On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 10:44:56 +0100, "IMM" wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Durhamn is a redbrick.

Redbrick uni's are those that came about in the 1800s.

Generally usage covers the late 19th and early 20th century.

The term redbrick
comes from a block at Liverpool University (the one with the clock tower)
which was "redbrick". Durham is older than the 1800s. I think older than
Cambridge.

LOL. From http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dcm0www/aboutus.htm:

"Founded in 1832, Durham is the third oldest university in England. It
developed in Durham and Newcastle until 1963, when the independent
University of Newcastle upon Tyne came into being."

Which makes Durham just *slightly* younger than Oxford (c 1096) and
Cambridge (c 1209).

Most British uni's have been established since WW2. We have approx 100 of
them.

Of which you attended .... ????

Being British, naturally petty snobbery comes in, and those unis who
are older say they are better in some way, with nothing to base this absurd
claim on.

Of course ... as long as you regard things like Nobel Prizes as being
"nothing".

The "ancient" uni's,

They may be ancient, but that are not "uni's". The word is
"university".

that pre-date redbricks, think they are superior in
perverse way way.

"Perverse"? As in "provide superlative facilities for undergraduate
education together with world-class research facilities"??

Predominantly Oxbridge has become a clique of privately
educated people, who later in life only give jobs to those who go to certain
private schools and went to Oxbridge.

"Has become"? This might have been a true statement about Oxford and
Cambridge 40-50 years ago, but is really not the case any more. In
any case, in today's job market the importance of the source (and
subject, and grade) of degree diminishes rapidly - outside of graduate
recruitment, employers look for practical and successful experience,
skills, and knowledge rather than baseline academic qualifications.

Julian

--
Julian Fowler
julian (at) bellevue-barn (dot) org (dot) uk