Radley College Geography Magazine Volume 1, Issue 2—Lent 2011
Remove / Fifth Photo Competition Winner James Block (D social—Fifth) Canerios Beach, Algarve, Portugal
1-2-1 A chat with…. Mr. C.A. San-Jose
I
n this second edition of the revitalised Geo News, Hugh Wolton (g) talks to another departmental new recruit. Known to many as ‘The Mexican Bandit’, Mr San‐ Jose has earned his repu‐ tation through institutions such as Oxford University and British Army.
So, you’re coming up to the end of your first year at Radley; how have you found it? It’s been a tough year in the sense that it’s been very busy but it’s been great getting to know all the boys. It’s my first teaching job and I remember back to September 2010, my first lesson, and I had a few butterflies before I started but to my relief all the boys were fine! Joining the Geography Department must be an honour; what have you made of it? It is indeed an honour and we’ve gone from being the oldest department to the young‐ est in a matter of months. We’re going in the right direction and it’s shown by the num‐ ber of boys who are opting to do it at GCSE and A‐Level because the figures are higher than ever. The Vths and 6.2s taking exams at the moment; what are your top exam tips? No big nights down the JCR before your all important Geo exam! It’s simple things really: ruler, pencil and calculator. Just don’t fall asleep, whatever you do... What inspired you to start studying Geography? I had a pretty inspirational teacher when I was back at school (it was a she: a ‘Geo‐ Woman’). There aren’t many of them around and no, she didn’t have a beard! My other A‐Levels at the time were Physics and Maths and to be honest, I didn’t really fancy them as university degrees. I didn’t do Geo by default but it was also the one I was most interested in and the one I wanted to take forward to university.
Would you consider yourself a human or physical ‘Geo‐Man’? In my first year at Oxford, we did both but after that we were allowed to pick and choose so I went for a bit of both. I tended towards the human side and mixed it up with some Economic Geography and well as the physical aspects, for example I studied arid zones and glacial environments. With human there are so many avenues to explore around the subject and that’s what really appeals to me.
This is your first teaching job; what were you involved in before you came to Radley? I served in the Army for 7 years. After working in London for a couple of years after university, I joined Sandhurst aged 24 and then went on to do tours of Iraq and Kosovo. They were two very contrasting places: Kosovo was extremely hot when I went there in the summer whereas Iraq was cold and miserable in winter (a bit like the British ones).
Did your Geography degree come in any use when you were serving? Actually a surprising number of officers in the British Army are geographers. I don’t know if there’s any correlation between the two but I think many of those serving were very appreciative of the environment around them. We went to some fantastic places. I travelled to the jungle in Belize and was amazed by the incredible steep slopes that were dotted around the place with trees growing out of the near vertical rock‐faces. Another place was Malawi where it was all savannah and bush with plenty of wildlife.
What are your predictions for Geography at both Radley but also on a global scale? Geo at Radley is obviously going to go from strength to strength. We’re focussing on encouraging more and more boys to take up the best subject that the school has to offer and hopefully we’ll surpass History in terms of numbers sometime soon because we’re quickly catching them up! On a global scale, I think we’re starting to see the real value of Geography. There are so many stories in the news that are geo related like volcanic activity and other natural disasters. These big events are capturing the minds of the population but there are also subtle changes occurring such as climate change and the growth of world cities which will dramatically affect our planet over the next century.
And finally, does marriage make you a better ‘Geo‐Man’?! Yes I’m getting married this summer but I’m going to have to think about this one care‐ fully! Unfortunately it has to be a no, mainly because my future wife is not particularly keen on beards. So sadly I won’t be able to grow that wizard beard that I’ve always wanted! A ‘tache might be possible but I’ll have to drive a hard bargain.
The Quick Q&A: Physical or Human: Physical Football or Cricket: Football Lager or Ale: Lager Night in or Night out: Night in Cheryl or Ashley Cole: Cheryl
Drogba or Torres: Fernando Systematic or Stratified: Systematic Ben Nevis or Snowdonia: Snowdonia CR or JCR: JCR Percolation or Interception: Percolation
Global Geographical News
Chilean Volcano: Cordon Caulle volcano erupted for 2 weeks – main eruption started on 4th June. The last time the volcano erupted in 1921 & 1960 it erupted for 2 months… 3500 people living near the volcano were evacuated. Coarse ash has fallen as thickly as 3ft in some towns – in the mountains they were just preparing for the ski season so it has hit the tourism industry hard. Ash has been carried over 5,600 miles to Australia where flights have been cancelled in Perth and Melbourne where there is ash fall on the ground. The ash has also spread to New Zealand 3hquake are really struggling.
Lightning striking the volcanic plume
Christchurch earthquake latest: The original earthquake was 6.3 on the Richter scale but they are experiencing secon‐ dary tremors as large as 6.0. Since the first earthquake in September which was 7.1 on the Richter scale there has been 7350 aftershocks. “When you get a magnitude 6 you get stresses which get redistributed around where the fault was and it seems some events have been triggered by that redistribution of stresses." About 10,000 houses and nearly 1,000 commercial buildings will have to be demolished as a re‐ sult of the February quake. The aftershock tremors have very shallow focuses and thus are causing more widespread damage. Recovery and reconstruction costs are expected to total at least NZ$17bn Urban destruction following the ‘quake
Drought or Doubt: More rain fell in England and Wales in the last week than at any time since the start of February, alleviating the drought that has affected areas across the middle of the country. Most of the rainfall came in south Wales and the south‐west of England, two of the areas worst hit by the dry spell. But central and eastern England have Bewl water in Kent at 70% of its capacity still had less than half their average rainfall for the time of year, and Lincoln‐ shire, Cambridgeshire, parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and western Nor‐ folk remain in official drought status. English wheat yield in 2011 could be down by 14% on 2010 to around 6.5 tonnes per hectare, which would rank among the lowest since the late 1980s – food prices are due to see a huge rise as stocks will be stretched over winter. Although the weather had created a problem for some commodities, such as wheat and other cereals, the dry conditions have produced bumper crops of foods such as raspberries, Strawberries and asparagus.
