Comment 056 November 1991

King's College London newsletter

ACADEMIC PLAN The folloWIng press stalemenc about the revISion of the Academic Plan has been made at the suggestion ofa number ofstaff across the College: 'King's responds to challenges of Queen's speech' 'In the context of the higher education measure outlined in the White paper and the Queen's Speech, King's College London is formulating a comprehensive academic and financial plan which will create an in titution well-placed to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges of the 1990 .

'The planning process, which is expected to be completed shortly before Christmas, review the whole scope of the College's academic activity in the light of the need to maximise the number of students in higher education in London, and in order to make

the fullest possible use of the teaching, research and physical resources of the College. King's proposals will also achieve the kind of efficiency gains that the Government and the UFC are seeking throughout the higher education system.

'There are currently several options under discussion, and they are to be the subject of a thorough programme of consultation within the College before the final decisions are taken by the Council of King's in midDecember.

'King's is one of the largest institutions of higher education in London and the secondlargest college within the University of London. Tt is a multi-faculty institution and its schools of study include Education; Humanities; Law; Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences; Medicine and Dentistry, and Physical Sciences and Engineering. The plan adjusts the present academic balance of the College with a view to strengthening still further the international reputation of the areas of acknowledged excellence in King's and ensuring that the points of development have the resources to secure their future and make an appropriate contribution to the needs of the nation.

'The plan addresses difficult issues which face a great many higher education institutions. Among these are the decrease in funding per student (which is exacerbated for institutions in London because there has been a restriction in the number of tudents supported by UFC funds); the consequences of the consistent underfunding of salary awards by the Government; the requirement for higher education to increase its output with a smaller unit of resource, and the need to make proper and prudent provision for the maintenance of buildings in the face of declining financial suppOrt.'

Chemistry set challenge at King's On 2 October the Chemistry Department hosted one of the regional heats in a national competition for schools to design a chemistry set for 14-year-olds. This competition was instigated by the Chemistry Club, a group set up by the Salters' Company to raise the popularity of chemistry in schools. Several schools from the London area participated and around 60 third/fourth formers and their teachers came to King's to compete. The judges spent well over an hour looking at the experiments the schools had designed and questioning the students. The visitors then went to a lecture-demonstration by Dr Fred Armitage entitled 'Rocks to Rubber' while the judges made their decisions. At the end of the lecture Professor Maurice Wilkins presented the prizes to the winning schools.

Girls from St Michael's School investigating the chemistry ofsoap films

The winning school was St Michael's Catholic Grammar School from North

Finchley, who just pipped Woodlands School from Basildon for the first prize, consisting of a cheque for ÂŁ250 and a brand new Minilab set of glassware. Mr Andrew Cooper (Head of Science) and his team from St Michael's now go forward to the national final at the ASE meeting in Sheffield in January 1992 where the first prize is ÂŁ1000. We wish them luck.

The element of competition certainly excited the school students who put a lot of effort and imagination into their experiments. My thanks to all the participants and to everyone who helped to make the day enjoyable for the competitors, in particular the judges: Dr Philip Evans (Bedford School), Dr Frank Hibbert (King's) and Dr Barry Senior (Amersham International).

Keith Jones, Department of Chemistry

RESEARCH NEWS

Research Funding - the Principal writes: On 21 October the Daily Telegraph carried an article headed 'Universities face quality test for funds', claiming that a new Higher Education Act was to be announced in the Queen's Speech which would split Britain's universities into three divisions. These would be headed by a 'super league' of 12 institutions, selected on the basis of their excellence in research. Another 12 universities were destined for the bottom league, and would lose about a third of their research funding. University College London, LSE and Imperial College were all supposed to be in the 'super league'. King's was not mentioned, but the assumption would be that it would be allocated to the middle league, and therefore might lose some of its research funding.

rn view of the concern a number of staff in the College have expressed to me and elsewhere about this article, I thought it would be helpful if I quoted part of a letter from Alan Howarth MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Education and Science, to Andrew Smith MP, a copy of which was sent to the CVCP. The letter makes it clear that the Government has no intention of enshrining a threedivision distinction between universities in forthcoming legislation, and that its policies on higher education remain the same as those outlined in the White Paper: 'Higher Education: a new framework'.

'As you know,' Alan Howarth says, 'the White Paper announced greater selectivity in the distribution of research funds, with a move away from student number-related funding. But the UFC's approach is to assess the quality of research in individual universily departments, not whole universilies [my italics]. Some departments will get no public research funding, but others within the same university will do better.

