IqUi3d 311 PAST MEETS PRESENT Jonathan Hunt (1965) presents the Hockey Team with their Cuppers Trophy
Issue No. 27, May 2005 News from the Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford
FOR REFERENCE ONLY
Double Header London Dinner Last issue, Dick Williamson (1952) reported on the first place achieved by his Pembroke steed, Double Header. Double Header also achieved a second place and a third place this season. Watch out for him once more from September. Sir Peter Wallis (1955) has let us know that he has recently discovered a beer called Double Header. He emailed to say "I have now tried it and can strongly recommend it to the College. It is a bottled bitter, 5.3% alcohol by volume and is brewed by RCH Brewery, West Newish, Weston-SuperMare."
Those in the UK and nearby countries will have received details of the First Annual Pembroke London Dinner, being held on Thursday May 19th at Clothworkers Hall, London, with the recent College Record. Philip Lader (1967), former US Ambassador to the UK, has agreed to be our guest speaker. We are delighted to say that this event is already proving very popular and more than 90 people have accepted, at the time of writing (April 2005). For further details, please contact the Development Office (see back page).
Hockey, Basketball, Football, Boxing, Rowing. • •
You may remember the headline from the April 2003 Pembrokian — "Hockey Team Win Cuppers for the Second Year Running (But Where's the Cup?)". The Cup was lost by another College over twenty years ago and was yet to be replaced. Happily, when the hockey team won Cuppers for the 4th year running last month, Jonathan Hunt (1965) was there to see that their efforts were justly rewarded this time. The Women's Basketball team also won Cuppers. The football team, however, lost in the semi-final of Cuppers, after a hardfought match, but managed to win the Second Division league and so will be promoted to the First Division. Elsewhere, Junior Dean and MCR member Kaleen Love was victorious in her recent Town and Gown boxing match. Andrew Brennan rowed in the Isis Boat against Cambridge, with James Gillies in the Lightweight Boat. There were four Pembrokians competing in the hockey Varsity Matches — Kate Adlington (Captain), Thomas Bullock (Captain), Richard Brixey and Robert Frampton. Pembroke had four men's crews and three women's crews in Torpids this year — three went up and four went down. The Women's 1st VIII unfortunately dropped five places to finish 11th in Division 1 but the Men's 1st VIII went up 3 places to finish 5th in Division I. The Men's 4th VIII included chemistry Fellow Ben Davis and assorted chemists. Eights this year takes place between Wednesday 25th and Saturday 28th May. The Annual Garden Party (details enclosed on separate sheet) takes place on the Saturday, allowing attendees to wander down to the river and cheer on the first VIlls afterwards. The Friends of Pembroke College
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Jonathan Hunt (1965) presents the Hockey Cuppers trophy to Pembroke Captain Thomas Bullock (2002). Boat Club have also let us know that there will be a Women's 1 st VIII boat naming ceremony on May 28th at 12.30pm at the Boat House, with refreshments available.
Anyone for Cricket? MCR Alumni Pembroke College will be holding the inaugural Old Boys v PCCC cricket match on Sunday 19th June, in the glorious sunshine, at Pembroke Sports Grounds. Any 'Old' Pembrokians who would be interested in playing should contact Holly Morgan on 07899 843288 or holly.morgan@pmb.ox.ac.uk
The MCR is looking to expand and enrich its current alumni network. Please be on the lookout for Still cerise, the new MCR alumni newsletter containing information on current MCR members and events, as well as ways to get in contact with past and present Pembroke graduate students. Still Cerise will be winging its way to your door soon.
West Side Story, May 2005 Pembroke College Music Society will be staging a production of Broadway smash-hit West Side Story in Third Week of Trinity Term. This vastly ambitious project features a combined cast, orchestra and crew of almost one hundred people from across the University. A production of this scale is a first for Pembroke, and as you can see from the rehearsal picture, the hard preparatory work required is underway in committed style. For two days (Thursday 12th and Friday 13th May), Pembroke's very own Hall will be transformed into a working theatre as the audience is transported back to the mean streets of Fifties Manhattan, a world of alleyways, fire escapes and drainpipe jeans! The key members of the West Side Story team, Director Samantha Ring, Producer Kevin Au and Musical Director Ed Mitchard, are Pembrokians: indeed leading lady "Maria" will be played by Jennifer Cohen, a visiting student and excellent young soprano from Cornell University in the USA. Sponsorship for this production has been provided by the Pembroke Annual Fund (for more information on the Annual Fund please contact the Development Office).
