Comment 159 - March 2005

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COMMENT THE COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

ISSUE NO

159 |

MARCH

2005

Stem cell hope for Motor Neurone Disease

The researchers plan to generate stem cells that carry MND-causing gene defects. By turning these stem cells into motor neurones they will have a unique opportunity to discover the processes that lead to the cells’ degeneration.

ING’S RESEARCHER Professor Christopher Shaw and Dolly-the-sheep creator Professor Ian Wilmut and Dr Paul de Sousa (who are both from the Roslin Institute) announced last month that they have been granted a licence by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)

Only the second licence ever granted by the HFEA

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to generate stem cell lines using Cell Nuclear Replacement. The cells will be used to study Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

‘This is potentially a big step forward for MND research,’ explains Christopher Shaw, Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics at the Institute of Psychiatry. ‘We have spent

20 years looking for genes that cause the disease and to date we have come up with just one gene. We believe that using Cell Nuclear Replacement will greatly advance our understanding of why motor neurones degenerate in this disease, without having to first hunt down the gene defect.’

GREG FUNNELL

The cultured neurones will also be used to discover drugs that can stop or reverse the disease process. Hundreds of thousands of drugs can be quickly screened in cultured cells within a year for around £100,000, whereas, it takes nearly two years and £20 million to screen just one drug in patients.

This technique could dramatically accelerate the discovery of new drugs that can effectively block the disease process.

‘This is only the second licence ever granted by the HFEA to use this technique, often referred to as therapeutic cloning. Our aim will be to generate stem cells purely for research purposes,’ says Professor Wilmut.

‘We are delighted with the HFEA decision. Now that the licence has been granted the next task is to raise enough money to carry out this research, which is easier said than done,’ continues Professor Shaw.

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Tsunami event: Rameet Singh Uberio and Arjun Singh Kaint from the Sikh Society perform a dhol and tabla duo at the fundrasing event for the Tusanmi disaster in Tutu’s. The proceedings were opened with an extract from Meditations XV by John Donne read by Professor Phil Whitfield, Vice-Principal (Students), who was standing in for the Principal. This was followed by three student eye witness accounts of the tragic events in South East Asia. They were given by Bala Karunakaran, third year medic, Naresh Verlander, first year computer science student and an anoymous one read by Michael Champion, KCLSU president. The event was rounded off by Jazz4Peace. The amount raised by the College was more than £2,000.

2 Commemoration Oration | 3 Ministerial event Hefce grant | 4 Graduation ceremonies | 6 New Masters | 7 Volunteering award | 8 Profile: Alison Wolf | 9 Departmental focus | 10 King’s people | 12 Burdett Institute | 14 In the news | 15 Flashback | 16 Books

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Principal delivers keynote speech KAI TO

HAT ARE UNIVERSITIES FOR?’ was the title of the 2004 Commemoration Oration given by the Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, on 10 February. Speaking in the Great Hall at the Strand campus, Professor Trainor’s lecture examined the past, present and future role of universities and the contribution made by King’s to the sector.

The Principal was introduced by the College Treasurer, David Potter; after a discussion period the response was given by Michael Champion, President of KCLSU. The lecture was followed by a reception in Tutu’s in the Macadam Building.

Professor Trainor’s working assumption was that ‘British universities – and indeed the

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Continued from page 1 This story received worldwide media coverage, with articles appearing in The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The National Post, Canada.

Professor Shaw appeared on Radio 4’s The Moral Maze to talk about the work, and the story was also featured on the Today programme, BBC News, Sky News and CBS News.

RINA PATEL

Professor Christopher Shaw

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Principal delivers Commemoration Oration

world’s universities more generally – are at a turning point characterised by a confused but ever louder debate about their primary objectives.’ Among the issues that required analysis, he said, were whether universities should give primacy to pure research or to discoveries directly useful to the private sector and to government.

More generally, Professor Trainor analysed the long-running debate about whether universities should be ‘communities of scholars’ or ‘engines of growth’. His address suggested that this is a false dichotomy. As even the supposedly other-worldly founders of King’s recognised, university institutions inevitably are driven both by academic rigour and by the needs of their various external communities. For example, in ‘nonvocational’ and ‘vocational’ subjects alike the learning process naturally develops in students those fundamental skills of analysis and expression which employers find valuable. Professor Trainor adopted a similar approach to the strategic choices facing universities with regard to research, ‘third stream’

activities and widening participation.

Professor Trainor’s address concluded by drawing two sets of implications for King’s. The first arose from the College’s remarkable record, at every stage of its development, in rising to challenges. Thus, even in a highly competitive age for universities, he argued, King’s has ‘the potential, and the tools, to move yet higher if we avoid any hint of complacency, if we remain alive to the inevitability of constructive change and if we strive energetically to build on our excellence and coherence in the years ahead’.

The second implication was the need for the College to ‘become ever more aware of, and ever more subtle in its interaction with, the various major sets of external institutions with which we deal’. This is especially important, Professor Trainor argued, given the current near obsession with the comparative standing of individual universities. In approaching these collaborations and competitions, he

The world’s universities are at a turning point suggested, King’s could draw on a number of assets – such as its reputation, its academic breadth, its location and its traditional emphasis on values, service and internal unity. He concluded with the comment that, ‘these traditional features of King’s may prove in the long run to be our greatest competitive advantage’ as higher education becomes more concerned in future with cohesion and sustainability.

Tradition Commemoration at King’s has a distinguished history, beginning in the 1920s, and the Principal explained that, following the revival

of the Commemoration Oration with Archbishop Tutu’s lecture in February 2004, he hoped to perpetuate this revived tradition as an opportunity to enhance the unity of the College. The aim would be to focus attention, once a year, not only on the traditions of King’s and of the various other institutions which have joined to make the current College, but also on the major issues currently confronting King’s and other university institutions. ‘In future years I hope that, in addition to having an oration, we shall manage to hold a number of connected events which will appeal to a wide variety of the College’s staff, students, alumni and friends’, Professor Trainor said.

The full text of the lecture is on the College website: www.kcl.ac.uk/ phpnews/wmview.php?ArtID=803

E-learning talk N 2 FEBRUARY, the Principal spoke to a capacity audience at the Palace of Westminster as part of a breakfast seminar on e-learning, organised by the Higher Education Policy Institute.

The Principal’s talk, entitled ‘Academically-driven e-learning’, drew on his experience with the Computers in Teaching Initiative and the Learning and Teaching Support Network in order to reemphasise the subject-centred academic rationale, and potential, of e-learning. It was illustrated with e-learning material from the forthcoming MA in War in the Modern World and from the distance-learning MClinDent (Prosthodontics) in Clinical Dentistry.

Anne-Lucie Norton of War Studies and Dr Brian Millar of the Dental Institute accompanied the Principal.

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Thai ingredient may have anti-cancer properties HE GINGER-LIKE ROOT, galangal, which is used to flavour Thai curries, has potential anti-cancer properties, according to Peter Houghton, Professor of Pharmacognosy, and his former graduate student Dr C C Lee. Dr Lee made and tested extracts

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from seven South-East Asian plants reputed to be good for treating cancer, to discover whether these claims had any scientific basis. She found that extracts of both lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum) and greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) could kill cancer cells, as well SARAH BROMLEY

Thai food is being analysed for anticancer properties

as increasing the ability of normal cells to protect themselves from carcinogens.

