Issue 31 | Michaelmas term 2012...Page 3 Michaelmas term 2012 Welcome to the Michaelmas 2012 issue...

JOHNIANnews

DIVINITY SCHOOL UNVEILED THE INSIDE TRACK ON RASPBERRY PI BBC FILMS DRAMA IN COLLEGEJOHNIAN PIANIST PERFORMS AT OLYMPIC CEREMONY RECORD-BREAKING TELETHON EVENTS DIARY

Issue 31 | Michaelmas term 2012

St John’s College Cambridge

www.joh.cam.ac.uk

Michaelmas term 2012

Welcome to the Michaelmas 2012issue of Johnian News

It’s incredibly exciting to finally be able to see the restored

Divinity School on St John’s Street. I hope you enjoy the photo

feature on page 14 showing the detail of the craftsmanship

involved in this project and some of the amazing original

features of the building that the College Maintenance team

have been able to preserve and work around.

This issue is a great celebration of the achievements of musical

Johnians, some of whom have played at the Olympic Stadium

and the legendary Abbey Road studios this year! We’re also

proud to report on the phenomenal success of the Raspberry

Pi computer, created by Johnian Eben Upton and a team from

the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

Please do send me your feedback on Johnian News so that I

can try to include more of the things you enjoy reading about.

Contributions and ideas for the Lent 2013 issue are welcome

up until Christmas.

Jennifer Baskerville, Editor

Development Office, St John’s College, Cambridge CB2 1TP

Email: [email protected] Tel: 01223 330722

Design and artwork: Cameron Design 01284 725292

www.cameronacademic.co.uk

Print: Swallowtail Print

Cover image: Divinity School by Ben Lister

Left and above right: New Court by Alice Hardy

Inside images courtesy of: Susannah Clark (Action Tutoring),

Laura Plant, Dr Ricky Metaxas, Professor John Rink,

Rebecca Costello, Dr Mark Nicholls, Ben Lister, Tim Watts,

Nic Marchant, Iain Farrington, Dave Clarke and the

Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Thanks to Jenni Morris, Professor John Rink and Kathryn McKee

for their submissions to the news section.

ContentsCollege news.................................. 4

Learning on the job ........................ 7

Playing it straight .............................8

Introducing Tim Watts ...................10

Tackling educational

disadvantage..................................12

Simply divine ................................14

30 years of women

at St John’s ....................................18

A home-grown solution ................ 20

Back to the musical roots ............. 24

Inspirational support ..................... 26

Events calendar ............... Back cover

JOHNIANnews www.joh.cam.ac.uk

College news

This year’s Telethon raised an impressive £273,736 for theSt John’s College Campaign through 385 donations. Theamount completely smashed the original target of £180,000,and exceeded the totals of all previous St John’s Telethons!

Over the course of two weeks, the 12-strong team of dedicatedstudent callers spoke to 610 Johnians, more than two thirds ofwhom (69%) decided to make a gift to the Campaign, despitethe current economic climate. This included a substantialnumber of new donors.

Over the last five years, the Telethon has raised more than£1.8 million (with matched funding in the first year) towardsthe Campaign. A significant proportion of the funds from thisyear’s Telethon will be directed towards student support andthe endowment fund. Other initiatives that will benefit fromthis year’s funds include the LMBC, the Field Sports MatchedFund and the Choral Foundation.

The Development Office would like to give a heartfelt thankyou to all those who contributed to this year’s Telethon andeveryone who helped make it such a success.

In September, Professor John Rink, College Supervisor inMusic, was given the enviable, or perhaps unenviable, taskof choosing a new piano for the Divinity School. In John’swords, it was not unlike buying a car, but the stakes arehigher when selecting an expensive instrument whosepersonality can change enormously over time.

‘I set out with a sense of trepidation,’ said John.‘My mission was to choose a new Steinway grand –an eight-foot “Model C” from the Steinway factory inHamburg. Dozens of gleaming instruments awaited mein the showroom, including three Model Cs.

‘Having provisionally picked one of the three, I proceeded to the Qualitätskontrolle room, where a fourth Model C wasundergoing the last stages of preparation. I saw; I played; I was conquered. It was love at first chord: certainly not love atfirst sight, as the lid, legs and other appendages had been replaced by prostheses to keep the originals pristine. But what asound! This was it – a pianistic soulmate for the Divinity School.’

New piano arrives

Record-breaking Telethon

The 2012 Telethon calling team.

Professor John Rink with (left) Ulrich Gerhartz (Director, Concert

& Artist Services) and other members of the Steinway team.


Recent graduate Laura Plant (pictured above in white) celebrateda gold medal win with England at the European LacrosseChampionships in June.

Laura joined the Senior England Lacrosse Squad as a midfielderin November 2010. Since then she has been successfullybalancing her national lacrosse commitments with captainingthe Cambridge Blues Lacrosse Team and working towardsher degree.

Training and keeping fit for the championships whilst alsorevising hard for her finals was a mammoth task, but in Laura’sown words ‘clearly a healthy body means a healthy mind’, as in

spite of all her extra training and commitments she managed toachieve a First and also win one of this year’s Larmor Awards.

Twenty different nations took part in the EuropeanChampionships in Amsterdam, in both a men’s and women’stournament. The English women’s team beat Germany in thesemi-final and then sealed their gold medal ambitions with an11-5 win over Wales in the final. The England men’s team beatIreland in their final to win gold as well.

Laura, who read Natural Sciences, has been accepted to stayon at St John’s to study for an MPhil in Environmental Policy.She said, ‘Being part of the European Championship team wasa big milestone for me as selection will begin soon for theWorld Cup in summer 2013 in Canada.’

