The Harrovian - 21 November 2015

THE HARROVIAN
Vol. CXXVIII No. 38
DRURIES HOUSE PLAY
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,
Ryan Theatre, 12-13 November
Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent performance as Hamlet at the
Barbican was very much in my mind as I sat down at the Ryan
on the first night of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,
a 1966 classic by Tom Stoppard, presented by Druries. How
would Druries cope with the challenges of this absurdist spin-off
of Shakespeare’s celebrated work? The audience was certainly
not disappointed: under LGH’s direction, Druries delivered an
engaging performance that reached eclectic heights.
Stoppard re-interprets Shakespeare’s play from the perspective
of Hamlet’s university friends, Rosencrantz (Will Bryant) and
Guildenstern (Eden Curtis) as they betray Hamlet (Max EvanTovey) under the command of King Claudius (Leo Pembroke),
Hamlet’s uncle and now husband to Gertrude (Aleks Predolac
Miller), Hamlet’s mother. In the process, they encounter the
tragedians, led by the Player (William Lempriere-Johnston)
who put on a performance of The Murder of Gonzago, a play
within a play foreshadowing the deaths of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. The two find themselves on board a ship with the
tragedians taking Hamlet to England to be executed. Outwitted
by Hamlet, the two meet their ends in England in place of
Hamlet as the prince escapes with the pirates. Throughout the
play, the influence of Samuel Beckett on Stoppard is apparent
in his use of metatheatre.
Will Bryant as Rosencrantz and Eden Curtis in the role
of Guildenstern were a constant joy to watch. In portraying
Rosencrantz, Bryant conveyed the character’s ignorance in
contrast to Curtis’s Guildenstern, the more thoughtful and
proactive of the two, making for an irresistible duo. Bryant’s
performance highlighted the easy-going, pragmatic nature of
the character. He conveyed great optimism and the scene in
which Rosencrantz is literally heard “Shouting fire in a crowded
theatre” was particularly impressive. Bryant dealt well with a
difficult concept encrypted within Stoppard’s work and he should
be congratulated for his thoughtful approach to the character.
In contrast, Eden Curtis was successful in portraying
Guildenstern, who appears to be the polar opposite of Rosencrantz.
In his lines, Curtis conveyed Guildenstern’s anxiety and his
sudden outbursts of emotion showed the character as a rational
thinker. A particularly memorable moment was the first scene
in which Rosencrantz, betting heads each time, wins 92 flips
November 21, 2015
of a coin in a row. Guildenstern here blames this phenomenon
on “supernatural forces” and Curtis successfully conveyed the
character’s unease, seeing his rational attitude being challenged.
William Lempriere-Johnston as the Player gave a brilliant
performance. His passionate rendering of this eloquent character
conveyed a wide range of moods and emotions. One of the most
mysterious and witty characters in the play, Lempriere-Johnston
gave all he had to offer and his acting in the fake death scene
in Act 2 was particularly impressive. It was notable for its
realism and vigour and was ably supported by Guildenstern’s
folly. Lempriere-Johnston should be congratulated for the great
deal of thought he must have put into this difficult character.
Passion dwelled in Max Evans-Tovey’s portrayal of Hamlet
as well. His character’s nonchalant, optimistic fervour provided
immense entertainment as he exercised the extent of his madness,
clad in full dress uniform. In particular, his handling of the scene
in which he swaps the letter written by Claudius for the one
he has written himself showed the full extent of his cunning
character and was delivered with a comic twist.
The tragedians added an extra element of comedy, with the
Player as “the puppet master” manipulating their movements.
In particular, the scene in Act 2 in which they emerge from the
ship’s deck was a highlight. The actors should be congratulated
for the making the brave choice of doubling these ensemble
roles with their individual roles. In particular, Leo Pembroke as
Claudius gave an authoritative account of the antagonist. What
came across in Pembroke’s performance was a manipulative
and sinister character that highlighted Claudius’ evil intentions
to kill off Hamlet.
The female characters should be commended for their
performances. A boy actor playing a female role is never easy
and Aleks Predolac Miller as Gertrude rose to the challenge.
As Queen of Denmark and Hamlet’s mother, her anxiety and
concern for Hamlet in mirrored in many ways Guildenstern’s
concern for his doom. But Predolac Miller’s performance offered
an understated yet thoughtful Gertrude and displayed great
humour in mixing up Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from time
to time. Harry Russell as Ophelia conveyed well the character’s
shock and anguish at seeing Hamlet’s bizarre conduct. Unlike
in Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Ophelia’s madness and her
death play a large part in the narrative drive, Stoppard gives
minimal attention to the character. But from what we saw of
Russell’s handling, he should be congratulated for his ability
to convey the lachrymose nature of the character.
November 21, 2015
Making his Ryan debut, Numan Nashim as Polonius was
equally successful in portraying the confident advisor to
Claudius. Nashim admirably conveyed Polonius’ deceitfulness
and willingness to take full advantage of his status particularly
well. Rafe Wendelken-Dickson as the Player King was impressive
in his ability to provide moments of extreme comedy and for
his confidence in delivery. Seb Tallis as the Ambassador and
Ant Stanley as Horatio rounded off this superb performance by
drawing connections between the original plot and this play.
Their deliveries of the final words from Hamlet brought the
event to a close.
Another special mention must go to the director and the set
designer. Claire Lambert’s expertise in set design and scenic art
is well known to all those who have taken part in productions
at the Ryan. On this occasion, the set comprised a circular
platform on which the actors performed, with another layer on
top to mimic “stage on a stage”, mirroring the main deck of the
boat heading to England. This transition, presumably discussed
between LGH and Ms Lambert, was particularly effective. The
stage crew of Alexander Wendelken-Dickson, Cosmo Hamwee,
George Plant, George Hill, Faiz Kawar and Hugo Taylor should
be commended for their efficiency in manipulating the set
changes. The lighting and sound operators, Seth Liebowitz and
Taran Franck respectively, must also be congratulated for one
of the smoothest operations ever seen at the Ryan.
LGH’s first production at Harrow proved to be a spectacular
triumph. He underplayed the flamboyance in set design, costumes
and minimum use of soundtrack and allowed the audience to be
fully immersed in the acting. This, of course, posed an even
greater challenge on the cast since they had little shelter from
any distractions. But to the writer, the Druries cast presented
a bold performance that will surely remain in our memories.
The retiring collection following the Druries House Play raised
£531.51 in aid of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
CONTIO LATINA
Speech Room, 14 November
This year’s Contio, the annual recollection of the past year in
Latin by the Head of the School, was a sombre affair. The world
was still in shock from the news of the shooting and bombing
in Paris, and many of the boys were still discussing the outrage
on their way into Speech Room. The School took their place,
and stood for the entrance of the Govenors. Then, before the
Contio began, The Head Master led the School in two prayers
and a moment of silence for those who were killed in Paris.
In silence, Angus Edward, The Park, Head of School, distrubuted
the Contios to the govenors and returned to take his place on stage
before an expectant School. In the classical tradition, Edwards
began his Contio by disavowing any rhetorical abilityand humbly
begged the indulgence of his readers. Nevertheless, Edwards
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T H E
H A R R O V I A N
showed great ability in delivering his speech, and spoke in a
stately, clear and measured way.
As is the custom, the Contio covered the year’s news in
the School, around Harrow and the world, through all the
change of seasons. Although Edwards celebrated many of the
School’s sporting and academic successes, this year’s Contio
was particularly plantive and, in a stirring way, reflected the
mood of the audience. The Contio was written several weeks
before the events in Paris, but when Edwards recalled the the
Charlie Hebdo shooting and lamented the acts of terrorism
that continue to occur around the world, his words gained even
further poignany and weight from this most recent tragedy. It
was also the case that even when our orator camen to speak
of happier subjects, Edwards struck the deepest tone of sorrow
when he remembered the sad passing of Archie Lloyd. The
School was stirred, lacrimis obortis, when Edwards beautifully
read out the lines of Catullus, which he left hanging in the air
with a brief moment of silence,
quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum.
heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi,
nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum
tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.
When Edwards reached the dixit of his speech, reciting the last
few phrases of the Contio from memory, Mr Batting, Chairman
of Govenors, took his place on stage to deliver a short Latin
reply to thank Edwards for an excellent Contio and praise the
quality of his Latin. He remembered the Contios from his time
at the School and remarked that he was very pleased to see
that this School tradition, one that stretches back more than
300 years, was alive and well. He thanked Edwards and also
JLR for the tremendous amount of hard work that went into
the penning and delivery of the Contio, and the School showed
their approval with very enthusiastic applause.
