The Pembrokian, Issue 23, Dec 2003

The Pembrokian December 2003 Issue No.23

News from the Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College Unlversrty Of Oxford

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Development Office Editorial John Barlow (Development Director)

P3 New Peer for Pembroke Sir Robert Carswell (1952)

P3 Honorary Degree for Pembrokian Arthur Kroeger (1956)

P3 JCR Art Fund Lunch Lara Dalby (2002)

P4-5 Interlude in Iraq Charles Monk (1972)

P6 Media Group Reception Godfrey Howard (1946)

P6-7 Recent Development Office Events

P8-9 Pembrokian Profile Ian Semple (1949)

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A Former Fellow Michaelangelo Zaccarello

P10 Bredin Travel Prize Adam Brodie (2001)

Pll Pembroke Prints Available P12 Update `Pembroke Runner' and 'Mystery Man'

P12 Lunchtime Organ Recitals P12 Diary Dates P12 Contact Information

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Development Office Editorial

by John Barlow (1952), Director of Development Surely one of the great delights of Oxford is the constant injection of new blood each year. As Graduates move on, transformed, shaped and moulded by their experience of the academic and social grooming, to impose their ideas on an unsuspecting and, possibly, unreceptive world, their places are taken by a fresh batch of 'innocents' — eager to taste their new freedom; 'new clay' whom the tutors hope will be malleable, curious and keen to learn and whom other students hope will excel with racquet, ball or blade, sing like angels and contribute meaningfully to the social life of the University. This year, as all the teaching staff go through the agonising rigours of interviewing next year's hopefuls (how on earth they do it is beyond me), there is undoubted satisfaction that the 2003 intake are a great bunch and will be a credit to Pembroke. It is interesting to note each year how performance in all fields seems to be a reflection of corporate attitude and how this is very often directly influenced by the personalities of the presidents of the JCR and MCR. Sian Hickson (2002), from Lancashire reading English and Katy Beebe (2001), a modern historian from Missouri, are both worthy holders of those offices.

The new year has seen a number of changes in the Fellowship. We said goodbye to Michelangelo Zaccarello, our Fellow in Italian, enticed away to become Professor of Philology in the ancient University of Verona. Popular with Fellows and students alike, he will be remembered by some past members for the entertaining talk he gave at the Activity Day in 2002. Entitled "The Dressed up Chef', it addressed health and aesthetics in Medieval Italian Cookbooks! A fuller profile of Michelangelo appears later in this issue. On a sadder note, we have to report the deaths of Mary, Viscountess Eccles, Honorary Fellow and also of Frank Buckley, Foundation Fellow - both generous benefactors of the College. A moving memorial service for Frank was held in Chapel in late November and there will be a special event here in March to celebrate the life of Lady Eccles.

The Fellowship has been substantially strengthened by four new Fellows:- Guido Bonsaver, who replaces Michelangelo as Tutor in Italian; Andre Furger, Tutor in Biochemistry; Brian Rogers, Tutor in Psychology and Ariel Ezrachi who is the new Slaughter & May Fellow in Competition Law. Over the past few months the Fellows have put the finishing touches to a comprehensive Strategic Plan, which will form the basis of the Major Capital Campaign, which we have been trailing for some time. The implementation of this plan will establish Pembroke as a significant component in the Oxford of the future and is nothing less than exciting. To make it work, we need a larger team in this department and we also need a Director who will be around for a good many years to see it through. Having matriculated in 1952, that could hardly be me! So the result of the searches referred to in our last issue is that we have now appointed a Development Officer, Angela Koester, who will be starting with us in the New Year. A

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graduate of Harvard, she obtained an M.St here at Pembroke in 2002 and has experience of Development work in both the USA and here in Oxford. Our first attempt at finding a Director failed when none of the short-listed candidates measured up to our requirements - so the search goes on. If you know a really good candidate, do let me know but only the very best will do for Pembroke.

Public honours are rare enough and should be acknowledged with acclaim. So we warmly congratulate Peter Ricketts (1971) , the UK ambassador to NATO, who was recently awarded the KCMG Other folk in the public eye, whom you may have spotted on 'the box', are Miranda Sawyer (1985) who presented a brilliant programme on "The Age of Consent" and Honeysuckle Weeks (1998) who starred in "Foyle's War", which won a BAFTA award in April this year. Incidentally, if anyone is in touch with Miranda, do ask her to contact us as we have her listed as LOST! In late October the Hall was packed by 'friends' across the generations to celebrate the Double Headship in style. A commemorative plaque, donated by Brian Wilson (1948), was on display and the design of a handsome silver trophy selected. We still need some 135 contributions of £20 each to cover the cost of this.