There is no intention to create a usuper league" ... '

At the same time it is as well to remember that the UFC is going to be much more selective in its distribution to departments ('cost centres' to be more precise) of funds for research. Given that it looks as if the funding of basic research will be related to (J -1) where J is the research rating, a department rated 5 may get twice as much as a department rated 3.

There is therefore going to be a critcal number of departments at which King's as an institution is going to be classified as R or X; what is vital - because it will so much affect our income, and hence our room for manoeuvre - is that we have as many departments as possible rated 4 and preferably 5.

Nordiford Research Expedition With the aim of furthering understanding of the glacial deltas, foreground and screes, seven third-year King's students planned a four week expedition to the Bl£breen glacial foreland in the Breirn region of Gloppen, South West Norway - the second exhibition of its kind.

They established two basecamps at 540m above sea level, 4km from the glacier, and at 930m asl, overlooking the two proglacial lakes adjacent to the Bl£breen foreland.

From here they carried out individual research projects which will contribute to their degrees. They have written to the Principal to thank him for the College'S support and described the event as 'technically and logistically an outstanding success...with great memories'.

K C Wong Scholarships for China Since 1987 King's College London has been able to offer five scholarships each year for Chinese students to undertake research training for the PhD. Funding was for three years for each student under a unique scheme supported by the KC Wong Education Foundation of Hong Kong, the FCO and the Chinese State Education Commission (SED C).

After this year, the SEDC will no longer fund this programme and so will no longer nominate the scholars. Accordingly, a new scheme has been devised by the Foundation and the FCO to maintain these five awards, which are exclusive to King'S. Henceforth any student from the People's Republic of China who has been accepted by the College for PhD research will be eligible to apply.

Applications may be made direct to me by the student, or by their supervisor. They should provide evidence of proficiency in English (TO EFL 600), and a letter of support from their home university giving permission for leave of absence. The scholarships pay a monthly stipend of £435 per month plus tuition fees at the home student rate. It is unlikely that an award will be given unless the applicant has other support (such as an ORS award) to pay for the balance of the tuition fee for overseas students.

Since the start of this programme 30 awards have been made to students of King's College London by the K C Wong Education Foundation.

Or Abraham S-T Lue, Assistant Principal European Representative, KC Wong Education Foundation

Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering research news Ro al ociery Research Grant A Rezazadeh (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Physical Electronics Researcb Group) has received ÂŁ7,00 towards a study of advanced heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) for high temperature electronic applications.

Espirit III Research Proposals In tbe last round of ESPRIT-Ill call for propo al the Physical Electronic Research Group of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering proposed three research programmes, listed below.

I) Reliability assessment of advanced microwave heterojunction transistors (acronym: RELIABILITY); 2) Collector-up advanced transistor structures (acronym: ATS); and 3) Silicon Oxy-nitrides formed by remote PECVD-growth and characterisation (acronym: DEACO ).

In addition, the Signal and Information processing Research Group have submitted tWO re earch proposals from the in collaboration with the Mechanical Engineering Department: 1) Cooperating Robotics with assisted task organisation (acronym: COOPERATOR); and 2) Sensor aided fetding in an integrated robotic system (acronym; SAFIR).

Planning Research: the Options Ahead At the recent launch of the journal Nature's manifesto for British Science, held at the Royal Institution, Sir Mark Richmond, Head of Britain's largest Research Council - the SERC - focussed much of his speech 1 on the need to consider funding and management of teaching and research separately in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). Much of what Richmond said is relevant to the research planning process at King's and fits in well with my own approach to the relevant issues as Chairman of the School of Life, Basic Medical and Health Sciences Research Committee.

As the ColJege continues with the planning

process, there are two key issues raised by Richmond which are worthy of further debate: the relationship between the unding and management of teaching and research, and the balance and organisation of research. This article lays out a personal view of how these issues relate to planning of research at lUng's as we enter a new period of academic planning and a new College structure and discusses the relationship between teaching and research management and funding.

Separating teaching from reseach? Undergraduate and Graduate Schools.

When I first came to King's as a lecturer in 1979 it was never clear to me why academic staff numbers and UFC funding were linked exclusively to student numbers. The fte (now student load) was some kind of God, fought over endlessly and protected at all costS, often in defiance of academic (certainly research priority) logic. Gradually, and I think inevitably, the government has tried to separate the funding of teaching and research. Their current views are summed up in the recent letter from the Chairman of the UFC, Prof Graeme Davies, which concludes its introduction as follows: 'The allocation of any element of research funding purely by reference to student numbers is to be phased out.' (Thank goodness for that! Now we can start to plan research management based on research excellence and research potential.) What is to be phased in is a combination of two things: transfer of the DR funding component from the UFC to the Research Councils with effect from next year, and a UFC rating for every cost centre in every HEI, which governs the]R input. We know the latter scheme from the first time round; the effects of the former are yet to be felt, although its logic is clear; the more Research Council grants we get the better.

