The Pembrokian, Issue 25, Aug 2004 by Pembroke College, Oxford

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e Pembrokian News from the Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford

Cogito-Prize for Pembroke Professor This year's Cogito-Prize was awarded jointly to Pembroke Professor Alex Kacelnik and Professor Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich. The Cogito Foundation "strives to stimulate the dialogue between researchers in the humanities and the social and natural sciences". The Foundation recognises that Alex Kacelnik "has pioneered the combination of evolutionary biology, experimental psychology and economics in the study of animal and human cognition and behaviour". Professor Kacelnik, Tutor in Zoology at Pembroke, will receive his award at a presentation at the University of Zurich on 20th October.

August 2004

Issue No.25

Pembroke Undergraduate Wins Prestigious German Scholarship Following a very competitive selection process, which included a two-day selection seminar, Annabel Holroyd (2002) has been awarded a scholarship which will enable her to spend next year studying at the University of Berlin. Lecturer David Groiser, who recommended Annabel for the scholarship, says "It is very much a European project, and meant for top-flight students, Europe's shakers and movers of the future."

Double-Headship Trophy

Bursar John Church Proves a Match for the Students It is usually students in their second year who are awarded 'College Colours', an honour whose recipients are chosen by the students themselves, but last month the Master, Giles Henderson, was also asked to present Bursar John Church with his certificate, "for dedication and excellence in college sports". Since starting at Pembroke in April 2003, John Church has been playing tennis for the College. Adam Brodie (2001) reports in the 2000-3 Record that last year, "despite facing opponents less than half his age, [John Church] managed to finish the season without even dropping a set".

Professor Brian Howard, on behalf of the College and Boat Club, accepts the Silver Trophy, commemorating the Double Headship, from Brian Wilson (1948), on behalf of the alumni and friends. Many thanks to those who have contributed so far and particularly to David Fell (1972), who has `mobilised' the Friends of the Boat Club! Please note that more donations are still needed to fully cover the cost of this unique piece. ÂŁ20 is the suggested donation for those who wish to be included.

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The Four Minute Mile - 50th Anniversary Rachel Morgan (1988), Julian Colls (1992) and Stephen Wotton (1993) take on `The World's Toughest Yacht Race' Chris Mack (1983) has 'A Trek in the Himalayas' Ed Mitchell (1991) and his 'Life of Crime' Profile: Glenn Fine (1979) Profile: Dobie McArthur (1982)

Development Office Editorial by John Barlow (1952), Director of Development Plus ca change, toujours la meme chose. Well — Yes and No. As foreshadowed in the last two issues, the Development Office has now moved, physically to the much more salubrious Mint Room so overnight guests will no longer have to endure the attendant noise and smells of McCoys' Kebab van. Structurally, too, the tiller is now being held jointly by co-Directors, Angela Gustafsson, graduate of Harvard and Pembroke (2001) and Rob Dauncey, who joined us in June from Oriel. Angela is a native Texan, but lived in Boston for 10 years where she served as Administrator of DeCordova Museum, an institution specialising in contemporary American art. While pursuing her Master's at Pembroke she researched the JCR Art Collection and is now one of the Directors of the Art Collection Fund. Rob had been running the Development Office at Oriel for some three years. Having been a professional rowing coach he has for some years coached the Pembroke men's boat club and guided them to the Headship in 2003. Rob feels he has come home to where his heart is. With thirty to forty years' age advantage, these two young stalwarts are already bringing to the task a huge injection of energy and creativity. The march of time and anno domini have decreed, perhaps not before time, that I should hop into the back seat and assume a part-time role from home, visiting Pembrokians, assisting with campaigns, developing the legacy programme including the Planned Giving programme in the USA, whilst contributing what I can to the production of our regular publications. Please do keep us up to date with your news (have you filled in the questionnaire which went out with the Record?) and, if you are on e-mail, do sign up to receive Joanne's bulletins. It is a wonderful way of keeping in touch. In the midst of such change, Joanne Bowley is continuing to provide the solid bedrock of an administrative foundation, which is essential to providing a successful and meaningful service — as well as being our "camera queen". But what of the last quarter? Our trips to New York in April and Brussels in June were most enjoyable and proved to be excellent opportunity to meet a number of most interesting Pembrokians. These visits are reported on later in this issue, as is the very successful celebration of Sir Roger Bannister's 50th anniversary of the magical 3 minutes 59.4 seconds on May 6th (watch out for a review of his book "the First Four Minutes", which will appear in the next Record). The dynamic Business Reception (generously hosted once again by Andrew Graham) is also reported on, as is the Eights Week Garden Party. This was rated one of the best ever, not least, I venture to suggest, due to the superb fare and excellent service provided this year by our own College staff. Thanks also to past members, Hans Weijman (1976) and Tony Davis (1958), who supplied, respectively, the magic and the jazz band. That we conceded the Headship in Eights to a better crew in the case of the men and to a mischievous `crab' in the case of the women, in no way detracts

from last year's historic achievement, now commemorated by a plaque in the boathouse and a most handsome silver trophy, currently holding pride of place in the New Silver Room at the Ashmolean, where there is an Exhibition of Oxford Silver running until September. Do visit it if within reach. Despite a number of 'typos' and omissions, we managed at last to get to you a bumper issue of the Record covering 2000/2003 and we are grateful to all those who have expressed their appreciation of it. We plan, from now on, to issue succeeding Records in the Autumn covering the previous academic year and aim to complete the next one by September. Examinations have come and gone. Champagne corks have popped. The proctors' attempts to prevent the traditional excesses of celebrations in the streets largely failed! At the time of going to press, the results of Finals have produced 19 Firsts. These results add to the College's improving record of academic achievement and build on the momentum generated by last year's success in achieving the three top firsts in the University in Economics and Management, History and Maths. We can also report and acclaim the award of a major competitive scholarship to Annabel Holroyd (2002), enabling her to spend a year at University in Berlin. Our students have given way to the annual influx of American kids on main site with conferences filling the GAB, while the city is flooded with tourists. The window boxes are brilliant — as ever. Perhaps most significant over the past few weeks has been the feasibility meetings, which we have been holding with small groups in New York, Oxford and London to explain and seek views on the exciting new Strategic Plan which the Governing Body has put together and which will form the platform for Pembroke's development and forward march over the next ten years. We have been greatly encouraged by the reception it has received and the views and advice which we have been given. Gradually, over the next year or so, details of the plan will be disseminated to the whole Pembroke family and volunteers will be sought to head up year groups and represent us in geographical areas. I hope and believe that you will be as excited and challenged by the whole plan as I am. Yes, there have been and are many changes — for the better — but Pembroke, its unique character and charisma, remains the same. Lionel Pike (1959) would like us to point out that, contrary to the notes in the Record, his forthcoming book will be called 'Pills to Purge Melancholy: The Evolution of the English Ballett'. He says: "It is nothing to do with ballet at all - the ballett is a quite different animal."