LONG DUCKER
Starting at Marble Arch, 15 November
Shells:
1st Moritz Von Lewinski, Newlands 01:17:10
2nd Otto Heffer, Elmfield 01:17:19
3rd Arthur Leney, The Knoll01:18:13
Removes:
1st Alex Saunders, The Knoll 01:08:50
2nd Thomas Walduck, The Knoll 01:08:51
3rd James Middlemass, Moretons
01:12:02
Fifth Form:
1st George Grassly, The Knoll 00:56:56
2nd Oliver Acar, Moretons 01:06:29
3rd Angus Denison-Smith, Elmfield
01:06:51
T H E
H A R R O V I A N
Sixth Form:
1st James Millett, Newlands 01:03:25
2nd Theo Seely, The Head Master’s
01:13:01
3rd George Reid, Moretons01:14:03
Overall 10 mile results:
1st George Grassly
00:56:56
(Grassly set a new Course Record and 10 mile cup)
2nd James Millett
01:03:25
3rd Oliver Acar
01:06:29
November 21, 2015
under three hours; they can now be the proud owners of the
Long Ducker tie. The winner of the 20 miles was Ga Kitada,
coming in at a strong time of 2:24:40. He ran with superb focus
and very sensible pacing, not letting himself be drawn in by
the leading group who were running very quickly for the first
Overall 20 mile results:
1st Ga Kitada, Lyon’s
02:24:40
(Kitada won the 20 mile cup)
2nd Oliver Tippett, The Park 02:29:36
(Tippett placed second, despite a significant detour in Harlesden!)
3rd Archie Cleverly, Elmfield 02:30:06
10-mile race
Another year passes and so does a successful Long Ducker as
white and navy t-shirts dominated the streets, displaying the
name of the charity Action for Stammering Children.
The usual bus journey, with cheering as the coach passed the
20-mile runners, took us to Hyde Park, where an atmosphere
of excitement (and dread) could certainly be felt. This overexcitement made Mrs Marchant’s job of taking the pictures for
the Houses even more difficult than anticipated, but luckily
NGJ brought his megaphone.
ten miles. Kitada had the advantage: he was feeling strong on
the way home and had much better navigational skills than
leading runner, Oliver Tippett, who managed to add on a loop
through the streets of Harlesden. In second place was Tippett
in 2:29:36 and in third place was Archie Cleverly in 2:30:06.
The following boys completed the run in under three hours: Ga
Kitada; Oliver Tippett; Archie Cleverly; Fabian Dobree, The
Knoll; Olly Roberts, Newlands; Harry Dovey, Moretons; William
Gasson, The Head Master’s; Jack Firoozan, Rendalls; William
Davies, The Grove; Rory Craig, Lyon’s; Oliver Farquharson,
The Knoll; Oliver Sligo-Young, Moretons; Luke Tanner,
Bradbys; Harold Prior-Palmer, The Grove; Curtis Ho, Lyon’s;
Oliver Santini, The Park; Charlie Dunn, Rendalls; Christophe
White-Thomson, The Grove; Leonid Primerov, West Acre; Rory
Mountain, Elmfield; Henry Revill, Newlands; Ludovico Vermeir,
The Knoll; Rory Jack, Newlands; Joss Awdry, Moretons; Justin
Law, West Acre; Oliver Atkinson, Elmfield; Aditya Murjani,
Moretons; and Harry Neville, Lyon’s.
The Beaks
The boys built up the energy with chants and clamours;
however, when kept waiting and asked to shift back by CEP
(who did not bring his megaphone), it resulted in even more
nerves. This in turn led to a sprint at the beginning of the race
that ended up tiring everybody before they reached the exit of
the park – perhaps we will bear this in mind for next year. Mass
food consumption at 7.15am began to do its job and the boys
kept up the pace (well, those who chose not to follow the fashion
trend of wearing a hoodie under their running shirt). Conditions
were perfect: mild and dry, unlike the rain of previous years,
and the only challenge was the wind that came rushing down
Sudbury Hill – as if 10 miles was not hard enough.
This certainly did not stop the likes of Von Lewinski, Heffer
and Leney. In the Removes, Saunders and Walduck took first
and second, with Middlemass in third place. First place in the
race was Grassly, with a staggering, record-breaking time of
56 minutes and 56 seconds. Acar was third overall, and second
in the Fifth Form; just behind him was Denison-Smith. Millett
was the first Sixth Former, coming in just three minutes after
the hour mark, followed by Seely and then Reid.
20-mile race
The Harrow Road was covered with determined runners on
Sunday morning, with the 20 milers starting first at 7.45am
from Bill Yard. The conditions on the return run back up to
Harrow were tough, with gusts of wind to fight against up
the hills. Many boys did extremely well, getting strong times
This year’s event tempted even more Beaks than usual out
onto the course. In the 10-mile race, the first Beak back was
NSK (1:12:42), narrowly beaten in the adults race by ELW’s
husband, Jamie Fowler, with a time of 1:12:05. DMM, NGJ
and AJC were not far behind with respective times of 1:13:52,
1:17:02, and 1:17:11. In the 20-mile race, while there were no
record-breaking times this year, many Beaks ran impressively to
finish in under three hours. JRE won the adult men’s category
in a time of 2:11:53, followed by PSL and SMS in matching
times of 2:19:18. (Despite the rumours, photographic evidence
shows that they did not, in fact, hold hands to cross the line.)
LSA won the women’s category in a time of 2:25:39, not
quite beating the record time she had set last year. The total
list of Beaks completing the course in under three hours is as
follows: JRE, PSL, SMS, LSA, MJT, NJM, JDBM, WMAL,
NP, SNT, JPBH, LWH, CJFB, ERS, and CEGB. Mention must
also be made of GWH’s excellent effort to complete his tenth
consecutive 20-mile run.
LONG DUCKER SWIMMING
The Pool, 15 November
It was a great year down at the pool for Long Ducker. Nine boys
gained the coveted tie, which hung tantalisingly on the side of
the pool whilst the swimmers paced up and down. All the boys
started their swims a little too quickly as adrenaline flowed
and Eminem pumped on the loud speakers. The winning time
for the 10k event, 400 lengths, was 2 hours and 32 minutes,
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T H E
November 21, 2015
swum by Fifth Former, James Bailey, Newlands, the second
year in a row that he has won this event. He is now a holder
of the esteemed double ducker bow tie. Second place went to
a Remove, Michael Ma, Moretons. Considering that he has
three more years of Duckers left here at the School, it will be
interesting to see what his future holds. Coming in third was
Toby Aldridge, Newlands, who, despite donning some pretty
unsightly yellow swimming trunks, still swam fast. Special
mention must go to the fourth place finalist, a bit of a dark horse,
Robin Van Aeken, Newlands, who also in this past week won
the Verney Prize for Argument (what a fulfilling, well-rounded
6th
7th
8th
9th
H A R R O V I A N
Oliver Bater, Rendalls
Pawit Kochakarn, The Park
Tudor Williams, Newlands Sam Trew, The Grove
5k Winners
1st Aaron Pullen, Lyon’s
2nd Oli Rosson Jones, Lyon’s
3rd Caspar Grundy, Rendalls
2.52.48
2.54.13
2.55.06
3.00.41
1:02.51
1:24.14
1.29.40
FRENCH THEATRE TRIP
Molière’s School for Wives, Mill Hill School
10 November
week for him!). Rounding out the 10k-tie winners was Sam
Trew, The Grove, who offered the most dramatic of endings,
completing his swim in a time of 3 hours and 41 seconds. He
had to sprint the final four lengths in order to come in within
19 seconds of the deadline for a tie.
The excitement continued as Aaron Pullen, Lyon’s, who had
decided to attempt the school record in the 10k event, started
at a blistering pace of 1:13 per 100 metres (four lengths).
