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UKZN Chancellor
Dr Frene Ginwala
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Professor
Fikile Mazibuko presenting a bouquet
of flowers to
Advocate Shamila Batohi
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The
Equity Support Unit and Public Affairs and Corporate
Communications held a successful 2007 Women’s
Day celebration on August 6 at the Westville campus.
The celebration was part of the UKZN’s calendar
of events during Women’s Month. While the University
Executive took the lead with the celebrations, other
members of the university community also staged various
events for staff and students.
The Westville celebration focused
on women as individuals, in particular “Freeing
the Soul of the woman”. The key concept
was respect for the individual combined with respect
for the choices women make about their own lives
in the workplace, society and the home.
In her address UKZN Chancellor,
Dr Frene Ginwala asked whether the focus on women
should be based purely on the apartheid past; on
women in upper ranks of government and the private
sector. She pondered the role of men in the transformation
effort and asked how we should respond to the abuse
of women. In the final analysis, Dr Ginwala believes
that the index of women’s progress in South
Africa should be judged by the state of our rural
women.
The Director of the National Prosecuting
Agency, Advocate Shamila Batohi focused on those
barriers faced by women through culture and practices
in the home and the workplace.
Westville SRC President Fanle Sibisi
spoke about the overlooked reproductive roles played
by older women.
The
UKZN Opera Singers; UKZN Amaquikiza Female Ensemble;
the Gordons Road Girls School Orchestra and jazz
maestro Chris Jenkins performed at the celebration.
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L-R:Ms
Ellis, Mrs Pat Ellis, Mr. Mageshen Naidoo
(School of Jazz), Dr. Connie Israel
(UKZN Foundation)
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The
UKZN School of Music is proud to announce the establishment
of the Vic Ellis Scholarship for Jazz Guitar,
in honour of the memory of the late guitarist, composer
Vic Ellis.
The
scholarship is an annual award of R10 000 to a student
of jazz guitar, based on academic merit and financial
need. Vic Ellis’s wife Pat, and daughters,
Genevieve and Nichola are very pleased that the
scholarship will allow Vic to be remembered in a
way that he would like. His wife Pat said, “When
he was young, Vic would have appreciated the opportunity
to further his study of the guitar. It is now fitting
that, in his name, some young person can be given
the chance to realize his dream!”
Director
of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, Mr Mageshen
Naidoo, traced Vic’s career in music at a
recent jazz concert. In the 1970s, Vic entertained
in folk clubs in South Africa and Britain. His songs,
A Thousand Miles, Wake Up and Let’s Ride
were recorded by artists such Billy Forrest, Themba
Ntombela and Richard Loring.
Dr
Connie Israel of the UKZN Foundation accepted the
cheque on behalf of the university. Both the UKZN
School of Music and the UKZN Foundation sincerely
thanked the Ellis family for their generous contribution.
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Deputy-Head
of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Intensive
Tuition for Engineers (UNITE) – Alternate Access
Programme, Mr Rudi Kimmie, has been appointed a Fellow
of the Global Policy Fellow Programme(GPFP), an initiative
of the Institute for Higher Education Policy based
in Washington DC. In addition, Mr Kimmie is the Co-ordinator
of the University’s Archbishop Denis E. Hurley
Educational Fund.
The
Global Policy Fellow Program’s principal goal
is to enable a diverse group of men and women from
many parts of the world, who would otherwise lack
opportunities, to impact on higher education policies
that address access for historically disadvantaged
populations, explained Mr Kimmie.
The
Program will establish an international cohort of
individuals dedicated to improving post-secondary
education for disadvantaged populations around the
world. GPFP Fellows will share ideas, tools, research
and networks with the aim of contributing to education
policy development at an international level.
“I
am enthusiastic about my appointment as a Fellow
on the Global Policy Program,” says Mr Kimmie.
“Think global, act local, is an adage I believe
requires the synergy of global thinkers as we position
and prepare our learners for a competitive national
and international work environment.”
The
UKZN alumnus who hails from Kimberley is an accomplished
musician, enjoys travel, practices Tai Chi and has
a penchant for the outdoors.