BBC films in CollegeA BBC film crew came to St John’s in late August to use severalparts of the College as a location for World War II spy drama,Restless. The two-part drama is an adaptation of the book byWilliam Boyd and is due to be shown in late 2012.

Cambridge City Football Club’s ground on Milton Road was usedas a base for the duration of the filming, as the crew travelled toSt John’s, Madingley Hall and the city centre to shoot scenes.

Restless stars British-born actress Hayley Atwell, most famous forher roles in box office hit Captain America and another WilliamBoyd adaptation Any Human Heart, shown on Channel 4 in 2010.The cast also includes Rufus Sewell, Charlotte Rampling andMichael Gambon.

A new addition

A bronze bust of Sir PercyCradock was donated to theCollege earlier this year,created by internationalsculptor Angela Conner.The donors were a grouporganised by Hugh Thomas,Lord Thomas of Swynnerton.

Sir Percy Cradock (1946), former ambassador toBeijing and Honorary Fellow of St John’s, died inJanuary 2010.

Laura wins lacrosse gold


Milton first editions donatedThe College Library’s holdings of theworks of John Milton have beenaugmented significantly, thanks to amost generous donation from BrianFenwick Smith (1959). A first editionof Milton’s best known verse epicParadise Lost has now been added toour collection. The first three editionsof this work were small,unprepossessing volumes. Only whenJacob Tonson bought up the rights afterMilton’s death and produced a largeformat, lavishly illustrated version didsales take off. Displaying the modestfirst edition next to Tonson’s bestsellerdemonstrates this aspect of literary publishing history vividlyand is a great exhibit for school classes studying Englishliterature and sessions for postgraduates in the History ofthe Book, both of which feature regularly in the Library’seducational outreach programme.

Brian’s donation included a firstedition of Milton’s Collected

Poems published in 1645, whichbears the signature of ThomasBuck on the title page (pictured).Library staff are investigatingwhether this could be the sameThomas Buck who was appointedUniversity Printer in 1625 andalso printed the first edition ofMilton’s Lycidas in 1638.

Milton also wrote highlyinfluential political works, andwe are absolutely thrilled to add

a copy of Milton’s Areopagitica to the collection. This tract is aneloquent defence of the right to publish without prior censorship:a key text for the history and politics of mid-seventeenthcentury England. Researchers have already consulted it,and it will be used in undergraduate teaching.

Lifetime honour for MetaxasDr Ricky Metaxas was awarded a Lifetime AchievementAward at the Second Global Congress on MicrowaveApplications held at Long Beach, USA in July 2012. Theaward was presented at the gala dinner held on the RMSQueen Mary docked at Long Beach.

Depicting a model of a magnetron source for generatingmicrowave energy, the award itself (pictured) is of the samecomposition as Steuben glass and was made at CorningIncorporated from a block that was cut by water jets,engraved by lasers and polished to give its frostedappearance.

The award recognises the outstanding contributions madeby Dr Metaxas to the field of electrical engineering,specialising in the use of radio frequency and microwaveenergy. Over the years he has been invited to lecture

worldwide andhas co-authoredmore than twohundredpublications,includingIndustrial

Microwave

Heating – a bookwhich is regardedas the bible for researchers working inthis field.

‘This is extremely rewarding as it wastotally unexpected, and especiallybecause it was instigated by one’s own peers,’ saidDr Metaxas.

College news


St John’s is celebrating the tenth anniversary of being

part of a scheme that helps local teenagers with

learning disabilities to find jobs in the catering and

hospitality industry.

The scheme enables students to study and work full-time Monday to Friday at St John’s, and participate inall aspects of kitchen life. They also get the chance towork alongside the butlers to prepare formal tables fordining, and help maintain the Buttery stock andserving areas.

Students leave the three-year course with a City andGuilds qualification in Hospitality and Catering. Ontop of that, they develop their ICT, numeracy andliteracy skills, and also learn valuable life lessons suchas how to work in a team and how to work efficiently.

Former Development Officer for CambridgeshireMencap, Chris Waters, had the idea for the schemein 2002 because of the plethora of catering andhospitality jobs available and the lack of employerswilling to give students with learning disabilities achance. Chris enlisted the expertise of HuntingdonRegional College, St John’s College and theCambridge Evening News to put together thecourse, teach it and advertise it.

Jeanette Popham is the Course Leader and hascommended College staff for welcoming the students.‘This academic year we have six new learners andthey are settling in really well,’ said Jeanette. ‘It is ahuge change going from school to learning new skillsin a work environment, although our learners benefitfully from this way of learning.

Learningon the job

Laura Singh would like to

progress on to a higher hospitality

course and hopefully find a job in

an environment such as St John’s,

where she can put her skills to use.

Course students at their graduation ceremony in College in July 2012.

Dav

e C

lark

e

Lawrence Speakman from Buckden joined the

course in September because he wants to be a

chef and is already enjoying his work.

‘Christopher Turner and Nia Watkins, who are past learners, both have jobs working with the Buttery and Platewash teams atSt John’s, and James Anderson who started his working life at St John’s now works at Darwin College. Two of our learners who are intheir third year, Philip Mclean and Jessie Coates, have paid work in the Buttery and Platewash on the day they do not attend theircourse. This is an opportunity that Ray Stevenson, the Buttery Manager, has given them. It has inspired our learners that if they workhard they can find a job, which is one of the main aims of the course. There is a waiting list for the next academic year so it is evidentthat there is a need for courses such as this.’


One of the most memorable parts of the London 2012 Olympicopening ceremony was the performance of the Chariots of Firetheme featuring Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean. The pianist sittingbeside him and valiantly playing on throughout was in factJohnian Iain Farrington (1996). Here Iain gives us a behind thescenes report on his appearance.