Spectators watched wondered if he would be able to maintain
this pace for the entire 400 lengths. As it happened, he did call
it a day, pulling up at the 5k mark and, as such, seemed a bit
disappointed. However, when looking at his overall time of 1
hour 2 minutes 51 seconds, and realising that he had broken
the 5k School record, his spirits were lifted. Pullen’s time beat
the second place finisher, Oli Rosson-Jones, Lyon’s, by over
21 minutes, which is not to discredit Rosson-Jones’ impressive
swim but rather to emphasise the pace of Pullen. A gutsy
third place in this event went to Caspar Grundy, Rendalls, a
Remove. Sally Tremlett, aged 13, finished her 5k swim in a
time of 1.29.36. HAM was the only Beak to compete in the
swimming event and he showed real grit and determination
in completing the 5k event. Special mention must also go to
Dan Shailer, Rendalls, who, although off eccer due to a rugby
injury, decided that he was not content to sit still and decided
to use just his legs and kick the 5k. Although just kicking, he
still managed to beat two of the other 5k swimmers. The words
that were circulating regarding his performance were ‘mad’
and ‘ crazy’ but more appropriate perhaps are ‘true Harrovian
spirit’ and ‘carpe diem’. The last person in the pool this year
was James Tippett, The Park, who, after getting lost on the 20mile running event whilst in first place yet still coming second
overall, arrived at the pool rather shattered but still game to
attempt 200 lengths. Tippett got in and paced up and down
valiantly, but after 84 lengths and seizing muscles, decided to
abandon. His was a heroic effort nonetheless. For many, 84
lengths, without having run 20 miles at pace beforehand, would
be their undoing! Special thanks must go to the swimming
coach, Will Stokes, who got in and was roaming from lane to
lane, inspiring and encouraging all as always.
10k Tie Winners:
1st James Bailey, Newlands
2nd Michael Ma, Moretons
3rd Toby Aldridge, Newlands 4th Robin Van Aeken, Newlands
5th Hugh Riches, West Acre
606
2.32.15
2.39.35
2.47.57
2.50.30
2.51.00
On Tuesday, a group of keen Sixth Form linguists travelled
to Mill Hill School to watch Lingua Franca Theatre company
perform an abridged and modernised version of Molière’s
comedy, L’École des Femmes (The School for Wives), written
in the 17th century. The protagonist, Arnolphe, played brilliantly
by Fred Porte, is portrayed as an obnoxious pop star who has
been grooming the young girl Agnes since the age of four.
Arnolphe (who goes by the stage name “Monsieur de la Souche”)
is disgusted by the lust shown by the women around him and
keeps Agnes isolated from society so that she is ignorant about
sexual desire, thus ensuring her loyalty. However, the son of
Arnolphe’s former manager, Horace, approaches Agnes and they
begin to court each other. Unfortunately, Horace fails to realize
that Arnolphe and his alter ego are the same person and so boasts
of his romantic endeavors to Arnolphe. Arnolphe is able to use
this information to ruin Agnes and Horace’s plans. In a final
twist, the psychologist to whom Arnolphe has been venting all
his frustrations is actually Agnes’ mother, who proclaims her
approval of the blossoming love between Horace and Agnes.
In this superbly acted play, Molière mocks misogynists who
are threatened by women’s increasing sexual freedom in modern
society and demonstrates the naivety of young people. Following
the performance, a detailed question and answer session was
held in French, during which each cast member provided an
explanation of the significance of their character. The director
(Charlotte Amey) was also present and she explained her choice
of modern setting and further enlightened the audience about the
complex themes within the play regarding gender in particular.
The evening was an enriching linguistic and cultural experience
for the Harrow group, who were surprised at how much of the
original French they were able to understand, and a fascinating
first taste of French drama and Molière. Many thanks to HAH,
OS and AJH for leading the trip.
FRENCH DEBATING COMPETITION
Mill Hill, 11 November 2015
On Wednesday, four Harrovians, accompanied by OS and
VRL, participated in the annual inter-schools French debating
competition at Mill Hill. After some stressful last-minute
preparation on the bus journey, the extremely well-organised
event began with the group stages. Each of the eight groups
comprised three pairs from various schools, who debated motions
that had been given to them several weeks before. These motions
were as follows: ‘Dating sites are killing love,’ ‘The other rich
countries of the Middle East should accept Syrian refugees,’
and ‘The world no longer needs paper’. Through ingenious
spontaneity and forceful hand gestures (not to mention WT’s
essential sheet of complex phrases and LHS’ invaluable list
of idioms) both Harrow pairs eviscerated their opponents and
were thus propelled into the quarter-finals by the adjudicators.
In a dramatic turn of events, it emerged that the two Harrow
teams were to clash with each other in this first knockout round.
T H E
H A R R O V I A N
The motion for our veritable civil war was announced: ‘Britain
should leave the EU,’ with Rory Craig and Will Grinstead, both
Lyon’s, proposing the motion, and Henry Brounger, The Grove,
and Shakil Karim, Newlands, arguing against Brexit. Each team
was given just ten minutes in separate rooms to prepare their
arguments before they kicked off the heated contest, closely
observed by OS and VRL. Both pairs performed admirably
in a high quality debate, arguing their viewpoints stoically in
the ‘lutte acharné (the free-flowing debate that followed the
introductory speeches in the event’s format). In his concluding
speech, Craig passionately declared “J’adore l’immigration et
J’adore l’Europe” in an attempt to temper what he perceived
as “La regrettable vérité”: that freedom of movement as an
EU member has resulted in overcrowding and a housing crisis
in Britain. The Harrow group were suffering from unbearable
anticipation by the time the adjudicator finally announced that
Brounger and Karim were victorious by a score of 4-3, much to
the chagrin of the defeated Lyonian pair. Ultimately, the latter’s
emotive rhetoric was insufficient to sway the adjudicator, who
was more convinced by Brounger and Karim’s sensible economic
arguments. Both pairs were praised for their fluent displays and
VRL was stunned to see Brounger speak so vehemently after
a year of less than enthusiastic oral lessons.
The triumphant team barely had time to gloat (something
they quickly compensated for in the following days) before they
were whisked off to another room to prepare their opposition to
a new motion for the semi-final: ‘Globalisation is a necessary
evil’.This proved to be an extremely difficult motion to argue
against, but Brounger and Karim managed to cobble together
a few ideas before being put up against their opposition. Then,
in what amounted to be the most aggressive debate of the
evening, Harrow were narrowly beaten by a strong UCS side
(who later went on to win the overall competition) by a score of
5-4 – a reflection of an extremely strong performance in defeat.
Particularly intriguing was Brounger’s argument that humanity
would be much happier if we scorned “la mondialisation” (an
exceptionally difficult word to pronounce under pressure) and
returned to “la primitivité” of the good old days.
The subsequent pain of defeat was soothed by the wonderful
array of refreshments provided by Mill Hill – sandwiches with
wildly varying fillings, delicious chicken kebabs and colourful
cupcakes, not to mention unlimited apple juice cartons and
hot drinks. The Harrow squad ensured they got their money’s
worth. Well done to all boys involved and many thanks to OS
and VRL for their patience, advice and support in what was an
incredibly valuable and enjoyable experience for the Harrow
group as they continue their study of French towards the A2
oral and university, enhancing our conversational confidence,
enriching our vocabulary and developing our ability to speak
fluently under pressure.
November 21, 2015
The second room took on a different side of politics, a piece
called Rich and Famous (Eulalia Grau, 1972) focused on a
well-dressed group of men and women sitting atop a low wall,
laughing away in relaxed fashion, while beneath them ranks
of men with strained and ashen faces, struggled shoulder-deep
through thick, constricting mud. The ‘rich and famous’, rendered
in colour, were completely oblivious (their eyes were blanked
out) to the reality of the scene below, which was depicted in
stark black and white.
The third room opened up into a more media-centred art
style, wooden grids by Joe Tilson emulating pages from such
radical 1960’s publications as Black Dwarf and IT covered one
wall (e.g. Snow White and the Black Dwarf, 1969). The other
wall showed a bride lying in the path of a gigantic vacuum
cleaner, indicating that after marriage she will be forced or
‘sucked’ into a life of domestic duties (Vacuum Cleaner, Eulalia
Grau, 1973). LAM and Miss Hawkins engaged us in insightful
conversation about this piece!
The fourth room held another Polish painting (The Smile,
or Thirty Years, Ha, has, Ha, Jerzy Ryszard, 1974): a pair of
white and red lips was sewn together with three negating cross
stitches symbolising the Polish flag (which consists of two
horizontal stripes of white and red) and the lack of freedom
of speech. The left wall displayed a canvas named Atomic Kiss
(Joan Rabascall, 1968), in which a nuclear bomb erupts and a
huge pair of red lips (and red-painted finger nail) cover the base
of the mushroom cloud - indicating the front that America put
on – a front of glamour and Hollywood lifestyle that concealed
the bigger truth that a devastating war was being fought and
atomic bombs were being dropped. Opposite the picture of war
was a work that came much closer to home: a flat silhouette
of a faceless, anonymous policeman energetically beating
with a baton a three-dimensional floored, cowering man (The
Punishment, Rafael Canogar, 1969).