December 9th saw a considerable migration to Twickenham for the Varsity Rugby Match. With Matt Honeyben (2001) ruled out through injury, our hopes were pinned on our own Jon Fennell (2002), the talented fly-half but were dashed when he limped off after only four minutes. Surely, if he had stayed, Oxford's actual domination would have resulted in victory instead of a disappointing draw. There was some compensation in the crushing victory secured by the under 21s prior to the main match in which Dominic Hammond (2002), vice president of the JCR, scored a try. Classical scholars may like to note that Fred Williams (1961), Professor of Greek at Queens University Belfast, will be preaching the University Sermon on January 18th.

Do keep us posted with your movements and achievements. If you are planning a 'Pembroke' event, we would love to help you if we can. If you would like to be a Volunteer Visitor in your area, your services would be very welcome. We have just taken delivery of another consignment of Blackstone Lectures — every lawyer should have a copy — and have plenty of the handsome new Blackstone ties. Do buy one.

Finally, may all your needs be met in 2004 and may it be a year of fulfilment for you while we implement some significant advances towards raising the profile, provision and performance in all areas of the College.

New Peer for Pembroke As we go to press we learn that Honorary Fellow Sir Robert Carswell (1952), Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, has been appointed

a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from January 12th, 2004.

Many congratulations, Bob.

Honorary Degree for Honorary Fellow!

Professor Andrew Wilkie

Arthur Kroeger (1956), who is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke as well as an alumnus and who spoke at the Society Dinner in 2000, received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from Carleton University in June. He also delivered the Convocation address at the afternoon ceremony. For the past 10 years he had been Chancellor of Carleton University (which has a `Kroeger College') and the degree was given in recognition of his outstanding service to and support of Carleton University, as well as of his distinguished career as a civil servant. He has also received the Public Service Outstanding Achievement Award and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Further to the report contained in our last issue, the Visitatorial Board, set up by the Vice-Chancellor to investigate the matter, reported in late October and recommended disciplinary action including suspending Professor Wilkie's employment by the University for two months. Professor Wilkie immediately offered to resign his Fellowship with the College and this was accepted by the Governing Body. The College now considers this unfortunate incident closed. All the pertinent press releases were published on the University and College websites.

Pembroke JCR Art Fund - Fundraising Lunch The Pembroke JCR Art Fund largely remains an enigma to fellow Pembrokians, despite representing one of the most prestigious art collections in the University. We were proudly the first College to start an art collection in 1947, and others followed suit. The current Directors aim to raise the profile of the Fund, and to make the attributes of such a fantastic resource more accessible to the JCR. Aspirations of an exhibition space within College, to permanently house the collection's most prized pieces, feature alongside firm plans for a seminar to be held next term to educate students about the Fund's origins, including the infamous 'Bacon'.

Hilary Term will notably feature a Fundraising Lunch, to raise money for students in immediate hardship. Each year the Art Fund offers hardship grants, travel grants and money towards the procurement of art to embellish the existing collection. However, the money available for those in hardship has become increasingly depleted owing to the poor performance of the stock market. The hardship fund is particularly important for those seeking immediate assistance, and it may not be able to support the demand

Abstract by Alexander Calder (1898-1976) placed upon it over forthcoming years without raising money from other sources. Through support at this event, where an exhibition and talk will also take place, we aim to rejuvenate this fund so we may continue to offer help. The lunch will be held on Saturday 28th February at a cost of ÂŁ28 for three courses. Parents of current students will receive invitations in January, and alumni may contact I a ra.d a 1 ((/ 1) filb,ON .41f..t/ k or the Development Office for further details.

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Interlude in Iraq: Charles Monk MBE (1972) Schoolmaster at Haileybury As perhaps the most trained but least experienced member of the Territorial Army Civil Affairs Group — an organization established precisely to deal with the civil-military interface in such scenarios as Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, and Sierra Leone — I was eager to use my promised sabbatical from school teaching to go operational. As it happened Op TELIC 2 saw me compulsorily mobilized earlier (but not disruptively so) for a full six months from 14 June 2003. This was so-called "Intelligent Mobilisation" — where individuals were called up for particular roles compulsorily but with their prior knowledge and agreement. This mandatory call-up affords the individual protection under The Reserve Forces Act (civilian job guaranteed on return) and gives employers significant compensation.

After a period of pre-deployment training and leave I moved with HQ 3 Division to Basrah to take over from 1 Division: a peace-keeping formation replacing an exhausted war-fighting one. About a dozen Civil Affairs staff — officers and non-commissioned officers — then scattered to fill slots in the embryonic civil-military organizations running the four "governorates" of the south: Maysan, Dhi Qar, Muthanna and Basrah. What then gradually became Multi-National Division (South-East) was not only to deal with security matters but to deal directly where necessary with utilities problems. It also provided regular and reservist manpower to fill slots temporarily in the civilian governmental organizations, to be replaced once the situation stabilized and partner governments sent out civilian experts. Just as regional Divisions reported to the Combined Joint Task Force Command in Baghdad, so regional Coalition Provisional Authorities reported to Bremmer's at the centre. I thus had a foot in both camps — I was a soldier reporting to my superiors at Division but was "embedded" in this evolving civilian CPA(South) reporting to a civilian Regional Coordinator.

