June Ross, host of SUGUNA '96 has informed the newsletter editorial staff that plans for the Þnest SUGUNA conference ever are well underway. To be held on the picturesque campus of Western Washington University at Bellingham, the meeting will extend from August 15-18, 1996. Early registration is recommended since the important extras that make such gatherings successful must be planned well in advance and are dependent on as accurate an estimate of numbers as is possible.
June is in the process of planning an enjoyable program with social gatherings and events that will help delegates renew acquaintance with friends from meetings past and ensure that Þrst-time sugunistas enjoy the good fellowship for which SUGUNA is renowned and of which SUGUNA is proud. Please help June ensure the meeting's success by returning your registration as soon as possible.
In the past a lot has been said (often loudly!) at SUGUNA conferences about the annual meeting always being held on the West Coast. Unfortunately, volunteers with realistic proposals for hosting the annual meeting have not been ready to propose sites for a membership vote during the annual meeting. At the Whistler meeting, the group proposed that meeting sites should be chosen at least three years ahead of time to allow the host time to arrange a good meeting and also to take advantage of prior hosts' experiences. It is probably convenient for most SUGUNA members for the meeting site to move around North America rather than remaining on one coast.
This is, then, an ofÞcial call for proposals by SUGUNA members to host the 1997, 1998, and 1999 meetings. Potential hosts for any of these years should come to the Bellingham meeting prepared to present their proposed site for a membership vote. Site proposals should include dates, tentative accommodation prices, and meeting outline. Although this may appear to be a little too formal for some, it should obviate the necessity of having to rush to arrange a meeting at the last minute. Our meetings have grown in the number of attendees and in the complexity of the arrangements. An ad hoc approach leaves too much to chance.
Attendees at SUGUNA '94, held on the campus of Stanford Uni versity, probably recall hearing from Phillip Smith (BE '50) about the establishment of the University of Sydney/USA Foundation. Since the Foundation is a registered charitable entity, it is the logical vehicle for US taxpayers to make tax deductible contributions to the University of Sydney.
Foundation representatives have recently informed SUGUNA that the 1995 Annual Appeal has been mailed. The Annual Appeal offers graduates an opportunity to support Þnancially the excellent work of the University. Any questions about donations to the Foundation (including gifts of appreciated assets, life income agreements, bequests, etc.) may be directed to Phillip Smith [(412) 392-0133] or John Semmler [(607) 277-8860]. The work of the Foundation is important to the mission of the University of Sydney. The Foundation's directors together with SUGUNA's steering committee hope sincerely that SUGUNA members will consider making a tax deductible contribution this year and in the years to come.
The 1996 NSW Rhodes Scholar is University of Sydney graduate Evan Fountain. Fountain, whose degrees are in economics and law, will begin studies in International Relations at Oxford University next September. Mr. Fountain plans to study the role of UN-sponsored military peacekeeping in civil wars. This scholarship represents something of a record for the University. Three of the nine Australian Rhodes Scholars for 1995-1996 have come from our alma mater.
Those SUGUNA members who en joy reading the Gazette should be aware of the following detrimental changes to that publication. Whereas the Gazette has traditionally been a quarterly publication, since 1994 it has been issued only semiannually. This was supposed to be only a temporary situation for 1994, but has been extended without explanation. The President of Convocation Charles Latimer writes: "The Gazette is the only publication which is sent to all graduates and is a critical link which should not be discounted. It is vitally important that alumni associations and all volunteer graduate groups ensure that this publication is not directed away from our activities."
Professor Derek Anderson, acting Vice-Chancellor at Sydney Uni versity, has accepted Bill Lew's invitation to attend the Bellingham meeting. In addition, he has set his sights on demolishing John Stephen's spectacular golf mark set in the 1995 Whistler SUGUNA Invitational!
Michael Graham, President of the University of Sydney Tasmanian Alumni Association, has contacted SUGUNA. For those SUGUNA members who are in contact with University of Sydney graduates living on the Apple Isle, please pass on USTAA's address: PO Box 794, Sandy Bay, TAS 7006.
Reviews are provided to suguna by Professor Graeme Watts, Director of the Office of Community and Alumni Relations at the University of Sydney. The reviewers are University staff.
Thomas Keneally, sometime semi narian, schoolteacher, Booker prizewinner, writer-in-residence at the University of California Irvine, Professor of Creative Writing at NYU, identity in the Australian republican movement seems to have incorporated at least some of his life experience and social viewpoint into his newest work, A River Town. (Doubleday $24)
Apparently drawn from the experiences of his Irish grandparents as they settled in Kempsey, the story is a rich melange of characters and incidents that will strike some familiar chords in SUGUNA members. Although unlikely to receive the critical acclaim of some of his other works (Schindler's List, Flying Hero Class, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, To Asmara ), it is a well styled, colorful view of a turn-of-the-century NSW country town.