The Four Minute Mile 50th Anniversary Thursday 6th May 2004 (by John Barlow) By 8.00 am the College was already beginning to fill up with members of the international press, laden down with cameras, lenses, boom microphones and all the latest eaves dropping equipment. They tested the light, checked their backgrounds, selected and arranged the best interview sites and waited. This was May 61'1 — exactly 50 years since the four minute barrier for the mile was finally broken, that damp and blustery day at the Iffley road ground. This was the day Oxford and the world was going to celebrate that unique athletic achievement and pay tribute to the hero of that occasion, Sir Roger Bannister. At a quarter to nine the great man arrived, smiling of mile events for both men and women and culminating in the 'elite' mile at 6.00 pm. Earlier the crowd had been treated to the sight of the surprisingly slight figure of Emily Pidgeon, from Gloucester, winning the women's mile event in a British record time 4 -50.68 at the tender age of 14. At six o'clock, the sight of the almost motionless flag on top of St George's church, was a poignant reminder of how, back in 1954, at the crucial time, the flag went limp to allow the attempt to be made. In this Jubilee year, the tall Australian, Craig Mottram, signalled his Olympic intent by knocking some 3 seconds off Sir Roger's historic time. But, 3 — 59.4 will be remembered benignly, and, to the accompaniment of whirring cameras, flashing light bulbs and constant cries of "this way Sir Roger", was promptly sucked into a succession of interviews and photoshoots both in Chapel Quad, glowing in the spring sunshine and also alongside his serried ranks of trophies, now gracing the Minstrels' gallery in the Hall. The vest, the spikes, the Harold Abrahams watch were all held aloft in turn — these the basic memorabilia of a never-to-be-forgotten achievement. Fellows, friends and family enjoyed a sumptuous finger buffet in Broadgates Hall, before repairing by coach to Iffley Road. There, famous faces abounded — Derek Ibbotson, John Landy, Christopher Chataway, Sebastian Coe, Lyn Davies and many others. By the end of the day they were interviewing each other for the plethora of television crews. Following a press conference, Sir Roger alternating between the stand and the infield, watched, together with a small army of invited guests including many old friends and rivals from the world of athletics, a re-run of that famous match between the University and the AAA. The re-run featured the Shot Putt, High Jump and a number,

and understood for many a year. The day ended with a sumptuous dinner in Hall for over one hundred old friends. Despite his 75 years and two new hips, Sir Roger showed no signs of wilting and was the personification of courtesy to the end of a day to be remembered. Photographs: Joanne Bowley

Royal Academy Award for Alumnus

New Chaplain

Peter Niblett (1977) was one of the members of a team of five from IBM UK (which also included Peter Lambros (Brasenose 1975)) who received the MacRobert Gold Medal and prize in London from HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, having won the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award.

Revd. Greg Downes started as Chaplain at Pembroke at the beginning of Trinity Term. He takes over from Revd. Oliver Simon (1968), who had been helping out as Acting Chaplain for about two years. Greg is in College on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Recent Development Office Functions by Joanne Bowley, Development Office Manager Inter-Collegiate Golf, Friday 16th April Not a Development Office function but another gate-crashed for a photo! The Pembroke Alumni Golf Society took part in the Inter-Collegiate Golf tournament, on a lovely sunny day at Frilford Heath Golf Course. They came in a very respectable joint 5th place out of 10 colleges and were even able to help other colleges boost their team. Fittingly, Golf Society Secretary Richard Thompson (1956) was the highest scorer amongst the Pembroke golfers. L-R: (standing) Ian Tinsley (1966), Keith McNeish (1962), Nick Rigg (1977), Graham Simpson (1972), Dick Hayes (1957), Paddy Nolan (1952), Geoffrey Batchelor (1948) (seated) Peter Letts (1954), Horace Ball (1954), Richard Thomson (1956), Graham McCallum (1944)

Garden Party, Saturday 29th May

Business Reception, Wednesday 5th May Once again, Andrew Graham (1969) kindly agreed to host this annual London function. The speaker this year was Phil Bentley (1977), Group Finance Director at Centrica (pictured below with Robert Farquharson (1970)). Around forty attended, including the Master and Fellows Ken Mayhew, John Church and Ariel Ezrachi.

Around 435 attended this lively event, including over 70 children. Those who helped out include harpist Ben Williams (2003), Organ Scholar Tim Jones (2002), Tony Davis (1958), with the Zenith Hot Stompers, and Hans Weijman (1976), with his daughter Rosalind and Tulip Balloons.

Gaudy Years 1961-66, Friday 25th June 2004 One hundred and twenty alumni and Fellows turned out for this happy Gaudy. Despite rain on the Wednesday and Thursday, the sun shone brightly on the Friday and alumni were able to enjoy afternoon tea with the Master and pre-dinner drinks outside. Although it is reported that several members were still up and talking at 4am, at breakfast-time on the Saturday morning the Hall was filled with early-risers, keen to make the most of the Gaudy experience. Keith McNeish (1962) with brothers Howard (1961) and Roger Maskill (1963), enjoying pre-dinner drinks in Chapel Quad

Oxford Reunion, Friday 16th & Saturday 17th April The Biennial Reunion of Oxford Alumni duly took place at the Waldorf Astoria on Madison Avenue in New York on April 16th/17"1. The College was represented by the Master and Mrs Henderson together with John Barlow, Development Director, and John Church, in his capacity as Co-chairman of the newly formed Oxford Planned Giving Group. At the Reception on the Friday night the Vice Chancellor, Sir Colin Lucas gave an up-beat talk about the future of the University, in which, however, he pointed out the need to face up to the possibility of full privatisation. "All we need is an Endowment of seven to eight billion pounds", he declared en passant! A handful of Pembrokians attended the Reception and the lectures on the Saturday. Predictably, the real attractions for our Alumni were the Cocktail Party hosted by Jim and Janet Hester at the delightful Cosmopolitan Club on the Thursday and the Cocktail Party and Dinner held at the University Club on the Saturday. At both events the strong sense of family bridged the generation

gap in an almost tangible way. The Cocktail party was attended by Mr & Mrs James Bratton, Paul Bromfield, Mr & Mrs Robin Chan, Jean Collier, Jarrett Edwards, Keith Goldsmith, Peter Grose, Dr & Mrs James Hester, Larry Jindra, Ingrid Li, Mr & Mrs Marc Mezvinsky, Mr & Mrs Brian Miller, Timothy Poole, Barry Romeril, Alister Sanderson, Mr & Mrs Jock Spivy, Tina Tricarichi, Regina Umbach, Peter Wheeler, Neil Arnold, Bethany Donithorn, Richard Chang and Steven Lewerenz. Those attending the dinner were:- Bill Altman, Meeta Anand, Samir Arora, Mark Blundell, Mr & Mrs James Bratton, Candice Chan, Richard Chang, Dominic Desbiens, The Hon Mr & Mrs Charles Gibson, Mr & Mrs Graham Green, Tom Herman, Dr & Mrs James Hester, Ian Hume, Vincent Indelicato, Walter Isaacson, Larry Jindra, Arthur Kroeger, Mr & Mrs Todd Landor, Steven Lewerenz, Ingrid Li, Duncan Macrae, Dick Sabot, Tina Tricarichi and Alex Wong.