The last room or ‘the room of madness’ held a variety of
different pieces. These included Boris Bućan’s piece (Bucan Art
According to …., 1972) that uses 20 well-known brand logos,
replacing the company name with the word ‘art’, eg Marlboro
cigarettes, Esso, Dunhill and of course Coca-Cola. In this
last room, however, it was the wallpaper that stole the show:
Thomas Bayrle’s Laughing Cow [Blue], 1967.
Overall, everyone agreed that it was an intriguing exhibition,
and well worth seeing, even though the most famous pop-artists
were not included. There was, for example, only one painting
by Roy Lichtenstein. Nevertheless, it provided a thorough,
alternative insight for us into political and cultural issues that
provoked the Pop Art movement of the 1960s.
TURF CLUB
Visit to Sandown, 8 November
OSRG ARTS SOCIETY
Tate Modern, The World Goes Pop, 12 November
On Thursday, the OSRG group went on a trip to the new Pop
Art exhibition at Tate Modern. We were aware of the Daily
Telegraph’s opinion – that it was “ An exhilarating snapshot
of the global counter-culture during the Sixties and Seventies,
in all its neon, vinyl, faux-leopard-skin glory.” Our first
impression certainly was that it was an explosion of colour. The
first room was full of a variety of different kinds of artwork,
mostly protesting about political or cultural oppression, from
a one-and-a-half-metre-long, nail-pierced tongue symbolising
Polish censorship (Without Rebellion, Jerzy Ryszard, 1970) to a
four-metre-wide, Japanese-style triptych in fluorescent colours,
depicting a gathering of faceless courtesans and male prostitutes,
which symbolised ‘the Americanisation of the Japanese culture’
(Doll Festival, Ushio Shinohara, 1966).
On Sunday, 12 boys from all year groups were fortunate enough
to travel to Sandown Racecourse for the afternoon, along with
Marlborough, Tudor Hall, Heathfield and Eton, where they had
the chance to go behind the scenes of a famous British racecourse.
Before lunch was served on arrival in the luxury box, everyone
had to fill in a form for the tipping competition. Euan Barr,
Newlands, ended up coming second, which meant that Harrow
could donate £100 to the charity of our choice, the Injured
Jockeys Fund. After our exquisite three-course Sunday lunch,
we were all galloped off to different parts of the racecourse,
some going to the start line, others looking at the jumps or the
jockey weighing room, and some even managed to question
some of the jockeys racing that day, all things that would not
be possible on a normal day at the races. All pupils and teachers
from every school gathered for the last time for afternoon tea
before the final race of the day, which some boys got to watch
from the judge’s room, where thre was an amazing view of the
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whole course from start to finish – the only place in the whole
racecourse that has this outstanding perspective.
All the boys and Beaks had a phenomenal time at Sandown
and were very grateful for all the activities that were organised
for us by Mr Roger Weatherby and Mr Stephen Wallis of the
Jockey Club.
SCIENCE SOCIETY
Rayleigh Lecture, “Gods, Devils and Alcohol”,
Dr Peter Wothers MBE, Speech Room, 12 November
Last Thursday, the Science Society met in Speech Room to
hold this year’s hotly anticipated Rayleigh Lecture, established
in honour of Lord Rayleigh OH - a true giant of old credited
with the discovery of the noble gas, argon. Quite aptly, this
year’s Rayleigh speaker is a figure of eminence in the scientific
field. Dr Peter Wothers MBE, fellow of St Catherine’s College,
Cambridge, has undertaken research covering a range of highly
technical aspects of chemistry, earning a PhD in 1996 for his
work entitled An examination of the anomeric effect.
He has long played a leading role, in partnership with the
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), with regard to the UK
Chemistry Olympiad, and also created the C3L6 Cambridge
Chemistry Challenge in collaboration with colleagues from across
the country - two highly rigorous academic competitions for
aspiring young chemists. These initiatives have demonstrated Dr
Wothers’ commitment to making high-level science accessible
to today’s youth and he continues to participate actively in
a number of outreach activities, presenting the RSC’s 2012
Christmas Lecture, The Modern Alchemist.
Equally evocative was the title of his Rayleigh Lecture: Gods,
Devils and Alcohol. Before beginning discussion on chemical
nomenclature, he prefaced his lecture with a warning that that
this was an ‘adult topic’, containing scenes of ‘graphic nudity’descriptions which only served to heighten the audience’s
excitement for the spectacle to come. He introduced the topic
with a video clip from the film Evolution, which details the
protagonists’ use of a selenium compound found in Head and
Shoulders shampoo to combat a malicious alien nitrogen-based
life-form. Dr Wothers continued describing his ‘obsession’ with
the chemicals in shampoo and his use of an ‘Encyclopedia of
Shampoo Ingredients’ to further his research.
Subsequently, he invited the audience to name the nine
elements known to man in ancient times. Despite an erroneous
suggestion of copper as one of the two non-metallic elements in
that list, he enlightened listeners on their true identities: carbon,
sulphur, gold, silver, iron, mercury, lead and copper. What
followed was a vivid description of these elements’ association
with the seven heavenly bodies then known to astronomers. He
illustrated this information with images of artwork depicting
the Roman gods linked with these bodies, including the subject
of his first ‘warning’ for viewer discretion - Giorgio Vasari
and Cristofano Gherardi’s fresco The Castration of Uranus.
Intriguing trivia abounded, with many learning that Argentina
is the only country named after an element (silver/argentium).
Additionally, the audience learnt that the ingestion of tellurium
leads to symptoms of persistent garlic breath and the blackening
of the webbing between an individual’s fingers - an evocative
description leading many to glance at their own hands. Also
touched upon were antimony’s effects in causing vomiting and
cobalt’s link to ‘mining demons’.
Of course, no lecture from Dr Wothers would be complete
without a set of practical demonstrations of chemistry’s wonders.
Again asking for audience participation, Dr Wothers invited a
volunteer to hold a quantity of washing-up liquid in his hands
for electrolysis. Always placing safety as his first priority, Dr
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Wothers ensured his volunteer was given both safety glasses
and earmuffs. The use of electrical energy to split up water
molecules in the liquid was followed by the lighting of the
hydrogen gas produced, causing a loud ‘pop’ to be heard. The
audience duly applauded this feat, especially with Dr Wothers’
volunteer leaving with all fingers intact.
This was followed by a demonstration of the much-fabled
white phosphorous. A highly reactive allotrope of the element,
white phosphorus is known for its ability to spontaneously
ignite in air, and its use as an incendiary weapon in war has
been outlawed. Dr Wothers conveyed this reactivity with an
evacuated flask coated with white phosphorous inside. When air
was allowed to enter, the flask glowed with a bright white light.
Dr Wothers rounded off a greatly engaging and entertaining
lecture with final words on alcohols, pertaining to the properties
of methyl, ethyl and propyl alcohols. With his personable manner
and exhilarating stage presence, along with an encyclopaedic
knowledge of chemistry, he most definitely made science come
alive. Audience members will be sure to remember this landmark
lecture of the Science Society.
SCIENCE SOCIETY
Harry Mingay, The Park, The Discovery of the Higgs
Boson, Chemistry Schools 13 November
On Friday Harry Mingay, The Park, gave an insightful talk on the
discovery of the Higgs boson. He started by first enlightening us
on aspects of CERN that were overlooked such as its invention of
the world-wide web as a means of sharing scientific discoveries
globally and accessibly, and that the Large Hadron Collider is
just one of many particle accelerators at CERN.
He went on to give a brief overview of the standard model
in a build up to explaining the Higgs boson’s place and its
predicted characteristics. He explained that the bosons were
the force carrier particles and each boson was responsible
for one of the fundamental forces: the Higgs field however
was responsible for giving mass to all particles that interact
with it, and its associated particle was the Higgs boson. This
led seamlessly onto its discovery. The Higgs boson itself was
seen only for an instant in ATLAS (one of the detectors in the
Large Hadron Collider) before decaying into lower energy
particles; but that nanosecond of the Higgs boson’s 126GeV
presence was enough to confirm with a 99.99% certainty that
the Higgs Boson actually does exist and that the model of the
Higgs field as an explanation as to why particles have mass is
true. Harry concluded his talk with questions for the future of
our knowledge of Higgs bosons. He ventured that they may
have some connection with dark matter (another field we know
little of) and that there may indeed be more than one type of
Higgs boson.
The whole talk was very enjoyable and provided clarity
on a topic that we had all heard of but of which we had little
understanding.
