The freshman experience at large state universities can still resemble a failed social experiment more than the start of a four-year journey to enlightenment. Overwhelmed freshmen in many places still sit anonymously in large lecture halls, surrounded by hundreds of peers whose names the professor couldn't possibly remember ...

ACTING THE PART OF A LEADER

The first time Franklin Delano Roosevelt met Orson Welles, the President graciously said: "You know, Mr. Welles, you are the greatest actor in America." "Oh, no, Mr. President," Welles replied. "You are." The point is vital, even if the story is apocryphal. Consider the actorly attributes they shared. Both were masters of the medium ...

A 2,000-year-old thoroughfare, St Martin's Lane, and certainly one of my favourite places; contender, any time of year, for the world's most festive location. On Saturday afternoon, a carnival of mad shoppers, confused sometimes, crossing roads without looking; arguing, pointing, dashing this way and that, laden down and worn out or grinning and just holding on to ...