Brussels Reception, Saturday 5th June

Sir Peter Ricketts (1971), British Ambassador to NATO, and Lady Suzanne hosted a delightful reception and dinner for old members at their home in Brussels on the 5th of June. The event was a tremendous success with people travelling from as far away as the Netherlands (6 hours by car!) to get re-acquainted with old friends. Lady Suzanne's "All Things Oxford" quiz (a sample of which is below) was a particular highlight. Samuel Johnson was one of Pembroke's most famous students. In his "Life of Johnson", Boswell quotes him as describing his old college thus: Sir, we are a nest of a) vipers b) argumentative academics c) singing birds d) serenity

Photograph (taken by Caroline Ricketts) shows: Angela Gustafsson (Koester) (2001), Peter Ricketts (1971), Lynne Henderson, Suzanne Ricketts, Giles Henderson, John Barlow (1952)

(For a copy of the quiz, please write to the Development Office.) Everyone is encouraged to mark their calendars for the Society Dinner on the 24th of September at which Sir Peter has kindly agreed to speak.

Email Mailing List Service "To all old members, I just want to share with you how much I have appreciated Joanne's efforts in keeping me in touch through her e-mail service with all of Pembroke's latest news and forthcoming events. It's a great improvement to the old days of having to rely solely on the annual Pembroke Record and the occasional gaudy or society dinner to catch up. I understand that currently only around 20% of old members are benefiting from this wonderful service, which is a pity as I know there must be many others of you who would also enjoy it. So if you are hooked up to our modern cyber space world, I would encourage

you to contact Joanne so she can include you on her distribution list - and of course it won't cost Pembroke a penny! Enjoy it. Robert Farquharson (1970)"

The email mailing list currently has just over 1200 members. If you would like to be included too, please email: Joanne.Bowley@pmb.ox.ac.uk

Rachel Morgan (1988), Julian Coils (1992) and Stephen Wotton (1993) are all taking part in

"The World's Toughest Yacht Race" When the three of us, all former Pembrokians, set sail on Oct 3rd this autumn it will be exactly 16 years since I •,, arrived at Pembroke as a fresher in noughth week, a bit scared, knowing no one, straight from an industrial South Wales town — Oxford was my newest biggest challenge. For the three of us, October 3rd this year marks the start of the greatest challenge of our lives since then — we are all taking part in "The World's Toughest Yacht Race" — the Global Challenge. 30,000 nautical miles, 150 days at sea, 50-foot waves and winds over 70 miles per hour - the race will take us around the world the wrong way, against the prevailing winds and currents, stopping in Buenos Aires, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, Boston and La Rochelle, in France before returning to Portsmouth in the UK in July 2005. Conditions will range from the unpredictable calms of the doldrums to the immense seas of the southern oceans, where we are likely to encounter icebergs and storm force winds. The two Southern Ocean Legs from Buenos Aires to Wellington and from Sydney to Cape Town, will take us deep into the wilds of the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties south of the 'Three Stormy Capes': Cape Horn, The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin (south-west Australia). It is entirely coincidental that Jules, Steve and myself are doing the Global Challenge together. In fact, we didn't know each other through college or from subsequent events over the years, despite, and this is another amazing coincidence, all of us rowing with, or in my case coxing, the Mens 1st VIII! We're all still Friends of the Boat Club but have never crossed paths. Steve was Captain of Boats in 1995 when the 1st VIII went Head of the River in Eights. He rowed for the University Lightweights in 1996 beating Cambridge. But he also had a secret life away from the meat-heads: he took part in a couple of plays in his first year, somewhat bizarrely playing a gay version of Jacob Marley in the Christmas pantomime and in the garden show that year as a bit part pallbearer! Oh to see the photos!! Jules rowed at number 5 in the 19941st VIII, rowing over as 2nd on the river, helping to set Steve's crew up for the Headship the following year. Jules was reluctantly concentrating on finals at the time. Having previously been Captain of Sailing at the Oratory School, Jules did very little sailing whilst at Pembroke, preferring to concentrate on rowing, but did compete in the Cuppers competitions at Farmoor. Whilst he doesn't like to admit it, Jules also made a guest appearance in the college's mixed

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Rachel Morgan (1988), Julian Coils (1992) and Stephen Wotton (1993) netball team! I somehow became the 1st VIII cox in my very first term, never having set foot in an eight before. David Noble and Pete Lovett are to blame. We weren't a successful boat! However, my passion was netball which, in my second year, took over from my desire to sit still, crunched up at the end of a boat. As college captain in 1989 we won the Cuppers league and I played for the University all that year. I re joined the 1st VIII in 1990 for a guest appearance for Eights Week in which I'm glad to say we didn't repeat our earlier disasters, in fact we claim we began building the platform for the likes of Jules' and Steve's successes!! Maybe it's the water connection that has led the three of us to compete in this new, possibly mad, venture. The race is between twelve 72 feet identical yachts all crewed by one professional skipper and seventeen amateur sailors, many of whom had never sailed before becoming involved in the race. Steve and Jules have ended up on the same yacht, again another coincidence. It was only when they were selected for the same crew aboard yacht SAIC that they became aware of the Pembroke and 1st VIII connection. SAIC, is the American company that is sponsoring their yacht. Science Applications International Corporation is an employee owned technology company based in San Diego California, but with offices and people all over the world, including the UK. I am on a yacht that is as yet unsponsored but we have branded ourselves FORCE 12 until we, hopefully, find a sponsor. Why FORCE 12? Because of the strength and power in a hurricane force wind (Force 12 on the Beaufort scale), the apprehension it breeds as it approaches and because we are likely to face conditions as strong as a Force 12 on the Global Challenge, but not

The one question the three of us are constantly asked is "Why on earth do you want to do it?" too often we hope! The race was inspired by the infamous Sir Chay Blyth who in his "impossible voyage" in 1971 was the first person to sail non-stop the wrong way around the world single-handedly. Sir Chay launched the Global Challenge with the aim of opening up round-the-world yacht racing to anyone brave (or stupid!) enough to seize the opportunity. The Global Challenge mirrors his achievement though we have seventeen other people to keep us company and ports of call to rest in and explore. In the face of much scepticism, the first race, sponsored by British Steel, departed from Southampton in 1992 to a huge send off. Its success has led to three further races, in 1996 and 2000 sponsored by BT and finally this year - the race in which Steve, Jules and I take to the high seas. The one question the three of us are constantly asked is "Why on earth do you want to do it?" Steve is an accountant living in South London, he currently works for National Grid Transco plc (until the race starts) and life is treating him well. Jules started working for KPMG in Bristol and London and is now living in Worcester, working for Fair Isaac as an IT consultant. Cape Town is the port he's particularly looking forward to but travel has already become part of life — he recently spent 10 months in Cape Town building an internet bank. And I have worked for the BBC since leaving Pembroke, in Wales, London, Birmingham and London again, have travelled the world variously as a reporter and now as a producer in Current Affairs working on programmes such as Panorama and Kenyon Confronts. I am due to get married, though not until after the race. So why, in our own words, would we want to spend 10 months in a tin can with seventeen very different people, from very varied backgrounds, in some of the most extreme conditions on this earth? Steve: I first became involved in sailing when I competed in the final leg of the Tall Ships 2000 Race from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Amsterdam. Soon afterwards I signed up for the 2004 Global Challenge race. The race appealed to my competitiveness; my penchant for `nutter' sports; the desire to push myself to my physical and mental limits; and to relive the crew camaraderie that I had experienced on the Tall Ships Race. Jules: I was lucky enough to sail almost every day whilst at school and have always seemed to thrive in the cold and wet. After graduating, I sailed from the UK to St Lucia and back via the Azores on a 32ft yacht with just three other crew. One of those crew went on to complete in the 1996 BT Global Challenge and inspired me to sign up for the 2004 race, despite his losing a fmger through an accident in the Southern Ocean. Rachel: Well, it's not for the fashion (the yellow of our oilskins is not my colour and Gortex foulies are not