ECONOMICS TRIP TO CHINA
Shanghai and Hong Kong, 23 October
The Economics department took a trip to China over half term,
visiting Shanghai and Hong Kong. Led by WJA and CTP, the
trip was joined by six Lower Sixth Economics students: Harry
Neville Lyons, Dheer Karia Elmfield, Sumer Singh The Park,
Sachin Varma, Leonid Primerov and Dillon Anadkat, all West
Acre. The purpose of this trip was to provide the boys with an
insight into how China has evolved from being a secluded and
cut-off Communist nation into a global economic powerhouse.
Visiting Shanghai and Hong Kong, for about three days each,
allowed the objective to be fulfilled properly. China is a nation
that has created great prosperity for vast numbers of its population,
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yet millions still live a medieval and backward lifestyle. All of
this was exposed to the trip members from the very first day.
During the week-long trip, the boys and Beaks visited many
historical and tourist sites, in addition to the many meetings
with eminent economists and businessmen.
Our arrival in Shanghai, as much as it pains me to say it,
wasn’t quite as exciting as we had anticipated. Two groups of
boys travelled at different times and the group that departed
later, eager to get on a bus outside the airport, were greeted
with the news that the earlier group’s flight had been delayed.
Fortunately, the second group arrived shortly after, equally
eager to leave the airport. Unfortunately, however, we met in
the mist of panic around Sumer Singh, who was pacing rapidly
up and down the baggage carousel, waiting for his luggage.
After many minutes of trying to communicate with him in
this distressed situation, we learned that his beloved suitcase
had not arrived. What ensued was not a great start for Sumer;
making himself unpopular with the boys by delaying everyone
by close to an hour, before realising his suitcase was in Paris.
The group were treated to a taste of Chinese food that evening,
before finally settling in at the hotel.
The three days that we had in Shanghai were put to good
use. On the first day, we had a tour of the city. Much to the
amusement of everyone present, the name of our guide was
Isis, and her first words to us were, “My name is Isis, so be
afraid because I might blow you up.” Many jokes were cracked
at her expense for the rest of the trip; the most memorable
one was when CTP said in a crowded market that we should
“follow Isis”. We were glad that he wasn’t arrested, because
that would have slightly dampened the mood. Our tour started
at the Shanghai People’s Square, which was built in the 1990s
to commemorate the revolution. In front of the Square is the
Shanghai City Hall, where the Communist Mayor of Shanghai
and his officials administer the city. We went into the Shanghai
Museum, which is at the southern end of the square, and looked
through all the items that had been kept there to showcase
Chinese culture. We then went to Yu Garden, in old Shanghai,
which is a very famous historical and cultural site. It was built
by a rich merchant in order to showcase his wealth to the
Emperor and the people. There are many interesting stories
about the garden, like the fact that the only the Emperor was
allowed to have a sculpture of a dragon, and the merchant
got round this by building a dragon sculpture with a different
design. However, his wit cost him his life. Our tour guide,
Isis, wasn’t lacking in wit either. When Dheer Karia asked a
rather ‘simple’ question regarding where the merchant actually
lived, she replied curtly, “In his bedroom.” Afterwards, we were
given some time to shop in the local markets; this led to the
boys very quickly learning the skill of bargaining. Primerov
had a particularly interesting method in which he would tell
the shopkeeper that his grandmother was dying and he needed
the product urgently, the approach didn’t always work out for
him. In the evening, we had a boat tour along the river. The
next day we visited the Volkswagen factory, which was an
interesting experience. We asked our guide at the factory what
the working conditions were like and she replied, “Very good,
workers are allowed 15 days holiday after ten years of work.”
That is what would be called optimum utilisation of resources.
November 21, 2015
Otherwise, it was good to see how a modern-day factory works
and operates. That evening, we managed to visit a circus and
see some great daredevil feats.
It was apparent that we would, at some point, have to interrupt
our holiday with some economics. It was good, then, to meet
George Yip, a professor of management and co-director at the
China Europe International Business School. He spoke of how
China had transformed itself in the world market from imitating
products of the West to being innovative in this field. He spoke
of how important innovation is to the Chinese government,
who now invest heavily into this field, as it naturally brings
greater margins for economies. Aside from the primary types
of innovation, technological and product innovation, Yip
explained to the boys the importance of numerous other types
of innovation, like process, cost and business-model innovation,
to name a few. He spoke of the four components needed for
innovation to kick-start; a customer, capabilities, culture,
and money. In describing the contrast between Chinese and
Western cultures in business, Professor Yip said “in the West,
it’s 90% process and 10% boss, in China it’s 30% process and
70% boss”, demonstrating the heavy intervention shown by
bosses in Chinese firms. He also spoke of how the number of
research and development centres in China is rapidly increasing,
as it has talented and cheap researchers, government support
and entrepreneurial spirit. Professor Yip was very helpful in
answering the well-thought-through queries and questions put
forward by the boys, except for when it came to CTP, whose
question was effectively ignored by an unimpressed-looking
Professor Yip.
After three nights in Shanghai, we proceeded to Hong Kong.
We arrived at our hotel exhausted, nine hours after we set
off for the airport in Shanghai. However, it was worth it. We
visited numerous markets, where the boys were able to stock
up on Chinese curios to bring back with them - fortunately,
Oscar Tao, Moretons, and Curtis Ho, Lyon’s, were in town and
were able to help us with this. We got the opportunity to see
a fish market on a boat and spent a morning touring the Peak,
where we were treated to outstanding views of Hong Kong. On
our final day in Hong Kong, we went to see the 34-metre-high
Tian Tan Buddha, where we learnt about its construction and
were even able to see a temple in which a remarkable 10,000
Buddha figures are on display. However, like Shanghai, the
need came to do some Economics, so the sightseeing ended
and we knuckled down to business.
The boardroom meetings with Henry Pang (Head of Asia
Investment Banking, BNP Paribas) and David Martin OH
(Senior Director, HongKongLand) provided great knowledge
and insight into their particular fields of expertise. Henry Pang
talked about investment banking as a career option, his own
career and how BNP Paribas operates. He explained, in detail,
what his bank does, how they do it and what their future aims
are. He also discussed what you need to do in order to have a
successful career in banking - the most important thing is to
have a relevant degree from a good university - and how we
should proceed further. David Martin talked more about the
Hong Kong economy and the history of Hong Kong, as well
as his own job profile. He is an Old Harrovian and former
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Head of School. These meetings provided the boys the chance
to engage with people from diverse walks of life and maybe
try and find which lifestyle and career suits them best. Our
final meeting was with another Old Harrovian, Arnold Wong,
founder of the Pressroom Group, a hospitality company. We
met in one of his restaurants, The Pawn, where we discussed
career paths, how he got into his field of business, and the
world of Harrow in the 1980s.
Of course such a trip would have been impossible if it
weren’t for the planning that had gone into it. We offer a special
thanks to WJA, for leading and organising the trip, and CTP
for accompanying us as well. Our gratitude is also offered to
the experts who bestowed us their knowledge of economics
upon us: Professor George Yip, Mr Henry Pang, Mr David
Martin and Mr Arnold Wong, who made the trip successful in
that it gave the boys knowledge they could not have possibly
acquired elsewhere.
INNOVATION DESIGN SOCIETY
Inaugural Meeting, 10 November
On Tuesday, the Innovation Design Society met for the first time
with a fascinating and thorough lecture on CLIP Technology
and the 3D Printing Industry by Priyen Morjaria, Newlands. In
this engaging talk, he explained what 3D printing is, how the
industry functions, its benefits and setbacks, and, finally, where
the future of 3D printing is headed. CLIP stands for Continuous
Liquid Interface Production, a new form of printing that is
25 to 100 times faster than regular printing. This Terminatorinspired machine mesmerisingly pulls a solid model out of a
pool of liquid plastic, resulting in a flawless end product that
is immediately ready for consumer use.
The presentation was then followed by a cascade of
encouraging questions, asking about the industry and expressing
the audience’s opinions on the matter. These substantially tested
the speaker’s knowledge, with a large variety of points raised.
Finally, Priyen raised multiple discussion points about the ethical
and accessibility issues associated with 3D printing, resulting
in a thought-provoking and topical debate in the audience,
considering the role of manufacturers, the legal limits that
should be in place, and the best way to make printing accessible
to all. Overall, the meeting was a great success, with audience
members whom were keen to get involved, regardless of year!