K SIDE STORY
PEMBROKE COLLEGE MUSIC SOCIETY
Please email Kevin.Au@pmb.ox.ac.uk for ticket details.
Inter-Collegiate Golf Competition - April 15th, Frilford Heath Once again Pembroke entered a team of stalwarts under the leadership of Richard Thompson (1956), finishing a creditable 6th out of twelve, just 8 points behind the winners. The team was: Horace Ball (1954), Jeff
Bissenden (1963), Tony Clark (1958), Richard Graham (1964), Dick Hayes (1957), Tom Hutchinson (1967), Michael Langford (1960), Graham McCallum (1944), Keith McNeish (1962) and Richard Thompson (1956). Reserve: Paddy Nolan (1952)
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Tsunami Fundraising Concert Amantha Wijesekera (2004) On the 27th of January, a concert was organised in order to raise money for the Tsunami appeal across Asia. Raising money for this purpose was particularly important to me given my family's Sri Lankan roots. Pembrokians were invited to perform a short item on the instrument of their choice. There was a fantastic response, resulting in around 19 different acts, providing a varied display of musical styles. A mixture of classical, pop, rock and jazz numbers featured, exposing the skill and musical expertise amongst our very own Pembrokians, which included some impressive original compositions. The night was a huge success and, given the significance of the cause, was an important event in the musical history of Pembroke. The turn out on the night was fantastic and a total of ÂŁ720 was raised and donated towards the Disaster Emergency Committee. A big thank you goes out to all the performers and all those who attended the concert, donating so generously!
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The Crucible
Review by Lyndsey Sambrooks-Wright (2002) Theatre in Pembroke has been a little scarce in recent years - apart from an annual Arts Week. At this point last year, few people could remember when Pembroke last managed a full-scale performance of its own. Happily, this all seems set to change, with recent productions of 'Othello' and The Pembroke Pantomime sparking a rising theatrical interest within Pembroke, resulting in the establishment of Pembroke College Drama Society and the initiation of a number of future Pembroke productions. Nobody could have expected, however, that this beginning would be followed by such an inimitable production as `The Crucible'. Directed by Andrew Lowry and produced by Kat Lorigan, both second years at Pembroke College, 'The Crucible' The cast was made up entirely of was performed in the Michael Pilch Studio Pembroke students and underlines Theatre from 16th — 18th February 2005, to greatly deserved acclaim, and admirably the high level of theatrical talent sets the stage for future Pembroke College available within Pembroke Drama Society productions to take plays to larger theatres around Oxford. `The Crucible', written by Arthur Miller, is Particular acclamation is also due to the persuasive set in Salem during the infamous witch-hunts of 1692 performances of American visiting student Laura and explores the hysteria and injustice surrounding Silver and first year Christopher Schuller, as well as the trials. Director Andrew Lowry chose The Pembroke second years Jacqueline Culleton, Richard Crucible because of its 'themes of parochialism and Davies and Kerry Norman, (who also handled the paranoia' which he felt 'chimed with the atmosphere lighting), all of whom take an active part in Pembroke of Western society today, especially the cultivation drama. The theme of the set was unambiguous, with of a siege mentality, (be it spiritual, ideological or physical), amongst the populace by those in authority. black tarnished crosses blazoned across white material The Crucible anatomises the workings of power in at the sides of the stage, and the production itself such an atmosphere, and how power is willing to produced a convincing but sympathetic examination accept dubious fictions to maintain order and its own into the complex distinctions between religious conviction, logic and group hysteria. Andrew Lowry credibility'. The cast was made up entirely of Pembroke astutely managed to bring across the extremities of the students and underlines the high level of theatrical play in a form to which the audience could still easily talent available within Pembroke College. Selina identify — the close proximity of four girls shrieking Wickham, a first year Maths undergraduate, played at something directly over your head can be a little a compelling Abigail Williams, whilst Tom Williams un-nerving, but this sort of emotional response was produced a superbly misguided and tormented exactly the kind that the cast frequently managed to Reverend John Hale. Will Abberley, a second year evoke. The Pilch theatre is quite a small theatre space, English student, produced a strong physical and moral and therefore perfect to enhance the intense atmosphere presence onstage as John Proctor, aptly contrasting of this performance. Captivating, poignant and acutely with the controlled restraint of second year law sensitive, this play will hopefully be one in a long line student Sinead Gallagher's Elizabeth Proctor. of high calibre Pembroke performances to come.