After a short but very efficient hand-over from the three 1 Division staff then running the Education Office, from 10 July I found myself responsible for all aspects of education - infrastructure, personnel, finance and service - across south Iraq. Hard data was (and still is !) in very short supply , but this amounted to two universities (plus two colleges belonging to a university beyond our Area Of Responsibility), a technical college, five Further Education colleges, and nearly three thousand schools.

The immediate priorities concerned rehabilitation, staffing and finance. The military had already begun doing up schools using local labour, funded from their own Quick Impact Project finance — real "hearts-andminds" stuff delivered by troops on the ground. As Non-Governmental Organisations arrived—People In Need, Save The Children, The Salvation Army, CESVI, and many others — there arose a need for coordination and "de-confliction" of efforts, and this fell naturally to me. I chaired weekly meetings sponsored by UNICEF at the UN house in Basrah (until their withdrawal after the Baghdad bomb), at which NGOs, the military and representatives of

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the governorates' Education Directorates met to share information and talk through problems.

Gradually databases began to take shape — complicated at every turn by the total absence of records, by the locals' unfamiliarity with maps (banned under Saddam), by the NGOs using latitude and longitude while the military used grids, by changes of names of schools with Ba'athist associations, and the fact that one set of buildings could have several names according to which shift (separately named) was in session !

With many senior administrative staff having run for cover, often literally, as informal De-B a' athification raged with a special fervour in the south, new "Director Generals" and their teams emerged in various ways and with questionable legitimacy, but the need for stability and order left us accepting for the moment the de-facto regimes at governorate level. The first triumph for all was the successful completion of the end-of-year school exams right across the south at the end of July.

A pay rise for teachers from around $3-5 per month to an average of $120 not surprisingly saw thousands of "qualified" applicants for the payroll, and this, together with the return of thousands of exiles and the standard practice of paying all those who qualify as teachers irrespective of whether or not they have a job, meant an explosion in the education payroll. By August Basrah alone was receiving over $3m in cash — delivered by landrover and divided up on a dusty floor. With similar trends in other Directorates too right across the country, suspicions grew about the probity of these arrangements ! Thus far the need to get spending power into the community meant some compromises in accounting standards, but it was now time to check this unsustainable growth in payroll and establish some transparency. The Ministry of Finance froze public payrolls on the July figures, and efforts begun to clarify and validate Directorates' payroll data. With some legitimate claimants caught out, and few opportunities in the private sector, predictably this was not well-received — least of all by the Directorates themselves whose patronage was threatened and whose employment and financial practices would now come under the spotlight.

The official De-Ba'athification programme, requiring the dismissal of all senior party members, and with little scope for appeal, provided plenty of opportunities for intimidation from both sides, and for the settling of old scores. It is still proving difficult, four months later,

getting verifiable data out of local officials. We still don't really know if we have too many teachers or too few, or who is employed doing what and where. We have no reliable demographic data on which to base attendance assessments and plans for investment in infrastructure to accommodate the expansion of the school age population in the past decade and recently with refugee returns.

Meanwhile the rehabilitation efforts continued and continue. In August the big players took the field — the most prominent being Bechtel, a US engineering contractor, funded by USAID. Bechtel refurbished 252 schools across the south — in Basrah city, Al Qurna and Nasiriyah — spending an average of $38,000 per project.

Work on this scale in education and elsewhere inevitable strained local resources — it soon became impossible to find an Iraqi who was not a builder or at least closely related to one ! Thus there were some shoddy results which required some PR damage-limitation, but overall the effort was very worthwhile and much appreciated. By the end of October we reckoned to have significantly refurbished about half Basrah's schools and about a quarter of our other three governorates' — against a national figure of just over ten percent. Re-equipment — in the form of desks and chairs, chalkboards and stationery supplies was delivered by another USAID contractor, Creative Associates. Again it could possibly meet all needs — actually managing just under 40% - but the impact was tremendous. Now the emphasis is shifting from bricks and mortar and equipment to "capacity building" — essentially training, of both administrators and teachers, especially now we expect to hand over in only another six months.

On the Higher Education front, the big difference was, and is, that there are no governorate Directorates; HE institutions are administered directly from a separate Ministry of Higher Education in Baghdad — the technical ones through the Foundation For Technical Education.

Every HE location in the south, save for one Technical Institute in the north of Dhi Qar, had been looted by the locals to varying degrees, with most losing not only every item of equipment and every book but also doors and window frames and even electrical wiring ! Only a few, such as the Technical College and Institute site in Basrah, where there had been a three day no-holds-barred battle, had been damaged by fighting and left twisted metal and rubble. Institutions which had already suffered twenty years of punitive neglect, because of the resistance of the Shia to Saddam's oppression, were now in a desperate state. The needs here were way beyond the scope of military Quick Impact Projects, and it was only in September and October that the systems were finally developed to get Ministry funding streams back up and CPA and donor government efforts into action. Both staff and students have been very patient and positive, I am relieved to say, recognizing that protest and radicalism would only delay involvement by the outside agencies on which resurgence would come to depend. The cancellation of a British Council visit because of the August riots over fuel and electricity made this very clear.

