June 1999 - University of Leicester

http://www.le.ac.uk/
BUL l e TIN
JUNE/JULY 1999
MEDICAL SCHOOL COMPLETES
HAT-TRICK OF SUCCESSES
THE Medical School achieved a
total score of 23 in the QAA
subject review held between 10
and 13 May. This completes a hattrick of 23s for Leicester in the
QAA subject reviews held so far
this year. The following scores
were awarded on the 1-4 scale:
Curriculum Design Content and
Organisation
Teaching Learning
and Assessment
Student Progression and
Achievement
Student Support and Guidance
Learning Resources
Quality Management and
Enhancement
4
3
4
4
4
4
The review visit was the largest
and most complex yet organised
at Leicester, involving a team of
eight QAA subject reviewers and a
parallel visit from a team of four
assessors from the General
Medical Council (GMC).
The reviewers sampled a wide
range of teaching in the Medical
School, in hospitals in Leicester,
Coventry, Kettering, Nuneaton
and in general practices. Both the
QAA and the GMC complimented
the Medical School on the success
of the new student-centred
curriculum, the high standard of
HIGH STANDARDS: Medical stude
nts participate in a multi-agency teach
ing initiative at
Prince Philip House. The TQA review of
Medicine was the largest and most comp
lex yet
organised at Leicester.
the teaching, the excellent
relationships with the NHS, and
the quality and commitment of the
students.
The review also took in the MSc
courses in Molecular Pathology &
Toxicity and in Medical Statistics &
Information Technology.
Physics and Astronomy and
American Studies both achieved
total scores of 23 in QAA visits
held during March, as reported in
the last issue of the Bulletin.
This follows a score of 22 for
History of Art, earlier this year.
All four of the above subject
areas would have been
categorised as ‘Excellent’
GARDEN HAS A FLOURISHING FUTURE
according to the former
descriptions applied by the QAA.
They add to the Excellents already
achieved by History (including
English Local History and
Economic and Social History),
English, Law and Chemistry.
• The Bulletin will include full
coverage of the QAA’s
assessment of the subjects as
and when the official QAA
reports are published.
I
N
S
I
D
E
TOP TIPS:
Careers Service
staff prepare for
Careers week in
June. Page 8.
SUMMER INTERLUDE:
Students and
staff take
part in music
and drama
events Pages
18-19.
MAKING GOOD SENSE: Culture Minister Chris Smith with Lord Attenborough, members of
the University and the Richard Attenborough Centre, at the opening of the Sensory Garden
outside the RAC. Story on Page 2.
SUCCESS IN
SIGHT: Details of
the University’s
July Degree
Congregations.
Page 32.
BULLETIN: Your triple award-winning newsletter – Heist Marketing Awards ’92, ’96, ’97
NEWS
VOLUME 31
NUMBER 9
JUNE/JULY 1999
N E W S................................1-14
ALUMNI....................................15
BUSINESS ....................16-17
ARTSTOP......................18-19
INTERNATIONAL .....20-22
OUT & ABOUT............23-24
FEATURE............................25
CUTTINGS ...................26-27
B O O K S...........................27-29
P EO P L E..........................30-31
NOTICES.......................32-33
S P O R T.................................34
CROSSWORD ..................35
PHOTOSTOP ........Back Page
GARDEN FOR ALL SENSES
A NEW garden designed to appeal to all the senses was opened by the
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Mr Chris Smith opened the University’s Richard Attenborough Centre’s
Sensory Garden on 26 May, when he visited the Centre to give the first of its
annual lectures.
Patron of the Centre Lord Attenborough was also there to preside over
the event, and the occasion included the
presentation of the two Category Awards that
the Centre won in the 1998 RIBA Stirling Prize.
A patch of gravel at the front of the Centre has
been transformed into a flourishing garden of
herbs, shrubs and flowers, that has been planned
since the Centre first opened.
The Sensory Garden has been funded by
donations from the public with sponsorship from
Ibstock Building Products Limited
RESEARCH GRANTS SUPPLEMENT INSIDE
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2
and planting will
be carried out in
GROWING ACHIEVEMENT: In the
Sensory Garden, Dr Eleanor Hartley,
consultation with the Director of the Richard Attenborough Centre with (abov
e left) Culture
Minis
ter, Chris Smith, and (above right) Barrie
Centre’s architect,
Frankland, Superintendent of
Gardens.
Ian Taylor, of
Bennetts Associates and the University gardeners.
Mr Barrie Frankland, Superintendent of Gardens in the University’s Estates
and Buildings Office, said: “We have chosen plants with scented foliage,
including a number of herbs like lavender, sage and thyme. There are also
plants and shrubs with contrasting foliage, such as conifers, grasses and New
Zealand flax. The emphasis is on touch and scent.”
The bed, which is raised by 700 mm to make it easily accessible for
wheelchair users, is 8 sq metres in size and has been planted with perennials
initially, keen gardeners at the Richard Attenborough Centre may add to it
from their own gardens as time goes on, and Barrie Frankland may plant
appropriate annuals and half-hardy plants, such as scented geraniums, later.
Last year, the Centre won the RIBA Architecture in Education Award and
the RIBA/Department of Health Architecture in Healthcare Award – and was
among the nominees for the coveted Stirling Prize 98. The presentation of the
prizes was made during the evening by Mr David Allsop, Chairman of the East
Midlands region of RIBA.
The University of Leicester Bulletin includes advertising to
offset production costs. It should be noted that the University
of Leicester does not necessarily adopt or endorse the
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cannot accept responsibility for any errors in advertisements
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NEWS
UNIVERSITY LECTURERS STAGE PROTEST
It is then that the universities and
unions will know the extent of the
problems involved and will seek
government help to address them.
PICKETS gathered at entrances
The pay offer of 3.5% is fair because
to the University on 25 May as
it is:
members of the Association of
• Substantially higher than the
University Teachers took part in
decreasing inflation rate (2.1%)
a one-day strike.
• Higher than pay settlements
The action was part of a
elsewhere (eg 3% for 1 million
nationwide protest by members
workers in local authorities)
of the AUT over their claim for
•
Higher than the 2.4% increase in
a 10% increase in HE salaries
government funding to universities
‘as a first step in closing a 36%
• Maximum universities can afford
pay-gap’.
without significant job losses”.
And the Union pledged ‘a
The AUT spokesman said: “Nobody
sustained campaign of
welcomes industrial action or takes it
industrial action’ which could
lightly.
The importance of the strike is
CALL
include ‘one-day strikes,
TO ACTION: Members of AUT – and
a dog – at the Mayor’s Walk
that it launches the period of activity.
entrance to the University.
boycotts of examinations, and
“Our goals are clear. First, we want
boycotts of admissions.’
employers to make a far better offer than
A spokesperson for the AUT said: “Staff in universities have
3.5%. Second, we want agreement to a programme of action to
been cheated of fair pay increases for over 15 years. Teachers,
reduce dramatically the levels of casualisation of staff and the
professors, researchers and related staff have seen student
systematic institutional pay discrimination against women. We
numbers quadruple. Productivity has soared but pay increases
want improvements in London Weighting, static for seven years
have dragged behind all other professional groups, defrauding
despite soaring costs in the capital. And we want vital
the hard-working staff in higher education.”
improvements in staff development.
But the employers’ association for UK universities and colleges
“We believe employers can offer more and can start to put
said the AUT strike action was unfair to students and damaging
other things right. They need to think again. Unfortunately, it is
to HE. A spokesperson said: “Employers in higher education are
necessary for us to take action to refresh their thinking.”
disappointed at the decision of AUT members to take strike
Declan Leyden, for UCEA, said: “It is not fair to punish our
action. Those voting in favour represent only 11% of all academic
students
and those applying now to go to university. They have
and related staff.
worked very hard for their future. Industrial action will damage
“Strike action is inappropriate and untimely when the
higher education unnecessarily.”
independent inquiry into pay in HE will publish its findings in May.
Employers hit out at ‘unfair
and damaging’ action
SIKH TRADITION IS
HIGHLIGHTED
AN historical review of the Khalsa in Sikh tradition was the subject of
a public lecture at the University. Professor Jagtar Singh Grewal, one
of the world’s most respected scholars and authorities on the history
of India, the Punjab and the Sikhs gave the third Geza Vermes
lectures in the History of Religions. Professor Grewal is pictured
standing, third from right, with the Vice-Chancellor and Professor
Richard Bonney, Director of the Centre for the History of Religions,
Inter-Faith Dialogue and Pluralism.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER TO GIVE HALDANE LECTURE
THE fifth Haldane Society Public Lecture on Tuesday 15 June will be
given by The Rt Hon Chris Patten.
Since 1998 Chris Patten has been Chairman of the Independent
Commission on Police for Northern Ireland, and immediately prior to
that he was the last person to hold the position of Governor and
Commander-in-Chief Hong Kong before the transfer of the territory to
China. He was Chairman of the Conservative Party 1990-92, and
during his 13 years as a member of parliament held several ministerial
posts. He has recently been appointed a European Commissioner.
The Haldane Society was established over 40 years ago as a meeting
place for ‘town and gown’. Its purpose is to hear distinguished speakers
address topics drawn from a wide range of subjects, but always
involving the boundary between academic study and practical everyday
concerns.
• The Lecture, Asia and Mr Gladstone – Lessons from the Tigers’ Boom
and Bust, takes place in the Rattray Lecture Theatre at 5.30 pm, and
admission is free.
3
FOCUS ON GEOGRAPHY
VOYAGE OF VIRTUAL ADVENTURE
graphic Services.
NEWS
BIRMINGHAM PROVIDES
INSPIRATION
PART-time Geography PhD student from Hong Kong, Ho Law, is
also known throughout the University for his talents as an artist,
and his lively pictures of University concert artists have been on
display to concert-goers in the past. In May, on the day he
submitted his PhD, he also donated a painting to the Geography
Department. The Journey 1994, is an image of Birmingham,
inspired by a visit there. The picture incorporates the use of
maps as well as painting, giving the impression of “zooming into
the place”.
Ho is pictured with Professor Tony Parsons of the Geography
Department in front of his picture.
* More news from Geography, page 20.
4
Pic: Loui Seselja, National Library Photo
have been created from the
‘Endeavour’ replica, although
the sound of the cat-of-ninetails recorded is no longer a
feature of modern voyages.”
The National Library of
Australia in Canberra and the
Australian National Maritime
Museum were the co-sponsors.
At the heart of the
groundbreaking CD-ROM is a
digital facsimile of the full text
of Cook’s journal manuscript
and it is accompanied by JC
Replica of HM Bark Endeavour, Natio
nal Maritime
Beaglehole’s classic 1955
Museum, Sydney,1995.
annotated transcript for page-bypage comparison.
The journal, in Cook’s own handwriting, includes his corrections,
additions and amendments. The fragile 231-year-old manuscript is held at
the National Library but is rarely displayed. It was purchased by the
Australian government at a London auction in 1923 for £5,000 and is now
available in this form for wider use.
“The CD brings together
images of botanical and
zoological specimens from
tes Cook’s voyage on
recrea
which
the voyage, Cook’s own
OM
CD-R
The
LDS:
BRAVE NEW WOR
University by Professor Terry Birtles,
charts, maps and drawings
board the Endeavour is presented to the
the Vice-Chancellor.
and watercolours of the
left, with the Earl of Limerick (right) and
people and places
encountered on the way.”
Professor Terry Birtles of the University of Canberra in
“Viewers will be able to
Australia is one of the contributors to this unique CD-ROM
experience what it was like
entitled ‘Captain Cook’s Journal 1768-71: Endeavour’. He is
travelling with the great
currently on sabbatical leave in the Geography Department
British navigator on this
where he donated a copy of the CD-ROM.
remarkable voyage of
The Earl of Limerick, president of the Britain-Australia
Joseph Lycett (c.1775-1828) Aborigines Spearing Fish, Others Diving
discovery to Brazil, Argentina,
Society, made the official presentation of ‘Captain Cook’s Journal’ for Crayfish, a Party Seated Beside a Fire Cooking Fish, c.1817
watercolour National Library of Australia, Pictorial Collection.
Tahiti, New Zealand,
on 11 May and spoke on the work of the Society in supporting
Australia, Indonesia and South
graduate student exchanges between Britain and Australia.
Africa,” said Professor Birtles.
‘The CD-ROM was compiled using material from 60 different sources –
In addition, they will be able to take advantage of the full potential of
museums, archives and libraries and is the result of four years’ work. It
multimedia technology to understand what life was like on a 32-foot
will be of interest to students, researchers, geographers, biologists,
sailing barque. Sights and sound segments, with a 100,000 word text (74
anthropologists,and maritime and history enthusiasts,” explained
hours of viewing) give a virtual reality to this famous voyage.
Professor Birtles. “Sound effects and the virtual reality of life on board
THE University has received a copy of the first ever international CDROM publication of the original manuscript of Captain Cook’s journal of
the ‘Endeavour’ voyage – one of the world’s most precious documents.
The CD Rom makes it possible for a viewer to sail with Cook, walk
around the ship and inside the cabins with him, see coastlines which were
painted by the ship’s artists, plot the course on the chart and read parallel
journal entries for each day recorded by the biologist/naturalist Joseph
Banks.
NEWS
SOARAWAY SUCCESS
OF CHILDREN’S
AUTHOR
CHILDREN’S author Chris d’Lacey has had his debut novel, Fly
Cherokee Fly, shortlisted for the Libraries Carnegie Medal – the
children’s equivalent of the Booker prize.
Chris, who works as manager of the
Advanced Light Microscope Facility in the
Department of Pre-Clinical Sciences at the
University, has had eight children’s books
published so far, with another eight due
over the next two years.
A delighted Chris said: “It came as a
complete shock. I was surprised to be
TALES FROM THE CESS PITS!
FINDINGS from the cess pits of Roman Leicester are among the
fascinating facts presented in a new book by University archaeologists.
The book, Roman and Medieval Occupation in Causeway Lane, Leicester,
follows the largest excavation ever to take place in the city.
The book, by Aileen Connor and Richard Buckley, represents
t, Leicester
hirr Archaeology, Councillor Ned Newit
HISTORIC BOOK: l-r, Dr Alan McW
and Mr David Smith, Project
or
ancell
ice-Ch
Pro-V
n,
Fearo
Peter
City Council, Professor
Sponsor from the Inland Revenue.
the culmination of several years’ research by over 40 specialists. The
work was spearheaded by the University of Leicester Archaeological
Services and the University’s School of Archaeological Studies.
Mr Buckley said: “The Causeway Lane site is located within the historic
core of the Roman and medieval town and the dig has provided a rare
opportunity to look at how life has changed over the past 2000 years.
“In the Roman period, the site was located at the cross roads of two
streets, and evidence was found for modest timber and stone buildings –
perhaps shops with living accommodation – together with yards, wells
and cess pits.
“In one area, Roman gravel quarries had been backfilled with debris –
including painted wall plaster – from a grand building nearby. For the
medieval period, evidence for the survival of Roman fabric into the 12th
nominated and stunned to
be shortlisted.”
The story of Fly,
Cherokee, Fly, was inspired
many years ago when
Chris rescued a pigeon
with a broken wing on
Victoria Park, next to the
University campus,
nursed it back to health,
and ended up keeping it
for fourteen years.
The Libraries Carnegie
Medal Awards will be
held in London in midJuly.
Peter Holland
century has emerged whilst the large
numbers of pits, together with evidence
for a timber building, has shown intensive
12th – 13th century occupation in
narrow plots for the first time in this part
of the town.
“Large quantities of finds were
recovered from the site – including over
30,000 sherds of Roman pottery, 6,962
fragments of Roman painted wall
plaster, 13,000 sherds of medieval
pottery and nearly a tonne of animal
bone. Some 15 tonnes of soil samples
were also taken for wet sieving to
recover environmental remains, such as
small animal bones, fish bones and
scales, shell and insect remains together with charred cereal grains
and seeds.
“The most productive samples were from some of the more unsavoury
deposits – particularly cess pits – and have provided a fascinating insight
into the diet, living conditions and health of Roman and medieval citizens
in this part of the town.”
The site was excavated in advance of the construction of a new Inland
Revenue office building, and to celebrate the completion of the project,
the book was officially launched on 19 May. Copies of the volume were
presented by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Fearon, to the
Inland Revenue and to the Chair of the Arts, Libraries and Museums
Committee, Leicester City Council.
CVCP ELECTS NEW
CHAIRMAN
PROFESSOR Howard Newby, Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Southampton, has been elected CVCP’s new chairman. Professor
Newby (51), the current Vice-Chairman, takes over from Professor
Martin Harris, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester University, for the twoyear post.
Professor Newby was formerly Professor of Sociology at the
University of Essex and held visiting appointments in Australia and the
United States. His main areas of research were in rural sociology,
social stratification and research methods.
5
NEWS
FOCUS ON SP
PERMANENT CREATIVE DIRECTOR APPOINTED
LEICESTER graduate Mrs Alex Barnett has become the permanent
Creative Director at the National Space Science Centre, the £46.5m
Millennium Landmark Project which will open in
spring 2001.
Mrs Barnett has been working with the project
since 1995, two years before the Millennium
Commission announced its £23.25m award to the
NSSC, and was the project’s longest standing
consultant. She is now working full time for the
NSSC for the first time, although she has held the
post of Creative Director on a part-time basis for
just over a year. She was previously also the
project’s part-time interpretation manager.
As Creative Director Alex has responsibility
for developing the National Space Science
Centre’s visitor experience, including its 200 seat
planetarium. She will oversee the design of the
exhibition area and the procurement of
artefacts. Post -opening, Alex will be responsible
for the continuing development of these areas
and the overall programmes strategy.