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Pembroke has a rich Engineering tradition and an ongoing commitment to the development of the subject. It is one of the few Oxford colleges with two Tutorial Fellows in Engineering, and has one of the largest cohorts of students in the University. These students are prepared for an engineering profession which is more sophisticated, wide-ranging and socially responsible than ever before. They graduate not only with a high degree of technical competence, but also imagination, strength of purpose and commonsense. BP has very generously endowed the Paul Martins - BP Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship to honour the life and professional accomplishments of one of Pembroke's most distinguished Engineering graduates, and one of the industry's most innovative leaders. A King Charles I scholarship brought Paul Martins to Pembroke in 1972 where he earned the Top First in Engineering Science in 1975. He went on to receive an M.Sc and PhD from Imperial College in 1978. His professional career began in BP's Sunbury-on-Thames Research and Development Centre. It was here that he began research into hydraulic fracturing — a technique for fracturing underground rock formations to increase the flow from oil and gas wells. This research was eventually put into practice in North Sea gas fields. The process proved hugely effective, dramatically reducing the number of off-shore wells required to meet demand, thereby saving enormous sums of money. Paul's contributions to the development of hydraulic fracturing earned him the Royal Academy of Engineering's prestigious MacRobert Award in 1992. Following 6 years in Alaska, Paul returned to the UK to lead the Well Performance Technology Network in the North Sea, as well as the Petroleum
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Of the 35 spin-off companies which contributed to Oxford's nomination as the UK's most innovative University, nine originated in the Department of Engineering Science. The Department received a 5*A rating in the national Research Assessment Exercise and 23/24 in the Teaching Quality Assessment. It has close links in both teaching and research with many of the world's leading companies. Engineering and Completion team. Industry demand for his trailblazing work led to his appointment as Head of Discipline for Completion and Wells in 2001. In 2002 he was honoured with the 'Great Operator Award' in recognition of his contributions to both business delivery and people development. In August 2003 Paul was invited back to Oxford to deliver the respected Jenk in Lecture on Engineering. Tragically, Paul Martins' life was cut short by a swimming accident on August 9th 2004 while on holiday with his family in Devon. He has left behind a wife, Charlotte, and two children, Felicity & George. According to a friend, "He was prouder of all three of their achievements than of his own." Paul's colleagues at BP and in the wider engineering community remember him "not only as a great engineer and leader, but also for the long list of exceptional talents that he demonstrated in his day to day business which touched so many people's lives: passion, limitless energy, vision, competitiveness, influence, infectious enthusiasm, a great sense of humour." The Paul Martins — BP Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship at Pembroke will help the College nurture the talent of Engineering students who may, one day, follow on from the achievements of Paul Martins. This seems a particularly fitting tribute to a man who spent several years early in his career teaching weekend classes on Thermodynamics for Pembroke's Engineering students. The £4500 Paul Martins — BP Scholarship will be awarded to the student who achieves the best result in his or her 3rd year exams. BP's establishment of this Scholarship not only evidences the esteem in which Paul Martins was held in the engineering community, but also underlines the company's commitment to the education and development of young engineers capable of pushing forward boundaries. Commenting on the Scholarship, Mrs
Charlotte Martins said: "It had always been Paul's hope to be able to help somehow the Pembroke engineering undergraduates when he retired so I know how delighted he would be with this generous award from BP and he would most definitely have wanted to encourage and congratulate the winner personally." Mrs. Martins went on to explain: "Paul thoroughly enjoyed his time at Pembroke and took every available opportunity to become involved in new activities which he had been unable to pursue during his rather strict upbringing. He continued to enjoy meeting new people and new challenges throughout his life. "Above all however, Paul was so proud to have been able to study Engineering at Oxford. He was always appreciative of the broad base to the course which had given him such a range of experience and which opened up so many employment opportunities. The techniques he learnt, the confidence he developed, the ability to crystallize a problem and his practical and commonsense approach to everything he encountered were all honed through the Oxford teaching system. He found the challenge of the Tutorial system something that he wanted to take forward into the work-place scenario. "Paul was a natural teacher and