The Council's rescheduled visit in November and again in December brought firm plans for active help; and the UK's commitment of millions to the rebuilding of Basrah's

Technical College and several colleges of the University's south campus are now conspicuous evidence of focus on this challenge. From what was a mood of frustration bordering on despair in August there is at last a real sense of optimism in all quarters of Higher Education in Basrah.

The much smaller and newer — 5,000 students compared with 25,000 — University of Nasiriyah, started up only in 1997, faces similar problems and is disadvantaged by its lowly status and lack of connections. A threat worth a mention is the covert attempts by radical political and religious groups to infiltrate campuses and control appointments, curriculums and policy. This is a security as much as an educational issue, and a serious one.

A critical dimension of the recovery programme for HE in the south is internet access. Only the University of Basrah has access at present — through two "V-sat" sites installed by a UN agency in recent weeks and by one CPA-funded site at the University's Medical College. The total of connected machines is only twenty-two, and each of the three sites costs $650 a month in subscription alone — a huge liability for these impoverished institutions. A bigger satellite and microwave system is impractical at present, and a full landline-based system is many months (some are saying two years) away. My aim is to install these temporary V-sat systems in more locations across the south, subject to the institutions' operating budgets being able to take on the subscription costs and maintain the systems after a start-up grant from the CPA and then its dissolution at the end of June '04.

Other initiatives to "re-engage" HE in the south with the outside world include book donations to re-stock libraries and visits to the UK and elsewhere by academics to update their knowledge and network with modern departments. I thank and salute Oxford for being in the vanguard in both these efforts — I understand a delivery of books collected by the Association of College Librarians is imminent, and the Oriental Institute (supported by the British Council) is sponsoring a week's visit to Oxford by a University of Basrah history professor in February '04. I have invigilated an English language test for Fulbright applicants, got sponsorship for two MSc graduates to complete their research at Gulf universities, and am helping send technical college and institute staff to Kuwait for update courses. I am currently trying to secure remote supervision for PhD and Masters students for courses interrupted by the war. There is, predictably, a huge hunger for such contact, and especially for scholarships to study abroad.

I leave Iraq in just a few weeks time, handing over to a DFID-contracted civilian — or possibly two — in accordance with the bigger plan. Just in case any of my current colleagues (local as well as international) get to read this, including those doing the job at governorate level, may I express my admiration and gratitude for their good work under very trying and often dangerous conditions. I believe we've made a real difference to the future of this potentially rich and dynamic country. If there is anyone out there who can be of practical assistance to the cause in the coming months, do please get in touch — via me in the first instance at cimricsimmh

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Media Group Meet in Mayfair On Thursday 18th March 2004 the evening reception for the Pembroke Media Group will be in the beautiful Georgian drawing-room at 40 Dover street, Piccadilly, home of the Arts and Authors' Clubs. Past members of these clubs include, Oscar Wilde, George Meredith, Arthur Pineor, E M Forster, Somerset Maugham, Millais, Kipling, Whistler, Elizabeth Frink.

The evening has been arranged by Godfrey Howard (1946) who has been elected an honorary member of the clubs, and who will give a short talk on a subject of passionate interest to everyone who works in the media the state of the language. Godfrey has written

award-winning books on the use of English and Sir Roger Bannister has called his work 'truly worthy of the Pembroke linguistic tradition founded by Dr Johnson' .

The Master will attend the reception, as well as other luminaries, and the distinguised chef of the Arts Club has promised to make a special effort for Pembroke with the wine and refreshments.

Invitations will be sent out in early January to alumni we know to be working in media related fields. If you do not usually receive an invitation and would like to make sure that you are included, please contact the Development Office (details on the back page).

Recent Development Office Functions

by Joanne Bowley, Development Office Manager Society Dinner, Friday 26th September

John Padasian (1967) and William Horsley (1967), our speaker, with The Master, Giles Henderson

Activity Day, Saturday 27th September On Saturday 27th September around sixty members attended the annual Activity Day. In both the morning and afternoon, attendees could choose between a musical option, a 'tour' option and a lecture option. There was also morning coffee and a buffet lunch with wine. As usual, this proved a very enjoyable occasion, where all options left those who had been entertained suitably impressed.