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L-R:
Ms Kerensa Thomas, Ms Peggy Gumede,
Professor Alan Rycroft, Ms Shaaista
Limbada, Professor Ahmed Bawa, Prof
Michael Cowling, Mr Mohamed Omar, Mr
Senzo Ngwane
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The
Faculty of Law launched the Centre for Postgraduate
Legal Studies on August 2 to encourage research output.
The Centre was officially opened by Professor Ahmed
Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Knowledge Production
and Partnerships.
The
main aim of this centre is to provide an enabling
environment which promotes serious and relevant
legal research as well as interactive learning.
LLM and PhD candidates can now research, engage
in group projects, have seminars and workshops and
also interact socially. The Centre has six offices
which are equipped with the latest computer technology,
a discussion room, a seminar room and refreshment
facilities.
Professor
Michael Cowling, Dean of Law, acknowledged Professor
Alan Rycroft for originating the idea 18 months
ago after attending a colloquium in Cape Town. “The
Faculty of Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal
is the first to have a facility of this nature in
South Africa,” said Professor Cowling. The
Centre is indeed an innovation unique to South African
law faculties.
Deputy
Vice-Chancellor and Head of College of Law and Management
Studies, Professor John Mubangizi, commended the
staff for their efforts in setting up the Centre.
Professor Mubangizi said “The Centre is one
of the vehicles through which research can be improved.”
This
innovation was also well received by the students
- Mr Senzo Ngwane, Mr Mohamed Omar and Ms Shaaista
Limbada, all agreed that the Centre will help them
improve on their research as the Centre was dedicated
to postgraduate work.
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Mr
Stephen de Villiers, a third level Drama and Performance
Studies student at the Pietermaritzburg campus, has
been awarded the M-Net EDiT* grant to make a short
film during the second semester. Mr De Villiers wrote
a treatment (which is a proposal of how he
would make the film) as part of his scriptwriting
module in drama. The short film is tentatively titled
Commando and is based on the true life adventures
of a soldier in the Anglo-Boer War. Ms Daniella Staub,
Drama Honours student, was in the top ten finalists
for the award for her treatment, Tip-Off.
This
is the second year that a UKZN Pietermaritzburg
Drama student has won the M-Net EDiT award to produce
a short film. Mr Johan Hyman produced Smile
in 2006, which won Best Acting award in April this
year.
Ms
Veronica Baxter, Academic Co-ordinator, says that
staff and students are “over the moon and
that credit goes to the lecturer in Scriptwriting,
Ms Janet van Eeden, for preparing the entrants so
well”. Ms Baxter also points out that “dynamite
comes in small packages. While the Pietermaritzburg
Drama and Performance Studies may be small, it has
much to offer students in the Performing and Applied
Arts,” she says.
“Getting
this grant now is the realisation of a long held
dream,” says Mr de Villiers. “When I
first heard about the EDiT awards I was desperate
to win one. The EDiT award is allowing me to realise
a dream I’ve had for ten years to make a film
about the Boer War.” He has wanted to do so
ever since he read about a real life incident between
a Boer soldier and a British Officer.
“Essentially,
the film is a true story about a young Boer who
witnesses atrocities in the war and, as a result,
reaches a place of existential crisis,” he
says. “Then he has an encounter with a wounded
British soldier who shows him great kindness. Through
this act the Boer soldier regains some belief in
humanity.”
Mr
de Villiers plans to do the film shoot during the
September vacation and will find a location which
represents the harsh landscape of the Karoo. He
thanked both the Drama and the Media Departments
for their support, and also his mother and father
who have always believed in his dream to become
a film maker.
The
M-Net EDiT award of R40 000 is presented to students
at tertiary institutions to produce a short film.
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Tuesday,
14 August, saw the Pietermaritzburg launch of Dr
Cheryl Stobie’s Somewhere in the Double
Rainbow: Representations of Bisexuality in Post-Apartheid
Novels and Dr Julie Parle’s States
of Mind: Searching for Mental Health in Natal and
Zululand, 1868–1918, both published by
the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Somewhere
in the Double Rainbow focuses on the literary
interpretation of a number of novels that are concerned
with the issue of bisexuality set against the South
African national backdrop. Bisexuality is an issue
that has been explored in increasing numbers of
South African novels published since the transition
to democracy in 1994. In a society previously dominated
by an either/or mindset, Stobie examines the significance
of this development through close readings of such
authors as Mark Behr, K. Sello Duiker, Tatamkhulu
Afrika and Nadine Gordimer, looking at South African
literature, the nation, citizenship and identity
in a new light.