had recently particularly enjoyed encouraging the new graduate appointments within BP. (We met when I was studying geology and needed help with my thermodynamics!)" The Engineering Fellows and students of Pembroke have received news of the Paul Martins — BP Undergraduate Engineering Scholarship with great enthusiasm. Dr Janet Efstathiou believes the award will encourage students to set themselves ambitious goals for the future: "I hope that it will help students to think more about where their career could end up, that they could achieve a high position in industry and institutions of this country." She envisages the scholarship fostering an atmosphere of aspiration: "It should encourage everybody to try that little bit harder and make them believe they can achieve more." Pembroke's current cohort of Engineering students have responded with gratitude and a desire to fulfil such a worthy challenge. Second year Engineer Max Warner described the scholarship as an "incredibly generous act for which all the Undergraduate engineers at Pembroke are very thankful." BP offers many opportunities for graduates to pursue their passion for Engineering. For more information please see www.bp.com
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Our Man in Rome
Monsignor Bryan Chestle (1953), Protonotary Apostolic. (written by Monsignor Cyril Murtagh (1948)) One of the older streets of Rome, the Via Monserrato, has echoed to the sound of English since 1362, when two English residents bought a couple of houses to found the English Hospice for pilgrims: it is thought they were disgusted at the way English pilgrims were being ripped off by Italian innkeepers! By the time of Elizabeth 1st, the flow of pilgrims had dried up and Cardinal Gregory Allen "borrowed" the Hospice from the Pope to found the Venerable English College to train priests for the illegal and underground mission in England. The first Rector, Maurice Clennock, had been one of a group of Oxford exiles drive out by Elizabeth's anti-catholic policies and living in the old Hospice. So there was for me some sense of continuing a tradition when I went from Pembroke to the Venerabile in 1951 to study for the priesthood. In 1956, 1 was joined by another Pembroke man, Bryan Chestle. We kept in contact after I left in 1958, and have done since. If I am in Rome, I like to call in to see him at his work in the corridors of power in the Vatican. For Bryan, after ordination in 1962, and a period of parish work and teaching in England, was called out to Rome in 1968 to work in the English language section of the Secretariat of State—a combination of the Pope's private office and the foreign affairs bureau of the Vatican—who desperately needed some English speakers I remember him telling me how, in his first years, he opened, read and dealt with thousands of letters to the Pope. A vast number were from cranks and devout well-wishers, but many were substantial. I know from my own years of experience in the Matrimonial Tribunal of my Diocese how, from time to time, an envelope from the Papal Nuncio in England would drop on my desk. Inside would be a letter from some unknown Catholic to the Pope; the address of their envelope might just be "The Pope, Vatican City", and might begin: "Dear Holy Father : would someone please do something about my marriage case..." So, of course, something got done. Bryan was right when he claimed that his bureaucratic labours had a human and pastoral slant. For many years he slogged away in obscurity, a man devoid of personal ambition. Then, some years ago, the Pope wanted to improve his Russian and someone in the Vatican remembered that Bryan was
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the man. During his Nati onal Service in the Intelligence Corps, he had been on a six-month intensive Russian course followed by more studies at the School of Slavonic Studies, finally qualifying as a Foreign Office interpreter. On coming up to Pembroke, he read Russian and French. So, between papal audiences and other engagements, often walking the corridors of the Vatican from one to another, he would chat in Russian with the Pope. He now moved up in the pecking order, and became one ofthe Prelates ofthe Papal Antechamber— that meant looking after such VIP visitors as the Gorbachovs. I remember his hilarious description of trying to make conversation with Madame G, while Mikael was closeted alone with the Pope! During President Bush's first term, I remember opening my "Times" one day to be confronted with a picture of the Pope, Bush and Bryan in conversation! Knowing Bryan, I fear he will never write his memoirs, fascinating though they would be at times! During his 35 years of service in the Vatican, Bryan has lived at the English College, where he has now retired. His work was his life - Vatican hours are awful: 9-2 and 4-7pm! He still visits the office a few days each week to offer his valuable assistance. He has been named now a member of the College of Protonotaries Apostolic "de numero participatium" terms, true (that means, in lay the Papal members of opposed to Household, as holders mere honorary Our Man of the title). So is still in At the Vatican could get place. Perhaps he Pembroke Chapel designated as Minor a Basilica! Of course, with a Conclave looming the on horizon.... w h o knows? A Pembroke Pope?