flattering to the figure); definitely not to enhance the bank balance nor the career prospects. The very physical side of the race after thirteen years of very different pressures from news deadlines and tense situations abroad, is a huge incentive. And it's not often you can say, "Just because I want to" but to circumnavigate the world with the Global Challenge, it is! With just three months to go our time is taken up with training in our crews, shutting up our land based lives, our flats are up for rent, belongings being put into storage and fund-raising is taking over our every waking hour - for specialist technical clothing, high energy nutritious dehydrated food and weather routing expertise. Planning is everything even on the personal level. Each crew member has a plastic box 2ft x 1.5ft for all their belongings and that's it. We're allowed only two pairs of underwear for each leg, even on the long six weekers and a weight limit of just a kilo for personal non-kit list essentials. It's a high risk, expensive, very concentrated game. Oh and in the meantime we're still all trying to hold down our day jobs! It may be more than a decade for all of us since we approached with trepidation the porters lodge at Pembroke as green freshers but as 10am Oct 3rd 2004 dawns the three of us face a whole new challenge as the SAIC and Force 12 yachts accompanied by the ten other boats leave the dock side at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth for "the World's Toughest Yacht Race". You can follow Steve's, Jules' and Rachel's pre-race progress on the following web-sites: www.forcel2.org.uk - for all the latest news from the Force 12 crew Team SAIC 's website is under construction and will be available soon, for more information please visit the Challenge Business website. www.challengebusiness.com - : for up-to-the-minute news on the Global Challenge. From September follow the final build up and their progress deep from the oceans on: www.globalchallenge2004.com

An Evening With "The First Timers" In association with Sail 4 Cancer Rachel is hosting this event, which will be held on Thursday 9th September 2004 at 7.00pm at The Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7, to help with fundraising for Team Force 12. Speaking on the night will be the aforementioned Sir Chay Blyth, who was the first person to sail non-stop the wrong way around the world and the founder of the Global Challenge. Other speakers include Caroline Hamilton, a record breaking polar explorer who is part of the first all-women team to ski to both the North and South Poles, and Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to conquer Everest. Tickets for the Evening cost £15 for adults and £7.50 for students and children. For bookings please call: 01277 375822 or email: tickets@force12.org.uk

A Trek in the Himalayas by Chris Mack (1983) I left Pembroke in 1986 with a degree in Engineering Science, so naturally spent the next seventeen years working in the City. I had great fun, but last year decided it was time to do something different so I resigned and took the family round the world. I had also decided, many years ago, that I would like to go to Everest Base Camp. (After reading John Krakauer's book 'Into Thin Air' telling the story of how so many climbers died on the mountain in 1996, realism hit and I had abandoned my fanciful idea of one day trying to go to the top!) By chance I spotted an advert in the paper for a charity trek up Kala Pattar, a mountain 5500m (18500') high that overlooks Everest base camp and gives a magnificent view of the summit. The trip was to leave in February 2004, a week after I turned 40. I asked my wife (Jean Easterbrook, Modern History, 1983) what she thought and was told 'I think it has your name all over it - get training!'. At college I was very fit as I had boxed, but after so long behind a desk I was now in a pretty shabby state. There therefore followed a lot of walking, swimming, running, and hitting the bag (yes, I got my old punch-bag out again and dreamt of being a contender. Does this sort of thing happen to everyone approaching forty?). There was also the fund raising to tackle. As well as raising money for the trek organisers, Scope, (the charity for people with cerebral palsy), I decided also to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Charity. .I paid the costs of the trek myself so all donations went directly to the charities. People were incredibly generous and with nearly ÂŁ20,000 pledged I was all set. I met up with the rest of the party at Heathrow on 22 February. There were twenty-four of us aged between 27 and 65, from hugely differing backgrounds. The next day we were in Kathmandu, discovering the charms of this amazingly vibrant, colourful and bustling city. For me the highlight was the Great Stupa of Bodhnath, adorned to the top in prayer flags and surrounded by prayer wheels. Like all the Buddhist monuments here, you have to go round only in a clockwise direction. This is where climbers traditionally stopped to light a candle and pray to the Gods for success.

It's amazing how far you can go on only a bar of Kendal mint cake 8

Me at the top of Kala Pattar (knackered!) with Everest in the background (top in cloud), Everest Western Shoulder to the left and Nuptse to the right. Base camp is below my right armpit! Two days later and after a very early start, we flew by tiny propeller planes operated by Yeti airlines (no joke) to Lukla (2800m), the start of the trek. What a flight! Spectacular Himalayan scenery and a landing strip worthy of a Bond film. We met the leader of our party, Tenzing Sherpa, (since 1953 Tenzing is, not surprisingly, the most popular Sherpa name!) and set off. We were completely awe-struck by the scenery. Huge snow capped peaks, sheer faces and lush green valleys. Whatever pictures I had seen just didn't capture the incredible scale. And we hadn't even got anywhere yet! After two days walking we arrived in the famous horseshoe shaped village of Namche Bazaar (3440m). Every book I had read on Everest had described this place and it felt wonderful to be here. But it was nothing as to the moment the next day when we got our first view of Everest herself. You could feel the intoxicating power of the mountain as we just stood in awe, gazing at the characteristic plume streaming from the summit (this is sometimes cloud and sometimes a plume of snow blown off by the terrific wind). Over the next few days we saw the famous yeti scalp, visited Kunde Hospital (founded by Sir Edmund Hillary), and witnessed the magical and mysterious incantations of the Buddhist monks at Tengboche monastery (the highest and most sacred in the world). We crossed numerous hair-raising suspension bridges above incredibly deep and beautiful ravines. Our disparate group quickly bonded together - united not least through the common suffering caused by lack of toilet facilities and witnessing each other throw up! Yes, no matter how hard you try, when you are camping here it is a given that you will get some sort of bug.

I was really noticing the lack of oxygen and had to stop to catch my breath every 30 or 40 paces.