Relaxing between options, Nicola Harrison (Hill), Ailsa Camm and Caroline Barker (Udall) (all 1981)

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On Friday 26th September seventy members attended the Society Dinner 2003 (a larger turnout than in 2002). The speaker was William Horsley (1967), foreign correspondent for the BBC. A Chapel Service was held at 6pm, with Oliver Simon (1968) as Acting Chaplain and Lionel Pike (1959) once more on the Organ. Then, members enjoyed drinks in Broadgates Hall, with the AGM at 6.45pm and the Society Dinner, in Hall, at 7.30pm. For those able to stay, the College bar was open after the meal.

At the AGM, as will be reported in a future College Record, Revd Dr John Platt (1956) was elected Honorary Vice President, in recognition of his many years hard work as Society Secretary and Treasurer.

1959 Dinner, Friday 19th September

This Dinner was organised by John Banks (1959), with a little help from the Development Office. Although he himself was later unable to attend, his enthusiasm encouraged twenty-four of his contemporaries to accept seven more members than attended their Gaudy in June 2002!

Sadly, John Banks passed away at the end of November. There was a strong Pembroke presence at his funeral and his year plan to carry on his good work. They hope to have another get-together within two or three years.

Pre-Dinner drinks in Broadgates Hall

Double Headship Dinner, Friday 24th October Matthew Clayton-Stead (1999), along with other representatives from the Friends of Pembroke College Boat Club, organised this dinner for alumni and current students alike to gather and celebrate the historic Double Headship achieved by the Pembroke 1st VIIIs in Eights 2003.

The guest speaker was Sean Bowden, Head Coach of Oxford University Boat Club. There were also entertaining speeches from the Master, Nick Tuppen (2001 - as a representative of the crews) and Leila Hudson (1993 - as President of the Friends of Pembroke College Boat Club).

It was a lively dinner, with the three tables roughly divided into current students, those who had graduated after 1990 and those who had graduated before 1990. Let us hope that we may be able to have another such dinner in 2004!

If you would like more information about

Head Porter Brian Harvey, enjoying the company of Catherine Faulkner, Leila Hudson and Georgina McGowan (all 1993) the Friends of Pembroke College Boat Club, please visit the official Pembroke Rowers website ( ) or write to: Friends of Pembroke College Boat Club, c/o The President, Pembroke College Boat Club, Oxford, OX1 1DW

Email Mailing List Service We now run an email mailing list keeping members up-to-date with current happenings and planned future events at Pembroke. Emails are sent about once a fortnight, provided that there is something of interest to report!

There are currently over 980 members on the email mailing list. Will you make it 1000? If you would like to be included please contact:

More photos can be found by visiting the website and clicking on 4./UMIMP followed by `vu

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Pembrokian Profile: Ian Semple (1949) Like most of my generation, when I came up to Oxford in 1949 it was after two years of National Service, which left me longing to return to some useful study again. Having read German and French with some thought of school teaching, I took my degree and then decided that a lack of skill in keeping discipline and a lack of fondness for sports (apart from rowing) were fatal flaws in the way of following a career as a school master. I promptly changed course and took articles with a firm of Chartered Accountants in the city of London. I had loved life at Pembroke, and for a number of years seized every chance I found to return to Oxford for events such as accounting seminars, staying the weekend once in Merton and once in Balliol.

However, my years at Oxford had a far more radical and enduring influence on my life in a different sphere. Shortly after arriving, I scanned all the notices in the college lodge to see what societies and events looked interesting. One flyer announced a public meeting to be held in the Town Hall on 20 October 1949, on the subject "World Unity Through World Religion".

This interested me, so I went along. It turned out to be the first public meeting given by the Band'is of Oxford and, in the course of three months, I became a Band'i myself.

In the Band'i Faith there is no clergy. The communities are governed locally, nationally and internationally, by elected Assemblies of nine members each. There are no nominations for election, and electioneering is prohibited. Each voter writes on his or her ballot paper the names of the nine individuals he believes, after thought and prayer, to be suited for election. The nine who receive the most votes are obligated to serve, unless a serious problem makes it impossible for him or her to do so.

In due course, while pursuing my studies and, subsequently, my accounting career, I was elected in turn to the Local Assemblies of Oxford, London and Edinburgh, and, in 1956, to the National Assembly of the Bat-16.'1s of the British Isles. My spare time was occupied largely with the work of the expanding community in Britain and on the continent. In 1961 I was elected to the International Bat-16.'1 Council and, in 1963 to the Universal House of Justice, the supreme

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In 1961 I moved to Israel to serve at the Baha'i World Centre instituition of the Bat-16.'1 International Community.

Thus in 1961 I moved to Israel to serve at the Band'i World Centre in the twin cities of Acre and Haifa, where the Founders of the Faith, Bal-au'llah and the Bab, are buried. Having been elected at each quinquennial election thereafter, I am still serving here.

It has been a fascinating forty-two years, seeing the Band'i community throughout the world expanding to every country. At the same time it has grown in its capacity to weld together formerly mutually antagonisitic people, and has learned how to evolve projects of economic and social development arising from the grass roots of local communities. Since the United Nations was founded, the Band'i International Community, as an International Non-Governmental Organization, has worked closely with its agencies, is accredited to ECOSOC and UNICEF and collaborates with national governments wherever possible. So my life has never been dull.