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Photo shows Chapel Quad in the 1950s, taken by Gillman & Soame
The Master has afforded me the opportunity to describe my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar at Pembroke. But he made clear that he didn't want to impose any arduous speech-making duty on me in that regard because he wished this meeting "to be fun for me". I took this as the Master's tactful way of saying: "You have 30 seconds, after which please sit down and be quiet." After receiving official notice that I had been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Oxford University and had been accepted in that status at Pembroke, I received a subsequent mailing from the U.S. Department of State containing typed information of various kinds. To this material there was appended a handwritten note from Alan Pifer, Secretary of the Fulbright Commission in London, advising me that I was the first Fulbright Scholar to be accepted at Pembroke and that the Senior Tutor at Pembroke was R.B. McCallum who had been Senator Fulbright's tutor when Fulbright was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. I considered all of this to be a great honour which put no small amount of pressure on me. I hoped very much to do my best to merit that honour. I should state at the outset that my feelings about Pembroke are those of gratitude and affection. For numerous reasons I felt that way almost immediately, even to the extent of being resentful and annoyed whenever the college was described in disparaging terms, as it often was, as "the one across the street from Christ Church". I retaliated thereafter by referring to Christ Church, on every possible occasion, as "the one across the street from Pembroke." Life in Oxford may generally be described in two parts, the academic, and the non-academic. On the non-academic side, the highlight for me was my membership on the Oxford University Basketball team, which, either in the year of my matriculation [1951] or the prior year [I can't remember which], had achieved the status of a "halfblue" — that is recognition as an official, albeit minor, university sport. Our team played American Air Force teams [the U.S. maintained a number of air bases in England after the war], where our record was somewhat uneven, and we also played numerous other English universities, where our record was unblemished. We won all of our games against the other universities
and beat Cambridge twice, once at Wembley Stadium before 10,000 spectators. However, in the interest of fair disclosure, I must state that of the 10,000 only some 300 or 400, at most, were there to see the Oxford-Cambridge match which was the first game of a "double-header". The second game, the major attraction, featured the famous Harlem Globetrotters who were starting on one of their many tours outside the United States. 1 insist on mentioning, in connection with our victory over Cambridge at Wembley that I was high scorer in the game with the grand total of either 11 or 14 points. [I'm hazy as to which, but either number demonstrates that basketball is a much different game today than it was then.] That game was the apex of my career in sports. On the academic side, I was interested in philosophy [in which I had majored in college] and political theory and jurisprudence [as a prelude to my intent to enter law school after Oxford]. All of the following were arranged for me by Mr. McCallum. In my senior year in college, I had read Wittgenstein's famous "Blue" and "Brown" books which, while not published during his lifetime, had circulated internationally in mimeographed form. I wanted to pursue further studies of Wittgenstein and was given permission to "sit in" on a seminar for graduate students conducted by the Oxford philosopher, Gilbert Ryle, on Wittgenstein's "Tractatus" , Wittgenstein's remarkable enigmatic essay on logic and language. I enjoyed Ryle's performance in conducting the seminar but I lacked the background to make much of the discussions. I had only glimmers of understanding and was reminded of the reaction of the great physicist Enrico Fermi after he attended a lecture on some abstruse subject in physics. He was quoted as saying: "Before I came here, I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture, I am still confused, but on a higher level." In political theory I had tutorials with Mr. C. H. Wilson, a fellow of Corpus Christi College. Mr. Wilson had been an exchange professor
I was the first Fulbright Scholar to be accepted at Pembroke. The Senior Tutor at Pembroke was R. B. McCallum (right) who had been Senator Fulbright's tutor when Fulbright was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.
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R. F. V. Heuston (right - Pembroke . first Fellow in Law) was remarkably tolerant of my interest in jurisprudence since he believed [correctly] that I was mistaken in attempting "to eat the dessert before eating the main part of the meal"
Photo shows Old Quadinthe 1950s, taken by Gillman & Soame
at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, only 50 miles from Kenyon College where I had received my undergraduate degree. This gave us some common ground to talk about. I very much enjoyed my tutorials with Mr. Wilson, who complimented me on my writing skills without always agreeing with the substance of what I had written. I remember Mr. Wilson as redcheeked and spry, the picture of health. When he noticed on one occasion that I had a bad head cold he attributed that condition to my failure to follow the proper regimen which consisted for him a cold bath every morning, even on the coldest, dampest days of the English winter. I believe the mere thought of his recommendation had the effect of extending my cold for an additional month. My studies in jurisprudence were with Mr. R. F. V. Heuston who was at that time a Fellow of Pembroke. Mr. Heuston was remarkably tolerant of my interest in jurisprudence since he believed [correctly] that I was mistaken in attempting "to eat the dessert before eating the main part of the meal", by which he meant that one should study the law itself before
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embarking on studies about the law. Mr. Heuston assigned me actual cases to read and write aboutbut, apparently in deference to my inverted interest, the legal opinions in those cases had a decidedly philosophical flavour. My readings under Mr. Heuston's tutelage began to form the impression, since confirmed by later legal readings that, with certain exceptions, English writers in and of the law write better than their American counterparts. I cite but one example, which is typed on a 3 by 5 card, kept in my office, and which never ceases to delight me: "The function of a trial judge is to be quick, courteous and wrong. That is not to say that the Court ofAppeals should be slow, rude and right; for that would be to usurp the function of the House of Lords." These immortal words, attributed to Lord Asquith of Bishopsgate, always elicit the concurrence and enjoyment of my U.S. legal colleagues for whom I merely substitute "Supreme Court" for "House of Lords" whenever I recite the foregoing to them. I returned to the United States on the Queen Mary. On the second day at sea I was informed that the ship had received a telegram for me. I viewed this announcement with trepidation. I had no knowledge of what bad news might be forthcoming but I imagined the worst. However, that telegram became one of my most treasured possessions. Unfortunately a number of years ago I secreted it someplace for safekeeping among my papers, files and memorabilia, and now can't remember where I cleverly placed it. I'm sure it will eventually turn up. Until then I believe I can recall the text, either word for word or close to that. The telegram read: "Bon Voyage. Please come back soon. We miss you." It was signed "Kimber's table". I believe Kimber was the name of the college scout who served the table at which my Pembroke pals and 1 regularly sat for the evening meal in hall during term time. That telegram was one of the best and nicest communications I have ever received. And with that, mindful of the Master's implied admonition as to the length of my remarks, I conclude.