Playing it straight

In May, I received a phone call asking whether I could playthe piano in a comedy sketch for the London Olympicopening ceremony. Once I had checked that this wasn’t someelaborate prank, I accepted. Would it be a Morecambe andWise style routine, I wondered? Would I have to take on anyeccentric Victor Borge characteristics? As it turned out,thankfully all the acting was by that comic genius RowanAtkinson in a rendition of the Chariots of Fire theme,complete with a big romantic piano part. We met at theOlympic Stadium the week before the show, without theorchestra, and the advice he gave was simple – play themusic straight and don’t look round.

Rehearsals were fun and relaxed but always professional, withnothing left to chance and all elements scrupulously prepared.With the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattleperforming, the standard was exemplary but with somedelightful ironies. As the show was taking place outside,

the string players couldn’t use their normal concert instrumentsin case the rain or extreme heat damaged the wood. So, one ofthe world’s great orchestras was kitted out with bargain-bucketinstruments, the sort you can buy from a shopping catalogue!

Secrecy was a major issue, so rehearsal announcementsused pseudonyms of all kinds (‘conducted by Joe Bloggs’)and Simon Rattle, one of the most amiable of conductors,had to act as the stern taskmaster, ticking off the errantkeyboard player.

On the night, the usually sedate off-stage scene for a classicalconcert (players milling about in tails) was replaced by acarnival spectacular, with riotous colours, costumes andcacophony. It was impossible not to be swept up in theexcitement or the quirky nature of the event, such as waitingto go on stage behind a hundred nurses with fluorescenthospital beds. Although I’ve performed in large and unusualvenues (an aircraft hangar being one of the strangest), theOlympic Stadium was certainly the most thrilling in terms ofscale and atmosphere. No amount of rehearsal prepares youfor hearing 80,000 people laughing together, but as the wholeevent felt like a big party, there were no nerves at all. I onlygot the sense of the vast global audience when I laterreceived a flood of emails and text messages from friendswho had seen it around the world. Watching it when I gothome was the first time I had seen the routine, and I wasamazed by Rowan Atkinson’s comic brilliance – a humourthat crosses every language barrier.

A few days later, I was at the Royal Albert Hall for moreBritish excellence, to hear the Wallace and Gromit Prom,where my new jazz guide to the orchestra Wing It was

premiered. It was a fitting end to an extraordinary few daysand I feel lucky to have been part of it all, but the occasionwas overshadowed by difficult personal events. My mumhad been taken seriously ill just before the first rehearsals,and passed away on the morning of the opening ceremony.It was an emotional day, but I hope I would have madeher proud.


Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images.

Composing music is, for me, most interesting when it is a collaborative activity. It’s often portrayed as a solitarystruggle to ‘find a voice’ and make it heard – a search for originality, which demands a degree of introversion bestachieved alone. There’s truth in this (probably more for some people than others) but it’s only half the picture.The other half is the element that comes from outside oneself – the question or provocation supplied by anotherperson that ignites the creative spark. In my experience, performing and teaching have frequently provided thearena in which I have found such catalysts, and they are integral to my conception of being a composer.

After graduating from Girton College, Cambridge, I studied pianoaccompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and wenton to work as a freelance répétiteur and accompanist. I spent three yearsas Composer-in-residence at Bedford School before becoming aprofessor at the Royal College of Music (where I continue to teach oneday a week).

I arrived at St John’s as CollegeTeaching Associate in Music atthe start of Easter Term, and sincethe start of the new term inOctober I have been workingwith Professor John Rink as Sub-Director of Studies in Music, aswell as being an affiliatedlecturer at the Faculty of Music.

Alongside giving supervisions in composition and analysis, and runningrevision classes and mock exams, I have enjoyed getting to know theinterests and enthusiasms of the College’s music students and starting toformulate ideas for future musical events. Early fruit of this relationshipcame in the form of a short madrigal called A Maze of Error, which Icomposed in response to Andrew Nethsingha’s request to contribute to theMay Week concert on 18 June. The piece was written in a burst of post-exam period energy for four of the Gentlemen of St John’s (Alex Simpson,Guy Edmund-Jones, Julian Gregory and Geoff Clapham) with a piano part,which I performed at the premiere. To make a text for the piece, I filleted aselection of sixteenth century madrigals for references to the names ofwomen (and a few nymphs and goddesses) and strung them together in aloosely narrative (but essentially nonsensical) sequence. Aurora, Daphne,


Introducing...

St John’s new College Teaching Associate in Music, Tim Watts,explains what his role encompasses and also gives an insightinto his passion for music and composing.


Sylvia, Flora and Nigella lead their admirers from ardentappreciation to frantic confusion as they become lost in theeponymous maze. Whether through identification orimagination, the Gents sang it with great understanding,and the alert musicianship and sensitivity they brought to itmade working with them a joy.

Working with singers has long been a particular love ofmine, both as a performer and increasingly as a composer,too. Individual qualities of sound, a particular way withwords, a feeling for shaping a phrase, for emotionalcolouring, drama, humour – all this acts as both stimulusand palette. In combination with the right text it can feelas if the music writes itself (but it’s easy to blot out thevarious false starts, peterings out and interesting failuresthat occur along the way). I wrote two very different songcycles last year for two wonderful singers. The first, Six

Songs to Orpheus, was for tenor Andrew Kennedy andpremiered as part of a conference examining Literary

Britten; each song sets a text by a poet important toBritten in an attempt to create a multifaceted portrait ofthe musician as a figure of myth. The second cycle,White Shadow, sets Don Paterson’s versions of poems bythe Spanish poet Antonio Machado, and was written formezzo-soprano Cerys Jones. Cerys and I built aprogramme based on texts in translation, which we

called Songs from the Exotic, after a cycle by Judith Weir(who also composed a piece for the College’s quincentenarycelebrations in 2011). Following the premiere atMadingley Hall, where I co-ordinate a Sunday afternoonconcert series, we decided to stage the piece at the King’sHead Theatre in Islington. We worked with lightingdesigner Matt O’Leary and in consultation with JudithWeir to find ways to bring out the theatrical dimension ofthe songs and to mould them into a ‘through-composed’performance, a little like a miniature opera.

