Is Cambridge really the less venerable of the two?

To boost his side, a sixteenth century Cambridge historian once claimed that the university was founded by Cantaber, prince of Spain, in the "year of the world" 4321. This theory, with its royalist coloring, was naturally well received by his fellow partisans.

The reality is not quite so romantic, unfortunately. Cambridge not only arose after Oxford. It originated from it, and under less than edifying circumstances.

The earliest "clerkes of Oxenford" were a rather rowdy lot, it seems, and frequently got into scrapes with the local populace. In 1209, after a student murdered a local woman and the townspeople exacted vengeance on two innocent professors, both faculty and students fled the vicinity and the university practically shut down. Many of them settled down in Cambridge, and that marked the origin of Cambridge University.

In those days most professors were wandering scholars and most students were close to vagabonds. So the townsfolk's consternation at the sudden introduction of so many "parasites" can well be imagined.

Students and teachers found their first permanent home in 1284, when Hugh de Balsham, bishop of Ely, took in a group of them at Peterhouse hospital, stipulated rules of behavior for them, and allocated a sum of money to maintain them. That was the beginning of Cambridge's first college: Peterhouse.

The colleges at Oxford and Cambridge are clearly distinguished from those in the United States.

King Yao-chi, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who has taught at Cambridge, points out that Oxbridge colleges are fundamentally "residential communities" for students and teachers, places where they live together. The college simply provides room and board, arranges tutoring, and offers students a place to study. But instruction, testing, and the granting of degrees are performed by the various faculties, such as Classics, Natural Sciences, and Oriental Studies.

After more than seven centuries of change, there are now thirty colleges at Cambridge. They are each independent, with their own regalia, ceremonies, and regulations, and their relationship to the university as a whole in "federal" in nature. The most famous of them, which line the main streets of the university district, include Newton's Trinity College, Wordsworth's St. John's College, and King's and Queen's colleges, which are favorites with the aristocracy.

When the colleges are considered, mention must be made of the supervisory (or tutorial) systen, which "gives students the freedom not to attend class."

The system deeply interests Chao Kuo-ts'ai, who earned a doctorate at Cambridge University and is now director of the department of international law and diplomacy at National Chengchi University. "As soon as students register, the instructors in each department announce the scope of the final exams," he says. "Whether students attend class or not is entirely up to them."

Because exam questions are set by the department as a whole rather than by individual instructors, taking notes in class is no sure guarantee of success. Classes given by topnotch scholars may be full up, but few students attend every class of a course from beginning to end. To prevent students from going astray, the colleges, charged with the responsibility of overseeing their students' education, assign a faculty member to supervise their work.

Although faculty supervisors are a bit like tutors, they are not there to help students review or answer their questions. On the contrary, says Chao, who himself once served as a tutor at the University of Edinburgh: "The most important job of the supervisor is to question."

In the weekly one-on-one meetings, or "supervisions," the supervisor first asks about the student's progress and raises a couple of key questions. He may then draw up a reading list and assign a topic for a paper for the next meeting.

For most students, supervisions are a nightmare. Wang Ch'iu-kuei, a professor at the Institute of Literature, Tsing Hua University, who studied sinology at Cambridge with Professor Piet van der Loon, recalls the experience vividly:

Eight o'clock sharp each Wednesday evening was the moment the ordeal began. Van der Loon and Wang, one drinking coffee, the other sipping tea, sat face to face in a haze of tobacco smoke punctuated by the professor's irate remarks. "The form, diction, grammar, logic, structure, and contents of my paper--anything and everything fell within the scope of his criticism," Wang recalls, smiling grimly.

This sharply critical approach of "ferreting out every hole in a student's thesis, tearing it to pieces, and teaching him to build it up again" is right in the tradition of the supervisory system.

The supervisor takes the offensive, and the student falls back on defense, trying to justify his thesis and refute the supervisor's objections. The truth emerges from the thrust and parry of debate.

"Student discussion is different in England than in America," Wang points out.

There are many good students in the U.S., of course, but there are also quite a few who like to "argue for the sake of arguing," sometimes at ridiculous length, to attract the attention of the teacher. And professors there encourage free expression and are reluctant to hurt a student's selfesteem.

But at Oxford and Cambridge a student who is ill informed or ill prepared had better 'fess up and accept the consequences. Otherwise, the more he argues and reveals his ignorance, the more caustic the sarcasm he is in for.

Although Cambridge is fortified with a world-class faculty, it has not proved invulnerable to the threat of the "silver bullet": the financial clout of the U.S. and Japan. Many outstanding professors have left for greener pastures in recent years, and many top students no longer look on Cambridge as their number-one choice. In today's money-first era, Cambridge has fallen on hard times.

Should this ancient university quicken its step to keep pace with the materialistic trends of the day? Or preserve its cultivated traditions and serve as a serene asylum in a sullied world? Cantabrigians are caught in a quandary.

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Earlier this year we reported on Oxford University, one of the world's "sacred citadels" of learning. This issue follows up with an article on Oxford's sister institution, Cambridge.

The aristocretic attire of the past may have gradually been replaced by jeans and running shoes, but the university's leisurely pace and contemplative atmosphere still haven't changed.

Cambridge has been called a city of bicycles. A high proportion are "borrowed away," but many are also returned.

Most of this crisscrossed jumble ot wires was designed and installed by the students themselves. Shown are Huang Kuo-hsiung and a friend.

There are only around twenty students from Taiwan at Cambridge, and whenthey get together they always have lots to talk about.

The Backs look rather forlorn in winter, but once summer arrives they ar e brilliant with flowers and bustling with visitors.

(Left) The fountain in the Great Court at Trinity College is a must for tourists.

The vast Botanic Gardens have made outstanding contributions to world botanical studies. Shown here is part of the rock section.

The aquatic area of the gardens is not only home to various aquatic plan ts but is also a refuge for many rare ducks and waterfowl.

The space shuttle is one of the tools used to carry satellites aloft. （photo courtesy of Newton magazine）

It's harvest season again. The photo shows the Laopei farm. Besides being sold fresh, pineapples can be processed into all kinds of products.

It's harvest season again. The photo shows the Laopei farm. Besides being sold fresh, pineapples can be processed into all kinds of products.

Pineapple grown naturally does not from seeds. Staff at the Fengshan agricultural station cultivate seedlings.

Pineapples can take the heat,but shy away from sunlight. Farmers bind together the leaves to provide shade.

Pineapple is composed of the fruit of many small flowers grown together.

"Pineapple head, watermelon tail." Can you tell which side is the head? In fact the leafy part is the tail.

A "pineapple pot," where food is cooked right inside the pineapple. It is eye-catching and delicious, and available at many restaurants in Taiwan. （photo courtesy of Hilit publishing Co., Ltd.）

Today the trademark is stamped right on the pineapple can. Those steel c ans so many remember from their childhoods can't be found.

At left is the Tainung No. 6 of which the special characteristic is that the fibers are very fine. At right is the No. 4 "peelable" pineapple produced by the Chiayi agricu ltural station.Second from the right is the Tainung No. 11 created by the Fengshan station. （photos courtesy of Chang Ching-chin and Lin Jung-kuei）

The "tourist pineapple," of the same family as its namesake, has beautiful flowers, but no fruit to eat.

Because the sounds for "pineapple" in Taiwanese evoke the idea of pros-perity, it has become an indis-pensable part of New Year's offerings.

Earlier this year we reported on Oxford University, one of the world's "sacred citadels" of learning. This issue follows up with an article on Oxford's sister institution, Cambridge.