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Fortunately, I seemed to avoid the worst, and had hardly suffered from the altitude. I was drinking about four to five litres of fluid a day so the biggest problem was all the necessary 'comfort breaks' day and night (and at down to minus 20 at night, believe me you didn't want to hang about!). Many people were taking Diamox to help with the altitude, but it also acts as a diuretic. When I had tested it in England, I managed about 20 minutes between stops and I decided if I took that as well as all the fluid I would have no time to walk between all the breaks! Altitude sickness was my biggest worry. I knew I could cope with the walking, and was finding it no problem so far, but altitude sickness can hit anyone. If it does, you have to go down. And quickly or there is a real danger of death. The body needs as long as possible to acclimatise so you walk slowly and sometimes spend a day going up and coming back down lower to sleep at night. The Nepalese, however, needed no such acclimatisation. These people are truly amazing. About twenty-five Sherpas, porters, kitchen boys and yak-herders looked after our party. We were truly spoilt. We were woken up with a cup of sweet tea in the morning, always served with a smile, and given a hot breakfast so we were ready to set off walking about 7.30 or 8 am. We, of course, had all the latest gear and struggled with the inclines (nothing in this region is remotely flat, despite the Sherpas frequent description of a stretch of path being 'Nepali flat'... steep hills to you and I). Later in the morning we would be passed by the yaks carrying our gear and the porters literally jogging in old trainers or even flip flops, carrying the supplies. Talk about being humbled! And to add to the insult they would usually be singing! They went ahead to the lunch spot to cook for us, and we would set off again whilst they were washing up. We would then be passed again a little later in the afternoon so they could set up camp for our arrival in the evening! The loads the Nepalese can carry beggar belief. We saw some carrying construction wood weighing 100Kg (2201b) up hills we struggled with carrying just our daypacks. By day nine we had seen four of the six highest mountains in the world: Everest (8848m), Lhotse (8516m), Makalu (8463m) and Cho Oyu (8201m), which one of our Sherpa guides was due to climb a month later. Tomorrow was to be our summit day and I couldn't wait. It wasn't the excitement, however, that caused me to spend much of that night on the toilet. The Nepalese lurgi had finally struck and at 4.15 the next morning, ten minutes after we

had set off and with twelve hours walking ahead, it was my turn to throw up. I shouldn't have been so smug. But nothing was going to stop me now, and it's amazing how far you can go on only a bar of Kendal mint cake (a special chocolate covered one my daughter had given me for emergencies!) After the `Nepali flat' stretch to Gorak Shep, we started the final ascent climbing constantly to the summit of Kala Pattar. At this altitude I was really noticing the lack of oxygen and had to stop to catch my breath every 30 or 40 paces. But what a feeling to reach the prayer flags at the top. The scenery was magnificent. Before us was the classic view of Everest summit, Everest Western shoulder and Nuptse. We could see Everest base camp below us (too early in the season to be occupied), the Khumbu glacier and icefall, the Western Cwm and the Southeast ridge (Hillary and Tenzing's route to the summit). Fantastic! Nearly all the party made it to top. A few hadn't quite enough energy left and one suffered severely from altitude sickness. It was only when I had got down I realised just how drained the bug had made me. I was destined to sleep fourteen hours that night! Another four days later and we were back in Kathmandu. The sheer luxury of flushing toilets, showers and a shave made us feel human again. We had really come together as a group, inhibitions had disappeared, and it was time to relax and recount war stories. Looking back it was a fantastic experience I shall never forget and I recommended it highly. If you want to learn more about the adventures Scope organise to raise money, check out their web-site www.scope.org.uk. If you wanted to sponsor me, I am still collecting money! My web-sites are www.justgiving.com/mack for Scope and www.justgiving.com/mack2 for the Prostate Cancer Charity. So has seeing Everest satiated my Himalayan climbing desires? I think it has had the opposite effect and I can't wait to go back and climb higher... just don't tell my wife. Everest and the Nuptse Ridge on a clearer day (from near Namche Bazaar)

Pembroke Drove Me to a Life of Crime by Ed Mitchell (1991), Junior Research Fellow It was 8:30am when my doorbell rang. I was finishing my customary coffee and cigarette, and took a look outside my window — a large police cruiser emblazoned with `Massachusetts State Police' was standing outside my apartment building. I wondered what on earth the neighbours would think. I gathered my things resignedly and went downstairs. A burley police officer stood on the step, another remained in the car. "Ed Mitchell?" he asked. "Let's get going, shall we?" I stubbed out my cigarette, threw my bag into the back of the car and we pulled out into the Boston rush-hour. I was there because a young woman had been abducted, raped and murdered. The police had contacted my PhD supervisor at Harvard - a forensic psychiatrist and had met with us to see if we could throw any light onto the sort of person who might have done this. They liked what we had to say, and wanted to consult further. And that is how I ended up sat in a room with five homicide detectives and the assistant District Attorney, each hanging on my every word as if I was some sort of psychic who was going to give them the name and address of the murderer. I looked through a hundred photos of the crime scene, each blown up to the size of the desk. I felt sick and thought I was going to faint. They noticed and decided to break for lunch. The afternoon was spent driving around revisiting the location from where the girl had been abducted and crawling around the undergrowth where her body was found. I don't think I was of much use. Research I had done on investigative psychology and serial homicide meant that I was able to give them a general description of the demographic and psychological characteristics of the sort of person who might have done this, and the sort of criminal history he might be expected to have. If, however, they were hoping for the kind of detailed insights that the 'profilers' of Hollywood films supply, then they were disappointed. They told me that I gave the investigation (which was several years old and had gone cold) the renewed impetus it needed; I think they were being kind. Four years later, the case remains unsolved. It was not the first time I had done this sort of thing with the police, but I vowed it would be the last. I do not think psychologists are of any use in homicide investigations. They have no special knowledge that the police do not have; their role is merely a 'therapeutic' one — they provide confirmation and external validation of the enquiry. This can itself be dangerous; once the direction of the enquiry has been ratified by a so-called 'expert', the investigation can become overly focused and police become reluctant to consider other ideas - the `confirmation bias'. There is simply not a sufficient evidence base to test the efficacy of investigatory psychology. All this seemed a long way away from how I started at Pembroke. I had come up in 1991 as a zoology undergraduate. However, I found what I learned about

psychology — from the neuroscience and animal behaviour components of the zoology course — to be the most fascinating, and I switched to Experimental Psychology after my fast year. During vacations I worked with Professor Paul Salkovskis at the Warneford and John Radcliffe Hospitals, on projects as diverse as smoking cessation, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the psychology of risk and decision-making in pre-natal screening (e.g. a woman is told that her blood test shows she has a one in two hundred and fifty chance of having a child with Down's Syndrome; an amniocentesis will give a yes or no answer, but there is a one in one hundred chance of spontaneous miscarriage if she goes ahead with the amnio; how on earth are the parents to integrate such risks to come to a decision?). What fascinated me most, though, was the interface between psychology and law. A psychologist is treating a patient who has been severely depressed and has a history of suicide attempts. The psychologist has built up an outstanding therapeutic relationship with the patient, who is now just beginning to piece his life back together. Then in one session the patient divulges that he harbours thoughts of killing his ex-girlfriend — the psychologist doesn't believe he will carry them out, but what is he to do? Tell the police, thereby violating confidentiality and sending the patient back into a cycle of despair and suicide attempts, or risk that he could have averted a murder? Such ethical conundrums pale in comparison to those faced by forensic psychiatrists in the US. A murderer on death row is diagnosed as schizophrenic (although he was mentally healthy at the time of the crime). It is illegal to execute a mentally disordered person — to be 'competent to be executed' a person must be able to repent, make their peace, understand what is happening to them etc. The prison psychiatrist is requested by the state (his employer) to forcibly administer antipsychotic medication in order to restore the death row inmate to sanity so his execution may follow shortly thereafter. If the psychiatrist restores the patient to health, he is effectively complicit in killing him. If he does not treat the patient, he violates his fundamental medical duty to treat the ill. The proper role of clinicians has also been highlighted by recent Government proposals in the UK. A bill has been published awarding psychiatrists powers to indefinitely confine people diagnosed as `Dangerous Persons with Severe Personality Disorder' (DPSD) even if they have not committed a crime (`for treatment'). Due to the rate of false positives and negatives in psychiatric predictions of dangerousness, a study in The Lancet found that at least six people would have to be detained for a year to prevent one violent act. The proposals have been variously described by psychiatrists themselves as 'Orwellian' and 'an