I’m keen to explore further the intersections of song andopera, poetry and drama, and am planning anotherproject with Don Paterson for next year, as well as anumber of operatic ideas in collaboration with KateKennedy, a Research Fellow at Girton College. Plans arealso underway to stage my recently completed chamberopera, Bonnie & Clyde, based on a play by Adam Peck.

Words play a part, too, albeit covertly, in my nextinstrumental commission: a bassoon concerto for my wife,Shelly Organ, designed as a companion piece to Elgar’sbeautiful Romance and based on the composer’sWindflower letters. Meanwhile, I look forward to meetingmore of the Fellowship and student body at St John’s,and, I hope, to creative engagement with both.


The increasing chasm between richand poor in the British educationsystem is well documented; 96%of children who attend privateschools go on to universitycompared to only 16% of pupilson free school meals. Yet,education is a key resource inencouraging social mobility, and asfurther education and training

increasingly become requirementsfor a well-paid job, the pressure on

achieving in school grows. This is reflected in the risingnumber of students receiving private tuition, with a SuttonTrust study reporting that a staggering 43% of children inLondon have been tutored at some point in their academiclives between the ages of 11 and 16. However, privatetutoring, usually starting at a minimum of £30 an hour, issimply not a viable option for many families.

I founded Action Tutoring with the belief that children of allbackgrounds should be given equal opportunity to achieveacademically to the best of their ability. I’ve worked in the

charity sector since graduating but alongside this haveregularly tutored privately. Having got involved in youth workin my community in Peckham, I became increasingly awarethat while private tuition was a booming industry in someareas of London, it was not an option for many others, andwas therefore putting those that could not afford it at an evenfurther educational disadvantage. By applying the privatetuition model to inner-city schools, Action Tutoring aims tobroaden the horizons and opportunities for pupils fromunderprivileged backgrounds, by providing free tuition topupils for one hour a week, for six to eight weeks.

Action Tutoring began life in March 2011, with a pilotprogramme for 20 GCSE pupils at the Petchey Academy inHackney and Harris Academy, Peckham. Johnian PatrickBidder (2007) volunteered as a tutor in Peckham. ‘I thoroughlyenjoyed the mornings I spent tutoring, helping my studentprepare for his English GCSE,’ said Patrick. ‘He already had agood grasp of the concepts involved but his main challengewas expressing his understanding on paper. We thereforeworked together to prepare sentence structures that he coulduse and adapt depending on the question at hand. We alsohad a good time chatting about football!’

Susannah Clark (2007) recently founded an educational charity,Action Tutoring, working to provide free tuition to pupils in innercity schools to tackle educational disadvantage.

Susannah Clark with Chair

of Trustees, Doug Heard.

Tackling educationaldisadvantage

Assisting pupils in Islington with assessed coursework.


Revision underway at the Peckham Academy.

Pupils from the Peckham Academy atthe House of Lords event.

Tutoring at Parliament Hill School, Camden.

Since summer 2011 Action Tutoring has grown rapidly, withthe organisation receiving its registered charity status in May.During the academic year 2011/12, 300 GCSE pupils in 15schools across London have benefited from tuition. Thecharity works in partnership with the schools to deliver theprogramme effectively and tuition all takes place on theschool premises.

Tuition is currently provided in the key subjects of English andMaths, particularly targeting pupils on the grade D/C borderlineat GCSE in these subjects. It is important not to underestimatethe difference between a D and a C grade at GCSE; a C gradeopens up many more opportunities in further education,training and work, allowing pupils to pursue their ambitions.Tutoring engages pupils in a way that is impossible to replicatein a class of 30. Students’ unique problems with the materialcan be directly addressed and they have the opportunity to askquestions and get immediate feedback. Furthermore it allowsthem to bond with their tutor, who can encourage them towork towards academic success and act as a role model.

Gustave, a pupil at the Peckham Academy, simply lackedconfidence and found it hard in a large class to get the help he

needed with the things he didn’t understand in Maths. Gustaveand his tutor worked so well together that they arranged to carryon for extra sessions after the programme had finished. In July,Action Tutoring hosted an event at the House of Lords tocelebrate the work carried out so far and Gustave proudly toldthe assembled audience of volunteer tutors, teachers, supportersand other pupils that he now hopes to achieve a B grade in hisexam, having been predicted a D earlier in the year.

Action Tutoring has ambitious plans for the future and in theacademic year 2012/13 we aim to work with at least 30schools across London supporting 1,000 pupils. Sciencetuition will be introduced, as well as a GCSE resits programmefor pupils who did not achieve a C in English and Maths thefirst time around, to support them in a second attempt.Enthusiasm and commitment from volunteers has been veryencouraging, and so far it seems clear that as the gaps ineducation widen, there are no shortages of schools and pupilswho will benefit from the help.

If you would like to volunteer or make a donation, please [email protected] or visit www.actiontutoring.org.ukfor more information.

SimplydivineAfter two years behind hoardings, thenewly restored Divinity School has beenunveiled as a masterful marriage of traditionalcraftsmanship and modern features.