‘This dual action is quite rare among traditional anti-cancer medicines,’ says Professor Houghton.

‘Normally extracts are able to kill cancer cells or boost healthy cells’ natural defences against cancer, but galangal seems to do both.’

This research has received extensive press coverage both in the UK and overseas.

Professor Houghton’s work formed the basis of the latest Research TV story from King’s.

Research TV is an initiative set up

by Warwick University that produces video releases about British research in conjunction with university press offices, and distributes them to news desks around the world. Previous featured stories have included the 50th anniversary of the DNA discovery, and a review of UN peacekeeping missions. More information is available at www.research-tv.com

Minister launches new prisons handbook UIDANCE ON REFORMING prison systems to better respect human rights was launched in January by Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell and former General Manager of the King’s Students’ Union (1989–94).

Speaking at the launch of Guidance Notes on Prison Reform, published by King’s International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS), and funded by the Foreign Office, Mr Rammell said, ‘The way societies treat those in prison is symbolic of their commitment to justice, human rights and good governance. As countries move to increasing openness and democracy, very often one of the first institutions

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which governments seek to reform is the prison system.

‘These guidance notes identify the major problems common to many prison systems, and provide practical advice and solutions: how to deal with overcrowding, reducing violence, eliminating torture, and improving the treatment of juveniles and women.’

The Guidance Notes describe the most common issues that are likely to trigger prison reform projects. Examples are provided, not only of the problems which can be encountered, but also of good practice from which others can learn.

Commenting at the launch,

Bill Rammell

Director, ICPS, and Professor of Prison Studies, Andrew Coyle CMG, commented, ‘The Guidance Notes try to hit a balance between identifying general principles which can be applied in all settings, while at the same time providing practical examples which can be applied in different environments. The hope is that they will provide useful

Hefce grant ING’S WILL RECEIVE MORE than £46 million in the latest capital funding round from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce). This was the sixth largest grant to an English university.

Hefce has allocated £1.4 billion in this capital allocation for 2006-08. The grants will help institutions pay for the costs of constructing new or revamping old buildings, and for equipment for teaching and research.

Institutions’ share of the money has been based on a formula that considers teaching and widening participation resources, and quality-related and external research income.

Hefce said the grants would be released to individual institutions once they have submitted proposals showing how they intend to use the money.

Director of Finance, Stephen Large comments, ‘This announcement is a welcome confirmation of the Government’s intention to provide a permanent source of capital funding to the sector, and will enable the College to continue to progress its ambitious estates strategy for the benefit of both staff and students.’

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reference points for all those involved in prison reform.’

The Guidance Notes on Prison Reform build on the 2002 FCO sponsored handbook A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, also published by ICPS. The handbook has been translated into ten languages and more than 70,000 copies distributed.

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SARAH BROMLEY

Tsunami Forum HE AFTERMATH of the Asian Tsunami: the problems of resettlement and dealing with disasters was the title of a public forum organised by the King’s International Policy Institute (IPI) on 10 February at the Strand campus.

The panel discussion, chaired

by Professor Michael Clarke, Director of IPI, included four experts on different aspects of the challenges facing the world in dealing with the effects of the tsunami.

The panel was: Robert Picciotto, Visiting Professor, IPI, and formerly of the World Bank; Dr Chris McDowell, Director, Information Centre on Asylum &

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Refugees at King’s; Dr Robert Bradnock, Senior Lecturer in the King’s Department of Geography; and Dr Tim Huxley, Senior Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies.

‘The forum brought together perspectives from geography, development, migration studies and political science to look at some of the longer-term implications of the responses to the tragedy. So much attention is placed on the immediate aid needs that little strategic thinking goes into the longer-term problems which will emerge over a period of years,’ explains Professor Clarke.

Presentations were given by all four panellists and many points emerged, for example, very many

earthquakes take place along this fault line (and have done since 26 December) but the vast majority do not result in tsunami waves; it would be technically possible to create warning systems even for this collation of unique forces, but there would still be a problem in having warnings taken seriously and ensuring that populations were prepared to react; and other tsunamis occur regularly but with minor effects on coastal populations.

The forum also discussed the problems likely to arise with such large scale resettlement – where around two million people are affected. Precedents from other large scale resettlements around the world were not encouraging and indicated that resettled populations often entered into a cycle of poverty from which it was difficult

Graduation moves to the Barbican FTER SEVERAL YEARS OF staging more than 50 College graduation ceremonies at the Royal Festival Hall (RFH), they will be moving temporarily to the Barbican, one of Europe’s largest multi-arts centres. Ceremonies will be held there from July this year until January 2007.

The most recent ceremonies held at the RFH on 24 and 25 January saw in excess of 1,200 students

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graduating in front of nearly 3,000 family and friends.

One of the graduating students was HRH Princess Majeedah Bolkiah, daughter of the Sultan of Brunei. She has been studying for an MA in Environment & Development in the Department of Geography.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha attend-

ed the ceremony together with other members of the royal family.

Fellowships were bestowed on the Principal, Professor Rick Trainor, Professor Keith Hoggart, Head of the School of Social Science & Public Policy and Geoffrey Waywell, Emeritus Professor of Classical Archaeology.

The RFH is under going a major refurbishment as part of the redevelopment of the whole South Bank Centre site.

GEOFF ESPIN, EDE & RAVENSCROFT

The Sultan and Sultana of Brunei and their daughter HRH Princess Majeedah Bolkiah with Chairman of Council, Baroness Rawlings, and Principal, Professor Trainor

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Dr Bradnock explains the geological warning challenge

to escape. These dynamics also have a political impact and tend to exacerbate existing instabilities.

UN Handbook WO MEMBERS OF THE International Policy Institute (IPI) – Dr Randolph Kent Senior Research Fellow, leader of the study, and Dr Karin von Hippel, Senior Research Fellow – are joint authors of a major new study for the United Nations.

The Future of Humanitarian Assistance: The Role of the United Nations is a study about the integrity of the United Nations and the way the UN is perceived by its advocates and critics; by its partners, personnel, donors and its beneficiaries.

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Clinton aide lectures at King’s

Principal’s talks to staff

HE RENOWNED US terrorism analyst, Jessica Stern, gave a lecture entitled What Terrorists Say at an event organised by the International Policy Institute and The King’s Centre for Risk Management on 10 February.

Having conducted hundreds of personal interviews with terrorists

LL STAFF ARE INVITED TO participate in the forthcoming Principal’s Fora which will be taking place on: Monday 7 March 13.00 – 14.00, Auditorium (B5), Franklin-Wilkins Building, Waterloo campus Wednesday 9 March, 13.00 – 14.00, Gainsford Lecture Theatre, King’s Denmark Hill campus Tuesday 15 March, 13.00 – 14.00, Lecture Theatre 1, New Hunt’s House, Guy’s campus Monday 21 March, 13.00 – 14.00, Great Hall, Strand campus This second set of Principal’s Fora for the academic year 2004–05 will consider progress made towards a ‘green paper’ on the College’s strategic direction during the next few years.

