The 2008 Boat Race ended with the slowest winning time for more than sixty years, but this was far more indicative of the weather than the standard of racing, which was as fierce as the sky above and waves below. Helicopters circled overhead and thousands hugged the banks of the Thames to watch Oxford reaffirm their recent dominance over Cambridge, and continue a satisfying trend which has now seen them win three out of the last four races, narrowing their all-time deficit tantalisingly to just five.
 
For Cox Nick Brodie the victory was especially magical. Much of the subsequent boat race coverage has justifiably focused on the 21 year-old, for whom revenge proved as sweet as ever. Having endured a frankly horrific few years of varsity rowing, he finally and perhaps inevitably fought back against all the odds to claim a doubly meaningful personal victory. He claimed that “losing the Isis-Goldie race in my first two years and then the main race last year was devastating, but looking back now, the way my four years have unfolded here at Oxford with the highs and lows has just made the victory that little bit more special.”

However despite Brodie’s own fairytale story, the Oxford performance was ultimately defined not by any one individual but by the solidarity and focus of a team which had to drag its way not only through the rugged waters of West London but also the increasing politics which has surrounded the contest in recent years. Last year saw the boat race’s heaviest ever participant, Thorsten Engelmann, sensationally quit his course at Cambridge just days after their victory, leading to accusation, claim and counter-claim between the two camps. The particularly high level of animosity since that race not only meant that the stakes were higher than ever, but also that when the race began and the first oars were swept through the water, the action itself was a welcome return to rowing with oars as opposed to voices.
Pre-race favourites Oxford appeared to have gained the initial advantage by the time they sped past Craven Cottage – home of the varsity football defeat just a few hours before – but Cambridge remained within touching distance. The two crews passed Hammersmith Bridge neck and neck, with blades almost overlapping amidst repeated warnings from the umpire. At this point Cambridge seemed to be taking control, with Oxford’s rowing for a time appearing lethargic, despite remaining rhythmic.
 
As the boats passed Chiswick Eyot however, the team seemed to collectively realise there was actually the possibility of defeat, and at this point Oxford’s tempo and aggression noticeably increased. The Dark Blues pushed ahead round the outside of the Surrey Bend, and moving from half a length to clear water within 30 strokes, they already seemed almost certain to satisfy pre-race predictions of a comfortable win, powering into a lethal rhythm that the Light Blues simply couldn’t keep up with. An elated Brodie described how during this part of the race, “we noticed them cracking and we jumped on them”, and Mike Wherley was equally subtle when he assessed the way in which Oxford “stood on their necks”. It was aggression such as this, combined with power and technique, that Cambridge understandably struggled to match during the race, and the distance between the boats continued to increase as Oxford ruthlessly maintained the pressure: the final 22 second margin of victory was judged to be 6 lengths, a statistic which certainly didn’t flatter Oxford, although perhaps failed to do justice to Cambridge who valiantly fought against the Dark Blue’s superior power and erg scores.
 
So Oxford, as expected, were just a little too strong for their adversaries, and despite the weather playing heavily into the Dark Blue’s hands, their performance would have surely warranted a victory whatever the conditions. But it should be remembered that the first half of the race was very tight – Brodie claimed “it took us half the course to find our rythm” – and so, whilst in retrospect a repeat of 1877’s dead heat was always unlikely, the race was certainly more hard-fought than a glance at the winning margins might suggest.
 
More rowing in Cherwell Sport >>> 

£5 million is being given by Julian Blackwell of the eponymous bookshop chain to allow the Bodleian library to build a new hall to open access to its collection and put much of it on permanent public view for the first time.

 

An exhibition hall will be created in the New Bodleian Library thanks to the generous donation. The hall, to be named Blackwell Hall in recognition of the donor, will display the Bodleian Library’s collection of British literary treasures that had until now been accessible to only a few scholars.

 

The priceless collection includes the earliest complete book written in the English language, one of only eight surviving Gutenberg Bibles and Shakespeare’s First Folio. It also holds the original manuscripts of many book classics including Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and a map given to the king and queen of Spain, which was probably used in discussions with Christopher Columbus before his 1492 voyage to discover the New World.

 

The earliest complete book written in English, Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, translated by King Alfred in about 890 AD is another of the treasures. There are also many original handwritten texts of popular classics such as Frankenstein, as well as more than 10,000 medieval manuscripts. Other treasures include an embroidered handwritten book by Queen Elizabeth I.