Standing opposite the Great Gate, theDivinity School on St John’s Streetwas built in 1878–9 by the Universityof Cambridge and designed by thearchitect Basil Champneys. TheCollege took full ownership of thebuilding in 2001 and for several yearsvarious ideas were considered forhow the Divinity School could beused, including a restaurant, a pianobar, a tourist information centre, ahotel and a research centre.

Then in 2007, the College made thebold decision to turn it into a multi-purpose venue made up of offices,teaching rooms, an auditorium and acentral hall. It was a huge engineering

feat to turn what was once describedas a ‘dark and gloomy maze’ into thelight and mainly open-plan buildingyou see here.

Mike Finch is Deputy Superintendentof Buildings in the Maintenancedepartment at St John’s and he hasspent the last two years based in atemporary office adjacent to theDivinity School overseeing the works.

‘We started building works officially inJanuary 2011,’ said Mike, ‘but beforethat, in May 2010, we started with thearchaeologists. They were there fornine months’ solid work and then foranother six months on what they call a

“watching brief”. We had to providestability for the building while theywere excavating down, so two thirdsof the basement has been dug out andis now used for toilets, storage andplant [utility] rooms.

‘The hardest part was theunderpinning, and working in waterwith the archaeologists and thetemporary supports. We had tounderpin the whole building andsupport every wall. It was really niceto see the first slab go down atbasement level. The building phase,actually putting something back ratherthan removing things, was maybe 15months down the line.’


1

6 7

8

9

2 3

As with all restorations of old or listedbuildings, it’s a difficult balance toretain as many original features aspossible and yet still integrate all thenecessary technology. To ensure thatabsolutely every conduit was hiddenfrom view, the Maintenance team andthe project’s architects, Annand andMustoe, painstakingly planned theroute of every single pipe and wire,from beginning to end, in theiroriginal plans.

‘It’s an old building and it will lookold,’ said Mike ‘but with all themodern equipment and IT andcommunications and power inside it.And of course all the heating, because

the original heating was coal fires inthe basement. Coal was deliveredfrom St John’s Street down the chutesand it was like the old Romanhypercourse systems: the heat wentup the outside walls and there weregrills around the halls that passed theheat back out. So we’ve used a lot ofthose voids in order not to see themechanical ductwork system.’

Carrying out such a huge restorationproject with so many specialistsub-contractors takes impeccableco-ordination and planning. Thismakes it all the more staggering thatthe Maintenance team are able tomanage several major projects at once.

‘At the moment we’re renovating Eand F staircases of the Cripps buildingand we’re also converting the Schoolof Pythagoras into an archive centreas well,’ said Mike.

‘So we’ve got three projects on thego and we still have to run theCollege day-to-day maintenance.Sometimes you think “I don’t knowhow we do it!” It makes the job veryinteresting, because we get to workon some really different buildings aswell: School of Pythagoras is 1200,Cripps 1965, Divinity School 1870s,so you have this mix of buildings anda mix of materials. Every day isdefinitely different!’

Michaelmas term 20121. The ground floor hall/reception area.2. One of the original stone bosses in a Tudor rose design.3. The old front door facing onto St John’s Street.4. The existing south staircase brick vaulting.5. The new auditorium has a lime-washed oak acoustic wall behind the seating.6. The original stonework, like this ‘Grotesque’, has been cleaned and the

new stonework crafted to match it.7. The Admissions Office.8. Hand-stencilled paintwork in the Lightfoot Room using a period pattern

designed by the architects.9. One of the teaching rooms.10. The north staircase used to be the main way up the original building,

but now that the front entrance is no longer in use, the south staircase offAll Saints’ Passage will be used most.

11. Any original windows that had to be taken out have been used elsewherein the building.

10 11

4 5

Amy Lonton-Rawsthorne (2010) is a

current student reading Education

with English and Drama.

‘Receiving the invitation was at onceexciting and depressing. Having justcelebrated St John’s quincentenary,I was deeply saddened at the 470years it had taken the College to allow

women through its gates. I was also disappointed by my lackof knowledge of women’s history in the College, of ourjourney here over the last 30 years and of my own place inthis story. The event itself – empowering, positive andhumbling – expelled this pessimism as I discovered theextraordinary and diverse lines of work and domestic politicsin which Johnian women are leading the way. Runningthroughout the event were brave and sobering discussions onthe state of feminism, the daily struggles of even the mostmobile of women and the pain of ever-present sexism stillpervading our universities today. What a relief, in a worldoften complacent on these matters, to hear such intelligentdiscussion about the way forward for the next generation ofprofessional women!

‘The problems of the past may not have disappearedcompletely, but nonetheless women at John’s are thriving.If anything, certain hurdles have made me more aware,passionate and determined. I have developed a greater

confidence to contribute in lectures and male-dominatedCambridge societies, to debate at dinners and to challengesupervisors who want me to write with more arrogance. I canonly hope to be able to use these skills to as great an effect asthe Johnian women who came before me.’

Amanda Boyle (1992) is a film-maker

and was one of our ‘Reel Women’

speakers.

‘The event was organised with suchwarmth by the Development Office.Cures for cancer, understanding riskand the evils of Daniel Craig were justsome of the topics discussed. It was

humbling to meet women from all three decades shining intheir very varied fields.

‘The day ended perfectly when I caught up with my Directorof Studies, someone who, although I was no modelphilosophy student, still inspires me today. Professor Heal toldme that she is retiring this year and that St John’s hadgenerously given her a room at the College to continue herwork. As I strolled through the College with the evening sunbacklighting the arches with nostalgia, I kept thinking theremight only have been 30 years of women here, but all is rightin the world when there’s a permanent room at St John’s thatis Jane Heal’s.’