States
of Mind is a highly readable study of this
region’s history. Focusing on Natal and Zululand
between the 1860s and the end of the First World
War, States of Mind charts the beginning
of the theory and practice of Western-based psychiatry
in southern Africa, and examines its power and limitations.
The book describes this period as the first phase
of the encounter between the contesting, overlapping
and hybrid healing beliefs and practices –
indigenous African, Western and Indian.
Dr
Parle discusses quacks, medicines for hysteria and
drunkenness, faith healers of different kinds, and
suicide in all communities. Finally, she considers
how mental health services became centralised under
state control from Pretoria, with important consequences
for the future of psychiatry and mental health services
in modern South Africa.
Dr
Cheryl Stobie lectures in English Studies in Pietermaritzburg
and Dr Julie Parle is a senior lecturer in the Department
of History.
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The
Department of French will be saying “Bon Voyage”
to one of their students not once, but twice this
year. As winner of the “Jour de la Francophonie”
competition organised by the French Embassy in South
Africa, Honours student, Ms Gulshan Motala, will visit
France and experience the International Jazz Festival
in Marciac from July 28 to August 10.
International musicians and music
lovers converge on Marciac annually to participate
in this exciting event. It is Gulshan’s knowledge
and flair for North and in particular, West-African
music, that won the prize to the festival.
Ms
Motala has also been awarded a scholarship to complete
an honours module in France. For nine months she
will have the opportunity to immerse herself in
French society, absorbing the socio-cultural aspects
of life in France, such as theatre, art, music and
will be able to interact with French youth. She
says that, “it is an opportunity for me to
improve my fluency and accent, and to pick up on
subtle nuances that one could only gain through
complete submersion in a Francophone environment.”
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In
November 2003, a long battle began when the Nelson
R Mandela School of Medicine applied to the Medicines
Control Council to approve a clinical trial, described
as Protocol HPTN 046. The Medicines Control Council
denied the application and the matter was eventually
resolved in the High Court of South Africa on July
4, 2007.
Judge Hartzenberg stated that the
“actions of the Medicines Control Council
was obstructive and that the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s
Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine’s objective
of the trial was clearly an attempt to further medical
science in respect of an aspect where improvement
is direly needed.” He found in favour of UKZN.
Clinical Trial, Protocol HPTN 046
focuses on research into the prevention of mother-to-child
transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) through breastfeeding. In KwaZulu-Natal, about
40 percent of mothers who arrive at antenatal clinics
are HIV positive. One third of all mother-to-child
transmissions occurs through breastfeeding.
Clinical trial Protocol HPTN 046
seeks to research the effect of Nevirapine as a
prophylaxis to reduce mother-to-child transmission
in breastfeeding mothers and is registered by the
Medicines Control Council, which found it to be
safe. Judge Hartzenberg stated in his judgement
that, “from a scientific viewpoint this study
proposed to compare an intervention (breast-feeding
plus nevirapine prophylaxis) with standard practice
(breastfeeding with no intervention). By no means
is the standard practice ideal, but it represents
a practice occurring daily at under-privileged and
under-resourced environments.” He added that
the clinical trial does not place any mother or
child in a position worse than they would have been
in had the clinical trial not been done.
In rural KwaZulu-Natal, breastfeeding
may be more hygienic than formula feeding because
of poor facilities and breastfed babies are also
more resistant to certain illnesses than formula
fed babies. Hence, if a method can be devised to
prevent or reduce the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child
during the period of breastfeeding, many deaths
and hardships could be avoided.
Professor
Willem Sturm, Dean of the Nelson R Mandela School
of Medicine said in response to the judgement that
“this is not just a victory for the University
of KwaZulu-Natal but for academic medicine in general.
