Faulkner; "INTEUDEE IN THE DUST."and "LIGHT IN AUGUST"

The f i r s t i s about the colour problem i n the southern states of America,and the story i s treated as a t h r i l l e r with murder and a lynch mob included. I n t e l l i g e n t and exciting.

The second,a t r u l y great novel,aaais with the pride,lust,hatred and b r u t a l i t y of a Ca l v i n i s t society.

As a oontrast, "FUETHEB FABLES FOR OUR TIME."by James Thurber,for Thurberites only.

U G i b i o n .

A purely s c i e n t i f i c college tends>t» the production of graduates with seme s c i e n t i f i c knowledge, an over- develop ed faculty f o r destructive o r i t i o i s m , and often a narrow, ignorant state of mind as regards n o n - s c i e n t i f i c matters.

One of the purposes of the Union i i . to t r y to turn destructive c r i t i o i s m i n to constructive and to endeavor to educ-i ate the student, i n matters ither than s c i e n t i f i c . Unfortunately the tendenoy to destructive c r i t i c i s m i n t h i s •college i s , i f anything, gaining. One may hear, i n the style of Bernard Levin destructive c r i t i c i s m of, aay,"FelixJ "Phoenix", a c l u b ctffiolaj.!or:a, Unjoa o f f i c i a l ; t h i s without thought of the .good features apparent, without apprec-i a t i o n of the amount of work l^volvedu

You oan r e l l s e the s i t u a t i o n more fully i f you oheok your reaotions to this a r t i o l e . They w i l l probably be, something of"the nature of 'The Stupid I d i o t '; instead- of forgetting; the* person involved and considering s e r i o u s l y the points the a r t i o l e r a i s e s .

.The Debating Society i s very much affected by t h i s at t i tude. At Orfprff and Cambridge, these two p r o v i n c i a l u n i v e r s i t i e s , the Debating Society i s the Union, whereas here the s c i e n t i s t s relegate i t to the l e v e l of a society for those who l i k e t a l k i n g . Yfhen a motion i s announced for debate, they, , say, 'What-a r i d i o u l o u a motion'; i n s t e a d of' .considering the.-arguia*ri>s;thoy cKsraiss i t without serious -thought. When I . C . students come to a debate they l i s t e n to the main ar>a%':ars and when the debate iB open to,s$he house they refuse to speak, due to t h e i r fear of being devoured by howls of d e r i s i o n from the"Bectroyera".

The Debating Society at I . C . i s open t o a l l members o f the Union; anybody may suggest, i n w r i t i n g , a motion. I f I . C , i s to beoome a b e t t e r balanced community, x t i s going t o produce s c i e n t i s t s who are not j u s t b o f f i n s , then suoh s o c -i e t i e s as the Debating iiooiety oust be supported. Students must come along, l i s t e n o a r e f u l ^ y t ? arguments and then speak f o r t h on t h e i r opinions froa the � f l o o r . I f t h i s starts to happen, a more oonstruotiye society ' i l l b?gin t o em-erge and the College w i l l f l o u r i s h as V r e s u l t .

. F i n l a y D. KoPherson, - Presidents., f Debates.

mm

S I X M U N C E U G O I K U D N T E V N

S P E L I N J U N E E R A N N O W I A R E O N E .

C O M M E M O R A T I O N D A Y 1 9 6 0

M O T O R I N G

November 6th;. and the Brighton Run are fast approaching and Bo' w i l l , as u s u a l , be amongst the Veteran cars lee.v i n g Hyde Park i n the early hours of the morning.

Boanerges, the o f f i c i a l carriage of the President of C i t y and Guilds, i s a 1902 James and Brown 5-seater Phaeton. Last year Bo suffered a crack i n one of h i s cyl inders and reached Brighton only with the-eid of the several strong Guildsmen'who made up h i s crew and jump ed out a t every s l i g h t upgrade t o add t h e i r power to h i s . During the past s i x months , however, Bo has undergone an extensive overhaul and i t i s expected that he w i l l reach Brighton with no mis haps.

I hope that as many Guildsmen as poss-i b l e w i l l be i n Hyde Park to give him a good send off and those who d i s l i k e r i s i n g early on Sunday mornings w i l l be on Brighton promenade to cheer him on h i s a r r i v a l there. After the run a luno heon w i l l be h e l d at Olarges H o t e l ,

Brighton, organised by ths'C- & G otor Club.

