Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> 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.
>
He seemed like a very pleasant person, as well as a very intelligent and
articulate man. I didn't have much oip****tunity to speak to him, but my
husband felt compelled to defend the honour of the French Department
(not something he felt any inclination to do when he was a student at
Brum). My husband's degree was in Engineering and Economics, and
one-third of the course was conducted in French.
> 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.
I know that there were some changes in the government of the University
at that time, so perhaps this was one of them. I know that a lot more
flexibility was allowed in degree courses after 1968.
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.
Passing exams and speaking the language don't necessarily bear much
relation to each other.
Fran
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