Issue 28

25 June - 22 July 1996

The view from the tower

by Don

Contrasts and contradictions

Growth and cuts go hand in hand. The cuts in HEFCE capital funding announced earlier this year, and the limitations they impose on the planning of College future projects, have now been absorbed into College thinking at the senior level; helped, no doubt, by the constant reiteration of the message during the planning round. But for many members of the College and their visitors the message is mixed by the evident substantial building activity on the South Kensington site; albeit that this is possible because the College was fortunate - or clever? - enough to acquire the necessary capital funding, much of it from HEFCE, just before the axe fell.

And what are the purposes of this building activity?

I believe one is to bring medical undergraduates onto the South Kensington site where they will undertake their initial studies among a more varied community of students. But, judging from recent events, the current undergraduates within the Imperial College School of Medicine do not seem to share the enthusiasm of those who argue that mixing more closely with science and technology students will enrich their training.

Another purpose, we are told, is to prepare for the hoped-for moment when Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School join the College and team up with the existing Imperial College School of Medicine. I gather much of Sherfield time and effort is being spent on planning for these mergers and it is certainly true that my colleagues worry about consequent changes which may be to the detriment of the non-medical part of the College. But where is the evidence that the Imperial College School of Medicine actually exists? I read about Harefield and Northwick Park in the press and I see publications in the academic and professional journals attributed to St Mary's Hospital Medical School and the National Heart and Lung Institute but so far I have not seen a mention of ICSM (with the notable exception of IC Reporter). So is it that staff within ICSM, like the medical students, do not share the enthusiasm of a growing band of principals, deputy principals, vice-principals and deans for being part of the College?

Returning to the growth (and band?) theme, I hear that Knightsbridge town and selected gowns gathered in the new secluded College garden to discourse, imbibe, nibble and listen to musicians. Presumably acquiring this extra ground for quiet rest and relaxation cost the College a penny or two. Meanwhile the daily round of preparing the ground on the site of the BMS building continues, ready for the fleet of lorries that take away the soil early each morning. And elsewhere in the College those who ignore the environmental advantages of public transport mutter about the suggested greening of Imperial College Road. Have a good summer!