Amongst Bo's other outings thiL*.terra

he w i l l v i s i t Putney on I.Iorphy Day and

w i l l lead Guildsmen to cheer the ne-.v Lord Mayor at h i s show.

f e l i x 7

R U G B Y

For the f i r s t time i n the Club we had eight teams out for the f i r s t matches at the season, unfortunately a l l these had to be cancelled because of F o l i o . The matches w i l l start again on October 29th when the club has a very strong f i x t u r e with Hosslyn Park. We hope that the s p i r i t and interest i n the olub w i l l not die down because of the break. By the time t h i s i s published two f i l m s w i l l have been shown to members. One i s the Offio i a l Rugby Union Instructional f i l m whioh has how to be brought up to date. The second i s one of the A l l Blacks' tours. With beer and sausage r o l l s to follow t h i s cannot f a i l as a successful evening.

B O X I N G

Due t o the p o l i o , the f i r s t t r a i n -i n g s e s s i o n w i l l be h e l d on F r i d a y , October 28th.The t r a i n e r , Mr. A.Dan-i e l s w i l l be i n the I.C. Union Gym a t 5> 30 p.m. t o i n s t r u c t n o v i c e s and o t h e r s , A l l a r e welcome t o t a k e P.E. t r a i n i n g w i t h the o l u b .

RCTSM SAYS K E E P D E A T H O F F T H E R O A D S

T A B L E TENNIS

T h i s season I m n s r i a l C o l l e g e S a b l e f e n u l s C l u b i s e n t e r i n g s i x t e a n e i n t he U n i v e r s i t y o f London League. P r e l i m i n a r y t r i a l s have a l r e a d y been h e l d , and s e v e r a l t a l e n t e d new play-e r s haya been d i s c o v e r e d . F i n a l t r i a l E u n f o r t u n a t e l y had t o be postponed.but i t i s hoped t h a t t h e y w i l l t a k e p l a c e e a r l y ' next week.

From a. p l a y i n g p o i n t o f view l a s t season was r a t h e r d i s a p p o i n t i n g , the f i r s t team b e i n g r e l e g a t e d t o %he same d i v i s i o n as the second team. I f e e l s ure however, t h a t t h e r e w i l l be a g e n e r a l improvement i n the s t a -ndard o f p l a y t h i s y e a r as many * r u s h -e r s have a l r e a d y shown i n t e r e s t i n the c l u b .

F i n a l l y I s hould l i k e t o ask a l l p l a y e r s s e l e c t e d t o t u r n up f o r .mat-ches t h i s y e a r , as l a s t y e a r s teams were some t i m e s i n c o m p l e t e due t o the u n r e l i a b i l i t y o f some members.

B O A T C L U B

MORPHi DAY.

A f t e r the p o l i o o u t b r e a k , Morr>hy Day has had t o he postponed.So on t h e 2 6 t h . October t h e r e w i l l be a r a c e f o r C o x l e s s p a i r s , a n d a l a d i e s r a c e

Dear S i r , In view of the di3cus3ions now

under way as to what sports f a c i l i t i e s there should be i n Prince '3 Gardens, I thought that your eea«tpra-"might be interested i n the following report I received from Mike Barber(ex RCS) now doing research at Yale.

"Perhaps the olub would be interested i n knowing a l i t t l e about the f a c i l i t i e s at Yale. In Newhaven i t s e l f there i s a huge gymnasium that houses just about everything,three swinging pools,one an Olympic pool,the other two seperated by a moveable barrier so that the sizes can be altered at w i l l ! >

Around these pools i s a board run-ning track. The temperature of this room i s maintained at 70 Degrees F. and the humidity at JO^.There are 15 squash oourts gyms,and boxing f a c i l i t i e s and a tank fo r the oarsmen with a pump to simulate f a s t and slow-moving r i v e r a ' i n either d i r -ection,wave-maker3,wind-makers and sun lamps.

Out at the sport f i e l d two miles from the camrus i s an American f o o t b a l l 3tadium seating 77,000 and a baseball stadium (seats 15,006). There i s a f i r s t class running track with two 220 yds. straights. This i s connected by a tunnel under the main road to the locker house and an indoor 220 yds. cinder track. Air-condit-ioned f a c i l i t i e s exist for a l l f i e l d events. There are also soccer,rugby, hockey cr i c k -et(?)pitches,basketball courts and an i c e -r i n k .

