3 JULY 1959, Page 13

THE Oxford Magazine has answered questions about St. Edmund's Hall

successes on river, track and two kinds of football field—in a very different way from the Sunday Times, which put it all down to the 'enormous spirit' of the

college. The magazine reports 'disquieting rumours' about 'the college's admission policy,' and observes that 'at the present time it would be exceedingly undesirable if there were any college whose methods of admission did not conform to a very high standard both as to academic levels and as to fairness.' Nobody who was up between the wars needs more than one guess at. the college which has, 'by enormous efforts, struggled out of the position of having undergraduate members who were predominantly athletes, and the vast majority of whom read one school,' or will fail to agree that this is 'a very bad time for another college to fall into this vacated and not wholly reputable position.' The BNC of today, certainly, will not envy a house that aims at becoming a muscle-bound fraternity of fourths in forestry, or some such.