Alex graduated with a degree in Astrophysics. After spending time
working for the BBC in radio and television, she continued her formal
studies in the USA in science centre and planetarium operation
and management, which allowed her to set up
her own business, “Science to Go”, providing
advice to many such facilities.
She is now a well known figure in the science
centre, planetarium and media world, particularly
for public and educational programmes involving
space and astronomy. She pioneered a series of
award-winning planetarium shows for the deaf in
the UK and writes regularly for relevant
magazines.
Mrs Barnett commented: “I’m immensely proud
to be developing the visitor experience at the
National Space Science Centre including the first
major planetarium to be built in the UK in over 20
years.
Alex is 27 and lives in Northamptonshire with
her husband George.
Alex Barnett, Creative Director, NSSC
.
NATIONS UNITE TO BUILD STATION
THE new Millennium is set to be, quite literally, an out-of-this-world
experience for some people.
For the International Space Station (ISS) will host three crew members
from as early as January 2000 as they begin the task of living aboard this
unique international experiment, assisting with the assembly of the station
and establishing a permanent human presence.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest scientific cooperative programme in history, involving 16 nations including the UK.
The first two pieces of the station, ZARYA and UNITY, were placed into
orbit last year. In total there will be 44 missions conducted by the US
space shuttle and two types of Russian rocket, to launch and assemble the
100 or so parts which will form the station.
The ISS will be 220 miles above the planet’s surface, taking 90 minutes
to complete one orbit and will be visible from the ground at certain times.
Once in orbit, the pieces of the station will be manoeuvred into place by
astronauts operating robotic arms – a large arm for moving heavy objects
and a small one for more delicate tasks.
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE
• The station should be completed by the year 2004.
• It will weigh 460 tons and measure the length of a football field.
• The living and working areas for the astronauts will be about the same
size as a jumbo jet.
• The electric power system will be connected using 8 miles of wire, and
if all the batteries in the station were lined up end to end, they would
stretch half a mile.
• There will be a total of seven laboratories which will be used for
several areas of research: Life science, earth science, space science,
microgravity, engineering and space product development.
6
LEICESTER’S MISSION
The University’s Space Research Centre is involved in plans for the XEUS
(pronounced Zeus) mission – a permanent X-ray telescope also to be
launched into orbit around the Earth. The telescope would be used to
study the distant universe and the formation and evolution of galaxies and
star clusters, by detecting the X-rays given out by them.
The telescope will be too large to be
sent up in one piece, and must be
launched on several spacecraft, to be
assembled in space. Positioning XEUS
close to the ISS will enable it to be
regularly serviced and improved.
ADVERTISE IN THE BULLETIN
Small advertisements, maximum thirty words, are welcome
for inclusion in the Bulletin. A charge of either £2 or £5,
depending on the item advertised, is made for each
advertisement submitted by a member of staff or a student of
the University. The cost to other Bulletin readers is either £5
or £10. Departments wishing to take a page or more in the
Bulletin can do so at a cost of £50 per page exclusive of
Graphics charges.
Pat Bone, Press & Publications Office (0116 252 2415,
pblm@admin.le.ac.uk) will be pleased to receive
advertisements.
PACE SCIENCE
NEWS
PROBE INTO ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
OUR understanding of the universe is about to be enlightened by a
“In particular we plan to use VISTA to help us solve the mystery of
British University research group project funded by the DTI, the
stars and galaxies that shine brightly in X-rays, and which will be looked
Wellcome Trust, and the Higher Education Funding Council for
at using a major new X-ray telescope (XMM) which has substantial
England’s “Joint Infrastructure Fund” (JIF) initiative.
Leicester involvement. XMM is scheduled for launch mid-December this
A world-leading “survey” telescope capable of mapping huge areas of
year.”
the sky to great depth will be built as a national facility by an 18 strong
The project comes under the Government’s Particle Physics and
university consortium, including Leicester, and led by Dr Jim Emerson of
Astronomy Research Council’s (PPARC) remit. The Joint Infrastructure
Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London.
Fund (JIF), a partnership initiative between the DTI, the Wellcome Trust
The 4 metre telescope, known as VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey
and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is designed to
Telescope for Astronomy) will produce “atlases” of the sky in the optical
enable UK universities to invest in new facilities and equipment which
and infrared wavelength using instruments a hundred times more
underpin basic research projects to ensure British Universities remain at
sensitive than anything available in the world. Sited high in the Chilean
the forefront of international scientific research.
Andes, the VISTA telescope’s sky atlases will provide the most advanced
• Astronomy provides industrial benefits, see page 16.
source of reference from which in-depth studies of specific astronomical
objects can be made.
Dr Emerson commented, “VISTA will be an outstandingly
powerful tool for British astronomy. The whole astronomical
community is delighted with this decision”. Dr Emerson added,
“Many of the questions that astronomers world-wide are trying
to answer, like how did stars and galaxies form, cannot be
tackled by optical surveys since stars are born in clouds of gas
and dust which are largely opaque to optical light, but not to
infrared. This is where VISTA will conduct ground-breaking
surveys and literally shed new light on those key ‘origin
questions’”.
He added: “VISTA will provide the equivalent of both
Ordnance Survey maps and a Census for the southern skies. Its
large diameter and wide angle of view will allow it to quickly
survey large areas of sky for very faint and very red objects”.
Leicester University is a member of the VISTA consortium
and is represented by Professor Martin Ward of the
Department of Physics and Astronomy. Professor Ward said:
“VISTA will be one of the UK’s most important astronomy
BIG LEAGUE: Professor Ward, right,
with astronaut Dr Jeff Hoffman, said VISTA
projects over the next few years, and will confirm the position of UK’s
will be one of the
most important astronomy projects.
the UK in the international big league in our effort to understand
the Universe.
SPACE BEAGLE IS PRIZE
ATTRACTION AT
FLOWER SHOW
BEAGLE 2 has helped land a first prize, and walked away with a
gold medal, not at Crufts but at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Part of the Hadlow College Hydroponics Display, Mars – the
Planted Planet, Beagle 2 is in reality a lander to be incorporated
in the future Mars Express Mission.
The European Space Agency’s mission to Mars involves
experts from Leicester University and the Open University who
plan to put a probe on the spacecraft to hunt for life on the
planet. The Leicester University scientists, led by Dr Mark Sims,
are part of a consortium, headed by Professor Colin Pillinger of
the Open University, that includes industrialists and research
institutions.
The winning horticultural exhibit relates to future techniques
for feeding manned expeditions to Mars, as Dr Sims explained:
“Manned expeditions to Mars will eventually want to produce
food on the surface to save having to carry it to the planet.
Understanding the surface properties and chemistry is therefore
essential before trying to grow plants. Beagle 2 will provide
valuable data for such future applications. We will admit
however it’s a pretty unusual prize for a space project to “win”.
Congratulations should however really go to Hadlow College
whose exhibit won, Beagle 2 was only a minor part in a larger
display”
Professor Colin Pillinger, of the Open University, said: “The
Hadlow College stand won the Gold Medal and Certificate from
the Royal Horticultural Society. We were a small part of their
stand and therefore enjoy the reflected glory.
“The stand displayed the hydroponics growing system. This is
where planting occurs not in soil but in a sterile silicate wool,
called rock wool. The plant is then fed nutrients and, as a byproduct, also releases oxygen.
“Hydroponic plants have already been grown on the Mir space
station so this is not the stuff of science fiction. When manned
missions to Mars come to fruition in, say, 25 years time,
hydroponics plant systems will be needed to grow items like
tomatoes, peppers and lettuces.”
Professor Pillinger said the stand attracted tremendous
interest from visitors as well as journalists from around the
world.
7
NEWS
FOCUS ON
STUDENTS VOLUNTEER TO HELP COMMUNITY
is brilliant – it’s doing so well. Hopefully, with extra cash, it will carry on
STUDENTS at the University have shown that there is more to life than
getting even better.”
books and beer by spending their free time volunteering to work on a
All volunteers from Contact are required to obtain references before
wide range of community projects.
they are permitted to take part in the programmes. This year’s activities
During the academic year, 140 students have worked on schemes
have been extended to include Leicestershire Enablement Project,
including helping youngsters with
which is funded by the National
disabilities, the elderly and the
Lottery, and aims to place
homeless, through their organisation
volunteers in projects that are
Contact -Student Community
related to their careers and to give
Action, which is based on the
work experience. Help has also been
campus.
given to three hospitals.
Financial support has been given
The students also have the
regularly by the Everard Foundation
opportunity to work at South Lodge
and on 14 May trustee Mr Richard
Day Centre for adults with learning
Everard presented this year’s
disabilities, and with Son Rise which
Foundation Award to the group.
helps autistic children by working
“Thanks to this funding Contact
with them on a one-to-one basis.
has been able to successfully set up
“We have an application pending to
and run SCAMP (the Student
the Government Millennium
Community Action Mobility
Volunteers’ Scheme to try and obtain
Playgroup),” explained this year’s
funding for a full time worker for
president Diana Berry, a final year
GENEROUS SUPPORT: Richard Evera
rd with representatives of the University,
Contact,” said Diana.
Chemistry student.
Students’
Union and Contact presents the chequ
e.
“If we are successful, Contact
“This project took a lot of
S.C.A. will be able to greatly increase
organisation and is the first weekly
the number of students contributing to the community, through better
University-based venture to be run entirely by members of Contact. It is
publicity, longer office opening hours, more projects and increased levels
held each Sunday afternoon providing sports activities children with
of student support.
disabilities.”
“Currently we have far more positions available.”
Mr Everard pledged to double the Everard Foundation Community
Award from £500 this year to £1,000 next year. He said: “Contact S.C.A.
LEICESTER UNIVERSITY CAREERS WEEK
THE Careers Service is once again running its
annual Careers Week – a series of activities
designed to provide practical help for
students thinking about their futures after
university. Careers Week this year will take
place from Thursday 17 June until Friday 25
June.
The centrepiece as usual is the Leicester
Careers Fair in the Sports Hall, Charles
Wilson Building on Tuesday 22 June.
Employers already booked to attend include
Arthur Andersen, the Arcadia Group,
Deloitte and Touche, Marconi Electronic
Systems, the Inland Revenue, Sun Life and the
NHS. Many of these are still recruiting so final
year students should be encouraged to attend
with their CVs.
The Chartered Institutes of Management,
Marketing and Purchasing and Supply are
amongst the professional organisations
represented. There are also a number of
voluntary bodies, including the Community
Service Volunteers and the Leicester
Volunteer Centre, and several
representatives from the University ready to
deal with enquiries about postgraduate
courses and opportunities in teaching, library
and social work.
A new feature this year is a package of
workshops dealing with Work Experience,
run in collaboration with the Students’ Union
and the Student Employment Centre. This is
aimed at first year students and includes
sessions on how to obtain voluntary work
experience, earning money and enhancing
your CV at the same time, and how to get
the most out of work experience. There will
be contributions to this programme from a
number of outside organisations, including
Marks and Spencer.
Finally, the other events in Careers Week
include Writing Effective CVs, Postgraduate
Study, Mature students, Assertiveness Skills,
A Degree – What Next? and Powerful
Presentations. There will also be two insight
days – into Accountancy and IT – run by local
employers. All these sessions are open to all
undergraduate and postgraduate students,
from any year or discipline.
Martin Pennington
HIGHER EDUCATION APPLICATIONS STAY ON COURSE
EDUCATION and Employment Minister Baroness Blackstone has
welcomed the latest UCAS figures showing an increase in the number of
young people applying to enter higher education in 1999. The latest
UCAS figures, up from 283,876 last year to 284,121 this, for those
applicants aged under 21, show a similar picture to those released in
January.
8
Baroness Blackstone said: “These figures clearly demonstrate the
continuing strong demand that exists for higher education and that the
reforms we introduced to provide proper funding and allow for the
expansion of higher education were right. These have allowed us to
provide an additional 36,000 places in higher education for this October
compared to those available last year.”
STUDENTS
NEWS
STUDENTS SHAPE
YOUNG PEOPLE’S
ROLES IN NEW
MILLENNIUM
British Red Cross Youth Forum, a charity called Changemakers and a
volunteer bureau currently piloting the Millennium Volunteers structure.
“The aim was to discuss the idea of a Youth Forum, consisting of
representatives of the 16-24 age group which the project is aimed at, to
advise and to be consulted by the Millennium Volunteers section of
the
Department of
Education and
Employment.
“We had to decide
STUDENTS from Leicester are involved in a
whether such a forum
Government initiative to ensure young people
should exist, what its
play an active part in their communities in the
structure and
new Millennium.
membership, role,
Millennium Volunteers is a £40 million
responsibilities and place
project to get 16-24 year olds to not only
in the existing Millennium
participate in, but run, projects in their
Volunteers administration
communities.
should be.”
Now two University students have joined
Rachel added: “We
the ‘think-tank’ to discuss the Youth Forum
were privileged to be
and its role in the Millennium Volunteers
invited to take part in
scheme.
what was a very equal
Second-year Law and French
VISION: Clare, left, and Rachel have
joined a ‘think tank’ to discuss the role
exchange
of opinions and
undergraduate Clare Costello, from
of
Youth
in
the
new Millennium.
ideas. The outcome of the
Macclesfield, Cheshire, and final-year Geography
meeting was very positive and
undergraduate Rachel Pack, from Welwyn, Hertfordshire, are active
indicated an enthusiasm for such a forum. Our ideas will be presented to
members of the University’s Student Community Action Group, Contact
Margaret Hodge and the Millennium Volunteers advisory group on the
which is involved in a range of projects which link students with
13th July.”
communities.
Clare said: “Due to our work with Contact, we were recommended
• Leicester University’s Contact S.C.A. has submitted a bid to the
by the director of Student Community Action and subsequently asked by
Millennium Volunteers project for funding to employ a sabbatical
the DfEE to a meeting attended by 12 people, held at The Davenant
worker to develop the Association, the projects that they run and
Centre, Tower Hamlets. “Among those who attended were two civil
therefore the links which students have with the local community.
servants from the Millennium
They will know whether or not they have been successful following
Volunteers Unit, representatives of the British Youth Council, the
announcements by the minister, Margaret Hodge, at the end of June.
BLUNKETT CALLS FOR
MORE WORK
EXPERIENCE FOR
UNDERGRADUATES
SECRETARY of State for Education and Employment, David
Blunkett, has called upon universities to provide a minimum period
of work experience for each and every student.
Speaking at Exeter University he said: “The UK can pride itself on
having the lowest levels of unemployment in newly qualified
graduates in Europe. More can and must be done however to equip
students to meet the needs of employers and to reach the full
potential of every student.”
Mr Blunkett outlined a list of measures to help achieve this:
• a minimum period of work experience for every student;
• a requirement that every student should undertake a study
module giving them insight into the world of work;
• extension of the new enterprise centres being established by the
Office of Science and Technology;
• piloting a sector specific graduate apprenticeship approach
integrating higher level study with work based learning;
• improved information for students in making their choice of
subject and university.
• More Student News, page 24.
INDUCTION COURSE FOR
STUDENTS
AS part of its commitment to widening participation, the University will be
running an induction course in July for Leicestershire students who have firmly
accepted offers from the University. The target group will be students who
have no family history of participating in higher education.
The purpose of the course is to prepare students for learning in higher
education by introducing them to practical strategies for learning and sources
of help available. It aims to increase the confidence of students and ease the
transition into University. Students attending the course will be encouraged to
focus on the skills they can bring to University whilst developing their
awareness of the challenges of learning in a higher education environment.
The course is expected to attract over 60 pre-entry undergraduates and is
due to take place on the 21 July. The day is being co-ordinated by the
Educational Development and Support Centre and will involve students in
formal lectures, seminars and active research. In addition to developing study
and time management skills, students will have the opportunity to tour the
campus, explore financial issues, talk to representatives from the Students’
Union, and use library and computer facilities.
This course is part of a wider package of measures aimed to help students
engaged in University life and reach their full potential.
Other measures include developing ‘buddying’ systems, expanding taster
courses and providing students with material aimed to prepare them for their
lives at University.
Julie Flett
9
NEWS
STUDY UNCOVERS RACIST ATTITUDES
A STUDY carried out in the Midlands by a University researcher has
uncovered racist attitudes among a
number of social workers and school
psychologists.
The survey of over 100 social
workers showed that disturbed black
and mixed race young people are
viewed as ‘troublesome’ and
‘naturally backward’.
Lecturer Dr Kwame OwusuBempah,(pictured) of the
University’s School of Social Work,
also uncovered racism between
ethnic minority groups.
Dr Bempah’s research involved
presenting three fictional cases of a
black, mixed-race and white child
with behavioural problems to a
group of psychologists.
In his paper, presented to the 1999 Annual Conference of the
British Psychological Society held in Belfast, Dr Bempah said: “The
three cases were identical but received different responses.
“The mixed race child was considered to be experiencing a
‘confused identity’, which is not only wrong but extremely damaging,
and the black child was considered to have low self-worth.
“The received wisdom is that black children suffer identity problems
and are of inferior intellect to white people.”
He added: “Blaming a child for its problems on the basis of skin
colour is deeply offensive and harmful.”
Dr Bempah also cited literature produced by psychologists from
within the ethnic minorities that contained allegedly racist attitudes.
Dr Bempah said: “I wrote to the authors expressing my disgust at
the racist and damaging nature of their views.
“If these are the kind of views expressed by those in education, than
clearly more work needs to be done in this field.”
Peter Holland
GRADUATE SUPPORT
GROUP PROVIDES
CAREER BOOST
AN innovative support group aiming to help graduates aspire to
their ‘dream jobs’ is proving successful at the University.