The tyrannies and disruptions that have torn world society in these decades have also affected the Baha'l community, both directly and indirectly. In a number of Muslim countries the Band'i community is banned. In Iran it has been persecuted ever since its birth in that country in 1844. In the early decades some 20,000 followers of the Faith were martyred with the utmost barbarity. With the 1979 revolution in Iran, persecution intensified. At the present time, B and'i young people are debarred from university education there, and continuing pressure is exerted to extinguish the Band'i community, which is the largest religious minority in the country.

In July 1963 I married my wife, Louise, who is Swiss, and our three children were born and raised in Israel, leaving when the time came to go to university.

One now lives in Switzerland and two in England.

Baha'is have a firm policy of carrying out their work while avoiding involvement in political disputes.

Naturally, the 700 some Band'is who serve here are distressed by the violence that persists between communities who have suffered so much. The roots of the issues here go back a very long way. The Arabs recall the Crusades, while the Jews never forget the 2,000 years of persecution they have suffered in one country after another. My children all went to local schools and studied in Hebrew - we taught them English and, with less success, German, at home. One day, when my older son, Michael, was at primary school, he asked me to give him a copy of our family

tree for his homework. I did so, rather intrigued at the reason for this. A few days later he told me. His class was studying recent history, and each pupil had to circle on his or her family tree the names of those who had perished in the Holocaust. Michael was the only one in the class who had no name to circle.

It is, of course, rather claustrophobic living in a small country whose borders one can never cross, and some areas of which are too subject to terrorist attacks to encourage visits. But we receive in Haifa a stream of about 100 and 200 pilgrims every two weeks for most of the year, as well as other visitors, and Louise and I go, about once a year, to visit members of our family and Band'icommunities in different parts of Europe.

Fortunately, Haifa has a large tradition of good relations among the members of its mixed population. There is a large minority of Arab-speaking citizens, Christians of various churches, Muslims, both Sunni and Shiah, and Druzes. There have very seldom been terrorist actions in

Since the United Nations was founded, the Baha'i International Community ... has worked closely with its agencies

It is, of course, rather claustrophobic living in a small country whose borders one can never cross Haifa, and always, if I remember correctly, by those who have come from outside the city.

Recently I experienced a good example of the peaceful atmosphere in Haifa. I happened to be travelling up Mount Carmel in the underground funicular railway called the Carmelit. In the coach were a number of mostly middle-aged and elderly Jewish and Arab passengers. Also a large and boisterous crowd of Arab teenagers, doing what youngsters of that age do in any country. I was suddenly struck by the calm and lack of concern of the older passengers and the unselfconscious bounciness of the youth, who finally poured out of the train when it reached the summit of its run where there is a park. With such examples daily before my eyes, and regular information of progress from Baha'l communities in all countries, I refuse to despair at the inter-communal hatred that exists, not only in this land, but in so many parts of the world.

Former Fellow, Michaelangelo Zaccarello A student and then perfezionando of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa under the supervision of Professor Alfredo Stussi (who recently discovered the earliest surviving Italian poem), Michelangelo Zaccarello specialized in Renaissance authors, especially Torquato Tasso, before embarking in the critical edition of Italy's prime comic poet of the early Renaissance, Domenico di Giovanni called II Burchiello. This work has absorbed no less than ten years, from an early Normale seminar (1991), to a 'tesi di laurea' (on Burchiello's manuscript tradition), to the subsequent Doctorate thesis (which constitutes the backbone of the Bolognese edition) and a Study Day, organised in Florence in 1999 to mark 550 years from the poet's death.

While extending his research interests backwards to Early Italian texts and related linguistic problems, Zaccarello was appointed full-time lecturer of University College, Dublin in late 1996, a position he held for three academic years (during which he was also CIMO. Visiting Lecturer in the University of Helsinki during Spring 1999).

He was appointed Oxford University Lecturer and Fellow of Pembroke College in May 1999, and subsequently awarded the honorary Oxford MA required to become a Governing Body member. In Oxford lectures, seminars and tutorials, he taught authors such as Dante, Boccaccio,

Tasso and Verga and tackled a wide range of linguistic and literary topics (History and Chronicle in Trecento Tuscany; Italian Comic and Realistic Poetry (13th-15th centuries); Dialect in Italian 'novelle'; Rewriting Cinquecento Texts; The Comedy of Languages; An Introduction to Textual Criticism; Rhymes of Wisdom: Didactic Poetry of the late Trecento; An Introduction to Italian Literature of the Renaissance; Literacy and Linguistic Education in Italy after 1861; A Basic Introduction to Italian Sociolinguistics). Some of his advanced course were taught through Italian (Cavalcanti's "Rime"; Il Circolo Laurenziano; Avviamento all 'Etimologia italiana).