Among the topics will be: research and teaching strategies; the College’s role in the University of London; King’s overseas role and international league tables; the size and welfare of the postgraduate student body; and the need for a clearer identity for the College as it markets itself in the UK and abroad.

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and violent criminals over many years for her seminal books on terrorism, the Harvard academic spoke about her more recent work and the problems of understanding terrorist mentalities.

The concept of ‘humiliation’ comes into almost all justifications of terrorism, she said. ‘However it

is expressed, whatever actual words are used, the spectre of humiliation always lurks around the base of the motivation,’ she noted.

Was it possible really to engage with the terrorist mentality, she was asked? ‘Yes’ was the emphatic answer, ‘but it takes quite some time and patience.’

KAI TO

Conducted hundreds of personal interviews with terrorists

Jessica Stern, with left, Professor Ragnar Lofsted, Director, King's Centre for Risk Management and Professor Michael Clarke, Director,International Policy Institute

Jessica Stern served on President Clinton’s National Security Council Staff in 1994–95.

She is now Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where she teaches courses on terrorism and on religion and conflict. She is the author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill and The Ultimate Terrorist, and has written numerous articles on terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

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Olympic exhibition Faster, further and fairer: science and sport at King’s College London RCHIVES AND CORPORATE Records Services have launched this online exhibition to support London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. It explores some of the scientific breakthroughs at King’s that have brought about improvements in athletic performance. These include the work of Professor

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King George V attends the United Hospitals Cup Rugby Final in 1922

Jean Hanson in uncovering the microscopic structure of muscles, developments in nutrition, and the ethical implications of drug testing of athletes, carried out at King’s Drug Control Centre.

The exhibition also looks beyond the laboratory to celebrate the sporting achievements of members of the College, which include the earliest ever rugby club and recent silver medal-winning Olympic rowing performances.

Guy’s rugby team 1878

www.kcl.ac.uk/archives/sport

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New Masters WO PIONEERING MAs, not offered anywhere else in the UK, will start at the College in September 2005.

The MA in Literature and Medicine has developed out of the work of Brian Hurwitz, D’Oyly Carte Professor of Medicine and the Arts, and Dr Neil Vickers of the Department of English.

‘Until fairly recently scholars have tended to think of medicine ‘influencing’ literature, seldom the other way round. Today, literature, it is argued, can offer students of medicine a surrogate form of experience of life and medicine. In

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the everyday work of nurses and doctors they draw not only on the sciences to help their patients’ plights and predicaments, but also on intellectual processes traditionally associated with study of the humanities,’ explains Professor Hurwitz.

The aims of this new programme include equipping students with the knowledge and skills required to partake in critical and productive dialogue between literature and medicine, and developing the ability to convert experiential and practical experience into scholarly discourse capable of engaging with

the terms of academic scholarship in literature and medicine.

The second new programme, MA in Jewish Ethics, will be run in conjunction with The London School of Jewish Studies.

Chief Rabbi and King’s Visiting Professor, Dr Jonathan Sacks, comments, ‘I have long believed that Anglo-Jewry can and should create a centre of excellence in Jewish ethics, using the respective strengths of the London School of Jewish Studies and King’s. I am delighted that this is now coming to fruition.’

‘The programme aims to provide teaching and research training in the issues raised in medieval and contemporary Jewish ethics. The programme will offer an advance

Student numbers

New access to HE report

EW STUDENT NUMBERS for the 2004/05 academic year show that King’s has increased its number of students by 311 to a record 19,547. Nearly all of these additional students are taught postgraduates. There are now 13,854 undergraduates and 5,693 postgraduates.

The percentage of international students at the College remains consistent at 20 per cent but this year a slightly higher proportion of these students come from within the EU. King’s is now home to students from 134 different countries, from Estonia to the Cayman Islands. This means 70 per cent of the world’s countries are now represented in King’s student population.

For a more detailed breakdown of student and staff numbers, as well as other key facts about the College’s history, structure and developments, see the new copy of Profile enclosed with this issue of Comment.

GROUND-BREAKING STUDY has revealed the extent and scale of the inequality of access to higher education by young people from affluent and poorer areas throughout the country.

The ‘Young Participation in Higher Education’ report by the Higher Education Funding Council for England demonstrates that the higher education divide between advantaged and disadvantaged children is deep and persistent.

The study of participation rates by students in every region, constituency and ward from 1994 to 2000 reveals that the most advantaged 20 per cent of young people are up to six times more likely to enter higher education than the most disadvantaged 20 per cent.

‘There had been almost no change between 1994 and 2000 and in fact the numbers going to university from the most advantaged neighbourhoods had risen faster, taking up most of the extra student places,’ commented the Report’s author, Mark Corver.

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If participation in all areas was brought up to the level in the top 20 per cent of most advantaged areas there would be twice as many young people going to university – ‘that’s how far we are away from having equality’.

‘report will be used to inform our widening participation strategy’ The only area of the country where participation has risen in the most disadvantaged areas is London.

Mr Corver suggested the ‘London effect’ was due to the capital having more universities – so that young people could easily live at home while studying – and more importantly there was a wide choice of schools and colleges to study A levels or other qualifications to gain university entrance.

Samantha Paxton, Widening Participation Manager comments, ‘The King’s Widening Participation Office already designs and delivers a

introduction to the form and content of Jewish ethics,’ comments Dr Daniel Rynhold, Department of Theology & Religious Studies.

Amongst areas of study are: the work of key figures in the traditions of thinking about morality and Jewish law; the application of Jewish law and teaching to the understanding of the state and political and social life; the application of Jewish law and teaching to the understanding of sexual relationships, marriage, family and gender roles, and the engagement of Jewish ethical tradition with other traditions of thought, particularly Western philosophy.

wide range of activities to more than 250 schools, colleges and community organisations in London. We specifically target young people who are currently under represented in higher education, for example, ethnic minorities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This report will be used to inform our widening participation strategy.’

While the report revealed stark inequalities, there are some encouraging findings. The introduction of tuition fees and the replacement of student grants by loans do not appear to have affected the choices of young people from different backgrounds, even for young people living in the poorest areas.

There is also a growing divide in participation rates between men and women. Women were 18 per cent more likely than men to enter higher education in 2000.

Even the month in which you were born has a bearing on your chances of entering higher education. In England the oldest child in a school year, born in September, is 20 per cent more likely to enter higher education at age 18 than a child born in August.

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King’s wins volunteering award HE COLLEGE WAS AWARDED a prize for ‘Excellence in the Promotion of EmployerSupported Volunteering’ at a recent awards ceremony organised by Volunteers in Action Southwark and Southwark Education Business Alliance and held at Glaziers Hall.

This is the Year of the Volunteer and the event was held to recognise employer-supported volunteering and the time and effort Southwark schools, community organisations and businesses have donated to the local community over the past year.