The separation of teaching from research funding has focussed attention on the organisation of these two traditionally linked activities. In the government's eyes the UFC ratings exercise sorts out groups with research excellence from groups which should be teaching only; indeed, they have mumbled, and continue to mumble, about research and teaching only HEIs. There are a number of points here important for our

own planning process. I am a firm believer that, certainly for the first year and for most, if not al~ of the second year of undergraduate teaching, we can learn to teach just about anything, and teach it well.

(As a trained Botani t I now teach human anatomy and neuroanatomy - tolerably well!). The only requirement for a direct link between teaching and research comes in the final undergraduate year. The opposite side of the coin is that we introduce greater flexibility in teaching in terms of both subject and load. It then becomes a managerial decision as to how these two parameters (subject and load) are decided upon for anyone member of staff.

How does this relate to research planning?

The answer is, given flexibility in teaching subject and load, the system can easily and beneficially aIJow those members of staff more active in research to do what they do well. This system creates a continuum within a cost centre, where the extremes are members of staff with a 'Polytechnic teaching load' (at least 400 contact hours a year) and doing no research, whereas others do a lot of research and relatively little teaching (presumably all to final year students). This system can also work between cost centres, where an institution such as King's could have purely teaching groups and purely research groups. Such research (and teaching) planning is the decision making process that creates an appropriate balance in teaching and research and, by definition, it abolishes the traditional right of every academic to do a little of both; those days have gone.

Richmond took the separation in research and teaching management a step further and created Graduate and Undergraduate Schools. These structures fall out of the separate management of teaching and research finance and planning. My guess is that we will see the more active research universities and col1eges begin to make these distinctions in the near future. If King's wi hes to be seen in this company we should be thinking hard about our options.

Nigel Holder 1 Published in full in Nature 353,379-382 (Oct 3rd issue) 1991.

A New Image for King's ome staff wLll have already heard that we are reviewLng the College's 'corporate visual identity'- that is, the way the College presents itself visually through publications, stationery, signs, advertisements, van livery, and in many other ways through its logo and characteristic colours.

We believe this is vitally important for King's for several reasons. One is that, although the current logo of the College crest has worked well in some ways, it undoubtedly also has severe limitations. It has never really established itself as the style for King's, and a wide range of other styles (including, of course, Reggie the lion) still lurks in some people's minds - and on their letterheads. This creates an image of the College which is confusing and disjointed: as if King's itself did not know what it wa and where it was gOLng. In times when the College does indeed have to face painful decisions about its future shape, size and academic offering, it is all the more important that it should present a coherent, consistent and easily-recognisable face to the world.

Another reason for being clear about our image, and stating it strongly, is that current political changes in higher education (such as giving polytechnics the option to use the title 'university') will Lncrease competition

between Lnstitucions and erode the differences between them. The old images which held the universities together as a group are no longer adequate. The almost identicallooking crests, LatLn tags and lengthy Lnstitutional names that preserve long-ago mergers mean very little to today's students, who have been brought up Ln a highly visua:Iy-oriented world and often have a visual sophistication far greater than that of their parents. King's College London is fortunate in having a strong, characterful name that says some definite things about the College, and we need an image that can match this.

Obviously, King's cannot afford to spend lavishly on this exercise. The multi-million pound stories that emerge about Briti h Telecom or Shell's change of image are wholly inappropriate for us. We are therefore tackling most of the research part of the project - findLng out what people think and what their needs are路 ourselves.

Christine Jamieson, the College's new Publications Officer, and myself will be meeting people from all areas of the College between now and the end of term, and John Muir, Vice Principa4 External Relations, is joining many of the meetings. If you have a view about a visual identity for King's, or wish to draw our attention to a specific usage of the current logo which presents

problems for you, we would be glad to hear from you as soon as possible.

Once our research is complete the project will be taken forward by a College Working Group, who will appoint a designer to operate on the basis of our thorough brief.

When a design for a logo has been chosen we will hold meetings to present it to staff.

