Downing 2010 cover opt b_Layout 1 - Downing College - University ...

DOWNING COLLEGE ASSOCIATIONpackages we are able to provide. We simply cannot provide houses or mortgagesor large research grants, as a number of other Colleges are able to do.The student experience in the College remains highly competitive too. Thatis most obvious as regards the wide variety of sporting activities our studentsparticipate in, often with conspicuous success. But increasingly we have beenable to see this competition as regards cultural activities as well. With the newHoward Theatre we are able to compete as never before with drama groups inother Colleges and the University more generally, with there already being signsthat established drama groups want to use our theatre for their productions,and that members of other Colleges want to participate in productions put onby the Downing Dramatic Society. This new theatre really could become oneof the premier performance spaces in Cambridge. This competition is also trueof our musical activities. The College choir is student run and this proves to bea significant attraction for our organ scholar applicants who want the freedomto be able to play for, conduct and manage a choir without the intrusion of aDirector of Music. And the quality of the singing goes from strength to strength.I hope that this will be encouraged by the recent introduction of choral awards,which should raise the profile of the choir amongst potential applicants.As regards academic attainment our students are generally holding their ownwell, although they are not always competing with the top flight as we hope thatthey would. Nevertheless, there have been examination performances amongstcertain cohorts, as well as specific individual performances, which have beenexceptional. Nine second year medics and vets obtained firsts; five of the firstyear lawyers obtained firsts, with all five in the top 12 of the class list of nearly200 candidates; four fourth year chemists obtained firsts; four clinical medicsand four fourth year engineers obtained distinctions, as did three of the PartIII Mathematicians. Special prizes, for those students who rank in the top 2.5%of their class list, were given to Ajay Ratan (top of Part IA of the Law Tripos,who obtained four of the five University prizes awarded in Part IA); KatherineBlatchford (Part IA Law); Justin Morgan (Part IA MML, who came top inGerman); John Morgan (Part IB Natural Sciences Physical); Frances Topham-Smallwood (Part II Oriental Studies) and Michelle Jin (Part IIB Economics).Both Frances and Michelle were awarded Downing Association prizes for thebest performances amongst the graduating students. The Whalley-Tooker prizefor the best performance by a student in the penultimate year of their studieswas split between Jessica Rajakumar (Part IB Law) and James Stefaniuk (Part IBMedicine). The Alcan Prize, which is awarded to the most successfulundergraduate student in his or her penultimate year studying Natural Sciences(Physical), Engineering, Computer Science or Applied Mathematics, wasawarded to Vaiva Imbrasaite (Part IB Computer Science).17