On 2007-09-07 19:27:58 +0200, Frances Kemmish <fkemmish@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
said:
> [ ... ]
> As it happens, on Wednesday evening I was at a reception in New York
> for alumni of the University of Birmingham. One of the guests of honour
> was Paul Nurse, who was a student at the same time that I was (although
> I never met him then). He mentioned the matriculation requirements of
> the time, which included a pass at O-Level in a foreign language. He
> failed the exam six times, but the head of the department to which he'd
> applied went to the University Senate, and got a special dispensation
> for him to matriculate without that requirement, so long as he took
> language cl***** in the French department during his first year as an
> undergraduate.
>
Interesting. I hadn't reaized (or I had completely forgotten) that Paul
Nurse graduated from Birmingham in biochemistry. If he had graduated a
year later or if I had arrived there as a lecturer a year earlier I'd
be able to claim to have taught a winner of the Nobel Prize, but we
just missed overlapping: he graduated in July 1970 and I started in
October 1970. Pity.
The story is interesting for another reason, that a student that I knew
well who was in the 2nd year in 1970-71, and so presumably two years
junior to Paul Nurse, was in a similar position to what you describe.
He had no language O level and appeared totally incapable of passing
any sort of language exam, but had such high grades in everything else
that the Admisssions Tutor decided to admit him anyway. I don't
remember that the University Senate was involved, but as this happened
in 1969 it was before my time. Later on, however, he went on to work
for the National Research Council in Ottawa, and acquired a French
Canadian girl friend. Quite quickly he discovered that he was capable
of learning French after all. No doubt there is a question of
motivation.
--
athel
|
