Spring 2012 - University of Buckingham

University news‘It’s never toolate to learn’A former MI6 electronics engineer aged 90has become the first student to completethe new Masters degree in IntelligenceHistory and Bletchley Park Studies at theUniversity.Bertie Gladwin is the UK’s oldest newgraduate and a self-confessed “learnoholic”who embarked on his degree at the age of89 together with his wife, who was thenaged 77. “I feel very satisfied to think thatI’ve done an MA at my age,” he says. “Whenyou’re 90 you sit around and not a lothappens, so it’s important to carry onlearning and to broaden your horizons.”Mr Gladwin has been clocking updegrees for years. At the age of 60, hedecided to undertake a BA in Psychology.By the time he was 70 he had alsocompleted a BSc in Molecular Biology.“They’re fascinating subjects,” he says.“I did them just because I was interestedin them and wanted to know moreabout them.”It was his wife, Wendy, who encouragedhim to take the Masters. “She said it wouldbe a good way to round off my academiccareer, and would give me a good sense ofaccomplishment,” he says.“Plus I had worked at the GovernmentCommunications Centre for 20 years, so Ihad the relevant experience.” Mr Gladwinwrote his dissertation on the use of radio bythe underground movements in World WarTwo France and was awarded a distinctionfor it.His wife Wendy was equally happy withher experience at Buckingham. “I loved theatmosphere of studying,” she says. “Thepeople at the University were a jolly goodlot and made us welcome from thebeginning.”Mr Gladwin’s advice to anyoneconsidering a degree, is to go for it at anyage. “It’s nevertoo late tolearn,” he says.Bertie Gladwin:“I feel very goodabout it, but reallyI think I’m just lucky.”Charles Dickens lives on in cyberspaceChampagne withthe QueenDickens expert goesto the PalaceProfessor John Drew, the University’s experton Charles Dickens, attended a glitteringchampagne reception at BuckinghamPalace where he shook hands with theQueen and engaged in banter with the Dukeof Edinburgh. The event was to mark theDickens Bicentenary and was attended byBritain’s finest actors, including HelenaBonham-Carter and Derek Jacobi, and thecream of Dickens scholars.As director of the Dickens JournalsOnline project, Professor Drew has beencreating an online scholarly edition of thehugely successful magazines that Dickensedited – Household Words and All the YearRound – which was launched publicly inFebruary 2012.“We ate the tiniest canapés you haveever seen and drank the most deliciouschampagne,” said Professor Drew. “TheDuke of Edinburgh was knowledgeableabout Buckingham. We had a conversationabout our growing numbers and how therest of the sector was now very much likeus. It was only at the point where I startedto explain how the website worked that hiseyes glazed over.”Later the University’s School ofHumanities organised a four-dayconference to celebrate the Bicentenary ofDickens’s birth called “Charles Dickens andthe Mid-Victorian Press” in concert with theUniversity of Leicester. This was to promoteinternational discussion of Dickens’sachievements as a magazine editor,a journalist and publisher and it attractedprominent academics and delegates fromJapan, Canada, Belgium, the USA, SouthAfrica and Spain.The conference contained an exhibitionof archive materials curated by AntonyBurton, formerly of the V&A, and guestsenjoyed a banquet, readings at the Old Gaolin Buckingham, a reception at the RadcliffeCentre and a cream-tea and champagnesend-off.Professor Drew and his team have beenworking on the Dickens Journal Onlineproject for the past six years. “It’ssufficiently complete for us to say that itwas ready to launch,” he said. “We havecorrected the text, we have some rarematerial not seen before and it’s allindexed. But there’s another six years’ workleft to do, for example, identifyinganonymous articles.“We will be working with a team inAustralia and the British Library to get itall attributed.”Lucy HodgesRising stars inLaw SchoolStudents areexcelling in mootsBuckingham law students are doingincreasingly well in national mootingcompetitions, showing that a smallinstitution can compete with the big boys.In the ICLE Annual Mooting Competition,one of the country’s most prestigiouscompetitions for law undergraduates,students Selvyn Hawkins and KimberleighMalyan finished an impressive third out of64 entrants. On their way to the podium,the team knocked out St John’s College,Oxford, in the first round, Exeter Universityin the second round and last year’s winners,the Open University, in the quarter-final.Unfortunately their luck ran out in thesemi-finals when the moot resulted in atie-break. The winner was decided by the“flip of a coin”, as one of the judgesdescribed it, and Buckingham lost.Feedback from the judges was extremelypositive throughout the competition. In onemoot, his lordship Mr Richard Benson QCdescribed Mr Hawkins as “a rising star ofthe Bar” and Miss Malyan as “an impressiveBernie Marsden and his acoustic band (above and below) play golden oldiesadvocate”. Dr Gregory Ioannidis, SeniorLecturer in Law and Master of the Moots,said that he was very proud of the students.“They have worked hard and shown thatthey possess the perseverance anddedication required for success at the Bar.They have done a great service to theUniversity by allowing it to remain high inthe list of Institutions with an excellenttradition in mooting.”In the OUP/BPP moots, anotherrenowned competition, Buckingham is nowin the top eight of the country. The quarterfinals will take place later this year, and theteam hope to achieve another top result.Radcliffe Centreopens its doorsNew lecture theatrewins plauditsIn the last issue of The Independent wewrote of the urgent need for a new lecturehall to teach students in groups of 70-plus.Now, after three months of building workand an amazingly successful fundraisingappeal, the refurbishment of the RadcliffeCentre is complete and attractingadmiration from Town and Gown alike.Students are revelling in the wonderful newfacilities, and townsfolk are clamouring torent the stylish new concert venue.A former Non-Conformist church, theCentre has been used as a lecture hall sinceit was acquired by the University in the1970s. Upgraded in 1982 with a generousdonation from the Radcliffe Trust, itbecame a concert hall and lecture theatreand was known for its fantastic acousticsand Steinway grand piano. But recently theCentre has been showing its age.Now it has been reconfigured to includeraked upholstered seating from Norway,underfloor heating, new lighting and soundequipment, and a new coat of paint. Theresult is that it has become a superbmodern lecture hall, concert venue andcommunity drama space, for use by theUniversity and the town of Buckingham.We have had a series of concerts to markthe reopening, including a lunchtimeconcert by student and amateur pianistGiles Wollenmann and two sell-out eveningconcerts by the local celebrity BernieMarsden, former guitarist of the rock bandWhitesnake. The rafters reverberated to thesound of Buddy Holly and other goldenoldies, and Bernie generously gave theproceeds of his two sell-out gigs towardsthe cost of the refurbishment. We are verygrateful for his help.We are also grateful to the Radcliffe Trustand to the Brunner Charitable Trust, and tothe many local individuals and groups whoeither bought a chair or donated in someother way. Thanks to them the RadcliffeCentre has become an invaluable resourcefor students and the community alike.The final bill for the refurbishment was£500,000 but we are still a long way fromreaching our funding target. If you can helpwith raising money, please contact theDevelopment Office. We would beimmensely grateful for any donationsreceived, big or small. You can have yourname on a chair for £200 or your messageon the wall (£100 for 80 characters or £50for 40 characters.) For more informationvisit www.buckingham.ac.uk/radcliffe,contact the Development Office on+44 (0)1280 820115 or email development.office@buckingham.ac.uk.Rebecca Maclean6 The Independent The Independent 7