The basic design will then be developed for stationery, publications and other uses, and it is expected that materials in the new identity will be available from the beginning of the 1992-93 academic year. The Press and Publications Office will be available to give assistance and guidance to colleagues in the production of their own information and publicity materials using King's new visual identity. Additionally we plan to develop computer templates for staff who wish to produce their own materials in the new style. There will, evidently, be a period of overlap between the new and the old materials, but the aim is that this should be as short as possible, and if you are ordering new stationery or publications in the current identity, please bear in mind that you will only need enough to last you until summer 1992.

Christine Kenyon Jones Director of Public Relations

College Christmas cards will be on sale shortly from the following outlets Strand

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John Wornham ecurity &Dome tic Service

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Further Education: Seminar at King's for representatives of FE Colleges meetin on 22 October at n 's wa or ani ed by the Colle e's Schools and Colle e Liai on 0 fice, Department 0 E' ernal Relation . It was attended by eleven repre entative 0 FE colleges and ten '10 ' member. Introductory talks were i ·en b' Kin's ice-Principal John 1uir on the implications of the recent HE hite Paper and by Or Bridge, Principal of outh Thame College, on the FE hite Paper. A livel and con tructive discussion occupied the remaining hour of the formal session and continued through the informal lunch that followed, which was attended by the Principal. There was general agreement that the meeting had been most useful and the FE repre entatives wiU be sending detailed comments to r Muir which could form the ba is for the programme of a second meeting which will be held at K.ing' on 21 January, 1992.

Some of the main point that emerged from the ir t meeting were: • FE college now account for 40 per cent of A level entries nationally, and for 65 per cent of the science A-levels in the Greater London area, and these proportion are likely to grow in future.

• A new framework of vocational qualifications ( VQs) is proposed, and part of the scheme will be an Advanced Diploma, equivalent to a university entrance requirement. BITC qualifications will probably fit into this framework.

The position of access courses is unclear.

• Sixth form coUeges will be strongly encouraged to commit themselves to Qs. Together with FE colleges they will be funded independently of local authoritie and so form a new sector which will supply an increasing proportion of higher education students.

• There is scope for collaboration between King's and FE colleges to our mutual advantage. FE colleges will benefit from increased placements of their graduates in higher education. Universities seek extra students. At present there appears to be a tendency to find extra recruits among less able middle-class candidates. FE colleges have many students of high ability but relatively low academic achievement,

man of whom are from di advantaged bac ground with no tradition of hi her education. If we can help FE college 0 motivate such students and provide reali tic pathwa s to higher education, K.ing's department may be beneficiaries of uch altrui m.

•

e can enthuse FE tudents by arranging a programme of visits from our own students who reached u from FE. Such students can be easily identified through the College Database.

• We can attempt to ease the pathway from FE to King's by local arrangements with individual FE colleges. For example, this could be through 2 A levels, perhaps of slightly lower grades, taken in conjunction with VQ modules which give training in relevant skills and which would be devi cd by King's and the FE college. Increasing experience may help us to devise a general policy for attracting applicants from a wider range of the FE ector.

• Other institutions, eg Sussex and Liverpool, have already developed relationships with FE colleges. Features of their schemes include special entry tests, and slightly relaxed entrance requirements.

• It may be possible to share resources such as laboratories as part of collaboration with individual colleges. More ambitiously we have the possibility of 'franchising' where, for example, induction courses for HE might be run

by FE colleges. There are many current examples in the polytechnic sector.

The eleven FE colleges repre ented at the seminar were Barking College, City and East London College, City of Westminster College, Hackney College, Hammersmith and West London College, Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute, Lewisham College, orth London College, South Thames College, Southwark College and Westminster College.

A summary of the main proposals in the FE White Paper is available from the Schools and Colleges Liaison Office, in Cornwall House, ext 3003/3050.

Or Michael Clarke, Conservative MP for Rochford and Chairman of the Energy Select Committee, graduated from King's with first class honours in Chemistry in 1956, and won the Samuel Smile Prize in 1955. He has been a Fellow of King's College since 1987 and returned on 29 October to the annual presentation of prizes to students in the Chemistry Department to speak on 'Science at Westminster'. He is pictured here in front of the Samuel Smiles Plaque.

Advent carol Services This year's Advent Carol Services are on 11, 12 and 13 December at 17.30 in the Chapel. Contact the College Chaplaincy, ex! 2373 or Josephine Bell in the Dean's Office, ext 2333 to reserve your tickets.

Please note that the service on Friday 13 December is primarily reserved for members of staff who wish to attend Ernie Warrell's leaving pany at 18.45 in the Great Hall. Ticket for this event are available from Josephine Bell at £5 per person.

