Kate Hilpern
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/ 13 May 2008

Under 16 and at university: too much, too young?

In many ways the image of Ruth Lawrence riding around Oxford on a tandem bicycle with her father was symbolic of their relationship. Up front sat Harry, the domineering father, while Ruth, just 12 years old and already an Oxford University student, perched behind, pedalling to his rhythm, her academic gown flapping beyond her control in the wind.

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/ 15 October 2007

Beating schizophrenia

Pete Bullimore will never forget the day he opened his front door to a French spy. The spy, he recalls, was disguised as a social worker. “My wife and I had applied to become foster carers, but when the social worker turned up, I was warned that she was actually a spy. It was the first of many destructive, frightening and uncontrollable voices from within that began to bombard my life,” he recalls.

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/ 30 September 2003

Don’t mention the war …

If you greet a Japanese visitor to your office with a lot of friendly eye contact, there’s a good chance he will end up feeling threatened rather than welcomed. Likewise, if you crack a couple of jokes to a German business person to break the ice, you may in fact break his confidence in the professionalism of your company.