Following the award of a Professorship in September 2002, Zaccarello was invited to become Professor of Italian Philology at the University of Verona, a position that he took up in October 2003. A member of several research committes (Celebrations for Giovanni Della Casa, 1503-2003; "LIO: Lirica Italiana delle Origini") and editorial boards ("Letteratura Italiana Antica"), Zaccarello's current research interests are: History of the Italian Language and Dialects; Historical Grammar; Textual Criticism; Early Renaissance language and literature (especially comic and realistic poetry); Italian 'espressionismo' in literature; Italian Literary Onomastics.

9

George Bredin Travel Award 2003: Elections and Society in Trinidad & Tobago

By Adam Brodie (2001).

In Trinity Term 2003 I was awarded the George Bredin Travel Award to gather data in Trinidad for my dissertation (worth twenty percent of my geography degree). The main aims were to identify and account for patterns of voting in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T), principally between the two main racial groups

I left the humble surroundings of the Swindon commuter belt for the palm trees and white sands of the Caribbean.

courtesy of my hosts. Later in the trip, I became accustomed to most of the Creole and IndoTrinidadian dishes not to mention all of the major Trinidadian beers. Sadly, my trip ended too soon for me to move on to the famous Trinidadian rums (although thank God for duty free).

A critical part of my research would come from my interpretation of Trinidadian society and so I tried to observe as much as I could of everyday "Trini" life. I was able to get a taste from attending various social events (barbeques, comedy shows and even a book launch); from interviews but best of all was the banter I enjoyed with the locals. Every Trinidadian is an expert and they don't hold back when (Africans and East Indians).

I was studying the period from 1991-2002, they give you their opinions on politics. In particular firstly because my tutor and supervisor, Prof. Colin I found taxi drivers were inexhaustible fountains of Clarke (Jesus College) had completed a similar study knowledge.

In order to get a feel for the politics I went to covering the previous elections and secondly there had been a number of interesting election results that a Senate session and interviewed MPs, Senators and warranted further geographical investigation. This independent political commentators from whom I included the heavy defeat of a multi-racial coalition learnt more than I expected. From early on I government; the first ever Indo-Trinidadian dominated decided not to record interviews and consequently government; and three general elections in two years received a great deal of shocking "off the record" (2000-2002), including a hung parliament between the information from reliable sources on politicians' involvement in drugs transhipments from Columbia, Afro- and Indo-Trinidadian parties in 2001.

On 4th July 2003, I left the humble murder, embezzlement of state resources, voter surroundings of the Swindon commuter belt for the padding, house padding, and even the organised palm trees and white sands of the Caribbean. The kidnapping ring currently striking fear into arduous flight was made to feel longer thanks to the Trinidadians. Not the things that come to mind when good people of British West Indies Airlines, who did thinking about the Caribbean.

However, my best piece of fortune was that their best to achieve in-flight torture, playing backmy stay coincided with the 2003 Local Elections. to-back Jennifer Lopez and Hugh Grant movies.

Upon arriving, I was determined to become a This enabled me to get a real feel for what Trinidad converted Trinidadian, and so decided to apply my was like come election time and to experience the travel motto of "when in Rome..." wherever political piquant between the two main parties in the possible. Two hours after landing and I had made an media and firsthand at their rallies. I soon formed honourable start. Not forgetting my student roots, I the opinion that while T&T is currently polarised to a managed to sink some of the local beers as well as great extent along racial lines at elections, it is not an sample the Indo-Trinidadian culinary delights, both inherently racially segregated society with race

10

appearing to be politicised.

In the weeks prior to my departure, I had been in contact with a number of academics at the University of the. West Indies (UWI) to arrange interviews and access to the libraries and computing facilities. I spent the majority of the first three weeks at UWI (only a ten-minute walk from my accommodation), conducting interviews with economists, historians, social scientists and political scientists and reading local authors' works in the West Indian Collection (UWI's equivalent of the Bodleian Library).

A large part of my research involved me gathering statistics from census and election reports.

Whilst some were available in UWI, the more recent data was only available in State offices in the capital, Port of Spain. I had little problem in getting all of the election reports right up to 2002, however the famous `laid back' Caribbean attitude was evident when I tried to get hold of the 2000 Census only to be told that, more than three years after the data collection process, the results still had not been published and no one seemed to know when they would be.

Having gathered my data I decided to spend the last part of my trip in Tobago, as I had heard

Every Trinidadian is an expert ... In particular I found taxi drivers were inexhaustible fountains of knowledge

Pembroke in Tobago is within a 20-minute drive from Plymouth, Speyside and Scarborough it was more stereotypically Caribbean and less industrialised than Trinidad. I splashed out on the £20 flight, and spent some quality time on Tobago's white sand beaches in the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean Sea, with only tropical birds, a Bill Bryson book and a few local fishermen for company.

