Key 20 - AEGEE Europe

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89 Maria Alvarez 15 years ago, at a time when e-mail and Internet were things that only a few high-tech freaks knew about, the magazine NewsBulletin was AEGEE’s main information tool. Published monthly by a team of editors headed by Maria Alvarez from AEGEE-Oviedo, it provided the network with gossip, information and reports. “In 1989, I was a studying German at the local Official School of Languages, when somebody there told me he was going to spend some days in Germany with AEGEE. I attended the Summer Universities of AEGEE-München and of AEGEE-Aachen, the latter being on computer science,” she recalls her first steps in AEGEE. “In autumn 1989, AEGEE-Oviedo took over production of the monthly NewsBulletin after AEGEE- Amsterdam. At first only 300 copies, quickly increased to 1500 copies, were distributed to 250 addresses all over Europe“. Today, Maria, a member of the CD between 1990 and 1992, works as a banker in Oviedo. 56 AEGEE-Europe
Describe yourself at the age of 20, as you know that AEGEE is turning 20 years old. I was not a very good student, studying at the last minute just to pass my exams. I preferred to do some other things, like working and helping organisations, but in my town there were not so many things to do. Then I discovered AEGEE, standing for the idea of Europe, or even the wider idea of Einstein’s “one world”: students building bridges across Europe. Later, I learned a new motto from Rainer Emschermann: “Pluralism as a goal and democracy as a way”. In 1992, within six months I passed the exams corresponding to two years of classes of Economics. Unlike most of the CD members of the time, my European experience did not influence my choice of career at all. I began working for a bank and bought my first flat. How would you describe yourself now? I'm still working for the same bank in Spain, an institution with 125 years of history and 1500 employees. Until some months ago, I was the head of the foreign section, now I am director of the department of projects. I have a daughter of almost two years and live with my family in a house outside Oviedo. Life is not so easy, and I struggle to see my daughter awake, at least for some minutes each day, always arriving home too late. Still, I keep in touch with some AEGEE members, especially with Silvia Negrotti of AEGEE- Milano, whom I still consider my soul-sister. AEGEE-Oviedo is said to be the biggest antenna ever, with 2000 members. How was this possible? AEGEE-Oviedo was founded by a group of people with a large experience in associations; some of them still heading big associations in Spain today. They were very professional, quickly arranging a telephone and fax, a meeting room and computers. We acted as mentors for the Erasmus students, organised exchanges with other antennae and common visits to congresses. We formed our own sports group, as well as some discussion groups, and weekly party nights with the Erasmus students. Mostly through the parties, and with the Summer Universities as our European offer, the antenna managed to enrol almost 2000 members under the Presidency of Enrique Riesgo, called Kike. Unfortunately, some three presidencies later, AEGEE-Oviedo almost disappeared - to reappear with renewed strength in 2000. You became famous for publishing the NewsBulletin for AEGEE-Europe. How did you make it? In AEGEE-Oviedo, we published 27 editions of the News- Bulletin. Times were so different then: no mobiles, no digital cameras, no Internet, no e-mail, bad software. It sounds as if we are talking about prehistory. We had a post box where we received all the letters and photos, and tried our best to rewrite texts received by post or fax. The result, our 20th Anniversary 20 years, 20 people Newsbulletin, would look like a school newsletter today, but fifteen years ago it really looked great. The antennae could receive information only by the various newsletters, which were really expensive and slow. In 1990, we moved to laser printers and opened our first EARN account, a predecessor of e-mail, but we did not get many messages, as only a few antennae had an account themselves. How did you finance the NewsBulletin? AEGEE-Oviedo was lucky to have the support of our university, which paid for the printing and mailing of copies to the antennae and the “NewsBulletin fan club”. For almost half of the issues, we had Maria Jesus Andres drawing for us. Everyone in AEGEE-Oviedo was engaged in making the NewsBulletin, and everyone would lend a hand with packing, labelling, boxing and transporting. It was real team work. We always loved receiving antennae changes and photos with the boards, but what I remember most is our own articles, the letters of the editors or opinions. It was also very nice when somebody sent an open letter to all the antennae. There was no censorship from the NB team or from the CD. You were Vice-President of the Quo Vadis CD. How did you experience this big turning point in AEGEE? At the Agora in Paris, in spring 1990, most of the people noticed a kind of of