30 years ofwomenIn May 2012 the College held a day-long event to recognise thecontribution of women over the last 30 years, and we weredelighted that more than a hundred female Johnians attended.The day started with a speed networking session, followed bylunch in Hall and then many fascinating Johnian speakers in theafternoon. The event concluded with afternoon tea, sponsoredby Baillie Gifford. Here, three attendees describe their experiencesof the day.

Amy Dynock

(2000) is a

Client Service

Director for

Baillie Gifford,

the day’s

sponsor.

‘Strange as itmay seem, there is a strong connectionbetween St John’s College and BaillieGifford, an independent investmentmanagement partnership established inEdinburgh more than 100 years ago.A number of alumni have found theirway to Baillie Gifford’s door, be it therecently retired Joint Senior Partner AlexCallander (1979), myself, InvestmentManager Brian Lum (2002) or our mostrecent recruit, Fraser Thomson (2002).

‘Having supported the twenty fifthanniversary symposium in 2007, itseemed a natural opportunity tocelebrate the thirtieth anniversary ofwomen studying at St John’s this year.For much of our history, our firm wassimilarly the domain of the male of thespecies. Much has changed over thepast 30 years, but we continue toexplore issues surrounding the attractionand retention of female staff in theworld of investment management. Thetopic, amongst myriad matters, washotly debated on a day of discussionand networking among Johnian womenpast and present, all rounded off with achampagne tea in the sunshine.’


A second women’s networking eventwas held on Friday, 5 October at theCharlotte Street Hotel, courtesy ofTim and Kit Kemp. Look out fordetails of next year’s event in ourmonthly e-newsletter.

Eben Upton (1996) and Robert Mullins met when Eben took over from Robert as Director ofStudies in Computer Science at St John’s in 2006. During their time working at the University ofCambridge Computer Laboratory they became worried by the decreasing numbers of computerscience applicants and their lack of programming knowledge. So, they formed a team to createa basic computer that would inspire a new generation of programmers. The team became theRaspberry Pi Foundation, which is now a UK charity with a board of six trustees.

After some teething problems, the Raspberry Pi was finally launched in February this year toworldwide interest. Initially, orders were limited to one per customer and demand was so highthat one supplier’s website crashed. More than 300,000 units have been distributed so far andnew ones are being manufactured at a rate of 4,000 per day.

We spoke to Eben and Robert to find out how the project started, how it has evolved and whateffect the Raspberry Pi has already had on its global audience.


A home-grownsolutionAround four years ago, a group of Universitystaff set themselves on a mission to inspire thenext generation of computer science students.That mission resulted in a very small but verysought-after computer called the Raspberry Pi.

What is it? Courtesy of www.raspberrypi.org

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and akeyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things thatyour desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games.It also plays high-definition video.

Right: Raspberry Pi Trustee

Pete Lomas.

Far right: The Raspberry Pi

itself (courtesy of Switched

On Tech Design

www.sotechdesign.com.au)

Above left:

The University of

Cambridge’s Computer

Laboratory.

Above right:

Raspberry Pis being

checked and packed

into antistatic bags

for shipment.


Selling units at the Cambridge Raspberry Jam event. Co-Founder Eben Upton conducting a teaching workshop.


What was your goal when you started the project?

Rob: Initially it was to create a computer that wouldencourage the sort of hobbyist programmers that we wereseeing less and less of during the admissions process. Theidea of a ‘BBC Micro for the 21st century’ was mentionedand things grew from there.

The opportunity was there because mobile phone chiptechnology, which is Eben’s day job and my research area,would allow us to build a very small, low-cost, low-power,yet powerful computer for around $25 (£15).

Eben: There’s a big problem: there’s a shortage of peopleapplying [for computer science courses]. Although we’re stillable to get a good supply of bright kids, we wouldn’t wantthat number to go down much further. It’s certainly the casethat the level of built-in technical skill that you can assume instudents has gone down, at the point where they come in thedoor. It’s about trying to give people that 1980s experience ofprogramming your own computer.

Has the shortage of computer science students had an effect

on the computer industry in the UK?

Eben: Anything that’s a problem for us in the University inyear x, will be a problem for the industry in year x+3, x+4, etc.Particularly because there are things you don’t teach on thecomputer science tripos. Knowing your way around a computeris not necessarily something that you teach.

Rob: Another thing that’s interesting is that a lot of people whostudy computer science don’t then go on to work in theindustry. A lot of them get hoovered up by the City and otherplaces that just know that people who do computer sciencedegrees have got a good set of skills that can be put to use inother jobs.

Where did the name Raspberry Pi come from?

Rob: I think we fixed on a fruit-related name because it wouldappeal to children and also because it’s a tradition in the

What are people making with their Raspberry Pi?... Voice-controlled robot > wildlife camera > high-altitude helium balloon webcam > firewall > musical instrument > media centre > autonomous boat to cross the Atlantic >

number plate recognition system for car park entry > telephone answering machine > home heating thermostat > camera flash trigger > vacuum cleaner > model railway controller > miniature arcade machine running ‘Street Fighter II’ >

Eben Upton works as an SoC (system on a chip) Architect for Broadcom based in California.


computing industry. The ‘Pi’ bit came from the plan to use thePython Programming Language. I remember thinking I didn’tlike the name, but with hindsight it has proved very popularand perhaps a little quirky and British.

Did you have any inkling how popular the computer

would be?

Rob: Going back through my emails from around Christmastime it was obvious we didn’t. We even had a plan to packand ship them ourselves at one point. I think early estimateswere 1,000 per month.

What challenges did you face?