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Pembroke graduate Ingrid Manson (1996) left a 'responsible' job to go backpacking, in a trip that lead to her writing a book and changing career
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"You English? You know Beckham?" With this enigmatic greeting the taxi driver introduced himself, appearing to have forgotten the five frustrated minutes we had spent haggling over the taxi fare from Kuala Lumpur airport to my budget hotel in the Malaysian capital. "Beckham. Yes. Manchester United - good team," I replied politely. This was my second time in Malaysia. I had booked my return flight to Australia with a stop-over in Kuala Lumpur, preferring this city to Bangkok as its name reminded me of the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, while Bangkok evoked memories of "Bangkok Hilton", a television series starring Nicole Kidman where she was framed for drug-smuggling and thrown into a Thai jail. The ability to make such random decisions is one of the things I loved about travelling. Every day I could decide where to go and what to spend my time doing. Unlike in everyday life where there I felt a certain amount of obligation to my job, family and friends, while travelling I could avoid all responsibilities. A desire for such freedom was one of the reasons why I decided to quit my job and go backpacking. When I left Pembroke in 1999 with a degree in Biology, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. The main options my degree presented were teaching or research, and neither appealed to me. Instead, I found a place on an IT graduate programme and started working , as a software developer. Within a couple of years my dislike of the job started to take over my life, with my spare time spent fluctuating between worrying and daydreaming about what I could do instead. impulsively I handed my notice in at work and booked myself on a return flight to Australia, hoping that travelling would help me learn more about
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Ingrid in Kings Canyon myself and what made me happy. Sydney, my first destination in Australia, was everything I expected it to be - sunshine, blue sky, sandy beaches, tanned people strolling around seemingly without a care in the world. It was undeniably a beautiful city. But the happiness and sunshine only made me more aware of how lonely and homesick I felt. Within a day of arriving I had already booked a flight to leave. I fled to some distant cousins in Melbourne and spent the next few months as an extra member of their family, taking part in their day-to-day life. It wasn't as sunny, the beaches were pebbly and the people weren't as tanned and beautiful, but having the warmth of a borrowed family around me, made me feel much happier. When I eventually decided to move on from Melbourne, I made the mistake of booking myself onto a budget backpacker tour to Alice Springs. After a week of hourly fag breaks, conversations about FastEnders and boxes of cheap Australian wine, I was desperate to escape the well-trodden backpacker trail. As the public buses travelling through the outback were crampacked with backpackers, the only way I felt I could travel truly independently was by buying a car. A few days later I was admiring the flawless night sky in the outback, sitting next to an opal miner who I had met in the pub. He had offered to sell me his Mitsubishi "bomb" (Australian for banger) for a good price and we had taken the car on a camping trip to the outback. "You're a lovely shiela," he said, leaning towards me with a sly grin. I gulped.