Awards were presented by the Mayor of Southwark Councillor Anne Yates and other winners included Barclays, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, St Jude’s C of E Primary School and EDF Energy.

King’s Community Relations Officer Gjoril Berg comments,

Gjoril Berg accepts an award on behalf of King’s from the Mayor of Southwark, Anne Yates

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www.kcl.ac.uk /experts HE PUBLIC RELATIONS Department has launched the College’s first online Directory of Experts. More than 1,300 journalists, papers,

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International E-zine AST DECEMBER saw the first ever edition of ‘King’s International E-zine’ which was emailed to all staff.

Associate International Marketing Officer Peternell Carder explains,

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News in brief NIMR move he Medical Research Council has decided to move the National Institute for Medical Research from its current base at Mill Hill to Euston, in collaboration with University College London.

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Annual Fund he Development Committee is accepting funding applications from staff until 23 March. The Committee awards funds raised from staff, alumni and friends through the King’s Annual Fund and the GKT Annual Fund, to projects that will benefit a significant proportion of the whole College, or be of great benefit to departments (see Comment 158). An application form and further information can be found at www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/admsup/ devoff/funding.htm

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‘There has been much interest among staff for volunteering since Shared Communities was established at the College. More than 100 staff have become involved and a recent initiative saw 350

Christmas presents collected in our Christmas Challenge. This award is very important because it recognises the Shared Communities scheme and the time and effort King’s staff invest in the local community.’

magazines, radio and television programmes and online services have been sent information about this new resource. The Directory provides access to King’s academics who are happy to provide expert opinion and analysis on a broad range of research topics and current affairs.

Melanie Gardner, Senior Public

Relations Officer, comments, ‘I hope this will become an invaluable resource for journalists. Around 700 experts have signed up to this fully searchable online directory which can also be browsed by subject, name and department. There are hundreds of keywords, and between them, academics speak nearly 40 different languages.’

The Directory has been developed in collaboration with the Web Team.

If you would like to be included go to: www.kcl.ac.uk/experts

‘This e-zine is the ideal medium to keep staff up-to-date with the College’s international activities.

Readers are briefed on international marketing activities and informed analysis of current international student issues and trends.’

To view the first issue visit www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/sreo/ezine.

Input or information is very welcome, email peternell.carder @kcl.ac.uk with your contributions.

Contact details are available in the e-zine for further information or advice on international marketing activities. The link to the second issue of the International E-zine will arrive in mailboxes just before Easter.

Visa change he Home Office announced on 7 February that it would increase visa extension charges for international students from £155 to £250 for postal applications, and from £250 to £500 for ‘premium’ in-person applications. Universities UK President, Professor Ivor Crewe, said, ‘We are very disappointed that the Home Office has decided to increase visa extension charges for international students despite our strong advice that introducing charges at this level could have a detrimental impact on international student recruitment.’

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Profile

Alison Wolf Alison Wolf joined King’s in 2003 as Professor of Management & Professional Development in the Department of Management. She has now been appointed to the newly created Sir Roy Griffiths Chair in Public Sector Management. She writes a monthly column for the Times Higher.

What is the significance of your new chair?

It reflects the College’s increasing activity in the field of public sector policy and management – and I do mean the College, not just my own department. King’s has enormous strengths in ‘public sector’ areas, such as health, education and defence. What people in this country don’t always realise is that British public sector reforms, under both Thatcher and New Labour, have been enormously influential throughout the world. They have had a major impact on how policy-makers think about public service provision – its ownership, structure and, of course, its management.

We are launching a new MSc in Public Services Policy and Management, which I am codirecting with Professor Paul Ryan, Professor of Labour Economics. We are collaborating with colleagues from other departments in the School of Social Science & Public Policy, and also with other Schools, and see it as the first of a cluster of public policy-related degrees. We are very optimistic about it, and already have promises of contributions from some very senior policy-makers.

What is your background?

I am a social scientist who fell into policy analysis pretty much

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by accident. Because of my husband’s job, I found myself in Washington DC while still finishing my thesis: and was offered a job with a federal agency which conducted policy evaluations and answered directly to the relevant Congressional committees. I like to think that having been a civil servant for a while has helped my academic work. Back in this country, I became a self-funded researcher and worked my way from being a part-time research officer at the Institute of Education to holding a chair of education there.

Can you describe your research interests?

The common thread is how the changing demands of the labour market interact with public education and training provision.

For example, I currently direct a large ESRC project looking at the impact of government programmes which fund certain specified types of workplace training.

On the one hand, I am very interested in how economic change affects the demand for skills: – something on which received wisdom is often quite misleading. And on the other hand, I am interested in how education and training programmes do, or do not, reflect this, especially at post-school level. My work has been on professional, technical and

vocational education, including medical education, and on universities. You soon come to realise the importance of public sector policies and the way institutions are organised and funded.

How did your Times Higher column come about?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a book for Penguin (Does Education Matter?) about how simplistic ideas about education and growth were distorting education. This focused heavily on universities, and how they were changing in both the UK and worldwide, and on the influence of government policies. It got good reviews and it was about then that the Higher editor invited me to be a columnist. But I have always

tried to publish regularly in the press. If you are analysing public policy, and doing so with public money, I think it is almost an obligation. Reports to government departments don’t and can’t disseminate themselves. They get buried by a combination of paper overload, staff turnover and competing departmental interests.

You are also a council member of the United Nations University. What does that involve?

The university is unique among UN institutions in being fully autonomous and governed by its Council: – pretty much like any British university, in fact. The Council includes a British member: in fact, my predecessor was Chair of Council. It is really a network of institutes, each with a particular research and training focus, mostly affiliated to a local ‘normal’ university but under the umbrella of the UNU headquarters in Tokyo. The institutes operate as sort of thinktank for the UN but also have a very strong focus on development, and can be critically important in offering support and opportunities to academics from developing countries. The UNU is still quite new, and not as well known in the developed world as it deserves to be. Hopefully that will change.

Do you have any advice for managers of large public sector organisations?

Think about incentives: – those which affect your staff but also those which affect policymakers.

It is the best way to understand where policies came from, as well as how to implement them.

Of course, incentives matter in the private sector too: but they are structured in quite a different way.

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Departmental focus

Criminal justice The College has experts in almost all areas of research and policy in criminal justice, thanks to long-established and newly-created centres and institutes located within the School of Law.

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EN BOWLING, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, has recently been appointed to a new role as Director of Criminological Studies. His brief is to coordinate some of the activities of these groups, which in the last 18 months have been brought together at Drury Lane.

‘We now have an impressive critical mass in national and international criminal justice research and policy development’, Professor Bowling says. ‘Bringing these groups together enables us to build bridges between academic lawyers and policy institutes, linking theory and practice in criminal justice.

‘Between them, the Institute for Criminal Policy Research; the Centre for Crime & Justice Studies and the International Centre for Prison Studies, together with the British Institute of Human Rights, cover more or less the whole criminal justice system, including patterns of crime and drug use, crime prevention, policing, criminal process, sentencing, prisons and alternatives to custody.’