ALEXANDER SOCIETY
Lt Col Tom McMurtrie OBE, 10 November
On Tuesday evening, the Alexander Society met to hear a talk
from Lieutenant Colonel Tom McMurtrie, a former Rifles officer
who served in Sierra Leone, Macedonia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The subject of his talk was warfare in the modern world and
he chose to draw on his own experiences of Afghanistan as
an example.
Although everyone in the audience was aware of the war
conducted by the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) and the Afghan government against the Taliban, it is
often forgotten that NATO’s original mission in 2001 was a
peacekeeping one. Following the Soviet Union’s unsuccessful
occupation in the 1980s, Afghanistan degenerated into 28
years of civil war, which facilitated the Taliban’s rise to power
during the 1990s. However, following the 9/11 attacks, the
United States launched the global war on terror, or GWAT,
and invaded Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaeda bases that the
Taliban allowed to flourish in their territory. With the help of
the Northern Alliance, a coalition of Tajik armed groups, and the
UK, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were driven out of Afghanistan.
However, the new Afghan Interim Administration (IA)
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requested help from the West to prevent further civil war and
support the government’s authority. Lt Col McMurtrie noted that
Afghanistan is a mosaic of ethnic groups and clans who have
very little loyalty to, or indeed understanding of, the concept
of Afghanistan as a unified country. Tony Blair decided that
Britain should take the lead and, in 2002, the UK-led Kabul
Multinational Brigade (KMNB) arrived to take control of the
capital and some surrounding areas. The force was an ad hoc
assembly of troops from many countries, including France,
Germany and others, and the British commanders did not know
exactly who would be joining them until just days in advance.
Nowadays, it is unlikely that Britain will ever go to war without
the support of our allies, and the interventions in Yugoslavia
and Kuwait that preceded Afghanistan had prepared our armed
forces for international cooperation.
Col McMurtrie’s unit was part of 16th Air Assault Brigade, a
rapid response force, which was prepared for the sort of landing
by air that would be required in Kabul. Before leaving, McMurtrie
and his officers had researched the geography, demographics
and politics of the region that they were going into in order
to inform their decisions on the ground. Importantly, they
looked at previous wars in Afghanistan, from the recent 20thcentury conflicts to Britain’s ignominious defeats in the AngloAfghan wars of the 1880s and 1910s. Kabul is a microcosm of
Afghanistan’s cultural and ethnic makeup, and all these factors
were vitally important to the planning of the mission. From the
second that they landed at Bagram Airfield, which would go
on to be an important NATO base, the British force had to be
ready to come under attack from Taliban militiamen and others.
Within days, they had taken up positions around the Kabul
region and international forces continued to arrive. At first, the
British force had to live on ‘hard routine’, meaning that they
had the most basic shelter and food, while other countries set
up more permanent bases because there was not enough room
on the supply planes flying into Bagram to transport both more
troops and materiel.
From the off, Lt Col McMurtie’s men were under intense
media scrutiny, placing them under even greater pressure and
forcing them to act professionally at all times. However, they
used the intrusive coverage to their advantage in their campaign
to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the people of Afghanistan and
the British public at home. For example, they launched a night
ambulance service using military ambulances; troops helped to
rebuild schools (sacrificing their much-needed building materials)
and promoted education for girls. However, when the Afghan
government asked NATO to rescue people who were trapped in
Kabul’s Salang tunnel by snowstorms, only Britain and Sweden
volunteered to help with the rescue operation. McMurtrie
considered this to be a failing on the part of the other NATO
countries, as they were forgetting that their job was to support
the IA in any way possible. Eventually, the civilians were
rescued, but only after the Swedish government forbade their
troops from going anywhere that the British had not already
visited. This difficulty was overcome when a British soldier
was put in every Swedish vehicle so that they could claim to
have followed Stockholm’s directive. However, this was not
the only disagreement between the contributing countries. Our
own Royal Military Police (RMP) was involved in training a
new, modernised police force, and companies of both British
and German troops were integrated into the police to mentor
and protect them. Whereas British troops, who had significantly
more experience in these sorts of operations, patrolled on foot
so that they could communicate with the local population, the
German forces moved around in armoured vehicles and appeared
stand-offish. Although the speaker acknowledged that different
armies use different tactics, he felt that the Germans were undoing
the work that rest of the force had put into showing that they
were different from the US forces outside of Kabul and could
be trusted. There were also disagreements between 16th Air
Assault HQ and the Department for International Development,
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as the former preferred short-term but high-impact projects,
whereas the latter favoured longer-term projects that promised
more fundamental change.
One of the experiences that helped to repair this rift was
the death of nine German and Danish engineers who were
trying to take a souvenir from a mine (one of 1000s dotted
around Afghanistan) which they were trying to defuse. The
British soldiers were more accustomed to suffering fatalities
in combat and organising their repatriation. Therefore, they led
the repatriation service and provided an honour guard.
In conclusion, Lt Col McMurtrie shared what he considered
to be the most important things to consider when leading any
project, especially in the military: set a personal example, plan
ahead, and forge strong personal relationships. He then took
questions on a wide range of subjects from the Syria conflict to
the tensions in the Pacific. The talk was thoroughly enjoyed by
all present and the Society looks forward to its next meeting.
ORIENTAL SOCIETY
Ga Kitada, The Tale of Sushi, 5 November
Ga Kitada, Lyon’s, gave a talk entitled The Tale of Sushi. First,
Kitada talked about the background to the Japanese creation,
and mentioned the different types: Narezushi, Funazushi,
Chirashizushi, and Nigirizushi, which we all just call ‘sushi’.
We were given insight to the traditions and original purposes
of sushi, which was to be a luxurious preserved food for highranking people
He then moved on to America in the 1950s, where it became a
prosperous fast-food industry for the general public. Afterwards,
we were greeted with a large platter of sushi, which we would
like to thank Mrs Kitada for preparing. It was a very lighthearted but interesting talk about one of our favourite Asian
dishes. The Oriental Society definitely found it to be enjoyable
to the ear and to the stomach.
JOINT PALMERSTON AND
PIGOU SOCIETY
Professor Mallory Factor, OH Room, 5 November
The first joint Palmerston Society and Pigou Society lecture of
the academic year was given by Mallory Factor. Oliver Wilson,
Elmfield, introduced the speaker by describing his illustrious
career, which includes jobs in the fields of finance, literature
and teaching. Currently, he is serving as a visiting professor
at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge,
as well as a professor of international politics and American
government at The Citadel, the Military College of South
Carolina, in America. Factor has also written a best-selling book
called Big Tent: The Story of the Conservative Revolution. Factor
also co-founded the Free Enterprise Fund, a free market ‘do’
tank that advocates economic growth, lower taxes and limited
government. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
and recently served as Vice-Chair of the Council on Foreign
Relations Task Force on Terrorism Financing. Factor is also a
senior fellow of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Throughout his career, Factor has been a loyal advocate of the
conservative movement, which made him the perfect speaker
to give a talk about the American Conservative Movement.
Factor began his talk with an anecdote about attending the P.T.
Barnum Circus as a young boy. He described the excitement of
the moment with hundreds of cars and trailers lining the streets
and the ‘big tent going up’. Factor talked about a part of the
circus that has been condemned in modern day, which was the
‘parade of Freaks’. He compared this ‘parade of Freaks’ to the
Republican candidates for the office of President of the United
November 21, 2015
States. The star of the show is Donald Trump, who is a ‘comic
book representation of a candidate’. Donald Trump is perhaps
most famous for his role as the boss in the American version
of The Apprentice. Other members of the parade include Dr
Ben Carson, ‘a political novice’, and Jeb Bush, who is both a
son and a brother to past American presidents. However, Jeb
Bush’s campaign has ‘completely failed to launch’. No other
Republican candidates have been able to gain much traction
in their campaigns.
Factor then raised an interesting point concerning conservatism
in America. According to the Washington Post, which is a very
liberal publication, conservatives outnumber liberals in 47 of
the 50 states in America. This information would lead one to
think that the vast majority of the American population would
be Republicans, which are people who vote for the conservative
party in elections. However, in reality, only 25% of American
conservatives identify as Republicans. Factor believes that this
is as a result of the public becoming disillusioned with the
mission of the Republicans. He suggests that the Republican
mission has become similar to that of the Democrat Party,
which is the liberal party. The common mission has become
to simply ‘elect and re-elect candidates’. However, Factor still
holds hope for the mission to change because the birth of the
Republican Party itself shows how ‘quickly America’s political
climate can change’.