Grants in support of public understanding of science are available for new or continuing activities or initiative directly concerned with the promotion of the public understanding of science (including mathematics, technology and engineering). Applications should be made as soon a possible on forms obtainable from Or A Evans, The Royal Society, 6 Carlton I louse Terrace, London SW1Y SAG. (Tel: 071-839 5561)

5

Summer at Tanglewood Candice Wood, a second year Musu: student at King's spent her summer at Tanglewood with support from the Col1ege. She recorded her impressions of this experience for Comment.

The stage door opens, the applause begins, the orchestra stands; out walks Seijii Ozaw, and another concen by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) at Tanglewood begins. The 5,000 people seated inside the music 'shed' are transfIXed by the Conductor's every movement. Outside thousands more lie back and look at the sky, filled with stars, and listen. This may almost seem too good to be true, but in reality this is only a fraction of the magic surrounding the nine week Summer Season at Tanglewood.

Tanglewood is a country estate in Massachusetts, the summer home of the BSO. In 1937, the legendary Music Director of the BSO, Sergi Koussevitsky, revolutionised the place by bringing together young musicians from all over the world to concentrate their effons for the entire summer (the equivalent of a university term) on intense music making, amidst the breathtaking surroundings of the Berkshire hills.

The schedule is rigourous, with rehearsals running from 7.30 am, to 2.00 am on some days. After that no instrument must be touched until 7.00 am the next morning - a

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violation of the 'quiet hours' is a serious offence. evenheless on some occasions this rule is broken, as it was by the cellist in our quanet, who at 4.30 am woke the whole quartet insisting that we practice the 3rd Movement of Beethoven's Op 59, No I in the open pavilion overlooking the lake. He thought it would add something to our spiritual understanding of the work; it was to say the least a unique experience.

Perhaps one of the most memorable concens was a performance we gave of the Ravel String Quanet in front of the wellknown conductor Maurice Abravanel, who was present at the first performance of the quartet and was a friend of Ravel. This is one of the many links that are formed between composer and performer at Tanglewood.

Despite the sheer volume of works being produced, the level of perfection I experienced at Tanglewood is very different from anywhere else. At times, we would be made to work with a cassette recorder so we would be able to identify, and correct, any unevenness in our bow strokes that could disturb the unity of the quartet. This slowed our performance down by up to 70%.

One of the most difficult aspects of Tanglewood was continuously working with the same three people for six to eight hours a day, and trying to forget the inevitable personal differences. Sadly it was

only by the final week that we mastered the technique of learning to love each other's playing, and were able to give encouragement in spite of our personal feelings towards each other.

It was not until I had returned from Tanglewood that I fully appreciated the experience. Tanglewood is a place where record sleeve names have time to sit down and talk and work with you. People whom musicians see as the 'untouchables' and 'unapproachable' become teachers and friends. These have included Yo Yo'ma, Peter Serkin, Joshua Bell and Itzak Per/man, not to mention the numerous professors from Juilliard, Eastman and Curtis who worked with us on a more regular basis.

In many ways, this season was very sad for those who had been at Tanglewood for many years as two of Tanglewood's guiding lights, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, were extinguished. They were both present at the first Music Centre Session, and remained on its faculty for 50 years as two of its most persuasive, productive and characteristic forces.

Though Tanglewood mourns these losses to American music, it is now passing into a new era, where each member is compelled to search within themselves and take the initiative to re-dedicate their energies in the pursuit of those ideas and ideals that Bernstein and Copland championed so passionately.

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THE CYPRUS FOUNDATION A Major Gift to King's

endowment of ÂŁ200,000 to establish a King's College London Cyprus Foundation to support both the Centre and Modern Greek studies and to promote connections between the College and Cyprus. Professor Cameron and Professor Beaton regard this endowment as a landmark in their development programme, and it will enable the College to strengthen its teaching and research in an area in which we already have an international reputation and in which there are very few centres of real excellence.

On a recent trip to Cyprus arranged by the British Counci~ Mr John Muir, VicePrincipal (External Affairs) visited Mr George Paraskevaides, the joint head of one of the world's largest civil engineering firms, and his son Mr Efthyvoulos Paraskevaides who took his degree in engineering at King's. Mr Paraskevaides senior is a staunch friend and a Fellow of the College and, whenever King's staff have visited Cyprus, he has always offered very warm hospitality in his beautiful Nicosia home and has been eager to hear College news. Since meeting Professor Averil Cameron and Professor Roderick Beaton, who have lectured in Cyprus and have a number of academic contacts there, he has been particularly interested in the lively activities of the College Centre for Hellenic Studies and in our provision of Modern Greek Studies. Now, he has most generously supported this interest with an