 

Mr. Blackwell said of his reasons for the donating, "The Bodleian is unique. It not only has the largest and most important university collections in the world, but it is leading the development of cutting-edge information services which are so vital to academic research."

 

Keeper of special collections at the Bodleian, Richard Ovenden said, "Julian Blackwell’s magnificent donation to the Bodleian reflects the long established connections between these two institutions.

 

"Not only are they neighbors on Oxford’s Broad Street, but for 130 years they have jointly engaged in projects which have both celebrated and preserved our global written heritage," he added.

 

The Bodleian Library is the biggest university library in Britain and second in size in the country only to the British Library.

 

Founded in 1602, the Bodleian has a copy of almost every book printed and an extra 5,000 books are added to its catalogue each week. It holds more than 9 million volumes as well as artifacts such as a chair made for Francis Drake from the beams of the Golden Hind in which he circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580.

 

Only on very rare occasions are items put on public display, such as last December when the library put four 13th century copies of the Magna Carta on view for just six hours.

 

An event will be held on Saturday in honour of the library’s founder Sir Thomas Bodley, when the donation will be formally announced.

 

This week, more controversy surrounding the conduct of OUCA has emerged.

At a recent LUCA (London Universities Conservative Association) ball, ‘rowdy behaviour’ from the OUCA table allegedly offended several other diners and prompted complaints from a speaker.

The annual LUCA ball was a black tie affair held on 21st February and high profile speakers included Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries, Member of Parliament for mid Bedfordshire.

OUCA received several complaints about the bad behaviour of some of its members. As a result a disciplinary committee was called, resulting in Dan Ward losing his position as publications officer.

Ward allegedly took the microphone and made a ‘drunken’ impromptu speech, thanking diners for their attendance when he had been expressly forbidden to do so by the president of OUCA.

There have also been reports that some members of OUCA heckled throughout the speeches, pounding on the table and generally behaving in a ‘rowdy’ manner.

Nadine Dorries, who spoke after the dinner, expressed her disappointment at OUCA’s conduct. Writing on her internet blog she said, “The students were all really good fun – apart from a few on one table.”

“As I left I asked which Uni they were from, I was surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t have been, when I was told the table was from Oxford.”

“The fact that they were from Oxford I suppose increased the disappointment. You kind of expect those who were born to, or have earned privilege, to behave a little better.”

Brad Johnson, returning officer for OUCA spoke of the decision to discipline Ward. He said, “Ward took the microphone without permission, he acted in a patronising way and upset many people”.

Johnson said that he believed Ward was drunk, adding: “The fact that he was an actual office holder made the offence all the worse. The ex-president of OUCA, Alex Stafford, actually had to apologise to the organisers of the event.”

In contrast, Ward remained unrepentant for his actions. Speaking to Cherwell he said, “I did pound the table and laugh, but the speech was so dull that most people did.”

“It was not a good event. Lots of people weren’t dressed properly and they gave us the wrong wine glasses.”

Ward also claimed that he was reported due to a personal matter, and was the victim of ‘rules gimpery’.

Oxford University economist Professor Paul Collier has won the 2008 Lionel Gelber Prize for his book: ‘The Bottom Billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it’.

 

The Lionel Gelber Prize, called by The Economist as ‘the world’s most important award for non-fiction’ is awarded to the author of the world’s best book on international affairs.

 

Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He is a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. His past appointment include having served as Director of Research at the World Bank and as an advisor to the British Government’s commission on Africa.

 

In The Bottom Billion, published by Oxford University Press, discusses how 980 million people around the globe are living in ‘trapped countries clearly heading towards a black hole.’ Poverty populations are found much in Africa, but the book also identifies other large pockets of severe poverty in such places as Bolivia, Cambodia, East Timor, Haiti, Laos, North Korea, Myanmar, Yemen, and elsewhere.

 

Professor Collier uses reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War as an analogy for the challenge of lifting populations out of poverty. In his book, he calls for not only immediate aid, but also cooperation from multilateral institutions as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which will effectively promote trade and security.

 

Professor Collier will be awarded at the ceremony to be held in Toronto on 1 April. He will also accept the $15,000 prize at the Munk Centre, where he will also deliver the Lionel Gelber Lecture. The Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) has been undertaking research on Africa for more than a decade, and has become one of the largest concentrations of academic economists and social scientists working on Africa outside the continent itself.