disappointment and controversy. Almost nobody wanted to join the CD and eventually we elected a list with only 15 members. For some reason, there was a misunderstanding between some antennae and the CD concerning the aims of the association and doubts were raised about the structure. For the following agora, presidential candidate Georg von der Gablentz managed to recruit a list of people under the name “Quo Vadis”, known at the antennae level for their work, but without much experience at European level. Rainer Emschermann contacted me, and with the support of AEGEE-Oviedo, I joined them. At the Agora Bonn in November 1990, for the first time the delegates had two candidate lists to choose from, and this was good, as it is for any organisation. Though it could be seen as a sign of division, it was in fact democracy; it enriched AEGEE’s global discussions. If I could go back in time, I would join the CD again. Which was the best year for you in AEGEE? 1991 was the year I worked hardest for AEGEE. I was a CD member and at the same time still printing the NB. Attending CD meetings and congresses took most of my time that year. Fortunately, the University of Oviedo also supported us with travel expenses, but I remember eternal train rides. Nevertheless, wandering around Europe and explaining our work was the most enriching experience AEGEE gave me. It opened up my universe and made me feel a real European. 57
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Our Mission We work hard to fulfill
Page 4 and 5:
Greetings Dear Reader, Twenty years
Page 6: Starting from a spectacular student
Page 9 and 10: 20 years - 20 facts Did you know th
Page 11 and 12: The early years: “We got so much
Page 13 and 14: The network’s future: from the bo
Page 15 and 16: Activities With 100 Summer Universi
Page 17 and 18: From Paris to the heart of the EU -
Page 19 and 20: 20th Anniversary The idea: students
Page 21 and 22: etween, we visited everything from
Page 23 and 24: Patrons of AEGEE-Europe Over its 20
Page 25 and 26: Former AEGEE members: Career at int
Page 27 and 28: Dirk Berndsen during an Anciens sai
Page 30 and 31: Fields of Action Active European ci
Page 32 and 33: Fields of Action Cultural exchange
Page 34 and 35: Fields of Action AEGEE & Higher Edu
Page 36 and 37: Fields of Action Active for peace a
Page 38: AEGEE would be nothing without its
Page 41 and 42: However, no one would have predicte
Page 43 and 44: longer come from national politics.
Page 45 and 46: This short anecdote illustrates the
Page 47 and 48: What were the main results and the
Page 49 and 50: What does your schedule look like o
Page 51 and 52: Europe meets Africa The first AEGEE
Page 53 and 54: This becomes obvious when he discou
Page 55: Through the years, SUs were taking
Page 59 and 60: IDE in the 1989 EP elections 20th A
Page 61 and 62: “One month later we founded AEGEE
Page 63 and 64: Seven years on the front page Some
Page 65 and 66: How did you join AEGEE? During my s
Page 67 and 68: ipants during this ES made it an im
Page 69 and 70: What does AEGEE mean to you? AEGEE
Page 71 and 72: Europe of the Regions - A new struc
Page 73 and 74: David’s life story made him a pri
Page 75 and 76: Renewable energy is the future AEGE
Page 77 and 78: Why did you join AEGEE? AEGEE-Eindh
Page 79 and 80: Sports gyms and cold showers Ltd. I
Page 81 and 82: Oleh, we met for the first time in
Page 83 and 84: Albanians. A huge discussion starte
Page 85 and 86: dents, I took over and established
Page 87 and 88: The CST researchers in Novi Sad. In
Page 89 and 90: How did you join AEGEE? In 1995, I
Page 91 and 92: Socrates Action Day: Attention to e
Page 93 and 94: Although Bernhard left AEGEE in 200
Page 95 and 96: The borders are gone, but the probl
Page 97 and 98: While talking with her, Faní radia
Page 99 and 100: Some event highlights of 1999 Febru
Page 101 and 102: active antennae on both sides of th
Page 103 and 104: Education for Democracy “Educatio
Page 105 and 106: AEGEE in Serbia was quite critical
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Socrates Promoters on the Move “S
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lot like it was my baby.” Another
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Nomads in the job market The Europe
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guy in the Goethe Institute in summ
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Youth& Globalisation In 2002, AEGEE
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same way. These are only some of th
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Artists on the stage Performance is
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Facing the problems of the future M
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Facing the problems of the future N
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Facing the problems of the future I
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Happy Birthday to AEGEE from our fr
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Key 20 - AEGEE Europe

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