Eben: We had some problems finding a UK manufacturer forthe device for a variety of reasons. The technology level ofthe board is a bit high for UK manufacturers, and in generalthe cost structure [was a problem]. There are issues with howthe UK electronics manufacturing industry is set up, in termsof its cost base. In terms of getting the thing designed, we hadall the skills we needed within the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

You’ve both had full-time day jobs throughout the project,

how have you found the time to work on Raspberry Pi?

Eben: Weekends and evenings. And we just don’t do anything else!

Rob: My daughter was born 16 months ago too. The wholeproject is lots of fun, which helps enormously. There is a lotof goodwill out there too, from companies and individuals,which makes all the difference.

What excites you most about Raspberry Pi?

Rob: The feeling that we’re beginning to have some impact.There’s a lot of energy around the project and it’s helping as acatalyst to spark children’s interest in computer science andlearning to program. The hope is that it will really make adifference over the next few years. The government hasbegun to take notice and there’s hopefully going to be a verygood new GCSE in computer science.

We’ve also had feedback from parents whose children havestarted to program as a result of the project. It’s great to hear

that they use programming to play and create, and that manyhave become hooked who had shown no interest previously.

How are Raspberry Pi owners influencing how it’s used and

your future plans?

Rob: One of the strongest parts of the project is the communitythat has built up and that’s great because they’ve made a hugecontribution to the platform and they’re now producing reallyfun projects with the Raspberry Pi. Also, if you go online andread the forums you quickly realise there are people with verylittle experience and people with a lifetime of experiencecoming together and sharing ideas and explaining how to dothings with each other.

What are people making with their Raspberry Pi?... Voice-controlled robot > wildlife camera > high-altitude helium balloon webcam > firewall > musical instrument > media centre > autonomous boat to cross the Atlantic >

number plate recognition system for car park entry > telephone answering machine > home heating thermostat > camera flash trigger > vacuum cleaner > model railway controller > miniature arcade machine running ‘Street Fighter II’ >

‘We even had a plan topack and ship themourselves at one point.’

Robert Mullins is Director of Studies for Computer Science

and a Fellow of St John’s.


In April this year we enjoyed the great privilege of beingable to visit the famous studios at Abbey Road to record ourthird album: a collection of some of the most iconic songsfrom across Latin America, entitled Latin-American Classics:

a Musical Journey through Latin America. The album,which includes contributions from a number of British andLatin-American musicians, including the Gentlemen ofSt John’s (in their guise as the Gents of London) andColombian superstar Andrés Cepeda, was launched atconcerts in Bogotá in June and at the Union Chapel,Islington in October.

Classico Latino draws its repertoire from what is described byLatin-Americans as ‘folkloric’ music. This does not correspondaccurately with the genre of folk music as it is understood in theUK, but refers instead to traditional popular music in a widevariety of styles and rhythms, from the familiar tango, boleroand samba to the less-well-known joropo, currulao andbambuco. Each rhythm would traditionally have beenperformed by a particular group of instruments, and the onlything these individual ensembles have in common is theabsence of a piano, violin or cello, those very instrumentsused by Classico Latino.

Back to themusical roots

Classico Latino, the Latin-American trio comprising Graham Walker(1996) playing cello, Iván Guevara-Bernal (1996) on piano andElizabeth Ball (1999), violin, recently visited Colombia to launch theirthird album. Graham describes their musical influences and also theexperience of playing locals their own music.

Photo: Annelie Rosencrantz.

In performance at the 100 Club, Oxford Street, London.


Although we take a very European-classical instrumentalensemble, the piano trio, and apply it to the folkloric musicof Latin America, local audiences in the continent seem torespond very positively to our music. Before we visitedColombia for the first time, we were rather apprehensive tosee how a native audience would react to us as a Britishgroup essentially appropriating their cultural heritage. Weneedn’t have worried! Colombians are not by naturerestrained in expressing their feelings, and even in therelatively formal setting of the Teatro Colón, the old colonial-style Opera House in Bogotá, there were hats thrown in theair, cheers, whistles and shouts (after we had finished playing,thankfully). And in the small, sleepy town of Ginebra, wherethe most important festival of Colombian Andean music: theFestival Mono Nuñez, takes place, the reaction was simplyunbelievable. In 2011 at this festival Lizzie sang the old song‘Pueblito Viejo’, a song as iconic for Colombians as ‘DannyBoy’ might be for the Irish. The entire auditorium of 1,200people, and probably a million more watching live on TV,were on their feet shouting and cheering. I think she couldhave married twenty times over after that performance! At thesame performance, I was proud to be presented with a plaquein honour of my contribution to Colombian Andean music.

St John’s has had a seminal influence on Classico Latino andthe lives of its members: the group began as a duo in 1997(A Latin Serenade was the original name) whilst Iván and Iwere students at St John’s. Our first recital, in January 1999,took place in the Master’s Lodge in front of the largest-everaudience at a Lodge concert. The duo developed into a triosoon after when Lizzie arrived as an undergraduate in 1999.Lizzie remembers her time at St John’s as ‘an experiencewhich taught me the true merits of perseverance, self-confidence, and striving for excellence. These valuablelife-skills have been vital to my career in the music industry.’Iván, who had lived in the UK for only a year before arrivingat St John’s, writes that ‘there was such a warm, welcomingand friendly atmosphere in the College that I felt immediatelyat home. Those happy times which I spent at Cambridge havestayed with me ever since.’

For me, having been a chorister in earlier years, the Collegehas had an enormous impact. It is clear to me that I would notbe the musician I am today without St John’s. Not only did thechoir teach me the values of disciplined and heartfeltmusicianship, but were it not for the presence of overseasstudents such as Iván at St John’s, I would most likely neverhave encountered the world of Latin music, which has takenmy life in such an unexpected direction.