The Institute for Criminal Policy Research, established at King’s in

2003 under Director Mike

Hough, carries out multidisciplinary research into crime and the criminal justice system. Themes in its research programme include policing, antisocial behaviour, drug use and

Studies, led by Una Padel OBE, focuses on public education on crime and justice issues: encouraging and facilitating debate and understanding of the complex nature of issues concerning crime. The Centre undertakes research, provides information and runs conferences.

Current research projects include a study examining poverty among the families of prisoners. A conference entitled ‘Time and Time Again’ run by CCJS on 9 February discussed the new ‘Prolific and Other Priority Offenders’ strategy. Last year the Centre launched a new think-tank, the Crime and Society Foundation, which operates within the Centre to stimulate debate about the role and limits of the criminal justice

The Centre has research projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Russia, Libya and Morocco and is also working with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, WHO and the ICRC. The Centre’s most important publication to date has been A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, written by Professor Andrew Coyle. It is available in ten languages and 70,000 copies have been printed to date.

The British Institute of Human Rights raises awareness and

understanding about the importance of human rights. Its research, focusing particularly on marginalised and vulnerable communities and the development of a human rights culture, is used to engage with policy makers.

Conference

The Russian Human Rights Ombudsman visiting a prison colony at the same time as an ICPS delegation

drug-related crime, illicit markets, sentencing and public attitudes towards sentencing.

Current projects include a study of the policing of cannabis in the wake of its reclassification as a Class C Drug, a study of controlled heroin use; an evaluation of intermittent custody (or weekend imprisonment); several evaluations of initiatives to tackle drug-related crime, and a study of the local resolution of police complaints.

The Centre for Crime & Justice

system and deepen public understanding of the social, economic and political foundations of a safer society.

The International Centre for Prison Studies has been part of the

School of Law since 1997. Its main research project in the UK, being led by Rob Allen, its recently appointed Director, is called Justice ReInvestment and is considering avenues for transferring elements of criminal justice policymaking and expenditure from the national to the local level.

A conference on criminal justice and human rights, bringing together the work of these centres and institutes, is planned for the end of 2006. Professor Bowling comments, ‘King’s is well established as a leading institution in criminology and criminal justice in the UK. Our academic experts in advanced criminal law and criminal justice – such as Alan Norrie, Elaine Player and Vanessa Munroe – together with our institutes, bridge the gap from theory and research to policy and practice. As a result, we have created a centre of excellence that is greater than the sum of its parts. Our new MA in Criminology & Criminal Justice draws on all of these elements to deliver a really strong inter-disciplinary research-based education. Our conference on human rights and criminal justice will bring awareness of our work to the wider community.’

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King’s people

Archbishop of Cape Town uring a short visit to London to attend the General Synod followed by the Primates’ meeting in Belfast, The Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane FKC, the Archbishop of

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Cape Town, called in to King’s to meet the Principal. The Archbishop, a King’s alumnus, succeeded Archbishop Desmond Tutu FKC as Archbishop of Cape Town in 1996.

RACHAEL CORVER

Board appointment

The Principal, Professor Rick Trainor meets the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane

Select Committee

Centre award

he Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill heard evidence from three King’s academics: Irene Higginson, Professor of Palliative Care & Policy, Professor Jonathan Glover, Director of the Centre of Medical Law & Ethics, and Penney Lewis, Lecturer in the Centre of Medical Law & Ethics. All testified before the committee.

rofessor David Cowan, Director of the Drug Control Centre, and Paul Levy, Principal Analyst for the Centre, were recently presented with a certificate of achievement for their work with the Ministry of Defence.

Several years ago the Centre was contracted to oversee the drug testing programme for the UK Armed Forces, whose service

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personnel have to undergo compulsory drug testing. To date they have monitored more than one million tests and advise on the scientific aspects of the programme and verify laboratory operations.

The monitoring team, headed by Paul Levy and Sarah Wilson, regularly visit locations in the UK and as far away as the Falkland Islands to verify the reliability of the MOD’s compulsory drug testing programme.

The Drug Control Centre at King’s is also one of the 31 World AntiDoping Agency’s accredited laboratories. The number of tests carried out by the Centre, 7,600, made it the sixth busiest WADA laboratory in 2004.

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ccelrys, the leading provider of modeling and simulation software for nanotechnology, has announced the formation of its Nanotechnology Consortium Scientific Advisory Board. It consists of nine well known academic experts in the areas of nanotechnology, chemistry, computational physics and engineering, including Dr Alessandro De Vita, Reader in the Department of Physics.

The goal of the Nanotechnology

Consortium is to accelerate the development of software tools that enable the design of nanomaterials and nanodevices, as well as close the gap between scientists and engineers.

Clockmakers iana Uff, Chairman of KCLA, was installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers on 31 January.

She is the first woman in the Company’s 374-year history to become Master. The Company traditionally strikes a medal for each ‘Master’s Lady’. In this case, the Company has had to break with precedent and strike the medal for the ‘Master’s Consort’, Professor John Uff, of the Centre of Construction Law & Management at King’s.

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Mrs Diana Uff

Dental trio ing’s academics have received awards from the International Association of Dental Research in 2005. The International Association of Dental Research (IADR) has honoured three Dental Institute academics.

They are: Professor Tom Lehner CBE who has received the

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Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to the Association; Professor Edwina Kidd who has been awarded the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award for Caries Research; and Professor Newell Johnson who has received a Distinguished Scientist Award in Oral Medicine and Pathology.

Tom Lehner

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Edwina Kidd

Newell Johnson

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King’s people

Archbishop visit HE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury and College Visitor, the Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams, was at King’s on 20 January to join participants for the launch of the Foundation for Church Leadership. A one-day seminar to

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UoL Consultation mark the event was hosted by the Dean’s Office. ‘The aim of the day was to bring together insights about leadership, from theologians, sociologists and business, when grounded in the Christain faith,’ explained the Dean, Dr Burridge.

ir Graeme Davies, VC, University of London, has launched his consultation paper on the future for the federal University: www.lon.ac.uk/ consultation. Staff are invited to contribute to King’s response at principal@kcl.ac.uk by the end of April or individually to consultation@lon.ac.uk by 27 May.

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Development & Alumni events

The Archbishop of Canterbury with the Revd Dr Richard Burridge, Dean of King’s College right and from left The Rt Revd Michael Turnbull, Professor Gillian Stamp, the Revd Dr Steven Croft and Professor David Ford

Phantasm CD hantasm – a quartet of viols featuring Laurence Dreyfus, Thurston Dart Professor of Performance Studies in the Department of Music, have just released their latest CD Four Temperaments. The disc features the music of William Byrd, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Robert Parsons and Thomas Tallis.

Professor Dreyfus explains the concept behind the disc, ‘Four Temperaments paints four portraits of Elizabethan composers of consort music based on their predominant personality traits, called the humours or temperaments. Robert Parsons signals the angry choleric, Alfonso Ferrabosco I the wistful phlegmatic, Thomas Tallis the optimistic sanguinic, and William Byrd the profound melancholic. Just as painting, poetry and drama invoked the four temperaments to typify diverse characters, so the rich musical world of 16th-century

Ambassador’s Reception in Lisbon – 10 March Former Staff Lunch – 11 March US Alumni Events – 31 March to 2 April

Obituary

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The Rev Professor Peter Ackroyd FKC 1917-2005 eter Ackroyd was an Old Testament scholar whose meticulous research challenged and then vanquished assumptions about the later prophets.

