There was this guy who recently got caught by the Trinity College porters posing as an undergraduate maths student.  He had swiped someone's ID card, broken into another student's computer account, and was found to be using Trinity's facilities, uninvited.  I had seen him lurking around one of the rooms meant for students only, and had a couple of brief conversations with him.  There was an article about him in the Varsity, the University weekly newspaper, that outlined his shady activity around the College, and I have mixed feelings about the issue.  He used the facilities and interacted with members of the College for about 7 months before he was caught, which makes me wonder: how many others like him are there?  Luckily, the porters make it a point to become familiar with every member of college, but if someone blends in well-enough, they can pass undetected a bit longer than the average intruder. 

One thing that may not be clear about the college system at Cambridge and Oxford is that the colleges are separate entities under the umbrella of their respective institutions.  They have their own personalities, as it were, and there is little intercollegiate mixing that goes on.  Each college boasts its strengths and has an array of features that makes them unique, such as a strong science background, or the most Nobel laureates.  Colleges have their own bars, libraries and sports facilities (if they are well-endowed - such as boathouses, cricket pitches, playing fields, and weight rooms).  Members of other colleges are allowed to use them, but with reservation.  The only time that members of colleges are more fully integrated seems to be in three places: lectures, the University Library and the Cambridge University sports clubs (ie the Boat Club, Athletics Club, Rugby Club, etc.).  Even then, one's identity seems to be established by their college, where the mentioning of certain colleges is received with either respect or distain.  I must admit, I enjoy the benefits that come with being affiliated with Trinity. 

I am in the writing stage of my dissertation at this point.  I have done much research and have the introduction and literature review written; however, my problem is that I don't really know what my argument is.  All I know is that I think they probably should have bathed more in 18th-century England, but the coating of grime and dirt probably elevated their immune systems to levels we would never imagine possible.