h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Surely the tradition of Durham means that it can continue in its present form as a collegiate university rather than a decentralised one. Discuss.

And I'm sure it will... why wouldn't it?

Durham's collegiate system is pretty much cosmetic - the colleges serve little academic purpose are really just autonomous halls of residence by another name. It just seems to give snobbery an easier outlet.

But coming from one of the roughest comprehensives in my area, I found that the collegiate system to be a healthy form of rivalry. It brings out a sense of belonging which I have found that my friends at other universities have not found. Maybe it is the large intake from public schools. This turned out to be a rude awakening for me. BTW what was your impression of Durham Uni as someone broguht up in Newcastle?

Mitch

Initially the collegiate rivalry didn't bother me at all, but from what I experienced I think it alienates as many people as it welcomes. Many people I knew eschewed their college entirely and resorted to living out for both second and third years by choice. In my last year at college, I found myself getting so sick of the self-styled college 'celebrities' that the system seems to breed.

I think social class in itself has little to do with it, more the attitudes that get instilled in people from different backgrounds. The real upper-class idiots are in a minority anyway. For me, the ones that really got on my nerves were the social climbing idiots, those who would sacrifice just about every likeable quality in their body just to be accepted into what they percieved to be the 'in' set, i.e. the college JCR executive or some other semi-quango.

I kept my own course and carved my own identity; other, less strong-willed people I knew found Durham to be an over-competitive hellhole, and promptly left within their first year!

I totally agree, I have found that the really rich people in college have been the nicest bunch of people you could possibly meet. It is the bourgeouis (spell-check) that need "a good slapping". They think that b/c they went to a fee-paying school, they have the right to dictate the running of the college and everyone in it.

I have found our college SRC to be everything which I dreaded it would be. With a few exceptions, they are incredibly 'cliquey', a word I have heard often in connection with Durham.

Overall, the collegiate system has been a sucess for me, maybe because I have a strong sense of my own identity. A logical progession from this conversation is to talk about the growing irrelevance of central DSU. If your up for it...

Mitch

Oh lord, DSU...

In trying to represent everyone it represents no-one. It's incredibly hard for most Durham students to take DSU seriously just as a politics student will have little to do with what goes on in the Physics department. It may have some importance in presenting a coherant front to the student nation but it's only natural for most students to be completely apathetic towards DSU, as matters of their college are far more relevant to them. And it's housed in a building so horrid it makes Van Mildert look like a triumph of architecture.

On the other hand, Kingsgate bar is nice. Far better than it was before it was refurbished, anyway!

Ah the B&Q Disaster on Church Street, we've been lucky this year in that Education and Welfare was run by someone who genuinely cared about the student population of Durham. Rachel Street deserves a medal for all that she has tried to do over the past few months. It was clear to even me as a fresher that she was bogged down in mountains of beaucracy and paperwork which work make anyone's life hell. The absence of Nick Park as well must have put added pressure.

I am quite sure that Durham should disintegrate, like you pionted out, as DSU can never compete with the intimacy of the college structure. I am pretty sure that this will never happen, but if it did, the university would probably grow stringer as a whole.

Mitch

PS Kingsgate is nice, although rather crowded at times...ahh a use for Dunelm, One big Kingsgate. Hats off to the renevated Riverside cafe as well!

The B&Q Disaster? Care to elaborate? And the renovated Riverside Cafe? To put things in perspective, I left Durham in 1998 and haven't been back since early 99.

I always used to like the Riverside Cafe for drinking lots of coffee and doing assignments.. an atmosphere much more condusive to work than the library..

Rachel Street? Small blonde girl, rather attractive, from St. Aidan's? Yes, I remember her.. hard to forget her really

The new Kingsgate is a good bar, but he old version had a little more charm, and all those neat little boothes along the bottom.

I'd always thought Van Mildert was the building that made Dunelm house look good. Might have been a better building had the 'hanging' gardens ever been completed in accordance with the original plans.

The collegiate system, if you want the opinion of someone who is a current student at Durham, is a strange experience, with faults and merits all its own. At Oxbridge, you are taught in college, and live in college for pretty much your entire degree. Not so at Durham. Here you live in college for one or two years of a three or four year degree, and taught in the university buildings, either at the science site or on New Elvet (a truly horrible collection of buildings, built to go with the aforementiond union). So the collegiate system serves only to give a sense of identity to the students. However, this is often misguided, as many students do not feel a part of their college, as each college has a definite identity. Hatfield, for example, is a very public-school college, full of rahs (Hoorah Henrys); whereas Van Mildert is seen as a left-wing state school dumping ground. College rivalry is, in my opinion, a lot of fun, but at the same time a little outdated, as we are all members of the university, not just our colleges.
I like being a member of my college; I find that it gives me a sense of community in a bewildering flurry of students. I wouldn't leave it for the world. However, the system does need revising.

It may be worth noting that some of the colleges (the 'Recognised Colleges') have more autonomy than the others, which are maintained by Council. I'm not au fait with the details, though, so I can only hope that someone who is will post a commentary. (Anyone?) I don't regard our J.C.R. as much of a clique, but then, I'm at St. John's, one of the smallest and most closely knit colleges. As far as cliques are concerned, I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned the Durham Union Society executive; and as far as hills are concerned, a special mention must surely go to Cardiac Hill, on top of which the Psychology Department stands.

I have always found the college a very friendly place and although I guess the JCR is a tiny bit of a clique I would never be scared of approaching anyone in it if I needed to and I think they would be really helpful.

What about the new college? 'Tis supposed to be self-catering. And has no name.

Incidentally it's now called Josephine Butler College. I myself was about to go there but stupidly had to finish my degree early due to poor 3rd-year results (ended up with a BSc (Ordinary) instead of an MSci).