For more than two decades (1961–82), Peter Ackroyd held the Samuel Davidson Chair of Old Testament Studies at King’s. He arrived at the College at a time of considerable theological excitement within and outside the large theology faculty. Nowhere was this more apparent than in biblical studies.

Alongside his New Testament colleagues Dennis Nineham, Christopher Evans and Morna Hooker, Ackroyd set about asking critical questions of current

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Cover of Fanfare

England comes alive when filtered through this contemporary lens.’ www.phantasm.org.uk Phantasm have been the subject of the cover article of Fanfare, the sole American Journal for classical music reviews, who described them as ‘the most excitingly innovative viol consort playing today’.

What’s on nclosed with this edition of Comment is What’s on, a pocket-size guide to the many public lectures, seminars, concerts, colloquia and conferences held at King’s.

It has undergone a lively, colourful redesign for ease of reference.

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Principal’s Concert – 28 April Music & Genetics: concert by the East Anglian Chamber Orchestra – 28 June For more information contact Rachael Jukes, rachael.jukes@kcl.ac.uk

assumptions in Old Testament research. As a result pupils found themselves at the forefront of contemporary scholarship as he tested out on them his Hulsean Lectures (1960–62), which were to form the basis of his pioneering work Exile and Restoration (1968).

He was also wrote numerous books, including some important Old Testament commentaries, and the editor of a valuable series of volumes on the Old Testament and biblical theology. His work changed the direction of Old Testament study, inspired his students and through the example of his own painstaking research provided them with an exacting role model to follow.

He travelled widely as visiting professor and lecturer, being particularly welcome in the US. On 1 March a special choral evensong was held in the Strand Chapel in his memory at which Professor Michael Knibb gave the address.

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News

New Institute launched N JANUARY THE FLORENCE Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery (FNSNM) and St Mark’s Hospital officially launched the Burdett Institute of Gastro intestinal Nursing. Held at the House of Lords and hosted by Baroness Pitkeathley, the event was attended by more than 150 guests.

Speakers included Baroness Pitkeathley, Sue Norman from the Burdett Trust for Nursing, Professor Christine Norton, Director of the Burdett Institute, and Professor Dame Jenifer Wilson Barnett, former head of the FNSNM. The Burdett Trust for Nursing has committed funding for a staff of four (a Chair of Gastrointestinal Nursing, with a Senior Lecturer, Lecturer and an Administrator) for an initial five-year period. The Burdett Institute aims to develop and enhance nursing practice in the

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care of patients with gastrointestinal disorders, and hence improve their clinical condition and quality of life, by a systematic and comprehensive programme of research and teaching.

The initiative was welcomed by Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, the

head of FNSNM, saying, ‘The Burdett Institute represents the ideal environment in which evidence-based education, research and user involvement could mutually reinforce each other and flourish. Henry Burdett, an early exponent of nursing reform, but a controversial figure in nursing history would have approved of the investment made by the Trust set up in his name.’

St Mark’s Hospital, founded in

1835, is a centre of excellence for intestinal and colorectal disorders, recognised throughout the world as a leading teaching hospital and national referral centre for coloproctology and intestinal disease.

The Institute will be located at St Mark’s Hospital, Harrow and all academic staff will be members of the FNSNM. A new MSc in GI Nursing will start from September this year.

From left, Baroness Pitkeathley, Professor Christine Norton, Professor Dame Jenifer Wilson Barnett and Sue Norman

Grant applications to Research Councils ROM 1 APRIL there will be a major change in the way grant applications are submitted to the Research Councils. During the last three years Research Councils UK have been developing an Electronic Grant System, the ‘Joint e-Submission project’ (Je-S).

One of the major benefits of this development is that the Research Councils and the AHRB will award

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grants on a single core set of terms and conditions. Another is that a common electronically processed application form will be in use.

The requirement for research investigators is that they be registered with the Je-S system and that electronic grant application forms are completed. It will not be possible after the appointed date (see right) to submit any paper

Georgian Prime Minister URAB ZHVANIA, Prime Minister of Georgia, died on 3 February. Mr Zhvania visited the Caucasus Policy Institute at King’s last November (see Comment 157).

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12 | COMMENT | March 2005

President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, invited Denis Corboy, Director of the Caucasus Policy Institute, to deliver the oration at the State funeral.

Paying tribute to the late Premier

documentation to these Research Councils.

Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council 1 April 05 Economic & Social Research Council 1 September 05 Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council 1 April 05 Medical Research Council Yet to be determined Natural Environment Research

Council 1 April 05 Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council 1 April 05 Arts & Humanities Research Board 1 September 05 More information can be found at www.rcuk.ac.uk/je-s/index.asp Any member of staff who needs to register with the Je-S and has problems should contact Dominique Creusier, ext 3341.

he said, ‘Zurab Zhvania brought a new generation of talented politicians and democratic activists into the political life of this country (Georgia). His vision of a modern Georgian state is presently being realised and we can see the Rose Revolution of a year ago inspiring similar democratic change

elsewhere. This and Zurab’s steadfast support for democracy, tolerance and respect for human rights will remain his lasting legacy.

He was always a committed European and coined the phrase that forever defined Georgia’s national identity when he said ‘I am Georgian and therefore I am a European’.’

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News

King’s WP initiatives Brave New World for A level students R TONY EDWARDS, Senior Lecturer in International Human Resource Management, has managed this month to be in many places at once, thanks to the power of video-conferencing.

This was part of an innovative scheme developed with the Widening Participation Office, who have been working in partnership with Imperial, UCL, SOAS and Westminster and five local educational authorities, in a project based at the Isaac Newton Professional Development Centre.

Dr Edwards delivered his lecture, Globalisation: Who Benefits? (to be put on the King’s website), to a ‘live’ audience of Business Studies A-level students from St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College and to virtual audiences of their peers across London. At the end of his talk, Dr Edwards set a task to be completed back in the schools and colleges. One week later the students delivered their presentations to Dr Edwards and to each other, via the medium of video-conferencing, and were able to receive feedback on their ideas.

Both students and teachers were warm in their praise

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

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and Tony Edwards himself is now an enthusiast for this new development, ‘The students engaged very well with the lecture and the standard of their responses was high and they clearly found the technology exciting.’

Opera House partnership ING’S AND THE Royal Opera House (ROH), have come together in partnership through their shared aim to open their doors to a wider crosssection of young people and members of the local community.

The Widening Participation Office has worked with the ROH to offer tours, activities and attendance at productions to local school students, teachers, careers advisers and community groups. ‘The beneficiaries of this partnership have ranged in age from ten years to adult and all have marvelled at the beauty of ‘the House’ and the complexity of life behind the scenes,’ says Dr Deborah Andrews, Widening Participation Coordinator.