The Graduate Action Group (GAG) was set up in May 1997 by
Careers Advisor Mandy Weston and Careers Information Officer
Annabel Blackburn to help graduates improve their employment
situation by providing workshops geared at improving job search
INITIATIVE: Mandy Weston, left, and
skills.
Annabel Blackburn are providing valuab
le support for graduates.
Although only 7% of last year’s graduates found themselves
panel of their peers while being filmed on camcorder. The
unemployed six months after graduation, some students find themselves
interviewee then watches the video to get a different perspective of their
under-employed in stop gap jobs for purely financial reasons.
interview style.
The group offers to help graduates find work in their desired
The workshops are open to all graduates, not just those who have
occupations by advising them on structuring CVs, career planning,
studied in Leicester. Jake Fox studied architecture at Cambridge and
jobsearch strategies and interview practice and techniques.
UCL, and after graduating joined the dole queue.
GAG members play a key role in the running of the group, with backup
Moving back to Leicester, Jake visited several jobseeker clubs with no
provided by Mandy and Annabel, which means that group members can
luck, before visiting a GAG workshop after seeing one of the groups’
set the agenda for the meetings.
posters in the University’s Career Office.
Mandy explains: “Graduates can sometimes get despondent if they see
“I found the workshops very useful,” said Jake. “The group took a
their friends finding work whilst they are still searching.
practical approach to the problems of finding work, and it was a positive
“When they come to one of our workshops they realise they are not
and worthwhile experience.
alone and can provide mutual aid and support.”
“It was good to meet other graduates in the same position as myself
While the group cannot actually find jobs for the graduates, it provides
and talk about the problems we were all facing.
all the possible help and advice on offer to steer the graduates in the right
“It can be difficult for graduates to get into the job market, because
direction.
employers view you as being skilled but having no experience.”
The group’s aim is summed up by Annabel: “The workshops are
Using the help and advice gained at the GAG meetings, Jake is now on a
informal but purposeful. The group brings together graduates with a
training course which, if he passes, will lead to a job with London based
common aim so that they can find their ideal jobs and help each other at
computer giants Logica.
the same time.
Peter Holland
“This is not a place for people to moan about not having work. The
• For anyone interested in finding out more about the group, call
mood at the workshops is upbeat, proactive and positive.”
252 2005, or pop along to their wine evening at the Careers Fair
As well as gaining experience and advice from the sessions, members
on 22 June.
also get the chance to see their interview techniques on television.
The interview practice involves the participants being interviewed by a
• More Graduate News, page 15.
10
NEWS AND SERVICES FROM THE
CONFERENCE OFFICE
• The Gilbert Murray Conference Suite at Oadby is now available for non-residential meetings and conferences during term
time (see April edition of the Bulletin for details). Our rates are very competitive. For further information or to arrange a
convenient time to view this first-rate facility, please call Sarah King on 0116 271 9933.
• From Summer 1999 and subsequent Summers, Freemens Common or Ratcliffe Residences can be booked for groups of 50–
1000 (subject to availability). Providing an ideal base for holiday and leisure use within the city centre or for meetings
centred at the main site – with full or partial catering, if required.
• The Conference Office is now offering a ‘one-stop service’ for conference or event organisers using a combination of
accommodation at the halls and meeting facilities on the main site. This means you only need to liaise with the Conference
Office and we will, on your behalf, communicate all your requirements to other service providers in the University. This
service helped to ensure the smooth and successful running of two major conferences in the University in January – the Royal
Geographical Society Conference and the British Ecological Society Winter Meeting.
• To avoid disappointment book your Christmas celebrations early. The Charles Wilson Building makes an excellent venue,
with superb catering, professional service and unrivalled views over the city. To reserve a copy of the Christmas brochure
telephone Gail Andrews on 0116 252 2212.
• Watch this space for details and dates of our Summer Open Day at the Halls of Residence in Oadby.
For further information on our services or for conference advice call the
Conference team – Rebecca, Margaret or Sarah on 0116 271 9933.
11
NEWS
UNIQUE FACILITY TO
BE SHOWCASED FOR
INDUSTRY
A UNIQUE facility operated by Leicester geologists is aiding the search
for lucrative new oil fields.
Based at East Leake in Leicestershire CALLISTO (Calibration at
Leicester and
Insitu Tool
Optimisation)
offers open
industry
access to a
test pit facility
which is the
most modern
of its type in
the world.
CALLISTO
helps decide
the extent of
an oilfield
and
consequently whether the cost of drilling
is worthwhile. The facility will be showcased at an industry day on 10
June.
Dr Mike Lovell, a Reader in Petrophysics in the Department of
Geology, said the facility will allow industry to improve understanding
and calibrating instruments to enable better measurements of oil/gas
reserves in boreholes. It also has important applications in mineral
resources and environmental waste monitoring.
He added: “The only similar operation is based in Houston, Texas
but it is not as advanced. The need for a European test pit formation
was recognised in the 1980s, partly to satisfy the requirements of the
North Sea petroleum industry but also to address the limitations of the
Houston operation.”
FOCUS ON HOLOCAUST
THE University hosted a major public lecture by a top American history
professor on “The Distinctive Nature and Meaning of the Holocaust.”
Professor Steven Katz of Boston University delivered the Seventh
Elchanan and Miriam Elkes Memorial Lecture on 4 May.
The event has been held under the
joint auspices of the Elchanan Elkes
Association for Inter-community
Understanding and the Stanley Burton
Centre for Holocaust Studies within the
University. Previous speakers in the
series have included Professor Joel
Elkes, Professor Michael Marrus and
Professor Yehuda Bauer.
Professor Katz has had a distinguished
record at Cornell University, The
National Holocaust Museum at
Washington, and Boston University. He
has written widely on a number of
matters associated with the Holocaust
– most recently ‘The Holocaust in
12
PERSPECTIVES: L-r, Professor Katz,
CALLISTO utilises test
calibration formations
rescued from the
EUROPA facility in
Aberdeen which was
commissioned in 1993 at
a cost of more than £3m.
These rock formations
are probably the best
characterised in the
world.
It follows consultation
with all Oil and Service
companies who were
original sponsors of the
EUROPA project, as well as the DTI (UK government Offshore
Supplies Office).
An agreement was reached between Leicester University, AEA
Technology, and Reeves Technologies (East Leake) transferring
ownership of the formations to Leicester University. The formations
are now at the Reeves Technologies site at East Leake.
The development of CALLISTO from EUROPA has been possible
thanks to financial support from the DTI, Shell UK and Shell
International Exploration and Production.
In March 1998 twenty articulated lorries brought more than 160
tonnes of rock made up of 108 carefully machined slabs to the
Leicestershire site from Scotland, taking several weeks.
The installation was tricky because the formations had to be kept
fully saturated through the transfer. Additionally, the order of stacking
each of the blocks to ensure as near as possible uniform physical and
chemical characteristics was crucial to the success of the facility.
The facilities include four tanks, each containing two formations in
freshwater. The formations include three sandstones, three limestones
and two dolomites. All formations have 8.5 inch holes.
“Reasonable access is guaranteed to third parties through the
University, nominal charges for access will mean that the facility runs on
a non-profit basis. The London Petrophysical Society, Aberdeen
Formation Evaluation Society and the Dutch Petrophysical Society have
all expressed support for the development.
Historical Context’ as well as a study of Mysticism and Religious Tradition.
Professor Aubrey Newman, Acting Director of the Stanley Burton
Centre for Holocaust Studies, said: “One of the issues concerning a large
number of historians is the question of the ‘uniqueness’ of the Holocaust.
Has there ever been anything like it before or since. In an age when
hundreds of thousands, even millions, of individuals are slaughtered it
might seem irrelevant as to whether one ‘holocaust’ is bigger or smaller
than the others.
“Without denying the absolute
revulsion with which these other
massacres are rightly regarded it is a
matter of some concern whether the
events of 1939 to 1945 should be
seen within the context of Jewish
history as a whole (and therefore in a
way linked to anti-Semitism - the socalled ‘Longest Hatred’) or whether
they should be linked with that
apparent collapse of respect for
individual life which seems to have
marked the twentieth century.”
Mrs Sara Elkes and Professor Aubrey Newm
an.
NEWS
NEW MOVE REFLECTS
CONCERNS OVER
YOUNG PEOPLE’S
‘ALIENATION’
THE Government has recently announced plans to teach citizenship in
schools.
This will make it compulsory for secondary pupils to take citizenship
lessons. Citizenship is also to be encouraged in primary schools
Leicester University’s School of Education has a Centre for Citizenship
Studies which has been working with schools over the past 10 years.
Professor Ken Fogelman has welcomed the new move by the
Education Secretary and says that Citizenship Studies will help the
development of better informed students who feel more able to
understand and participate in political processes.
He said there is also an attitude element to Citizenship Studies,
CELEBRITY CONCERT
ONE of the brightest stars in the classical music world appeared
at the University in May.
World renowned
percussionist, Evelyn Glennie,
gave a concert at the Richard
Attenborough Centre for
Disability and the Arts.
Evelyn Glennie, who received
an Honorary Degree from the
University in 1997 and is an
Honorary Patron of the
Richard Attenborough Centre,
was born in Aberdeen, where
she studied timpani and
percussion from the age of
twelve, touring the UK and
Scandinavia with the National
Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
In 1982 she entered the Royal
Academy of Music in London,
winning many prizes,
including the Queen’s
Commendation Prize for allround excellence.
She went on to win the
1984 Gold Medal in the
Shell/LSO Music Scholarship
and in 1986 the prestigious
EXCELLENCE: Evelyn Glennie return
Munster Trust Scholarship,
ed
to the University to give a concert at the
which enabled her to visit
Richard Attenborough Centre.
Japan to study with the
marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe. She made her debut at the
Wigmore Hall in 1986 and has since appeared as a soloist all
over the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Her appearance in
the 1989 Proms was the first ever solo percussion recital in the
history of the Proms.
encouraging students to become
more involved in political life and in
their communities, not simply as an
activity but as part of a process
where learning opportunities are
identified. This reflects concerns
about young people’s feelings of
disenchantment and alienation
from mainstream politics and their
low levels of participation in
elections.
Professor Fogelman warned
that teachers might see this as an
additional burden and that the
introduction of Citizenship
Studies should be seen in the
context of revision of the
National Curriculum as a whole.
WELCOME: Professor Fogelman says
moves to
teach citizenship in schools will lead to
students
becoming better informed.
REPORT PROMPTS NEW
ASBESTOS POLICY
The Health and Safety Commission is to recommend a UK ban on the
importation, supply and use of white asbestos. This decision
comes after a review was undertaken by staff at the MRC’s
Institute for Environment and Health and the MRC Toxicology
Unit at the University.
Blue and brown asbestos are already banned from use in the
UK and elsewhere, but white asbestos (chrysotile) is still used,
for example in manufacturing asbestos cement and friction
linings. There has been pressure for some time to replace this
material with substitute fibres, or to exclude fibres altogether
from these products. The Health and Safety Executive asked
the Institute to undertake an independent review of the
alternative fibre types and report on their safety.
In assessing the literature, Dr Len Levy, head of the
Toxicology and Risk Assessment Group at the Institute and Dr
Graham Patrick, head of the Pulmonary Toxicolgy Programme
at the Toxicology Unit, took account of both toxicological and
health factors.
While far less potent than other types of asbestos, chrysotile
can cause asbestosis and lung cancer at high exposure levels.
The report compared this material with its potential substitutes,
concentrating especially on the key physical and chemical
properties that are likely to account for toxic properties. The
dimensions of fibres is particularly relevant, as those above a
certain size are not respirable and so are unlikely to penetrate
deep into the lung. It is also important that substitute fibres
should not readily split longitudinally, as chrysotile does, as this
can lead to many more respirable fibres being produced.
The Institute’s report concluded that, on available evidence, the use of
chrysotile should cease in favour of the available substitutes. A European
committee received the report and came to very similar conclusions,
which should also result in a ban on its use for these purposes within the
EU.
Dr Paul Harrison, Acting Director, who led the work, said “This was a
tough assignment but our bottom line was clear and we are very pleased
to have had such an impact on asbestos policy in the UK and Europe.”
13
NEWS
CANCER EXPERTS IN TOP-LEVEL MEETING OVER
FUTURE OF RESEARCH AND TREATMENT
TONY Blair held talks last month with top cancer experts to discuss ways
of combating the killer disease.
Professor Will Steward, (pictured) Head of the University’s
Department of Oncology
at Leicester Royal
Infirmary, welcomed the
UK prime minister’s
package of support for
the fight against cancer.
This includes, among
other initiatives,
spreading good practice
through the work of a
Cancer Action Team;
talking to cancer
patients about their
treatment; analysis of
the effectiveness of
anti-cancer drugs,
urging cancer research
bodies to look at how
better to plan and share research and expertise.
In addition, extra funding was pledged to plan for an extra 400 cancer
specialists and up to 15,000 extra nurses, as well as increased spending on
cancer drugs.
Professor Steward said: “In the UK, cancer patients may not receive
the same state-of-the art treatment as the rest of Europe and North
America because we are often not funded to provide the optimal anticancer drugs.
“In Leicester, despite the enormous efforts of the University and the
Leicestershire Health Authority, we remain stretched in terms of
providing state-of-the art drugs or conducting further research.
“Unlike many other cancer research departments across the country,
we are not resourced by the key cancer research charities and rely
instead on Leicester University and the Health Authority for our funds.
“I agree with my colleagues from across the country who met with the
Prime Minister that cancer studies in the UK are seriously underfunded,
and that more needs to be done to improve matters.”
A total of 69,000 cancer sufferers die each year in the UK. Last year,
cancer overtook heart disease as the biggest killer in this country. The
government has already pledged to give £60m to reducing deaths from
breast, bowel and lung cancer.
RISK MANAGEMENT
THE latest issue of Risk Management: an International Journal
edited by Dr Martina McGuinness and Dr Martin Gill from the
Scarman Centre includes a paper that argues that England
needs to improve aspects of policing if it is to hold the 2006
World Cup.
Stephen O’Reilly, a consultant, argues that there are
dangers if the World Cup is awarded to England in 2006
because the British have not sufficiently built up intelligence
about hooligans. O’Reilly sees this as a serious limitation.
As Martina McGuinness notes: ‘We have to take research
SALAD DAYS
14
findings like this seriously. The World Cup in England will only
be a boost if we take care to manage all aspects of the event.
O’Reilly offers a stern warning that we may not yet be on the
right lines as far as managing disorder is concerned’.
Dr Mike Rowe, lecturer in public order studies at the
Scarman Centre agrees: ‘The police are good at managing
disorder in the grounds but poor at building up intelligence
about problems elsewhere, for example, at service stations.
The problem is that other countries fare worse.’
ALUMNI
GRADUATES’ REUNION 1999
WE’RE HAVING A BALL!
The 1999 Reunion promises to be bigger and better then ever. It will be
the perfect opportunity to meet up with friends and maybe make some
new ones. This year we are offering a whole new range of things to do
throughout the day and evening on Saturday 18 September.
Morning Activities
Annual Meeting of Convocation, with the opportunity to see and hear the
new Vice-Chancellor (Professor Robert Burgess). The chance to relax
afterwards with a buffet lunch and a string quartet. (AGM lunch £12.95
per person).
Afternoon Activities
Get your brain in gear for the ‘Universally Challenged’ pub-quiz with big
prize money (£100) in the Redfearn Bar at 2.30 pm.
Alternatively you could bring your kit along for a 5-aside football
tournament at the Manor Road sports ground. We are looking for teams
of graduates and academics to battle it out!
KEEP BULLETIN ON TARGET
University sections are requested to inform the Press and Publications
Office (0116 252 2415) of any change in the number of Bulletin copies
required. Please remember to include in any revised total the
appropriate number of copies for clerical/technical staff.
You can also
take a trip to the
stars in the
University’s
Planetarium.There
are two visits in
the afternoon –
2.30 pm and 3.30
pm. Book now – as
it’s free and there are only 22 places available on each session.
On the other hand you could join up with friends and spend hours
chatting over a cappuccino in Leicester’s coffee bars. Or you could visit
Leicester’s museums and art galleries (details of what’s on will be available
on the day)
Evening Activities
The Dinner-Dance at Beaumont Hall is a chance to unwind, with good
conversation, good food and fine wine. Jack Birkenshaw will be the afterdinner speaker. Then you can swing the night away to the sounds of a live
‘60s’ band and a disco. (Dinner-Dance £30 per person).
Alternatively, if you prefer something more energetic, the Reunion Ball
held in the Students’ Union could be for you. We’ll have a Beatles tribute
band, casino, fortune-tellers, balloon modellers, a caricaturist and much
more. (Reunion Ball £10 per person).
Accommodation
A room in Beaumont Halls with full English breakfast will cost just £21.74
per person (£27.61 for en-suite). If you prefer self-catering a room in
Putney Road will cost just £13.50 per person.
We are hoping to make this a reunion to remember. So don’t miss out!
For further details and a booking form please contact:
Carl Iszatt, Alumni Office, Leicester University, University Road,
Leicester LE1 7RH (0116 252 2931, Email: cdi1m@admin.le.ac.uk).
DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE TO VISIT LEICESTER
The Rt Hon Michael Jack, MP, Financial Secretary to the
Treasury, will be at the University on 16 June, to visit (with ProVice-Chancellor Professor John Beeby) the Department of
Economics, the Space Centre, and the Medical School.
ACCOLADE: The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Kenneth Edwards, is pictured above after a
ceremony in May in Romania at the Universitatea ‘Babes-Bolyai’ Cluj-Napoca, when
he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, the University’s highest distinction.