Mr Paraskevaides has already been extremely generous to the College. He has established nine scholarships which help very able students to come to us from Cyprus (which until recently has had no recognized university of its own), and he has also provided the College with an attractive modern office in the centre of Nicosia. It is to be serviced by one of his staff and provides both an administrative base for KC LA Cyprus and an information! recruitment centre for King'S. It will be formally opened and blessed in the New Year and we very much hope that it will be a significant help to our recruitment and to

New College Organist appointed

Malcolm Gavin Hall win Wandsworth Food Hygene Awards 1991

A new post has been created at King's, incorporating the role of College Organist and Director of Music with lecturing in the Department of Music. This post will be filled at the beginning of January by David Trendell, joining King's from Oriel College, Oxford.

George Paraske'Uaides

the extension of our scholarly contacts on the island.

Mr Paraskevaides and his son anticipate that the establishment of the Foundation may be the spur to further developments, and it was a happy coincidence that, on the same evening that John Muir received the offer of the endowment, the President of KCLA Cyprus, Mr Theodoros Nicolaides, was able to announce that Mr Paraskevaides had been elected an Honorary Life Member of that Association.

It is a pleasure to inform Comment readers that Malcolm Gavin Hall has won its category in the Wandsworth Food Hygene Awards for 1991. Minnie Nabali, the Assistant Manager!

Catering Manager entered the hall for the competition and after several inspections we were informed that we had won.

Minnie and the Head Cook, Merinda Hines, went to the evening award ceremony to receive a plaque from Prue Leith (Business Woman of the Year) on 24 October.

Hopefully next year we shall Wln the overall competition for all categories!

Mr Trendell has spent the past five years in Oxford, where he is University Organist, and Organist of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, and has lectured in music for several colleges. His broadranging practical experience is epitomized by his recent recitals at Southwark and Westminster Cathedrals, Oxford Town Hall and the University Church Oxford, and his role as conductor of the Nave Choir at the Edington Festival which involved two broadcasts for BBC Radio 3. He is also a singer himself, as an alto at Christchurch Oxford and for the Clerkes of Oxenford, and is currently music critic for The Tablet.

We look forward to welcoming him to King's.

The line up in the photo from left to right is as follows - Terry Smith (who sneaked into the picture!) Jean Lindo, Esther Peters, Merinda Hines and Hilda Salter

"

IS YOUR COMPUTER A PAIN IN THE NECK? I u in our DU is literally a pain in the neck then something is wrong. It may not be the actual computer screen itself that is the problem but the work station environment (ergonomics) that is at fault.

Poor eating, a desk at the wrong height or bad positioning of computer hardware can all lead to serious health problems such as R I (repetitive strain injury), which if not treated is not only painful but can be disabling. VDUs have been suspected of causing or aggravating a number of other health problems including eye strain. epilepsy, cataracts, dermatitis and miscarriages. Much of the evidence for these problems is inconclusive and further research i currently under way around the world, often as a result of the pre sure trade unions have placed on governments and management.

The potential health risks involved in using computers have been recognised by the EC in its Health and Safety Directive on the u e of 'Display Screen Equipment'. The legislation was passed in 1990 and must be implemented by member states by January 1993. W orkstations installed after 1992 will have to conform to the new regulations, and by 1997 all workstations then in use will have to reach the EC's minimum standards. ew UK regulations incorporating the EC directive are due to be published soon.

The e are some highlights of the EC VDU directive:

1. 'Employers shall be obli ed to perform a risk analysis of all workstations with regard to eyesight, physical problems and problems of mental stress, and must remedy any risks found.'

2. 'Every worker shall receive training in the use of the workstations before commencing this kind of work.'

3. 'The employer mu t...ensure work on a display screen i periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity reducing the workload at the display screen.'

4. 'Workers shall be entitled to an appropriate eye and eyesight test... before commencing VDU work, and at regular intervals thereafter.'

5. 'Complying with the e regulations may in no circumstances involve workers in additional financial co t'.

There are a number of booklets available which deal with VDU hazards in some detail: A Guide to Health Hazards of VDUs, issued by the MSF safety office, and the College's own guidelines (which will be reviewed once the new UK VDU regulations are published) are both available from the safety office. The TUC Guidelines on VD Us (ISB 1850060843) costs just £1 and is available from Congress House, Great Russell St, London WC1 B 3LS.

TREAT ME RIGHT Ian Kennedy, Professor of Medical Law and Ethics at King's College London, is the author of Treat Me Right - Essays in Medical Law and Ethics, newly published as a paperback in September by Oxford University Press.