I also got a taste of Tobagonian life (incredibly even more "mafiana" than Trinidad) visiting the curiously named capital, Scarborough, and risking life and limb I took the public bus on the tourist-unfriendly (thankfully!), meandering coastal road to the tranquil fishing village of Charlotteville. However the discovery of my trip was a place called Pembroke.

For those interested, Pembroke in Tobago is within a 30-minute drive from Plymouth, Speyside and Scarborough and just south of Glamorgan. Sadly, I am unaware of any connections between the college and the village. Perhaps we should strengthen the ties with a twinning!

There are many, too numerous to name, who deserve a mention of my appreciation for contributing to my enjoyment in T&T. However I must thank the trustees of the George Bredin travel fund for awarding me the scholarship, and Pembroke JCR for their generous grant. If you are interested in finding out more about my research, you can email me: ,,,AAe4W./A

Purchase Pembroke Prints About seven years ago, a limited edition print of the Pembroke Chapel Quad (drawn from the Chapel corner) became available from Millbury Fine Art Prints. Previously, the prints have been on sale exclusively to Pembrokians and their contacts but Millbury have let us know that these prints are now going to be available to all.

500 limited edition, black and white prints were made and about 300 have been sold. All prints are numbered and purchasers receive the next available number. Print number '1' is currently in the Development Office, so please take the opportunity to come and visit if you would like to know exactly what the print looks like.

Prints cost £50 + £5 p&p. Cheques should be made to "Millbury" and sent to Millbury Fine Art Prints, Wyke Lodge, London Road, West Malling, ME19 SAS. Millbury Fine Art Prints can also be

contacted on 01732 874845 and plan to launch a website very soon.

Pembrokians may also remember that several years ago three limited edition prints of Pembroke (the Hall & Chapel Quad, Old Quad and Pembroke Square) were commissioned, taken from original watercolours by Dennis Roxby Bott RWS. The originals were exhibited at a previous Eights Summer Garden Party.

These colour prints cost £109 each, which includes postage and packing for the UK and Europe. The College receives £10 royalties from each print sold. Cheques should be made payable to `Contemporary Watercolours' and sent to Contemporary Watercolours, 165 Parrock Street, Gravesend, Kent, DA121ER. Please telephone 01474 535922 for more details, or visit their website at rcww.conternwatercolours.fsnet.co.uk

11

Update 'Pembroke Runner' and 'Mystery Man'

Diary Dates Correct as of Dec. 2003 but may be subject to changes Sat 28th February

In the July 2003 Pembrokian we asked for suggestions for the new 'Pembroke Runner', purchased by Dick Williamson (1952) to run under Pembroke colours. After due consideration it has been duly dubbed "Double Header" and is currently still under training.

Also, on the back page of the last issue, we asked if you knew who was shown in a picture, found by an anonymous Pembrokian who thought that it may have been given him by former Pembroke Master Ronald McCallum. As several people were able to tell us, the picture showed George Bernard Shaw.

Contacting the Development Office

JCR Art Fund Lunch

(see page 3 for further details)

Thurs 18th March

Media Reception

(see page 6 for further details - speaker Godfrey Howard (1946) )

Fri 26th March

Gaudy for years 1988-90

(invitations will be sent out in January)

Fri 16th & Sat 17th April New York Reunion (Pembroke events Thurs 15th & Sat 17th April)

Fri 16th April

Inter-Collegiate Golf

Wed 5th May

Business Reception

( speaker Phil Bentley (1977) )

Fri 21st May

Golf Match

Sat 29th May

Garden Party

Tues 22nd June

John Barlow (1952)

Fri 25th June

Summer Golf Meeting Gaudy for years 1961-66

Development Director

Fri 24th September

Society Dinner

Tel: (01865)276417 Email: John.Barlow pmb.ox.ac.uk

Sat 25th September

Activity Day

JOINING US IN JANUARY 2004 Angela Koester (2001)

Next Term's Organ Recitals

Development Officer

Tel: (01865) 276501 Email: Angela.Koester@pmb.ox.ac.uk Joanne Bowley Development Office Manager

Tel: (01865) 276478 Fax: (01865) 276482 Email: Joanne.Bowley@pmb.ox.ac.uk

Write to us at: The Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford, OX I 1 DW

Pembroke website www.pmb.ox.ac.uk 12

If you are able you would be very welcome to attend the Thursday lunchtime Organ Recitals which will be taking place in the Damon Wells Chapel next term. Recitals commence at fpm.

The schedule (as at time of printing) is as follows: Thursday 12th February (4th Week) Lewis Brito-Babapulle (of St. Peter's College) Thursday 26th February (6th Week) Tim Jones (of Pembroke College) Thursday 4th March (7th Week) Jonathan Clinch (of Keble College) Thursday 11th March (8th Week) Richard Pinel (of Magdalen College)

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