15
BUSINESS
Business Bulletin examines some of the main business stories
from the University, and is compiled each month by LUCENT
and Press & Publications Office. Any stories or ideas should be
sent to LUCENT.
(ext 2696, email: lucent1@le.ac.uk).
ASTRONOMY PROVIDES
INDUSTRIAL BENEFITS
SPACE scientists at Leicester are using sophisticated techniques for
studying distant galaxies to help advance work in areas as diverse as
forensic science and the food industry.
They have achieved a new breakthrough in X-ray technology with the
use of a novel laboratory instrument which they plan to develop.
Now researchers at the University’s Space Research Centre say the
latest innovation could bring benefits to a wide range of disciplines
including archaeology, forensic science, geology, the food and car
industries and silicon chip production.
Dr George Fraser,
Reader in the
Department of
Physics and
Astronomy,
is leading
the project
which is
backed by a
£500,000 grant from
the Engineering and Physcial
Sciences Research Council.
He said the University would develop the new instrument – an Imaging
X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer – in partnership with Gresham
Scientific Instruments of Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Said Dr Fraser: “X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a nondestructive chemical analysis technique widely used in science and
industry. An intense primary beam of X-rays shines on the test sample (a
piece of rock, say, or a silicon wafer) and excites secondary fluorescent
X-rays from the sample’s surface.
“These secondary X-rays have energies which are specific to the
chemical elements present in the sample. Thus, measuring the emitted Xray spectrum tells you what chemical elements are present in the sample
– in other words, what the sample’s made of.”
Dr Fraser said the latest innovation took established practice further
because it provided a clearer picture of the sample being analysed:
“Conventional XRF spectrometers are non-imaging – that is, they indicate
what elements are present and in what proportions, but give no
information on how those elements are distributed across the sample
surface.
“The new Leicester instrument, however, will use a microchannel plate
(MCP) X-ray lens to produce an image of the X-ray emitting
ranging
: Dr George Fraser (right) is finding wideSCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS
Science Mr
for
ter
Minis
then
with
ed
pictur
is
ch. He
earthbound applications for space resear
Space Research Centre.
the
of
ng
openi
l
forma
the
of
ion
John Battle on the occas
16
sample on a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detector. Thus, in the case of
the silicon wafer, one can not only detect small impurity particles but also
say where on the wafer the particles are located.”
The new laboratory instrument should take about two years to build
and a further year to test with a large variety of samples. At the end of
that time, the Leicester researchers are hopeful that a commercial version
can be built and marketed.
TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE
Both the technologies at the heart of the new instrument have been
developed over many years as part of the Space Research Centre’s
laboratory programme. The MCP lenses have been developed in
collaboration with companies in the United States and France, while the
CCD detectors were originally fabricated by EEV Ltd. (Chelmsford) for
the Leicester-led EPIC experiment on the European Space Agency’s
(ESA’s) XMM observatory, which is due for launch in January, 2000.
The combination of MCP optic and CCD detector together made its
debut last year in an Imaging X-ray Spectrometer studied at Leicester for
the ESA SMART-1 satellite mission. Here, the “primary X-ray source”
was the Sun and the “sample” was a near-Earth asteroid!
The Space Research Centre at Leicester University is part of the £46m
National Space Science Centre, the Landmark Millennium Project for the
East Midlands. Leicester University is a principal participant in the project.
FACTFILE
This latest innovation at Leicester University is not the first time highflying research has had earthbound applications. Space science has
contributed more than the oft-quoted non-stick frying pan:
• Pot noodles were invented for astronauts!
• Intelligent Robotics with sensors, used by surgeons and on production
lines have been improved with the technology from space shuttles.
• The robotical Mars rover that was used in the Pathfinder mission to
mars is now being marketed as a toy!
• A material called Nitinol designed for aerospace needs is now used in
special Dental braces.
• Fire-fighters now wear protective garments and smaller, less
cumbersome breathing apparatus designed by the Johnson space
centre.
• Scratch resistant plastic glasses are protected with the abrasionresistant coating used on aerospace equipment.
• Doctors can now measure body temperature in one second by looking
in your ear, by using an infrared ear thermometer. This utilises
technology used in Infrared astronomical satellites!
• Communications satellites circling the Earth at distances of 40,000 km
have revolutionised international telephone and TV broadcasting
systems.
• Orbiting cameras image the clouds, land and sea, allowing hugely
improved weather forecasting and environmental monitoring.
• Transmissions from navigation satellites allow positions on Earth to be
pin-pointed with uncanny accuracy.
• Space instrumentation technology is also used in other scientific
disciplines in laboratories here on Earth. For example, Leicester’s Xray detector technology, developed for studying distant galaxies, is
being used in cancer research.
CHECK IT OUT!
All issues of Bulletin from January 1997 to date are accessible via the
following web address: http://www.le.ac.uk/press/bulletin/
BUSINESS
EUROPEAN DECISION FUELS
PROSPECT OF MISSION TO MARS
ONE of the great unsolved mysteries of space – whether or not there is,
or has ever been, life on Mars – took a major step towards being
unravelled following a decision by European governments.
Ministers last month agreed a five-year space budget which should pave
the way to send a probe to the red planet in 2003.
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express Mission includes a project
led by the Open University and Leicester University along with a range of
industrial collaborators. Their aim is to put a probe, called Beagle 2, on
the spacecraft to hunt for life on Mars.
Director of the Leicester Space Research Centre, Professor Alan Wells,
welcomed the latest move: “This is a great opportunity for UK science
and the British public to be involved in a most exciting adventure at the
start of the new Millennium.
“The public support is huge. Our task now is to involve all interested
parties, government, research councils, our universities and the wider
public in the Mars Beagle mission, both as contributors and participants.”
Although the UK Government has not announced whether it plans to
put funds into the Beagle 2 Lander, Professor Colin Pillinger from the
Open University, who heads the UK team, is hopeful that the £25 million
TRADE FAIR SUCCESS
AN innovative trade fair that brought together scientists and suppliers has
been held by the University
The first Leicester University Trade Exhibition (LUTE), held in the
Medical Sciences Building, featured 22 suppliers of scientific equipment,
including household names Nikon and Sanyo.
LUTE’s aim, Building a Bridge between Scientists and Suppliers, caught
the imagination of the guests who took advantage of the chance to catch
up on all the latest technology and chat to company representatives.
One delighted guest said: “I felt that the Trade Fair provided a platform
for everyone in the lab to converse with the suppliers and discuss
products and protocols directly relating to their work.
“This isn’t always possible in the laboratory due to the limited time that
the representatives have per visit.
“Overall I found the exhibition a useful way of making contacts with
the various companies that we regularly deal with and an enjoyable
experience.”
The scientists’ mood was matched by the suppliers who also heaped
praise upon the event. Mr Russell Herbert, Area Sales Manager of
Advanced Biotechnologies Ltd, said: “I thought it was a great success and
very well organised for both exhibitors and delegates alike.
ra Birch
(Chemistry), Ila Patel (Genetics), Barba
TEAM EFFORT: From left, John Bates
l Carter (Surgery). Not pictured,
Rache
es);
Servic
edical
(Biom
Travis
(Biochemistry); Colin
Anne Abbott (CMHT).
needed can be found.
Professor Wells said: “The situation with Beagle is very delicately
balanced. The prospects are good for funding and UK support for Beagle
is very much enhanced by the approval by ministers of Mars Express.
“The design of Mars Express includes all necessary provisions for the
Beagle lander. Also the Mars Express prime contractor, Matra Marconi
Space, (Toulouse) has recently reviewed the Beagle design with the
Leicester-Open University-industry team and have declared themselves
well satisfied on all the technical issues.
“So we have got over two main hurdles, political and technical. The
third, and last, hurdle to clear for go-ahead is to gather together the
various sources of funding needed to complete the lander project. Some
sources are already committed; others are in advanced stages of
discussion and negotiation. Procedures are in place for these negotiations
to be drawn to a conclusion over the next 4-6 weeks. We have every
reason to be optimistic, especially given the wonderful and imaginative
outcome from the ESA Ministers meeting in Brussels.”
Professor Wells said work would progress to complete the design of
the lander in time for the ESA review of the project later this year.
A model of the lander was recently shown to HRH The Duke of
Edinburgh when he visited the Space Research Centre.
Among those backing Beagle 2 are pop stars Blur.
“It was the attention to detail such as the mini booklet given out and
extensive advertising that made it possibly the best trade show for
companies that I have attended in this country.”
LUTE was organised by a small working party after a suggestion by the
Laboratory Managers’ Group in January 1998, and aims to promote the
benefits of using a smaller number of suppliers.
The organising team consisted of Anne Abblott (CMHT), John Bates
(Chemistry), Barbara Birch (Biochemistry), Rachel Carter (Surgery), Ila
Patel (Genetics) and Colin Travis (Biomedical Services).
At present the University buys a wide range of scientific equipment
from a large number of different suppliers. It is hoped that a reduction of
suppliers will prove more cost effective, and will cut down on the amount
of paperwork and administration needed.
Such was the success of the event, held on 24 March, that plans are
being laid for future trade exhibitions.
Peter Holland
Security Journal
THE Security Journal, which is published and co-edited by staff at
the Scarman Centre, includes new insights into controlling crime.
Professor Maurice Punch notes that the business world creates
opportunities and pressures for staff, often senior managers, to
break the law. One of the main facilitators of this problem is
managerial weakness. Punch contends ‘I hold management as
primarily responsible for levels and forms of crime within the
firm’.
Read Hayes has undertaken research into shop theft and finds
that there are a range of strategies that can be employed to
tackles thieves, and they are based on understanding offenders’
motives.
In other papers Gregory Coram outlines the difficulties for
businesses disrupted by demonstrations by activists and suggests
ways that the damage can be limited by liaison with the police.
Matthew Robinson and Alex del Carmen look at how the strategy
of downsizing is having a negative impact on tackling crime, while
Alice Maree looks at how bank robbery can be prevented by
understanding how robbers carry out their offences.
17
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENTS
IN THE REGION
ARTSTOP
TAKE TIME OUT
Guest Editor, Peter Holland, a Charles Keene College student on work experience with the Press Office, highlights Open Air Festivals,
Events and Exhibitions in tune with nature.
THE GREEN GREEN
GRASS OF HOME:
Scenes from
Childhood by Sara
Robertson.
FLOWERING OF
ART: Touch Me Here
by Claire Proctor, and
Flower Jar
by Sara
Peterson.
PASSIONATE
ETCHINGS: Love Nest
by Richard Creed – one
of the drawings in Lines
of Desire, an exhibition
at Leicester’s City
Gallery until 26 June,
celebrating the tradition
of drawing as the main
creative tool for all
modes of visual thought.
STAR WARS FINALE, LI
SPECTACULAR
The grounds of De Montfort Hall pr
exciting evening on Thursday 22 July
Orchestra, with A
guest conductor, p
programme. And
at Leicester U
DIG THAT ART
The underlying significance of gardens is explored in
Green Fingers, the latest of the City Gallery’s
themed summer shows. Featuring paintings, sculpture,
textiles and photography by national and regional
artists, this interactive exhibition (admission free) runs
from 2 July to 21 August, Tuesdays to Fridays (11-6)
and Saturdays (10-5).
HEAVENLY VOICES
A choral pot-pourri is promised on 26 June when Cantamici, led by founder and
conductor, Phillip Gilbert, perform a programme of sacred and secular works by
Brahms, Bruckner, Randall Thompson and Copland, together with William Mathias’s
Shakespeare Songs and Vaughan Williams’s English Folksongs – just one of the
concerts in the current programme organised by the University’s Music
Department. The performance is in the Fraser Noble Building, London Road, and
tickets cost £6, £4 concessions, £2 students/under-18s.
Deep in rural Leicestershire on the evening of Wednesday 23 June, with a programme
celebrating summer, are the University’s Proteus Chamber Orchestra and Choral
Society and singers. The proceeds of the concert go to charity. For full details,
phone the Music Department on 0116 252 2781.
BARD IN THE GARDEN
In the De Montfort Hall gardens, the first Leicester Shakespeare Festival
features Hamlet and As You Like It performed by the critically-acclaimed R J
Williamson Shakespeare Company – Britain’s largest touring open air
Shakespeare Company. So why not bring along a picnic, and enjoy the
work of the playwright of the Millennium? The Festival runs from 6-18
July and performances start at 7.30pm. Contact De Montfort
Hall Box Office on 0116 2333111 for ticket details.
SCENIC
BACKDROP:
Leicester University
students performing As You
Like It, set in De Montfort
Hall’s gardens.
18
OUT TO RAISE FUNDS
The Malcolm Sargent Concert H
formed in 1997 as a result of an idea
Constantine, is holding fund raising
a garden setting on Sunday 20 June a
pm at 96 Coventry Road,
Narborough, Leicestershire,
when Adam Summerhayes
and a Bardi Orchestra
ensemble will play Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons. Tickets are £10.
Andrew had long been
seeking a home for
the Bardi
Orchestra, but
recognised the
need for a
community
venue which could supply the need
Leicester and the County. The Tr
community at large to promote, i
education in an appreciation of m
by the provision and use of a conc
Present efforts are aimed toward
study in advance of a lottery fund
Peter, has agreed to support the
• For further details of the fun
ring Jim Roberts, Museum Studie
TIME FOR A CHANGE
ARTSTOP
Leicester University students will be performing Mark Rayner’s criticallyacclaimed Savage Banquet in the Attenborough Building at 7.30 pm on 14, 15
and 16 June. This LUT production is a powerful drama, set in the period just after
the Allies have liberated France in World War II. Tickets (£3) on the door.
CHURCH MUSIC
An idyllic setting of a church, gardens and orangery complements the music of Mozart and Pergolesi at two
concerts by Fiori Musicali, the Northampton-based purveyors of fine baroque music, on 24 and 25 July at St
Mary Magdalene Church, Castle Ashby, Northampton, commencing at 7.30 pm on
Saturday and 5 pm on Sunday. To book, ring 01327 361380 (tickets cost £12,
concessions £9).
• Visit Fiori Musicali’s web site – www. fiori-musicali.com to find out more
about this group whose summer venues include many splendid historic houses and
churches in and around Northamptonshire.
SIREN’S SONGS
GHT AND LASER
rovide an outdoor setting for a
y, when the Philharmonia
Andrew Constantine as
perform an exciting
drew Constantine, a former student
niversity, is well-known locally as
the conductor of the
Bardi Orchestra. Box
Office: 0116 233
3111.
For a night of superlative fun and close
harmony with a skilfully crafted blend of
wit, don’t miss Fascinating Aida at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Sunday
27 June. The girls are embarking on a
national UK tour following on from their
West End success earlier this year. Call
0121 236 4455 for ticket details.
MUSIC ON CAMPUS
An Open Air Concert by
the University’s Proteus
Chamber Orchestra at
lunchtime on 23 June will
be held in front of the
University Library
(weather permitting!).
Anthony Pither conducts.
CLASSICAL KIDS
Join local youngsters for two colourful, lively
evenings of music, songs, dancing and
narration at the Leicestershire and
Leicester Arts in Education Summer
Festival, held at De Montfort Hall on 21-22
June. The Festival features, amongst others,
the Leicestershire Schools Boys’ Choir, the
Soar Valley Music Centre Senior
Orchestra and the Birstall
Brass Ensemble (Box
Office: 0116 233 3111).
Hall Trust,
a by Andrew
g concert in
at 7.30
ds of music and other arts groups in
rust exists for the benefit of the
mprove, develop and maintain
usic and other arts in all its aspects
cert hall and rehearsal rooms.
ds raising money for a feasibility
d bid. Sir Malcolm Sargent’s son,
e venture.
nd raising concert and the Trust,
es Department, on 0116 252 3961.
ALREADY OUT!
Leicester Festivals 1999 is a guide to a variety of
culturally diverse events taking place across the city this
year. Listed is Belgrave Mela (26 to 27 June) –
an extravaganza of music and dance
together with ethnic crafts, eastern
clothes and exotic foods, and the
multicultural Dharmic Mela (24 July) on
Victoria Park. For more information, call
the Festivals Unit on 0116 254 9922.
BOTTOM’S OUT
Celebrate midsummer at an open air
performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the sumptuous
grounds of Tolethorpe Hall, Stamford. The performance on 21 June, which
promises “the most remarkable Bottom yet to grace the boards”, is a charity gala
night in aid of the Sargent Cancer Fund. For further details of this and other
Tolethorpe summer performances, call 01780 754381.
• Sir Malcom Sargent taught music at Leicester’s University College early
in his career.
19
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
BEDOUIN
TRADITIONAL
LIFE PRESERVED
International Focus provides
stories with an international
dimension. Any stories or ideas
should be sent to Jane Pearson,
Press and Publications Office,
ext 2440, fax 2485, e-mail:
jhpl@le.ac.uk
Marianne Edwards, one of the
PhD researchers, explained the
role she and fellow PhD student
Kevin Tansey have been playing: “I
have been looking at the spatial
THE Leicester University Department of
and
temporal dynamics of
Geography has for some years been participating
vegetation in the Badia using
in a research project which will play an
satellite data. We monitored this
important part in a Jordanian Government
data for two years and then, using
mission to preserve the life-style of the nomadic
a field visit to Jordan, we looked at
FRUITFUL DISCUSSIONS: Memb
Bedouin tribes.
ers of the Jordanian delegation with
the
way in which data on the
Unive
rsity representatives.