Academic medicine is concerned with maintaining
and restoring human health through science and clinical
practice. Without the academic freedom to explore
ethically sound clinical trials, African health
problems will never be solved.”
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Student teachers with pupils
at Gillitts Primary School
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According
to the new policy “Guide to the Professional
Practicum” of the Faculty of Education, students
are expected to experience a teaching practice session
in well-resourced schools and schools in townships
and rural areas. Initially students, and some parents,
were reluctant to embrace this challenge of diversity.
Fourth year student, Mr Jaco Meyer,
shared his experiences of choosing to teach in a
“government-aided school”. Gillitts
Primary School is set in a rural area with very
basic resources. The principal, Mr Vesdev, who has
taught in the school for over 30 years, has seen
the school grow from its original intention to serve
a community of Indian market gardeners’ children
to one that now hosts about 400 learners most of
whom are African. The school is a Section 14 School:
a public school on privately-owned property.
Talking about his life-changing
experience at Gillitts Primary School, Mr Meyer
has changed the views and misconceptions of many
other students. Eight students have taken the opportunity
to embrace a different experience in a rural school.
Having spent a month teaching in especially difficult
times during the School Recovery Plan following
the teachers’ strike, the principal reports
that the student teachers were exemplary in how
they contributed to establishing the ethos of teaching
and learning in their classrooms. He reported specifically
on their competence and good attitude towards their
roles as teachers and their care for the learners.
Many of the learners come from poor homes. He also
reported that he has recently employed a former
student who had done her Professional Practicum
at his school.
The student teachers who had previously
taught in affluent schools only, or had themselves
only attended urban schools, report that “we
have had an awesome experience; we learnt how to
change our teaching styles and to adjust to suit
the diversity of the school.” These students
recommend that all students take the opportunity
to get out of their comfort zones and see what teaching
in the real South African context means.
“We are proud of students
who embrace diversity and represent the University
and Faculty in a positive light,’ says Mrs
Mari Van Wyk, the Professional Practicum Academic
Co-ordinator.
Well
done, Aileen King, Justin Clark, Holly Waugh, Kim
Leisegong, Kirsty McBey, Theresa Madden, Francoise
Paine and Claire Stansell. Teachers for the future!
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UKZN
and McGill students with Professors
Robert Balfour and Relebohile Moletsane
on the RTEP research experience in Vulindlela
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The
Rural Teacher Education Project funded by Nedbank,
the National Research Foundation, and the three project
leaders (Professors Balfour, Mitchell, and Moletsane)
began in earnest in July 2007. Twenty-two education
students drawn from the third and fourth year of study
of the Bachelor of Education at UKZN and McGill received
a number of orientation and training workshops before
setting off to the Vulindlela area near Bulwer where
researchers from the Faculty of Education’s
Centre for Visual Methodologies for Social Change
have been involved with projects for over four years.
An excellent network of schools and health care workers
already exists providing an infrastructure supportive
of research and community engagement.
The preparatory phase of the project
involved Francis O’ Brian from the School
of Adult and Higher Education who provided students
with workshops on research and service learning
in communities. Professor Moletsane (Deputy Dean:
Postgraduate Education and Research) and Professor
Balfour (Head of School: Languages, Literacies,
Media and Drama Education) then oriented students
towards issues and contexts in which rurality is
central.
The 22 South African students, drawn
from white, black, Indian and male and female groups
were accommodated in Bulwer for a period of four
weeks during which time they observed the effects
of the strike, assisted with the teaching of the
curriculum, and participated in the daily life,
including administrative and extracurricular activities
associated with teaching. The 22 South Africans
were joined by two Canadian students from McGill,
the CVMSC Interns Kaja Jorgensen and Caitlin Wake
(from Norway and Canada respectively). The interns
co-ordinated the activities of the students in the
schools over the period of four weeks, paying special
attention to research and data collection activities.
One of the primary intentions of
this first year of the project is to provide the
observation data necessary to conceptualise a theory
and pedagogy of rurality. Another project in the
Faculty of Education which is examining trends and
developments in postgraduate education research
(lead by Professors Balfour, Moletsane and Dr Rule)
has already begun to identify issues arising from
research conducted in rural areas.
