OTAGO UNIVERSITY.

Otago Witness, Volume 1851, Issue 3809, 15 March 1927, Page 82

OTAGO UNIVERSITY.

CHAIR OF PHYSICS. DR C. M. FQCKEN’S ARRIVAL. Dr Charles Melbourne Focken, B.Sc. (Melb.), D.Pliil. (Oxon), who has been appionted to the lectureship in Physics at the University of Otago, Dunedin, arrived in Dunedin on Thursday week last to take up his new duties. Dr Focken was born in Hongkong in 1901, but his family migrated to Melbourne in 1900, and it was there that lie received his secondary education at Wesley College. At that college he was for five years a student, showing most aptitude for mathematics and physics. He gained several exhibitions in these subjects, two scholarships at the college, a Government scholarship for five years at the University, and he crowned his school career by becoming dux of the college in 1918. At that time he showed little prominence in sport, except in lawn tennis, in which he was runner-up in the school championship. He did, however, take an active part in form games and in general college activities. Dr Focken was in residence at Queen’s College during five years’ study at the Univeristy of 'Melbourne. The first four years were busily spent in the Engineering Faculty completing the examinations for the B.M.E. degree. It was after this that he was elected to the Victorian Rhodes Scholarship for the succeeding year, and in consequence he did an extra year’s work for the Megrec of B.Sc, taking Natural Philosophy as the major subject. Besides numerous academic distinctions, while at the University ? e represented Queen’s College in tennis for four years, and in rowing and football, and gained the University doubles championship in 1922. lie was for several ;■ ears a member of the executive of the Engineering Students’ Club, and was treasurer of the Students’ Representative Council. Entering Lincoln College, Oxford, in January, 1924, Dr Focken recently completed the three years of his Rhodes Scholarship. Most of this time was spent in conducting research work on electricity in gases under the supervision of Professor J. S F.R.S., with whom he published a paper, and another with Dr S. P. M'Callum, a New Zealand ex-Rhodes scholar. He was elected president of the Junior Common Room of Lincoln College in 192 G, and captained the. tennis six, besides representing the college at rowing and hockey. lie was elected a member of the Penguins’ Lawn Tennis Club In 1925, which consists of about the 20 best players at the University, and has represented the University in trial matches. In the course of conversation with our representative, Dr Focken outlined some phases of. the life of the Rhodes Scholars at Oxford. There were at any time during a term some two hundred Rhodes Scholars in residence, he said, not gathered, as might be expected, in a clan at one college, but scattered about in the 20 colleges of the university. There was room for much divergence of opinion as to the effect that this body of undergraduates had. on _the university, but there could be no doubt to one who had passed through these three pregnant years that Oxford had a very great effect on these scholars, developing in them interests and giving them a breadth of outlook that they would have no opportunity of acquiring in the relatively isolated parts of the Empire from which they were sent. Not only were the terms spent at Oxford crammed full of activities, but the long and frequent vacations provided ample time fc r travel and study, and the allowance was sufficient to do both comfortably. The allowance now was £4OO per year. It was important that the Rhodes Scholar should meet and make friends with men from other countries, and with other viewpoints and ideas than his own, especially with Englishmen. The Rhodes Scholar was on the average two or three years older than the English undergraduate entering from one of the public schools, so was rather more developed and maturer in judgment. This made it more difficult for him to associate intimately with the English undergraduate, whose customary shyness .was often taken for reserve, or even snobbishness. The student body at Oxford was strikingly cosmopolitan—the whole world mingled in its streets, halls, and lecture rooms. Owing to the jnunificence of Cecil Rhodes the British Empire was fully represented, even to the point of including Malta and Jamaica, as well as every State in the American Union. But this was only a small proportion of the overseas population. Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and an occasional negro complete the colour scheme, and there were students from all the European countries. The heir-apparent to the throne of Iraq •sat last year St the same college hall as the Ciown Prince of Norway, and at Christ Church a member of the Royal Family of Siam answers to the call of ‘‘Jumbo!”

No one doubted, continued the speaker, that the Rhodes Scholars did play an important part in university sport, but some were of opinion that this might tend to be detrimental to the teams, as it led to the neglect of younger aspirants to places in the in ter-’varsity teams, who only required a little careful coaching to reach the requisite standard, but were not at the outset of the same calibre as the riper athletes from overseas. But one realised that this was not a potent argument when one considered that games at Oxford took up a large part of the ordinary student's time. One would not need to get into a university team to get sport on five or six afternoons a week. Exercise was necessary owing to the relaxing climate of Oxford, and the games provided exercise

and recreation for everyone, not only for a few score of crack athletes as in American universities. Inter-collegiate competitions were organised and capably managed in all sports, and the standard of these was such as to be within reach of the average urdegraduate. Nearly everyone was familiar with the system of education at Oxford, where a method of personal tuition formed the basis and lectures played a subsidiary and often unimportant part. This gave the student great freedom to regulate his ovn studies and to do just as much or as little as he pleased. To a Rhodes Scholar who had the experience of another university this was a distinct advantage, as it gave him scope to widen the range of his reading to embrace subjects related to his own particular branch, and to take some interest in art, music, or architecture. There were, however, quite as many loafers at Oxford as at any other university, but they did less to hinder the earnest students. A considerable number of men who came, did so with no intention of working, but because it was part of an English gentleman’s life. He was born; he learned to walk, to talk, and play cricket or hunt. In the same inevitable way he went up to Oxford or Cambridge. There were others, again, who, though they arrived intending to work, found they had not time to do so, after attending to the other essentia] features of college existence. If anyone, bearing in mind Oxford’s enormous reputation as a centre of learning, was inclined to doubt this, he must remember that a large number study quite consistently and earnestly, a few—and these had the makings of the great scholars—worked prodigiously. Further, many who did not pretend to work while at Oxford, did serious study during vacations.