Highlights for the younger visitors included trying on costumes and standing on the stage. Adult visitors were particularly interested in comments

by Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the ROH, on his determination to reach out to new audiences.

The final event in this collaboration will be a scholarship course run in June by the ROH for local A-level music students in schools and colleges with whom the Widening Participation Office has regular contact.

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Investing in sports facilities N FEBRUARY THE COLLEGE sold the Cobham Sportsground to Chelsea FC who have been developing a major new training complex on adjacent land, formerly owned by Imperial College. Of the four sportsgrounds operated by the College, Cobham was latterly the least well used.

The Cobham ground was formerly associated with the St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School. The Continuing Trustees of UMDS and College Council agreed that they would release the ground on the condition that there was continued access to an agreed range of facilities for a limited time, and that all the income derived from the sale would be reinvested in student sports facilities.

For at least ten years the key sporting priority for both KCLSU and the College has been the establishment of artificial, multipurpose surfaces that can be used for a variety of sports and training.

After careful consideration it was agreed that the Honor Oak Park ground was the most appropriate venue, given the excellent and fast communication links to the ground from the major campuses.

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Jenny Briggs, Director of Facilities & Services comments, ‘A Project Board was established in 2004 and an exciting scheme has been developed in collaboration with KCLSU which will see not only the arrival of the artificial pitches, but also a complete reprovision of pavilion facilities.’

A new pavilion will take account of the projected increased use of the ground, following the addition of the artificial pitches and will provide improved social facilities for students and other users.

A formal licence agreement with the new owners of Cobham confirms the College’s entitlement to use a stipulated number of pitches, together with all the usual pavilion facilities, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the winter season for a five year period; and the annual student summer ball may also be held at the ground during the same licence term.

‘The College is very grateful to the staff, Alan and Sharon Moss and Tony van den Steen, for all their hard work and contributions at the ground, and we wish them every success and happiness in the future,’ adds Jenny Briggs.

Safety first HE STRAND AND WHITEHALL Community Team, in conjunction with the Strand Campus Site Services Team, held the first Personal Safety and Crime Prevention Day on 3 February. This new initiative for the Metropolitan Police enabled King’s staff and students to meet the local Community Police Team.

Held in the Great Hall at the Strand campus, visitors learnt how the Police could assist members of the College community in a number

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of ways with information on mobile telephone security marking, safer cash-point use, date rape drugs, bicycle safety, email scams and safer taxi use. The first 50 visitors received free personal attack alarms.

Melanie Lewis, Strand Site Services Manager comments, ‘It was very successful with lots of people popping in and receiving useful advice on a range of safety issues.’

Similar events have also been organised in the Maughan Library.

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In the news

Blast from the past Childhood asthma John Pearce, Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, commented in The Times on news that a Roman wooden coffin had been unearthed in London – the only example of its kind found in Britain – saying that a coffin survival was absolutely exceptional.

Give it up Dr Janet Treasure, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Eating Disorder Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, commented in the Independent on the effects of denying yourself food in an article discussing the benefits of giving something up for Lent.

Nicotine patches for youngsters The Daily Telegraph reported that children as young as 14 will be offered free nicotine patches in a drive to reduce under-age smoking.

Professor Ian Stolerman of the Institute of Psychiatry said that Nicotine Replacement Therapy posed a much greater risk for children than for adults.

Drug use psychosis The Daily Mail reported that researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, headed by Professor Avshalom Caspi, have discovered one in four cannabis users faces a higher risk of mental illness and a genetic profile puts some people at ten times the danger of developing psychotic disorders triggered by smoking the drug. Professor Robin Murray of the Institute of Psychiatry said the study provided fresh evidence that some cannabis users were genetically vulnerable to mental illness.

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The Evening Standard reported on research by Dr Seif Shaheen from the Department of Public Health Sciences, which found pregnant women taking paracetamol could be harming their unborn babies. It is claimed use of the drug during pregnancy may account for as many as one in 15 cases of childhood asthma.

A new beginning

the Department of Mediterranean Studies in The Scotsman.

Attention deficit Dr Philip Asherson, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Psychiatry, contributed to a Horizon programme about a mother and her two children who suffer from ADHD. Dr Asherson also wrote two articles for the Horizon website on the subject.

In the Guardian Life supplement, Jonathan Glover, Director of the Centre of Medical Law & Ethics, contributed to the debate on when a life begins. He explained that all of the proposed boundaries are fraught with problems and said it is a pretence that ethically there is a clearly definable line.

Dr Anthony Leeds from the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics appeared on Radio 4’s The Food Programme discussing the merits of a Low G1 diet and explaining how low Glycaemic Index foods contained characteristics which might help those who are overweight or obese.

Childbirth truths

Happy slappers

Professor Jane Sandall, of the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, was interviewed for a Channel 4 documentary entitled ‘The Truth about Childbirth’ which looked at maternity services in the UK.

The recent craze among schoolchildren for using a mobile phone to makes videos of each other slapping strangers was the subject of an interview for Richard Garside, Director of the Crime & Society Foundation, on BBC TV London News.

Iraq issues Professor Michael Clarke, Director

of the International Policy Institute, was interviewed on Radio 4’s World at One, ITN and CBS about the prospects for Iraq after the election and issues surrounding the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Middle East analysis Analysis of the summit meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders was given by Professor Efraim Karsh and Dr Rory Miller of

Fad diet?

Mind your language Tony Thorne, Director of the Language Centre, wrote and presented a short, lighthearted piece for Radio 4’s Front Row on the many euphemisms for the ‘f-word’ that have been used since World War II. The feature was prompted by the release of the US comedy movie Meet the Fockers.

A material world A selection of new materials – from transparent concrete to

shape-memory alloys – created

by Dr Mark Miodownik, Department of Mechanical Engineering, was featured on Radio 4’s The Material World. He explained he wanted to make his collection available to designers, architects, engineers and artists, who could find novel applications for these unusual substances.

Will US attack Iran?

Dr Andrew Dorman, Senior Research Fellow at the Defence Studies Department, was interviewed on GMTV about the potential use of military force by the US against Iran.

Time travel David Papineau, Professor of Philosophy of Science, was a guest on ‘The Unexplained’ on TalkSport Radio where he explored the possibility of time travel.

Crime in Muslim society Dr Kathryn Curran, Research Fellow at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, appeared on The Islam Channel in a live one hour discussion on Crime in Muslim Society.

See www.kcl.ac.uk/headlines for a summary of the latest media coverage for King's and higher education generally with links through to the full articles. The Public Relations Department is keen to know of any staff featured in the media, contact us on 020-7848 3202 or email pr@kcl.ac.uk

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Flashback

When Einstein came to King’s This year marks the centenary of the publication by Einstein of three papers – on the photoelectric effect, the movement of molecules and, most famously, ‘special relativity’ that together helped transform our knowledge of the universe and lead to probably the most famous equation of all time: E=mc2.

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LBERT EINSTEIN’S discoveries, particularly after the publication of his theory of general relativity in 1916, made front page news. He became the public face of physics and was in great demand as a guest speaker across the world. It was during one such tour, on 13 June 1921, that he delivered a lecture to a capacity audience in the Great Hall at King’s entitled ‘The Development and Present Position of the Theory of Relativity’.