RTEP
research is not inexpensive since its transformation
agenda requires that significant numbers of students
and academics participate in and work with rural
communities and teachers, given that students are
not only researchers in the project, but are gaining
valuable experience and insight into rural locales
and the challenges associated with these. The RTEP
project has cost over R200 000 in its first year
and the anticipated need for postgraduate support
and bursaries has meant that the academics involved
have yet to gather more research funding to support
Years 2-4. Professors Moletsane, Mitchell, and Balfour
will present a number of papers on RTEP data at
the 2007 Kenton Conference on Education Research
which is being hosted by UKZN in September.
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A
group of American students from a programme called
TOLEDO Excel visited the University on August 1.
They were welcomed to the Westville campus by Professor
Dasarath Chetty, Executive Director, Public Affairs
and Corporate Communications, former SRC President,
Mr Sbu Ngwane and Mr Jay Govender from the Office
of Transformation and Equity. The TOLEDO Excel programme’s
mission is to address the under-representation of
students from minority groups in higher education,
by developing their academic skills and competencies
before and during college.
Professor
Chetty’s presentation dealt with the history
of South Africa, and the racial issues that shaped
education. He explained that the merger aimed to
overcome racial divisions and inequalities in the
education system in South Africa.
Mr
Ngwane spoke to the students about university life
and the programmes that have been put in place for
students. Mr Govender gave a brief presentation
on the history of Indian settlers in South Africa.
The American students related to his explanation
of the Indian workers on the sugar cane plantations
because their ancestors were brought from Africa
to America as slaves.
Ms
Indu Moodley of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications
accompanied the students on a tour of the Westville
campus, after which the students set off on a visit
to Umlazi.
Commenting
on their visit, students Verida Phifer and Andrea
Hill said that felt that UKZN is “culturally
diverse and it reflects the reality of the whole
KwaZulu Natal region”. They also said that
they found the students at UKZN very friendly and
welcoming.
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Professor
Johan van Heerden
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Newly
appointed Head of the Discipline of Sports Science,
Professor Johan van Heerden's vision is to improve
the quality of life of all sectors of South African
society through the specialist fields of Biokinetics,
Exercise Science and Leisure Management.
"We aspire to educate people
about the value of keeping fit and healthy to age
well and avoid diseases of lifestyle from an early
age. We want them to be physically active and exercise
whether in sport or recreation,” says Professor
van Heerden.
As the former head at the University
of Pretoria’s Natural Sciences Work Group
in the Department of Biokinetics, Sport & Leisure
Science and as Research Co-ordinator in the Institute
for Sport Research (ISR), Professor van Heerden’s
experience in the discipline spans over 20 years.
He believes that "UKZN Sports
Science has the potential to compete strongly with
others in the country and has the benefit of being
a naturally integrated department in its staff and
student profile within the context of the challenges
in the new democratic South Africa."
Professor
van Heerden is the outgoing President of the Biokinetics
Association of South Africa and serves on the Standards
Generating Body (SGB) and Education Committee for
Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Biokinetics in the Health
Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). He
spends his leisure time with his wife and two children
and hopes that he will be able to enjoy a round
or two of golf.
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Teacher
education internationally has been steadily moving
towards a model that views the initial and on-going
training and development of teachers as a joint responsibility
between Higher Education institutions and the schools
where the teachers practise and continue to work.
The
Faculty of Education is involved in a two-year collaborative
project with the Norwegian University of Science
and Technology which is one of the foremost teacher
training institutions in Norway. The main purpose
of the project will be to develop a model for university-school
partnerships that will support the escalating demand
for well prepared and appropriately developed trainee
teachers for South African schools.
A major focus of the project is to encourage the
professional growth of school-based mentors, so
that schools can assume more active professional
development profiles. The partnership between schools
and the University aims to reflect a model that
schools can adapt in supporting one another as well.
The evaluation that complements the pilot study
will open the way for dissemination and debate within
the wider field of teacher education in South Africa.
Eleven schools were selected according to specific
criteria to participate in the pilot study. These
schools were selected from a diverse range of contexts
and include amongst others rural schools, township
schools, ex-model C schools and private schools.