A burley police officer stood on the step, another remained in the car. "Ed Mitchell?" he asked. "Let's get going, shall we?" unsustainable and unethical extension of medical power'. The Government is pushing ahead, in spite of no evidence base that such people can be treated successfully. Should the Government succeed, psychiatrists will become agents of the state with a policing role, rather than a healing one. Such ethical turbulence has caused the meeting of the two streams of criminal justice and medicine. After I left Pembroke, I studied these twin interfaces of psychology/law and psychiatry/law (forensic psychology and forensic psychiatry) during a masters degree in Criminology at Magdalene College, Cambridge. I then went on to do a PhD thesis on the criminal responsibility of the mentally disordered (recently published as 'Self-Made Madness: Rethinking Illness and Criminal Responsibility). I made regular visits to prisons and high-security hospitals to talk with serial murderers, rapists, arsonists. I always found such encounters offered deep insights into human nature which cannot be gained from studying 'the normal'. I went to Trinity Hall for my PhD (they offered me a full scholarship there), but never really felt the same affection for 'Tit Hall' as I had for Magdalene and Pembroke before that. The centres of excellence for forensic psychiatry and psychology were in North America, and I decided to up and off to Harvard to join a psychiatric ethics think-tank at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. I received (appropriately enough for a Pembrokian) a Fulbright fellowship for the year. After I finished at Harvard I was lining up a post-doctoral fellowship working with sex offenders at University of Toronto when I came back for the 1991 Pembroke gaudy, and had a long chat with my undergraduate tutor, Professor Alex Kacelnik. Alex told me of a rather odd opportunity. He and Professor Sir John Krebs had secured a grant from an oil company, to study whether their work on how birds forage could have implications for finding oil. I presumed he had overdone it on the port. We kept up our contact however, and the project sounded more and more intriguing, so I came onboard as a post-doc working with Alex and John. The rationale for the oil company project came from a combination of psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology. Humans and animals have to make decisions under uncertainty (take risks) all the time. I remembered Alex's lectures on animal behaviour, in which he demonstrated an 'optimality model' of how fast he should cycle down the Headington Hill. The faster he cycled, the greater the thrill and feeling of machismo, but the greater the risk of serious accident. The image ofAlex, gown billowing in the wind, stuck with me and most other students who heard him. We forgot, of course, the serious point, which is that functions for risk and reward can be derived and an optimal speed computed for the Daring Don. Evolution is expected to have imbued animals other

than Alex with a sensitivity to risk and reward. Should a starling forage in an area in which it can be relatively sure of getting enough worms to see it through a cold night, or should it take a risk and forage in a patch in which it has sometimes encountered lots of worms, but sometimes none? Optimal strategies for the starling's behaviour can be computed, dependent on its internal state (energy level) through a technique called 'stochastic dynamic processing'. In the same way, should an oil company drill at a location in which it can be fairly sure it can find some oil, or should it drill a risky well where it may strike a huge field, but it more likely to find nothing? Should equity traders invest in relatively safe blue-chip companies or take a punt on a new and risky stock market float? Should a pharmaceutical company tinker with existing drugs (a relatively 'sure-thing' in terms of commercial benefit) or invest millions in a risky R&D program that could come up with the next Prozac, but equally result in nothing? Experimental results show that humans and animals often make poor decisions when faced with uncertainty (history is of course littered with examples of people and companies that made poor decisions). We use suboptimal decision rules and heuristics, we over- and under-weight probabilities, and we pay undue attention to criteria irrelevant to the decision; in short, we are systematically fallible when dealing with risk. We were able to show the oil company that their decision-making was flawed â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that their geologists were inflating the economic case for their risky prospects in order that they would get them drilled and make their careers if they found a huge field (and quietly melt into the background if the hole came up dry, as it usually did). There was, in this case, a mismatch between the 'utility' of the geologists and the company's shareholders, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars. The oil company renewed our grant for another two years. We began to see the commercial possibilities of our work in decision-science and the psychology of risk for industry more widely. The University gave us some seed money (in return for equity), and Alex, John and I founded 'Oxford Risk Research and Analysis' (ORRA), helping industries as diverse as energy, fast-moving consumer goods, and equity management with high-risk, high-reward decisions. We use a combination of risk attitudes testing software, project consultancy, portfolio management software, and education in the psychology of risk and decision-making. The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal (though not The Pembrokian) have published articles on ORRA. Working with industry seems quite a journey from studying the criminal mind (the Enron scandal excepted). I decided that, whilst I have very much enjoyed these forays into the boardroom, I wanted to go back to psychiatry and psychology. I applied for the fast-track graduate medical degree at Pembroke, and was accepted; I was also awarded a Baber Scholarship. So I shall leave the comfortable confines of the Senior Common Room in September, and join the Middle Common Room; with the aim of becoming a forensic psychiatrist after my medical degree. Escaping from a life of crime can be a very hard thing indeed.

Pembrokian Profile: Glenn Fine (1979) the As Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice, I am often compared to a type of dog. Which kind depends on your point of view. Some, who think my reports are too critical of Justice Department officials and their actions, have called me an attack dog. Others, who think I have been too forgiving of these same officials, call me a lapdog. Sometimes I am called both with regard to the same report. Others assert that I should act as a watchdog. Because my office is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the actions of the Justice Department and its officials, and because those actions affect many of the most important issues facing the United States, there are many opinions about what an Inspector General should do. Regardless of the canine description, however, the position is one of the most challenging and interesting jobs I could have ever imagined. I did not know I wanted to be an Inspector General when I left Pembroke College in 1981, having studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) on a Rhodes scholarship. After Oxford, I obtained a law degree at Harvard Law School. At Oxford, the Rhodes Warden had commented to some of us that he considered PPE to be a hiccup for many Rhodes Scholars before they went to law school. I considered my time at Pembroke to be an academic feast, having studied under Ken Mayhew, Zbigniew Pelczynski, and Simon Blackburn, and having traveled throughout Europe and Asia during holidays. My first job after law school was as a criminal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., where for over three years I prosecuted many homicide, drug distribution, and fraud cases. After several years in private law practice as a labor lawyer, in 1995 I returned to the Justice Department as special investigative counsel in the Office of the Inspector General. In 2000, President Clinton appointed me to be the Inspector General of the Department of