1 guess I should have expected this as he lived in a small outback town where there were more camels than women, but he was a born-again Christian who claimed to have taken a vow of chastity. My rejection didn't go down well and I spent the night curled up in the back of the car, worried that he might pounce on me in the middle of the night. The next morning I escaped back to Adelaide. Put off the idea of buying a car, I settled for the next best thing - sharing a lift with another backpacker. I followed up an advert on a hostel noticeboard in Perth and hooked up with Mike, a Dutch guy who had bought a minivan and was looking for someone to share petrol and living costs. Mike was a tight-lipped man with an even tighter wallet. His obsession for budgeting meant that we survived on cheap bread and cheese, and stayed in free campsites that didn't have any facilities; instead we sneaked into paying campsites to use their shower and toilets. After a couple of dull, frugal weeks we parted on less than amicable terms and I decided to seek an alternative form of transport. Sticking my thumb out I smiled at each passing car. A number of the passengers seemed to glare at me as they drove past, making me feel awkward and self-conscious. A few minutes later a white van pulled up and the driver called out in a heavy German accent, "Vair you go?" His two children, who were in the back of the van, opened the door and beckoned me in. I spent a few days with Stefan and his children, fascinated by his tales of hitchhiking through Australia 20 years ago when he was a teenager. Over
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The hardest part of travelling was coming home. the next few weeks 1 got lifts from a variety of people - a trucker, backpackers, a phone repair man, a bread delivery man. At times it was scary, nearly always it was interesting, and it taught me how wonderful it can feel when a random person, in a strange place far away from home, does something kind to help you on your way. After months of travelling around Australia, I was ready for a change of scenery and culture. Asia was the obvious place to go - nearby, cheap and exciting. The first few weeks were much more fun and I found travelling around Southeast Asia much more satisfying than Australia. Even when there were no historical or ornate buildings, or the scenery was dull, everything was so different to back home that it still seemed exciting. Walking down the street I was constantly confronted with novel sights, smells and sounds: a monk with orange robes calmly walking through the crowds; the scent of traders roasting satay sticks; the sound of motorbikes whizzing along combined with the unintelligible calls of traders selling their wares. It was an assault on the senses - and I loved it. The hardest part of travelling was coming home. The first few weeks back home were great, catching up with friends and family that I hadn't seen for over a year. But after the initial excitement wore off, it was difficult to settle down to normal life again. Within only a couple of weeks of starting a job, my feet started to itch again. I was bored of going to the same places, seeing the same people and doing the same things every day. Partly to escape this monotony, and partly to fulfil a life-long dream of writing a book, I started spending my evenings and weekends scribbling down notes for a book based on my travel experiences. After a couple of months, I decided to quit my job to work on the book full-time. Some thought this was a crazy decision, telling me it was unlikely to get published, and that having another gap on my CV would make it harder to get another job. But it made complete sense to me as I wasn't enjoying my job. I spent the next few months living the life of a full-time author. I forced myself to start work at nine every day and worked through till six. Some days I would come up with lots of good ideas and would read back what 1 had written with pride, other days I found it hard to write more than a few paragraphs. It was lonely work. As 1 was not confident in my ability to complete the book and get it published, I avoided telling the majority of my friends, worried that any criticism could shatter my limited confidence. Because of this I spent those months living as a hermit, only going out occasionally to meet up with the few
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friends that I felt I could talk to. It was a relief to finish the book, but also frightening as I wasn't sure what to do next. Almost a year later, after countless rejection letters, my book was accepted by a small publisher. This unexpected success boosted my confidence as a writer and spurred me on to change career. I now work as a journalist for a technology Web site and am surprised at how much I enjoy the job. Looking back, I guess the main lesson I have learnt over the last five years - through numerous jobs, travelling and writing the book - is to dare to try, no matter how unlikely it seems that things will work out. I wholeheartedly recommend that you go out and see the world. You may not come back with a definite idea of what you want to do with your life, but you will certainly return with your mind more open to the possibilities. The Rules of Backpacking, a guide to the culture and reality of backpacking, is published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Ltd and is available for ÂŁ8.99. More information on the book can be found at www.rulesofbackpacking.com.