Eighty per cent of Jordan is Badia, a classical
ground corresponds with the satellite
Arabic word meaning “arid land”. This is where the Bedouin
data. That way we can monitor how it has changed over two years. We
traditionally roam, using the less inhospitable desert areas as grazing for
screened the vegetation after the winter rainfall, so that the Bedouin can
their herds.
see which areas were green at which periods, and therefore they can
The Jordanian Badia Research Development Programme started in
travel round to them in turn.”
1992 as a joint Jordanian-British initiative, prompted by HRH Crown
The results have now been sent off to be added to other
Prince Hassan of Jordan and the Duke of Kent, also involving the
data, and the next step is for researchers to analyse all the
Royal Geographical Society and the Jordanian Higher Council of
different findings to get a general picture on how to protect
Science & Technology.
grazing land.
The Programme, which covers 12,000 sq kms and
Marianne enjoyed her field trips. “We went off in the Land Rover
includes 34 villages with a total population of
and pitched our tents in the desert. We were there in spring and
approxcimately 16,000, has moved into a research
autumn, so it was cold at night when we had to go out to collect
centre built by the British in the 1930s and 40s in the
night-time data.
North-east of Jordan. Currently employing 25 people,
“The people we met were wonderful and very hospitable.
mainly Bedouin from throughout Jordan, it is about
They
live in a very barren landscape. It’s amazing, the
to become a national centre for the development of
emptiness in the north-east part of Jordan. There are very few
the Badia and is affiliated to the Higher Council for
villages. It’s like a moonscape, rocky, with wide black basalt
Education & Science.
plains
in the north-east and mud flats where Bedouin shepherds
The project is now at the Research and Development
move across with their goats and camels.
phase, and is actively involving assessment, evaluation and potential of
“While we were doing our field work we were welcomed by Bedouin
resources in the Badia. It aims to work towards the sustainable
tribesmen and were invited into their tents for sweet tea. Usually we had
development of the Badia regions, with the Bedouin making the choices
a driver with us, who could interpret, and the Bedouin themselves spoke
and the Higher Council for Education and Science supporting them
a bit of English.”
Speaking at the RGIS-IBG Annual Conference held at the University in
“For me, the application of science to combat over-grazing and
January, HH Sharif Zein bint Nasser, who led a delegation to the
desertification
was one of the attractions of this project.”
Conference, explained: “We are concerned about the changes that
development of the Badia might bring to the Bedouin. Jordanian Bedouin
are the last to remain in Arabia, so it is important that they should share
in any development that takes place.”
“The Badia has suffered from its people’s migration to the cities. Now
they are beginning to come back. The Programme is mapping population
movement to show the dynamic status of the population. The aim is to
preserve the essence of their traditional lifestyle in a 20th-century
context.”
The passion the Bedouin tribes have for the Badia is very strong, and
those who move to cities tend to retain cultural and traditional links with
the Badia.
Leicester University’s involvement in the Programme is in the use of
remote sensing to look at the potential for growing crops in the desert,
investigating soil moisture, land use, vegetation trends and how to map
that information. The Badia is one part of a wider research project in the
Geography Department on remote sensing.
Leicester is one of several UK universities to be involved in the
programme, including the University of Durham, whose Geographic
Information System the Leicester researchers use. Leicester’s role began
in 1992-3 when Professor Andrew Millington – acclaimed by his Jordanian
partners as “very much the inspiration and co-ordination” saw the
potential to the Badia Programme of radar imagery from the European
Space Agency.
As a result he was able to fund two PhD students and one Post
Doctoral student to carry out research. It is their results which, back in
Jordan, form the basis for decision-making on the Badia.
20
VALUED LEICESTER
EXPERTISE AT
CONFERENCE
TWO members of the School of Education were keynote
speakers at an international conference held in Hong Kong.
Dr Martin Cortazzi and Dr Peter Martin addressed the
conference on Language in Education in Post-Colonial Societies.
Dr Angel Lin, conference co-ordinator from City University of
Hong Kong, said: “In response to the great community need to
further understand and explore issues related to the medium of
instruction in Hong Kong schools, the Centre for English
Language Education and Communication Research organised the
conference.
“Featured international speakers included language
educational experts from Malaysia, Brunei, Belgium and the UK.
Our local guests and discussants included deputy education
directors and principal education officers of the education
department as well as local language educational
researchers/scholars from a broad range of educational institutes
and universities in Hong Kong.”
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
SOUTH AFRICAN
SUCCESS
SENIOR South African politicians from the Department of Safety and
Security within the Free State Provisional Government recently visited the
University to gain an overview of current UK thinking about policing and
criminal justice.
The Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order hosted the visit,
which was funded by the British Council and the Department for
International Development. The party included the Provisional Minister
for Safety and Security, Ms Annah Buthelezi-Phori.
Programme organiser, Kate Broadhurst of the Scarman Centre,
explained: “With the recent images we have seen of police brutality in
South Africa, the country clearly still faces enormous challenges, but
having met such senior policy makers who are strongly committed to
change. I believe that there is every reason to feel hope for the future in
South Africa”.
During the two-week programme the delegates received training on
subjects such as community policing, youth crime and domestic violence
and lectures were backed up by visits to various projects in Leicester and
other cities designed to prevent and reduce crime.
Another highlight of the programme was a three-day visit to London
which included discussions with officers in the Racial and Violent Crime
Task Force at New Scotland Yard; talks with the Chairman of the Police
Complaints Authority; a meeting with Home Office Minister, Paul
Boateng in the House of Commons and a visit to the Cabinet Office to
meet John Bright of the Social Exclusion Unit.
Commenting on the visit, Ms Buthelezi-Phori, Minister for Safety and
THE EUROPEAN UNION
AND TURKEY: DRIFTING
APART?
SINCE the end of the Cold War, Turkey’s relationship with Europe has
changed. On the one side, Turkey’s strategic importance to the west
has declined, whilst on the other, the European Union has forged ahead
in economic and political integration.
Turkey has also been experiencing domestic turbulence surrounding
r, His
to right: Dr Wyn Rees, Professor Jorg Mona
COMING TOGETHER: Pictured left
Young.
John
sor
Profes
rds,
Edwa
th
hancellor Dr Kenne
Excellency Mr Ozdem Sandberk, Vice-C
TASK FORCE: Andrew Willis (front
row, left) of the Scarman Centre with
officers from the
Charles St Police Station, Leicester, and
South African politicians from the Depar
tment of Safety
and Security within the Free State Provis
ional Government.
Security, said: “This programme provided by the Scarman Centre has
done a great deal to enrich our understanding of the way policing is
practised in the UK and we have learnt a good deal about what
constitutes good practice, which we hope may in time be implemented in
South Africa”.
Another member of the delegation, Mr Neo Masithela, Chairperson of
the Safety and Security
Committee in the Free State Legislature, added: “the programme has
provided a good basis for further exchanges of good practice in policing
and crime control. The challenge now is to understand how thinking in
the UK can inform practice in South Africa”.
the role of Islam in its society and the rights of its Kurdish minority
population. The result has been a process of growing friction and
recrimination between the EU and Turkey, as the latter has watched
countries from Central and Eastern Europe leapfrog its own application
for EU membership.
These were some of the issues that provided the focus of a one-day
conference at the University hosted by the Centre for European Politics
and Institutions in March, attended by fifty participants from UK
universities and pressure groups.
The Development of EU-Turkish relations was explored during the
opening session, which also introduced the main themes for the rest of
the day. These included the issue of Union enlargement to include
Cyprus, the development of the European Conference, the EU Turkish
economic relationship and security issues pertinent to European and
Turkish relations.
Following words of welcome from the Vice-Chancellor Dr Kenneth
Edwards, the conference was opened by His Excellency Mr Ozdem
Sandberk, Turkish Ambassador to the UK. Other speakers included
Professor Jorg Monar, Director of the University’s Centre for European
Politics and Institutions; Professor Haluk Kabaalioglu from Mamara
University; Dr Robert Hine from Nottingham University; Dr Mehmet
Ugur from Greenwich University; Dr William Park from the Joint
Services Command College at Bracknell; Dr James Ker-Lindsay from
the Royal United Services Institute in London and independent speaker
Mr David Barchard.
Dr Wyn Rees of the Politics Department said: “It was widely felt that
the conference has been extremely valuable and appreciation was
expressed to the University Association for Contemporary European
Studies for its financial assistance. It is hoped that a book may result
from the conference in due course.”
21
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
SUB-ZERO DISASTER
QUITE what the guests of a nearby hotel thought was happening was
not absolutely clear.
Roads were sealed off by the Police as dozens of fire pumps,
ambulances, City Guard and utility vehicles raced to the scene. The time
was 1.00 am and temperatures were sub-zero, but the operation went
smoothly, and all those affected by the attack were attended to in good
time.
The exercise was part of a conference on underground railway safety
organised by the Main School of the Fire Service in Warszawa, Poland,
attended by Dr Simon Bennett of the Scarman Centre. The major
disaster exercise took place in a city centre station, and simulated a
poison gas attack on a
crowded Metro train
(actually full of student
Fire Officers from the
Main School).
Representatives from
the Tokyo Fire
Department, who have
direct experience of
real poison gas attacks,
also monitored the
simulated disaster.
The conference itself
d.
e, Warszawa, Polan
View of the Main School of the Fire Servic
lasted three days. On
the second day Dr Bennett spoke
on the King’s Cross Underground fire of 1987. His lecture, entitled
‘King’s Cross – three histories’, described the event using a simple
chronological, a social and a cultural narrative. His objective was to
demonstrate that disasters may be ‘constructed’ or understood in quite
different ways, and that a full understanding requires that all the histories
be told.
FORGING FORMAL LINKS
A RECENT visit by a university delegation from Taiwan, Republic of
China, has paved the way for more formal collaboration between police
training courses in Taiwan and at Leicester University.
The Scarman Centre for the Study of Public Order recently welcomed
visitors from the Central Police University, Taiwan, headed by Professor
Mark Chen, Commander General of the Police Cadet Corps.
The delegation came to Leicester to meet Scarman Centre staff and to
see the University and its facilities, before the Centre’s Director
designate, Dr Martin Gill, and Senior Lecturer Mr Andrew Willis
concluded an arrangement to promote formal collaboration between the
Scarman Centre and the Central Police University of Taiwan.
Dr Gill commented: “We are seeking to create a unique partnership
which is based on bringing together best practice in international police
training with the highest level of academic expertise. This is a modest
beginning but we are looking to create a formal institutional link between
the Scarman Centre and the Central Police University.”
Professor Yung-Ching Lee, Director of Foreign Affairs at the Central
Police University, said on leaving: “We came to the UK to visit just one
University – Leicester University because it is the home of the Scarman
Centre. We knew it by reputation and everything we have seen and heard
has confirmed our view about its status and standing. We are delighted to
be moving towards a formal link between out two institutions.”
The delegation had previously attended the valedictory ceremony for
the International Commanders’ Programme at the Police Staff College,
Bramshill, where they were met by Professor John Benyon, Director of
the Scarman Centre, with Mr Andrew Willis.
22
As well as delegates from
Japan, representatives from
Russia, Sweden, Belgium,
France and the United
States of America were also
present.
During his tour, Dr
Bennett visited the Fire
Brigades of Gdynia and
Gdansk on the Baltic Coast,
both of which expressed an
Dr Simon Bennett, Scarman Centre, talkin
g to a secondinterest in the two-year
year student at The Main School of the
Fire Service,
distance learning MSc in Risk, Warszawa,
Poland.
Crisis and Disaster
Management offered by the Scarman Centre. The MSc currently has
more than 130 students.
During his stay in Warszawa, Dr Bennett lectured at the Main School
of the Fire Service on defensive architecture. Following discussions with
the Commandant, it was agreed that both the Main School and Scarman
Centre would consider the possibility of holding a joint conference on
physical hazards later in 1999 in Warszawa. Such a collaboration would
promote the interests of both institutions.
As always, Dr Bennett liaised with the British Council during his visit.
One of the main problems with recruiting students in Poland lies in the
fact that the average salary is just over £3,000 per annum. This puts the
two-year MSc distance learning courses beyond the reach of most Poles.
However, following an initiative by the Security Management team at the
Centre, a cheaper option is now available – a twelve-month
Diploma/Certificate course in Security Management. Being cheaper, this
option should prove more attractive than the MSc.
Dr Bennett left Poland with a heavy heart; “It’s a great place to work.
The enthusiasm and determination of the staff and students of the Main
School is infectious” he said.
The ICP offers strategiclevel training for police
officers from around the
world. It leads to a
University of Leicester
Postgraduate Certificate,
with the possibility of
converting this award to
a MSc in Criminal Justice
and Police Management.
Peter Hermitage,
Director of National
Police Training,
presented certificates at
CLOSER COLLABORATION: Dr
Martin Gill,
the graduation ceremony. In Director designate of the Scarman
Centre, with Professor
Mark
his address he paid special
Chen, Commander General of the Police
Cadet
Corps in Taiwan.
tribute to Professor
Benyon, who is shortly to step down as Director
of the Scarman Centre. He went on to acknowledge the importance of
introducing “academic standards” into police training and he commended
Leicester University’s commitment to a partnership with NPT and
Bramshill in the provision and accreditation of the international training
course.
Professor Benyon responded by saying: “The ICP offers senior police
officers a unique experience, including the opportunity to explore British
policing in theory and practice, to develop their approach to policing from
an international perspective and to plan strategically for the future of
policing in their own country.”
OUT & ABOUT
Bulletin is pleased to receive contributions from across the
University for Out and About.
Send information about what’s happening in your
department/unit to
Out and About, Bulletin, Press and Publications Office.
email: ara@le.ac.uk
SERVING AS
REMINDERS
February’s visit to the University
by Michael Smith, to give a
lecture, Foley: The Spy who Saved
10,000 Jews, has been followed by
the news that Foley has been
recognised by Yad Vashem, the
premier world institution for the
study of the Holocaust, as one of
‘The Righteous of the Nations’
(Gentiles who went out of their
way to rescue Jews who would
otherwise have been slaughtered
between 1939 and 1945).
Michael Smith, a senior
journalist with the Daily Telegraph,
is the author of a book about
Foley. He is also the author of
Station X, the recent definitive
history of Bletchley Park,
renowned after the war as the
centre where British Intelligence
deciphered tens of thousands of
intercepted German coded
messages. This book was the basis
for a very successful programme
on Channel 4.
It is interesting to note that
three of those who worked at
Bletchley Park on Ultra later came
to Leicester University. Mrs
Margaret Findlay, for many years
before her official retirement a
secretary in the History
Department, served there, as did
Professor Tony Fitton-Brown and
[Major] Edward Rushworth, both
of the Classics Department, and
both still remembered in the
University.
Professor Aubrey Newman
• See story on page 12.
CONFERENCE ASSISTS CULTURAL
AWARENESS
HI!
Following a lecture to members of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences research laboratories in Kun-ming, South-West China,
Dr Colin Ockleford (Pre-Clinical Sciences), was able to take an
interesting ride – in return for a banana – on an Indian elephant
during a visit to a Qi Gong display. The collaborative research
project with which Dr Ockleford is involved necessitates a further
three visits to China. He is looking forward to renewing his
acquaintance with the elephant!
TAKING A
SUPPORTIVE ROLE
Jenny McNair, secretary to
Professor Seward of the
University’s Department of
Oncology, has been busier than
usual recently. Her husband Jim,
together with fellow fundraiser
Tony Taylor, completed a run up
and down a wet and windy
Snowdon in just over two hours
to raise money for the Oncology
Department. Jenny was on hand
to drive, assist in case of
emergency, and record the event
by taking photos at the finish. She
was also present to encourage
them at the start of their run – at
7 am one morning in May, timed
so that the runners could return in
time for breakfast and a shower at
their Llanberis ‘B and B’!
• For further details concerning
donations to the Department,
contact Jenny on 73-7597.
CONFERENCE
SUCCESS
On 11 May the Scarman Centre
for the Study of Public Order
held its second ‘major risk’
conference, Planning and
Learning from High Risk
Situations. Sixty-five delegates
attended the one-day event that
featured speakers from all sides
of the ‘risk industry’, together
with lively debate.
Due to its success, it is
planned to hold another
conference next year.
Over 120 delegates contributed to lively debate following a number of
impressive lectures at the Conference, Intercultural Communication, on 24
April, run by Human Communication International in conjunction with
Leicester University.
The Conference was opened
by two Northamptonshire school
students, who presented the ‘I
Have a Dream’ speech by Martin
Luther King. This was followed
by short addresses given by the
Course Director and Dr
Rosemary Sage from the
University’s School of Education,
who is the HCI President.
The first speakers, Dr Martin
Cortazzi, also from the School
of Education, and Dr Lixian Jin
of De Montfort University
conveyed the range of
expectations and
interpretations occuring in
multi-cultural contexts, and the
importance of being sensitive
to other people’s conventions.
After the morning talks,
WORKING TOGETHER
: Dr Rosemary Sage
there was a presentation to those (left) and Min
a Jesa, the Race Equality
Officer for
winning Diana, Princess of Wales North Warwickshire Hea
lth Trust.
Awards for Communication.
Details of next year’s Conference, Communication in the
Technological Age, can be obtained from Dr R Sage, School of Education.
Dr Rosemary Sage
23
OUT & ABOUT
CHANGE HIGHLIGHTS KOSOVO APPEAL
Chris Meades and Richard Draycott, research students in the
Chemistry Department, bleached their hair recently and, in the
process, raised £250 for the Kosovo Emergency Appeal.
The challenge developed out of an original offer of £10 if they
dared to bleach their hair. Colleagues then generously offered further
sponsorship money.
Afterwards, Richard’s parents did not recognise him! Richard’s hair
is naturally jet black so, for him, the change was more drastic than for
Chris, who has naturally brown hair.