The new paperback is a collection of work in the field of medical law and ethics by Professor Kennedy who is well-known as a broadcaster and is a former Reith Lecturer. Many of the articles have appeared in journals, but have been annotated and updated for this book, while some are published for the first time.

The book has 400 pages and is available as a Clarendon Paperback for £14.95, or for £40 as a hardback from OUP. .:.:.:.'

8

Gold Medal Award Profe sor J Gorrod has been awuded The Gold edal of Comenius Univer it or 'his research, co-operation and publications in the field of metabolism of drug .'

He ha recentl been awarded grant of £4, for one year to study aromatic amine drugs and £66, over three years to study the metabolism of tobacco alkaloid.

He has also been elected Honorary Fellow of the Bohem lovakia Pharmaceutical Society, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive edicine has conferred the title of Visiting Professor upon him; he is currently supervising three PhD students from China.

Inaugural Q'Byrne Lecture on law, Medicine and Ethics The Univer ity of Alberta and the University of Calgary have jointly establi hed this Lecture under an endowment of r Ju tice O'Byrne of the Alberta High Court. The Inaugural Lecture was delivered by Professor Ian Kennedy of the Law School and Centre of Medical Law and Ethics on 1 October in Edmonton, Alberta.

Chelsea Campus Staff Christmas Lunch Reception drink at midday followed by A traditional Christmas meal for £5.95 This popular event will take place in the Refectory at Manresa Road on Wedne day 18 December 1991. Booking forms will be available shortly, and you are urged to book early to avoid disappointment.

Staff Keep Fit Are you feeling 'wintery'? Regain that summery glow by coming along to Staff Keep Fit - a 45 minute class for all staff: male or female and all levels of fitness. On Wednesdays at 12.15 in Room B2 (next to Reprographics), Strand Campus. Wear comfortable clothing and trainers and come and re-invigorate your life!

STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING A new name and a new face at the King's Training Unit In order to meet the challenge in higher education during the next decade we must en ure that our teaching, research and the ervices we provide are of the highest quality. We also realise that quality must be improved and maintained with fewer resources. There are many ways in which the College will develop to face the future but a vital ingredient is to ensure that all staff are well equipped and motivated.

King's has been active in encouraging its staff to improve their skills and competence but we must ensure that our scarce resources are used to greatest advantage.

Mike Llewellyn, the Academic Staff Development Officer has been closely involved in devising professional development programmes for scientists for some time. He has now joined forces with Ken Bromfield and Janine Morton to form the newly integrated Staff Development and Training Unit.

We already have a varied programme of training courses for 1991-92 in place.

During the next two months we shall complete the task of identifying the core skills needed by every group of staff. We will then ensure our development and training courses are tailor-made to meet the needs of all staff so that everyone has a fulfilling and apposite role in the future of the College.

We will publish a detailed policy implementation document in Spring 1992. If any member of staff would like to be involved in discussion and help us to decide how the principles of staff development and training can be put into practice, we would be delighted to hear from you. Contact us on ext 2760.

We shall adopt a systematic approach to staff development and we need information to do this successfully. Later this term all staff will be asked to provide information about courses they have attended. We are also intending to compile a 'skills map' for the College. We hope to obtain information about individual's professional skills and

knowledge which will be a very valuable source of help and advice on a wide range of topics.

Course Programme Please note that departments will not be charged for the courses listed below unless indicated. However full costs will be levied when enrolled staff fail to attend without reasonable justification.

All courses will last for one day, unless indicated.

Problem Solving and Creative Thinking 3 and 4 December This course will provide an excellent opportunity for participants to acquire essential skills and an open and positive attitude to deal with problems and change.

The seminar starts with the individual and finishes by building up team work.

Rapid Reading and Memory Skills (Federal) 16 and 17 December Designed for academic, administrative and library staff at middle and senior levels.

Departmental charge £20.00 per applicant.

Non-Academic staff Supervisory Skills (six days) ovember 21, 22, 28, 29 December 5 and 6.

This event has been set up in collaboration with Imperial College. The course will be of great benefit to staff who have recently attained or are about to acquire supervisory responsibilities. It will also help experienced supervisory staff who have received little or no training for their role and who wish to perform more confidently and effectivel y.

Over 30 King's staff have attended this course in the past and the course evaluation has been exemplary.

Applications for this course are invited from academic staff and all staff who have managerial responsibilities.

Effective Writing 14 November

The course will be lead by Kathryn Redway. She has worked extensively for universities, having gained a high reputation as a staff development consultant for private and public enterprises.

