Hello everyone,

When I last wrote, we were at the beginning of term time in Oxford. 8th Week has now just ended, and with it we see the undergrads once again depart. Oxford has taken on a real charm now, as I see it, and I was finally able to take a weekend off to enjoy it. Yup, a whole weekend to myself. It was . . . amazing. Calm. relaxing. A chance for me to look around and see once again the beauty of the place I live in. Spring is starting to appear, and yes, I promise to take pictures!

This isn’t going to be an overly poetic or profound Journal entry, as I just wanted to get everyone up to date with my life. First off, I have, finally, some good news aout my funding! After searching high and low, across the seas and under every rock, I now have my tuition and fees paid for for this year. The Martin Institute (where I do my research) has created the Director’s Discretionary Research Training Fund, which is basically a hardship fund for the DPhil students here. My application got approved for them to waive my tuition and fees for this year. That’s one huge concern off my chest!

Another development in this part of the woods is that I received confirmation of my place as a Young Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis this Summer. What does this mean? Well, it means that I get to spend three months in a palace outside of Vienna, purely dedicated to getting my research on the concept of fairness thoroughly under hand. Wahoo! It’s a fantastic opportunity and one that I’m really looking forward to making the most of.

Unfortunately, Camille, my best friend, will coming over from Vermont to spend her summer at an internship in London at almost the same time that I’ll be in Austria. Two ships passing in the night.

I’m hoping that at some point in the summer that Camille, Kathleen (my girlfriend), and Kathleen’s brother will be able to come out to Vienna for a weekend, possibly with a trip up the New College Chalet in the French Alps.

I know what you’re all probably thinking. “Gee, that’s a hard life, Sam.” I beg to differ Things are certainly on the up-swing over here right now, and they are going well with my family as well. Emily has a great new job. Melissa and Stuart are watching their adorable kid get bigger every day. Dad has finished his radiation and I think they got rid of all the cancer.

I’m sorry to make this entry so brief, but I wanted to pass on the vital stats at least, so that everyone has an idea of what’s going on over here.

Enjoy yourselves, take some time to enjoy Spring, whenever it comes, and drop me a line (either by email or on my website) if you have a moment. A resolution that I am making with myself is to answer all correspondance as soon as possible. That’s a vast improvement on my appaling behaviour with some of you lately. So go on, test out the system

~Sam