INTERACTION
At the Centre for Labour Market Studies, net-conferencing now enables
course members from across the globe to meet together and discuss
course-related issues without the need to find a video conferencing
studio. Members from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Malaysia, Australia, Pakistan, USA, Canada and the Caribbean recently
took part in a Conference that crossed 16 time zones!
On screen, the software’s ‘main chat’ window is where everything
happens. It’s very easy to contribute – it is simply a case of inputting text
and pressing return. The skill is in the chairing and steering of debates.
One advantage over the normal face-to-face conversation is that
everyone gets a chance to have their say and the lecturers have a
transcript of the group’s exchanges. The latter can be a useful teaching
resource.
The Centre’s net conferencing software and hardware is very ‘low
tech’. A small financial outlay resulted in a shareware licence, and no
additional equipment has been required. Because the software is textbased, it is relatively undemanding of hardware. This means that course
members with quite old computers connected to the Internet can
nonetheless participate as effectively as anyone else.
The software in use works on both Windows-based and Apple
Macintosh computers, and an enhancing programme, NetScrawl, allows
online users to view and edit a graphics window. The software also allows
for the exchange of files, enabling course members to ‘upload’ their
assignments, and allowing the distribution of, for example, working papers.
YEAR AWAY RESULTS IN REWARDING
EXPERIENCES
Second-year BA English student Helen Woodland’s gap year
was, in her words, “an amazing experience”. Working as a
volunteer through Project Trust in an SOS Children’s Village in
Zimbabwe, she was a kindergarten teacher, responsible for a
youth programme which held fund raising events to finance
children’s outings. She also taught swimming in the Village,
which housed over 140 orphaned or abandoned children.
As if this was not enough, she also managed to find time to
bungi jump off the Victoria Falls bridge, experience white water
rafting down the Zambezi, and hitchhiked to South Africa,
Botswana, Zambia and throughout Zimbabwe. Her time there
was not without incident. She broke her wrist, was mugged
twice, and was involved in a car crash. “Even though it was a
little difficult at times, I miss the children and the sunshine”,
she says.
For her achievements during this year – which also included
raising £2,950 for Project Trust – she was awarded a Gold
Duke of Edinburgh Award.
By coincidence, Gemma Cansell, in her second year of the
MChem course at Leicester University, sat next to Helen in St
24
DAZZLING LOOKS: Richard Drayc
ott (left) and Chris Meades brandish mone
y raised
for the Kosovo Emergency Appeal.
Feelings of isolation among course members
are reduced, and, as one course member put it: “This was my first
experience of chatting with anybody from the Centre via Hotline – and it
was a good experience. It gave me the feeling that I am not very far from
Leicester.”
It is hoped that the net-conferencing facility can be used to conduct a
series of online interviews as part of a research project currently being
undertaken by staff at the Centre.
Dr Jason Hughes
LEICESTER LINKS
A recent picture in the Leicester Mercury’s Mr Leicester’s Diary
brought back memories for Terry Garfield. Taken on the steps of
Wyggeston Boys’ Great Hall, it showed a group of volunteer
stewards at the National Union of Students’ Annual Congress, held in
Leicester in the spring of 1948 – one of whom was Terry. Members
of Students’ Unions from Leicester’s University College, the College
of Art and Technology and the Domestic Science College helped
with the Congress administration.
• Terry Garfield, for many years Chief Technician in the Geography
Department, was awarded the honorary degree of Master of Arts
from Leicester University in 1992. He continues his involvement
with the University as Programmes Secretary of the Departmental
Staff Common Room Association.
James’s Palace at the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony.
Gemma qualified for her Gold Award shortly before arriving at
University. Both now work in Leicester University’s Students’
Union Reception.
FILLING THE GAP: Helen Woodland
with children from Green Group.
FEATURE
WANTED. BAGS OF HELP FOR REFUGEES
One afternoon in April, whilst helping to collect donations for
the East Midlands Kosovo Appeal, Sarah Munson, a Research
Assistant in the Biochemistry Department, met the Appeal Coordinator, Pawel Obszynski and his wife, Jolanta, who is a PhD
student in the Centre for the Mechanisms of Human Toxicity,
and from then on Sarah’s involvement snowballed. At that time,
she would never have believed that two weeks later she would
be travelling with one of the lorries bound for Macedonia. For
Bulletin, she recounts her recent experiences...
THE response from the public to the East Midlands Kosovo Appeal was
overwhelming, exceeding all expectations and making the task of sorting
and packing the clothes, bedding,
toys and toiletries a logistical
nightmare. However, with the
help of an army of volunteers
who turned up daily at the
‘sorting depot’ at Granby Halls,
the impossible was achieved,
and mountains of bursting black
bin bags were converted into
over 100 tonnes of packed
boxes ready for shipment.
Steve Walker, owner/driver
of Pigeons Transport UK, had
agreed to donate his time and a
lorry to take one of the first
loads to Skopje in Macedonia,
LIGHTER MOMENT: A child gets a
queueing patiently.
balloon, after
and I was grateful to be given the
opportunity to go too, along with the coordinator, Paul.
We set off from Leicester on Sunday
25 April – at that point glad of the rest
after our exertions down at Granby Halls.
The journey took us through Belgium,
France, Switzerland and Italy, where we boarded a ferry at Ancona to
Patras in Greece. It took 24 hours to cross the Adriatic. Here we saw the
first signs of military operations in the form of NATO planes returning
from their missions. A day’s drive through Greece brought us to the
Macedonian border, situated on a motor-way, now devoid of traffic and
flanked by eerily tranquil and picturesque hillsides. We had to travel in
escorted convoy with 30-40 other aid lorries to Skopje, situated only 7
km from the Kosovan border.
The aid was off-loaded and gratefully received at the CRS (Catholic
Relief Service) depot. They are responsible for the overall management of
the seven refugee camps in Macedonia, run collaboratively with 23 other
aid agencies. The following day we were given a tour of the largest of
these camps, designed originally to accommodate 16,000 people, but
currently holding over 32,000. We anticipated scenes of squalor and
misery following the TV footage we were all so familiar with, but instead
were met with extremely positive images. The Kosovans themselves
volunteer to work within the camp, helping to maintain a high level of
organisation and, despite their dire circumstances, the people are trying
to lead as normal a life as
possible.
Of the refugees in the
camp, 75% are women and
children, which was all too
apparent as we wandered
along the rows of tents.
People are actively keeping
their tents and clothes
clean, with full washing lines
running between the tents
– a common feature.
Oxfam has set up a
water purification system
which pumps clean water
to stand points around the
camp, and people queue
patiently with their ration
cards, entitling each of
them to two oranges, two
bananas, one can of fish, a
litre of juice and threequarters of a loaf of bread,
at one of four food
PRACTICALLY FULL: Clothes, beddi
ng, toiletries distribution points.
even a teddy – were bound for Skopje.
The field hospital is run
by the German Red Cross
and although at the time of our visit there were no major outbreaks of
disease, the onset of summer, with temperatures set to rise
above 30oC, combined with the chronic overcrowding makes
this a major cause for concern.
The most moving scenes were undoubtedly to
be found in the
children’s play area
(run by the Israeli
youth movement).
Here, children
formed snaking
queues for the
simplest of pleasures
such as receiving a
balloon, or taking
their turn to draw or
to skip, queuing quite
happily and patiently
for maybe 45
minutes. Given the
HANDS-ON: Sarah Munson (left) and
Jolanta
trauma that all these
Obszynski, Appeal volunteers.
children must have
suffered it is
remarkable that they are coping so cheerfully with their situation.
It was satisfying to see the aid through to its end point, but it will be the
images encountered in the refugee camp that will stay with me for a long
time to come.
Sarah Munson
• The East Midlands Kosovo Appeal is still in need of funds to enable it to
continue to send collected aid. Donations can be forwarded to either Sarah
Munson at the Department of Biochemistry (3483), or to Jolanta
Obszynska, CMHT (5538). Donations should be by cheque, made payable
to the East Midlands Kosovo Appeal.
25
We are looking for contributors to this section. If you
wish to review the cuttings, please contact
Barbara Whiteman on ext 2676.
CUTTINGS
WHAT THE PAPERS SAY
Hundreds of cuttings pour into the Press Office at Leicester
University from around the world chronicling the activities of
staff and students. Marie Ellis, an English graduate from
Leicester University, on work experience with the Press Office,
reviews a selection of newspaper cuttings from recent weeks.
A NUMBER of women from
Leicester University get a mention
in recent cuttings. Audrey Osler
has been ‘given a chair in
education at Leicester University,
making her one of three black
women in Britain with
professorships (The Voice and The
Times Educational Supplement, 2
April). Professor Osler’s expertise
focuses on rights, identities,
ethnicity and citizenship.
Kate Bosley, who graduated
with an MA in Museum Studies,
has at 25 years old recently
become the ‘youngest ever
custodian’ of a National
Trust property, which is in
fact the home of the
playwright George Bernard
FOOTBALL FOCUS: John Williams
Footall Task Force.
Shaw, as reported in the St Albans
Observer, 9 April. Declaring her
excitement with regards to her
new position, Kate states that she
26
still need help raising money
(please note!). As ‘every penny
raised goes to the summer school
and to help care for the six
children who live at the house’ –
Washington Times (12 April) which
contested the primacy and validity
of popular culture. The 29th
Annual Meeting of Popular
Culture met to question whether
movies are a
legitimate way
of learning
history.
Nicholas
Cull,
Leicester
University’s
Professor of American Studies, is
quoted as saying, ‘If you want the
story of the people, you look at
what the masses are interested
in’. Will we yet see the ascension
of popular culture into the realms
of academia; the phoenix rising
from the ashes? Will the battle
ever be won between academics
and pop culturalists? Viva la
revolution!
The last Football Task Force
caused strife of a different kind. It
prompted the resignation of
Gordon Taylor, though it is not
clear whether this was due more
to the contentiousness of the
reports or the personable nature
of the chairman David Mellor. The
Guardian (17 April), in A Consumer
Guide to Sport, took an in-depth
look at the present Football Task
Force, whose report has yet to be
released. This Task Force has
commissioned research from
Leicester University’s Sir Norman
Chester Centre. The Centre’s
Director, John Williams, admits
that the research shows support
for a statutory policy. With Mike
Lee, premiership spokesman,
asserting that premiership heads
will not support statutory
regulation, it appears that the
heads are acting in a way
reminiscent of Arsenal managed
under George Graham. Will
commercialism remain entirely in
defence or concede a winning
goal? Perhaps an expert can
comment?
ATTENBOROUGH RETURNS TO
CITY
D-DAY LOOMS FOR TASK FORCE
feels she ‘can bring a fresh
enthusiasm and fresh eyes to the
job’.
And last, but not least, two
medical students – namely Mary
Cusack and Rachel Cottel, are
spending their two-week holiday
caring for disabled children in
they themselves are self-financing
– I feel they deserve a special
mention.
Students’ alternative activities
also get a mention in the press, as
Leicester secures fourth position
in the ‘Top Uni Totty’ (FHM
Magazine). However, a quick
ORY
RECORDING THE PEOPLE’S HIST
t’s
is carrying out research for the Governmen
Romania
(Leicester
Mercury, 19
April). They
glance at the Red Mole website
(www.redmole.co.uk), the
originators of Alternative
University Ratings, shows that we
have now risen to second place,
close on the heels of Lancaster.
Hail to our ‘mega’-babes!
Leicester University experts are
frequently asked to comment on
subjects in the news. Dr Claire
Lawrence, a public order expert
from the Scarman Centre, was
recently asked by the Leicester
Mercury (24 April) for her
comments on security following
the massacre in Columbine High
School. Dr Lawrence propounds
the view that although many
schools have security schemes
such as closed-circuit TV, security
doors and ID badges, it is
important to have a procedure for
dealing with potential threats.
Schools should follow the lead
given by President Clinton, who
‘has called for teaching kids within
schools the ways to deal with
conflict’.
An article close to my own
heart was that featured in the
E
NEW POST FOR LEGAL TRAINE
CUTTINGS
In April 1999 Leicester University
appeared in:
British Printer
Nursing Times
Business East Midlands
Off License News
Construction News
PC Mart
Daily Telegraph
People Management
Electronics Weekly
Public Finance
Farmers Weekly
Safety Management
FHM
The Express
History Today
The Financial Times
Horticulture Week
The Guardian
Irish Times
The Independent
Journal of Guidance, Control and
Dynamics (overseas)
The Independent on Sunday
Local Government Chronicle
The People
Local Papers: Leicester
Mercury/Leicester Mail
The Scotsman
Local Papers: others
The Observer
The Times
M Magazine
The Times Higher Education
Supplement
Managing Information
Washington Times (overseas)
Men’s Health
What’s New In Building
Navy News
Woman
Departments/Sections that hit the headlines
in April 1999 (total: 115)
BOOKS
THE ENLARGEMENT OF EUROPE
Professor Stuart Croft (Birmingham University),
Professor John Redmond (Birmingham University), Dr G
Wyn Rees (Department of Politics, Leicester University)
and Mark Webber (Loughborough University)
Manchester University Press, April 1999, £40.00
(hardback), £14.99 (paperback)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 0 07190 4770 9 (hardback), ISBN 0 7190 4971 7
(paperback)
The Enlargement of Europe examines the debates surrounding the postCold War enlargement of the principal European organisations: the
European Union, NATO, the Western European Union, the Council of
Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. All
were founded during the Cold War but since then have had to adjust to
the dramatic changes that have taken place. They now face demands both
to enlarge their functions and their membership to admit states from
central, eastern and southern Europe. The extent and speed with which
the process of enlargement will take place will be the most important
factor in determining the future development of Europe.
This book employs a political science approach, and is the first to
analyse all the main European organisations. It focuses on three main
questions: (i) is there one or several visions guiding the enlargement
process? (ii) have there
been separate motives
for enlargement between
the different
organisations? and (iii)
has there been a
deliberate policy by
Western governments to
pursue a ‘cost-free
expansion process?
Part of the series,
Political Analyses (series
editors, Bill Jones and
Michael Moran), and
with a Foreword by
Hans van den Broek,
the book, which seeks
to make a contribution
towards the debate on
international
organisations at what is
a critical moment in
the continent’s
development, will
appeal to students and researchers in the fields of international relations
and European studies.
• Dr Wyn Rees lectures in International Relations at Leicester University.
LET THE BULLETIN COVER YOUR BOOKS!
• Press & Publications Office is particularly keen to maintain a
record of radio/television coverage. Please email details to:
pressoffice@le.ac.uk
The Bulletin welcomes news of recently-published
books written or edited by University staff. The book
cover, together with any other relevant details,
should be sent to Barbara Whiteman, Press &
Publications Office (2676, ara@le).
27
BOOKS
THE EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN ECONOMY
Dr Peter Musgrave (Department of Economic and Social History)
Macmillan Press Ltd, June 1999, £40 (hardback), £12.99
(paperback)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 0 333 66541 4 (hardback), ISBN 0 333 66542 2 (paperback)
Until recently, study of the early modern economy in Europe has tended to have
heroes and villains: the former being the progressive and ‘modern’ economies of the
Netherlands and England, and the latter being doomed, backward and Catholic Italy
and Spain. This picture has now changed quite drastically, and there is far more
emphasis on the general growth of the European economy during this period. The
progressive removal of the neighbouring threats to European prosperity (particularly
the gradual crippling of Ottoman power) created an environment which benefited all
societies and not simply the traditionally emphasised ‘Atlantic’ economies.
This book, one of the series, European History in Perspective (general editor,
Jeremy Black), is an invaluable aid to all students of the period, offering the most upto-date research and a thorough discussion of the different controversies that
bedevil study of early modern Europe. It is appropriate both for economic historians
and for social and political historians wishing to understand the essential
underpinnings of the continent’s growing success.
• The illustration on the book’s dust jacket is A Poulterer’s Shop by Gerrit Dou, courtesy
of the National Gallery, London.
THE ENGLISH TOWN 1680-1840: Government,
Society and Culture
Dr Rosemary Sweet (Department of Economic and
Social History)
Longman, June 1999, £45 (hardback), £14.99
(paperback)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 0 582 31713 4 (hardback), ISBN 0 582 31712 6
(paperback)
Part of the series, Themes in British
Society History (general editor, John
Stevenson), the book examines the
development of urban government
and society and the changing nature of
urban culture during the ‘long
eighteenth century’.
This is an up-to-date account of
current understanding of the subject,
whilst also making its own substantial
contribution. At its heart is an
authoritative account of urban politics
– the structures and institutions of
authority; their purpose and function;
the realities of civic administration;
and the general movement for reform
that climaxed in the Municipal
Corporations Act of 1835, set within
the context of a survey of social
structure and social experience in
urban life of the time.
Arguing that political activity in
the towns was deeply rooted in local
concerns, Dr Sweet also shows how
far the development of extraparliamentary activity in England in
28
the period tended itself to have a specifically urban context. She
also offers a valuable corrective to easy simplifications about
‘rotten boroughs’.
Two welcome features are the inclusion of smaller and rural
towns alongside the larger, industrialising cities; and its
continuation to the aftermath of the 1835 Act, thus doing
justice to the transition from the Georgian to the Victorian
town, too often left under-explored.
The second half of the book examines such issues as
demography, social stratification, manners, religion, dissent,
amenities and entertainment. Particular
attention is given to the position of
women in the urban context.
Dr Sweet’s findings challenge the
conventional idea of London’s
dominant influence over the cultural
life of provincial towns, and conclude
that provincial urban culture, in all its
variety, was a much stronger and
more resilient force than has usually
been supposed. Lively, crisp and
cogent, The English Town 1680-1840
should become a standard
introduction – for student, scholar and
general reader alike – to its multifaceted subject.