Mentor
teachers from these schools recently spent a month
in an exchange programme together with members of
UKZN’s Faculty of Education, visiting and
interacting with universities and schools in Norway
to share and learn from the practices of mentorship
in the international context.
Ms
Marinda Swart, a member of the UKZN team has chosen
to focus her PhD study on partnerships with schools.
“The project has been a great learning experience
for the Faculty and the mentor teachers. This can
only strengthen our partnership with mentors in
our Professional Practicum schools,” she said.
Further
information on the research project can be found
on our website:
http://www.plu.ntnu.no/tepsn
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Professor
Ahmed Bawa addressing PhD Students
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Professor
Ahmed Bawa, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Knowledge
Production and Partnerships, welcomed both international
and local PhD students at a special event hosted by
the Pietermaritzburg UKZN International office on
July 9.
Addressing about 60 students, Professor
Bawa said that the event provided an invaluable
opportunity for students to meet informally to share
and discuss their areas of study, and experiences.
He stressed the importance of research, saying that
UKZN, as a world leader in research around HIV and
AIDS, received magnanimous financial support.
Although
over 20 000 students are registered for PhDs, about
1200 graduate each year. He added that PhD students
would find themselves under pressure to increase
research output, and to complete their PhD studies
in a short period.
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L-R
Ms Nicola Latchiah, UKZN International;
Dr Roshen Kishun, Director, UKZN International;
Professor Renuka Vithal, Dean of Education;
Mr Chris Moshoswe, Minister of Transport
and Communication in Zimbabwe; Professor
Lesley Stainbank, Assistant Dean of
Management Studies; Professor Eduard
Eitelberg, Deputy Dean of Electrical,
Electronic and Computer Engineering;
and Professor Donal McCracken, Dean
of Humanities, Development and Social
Sciences.
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Zimbabwean
Minister of Transport and Communication Mr Chris Moshoswe
held discussions with the Deans of Faculties at UKZN
on July 27.
Mr
Moshoswe’s Ministry administers the Presidential
Scholarship for academically gifted Zimbabweans
from disadvantaged backgrounds. From around 5 000
applicants, 200 students are placed at South African
universities each year.
In
his introductory remarks, Dr Roshen Kishun, Director
of UKZN International, indicated that the 30 students
from Zimbabwe selected at the beginning of this
year were making good academic progress. They are
enrolled in Social Sciences, Commerce, Science and
Law. Impressed that UKZN “goes the extra mile”
for its students, Mr Moshoswe is keen to increase
the UKZN intake, particularly in the areas of Agriculture,
Actuarial Science, Chemical Engineering, Architecture,
Environmental Law, and Child Protection. He is also
keen to place students in postgraduate programmmes,
designed to train students to care for those with
special needs, and in a number of disciplines in
Faculty of Health Sciences.
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Miss Chantal Botts with the
medals she won at the All Africa Games
in Nigeria |
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UKZN
Finance Division staff member Ms Chantal Botts won
Gold and Silver medals in the Badminton Ladies Doubles
section at the All Africa Games held in Nigeria from
July 12-18.
Miss
Botts started playing badminton at the tender age
of 10 and now plays for South Africa in the senior
team. For the past seven years she and partner Miss
Mitchelle Edwards from Cape Town have been undisputed
badminton champions with an unbroken record at the
Africa Games. She also represented South Africa
at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.
“Going
to the Olympics is a dream come true. Now I am ready
to retire,” she said. She has dedicated herself
to coaching young badminton players at the KZN Satellite
Academy and also coaches the under-19 KwaZulu-Natal
Badminton Team.
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Sport
Science Honours student Miss Benina Mkhonto has received
numerous awards recognizing her role as a student
leader.
She was awarded a certificate after
taking part in the Alternative non-Violent Project
where she learnt how to deal with challenges in
a non-violent way as well as how to be able to be
heard by the next person. She serves as a representative
for the Faculty of Health Sciences on the Faculty
Student Council. She won the Best Student Union
Member Award in 2006, while she served as the Vice-President
of this student society. She also received the Best
Achiever’s Award for Mentorship for leading
and serving Africa in the 21st Century. Based on
her leadership role in sport she was selected manager
of UKZN Cross Country Athletics and represented
the University in Bloemfontein in 2006.