"Oh... ah... Chavez no se va" shouted the slogan that we found scrawled across every city, town and village that we visited in Venezuela, representing the view of one half of the Venezuelan population, divided so fiercely and apparently evenly in the August 2004 Referendum over the future tenure of the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. We travelled to Venezuela for the month of September 2004, aided financially by the George Bredin Travel Award, a Pembroke scholarship available for students to further their studies through travel. As PPEists, the trip to Venezuela indeed proved to be fascinating in highlighting the great differences between the functioning and role of democracies in recently democratised countries such as Venezuela and established ones such as our own. In a sense the Venezuelan democracy is in a very healthy state: a turnout of well over 60% for the Referendum surpassing that of the US election two months later, with voters so keen to voice their opinion and support for the ethic of participation that they queued, sometimes in intimidating circumstances, for up to ten hours. Yet we also discovered that the political system was by no means transparent or free from dodgy practices. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk frankly with a senior member of the opposition party, which had so narrowly failed in its attempt to oust the incumbent President Chavez. Though recognising the passionate partiality of this political figure, it was certainly enlightening to discuss the workings of the Venezuelan government and electoral system. Amongst the most surprising findings were that in this country which is in many respects less advanced than the UK, an extremely sophisticated computerised voting system was implemented just prior to the Referendum. This contentiously had no facility to issue receipts for an individual's vote, or to verify the counting which was conducted in government buildings. The votes essentially flew into an electronic abyss from which they emerged as a surprisingly favourable result for Chavez. The integrity of ex-US President Jimmy Carter's role as an international monitor was also called into question by allegations that he had been sipping gin and tonic in a Caracas hotel during the crucial counting moments, and that the Carter Foundation had recently received a substantial donation from Chavez's party. It appears that Venezuelan democracy has quite some way to go. But beneath this political turmoil lies a country of unequivocal beauty. We travelled the length and breadth of the country: from the peaks of the Andes, to the depths of the Amazon basin, and from the dusty streets of inner-city Caracas to the idyllic purity of the lengthy Caribbean coast line. Throughout all of this lies a permanent tension between outstanding natural beauty and a turbulent political and popular culture. It is no wonder tourism is such a rarity in this corner of South America, as this tension frequently boils over and the political problems serve to obscure the natural beauty. "Crime", according to the Superintendent of Cuidad Bolivar, "does not exist here," a claim that is somewhat incongruous with our experiences of gun-point robbery, stolen passports, and the necessity of police bribery. But as much as this may seem to detract from the natural splendour that Venezuela has to offer, in a somewhat perverse way, we accepted this as yet another one of the overpowering ingredients that makes up this diverse and exciting country.
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Bequests Received in 2004 Last year, Pembroke received bequests from the following: David Allen (1934), Cliff Dobson (1994 Graduate Student), Savile Bradbury (Emeritus Fellow), Eileen Brewer (Widow of Frank (1933)), Mary Viscountess Eccles (Honorary Fellow), David McLay (Father of Ian (1960)) and Patrick Mcllvenna (1934).
American Bequests Residents of the USA wishing to make bequests to the College are reminded that, to avoid any possibility of incurring an estate tax charge on the bequest, they should direct it to the Pembroke College Foundation, Inc. Those wishing to use a Planned Giving Vehicle to secure a safe life income whilst enjoying substantial tax deductions should contact John Barlow (see below) for further advice.
Contacting the Development Office Angela Gustafsson (Koester) (2001) Co-Director of Development Tel: (01865) 276501 Email: Angela.Gustafsson@pmb.ox.ac.uk Joanne Bowley Development Office Manager Tel: (01865) 276478 Fax: (01865) 276482 Email: Joanne.Bowley@pmb.ox.ac.uk John Barlow (1952) Tel: (01865) 276473 Email: John.Barlow@pmb.ox.ac.uk Write to us at: Development Office Pembroke College Oxford, 1 1DW 1
Pembroke website: www.pmb.ox.ac.uk
Diary Dates All dates correct as of April 2005 but may be subject to change Thursday 28th April Friday 29th April Saturday 28th May
Media Reception Pembroke Ball Garden Party
Friday 24th June
Gaudy Years 1985-7
Friday 16th Sept.
Gaudy Years 1994-6
Friday 23rd Sept.
Society Dinner
Saturday 24th Sept.
Activity Day
Thurs. 27th October
Business Reception
The Annual Fund As of 8 April, the Annual Fund has raised almost £69,000. With Gift Aid, that means that Pembroke will actually receive over £89,000! By visiting the Pembroke website (www.pmb.ox.ac.uk) and clicking on 'Fundraising' and 'Annual Fund Results', you can find out how this figure changes and also see which year and subject groups have been giving the most. As of 8 April, after many weeks in first place, 1966 had been bumped from its first place position by 1977, which has raised a hugely impressive £25,250 for the College. 1966 is in 2nd place with £10,100... and is expected to rally. 1948 is in third place with £5500, but 1958 is hot on their heels with £5100. 1989 and 1992 are in 5th and 6th place, respectively. By subject, the greatest total amount of money received has come from History graduates, with PPE graduates in a very close second. History graduates have just pulled ahead of Law graduates in the race for total number of gifts. They are followed by English graduates in third place, just ahead of PPE graduates in 4th. Chemists, Geographers and Engineers are making a very strong showing.
Stop Press! Beatrice Hearne appointed Development Director, from 3rd May