In 2000, President Clinton appointed me to be the Inspector General of the Department of Justice Justice. The Inspector General's job is a unique position in the United States government. Each cabinet agency has an Inspector General, who is responsible for detecting and deterring waste, fraud, and abuse within that agency, as well as making recommendations to the agency to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. The Inspector General for each agency is appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the United States Senate. Only the President can fire an Inspector General, and when doing so he must give the reasons why to Congress. The Inspector General position is nonpartisan, and Inspectors General are not supposed to have ties to any political party. As a result, Inspectors General normally span changes of Presidential administrations, as I did when President Bush and a new Attorney General took office in 2001. The job is nothing like the Gogol play entitled "The Inspector General." In Gogol's story, officials of a small Russian town are petrified to learn that the Inspector General is arriving undercove to inspect their operations. A clerk is mistaken for the Inspector General, and the town officials ply the clerk with money and food. After the clerk leaves, the townspeople learn of the mistaken identity, and everyone is chagrined but relieved. The movie version with Danny Kaye, based on the Gogol story, is hilarious. The reality of the work of an Inspector General, of course, is much different. We are not supplied with bribes or food (our auditors will not even accept a donut when they are on site auditing). But the concern that government officials exhibit when we investigate their programs is real, since an important function of our office is to expose inefficiency or misconduct in government operations. Over the years, my office has investigated and audited many critical government programs. For example, we investigated why the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is part of the Justice Department, took more than two decades to detect the espionage of Robert Hanssen, the most damaging spy in FBI history. We recently reviewed how the Justice Department handled intelligence

information related to the September 11 terrorist attacks. We regularly conduct financial statement audits, computer security audits, and program reviews, and we investigate allegations of criminal and administrative misconduct by Justice Department employees. Some of our reviews are initiated at the request of the Attorney General or Congress. Each morning, I read the newspaper with interest, knowing that some of the issues in the paper are likely to land on my desk when I arrive at work. Most of our reviews are self-initiated, however, based upon what we think merits investigation. My office has a staff of over 400 auditors, investigators, program evaluators, and lawyers. That may sound like a lot, but it is not nearly enough to monitor and investigate the operations of the Justice Department, which has more than 100,000 employees and a $25 billion budget. One of our recent reports illustrates the impact that our office can have. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Justice Department detained many non-citizens who were encountered in the United States during the FBI's investigation into the terrorist attacks. My office reviewed the treatment of these individuals in United States detention facilities. (Our review did not examine the individuals held by the United States military at Guantanamo Bay, or the treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib, because both involved military operations outside the jurisdiction of my office.) Our review of the treatment of the detainees in the United States found that in the 11 months after the September 11 attacks, 762 aliens were held in the United States for various immigration offenses, such as overstaying their visas or entering the country illegally. While our report recognized the enormous challenges and difficult circumstances confronting the government in responding to the September 11 terrorist attacks, we found significant problems in the way the detainees were treated. For example, we found that the FBI made little attempt to distinguish between persons who were subjects of its terrorism investigation and those encountered coincidentally to the investigation who had violated immigration law but did not have any ties to the attacks or terrorism. In addition, our report concluded that

I am often compared to a type of dog. Which kind depends on your point of view.

Each morning, I read the newspaper with interest, knowing that some of the issues in the paper are likely to land on my desk many of these detainees were held under unduly harsh conditions in a prison in New York. We found that these detainees had inadequate access to counsel, the detainees did not receive timely notice of the charges against them, mistaken information was given to detainees' families and attorneys about where the detainees were being held, the detainees were locked down in their cells for at least 23 hours a day, and the detainees' cells remained illuminated 24 hours a day. Our report also described evidence that some guards physically and verbally abused detainees. While we did not find that the detainees were brutally beaten, we found evidence that some guards slammed detainees against the wall, twisted their arms and hands in painful ways, stepped on their leg restraint chains, punished them by keeping them restrained for long periods of time, and verbally abused them. Our report described in detail the evidence we found, and we made 21 recommendations for the Justice Department to improve the treatment of detainees. The report received widespread attention, both in the United States and internationally. Some criticized the report, and me, arguing that the report could undermine the government's counterterrorism efforts. Others considered it an important document that reported on critical aspects of government operations. Most important, the report had an impact. While the Justice Department did not agree with everything in the report, it generally reacted positively to the report's recommendations. The Justice Department took the recommendations seriously and described how it would change procedures to address many of the underlying concerns. In my view, the role of the Inspector General is a remarkable strength of our system of government. While everyone may not agree with our conclusions, an Inspector General can shine light on sensitive programs and help improve the operations of government. As the Inspector General, I may not be the most popular person within the Department of Justice â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and sometimes may be labeled as various kinds of a canine. But the job has been fascinating, and I am grateful that I have been appointed to serve in this position.

Pembrokian Profile: Dobie McArthur (1982) I suppose, given my background, it was inevitable that I would end up in Baghdad sometime during Operation Iraqi Freedom. What was not inevitable, however, was the wonderful friendship I would develop with several individuals from the United Kingdom while I was there. That, I am sure, can be attributed to the time I spent at Pembroke in the early 1980s, which opened my eyes to the special qualities of our friends from across the pond. But, I am getting ahead of myself.... As a prior-enlisted Marine and graduate in the Naval Academy, I arrived at Pembroke in the fall of 1982 to pursue Modern Middle Eastern studies. I spent the first term living in college, then moved out to Summertown House when I got married and brought my wife back to England with me. Our favorite past-time was going up for midnight bowling at RAF Upper Hayford, which was then a Strategic Air Command base on continuous alert. We usually went with our friends, including an American couple named Jim and Nora. My wife and I also spent a fair amount of our free time in the Middle Common Room at Pembroke, where we made friends and had many long discussions with them about the big events of the day, which included the latest rowing results or the labor unrest that threatened to shut down water to the college. After Pembroke, I returned to the Marine Corps as an artillery officer, and served in North Carolina, Oklahoma and California. In 1988, I moved with my family to Morocco, and spent a year traveling around the Middle East learning more about the language, culture and geography of the region as a Foreign Area Officer. After a brief stint in Oklahoma for advanced artillery school, I returned to North Carolina, where I assumed command of an artillery battery shortly before Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. I spent eight months deployed with the Fourth Marine Expeditionary Brigade during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, mostly doing circles in the Persian Gulf aboard an amphibious assault ship. At the end of the war, my unit returned safely to the United States, and I remained in command for another year, which included deployments for training to California, Wisconsin and Norway.