Miss Mkhonto’s passion for
sport led to her involvement in organising the Mr
UKZN Body Building Contest and the Faculty of Health
Sciences Sport Day. She served as an accreditation
officer for the South African Inter-provincial games
in 2005. An athlete herself, she offers her services
voluntarily at KwaZulu-Natal Athletics.
Rising
to the challenges of HIV and AIDS Ms Mkhonto has
taken part in the HIV SA 2 Project on evidence-informed
practice for the prevention, treatment and care
of HIV and AIDS. “I want to reflect on my
own personal life and be able to serve others effectively,”
she says.
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L-R
DJ Sbu(Ukhozi FM), Nonhlanhla Mazibuko,
Nonhlanhla Zulu, Nonhlanhla Ngcobo,
Nontokozo Hlophe, Slindile Mtshali and
Sbonga Zungu (Ukhozi FM)
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Ukhozi
FM Breakfast Show was broadcast live from Howard College
on August 8, from 6h30 to 9h00 to attract and select
a female Media Studies student with talent and aspirations
to work in radio for two months. Five students have
been pre-selected and they were given a 30-minute
slot to broadcast with Ukhozi FM presenters.
Third year BA (Psychology) student,
Ms Nonhlanhla Zulu who enjoys working with people
said, “I enjoy an environment where rewards
and benefits are linked to performance.”
Another contestant, Ms Nonhlanhla
Ngcobo is currently participating in the Umsobomvu
Graduate Programme. She graduated last year with
a BSc in Biochemistry & Microbiology. Her passion
to help others has led to her involvement in the
Media and Communication industry.
Ukhozi
FM also visited the Durban University of Technology
and the University of Zululand and will visit the
University of Johannesburg and the University of
Witwatersrand. Contestants will have to wait until
the end of all the auditions to establish if they
have what it takes to become an Ukhozi FM DJ.
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Two students from the Music School were selected
for the National Youth Jazz Band (NYJB) after a
series of rigorous auditions at the annual Standard
Bank National Youth jazz festival this year. Pianist,
Mr Shemual Mahabeer, a Bachelor of Practical Music
student and drummer Sibusiso Blessing Zondi a Diploma
in Jazz and Popular Music student were selected.
The
National Youth Band will perform at a number of
Standard Bank Jazz Festivals across the country,
providing students with an invaluable opportunity
of learning, first-hand, from some of the leading
exponents in the field. Traditionally, the band
performs at an overseas festival which is to be
announced. Last year two of our students who were
in the NYJB, bassist Mr Prince Bulo and vocalist
Mr Sebenzile Khuzwayo, travelled to Stockholm, Sweden
for a series of performances.
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UK
educationists on their recent visit
to the Leadership Centre
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Eight
educationists from the United Kingdom visited the
Leadership Centre on the August 7 as part of their
comparative research into the South African education
system. The visit was facilitated by Professor Clive
Harber of the University of Birmingham and Mr Jeff
Serf of the University of Wolverhampton on behalf
of Teachers in Development Education (TIDE).
Mr Stan Hardman of the Leadership Centre arranged
for the group to meet local education administrators
who are also postgraduate students in the Centre,
while Dr Kriben Pillay’s presentation focused
on his recent leadership training for rural youth
in the Chibini district of Ixopo.
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Dr
Suzanne Maman, Assistant Professor in the Department
of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, delivered a Faculty
Lecture on July 27, at the Nelson R Mandela School
of Medicine, on women’s experiences with HIV
status disclosure.
Together with Professor Daya Moodley
from the Women’s Health and HIV Unit at the
Doris Duke Medical Research Institute (DDMRI), Dr
Maman is working on an intervention study for HIV-positive
and HIV-negative pregnant women in Umlazi D-Section
Clinic. The study is designed to compare a standard
model of HIV counselling and testing with a model
that provides enhanced post-testing support for
women.
