UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 3, Page 6                                
September 17, 1992                                             
Rhodes Scholar shares his overseas experiences                 
                                                               
     Len Stark, Delaware '91, the University's most recent Rhodes    
Scholar, stopped in Newark for a few days during the summer, while   
vacationing from his academic pursuits at Oxford University's Magdalen        
College .                                                            
     Between the time he spent visiting a few former professors and  
touching base with friends, Stark participated in a panel discussion 
at several Delaware Preview Days, offered during July and August for 
prospective students and their parents.                              
     Stark says all his friends have asked what it's like to be in a 
setting with some of the world's greatest scholars.                  
     "There are a great number of very fascinating people," Stark    
says. "It's almost like they're trying to make you humble. There's a 
standard line with Rhodes Scholars: Everyone thinks that they are the
mistake, compared to everyone else. 'What am I doing with these      
people?' You wonder to yourself, 'Am I the one who's the experiment?'"        
     Interestingly, Stark says, a significant number of each year's     
Rhodes group never finishes the requirements needed to attain their  
degrees. Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton is just one  
example, he adds.                                                    
     The reason is the structure of the Oxford educational system,   
which encourages independent study, "minimal-if any-class time       
(depending upon the course of study)," and unpressured, periodic     
contact with tutors, Stark explains.                                 
     There is a definite emphasis on the social experiences of life, 
he says, and meeting and learning from interesting and successful    
people takes a lot of time. Much of that important interaction is    
accomplished over dinner, during teas and at encounters in local pubs.        
One of the students' favorite haunts is an historic tavern, operated 
by the College and thought to be the oldest building on that campus. 
     A typical day for Stark at Oxford begins with a late-morning    
wake-up call, followed by lunch with a friend, then doing a little   
work and meeting fellow students for tea. This often leads into      
dinner, maybe doing a little more research and going out to a pub in 
the evening.                                                         
     Stark says much is learned about issues and one's self during      
discussion and debates with fellow scholars. "To argue and debate    
about issues helps you figure out what you think about certain       
things," he says.                                                    
     At Oxford, he is pursuing a master's degree in literature. His  
thesis is a look at party leaders in Britain and how they are elected,        
particularly in comparison to the U.S. presidential nomination       
process.                                                             
     During his first year, he has interviewed a number of current and        
former members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, plus  
several cabinet ministers.                                           
     Academic conditions vary greatly between Delaware and Oxford,   
Stark says. While praising the University's Morris Library, Stark says        
Oxford's Bodleian Library, considered by many to be the equivalent of
the U.S. Library of Congress, has regulations that make research     
difficult and, at times, nearly impossible and always very           
time-consuming. These hurdles include a lack of copy machines, strict
limitations on what can be copied and the inability to take any books
from the library.                                                    
     While in the States this summer, he is able to get research        
information from copies of the London Times in New York City libraries        
more easily than if he were still at Oxford.                         
     He also says he found the lack of personal computers amazing.   
About 150 graduate students share five Macintosh personal computers  
and one printer. But, he says, most of the college students don't even        
know how to type and still write their weekly reports in longhand.   
     Stark, who plans to enter Yale University Law School in the fall
of 1993, says the University of Delaware prepared him very well for  
the research he is doing in England. "Very few of the people at      
Oxford," said Stark, "whether they be graduates or undergraduates,   
have had the research experience I had. I was very well prepared from
the courses I had here. It certainly prepared me as well as any of my
friends at the Ivy League schools."                                  
     He has one more year at Oxford, and he calls it the experience of        
a lifetime. "This is the only time in my life that I could really get
away with doing whatever I want. I'm able to pursue an academic      
degree, but as fast as I feel like it. It's all part of the idea of  
learning from the experiences of bringing people together."          
                                        -Ed Ockonowicz