• Dr Sweet is also the author of The
Writing of Urban Histories in
Eighteenth-Century England,
published in 1997 by Oxford University
Press.
BOOKS
HOMELESS CHILDREN: Problems and Needs
Edited by Professor Panos Vostanis (Division of Child
Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Leicester
University) and Dr Stuart Cumella (Birmingham
University)
Jessica Kingsley, March 1999, £15.95 (paperback)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 1 85302 595 X
An increasing number of families are becoming homeless, often as a result
of domestic violence, which leaves women and their school age children
without homes. This multidisciplinary volume is the first to look at the
variety of problems encountered by this group and to propose strategies
for managing those problems.
The contributors to this book provide evidence that homeless children
often have more acute problems and needs than other children; as a result
of the insecurity of their situation, they may experience physical health
problems and developmental delay. They are also at high risk of emotional
and behavioural difficulties, such as sleep disturbance; eating problems,
aggression, over-activity, anxiety, depression and self-harm. At the same
time, due to their unstable situation, they are less able to access support
from the health, education and social services.
TEMPLATE SYNTHESIS OF MACROCYCLIC
COMPOUNDS
Professor N V Gerbeleu and Dr Vladimir B Arion
(Institute of Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of
Moldova), and Dr John Burgess (Department of
Chemistry, Leicester University)
Wiley-VCH, April 1999, DM 278 (hardback)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 3 527 29559 3
The synthesis of macrocycles is an art, with template-controlled synthesis
providing elegant access to a wide variety of macrocyclic structures. These
include polyazamacrocycles, crown ethers, cryptands, rotaxanes,
catenanes, molecular knots, and other fascinating species. The range of
macrocyclic compounds is as broad as their actual and potential
applications in such areas as synthesis, catalysis, electron transfer, and
molecular switches.
This book provides detailed and authoritative information on all aspects
of template-controlled macrocyclisations. The current state of research on
template processes, both in relation to synthetic techniques and to
mechanisms, is comprehensively covered. The critical discussion of the
diverse synthetic routes includes details of the characterisation of a
generous selection from the immense number of macrocyclic products
mentioned. The main body of the
book detailing the template syntheses
is framed by an introductory chapter
on the template approach and a
closing chapter on applications and
uses.
The logical product-oriented
arrangement of the main body of the
book, and its inclusion of more than
1500 references, make it an
indispensable handbook for workers
in this field. The authors hope that it
will both provide assistance to those
who need to synthesise known
macrocycles and inspiration for the
design, production, and application
of further compounds of this type.
Homeless Children defines the
specific problems and needs of
homeless children, and draws up
practical guidelines for staff and
agencies on recognising and dealing
with those problems. It then looks at
policy and service development for
homeless families in education,
health and social care, and concludes
that conventional methods of
provision have to be adapted to
meet the specific needs of this
vulnerable group.
• Panos Vostanis is Professor of Child
and Adult Psychiatry at Leicester.
He has developed mental health
services for homeless children and
young people in care, and has
published on the psycho-social aspects of several child psychiatric disorders.
Together with Stuart Cumella, a Senior Research Fellow at Birmingham, he
has completed epidemiological research on the needs of homeless children
and their families.
INORGANIC REACTION MECHANISMS
Dr John Burgess (Department of Chemistry, Leicester
University) and Professor Martin L Tobe (University
College, London)
Addison-Wesley-Longman, April 1999, £40 (flexicover)
Available from the Bookshop
ISBN 0 582 23677 0
Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms provides a comprehensive account of all
the central inorganic mechanisms operating in solution – substitution,
dissociation, addition, electron transfer, and intramolecular processes,
and many of their combinations, variants, and deviants. It documents the
value of kinetic techniques in diagnosing mechanism, dealing with
elements from all regions of the Periodic Table. It gives numerous
examples of the role of kinetics and mechanisms not only in classical
inorganic reactions but also in organometallic chemistry, homogeneous
catalysis, bioinorganic systems, inorganic pharmacology, and geological
and environmental chemistry.
The late Professor Tobe and Dr Burgess have each spent some forty
years in this area of chemistry. This
book draws on their complementary
areas of experience and funds of
knowledge accumulated over decades
of reviewing the field, and on the
fruits of their extensive international
collaborations.
It will be a unique and invaluable
guide for postgraduates and
researchers in academia and in
industry – not only in inorganic
chemistry but also in such fields as
biochemistry and geochemistry, and
will also form a suitable reference
text for final-year undergraduates
and postgraduate taught courses.
• Dr Burgess is University Fellow in
Inorganic Chemistry in the
Department of Chemistry.
29
PEOPLE
APPOINTMENTS
Professor Audrey Osler B.A., M.A., P.G.C.E. (Leeds), Ph.D.
(Birmingham) Professor of Education,
School of Education, from 1 May 1999.
Audrey Osler joins Leicester from the
University of Birmingham where she was
responsible for developing postgraduate
courses and research in human rights
education. She is Director of Research in the
School of Education and, from the autumn,
will be Director of the Centre for Citizenship
Studies in Education. She has previously
taught in both primary and secondary
schools and was head of a teachers’ centre in
Hertfordshire.
Professor Osler’s research focuses on
rights, identities, ethnicity and citizenship. She has a particular interest in
biographical research, and on how an understanding of teachers’ and
OBITUARIES
The University has learnt, with regret, of the deaths
of the following:
PROFESSOR D P DE BONO
Professor David de Bono, British Heart Foundation Professor of
Cardiology, died on 29 April 1999, aged 52. Although many medical
men are successful bedside clinicians, relatively few have any
pretensions to perform serious scientific research and fewer still are
able to combine the two at the highest level. That David de Bono was
able to do so was only one feature of a multi-faceted
personality which extended far beyond the confines
of academe. Many can ask complex questions; it
takes real ability to ask simple questions. He had that
ability; the questions so simple that one was
astonished that nobody had asked them before.
His main research interest was the study of events
in the lining of the coronary arteries, the blood
vessels which supply the heart, events which
determine the fate of so many of us in the western
world. There are perhaps three ways in which such
events can be understood; by observing the natural
history of disease in populations, by rigorous clinical
trials of groups of patients allocated to different
treatments and in laboratory based research. Only the
last would be recognised in the popular mind as
research, but the trick which makes it all work is the ability to relate
the insights of each to the others. De Bono had that ability in spades.
His early work was in the development and use of ‘clot-busting’
drugs to open up blocked arteries. This naturally enough led on to
efforts to keep them open subsequently and later to understand why
the obstruction should have occurred in the first place. Among much
else, his studies in Leicester have investigated the high prevalence of
heart disease in Asian immigrants in that city; a situation quite different
from those who remain in India. He was instrumental in developing
guidelines to assist doctors in their treatment of heart disease well
before such guidelines became fashionable.
David de Bono was born in Malta, where his father was Professor of
Medicine and his grandfather Professor of Medical Botany, a fact which
shows that medical science is not yet so very far away from herbalism.
His schooling was at St Edward’s College Malta and at Downside,
whence he proceeded as a Scholar to Trinity Hall, Cambridge where
he took a first class degree in Natural Sciences. Clinical training at St
George’s Hospital followed and he qualified in 1971 with distinction.
Normally the extra-curricular activities of medical students are
30
Honorary Graduate flies over North
Pole
The Independent reports that, on Sunday 16
May, David Hempleman-Adams and fellow
adventurer Phil Dunnington became the first British
balloonists to fly over the magnetic North Pole. They faced the
brunt of the elements as they crossed the pole in a traditional
open basket.
• Leicester University conferred the honorary degree of
Doctor of Science on David Hempleman-Adams in 1998.
headteachers’ life histories can inform educational management and
management training. She also has a long-standing interest in children’s
rights and in children’s involvement in decision-making in both schools
and communities.
She has worked in a number of countries in Europe, Africa and the
Middle East, including Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa,
Zimbabwe and Jordan, conducting research and
Continued on next page
predictable by their tutors, but even as an undergraduate he astonished
by his ability in original work, work which became the basis for his later
research. Not that study was all; he met his future wife Anne over the
bodies in the dissecting room and with her had a part share in a punt
on the Cam. After house officer posts he was appointed Medical
Research Council junior research fellow in the Department of Surgery
at Cambridge and fellow of Trinity Hall.
In 1976 he moved to Oxford as clinical lecturer in cardiovascular
medicine and in 1979 was appointed consultant physician at the Royal
Infirmary in Edinburgh and Senior Lecturer in the
University. After 10 years he moved to Leicester as British
Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology. Leicester, at
that time, had no academic tradition in cardiology although
considerable strengths in diseases of the circulation. De
Bono was able to build on these to create one of the
foremost departments of cardiology in the country. For
three years he was also the Head of the Department of
Medicine and Therapeutics in the University and in this
role was instrumental in setting up the Cardiovascular
Research Institute in the University.
For the last few years of his life he suffered from a
progressive neurological disease. He dealt with this by
effectively ignoring it. Physical limitations were perforce
imposed upon him, but this never reduced, and perhaps
even enhanced, his intellectual output. A voice synthesiser
linked to a computer enabled him to address international meetings
almost until the end.
David de Bono was considered to have a powerful intellect by all
who met him or were familiar with his work, and he was a role model
as scholar-clinician for others to follow. His legacy will be long-lasting
because he created an ethos in research and clinical service which will
endure.
He is survived by his wife and two sons, one a barrister and the
other a medical student.
Dr J B Cookson
DR M J STRATTON
Dr Michael Stratton, industrial archaeologist, died on 29 April 1999,
aged 45. He made a significant contribution to the study of building
types associated with manufacturing processes and transport in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His book, The Terracotta Revival, is
a well-established classic on both sides of the Atlantic.
Amongst his professional qualifications was an MA in Victorian
Studies from Leicester University in 1976. At the time of his death, he
was a Senior Lecturer in Conservation Studies at York University.
PEOPLE
Continued from previous page
Mrs Margaret Bruce, Chief Clerk in the Finance Office, retired on 14
May 1999, after eighteen years of service to the University.
Margaret joined the Finance Office as a Senior Clerk in 1981, dealing
with research grant applications and claims. In 1983, she joined the
Finance Office Secretariat and held responsibilities for the
administration of the School of Medicine’s miscellaneous income and
private patients’ accounts. She administered the deed of covenants for
the Richard Attenborough Centre, the Library appeal, the Holocaust
Centre and the telephone fundraising appeal, and administered the car
and microcomputer loans schemes.
Friends and colleagues joined together to contribute to a farewell
gift, a token of their best wishes for her retirement.
DEATH NOTICES
Information about the death of a member of the University’s staff or a
student (past or present) should be given to Vivienne Paul, the
Registrar’s Secretary, who will ensure that the details are disseminated
throughout the University via CWIS. Her telephone number is
0116 252 2411.
ACADEMIC
SERVICES
AL
S E RV I C
E
ERSITY
U
S
Computers in Major
Lecture Rooms
IV
FOLLOWING the huge increase in demand for
computer output in teaching, it is becoming
logistically impossible for AVS to continue
t
LE
U
ICESTER
providing portable laptops as and when required
for presentations. Consequently, we have decided to
install PC’s permanently in the following lecture theatres: Rattray,
Bennett LT1 & 2, Adrian Link, Attenborough LT1 & 3, New Building LT1
& 3. Astley Clarke and MSB 1. Installation will involve modifications to
lecterns and cupboards, and the use of insurance-company-approved
security devices. It is hoped that this work will be completed by the start
of the 1999/2000 session.
PCFS and CFS access is being agreed with the Computer Centre so
that lecturers using these machines should be able to log onto their
accounts in the usual way. Anybody without a password for the central
file servers should notify Chris Gooch in AVS well in advance of their
particular teaching session to ensure that other arrangments are in place.
Please note that the use of these computers for teaching will have to
be booked, as with all AV facilities, with AVS separately to Central
Timetabling system.
Details of this service are still being worked out with the Computer
Centre and other parties. We hope that it will eventually prove to be
useful and effective for lecturers.
a
Professor Irene Gottlob, M.D. (Vienna), Univ.Doz., Professor of
Ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, from 1 April
1999.
Professor Gottlob gained her MD at the University of Vienna, Austria in
1982. Following this she spent eighteen months studying physiology,
particularly the action of neurotransmission on the isolated retina. After
this study period, Irene undertook her Ophthalmology training, at the
University of Vienna. This was followed by one year at the Max Plack
Institute for Experimental Ophthalmology in Frankfurt, Germany.
During her career Irene has practised in several countries, including a
period in America as a Research and Clinical Fellow in Paediatric
Ophthalmology in Foerderer Eye
Movement for Children at Wills
Eye Hospital, Philadelphia. Also at
Wills Eye Hospital, she completed
another Fellowship in Oculoplastic
Surgery and Orbital Diagnostics.
Then followed a one-year
Consultant’s post at ChristianAlbrechts-Universität, Kiel,
Germany. From 1993-99, Irene
was Head of Department of
Strabismus and
Neurophthalmology in St Gallen,
Switzerland.
Previous research interests
have been in neurotransmitters
and visual function, especially
RETIREMENT
N
Professor Charles Pollock, B.Sc. (Eng.), Ph.D., D.I.C., C.Eng.,
M.I.E.E., M.I.E.E.E., Professor of Electrical Energy Conversion,
Department of Engineering, from 1
April 1999.
Previously a Reader in the Department of
Engineering at the University of Warwick,
Professor Pollock leads an active research
group in the area of Power Electronics
and Drives and has particular interests in
the design and control of electronically
controlled brushless motors.
He is Director of the Centre for
Advanced Electronically Controlled
Drives, which was established as a
permanent mechanism for collaborative
research across the electrical
engineering sector of industry. The
Centre has presently 20 industrial
members and the research staff involved
in the Centre will be moving to Leicester University from 1 July 1999.
amblyopia and visual electrophysiology, eye movement disorders, and the
development of visual function in children.
Dr Gottlob plans to develop an Eye Movement Laboratory within the
Ophthalmology Department, and to study central vision function as well
as the epidemiology of children’s eye disease.
I
AU D O V I
S
consultancy on behalf of various international organisations, such as the
Council of Europe, UNESCO and the UN Commission for Human Rights.
She recently directed research on exclusions from school for the
Commission for Racial Equality and on learning for citizenship for the
European Commission.
Audrey looks forward to co-ordinating research initiatives in the School
of Education and to developing working partnerships with schools and
communities in Leicester and beyond. She brings with her to the
University an ESRC interdisciplinary research seminar series on Human
Rights and Democracy in Schools and a research project commissioned by
the Department for Education and Employment on reasons for exclusion
from school, which she is conducting with colleagues in the School of
Education.
31
NOTICES
DEGREE
CONGREGATIONS, JULY
1999
Wednesday 21 July 1999 at 3
pm: Faculties of Science and
Medicine and Biological
Sciences
Honorary Degrees:
Professor Sir Keith Peters, Dr
Philip Campbell
Faculty of Science:
Combined Studies, Human and
Environmental Science.
Faculty of Medicine and Biological
Sciences:
Research degrees, MSc in Forensic
and Legal Psychology.
MBChB, BSc Intercalated, Medical
Biochemistry, Biological
Science, Psychology, Psychology
and Sociology.
Thursday 22 July 1999 at 11
am: Faculties of the Social
Sciences and Law
Honorary Degree:
Mr Tim Appleton
Faculty of the Social Sciences:
Research and Master’s degrees in
Economics, Law and Employment
Relations, Training, and Training
and Human Resource
Management.
Undergraduate degrees in
Economics, Business Economics,
Economics and Law, and
European Studies.
Faculty of Law:
All degrees.
Thursday 22 July 1999 at 3 pm:
Faculties of Arts and
Education and Continuing
Studies
Honorary Degrees:
Professor Gillian Beer
Faculty of Arts:
All research degrees except
Archaeology.
Master’s degrees in Museum
Studies, English, English Local
History, Historical Studies
Undergraduate degrees in
American Studies, English, French,
French/German, French/Italian,
French/Politics, German,
German/Italian, History,
History/Archaeology,
History/Politics, History of Art,
Humanities, Combined Studies,
Modern Language Studies.
Faculty of Education and Continuing
Studies:
All degrees.
32
Friday 23 July 1999 at 11 am:
Faculty of the Social Sciences
SPONSORED ABSEIL FOR THE IMPERIAL CANCER
RESEARCH FUND
Honorary Degrees:Mr C Moon,
Mr R Seitz, Professor Sir Tony
Wrigley
An Abseil at the Royal Infirmary is planned for Sunday 18 July.
Any individual raising over £100 receives a limited edition t-shirt;
over £175 – a sweatshirt; and over £350 – a top quality fleece jacket.
Entry forms and information can be obtained by calling 01827 50280,
faxing 01827 50614, or e-mailing a.guild@icrf.icnet.uk. All proceeds go
to aid the Fund’s vital research.
• Visit the Imperial Cancer Research Fund’s website at
http://www.icnet.uk/public.html.
Faculty of the Social Sciences:
Research degrees.
Master’s degrees in Child
Protection Studies, Mass
Communications, Politics, Public
Order (Hong Kong), Social Work,
Criminal Justice Studies, Finance,
Marketing, Risk, Disaster and
Crisis Management, Sociology of
Sport and Sports Management,
the Study of Security
Management, MBA and Master’s
degrees (University College
Northampton).
Undergraduate degrees in
Communications and Society,
Economic and Social History,
Economics and Economic History,
European Studies, Geography,
Geography and Economic and
Social History, Politics, Politics and
Economic and Social History, and
Sociology.