'The college has i t s wn golf oourso, where the cross-country races are also held;the l a t t e r over three laps of a h i l l y one and a half miles,the record being 2}:17 Free transport and medical f a c i l i t i e s are also provided."

Unfortunately,as a post-doctoral stud-ent,Mike cannot represent his collage and make f u l l use of a l l the f a c i l i t i e s provided.

Yours F a i t h f u l l y , J.L. C o l l i n s .

SOCCER

The p l a y i n g season onened on a d i s a p p o i n t i n g n o t e , as o n l y the sev-e n t h team won a g a i n s t o u t s i d e oppos-i t i o n . T h e 1 s t . X I , f i e l d i n g f o u r f r e s h e r s , had an away match against, S t . Mary's Teachers t r a i n i n g C o l l e g e

S t . Mary's who had a l r e a d y p l a y e d f o u r matches, were an e x t r e m e l y , i ' i t and c l e v e r s i d e . A l t h o u g h we managed t o h o l d them to^ a 3"3 s c o r e d u r i n g t h e f i r s t h a l f , " t h e y g r a d u a l l y got on t o r i n t h e second and added t h r e e more t o t h e i r t a l l y . O n t h e same day t u e Renond and t h i r d e l e v e n s o l t y e c i each o t h e r i n a l e a g u e match a t Ha Is-l i n g t o n , and the second ^team c a p t -a i n e d by T r e v o r Wilmore.won an e x c i t -i n g.match. The t h i r d team, however, hope^ to_ g a i n t h e i r revenge when t h e y Hftny" the r e t u r n l a t e r i n t h e seaon.' Both t h e f i f t h and s i x t h teams un-f o r t u n a t e l y l o s t , the f o r m e r to U n i v e r s i t y c o l l e g e IV and t h e l a t t e r t o t h e Tondon Sch o o l of Economics I I I B o t h t h e s e matches were i n the London U n i v e r s i t y league.The se v e n t h team, however, won 4-2 i n a f r i e n d l y match a g a i n s t London S c h o o l o f Economics I V at, B e r r y l a n d s .

A f t e r the" matches on t h e o p e n i n g day o f t h e p l a y i n g season t h e o l u b s "Die and mash supper was h e l d i n the u p p e r r e f e c t o r y . I t was p l e a s i n g t o see so many f r e s h e r s at t h i s f u n c t i o n . Speeches were made by t h e c l u b c a p t -a i n I a w r i e A u s t i n and P a u l D a v i e s , t h e seventh team's captain,who i s a l s o "chairman o r A.C.C. Tne c a c t a i r t dem— o n s t r a t e d the a r t o f d r i n k i n g from the boot ( o r n a m e n t a l b o o t s a r e brought back t o 1.1. by S o c c e r -Hub t o u r i n g s i d e s ) .

The p l a y i n g season c o n t i n u e s next S a t u r d a y , ' w i t h a t r i p t o .Southampton U n i v e r s i t y f o r t h e f i r s t , se'e.o-d and t h i r d e l e v e n s , and f r i e n d l y o r l e a g u e matches i n London f o r t h e othrer s i d e s .

8 F E L I X

S P O R T

CROSS C O U N T R Y SAILING

us . * (�*. * *> i i . , ™ - a ^ ^ " . ^ 4 * ^ '-: v ;

« it i

Havinsj s u r v i v e d the v i g o u r s o:' t h r e e c i r c u i t s of P a r l i a m e n t H i l l F i e l d s the p r e v i o u s S a t u r d a y about tv.enty " o l d l a g s " and freshmen presented themselves f o r a match on Wed. Oct. 12th. v Borougn Road C o l l e g e . T h i s match was used as a t r i a l f o r s e l e c t i n g a team t o rep-r e s e n t I . ' - . i n the U . l . Relay t o be h e l d on t h e f o l l o w i n g S a t u r d a y . I t was a n t i o i n a t e d t h a t the matoh would be k e e n l y fought as Borough Koad were the second n e s t team i n •London l a s t season - I.C!. were the . oest' o i oourse .