In her faculty lecture, Dr Maman
highlighted the growing evidence of the overlap
of HIV status disclosure and violence. Violence
is seen as a risk factor for HIV infection as women
in violent relationships are unable to enforce HIV
preventative measures. A study by UNAIDS in 2004
indicated that between 1985–2003, the epidemic
disproportionately affected women. In terms of Mother
to Child Transmission (MTCT) disclosure of an individual’s
status is the key determinant factor for choice
of infant feeding.
The
researchers believe that to test without adequate
support in the current context of high stigma is
unethical. Dr Maman said that the experience of
women with testing and disclosure suggested that
they needed more counselling and not less to support
them and maximise treatment and prevention effects.
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Demonstrating
against gender based violence
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The
UKZN Gender Based Violence Lobby Group staged a demonstration
against violence against women at the Howard College
campus on August, 8.
The Group is a loose coalition formed by concerned
UKZN staff and students a year ago. It arose in response
to concerns voiced by female students about the incidents
of abuse on UKZN campuses.
The demonstration remembered women
who are victims of date rape, rape and spousal abuse
in South Africa. The demonstrators who carried placards
with slogans such as "One man one woman”,
“real men don't rape”, and “no
condom, no sex", included female and male students
and staff.
Women's Day is not about getting flowers, but making
a strong point against women's abuse," said
Ms Lliane Loots, organiser of the demonstration
and Lecturer in Drama and Performance Studies. She
added that the campus Risk Management Services (RMS)
offers services which students were not aware of.
As a group, they would like to see RMS being more
accountable. Abuse of women at UKZN is not just
a criminal matter, but a political issue, which
needs to be tackled by University management.
Staff
and students were invited to sign a petition against
the abuse of women and men and the need for gender
safety on all UKZN campuses.
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The
School of Music on the Howard College campus presents
free lunch-hour concerts throughout the year. These
concerts take place at Howard College Theatre, located
in the Howard College Building, on the ground floor,
from 12h15 to 13h00.
MONDAY,
AUGUST 20
GUY BUTTERY
Carving a big name for himself performing around South
Africa and internationally for several years, Guy
Buttery has received three separate nominations at
the South African Music Awards, as well as being the
youngest nominee in the history of the event. Guy's
stirring live performances are renowned and consist
of his idiosyncratic fingerstyle acoustic guitar pieces
and sitar improvisations which delve into many genres
including folk, maskanda, Celtic and world-music.
MONDAY, AUGUST 27
NEIL GONSALVES
Jazz pianist Neil Gonsalves will collaborate with
musicians from Gothenburg, Sweden. This concert co-incides
with the release of Neil's new CD entitled 'North
Facing' - a collection of original compositions recorded
in Sweden in September 2006 featuring an interesting
blend of mbaqanga, church music, jazz improvisation,
Nordic Cool and whatever else you hear in it!
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTALISTS
Durbanoboe player Fia Futre, who is currently studying
at the Laussanne Conervatoire in Switzerland, will
perform the first mvt of the 'Bach Sonata', 'Capriccio'
by Ponchielle and the 'Mozart Oboe Quartet'. Fia will
be joined by instrumentalists from the UKZN School
of Music.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
KARTHIEGASEN PILLAY
Internationally acclamined Carnatic vocalist Karthiegasen
Pillay will be accompanied by Sivanathan Pillay (mrdangam)
and Kesavan Manickum (violin). This margam kutcheri
concert will be presented in usual carnatic fomat.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
NINA SCHUMANN & LUIS MAGALHÃES
In the rarefied world of duo piano music, the team
of Luis Magalhães and Nina Schumann has established
itself, for both audiences and critics, as one of
the most outstanding. Their exemplary performances
have been praised throughout North America, Europe
and Africa. The duo will perform Brahms 'Paganini
Variations’ and Rachmaninoff ‘Suite no.2’
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
OPERA STUDIO AND CHORAL ACADEMY SOLOISTS
A selection of the finest singing from a range of
students at the Opera Studio and Choral Academy.
Additional Wednesday concerts will be presented throughout
the semester featuring staff and students from the
School of Music.
If you would like to join the Concert Mailing List
please contact Debbie
Mari.
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