I was the first linguist hired by the FBI specifically in response to 9-11 14

My final active duty posting in the Marine Corps was as an instructor at the Naval Academy, where I taught U.S. Government and Constitutional Development, Intelligence and National Security, and Middle Eastern Politics. In 1993, I left active duty to become a Legislative Assistant in the office of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, whom I had met at an event that he was hosting for Pembroke College Alumni. After six wonderful years in Senator Lugar's office, I moved to the office of Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, where I served as his Legislative Director. While working in the Senate, I remained in the Marine Corps reserves and became an intelligence officer, specializing in the Middle East. During my time in the reserves, I was fortunate enough to complete the Postgraduate Intelligence Program for Reserves, and did the required Masters thesis on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. My thesis was ultimately published in booklet form by the college after the principal idea in the thesis was incorporated into legislation that became law. (For the record, the relevant recommendation of the thesis was that export documents for items on the Commerce Control List and the Munitions List — the items that are of greatest concern in terms of weapons proliferation — be submitted in electronic form into a searchable, Internet-based system as a mechanism to help identify fraudulent shipments.) In July, 2001, I retired from federal service and went to work in the Washington office of a California company called General Atomics, a nuclear and high-tech company that had recently opened a new division to develop sensors for a product made by one of its subsidiary companies — the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle. I had been enjoying the regular hours and good pay of the private sector for just over two months when the tragedy of 9-11 struck. Within days, I was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked to come to work. Because I had only recently left government service, I was not in a position to return, but was able to work out an arrangement where I could work for the FBI on a contract basis using my Arabic language skills. To my knowledge, I was the first linguist hired by the FBI specifically in response to 9-11, and began working at the command center at FBI Headquarters on September 21, 2001. For the first six months, I worked close to 30 hours per week for the FBI, in addition to my regular job. The pace was intense, but the work was rewarding, and I managed to hold my own with my day job at General Atomics where I was promoted to Vice President in September 2003. At about the same time, however, I was contacted by a friend who had graduated from

By late January of this year I was on my way to Baghdad, with the title of "Special Assistant for Counterterrorism." the Naval Academy a year behind me and had also attended Oxford University. We had taken different paths — he was a nuclear submarine officer — but had stayed in touch through the Oxford connection. In 2003, he was working in the office of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and was aware of Dr. Wolfowitz' desire to find Arabic-speaking regional specialists to work with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. I interviewed with Dr. Wolfowitz in December, and by late January of this year I was on my way to Baghdad, with the title of "Special Assistant for Counterterrorism." My initial experiences in Baghdad were probably very much like those of everyone else who went there in that the job title I was given had little to do with the work I did on a daily basis. By the time I arrived, on February 1, the issue of detainees was becoming a hot topic, not because of the abuse scandal — that would break into the open toward the end of my tour — but because of concern about our ability to administer the system for detaining Iraqis thought to be a threat to security. Although I used my Arabic language skills during this period, I more often found myself translating from military to civilian and vice versa. The civilians and the military had markedly different views about the best way to handle the detainee issue, and I found myself as an intermediary between

the two groups. After an awkward period in which no one was quite sure what to call me, I was eventually given the new title of "CPA Senior Advisor for Detainee and Prisoner Issues." It was in this capacity that I made many new friends from the United Kingdom. By chance or by design, I can't say which, the top two positions in the CPA Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice were held by Brits, as was the position of legal advisor to the CPA Deputy Administrator. Additionally, I had on my staff a British-Iraqi young man whose exceptional computer skills and good nature kept the operation from collapsing. Thus, on any given day, I found myself working closely with friends from the United Kingdom, on issues where the two countries official positions were often at odds. On more than one occasion, my colleagues from the U.K. expressed gratitude for what they considered to be extraordinary cooperation of a kind that they weren't getting from other Americans. In truth, I suspect that anyone would have done the same in my position, but I found it easier and more natural to work cooperatively with these particular colleagues because of my experiences at Oxford. To a large extent, I believe that my experiences in Baghdad have validated the premise underlying the growing number of scholarship programs that send Americans to the United Kingdom. I undoubtedly have much more to do before my full debt is paid to those who sent me to Pembroke on the Marshall scholarship, but I believe that my time in Baghdad gave me the opportunity to at least make a down payment by promoting and fostering stronger ties between good friends who remain close even when they don't always see eye-to-eye on every issue. I am now a Lieutenant Colonel in the reserves (selected for colonel). In my civilian job, I am a Special Assistant to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, which is a Senior Executive Service position.

US Tour In September, the Master, Bursar and Co-Director of Development will host a series of receptions across the United States for Pembroke's alumni and friends. Details are still being finalized. To register your interest, or for more information, please contact Angela Gustafsson: +44 (0)1865 276501, angela.gustafsson@pmb.ox.ac.uk. 20 September Prospect House, Georgetown, Washington DC Guest of honour: Senator Richard Lugar 23 September

Chicago

25 September

San Francisco or LA

Enjoying the sunshine in Chapel Quad, April 2004

Bequests Legacies from past members are going to play a significant part in the long-term future of Pembroke and we are very grateful to those who have indicated that they have made provision for Pembroke in their will. We are particularly pleased to announce the receipt of a $1 million bequest from the estate of Honorary Fellow, Viscountess Eccles. Americans who may be interested in details of the recently launched Planned Giving programme should contact John Barlow.

Correct as of July 2004 but may be subject to changes Monday 20th September Washington Reception (contact Angela Gustafsson for more information - also, see Page 15) Friday 24th September Society Dinner (details enclosed with this issue of the Pembrokian)

Pembroke Merchandise

Saturday 25th September Activity Day (details enclosed with this issue of the Pembrokian)

For details about what is currently available, please contact Steve Rhodes on (01865) 276425. Credit card orders now available.

Thursday 11th November Young Pembrokian event (reception to take place at Escape Bar and Art - see below)

Contacting the Development Office Rob Dauncey Co-Director of Development Tel: (01865) 276417 Email: Rob.Dauncey@pmb.ox.ac.uk 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: The Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford, OX1 1DW

Pembroke website www.pmb.ox.ac.uk 16

Diary Dates

Fri 15th April 2005

Gaudy (years 1991-1993)

Fri 24th June 2005

Gaudy (years 1985-1987)

Fri 16th September 2005

Gaudy (years 1994-1996)

(Years for Gaudies are matriculation years - the year in which you came to Pembroke)

Young Pembrokian Event On Thursday 11th November we plan to host our first event specifically for younger Pembrokians â&#x20AC;&#x201D; those who are currently at the College as well as all those who have graduated in the last 15 years. The event will be held at Escape Bar and Art in London, a critically acclaimed venue for art and music founded by Helen Cardrick (1988) in 2003. Escape Bar and Art (www.escapebarandart.com) is the perfect combination of an art gallery and a relaxed, modern cafĂŠ. It boasts a dynamic schedule of changing exhibitions which feature original work from local and international artists. Its most recent shows have focused on cutting edge, minimalist, video and urban/street art. Those attending the 11 November event will enjoy great food and drinks, a DJ and jazz band, as well as an exhibition by leading pop/collage artist Ralph Michael Brekan. Everyone matriculating from 1986 will be sent invitations later this year. Young at heart alumni from previous years are very welcome to attend and should contact the Development Office for further details. We are extremely grateful to Helen for hosting what promises to be a unique and fun event. If you are interested in hosting an alumni event, please let the Development Office know.

Please note that the Development Office can now accept payments via Visa, Mastercard and Debit card