The r a c e s t a r t e d at a q u i " k pace and s e v e r a l Borough Road ru n n e r s were w e l l p l a n e d at t h e f r o n t o f tne f i e l d . A f t e r the water s n l a s h t h r e e

•

3orough Roao. men broKe away, but were so- 1" f o l l o w e d ,by f r e s h e r Ted W i l K i n s , J i m B ernard and Dave Hammonds. The l e a d i n g two Borough Road runners,however, went on t o win but were chased home hard by Ted W i l k i n s , two more Borough rtoad r u n n e r s , and Dave Hammonds. A few y a r d s bao« oame Warren, B e r n a r d and f r e s n e r John Young. The f i n a l r e s u l t , wan a win by w o n (-7*1 rtoad by 33nts. t o 21.

A l t h o u g h I.C. d i d not t a k e na r-t i n t h e U.J. Road R e l a y , owing t o the c a n c e l l i n g of c o l l e g e s n o r t i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o note t h a t Borough Road were v i c t o r i o u s .

D.A.T.H.

The S a i l i n g Club had enquiries-from a bout 100 freshers at the reception, and hopes to have about 50 f u l l y paid up me mbers_ t h i s year.

The term has started well,with helm-smans tests, instruction f o r beginners, and some keen racing i n the f i r s t University A aridB points races, i n which we gained 1st,2nd Vth,and 2nd and 3rd places res-pectively.

In answer to the unhappy a r t i c l e r e l -ating the bedevilled s a i l i n g experiences of the Editor' of F e l i x , a committee has persuaded him to give the art one more try i n the near future. We are convinced that the experience w i l l make a deep imp-ression on him,and we hope to publish a f u l l report with photographs i n a l a t e r F e l i x .

We have also challenged the B 5 ruggei team to a rugger match, to demonstrate our superior fitness or otherwise.

I t ha3 been suggested that the S a i l -ing Club should form a swimming sub-section,as so many members Seem keen to make closer contact with the Harp. While saling i n a promising position i n the ivelsh Harp open meeting on Sunday, the vice-Commodore suddenly performed a neat

backward r o l l into the water. He was l a t e r seen swimming after his notorious orange boat and popsy crew. (The popsy crew i s not yet notorious or orange.)

ATHLETICS

• i

» . . . Hi i i V

�' ���� '" ' �

F I V E S

The club has now becoiae established i n i t s ma r i g h t , that i s i t i s no long er a f f i l i a t e d to tha squash olub. A strons.fixture l i s t has been arranged whioh includes most of the London clubs as well as'St* John's Collage, Cambridge*

The club w i l l he iiroviding b a l l s worn several pairs of'gLoves are available. These oan be obtained either from th»

CaotaJa* A.J. S l s i e l , Cham. Eng. H I III mmwHIIII m i l BttWgUmm from.the Secretary, JiD*B«rtse# Keoh. Eng.. II, Steoa 21. weata' Hall* ' The courts them-selves are, opus and are situated, Opp-osite Weetas R a i l . I t i s haped t» hold club meetings satsnwaswattajr U H O W U at the aoeur-ca, so-.tsat^ahyone interested can- get a game*, ̂ g i n n e r s are weloome.

A.J.K.

Published by FELIX BOARD, Imperial College Union, S.W.7

Printed by WEST LONDON OFFSET CO., 307a Telephone Place, W.14 Tel. FUL 7960

The f i r s t match of. the Athletics season w i l l b e a triangular match between I.C., London School of Economics, and Mannheim University, Ceraany. The match w i l l take place s t Hrerlingnara on Nov-ember 2th., and i s a return maxon with Mannheim. The l a s t time we met th en was, two years ago, when we were defwited by a narrow margin.

T r i a l s for the U.L. Winter Relays Competition w i l l be held i n conjunction with t h i s match, the actual relays being held at Hotspur Park on 15th November. In t h i s competition wa are expeoting strong opposition for the Hospital sides especially St. Mary's, but i f we are able to f i e l d our strongest team we stand a very good chance of winning.

As i n previous years we are very for — tunate i n having at College several freshers vfith ve y fine performances to t h e i r oi'edit. Wa are hoping to see as many of them as possible i n action•at the matches mentioned above,ana 1 wou-i l i k e to take this opportunity of wishing them the best of luck i n t h e i r f i r s t ap-pearances for I.C..