Friday 23 July 1999 at 3 pm:
Faculties of Arts and Science
Honorary Degrees: Dr K Edwards,
Professor F Leckie, Sir Richard
Sykes
Faculty of Arts:
Research and Master’s degrees in
Archaeology.
Undergraduate degrees in
Archaeology, Archaeology and
Ancient History, Archaeology and
Sociology and Geography.
Faculty of Science:
Research degrees.
Master’s degrees in Biomolecular
Technology, Geology, Museum
Studies and Natural Resource
Management.
Undergraduate degrees in
Archaeology, Biological
Chemistry, Chemistry,
Engineering, Geography,
Geography and Archaeology,
Geology, Geophysics, Applied
Geology, Mathematics,
Mathematics and Astronomy,
Computer Science, Physics and
Astronomy and Physics and Space
Science.
YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST!
Issues of Bulletin appear on the University’s web pages shortly before they
appear in print. Back issues (January 1997 onwards) can also be viewed via
the following address:
http://www.le.ac.uk/press/bulletin/
NATURE IN TRANSITION
Major Conference at Lancaster
University, 13-14 July 1999
This ground-breaking Conference will explore
how nature conservation satisfies two
apparently contradictory aims:
• A cultural desire for ‘the Nature which stirs
and strives, which assails us and enthrals
us...’;
• And the emerging scientific paradigm of
ecosystem change and community
dynamics.
Through challenging speakers and lively,
open debates, this Conference, of particular
interest to conservationists, policy makers,
academics, land managers, economists,
consultants and policy analysts, will seek out
new thinking to prepare the conservation
sector for the many changes ahead.
• Further details can be obtained from Sara
Coy, National Trust, 33 Sheep Street,
Cirencester, GL7 1RQ (01285 884710,
email XEASLC@smtp.ntrust.org.uk.
Department of Adult Education
SHAKESPEARE SUMMER SCHOOL, 14-16 July 1999
One of Vaughan College’s July Holiday Courses, this Summer School
includes a visit to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford on 15 July
for an evening performance of Othello. To book a place on this course,
ring 0116 251 7368.
SET WEEK 2000 – DEADLINE FOR GRANT
APPLICATIONS
Closing dates for COPUS grant applications in connection with projects
for Set Week 2000 are 30 June and 12 November. Application forms
can be requested by email from meenal.gupta@britassoc.org.uk. Set
Week – promoting nationally Science, Engineering and Technology – is
co-ordinated by the British Association.
SELECTED NOTICES NOW ON THE WEB!
A new web page, Notice Board, now appears within the Press &
Publications Office’s pages. Currently details of events and opportunities
are displayed here. Access this page, which gives up-to-the-minute
notices, via http://www.le.ac.uk/press/notices.
NOTICES
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF EVENTS IS
AVAILABLE ON CWIS
INAUGURAL LECTURES
5.30 pm. Lecture Theatre 1, The New Building. Open to the
public and free.
Tuesday June 1
The Economics of Corporate Governance. Professor Steve Thompson,
Professor of Economics.
Tuesday June 8
Living in the Desert: The Archaeology of the Libyan Sahara. Professor
David Mattingly, Professor of Roman Archaeology.
(Rescheduled from Tuesday May 25)
The following lecture, previously listed for Tuesday June 8, has
been postponed until the Autumn:
Network Nirvana: The Management of Knowledge in the Post-Modern
Organisation. Professor Harry Scarbrough, Professor of Management.
Tuesday June 22
Renal Transplantation in the Next Millennium: Making More out of Less.
Professor Mike Nicholson, Professor of Transplant Surgery.
Friday June 4
Rush-Hour Concert: Ron Abramski (piano). Schubert, Robert Saxton,
Liszt. 5.15 pm lasting one hour. Admission on the door £3 including wine
or fruit juice. Richard Attenborough Centre. Free parking is available from
5.00 pm in the Medical Sciences car park in Lancaster Road.
Saturday June 5
W G Hoskins Lecture (sponsored by the Friends of the Department of
English Local History): Commons and Communities: Some Themes of
Commonland History. Emeritus Professor Alan Everitt, FBA. For further
details, ring 0116 252 2762.
Saturday June 5
Leicester University Sinfonia Evening Concert with Stephen Jones (piano):
Haydn, Beethoven. 7.30 pm. Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability
and the Arts, Lancaster Road, Leicester. Tickets at the door.
Tuesday June 15
The Fifth Haldane Society Public Lecture: Asia and Mr Gladstone – Lessons
from the Tigers’ Boom and Bust. The Rt Hon Chris Patten. 5.30 pm. Rattray
Lecture Theatre.
Wednesday June 16 to Wednesday July 14
Exhibition at the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts:
Work by students on RAC courses.
Monday June 21
Centre for Mechanisms of Human Toxicity MRC Toxicology Unit Lecture:
Participation of the Fas-signaling system in toxicant-induced testicular germ
cell apoptosis. Dr John H Richburg, College of Pharmacy, University of
Texas at Austin. 11.00 am. Seminar Room, Level 5, Hodgkin Building. All
welcome.
Wednesday June 23
Leicester University Open Day: All Departments. For more information,
telephone 0116 252 2674.
Wednesday June 23
Free Lunchtime Concert: Proteus Chamber Orchestra conducted by
Anthony Pither. Open Air Concert in front of the University Library
(alternative indoor venue, 10th floor, Charles Wilson Building). 12.45 pm.
Wednesday June 23
Summer Concert: Proteus Chamber Orchestra with members of the
University Choral Society and Singers conducted by Anthony Pither. A
programme celebrating summer, with Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C major
played by Susan Mather, Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending (solo violin
Sarah Scott) extracts from Haydn’s The Seasons, together with works by
Morley, Weelkes and Warlock. Tickets £3.50 (£2.50). Proceeds to Charity.
7.30 pm. Sutton-in-the Elms Baptist Church.
Thursday June 24
Open Day and End-of-Year Party: The Richard Attenborough Centre for
Disability and the Arts will be open from 2.00 to 6.00 pm. Refreshments
will be available. Exhibition/Music/Dance/Performance. At 7.00 pm there
will be an end-of-year party. All RAC students and their friends are
welcome. Bring food and/or wine for a cold buffet.
Saturday June 26
Evening Concert: Cantamici present a choral pot-pourri; a varied
programme of scared and secular works. Tickets £6 (£4, £2). 7.30 pm.
Fraser Noble Building, London Road.
Sunday June 27
Leicester University Sinfonia Chamber Music Workshop: Coaching by the
renowned Coull String Quartet. Leicester Adult Education College,
Wellington Street. For further details ring 0116 270 3310 or 0116 210 9027.
SMALL ADS
HOST FAMILIES REQUIRED FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS ATTENDING
ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES IN SUMMER 1999.
ANYONE INTERESTED IN HAVING PAYING GUESTS FOR SHORT
PERIODS, PLEASE RING (0116) 281 0786.
HOUSE FOR SALE
Whetstone: 4 bed detached, hall with cloakroom & wc, superb lounge
overlooking private garden with large patio, dining room, fitted breakfast
kitchen, master bedroom ensuite, family bathroom, built-in robes all
bedrooms, integral garage. £98,950 Telephone: 0116 252 5386 (Work)
0116 284 9502 (Home)
LEICESTER INTERVARSITY CLUB
Leicester IVC is an informal club whose members organise a wide
range of activities including speakers, meals, walks, badminton, cinema,
and theatre trips. For more information contact Jan on 0116 273 5306.
HOUSE FOR SALE
21 Briar Meads, Oadby (price £72,950)
Viewing strictly by appointment with the Agents on 0116 285 4554.
For further information, contact Dr FS Schlindwein, 0116 252 5053,
email: fss1@le.ac.uk. A spacious 3-bedroom semi detached family home,
5-minutes’ walking distance from excellent local schools and 2-minutes’
walking distance to local amenities for most day-to-day needs. Briefly,
the gas centrally heated accommodation comprises entrance porch,
entrance hall, through lounge/dining room, kitchen, stairs to first floor
landing, three bedrooms, bathroom and w.c. To the front of the
property is a paved car standing leading to a single garage, to the rear are
lawned gardens, rose bushes and a greenhouse.
VIVALDI IN THE GARDEN
The Four Seasons Soloist Adam Summerhayes, with an ensemble from
the Bardi Orchestra and Conductor Andrew Constantine.
In aid of the Malcolm Sargent Concert Hall Trust.
20 June 1999, 7.30 pm for 8. 96 Coventry Road, Narborough,
Leicestershire. Tickets £10 (including glass of wine).
For further details, ring Jim Roberts on 0116 252 3961 (office),
0116 286 4423 (home).
QUALITY CHILDCARE
6 weeks to 5 years • Experienced staff • Small and friendly
Approved by Ofsted 8 Registered with Social Services
THE JOLLY NURSERY 205 Knighton Road, Leicester LE2 3TT
Tel: 0116 270 6916.
33
SPORT
THE AGONY AND THE
ECSTASY – A
MARATHON DIARY
Colin Hide, Sports & Recreation Manager, ran his first marathon
recently, completing the 26.2 mile distance in 4 hours 27 minutes.
-60 Miles
Race Day. To horse. And Sheffield for the Sheffield Marathon.
0 Miles
We line up at the start at 9.30 am. The announcer informs us that the
start will be delayed as the contractor putting out the cones overnight has
not finished and the police won’t let the race begin.Ho hum.The stadium
big screen flashes up “Sheffield – U.K.’s Official No.1 City of Sport”.
Sometimes you could just cry your eyes out for this country. We start at
9.55 am.
3 Miles
This course was described as “mainly flat” in the brochure. In your
dreams. The course is mainly hilly with flat bits between the hills. It can’t
all be like this surely.
4 Miles
There are 2,000 runners doing this and most of them are in front of me,
judging by the debris on the ground at the feeding station. You have a
choice of a wet sponge or a cup of water at the feeding stations. If you are
really organised you can have your own drinks ferried to each station. I
should have brought a tray of lager.
6 Miles
Tracy and Amanda come into view. They are dressed as schoolgirls
running to raise money for a children’s hospital in Leeds. The pulse
quickens. Not sure if it’s the course or Tracy. Perhaps they could act as
pacemakers?
8 Miles
Posh Sheffield. I can tell because I got a slice of lemon in my water at the
feeding station. Ha, ha. Feel good, easy pace and there’s lots of people
cheering the runners on.
13 Miles
Half way. I feel dreadful. Like I’ve swallowed a squirrel and he’s gnawing
his way out from the inside. Still the race marshal is cheery. I hate him.
“Left for the half marathon, right for the full marathon”.
Everybody goes left. It seems there is
only me and a tramp with a dog on a
bit of string running the full distance.
I think about dodging under the
tape. Stupidity prevails. I go on.
13.5 Miles
I feel even worse. It’s the pain of knowing what
I’ve got to run up next. The course is really grim – a tour of the less
desirable real estate in Sheffield. Still the people are great and cheer you
on. I studied in Sheffield once. I remember it well. It was a Monday.
14 Miles
I feel good. A nice easy pace and the sun has come out. The trees are in
blossom and the grass is brilliant green. Sheffield has its attractions after
all. Nothing to this marathon running.
16 Miles
I’m getting slower. The head goes down and it’s a case of grinding the
miles out. I’m sure this route is all uphill. Still never mind, it’s only pain.
18 Miles
The fronts of my legs are beginning to hurt. It feels like maggots are eating
the muscle. How did they get in? My brain has increasingly wild and
irrational thoughts. I vow never to do this again. Ever.
19 Miles
Every 100 yards is scrutinised to see if it’s uphill or downhill. Downhill
good, uphill bad.
21 Miles
I’m starving. I had breakfast at 7 am and it’s now 1.30 pm. Pizza. There
must be pizza at the next feeding station.
Next Feeding Station
No pizza.
22 Miles
The biggest hill ever. I cannot run up this. I walk. Surprisingly I can walk
faster than I can run. It’s a mixture for walking and running here on in to
the end.
23 Miles
Pass a group moving slower than I am. “Only 10 minutes to go lad” one
cries. Lad I like. Three miles in 10 minutes? Not in this lifetime.
24 Miles
The bus picking up the people who wish to drop out passes and stops. A
piece of paper is thrust into my hand. I walk and read it. “The course is
now closed. The marshals have gone home. Please make sure you
know your way back to the stadium. The stadium closes at 3.30
pm.” Well thank you. Give me the keys and I’ll lock up when I go.
Months of winter training, flogging through Great Glen, Little
Stretton, Stoughton, Thurnby in the wind and rain have culminated
in being passed by the sag wagon. I wouldn’t mind, but I’m on for 4
hours 30 minutes. Quite respectable really.
26 Miles 267 Yards
The end. It’s a bit of an anti-climax. The marshal looks at her
watch, yawns and presents me with my medal. Someone runs up
and thrusts my bag of kit in my hand. “You’re nearly the last but
not quite.” Thanks again. First the physical and now the mental
torture. Still I’ve done it. And it was quite fun. When’s the next
one?
al achievement at the end of the
34
a sense of physic
GOAL IN SIGHT: Runners hoping for
London Marathon.
50 Miles
Driving home I stop for a burger. “Do you want to Supersize that
mate?” barks one of the crew. Has Judith Chalmers been on
holiday?
Colin Hide
BULLETIN COMPETITIONS ARE OPEN TO ALL READERS
EXCEPT THOSE INVOLVED IN ITS PRODUCTION. ONLY ONE
ENTRY PER PERSON OR GROUP IS PERMITTED. ENTRIES
SUBMITTED ON PHOTOCOPIED PAGES ARE ACCEPTED.
CROSSWORD
PRIZE CROSSWORD 35 by Seivador
FOUR PRIZES: First correct entry from draw – a three-course lunch for two in the Carvery, donated by Leicester University Catering
Services, second correct entry – a £15 book token, donated by the University Bookshop, third correct entry – a bottle of wine, courtesy of
the Bulletin, fourth correct entry – £5 book token, courtesy the Bulletin.
1
2
3
4
5
8
6
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7
Entries (in a sealed envelope) clearly marked to
PRIZE CROSSWORD COMPETITION,
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS OFFICE,
FIELDING JOHNSON BUILDING.
BY NO LATER THAN NOON ON WEDNESDAY 7 JULY
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NAME: __________________________________________
DEPT: ___________________________________________
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EXT. NO: ________________________________________
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Winners of Prize Crossword No. 34:
21
22
23
Clues Across
1. Keep in mind teacher who’s in charge of the port (13)
8. To throw dice with Tom is popular (7)
9. Capek’s work taken to a Latin country (5)
10. Lightweight cat (5)
11. Go in front, and quietly go back (7)
12. Scouse bird having yen for uniform (6)
14. Still the radio crackles (6)
17. A little dish for a tart! (7)
19. Cheese: it’s right for making you fatter! (5)
21. Capacious jumper of mine (5)
22. Each, in the open, is to gorge (7)
23. Upsetting pop-chart: Gerry the code-breaker (13)
Clues Down
1. Hotel to choose mostly rich type of power (13)
2. Dilapidated manor belonging to city (5)
3. Last longer than a wet brew in our environment (7)
4. Instructions: pierce wound (6)
5. Excited: eager to correspond (5)
6. Hill intended, it is said, to cause suffering (7)
7. Switchback ride in luxury car with mat (13)
13. It is five to one two Conservatives winning (7)
15. Two fates (one endless) prepared for Silk (7)
16. Happen to yearn to have a proper place (6)
18. Go one way to make a date (5)
20. Committee that covers things to chew over (5)
PRIZE CROSSWORD 34 SOLUTION:
Across: 1 Tranced. 5 Civic. 8 Ego. 9 Sarcasm. 10 Movie.
11 Absolute ruler. 13 Transgression. 16 Mismanagement.
19 Renew. 20 Italian. 21 Ins. 22 Lucan. 23 Earnest.
Down: 1 Tosca. 2 Arras. 3 Charles Darwin. 4 Dematerialise.
5 Compressed air. 6 Vivaldi. 7 Chevron. 12 Bar. 13 Timbrel.
14 Arsenic. 15 Own. 17 Elite. 18 Tenet.
Lunch for two in the Carvery, donated by Catering Services – Robert
Lang,. Mathematics and Computer Science; £15 book token, donated
by the University Bookshop – Steve Lakin, Mathematics and
Computer Science; bottle of wine – John Jasper, Chemistry ; £5 book
token – Susan Spurling, Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
KPMG
TAX AND
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35
PHOTOSTOP
CAPTAIN
Cook’s
Journal, 1768-71,
records his first
Pacific voyage in Endeavour
– a journey that included the
circumnavigation of New Zealand and the
charting of the east coast of Australia.
Now the sights and sounds of this famous adventure, together with the
original manuscript of the Journal, are brought to life in a CD-Rom
publication which has travelled from Australia to Britain with one of its
contributors, the final destination being Leicester’s Geography
Department.
• Full details of this story are on Page 4.
ONE FOR THE RECORD
Win a Fuji camera!
Question 1
How many copies of this Bulletin were printed?
Question 2
Where on the campus can you get a 24 exposure film
processed & printed for only £1.99?
Answers to Barbara Whiteman, Press & Publications
Office (ara@le.ac.uk) by Wednesday 7 July. First entry
drawn from correct entries wins a disposable camera.
AY UP, M’DUCK!
A carn elp it – a alluz manage to find a nice spot. A think this is what thuh
call Leicester University. Uvver there is the building where that man Cliff
Dunkley wuks. It were im as wrote Let’s Talk Leicester! A heard yuh can
still get it in the University Bookshop.
...I think we’ve ‘ad us photos took, an’ all.
36