Factor went on to explain the inner structure of the Republican
Party and how it can affect which candidate wins the primary
election. He described the party as having four ‘tents’. The
first ‘tent’ is the National Security Conservative faction that is
foremost concerned with the protection of America’s borders
and America’s military aims. The two candidates who have most
closely aligned with this faction are Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio,
who are senators from Texas and Florida respectively. The next
‘tent’ is the Social Conservative faction. These conservatives
base their views on religious teachings. This is an extremely
important faction because Evangelicals make up 27% of the
electorate, and thus the ‘Republican party can’t win without them’.
This group of conservatives believes strongly in ‘pro-life’ and
they push strongly for abortion to be made illegal. Trump has
recently stated that he is ‘pro-life’ even though he stated in his
book The America We Deserve that he was ‘pro-choice’. This
has enabled him to cement himself as a Republican candidate
since it is such a fundamental conservative belief. Factor was
amazed that Republicans accepted Trump even though he
has had to change several of views to agree with Republican
ideologies. The third ‘tent’ is the Economic Conservatives
faction. This group believes in limiting the size of government
and government spending. The candidates that align with their
beliefs the most are Dr Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. The fourth
‘tent’ consists of the Practical Establishment Republicans. This
party is focused on winning elections. Therefore, this faction
provides the most funding and resources. The faction will throw
lots of money into campaign managers and advertising. They
are strongly against ideological conservatives and not trusted by
any of the other factions. They have been supporting Jeb Bush,
but he has been consistently struggling in the polls. Therefore,
the Practical Establishment Republicans have been looking for
a new candidate to back. The most likely candidate to receive
their backing is Marco Rubio, who has an immaculate record
for sticking to Republican beliefs.
However, in the 2016 presidential race, the ‘political outsiders
are killing insiders in the polls’. The ‘political outsiders’ are
candidates such as Dr Ben Carson and Donald Trump. Both
Carson and Trump do not have any political background but
they have excelled in their respective fields of medicine and
business. The public sees them as not ‘corrupt’ like the rest of
the party and they appeal to all three ideological establishments.
The electorate also supports Trump’s rhetoric that assures
voters that he is a strong leader who will enable America to
compete and becoming a leading nation again. The public also
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like that Trump ‘calls it as he sees it’ and does not worry about
political correctness. Trump has deflated America’s balloon of
exceptionalism and acknowledges that it is not the power that is
has been in the past. This is similar to the message of President
Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. However, Factor suggested that
the fundamentals of Reagan’s campaign were sounder than
Trump’s fundamentals. The public is also sick of the old
Republican Party and looking for a new, fresh party. The reason
for conservatives’ disapproval of the Republican Party stems
from Bush’s Patriot Acts after the events of the September 11
attacks. The Patriot Acts went against the Republican beliefs
in a small government by placing certain limitations on civil
liberties, getting involved in the economy and setting up huge
government programmes. The Patriot Acts led to a split in the
party between neo-conservatives and libertarians.
The large American government has become a source of
concern for most conservatives in America. The general opinion
is that the government is controlled by the ruling class and the
country class makes up the rest of the population. This has led
to a strong distrust for the government and the scariest phrase
being ‘I am from the government and I am here to help’. The
ruling class tends to be in favour of a large government, which
has caused a huge gulf to form between the two classes. Factor
then asked the boys and Beaks in attendance to ask themselves
about where we see ourselves on the spectrum of ruling and
country classes and the tension in the UK.
The conservatives’ response has been the Tea Party movement.
Members of the movement have called for a reduction of
the U.S. national debt and federal budget deficit by reducing
government spending. In addition, they have called for lowering
taxes. The movement suggests that spending be cut by getting
rid of sponsored universal healthcare and big government
programmes. The Republican Party tried to minimise the impact
of the Tea Party by taking in their views. This is similar to how
the Conservatives in the UK took the views of UKIP to appeal
to a wider audience.
Mallory Factor ended by saying that our impression of the
conservative movement is that it ‘shares similar views, but
different methods of employing them’. Factor also finished
on a note of optimism stating that the ‘movement is likely to
come together behind one candidate’. In Factor’s opinion this
candidate is Marco Rubio.
ART AT 5A
H A R R O V I A N
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editors of The Harrovian
Dear Sirs,
To paraphrase Sheldon Lee Cooper from the television comedy,
The Big Bang Theory, ‘ I once phoned a company’s customer
service line and waited two hours for them to pick up, just to
complain about their customer service’...
Well, as you may not know, I’m not much of a complainer.
I do what I’m told, when I’m told, I always wear the uniform
provided by Harrow for the waste department, I always arrive on
time, clean shaven, have never been known to have a contrary
opinion, I never leave early without permission and as a result,
am extremely popular (smiley face). And while it may turn out
to be true that you may not be able to locate anyone that would
be willing to back up my statement, I feel I should continue to
believe in them nonetheless.
You see, I’m looking for something to believe in. Over the
past four or five weeks, pretty much just a single letter has
appeared in the correspondence section of The Harrovian.
In fact, if no letters are offered, the correspondence section
vanishes altogether. A first-time reader would not even be aware
the section exists. I would take the bet that there is not one
single person working or living (or both) at Harrow that does
not have a wide variety of opinions, but perhaps does not know
The Harrovian even exists, or believes that they do not have
the time to contribute. Now while it is true that many people
are extremely busy at Harrow, and by busy I mean very busy,
the thing is that opinions and the need to express them tend
to transcend any other business of the day or the business of
almost anything. Take someone working at Harrow. As I walk
past them, do they (A) keep walking and ignore me, geared
towards the total completion of their task, or, do they (B) stop
and chatter some inane piece of old nonsense that the world
could well do without. (smiley face once again).
Of course, it is B. Therefore proving conclusively, I think
you will agree, that people do have views and that those views
could easily be depressing the wider school community within
the pages of The Harrovian. So with this in mind, how about
a big promotional push just in time for the Christmas issue,
encouraging new writers and charming opinions?
I’m not certain, but I believe that not all departments at Harrow
even have a copy delivered, so how can a large percentage of
the School community contribute to something that remains
essentially invisible.
Oh I almost forgot. What I had intended this piece of
correspondence to be all about. A question.. How many beans
make five ?
The answer.. Two beans and a bean, a bean and a half and
a half a bean.
Now, that has to be worth reopening the correspondence
section for...
Yours sincerely,
Neil Porter
ONE HUNDRED YEARS ON
From time to time, the 5A office in the School where the Harrow
Association and Harrow Development Trust are housed, offers
a prize for a boy’s work of art which hangs at the entranceway
to the office. The winner this autumn is a digitally-edited
montage by Nick Lau, The Park, entitled Harrow Phantoms.
Lau created the work for his portfolio and application to art
school next year. Although created around the image of one
person, Lau says it suggests the varying stages and shades of
social relationships. His work as a fashion designer can be
viewed at www.crewlove-clothing.com
612
Remembering OHs who died for their country.
Major R. W. P Campbell was in The Knoll from 1891 to 1895.
After leaving Harrow he soon obtained his commission in
the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1897. He spent the next few
years in Gibraltar and Newport, and was in India until 1912.
Major Campbell went to France soon after the outbreak of war
in October 1914. He led men through the Battles of Neuve
Chapelle, Hill and Loos. One hundred years ago this week
on the 15 November 1915, in the ‘Breslau Avenue’ trench in
T H E
H A R R O V I A N
France, the OH was killed by a German heavy howitzer shell.
The tragedy was increased by the fact that he was on his way
to hand over charge to a brother officer after having recently
been granted leave. The Commanding Officer of his Brigade
described Major Campbell as “the most fearless man I ever
met” and that they were all “poorer for his loss”. No other
Old Harrovians were killed one hundred years ago this week.
THE WINGS WHEREWITH
Despite a population of over a billion, China has only about
200 family names.
At latitude 60 degrees south, you can sail all the way around
the world
The past-tense of the English word “dare” is “durst”
GAFFE AND GOWN
Quips from around the Hill
“Sir, I’m worried about the water on DofE. Do you think I can
take 12 glass bottles of Blenheim Palace mineral water with me?”
In a very frustrated manner, “Sir, you are not listening to me!”
“I did listen to your wise words earlier, boy, and I am never
going get that precious lost time back.”
SWIMMING
12 November
On Thursday 12 November, the swimming squad travelled to
Merchant Taylors’ to compete in the second round of the Herts
league. There were three other schools competing. Harrow
once again was victorious, winning all of the relays, the
intermediate and senior events, and coming first in all of the
individual events except for two. Special mention must go to
Caspar Grundy, Rendalls, William Tallentire, Lyon’s, and Ben
Woolhouse, Druries, for gaining personal best times. Hugh
Riches, West Acre, also put in an impressive performance in the
freestyle. Thomas Khan, West Acre, avenged himself against
an opponent who had just beaten him in the Individual Medley
event, by crushing him in the breaststoke event. Real team
spirit and panache were exhibited by all.
