downing text 2012_Layout 1 - Downing College - University of ...

DOWNING COLLEGE 2011–2012The players were disappointed to miss out on victory by such a slim margin, but,given the celerity of their ascent this year, they will begin Michaelmas 2012 underthe captaincy of Niaz Ahmed with justifiably high hopes. Recipients of collegecolours this year were Keon Yi and Su Ki Lam, who both showed extraordinarylevels of skill in all their matches. University-level commitments permitting, theywill no doubt continue to be great assets to the team next term.B LAKE S OCIETYThe Blake Society is Downing’s rapidly growing arts and humanities society,named after the renowned illustrator and alumnus Quentin Blake. The rangeof subjects covered by Blake including English, Art History, Geography, Arch &Anth and Philosophy has been reflected in the variety of events that have takenplace this year. Zoya Phan, a Burmese refugee and political activist, delivered aninspiring talk in Michaelmas regarding her personal experiences and thoughtson both human rights and the current situation in Burma. Downing fellow DrMarcus Tomalin treated our ears later in term to an excellent lute recital,accompanied by musically inspired poetry from Dr Subha Mukherji. Blake’senthusiasm for poetry continued into Lent term with Dr Simon Jarvis’ powerfulrecital of some of his newest writing, including a memorable duet with the poetand writer Justin Katko. We were also fortunate in March to host Doctor Whoscreenwriter and Downing alumnus Terrance Dicks, who drew upon his careerexperiences in the media to give a fascinating talk enjoyed by all.Aside from the wealth of talks, Blake was treated to a special visit from noneother than Quentin Blake himself, who kindly joined the society for formal hallin Michaelmas term. Social events have been particularly strong throughout theyear, including a Christmas party with music from Downing Jazz Band and a‘Champagne and Chocolates’ evening in Lent Term. Friday evening film nightswere a welcome addition to the Blake agenda in Lent term- an idea which thenew committee hope to continue. With the first ever garden party this MayWeek, next year’s committee is looking forward to building on an excellent yearwith new ideas such as practical workshops and expanding its breadth andvariety of academic talks to include more subject areas. Many thanks go to thisyear’s committee, and Presidents Karen Hargrave and Joel Halliday.B OAT C LUBThe Club Captain is happy to report another successful year for the Club. Atthe beginning of the year, a fair proportion of last year’s first boat had eithergraduated or were trialling for university crews (two rowers and one cox forCUBC, two for CUWBC and two for CULRC). Therefore, this was a yearduring which it was very important to bring our second boat rowers up quickly,198