You can find out more about Classico Latino on our website atwww.classicolatino.com or you can follow us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/classicolatino and Twitter at@classicolatino.

Photo: Ben Wright.

The trio plus the Gents and other musicians at Abbey Road at the

end of the recording.

Photo: Ben Wright.

Photo: Nicolas Forrero.

The trio with their transport and driver Alonso in Ginebra, Colombia.

Graham, Ivan and Lizzie.

Ivan and Graham with former Master, Peter Goddard, after the first

Master’s Lodge concert in 1999.


Donor Day is designed to show our immense appreciation forrecent contributions from the Johnian community towards theSt John’s College Campaign. This year we were also able tocelebrate the successful completion of the Campaign, havingraised our £50 million target 10 months ahead of schedule.In total 2,718 donors have contributed, with 19% donorparticipation worldwide. Gifts of all shapes and sizes havebeen welcomed. Many donors have been inspired to give tothe College for the first time during the Campaign, whileothers have renewed their ongoing commitments. Regularcontributions have provided a sustainable source of incomeand enable the College to plan for the future. See yourenclosed copy of the Campaign Report for more information.

The day’s celebrations began with drinks in the historicalCombination Room, followed by a formal lunch in Hall.Esteemed academics, munificent donors and their welcomeguests sat down together in a merry buzz of chatter and clinking

cutlery, concluded by the Master’s speech of gratitude andhope for the future.

A series of talks and activities in the afternoon included a violinperformance by the wonderfully talented Julian Gregory (2009)and an inspiring talk from our Admissions Tutor, Dr HelenWatson, on the challenges facing Cambridge colleges inadmissions policy and practice. Many guests braved theself-guided tour of the historic College gardens, just as the rainstopped and the sun began to emerge. A small group gatheredin the JCR to watch the Wimbledon final, assembling aroundthe television screen on tenterhooks! The day was brought toa close with the welcome treat of tea and cakes in Hall.

We are now entering the second phase of our DevelopmentProgramme. Despite achieving what has been the mostambitious and successful fundraising campaign of any collegein Oxford or Cambridge, there is still a great deal to be

Miserable weather and Andy Murray’s disheartening loss at theWimbledon men’s final was not enough to dampen the spirits ofour donors this July! Rebecca Costello from the DevelopmentOffice reflects on Donor Day 2012.

Inspirationalsupport


accomplished. We are honoured, but by no means surprised,that the Johnian community has rallied in this way and proudthat it is our shared belief that St John’s is a sound investment forthe future. It is an encouraging and inspiring feat then that evenafter an event designed to thank our donors for their financialcontributions, many have contacted the Development Office tofurther increase their regular gifts. We are confident that with thesupport and effort from our loyal and generous donors we cancontinue to build on the Campaign’s foundations with visionand assurance over the coming years. By continuing tostrengthen our endowment and funding for the College’s coreactivities we hope to continue to be able to attract and nurturethe world’s brightest minds, regardless of their background orfinancial situation.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen andto all those who attended for making the Donor Day amemorable occasion once again.

‘Enjoying three very happyand highly beneficial yearsat St John’s was a privilegebeyond my desert. The leastI can do by way ofrecompense is to contributeto making it possible forfuture generations to havethe same advantage.’Sir David Kelly (1956), donor

‘Since the 1944 Education Act there has been remarkableprogress in transforming educational opportunities forchildren from families previously not accustomed togoing on to university. However, schools, universitiesand individual students now face serious pressures thatcould put such progress at risk. I therefore welcomeinitiatives taken by St John’s, such as outreachactivities and bursaries, and have been pleased tocontribute to their support.’Colin Greenhalgh (1960) Chairman, The Johnian Society, and donor

www.joh.cam.ac.uk

EVENTS CALENDAR 2012-13

Join us on Facebook to keep up to date withwhat’s going on in College. Visit www.facebook.com/stjohnscambridge

The Johnian professional network is extending through LinkedIn. Join the ’St John’s College,Cambridge’ group to find out more about the amazing careers of Johnians.

Development Office

St John’s College, Cambridge CB2 1TP

Tel: 01223 338700 Fax: 01223 338727

Email: [email protected]

Registered charity number 1137428

DECEMBER 2012

12 London Christmas Drinks

JANUARY 2013

26 Literary Day

FEBRUARY

16 Winfield Society Dinner

MARCH

8 IWD Lecture15 Cripps Feast

APRIL

14 Donor Day (by invitation only)

MAY

6 Port Latin Feast11 MA Dinner12 MA Lunch

JUNE

15 Exeter Lunch18 May Ball20 Garden Party for Graduands29 Johnian Dinner30 Johnian Lunch

JULY

6 Benefactors’ Dinner (by invitation only)7 Family Day26-27 Johnian Society Golf Competition

St John’s is now tweeting news and updates.Follow us @stjohnscam

VARSITY MATCH 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT

We are disappointed to announce that our annual Varsity Match event at Twickenham Stadium will not be goingahead this year. This is due to the substantial increase in the price per person. We are sorry for any disappointmentcaused. For full details and for information on the alternative Twickenham event please see our website.

Do you receive our monthly enewsletter? If not, send us an email [email protected] to make sure you don’t miss out on upcoming events.

Issue 31 | Michaelmas term 2012...Page 3 Michaelmas term 2012 Welcome to the Michaelmas 2012 issue...

Documents

Transcript of Issue 31 | Michaelmas term 2012...Page 3 Michaelmas term 2012 Welcome to the Michaelmas 2012 issue...