RACKETS
The School v Cheltenham
Yearlings A, Alex and Harry Saunders, both The Knoll
Won 3-1
Yearlings B Rishi Wijeratne and Henry Wilson, both The Head
Master’s
Won 3-0
1st Pair Jamie Jordache, Moretons, and Rahul Wijeratne, The
Head Master’s
Won 3-0
2nd Pair Archie Green, The Grove, and Olly Santini, The Park
Won 3-0
Colts Max Sodi, West Acre, and Will Fenwick, The Park
Lost 0-3
Junior Colts A Cameron Mahal, The Grove, and Brando Sodi,
West Acre
Lost 0-3
November 21, 2015
SQUASH
The School v Charterhouse (away)
12 November
1st V Won 5-0
JA Jordache, Moretons, EC Eaton Hart, Rendalls, A Huo, The Head Master’s, B Sodi, West Acre, MN Sodi, West Acre, Won
Won
Won
Won
Won
3-0
3-0
3-0
3-0
3-0
Junior Colts Lost 2-3
CR Mahal, The Grove, DD Shortt, Newlands, TC Santini, The Park, JD Gibbons, The Park, HJ Rowse, Newlands, Won
Lost
Won
Lost
Lost
3-2
1-3
3-1
1-3
1-3
Yearlings Lost 1-6
H Qureshi, The Park, JRJ Davis, Moretons, MFL Little, Rendalls, CD Powell, The Grove, HC Kyd, The Park, FJK Scott, Rendalls, CW Jago, Newlands, Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Won
Lost
0-3
1-3
2-3
0-3
1-3
3-1
2-3
GOLF
The School v Mill Hill, 10 November
Played at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club
Harrow on 3 – 0
Qassi Gaba, Lyon's, Won 4 and 2
Ollie Connell, Rendalls, Won 2 and 1
Ed Bayne, Bradbys, Won 2 and 1
Great play from all three members of the Harrow team. Mill
Hill run a golf academy and our expectations were to face
well-drilled and competitive golfers. We knew that they would
not want to lose this important cup-tie in the biggest national
competition for school golf. The top match was won by Gaba
4 and 2. Consistent play throughout, with some excellent short
game work in both chipping and putting. Birdies and pars came
frequently, which led to the decisive victory on the 16th green
with another solid par. In the second game, Connell had a great
start going 3 up after 3 with some superb long iron shots. The
Mill Hill player found his game after this but Connell’s steady
play and two birdies kept him 3 up at the turn. Mill Hill fought
back but eventually lost to Connell 2 and 1 after two good
pars on 16 and 17. In the final game, Bayne kept his nerve in
a close match and with excellent play from the tee, gained the
advantage, and managed to secure victory 2 and 1.
SOCCER
The School v Dr Challoner’s, 10 November
The A XI won their match 1-0 after George Gould, Lyon’s,
headed in a George O’Malley, Lyon’s, throw in. The B XI rued
missed chances as they drew 3-3. A game they should have won
but did well to fight back from 2-1 down. The CXI lost 4-0.
On Saturday both the A and B XI played the OHAFC. It was
probably their toughest match of the term against adult sides.
Despite demonstrating good passing displays, both teams lost
4-2 and 3-1 respectively.
613
T H E
November 21, 2015
FENCING
H A R R O V I A N
debutant Will Grinstead, Lyon’s, for his impressive impact.
The School v Eton, at Home, 12 November
The School 1st XV v Warwick School in a friendly
match, Won 18-15, 14 November
On Thursday, the Fencing Club once more faced Eton to defend
the Lansdowne Plate. Our captain, with his usual organised and
professional demeanour, forgot his socks and had to sprint back
to his House mere minutes before the match to get them. The
Foil A started poorly and, despite showing great courage in their
bouts, were not able to come out victorious. Meanwhile, the Epee
A match progressed well for Harrow, with the team showing
great honour in their fights, and they secured a sound victory in
the Epee. Eton then sprang a surprise Epee B team that Harrow
was not prepared for but, thanks to the Club’s experience and
sense of fellowship, we were able to prevail, taking the Epee
for Harrow. Midway through Foil B, OH Nikita Kuznetsov
(Moretons 20133) returned to the salle to referee. Kuznetsov
fought valiantly for the Club, awarding points to the Harrow B
team foilists for reasons even they queried. Unfortunately, even
with such acts of courage, the foil was lost. As is customary, it
all came down to the experienced and well-drilled sabre team,
which bristled with humility. A one-sided match ensued, in
which Harrow thoroughly took apart the opposing sabre team,
securing a win for Harrow three blades to two.
In difficult conditions, Harrow started the game with real
purpose and were perhaps worth more than their three point
lead after 20 minutes. Warwick began to grow into the game
and took the lead soon after, with an accurate cross field kick
finishing off some good phase play. Just before half time,
Harrow regained control of the match. Sam Miller, Newlands,
picked from the base of the scrum and ran in from 60 yards,
brushing off several Warwick defenders.
In the second half, Harrow’s slender 8-5 lead was increased
by Sean Reffells’s, Newlands, try from a well executed line
out drive. Warwick rallied and camped on Harrow’s try line for
the next 20 minutes, scoring two tries from 5 meter lineouts.
Harrow lacked the composure on the ball required to escape
their own half but outstanding defence, against a very well
organised Warwick side, kept the scores level at 15-15, with
one minute to play. A determined kick chase, organised defence
and patience earned Harrow a penalty in the final play of the
game. Ford calmly converted, capping off a superb team effort
with an 18-15 win.
Foil A: Lost 39-45
Foil B: Lost 22-45
Epee A: Won 45-29
Epee B: Won 45-26
Sabre: Won 45-21
RUGBY
The School 1st XV v Eton College, at home
Won 32-25 in a friendly match, 10 November
Harrow played some excellent rugby in the opening 20 minutes
of the match, dominating collisions and retaining possession.
Tries from Sean Reffell,, Newlands, and Jack Glover, Rendalls,
saw the hosts take an early 14-0 lead. Eton did well to rally,
scoring two tries of their own in reply, using their effective
lineout drive. Another Reffell try and Jacob Ford’s, Rendalls,
boot gave Harrow a 22-10 half-time lead.
In the second half, Harrow were quick to put Eton under
pressure but were undone by an intercept try: with the Eton
number 8 finishing a 60-metre dash to the Harrow try line.
Ford’s accurate kicking from the tee put daylight between
the sides again, before Al Gliksten’s, The Park, superb finish.
Poor discipline from Harrow handed Eton the field position
they needed to score again from their driving line out. The
final score was 33-25, in Harrow’s favour.
It was an encouraging team performance, with every player
contributing when it mattered. Special mention the Will Glover,
Rendalls, for an effective performance in the centres, and to
Results
2nd XV at home v Warwick School
3rd XV at home v Warwick School
4th XV v Warwick School
5th XV away v Haileybury
Colts A away v Warwick School
Colts B away v Warwick School
Colts C away v Wellington College
Colts C away v Wellington College
Colts D away v Warwick School Boys-U16C
Junior Colts A at home v Warwick School
Junior Colts B at home v Warwick School
Junior Colts C at home v Wellington College
Junior Colts D at home v Warwick School Junior Colts E at home v Warwick School Yearlings A away v Warwick School
Yearlings B away v Warwick School
Yearlings C at home v Wellington College Yearlings D away Warwick School Yearlings E away Warwick School Yearlings F at home v Wellington College
The Colts A won the County Cup-Quarter Final against St
Ignatius College, Enfieldwith a powerful result of 45-12.
The Junior Colts A won the NatWest Cup Round 4 at home
against Richard Hale School, 41-21.
The Yearlings A won away against Enfield Grammar School
54-0 in the County Cup Quarter Final.
Ways to contact The Harrovian
Articles, opinions and letters are always appreciated.
email the Master in Charge smk@harrowschool.org.uk
614
Won 19-10
Won 20-0
Cancelled
Won 50-0
Lost 0-29
Lost 19-39
Won 33-10
Won 33-10
Lost 5-39
Lost 0-7
Lost 21-33
Won 33-0
Won 34-10
Lost 5-47
Lost 7-10
Won 33-5
Won 22-0
Won 39-0
Won 26-12
Won 67-34