Einstein’s visit to the United Kingdom came at a time of fevered interest in his work. Just two years earlier, during the total eclipse of May 1919, British astronomers had recorded the first evidential proof of general relativity when they discovered that light from distant stars was being bent by the sun’s gravity.

The announcement of the results catapulted Einstein into the public sphere. Einstein was subsequently invited to London by one his most enthusiastic British champions, the leading Liberal politician and educationalist, Viscount Richard Haldane. Haldane had already published one of the earliest interpretations in English of his theories and on Einstein’s arrival in the capital hosted a party for

the physicist at his home in Queen Anne’s Gate where he was presented to the cream of London society.

The King’s visit was arranged by the College’s Principal, Ernest Barker, and the Professor of German, Henry Atkins – the flourishing German Department had been developing close ties with the academic community in Germany since the end of the Great War and was shortly to take possession of an important bequest of papers belonging to the German poet, Goethe.

It was unsurprising, also, given these links with central and Eastern Europe, that the proceeds from ticket sales at the lecture were to be donated to the Imperial War Relief Fund, a important charity that had recently been set up to combat famine in that region.

King’s was an apt choice to host the event for another reason, boasting a proud tradition in the physical sciences and chemistry, exemplified by the experimental work of the pioneer of the electrical telegraph, Professor Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), whose laboratories were the among the first of their kind in a British university and predated Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratories by more than a

Albert Einstein on 5 January 1935 lecturing to the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Pittsburgh

generation. In the basements over which Einstein now stood, Wheatstone had attempted to measure the speed of electricity and John Daniell (1790–1845) had developed one of the very first batteries.

Another of King’s great teachers had been its Professor of Natural Philosophy, James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), a pioneer of electromagnetic theory that constituted a crucial building block of special relativity, and to whom Einstein now publicly acknowledged his deep intellectual debt, saying of Maxwell’s work that it was ‘the most profound and the most fruitful that physics had experienced since the time of Newton’.

The Great Hall was crammed to capacity for the public lecture, which began at 5.15 in the afternoon, and such were the crowds that one wit even joked that the event rivalled the attractions of the current Test Match against Australia.

Distinguished guests included the German Ambassador and the Astronomer Royal.

The historic quality of Einstein’s achievements was not lost on Haldane, who to cheers introduced the speaker as the very heir to Newton in seeking to apply the creative intelligence and imagination of poetry to the language of mathematics.

Haldane’s comparison was no accident: Einstein had in fact quietly visited Newton’s tomb in Westminster Abbey that same morning.

The physicist then rose to speak and continued for nearly an hour in his native German and without notes, in what one observer described as a ‘lowtoned, rather musical voice’.

Describing the geometry of space and time, the true nature of gravity and the consequences of the relative motions of bodies, Einstein concluded that the universe was ‘spatially finite and closed’, gesturing with his hands to describe a universe he envisaged as ‘finite yet unbounded’.

When the lecture was complete, Einstein left to enjoy a private meal with the Principal and a select audience in the Senior Common Room.

The lecture received enthusiastic reviews in all the national press and is an enduring reminder of Einstein’s role in popularising physics, the ‘democratic science’ of which he became such a highly visible Geoffrey Browell Research Assistant, Archives and Corporate Records Service

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Books

Robert E Lee: Icon for a Nation Brian Holden Reid, Head of the Department of War Studies and Professor of American History and Military Institutions

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ENERAL ROBERT E LEE, handsome, immaculately attired and dignified, quickly emerged as one of the great heroes of the American Civil War. This is rather surprising for, as Brian Holden Reid points out in his lucid new study, Lee was the most successful general to command troops against the armies of the United States before General Vo Nguyen Giap in Vietnam.

Lee’s reputation as a peerless commander was greatly embroidered by writers after 1865 who were dedicated to the Lost Cause and presented a sentimental picture of the Old South with Lee as its finest product.

His character and achievements in the Civil War were presented as a validation of the

George Orwell: Enigmatic Socialist Dr Paul Flewers (Editor) Administrative Assistant, School of Social Science & Public Policy

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N INVESTIGATION OF George Orwell’s conception of socialism, Stalinism and totalitarianism. George Orwell is almost certainly the only socialist to have suffered the indignity of being championed by large numbers of his political enemies. Rather than staking a claim upon him, Flewers and his fellow contributors to this collection, Ian Birchall, John Molyneux, John Newsinger, Paul O’Flinn and Peter Sedgwick, critically assess Orwell’s works, especially Animal Farm and Nineteen EightyFour, and conclude that alongside his positive aspects – his clarity of observation, his quest for human decency and his condemnation of the abuse of power – he also demonstrated serious theoretical and political weaknesses

Confederate cause. It is important for historians to come to terms with this legacy.

Professor Holden Reid briskly surveys the forms that the Lee legend took after his death in 1870 and discusses the reasons behind the way it crystallised as it did. As a nonAmerican he brings a fresh, detached eye to this process.

Holden Reid argues that Lee’s qualities as a general do not require any exaggeration or embellishment. Lee’s short period of field command, just under three years, was marked by imagination, decisiveness, stamina, and a determination to win the Civil War rather than just avoid losing it. Holden Reid defends Lee stoutly against later critics who have argued that his offensive strategy was selfdefeating. He believes that it was the only realistic course offered to the Confederacy to win its independence. He acknowledges though that all great commanders have their faults. Lee exhibited occasional overconfidence, under-estimated his enemy, and failed to develop his staff in any modern sense. The result is an authoritative and

balanced assessment of a great American commander.

Weidenfeld & Nicholson

that have enabled his legacy to be systematically and wilfully wielded as a weapon against the very ideas for which he fought during much of his adult life.

Socialist Platform Ltd

and cell biologists.

Some of these toxins are conventional multidomain toxins that are self-programmed to enter cells. Others are delivered by type III mechanisms, often as a package of potent molecules. The molecular targets for all these toxins mediate signal transduction and the cell cycle to regulate the crucial processes of cell growth, cell division and differentiation.

Thus these potent toxins are not only responsible for disease, but also provide a powerful set of tools with which to interrogate the biology of the cell. In addition such toxins may act directly to promote carcinogenesis and hence their study is also of interest in a wider context.

One of the chapters is written

by Dr Agi Grigoriadis and colleagues, also at King’s Dental Institute.

Cambridge University Press

Bacterial Protein Toxins: Role in the Interference with Growth Regulation Alistair Lax (Editor), Professor of Cellular Microbiology

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ACTERIAL TOXINS that act inside cells interact very specifically with key components of the cell and some even manipulate the cell in subtle ways for their own purposes. These potent toxins, described in this book, will be of interest to both microbiologists

COMMENT is the College’s regular newsletter, produced by the Public Relations Department | Articles, and/or photographs are welcomed from all members of the College, but please note that the Editor reserves the right to amend articles | Copy for the next issue can be sent to the Public Relations Department (ext 3202), James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA, or emailed to pr@kcl.ac.uk by 20 April 2005 16 | COMMENT | March 2005