USA Storms: Over 150 tornadoes and powerful storms have swept across 6 southern states of the USA – Alabama being the hardest hit. Total death toll of 375; there have been at least 238 deaths in Alabama alone. One town was not able the cope with the large number of dead, they ran out of body bags and were forced to store the dead in a refrigerated truck. 2,00 National Guard troops have been deployed to assist in search‐and‐rescue opera‐ tions in Alabama. Deadliest storm outbreak in over 70 years, the biggest storm outbreak in the US was in 1932 when 322 died.
Before the storms...
...and after Bertie Johnstone (c) ‐ 6.1
Shell Essay Competition—Montserrat Volcanic Eruption: Causes and Responses Following the excellent set of Shell lessons taught by our guest Oxford University‐based volcanologist—Jeannie Scott—the six sets were set the task of writing a 500 word essay on the Montserrat volcanic eruption. The winner of the hard fought competition was Alex Grant (E social—Shell 1), with the following excellent submission.
Introduction Montserrat. That single name in the minds of many people draws up reminders of a sudden eruption that would be drawn out into a vast spectre of destruction, spoiling the once prized and desired ‘Emerald Is‐ land of the Caribbean’ leaving it a desolate and utterly barren save the northern tip. It would leave a population dependant solely in actuality on tourism in poverty, or else forced to emigrate through necessity. It would breed rows with the British govern‐ Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption ment and even lead to accusa‐ tions against the premiership of Tony Blair, Prime Minister of a supposedly suppor‐ tive and responsible country. It would gain notoriety among not only those of the geological community but amongst the educational establishment. Though only 23 people would tragically lose their lives, the eruption was spectacular. Montserrat lies along a destructive plate boundary between the North Causes American plate and the Caribbean plate upon which it narrowly rests, one of a string of islands that follows the eastern edge of the plate. Magma from the lique‐ fied edge of the North American plate was forced up through the crust by intense pressure, pooling slowly over time to form Montserrat. This process can be seen in numerous other islands. As pressure in the magma reservoir beneath it increased tectonic activity was detected, providing some warning of what was to follow. In July1995 the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted for the first time in more than 350 years. This was to continue on and off for more than a decade slowly building and then decreasing in power. Even now the volcano is still active, and it is thought to be increasing in activity.
The Caribbean island of Montserrat—major locations and aerial shot of the eruption Impact Following the first eruption 50% of the population was evacuated from the south to the northern tip of the island as the eruptions became more fre‐ quent. Lava set the lush forests aflame even as ash swamped the island. Less than a year later Plymouth was to be fully abandoned, its position made untenable by the swamping of ash that overwhelmed it, eventually burying it completely, in scenes reminiscent of the fate suffered by Pompeii and Herculaneum following the erup‐ tion of Vesuvius. A year later in June 1997 there was another explosive eruption that killed 23 people. By now only 15 square miles in the North could be considered safe, as the prosperous and fertile south was reluctantly abandoned to the exclu‐ sion zone that included the island’s airport as pyroclastic flows killed unwary peo‐ ple, too far away to hear the sirens. Consequently due to the harshness of their situation about 5000 people emigrated to neighboring islands or the UK. With the constant danger of eruption the island’s main Human Response source of income, the tourist trade, disappeared. Fishing was also affected as nu‐ merous reefs had been destroyed by the eruption. They had only the fields in the north to sustain them, and those were of inferior quality to those in the south. They were forced to live in poor conditions lacking adequate food and water, sanitary conditions and doing without electricity, living in makeshift and inadequate hous‐ ing. There was and still is little medical care. Montserrat was and still is reliant upon British aid. The British Government offered £41 million towards the redevel‐ opment of the Island, which was denounced as too low and even a waste of money as many feared that eruptions would strike the island again, overturning the resto‐ ration work. Even after a decade of work this restoration is far from complete, and the future itself is anything but certain.
6.2 Leavers—Reflections... Working with the current 6.2 leavers through the last two years has been both reward‐ ing and entertaining. Their journey has taken them from Queen’s Court to the serenity of the Ock river, to the bustle of the London Olympic site, to the sweeping Gower pen‐ insular in Wales, and even to the glamour of Didcot... With a large‐scale change over of staff during the summer of 2010 the 22 boys had to adapt quickly to the new teaching styles of their replacements. They did so admirably and the solid work put in before the June exams has given them the best chance of at‐ taining good grades come August. So, as ‘Captain Geo’ Brownlee leads his team off into their future careers, accompanied by some Lawrence dub‐step and some strange sheep noises, all the Geography staff at Radley wish them the very best. GJAH
Don: Mullins:
Anything that is wrong in the textbook will be marked right in the exam" Sir, what if we put the right answer?
Don: Morant:
Can anyone tell me what might be the impacts of an effusive volcanic eruption? Storm surge?
Don:
You'll soon realise that Geo goes very well with beer, food and beards
To Bingham: George, you can't get anywhere in life without GCSE Geo.