The course will enable participants to write more clearly, more efficiently and present a better image through their written work.

This course will be useful for up to grade CR3 clerical, technical and manual/ancillary staff.

Academic and academically-related staff

Coping with Stress 18 November

Financial Management for Administrators (Federal) 29 November This course is of particular value to middle grade administrators in large departments who have significan.t financial responsibility.

Departmental charge £10.00 per applicant.

Clearing the Fog (Federal) 3 December, 14.30-17.00 Intended primarily for middle grade administrative and academic staff whose work involves writing papers and reports for committees. Departmental charge £ 10.00 per applicant.

Thi course will help anyone who wishes to avoid the undesirable consequences of stress, now or in the furore.

Dealing with Demands and Priorities (Time Management) 26 November This course will help participants do something positive about the barriers to effective time management. They will examine a system for planning the use of time, based on clearly determined and maintained priorities. They will also be invited to reflect upon personal communi· cation skills and their importance for effective time management.

Staff Training and Development continued Assertrueness Sk,lls (for Women) I~ December Assem mess Sk,lls for Men and Women) Janwry 1992

Application for both the e course are needed as oon as possible. The January date is provisional. e shall confirm if there is sufficient demand.

Pr07Jlding a Quabty Service 11 December

King's College is in competition with other higher education institutions. Our success will depend on our reputation in providing a high quality service to our clients whether students, users of our wide range of ervices or providers of research grant funds.

Thi cour e will enable participants to: recognise the importance of promoting King's image; measure the quality of our customer care; identify our main concerns or areas for improvement; put customer care into practice by improving those skills where good per onal presentation is es entia!.

The course is offered to all categories of staff. We shall repeat the course according to demand.

Safety Courses Testing PortabLe ElectricaL Equipment (14.00-17.00) 11 December

Word Processing I BM Word 5.0 Basics (one day) early Lent term

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SEMINARS Department of History and Philosophy of Science Seminars Held on Thursdays at 14.15 in Room 1 C, Strand Campus 21 0 emixr 1991 RepresentaClonaL Trajectories In Connectlomst Leamlng Dr Andy Clark, Univer ity of Sus ex 28 ovemeixr 1991 ew Aspects of Wave-Particle Dualism In eutron Interferometry Dr Harvey Brown, Oxford University 5 December 1991 Descartes on ScientIfic Method Dr Stephen Gaukroger, Sydney University 12 Decemixr 1991 Handbng Uncertainty In ArtifiCIaL Intelligence Mr James Cussens, King's College London

Age Concern Institute of Gerontology Seminars Held on Tuesdays between 16.00 and 17.00 in Room 3/8, Cornwall House Annexe 19 ovember 1991 The OPCS Disability Surveys: Methodological Issues Dr Howard Meltzer, OPCS 26 ovemixr 1991 Glaucoma and Birthdays Professor Robert Weale, ACIOG 3 December 1991 Medicine, the Media and Elderly People Dr Robert Smith, Editor, British MedicaL JournaL

For those with little or no experience of Microsoft Word 5.0 on the IBM (or compatible) system

Department of Geography Research Seminars

Information Technology workshops

Held on Tuesdays at 17.00 in Room 102, orfolk Building

A programme of short courses on EXCEL, lotus 1-2-3 and SYMPHONY are soon to be scheduled for the lent term. They will be pre ented by Sukai N'Dure and Andy Perrin of the Administrative Computing Unit of the Computing Centre. Please contact Janine Morton, ext 2760 for further details.

Ken Bromfield, Dr Mike Llewellyn, Janine Morton.

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19 ovemixr 1991 CentraL Europe and the European Community: prospects for economic and politicaL integratIOn Dr Richard Gibb, Department of Geography, Polytechnic South West 26 Novemixr 1991 The size and shape of desert dunes: recent process research

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Dr Andrew uren., Department of Geography, UCl 3 Decemixr 1991 Gender construalOns and the state: low-Income women In Peru Or Sarah Radcliffe, Department of Geography, RHB C 1 Decemixr 1991 RIft valleys - cracking crusts and sedImentary sandwiches Dr lan Reid, Department of Geography, Birkbeck College

Biomolecular Sciences Division Seminars Held on Fridays at 13.15, in the lecture Theatre, Drury lane 29 ovemixr 1991 Understanding the details ofchromate toxiCIty Dr P O'Brien., Department of Chemistry, Queen Mary and Westfield College 6 December 1991 Fertlbty, morbidity and mortaLity with inbreeding (or - why not your sister?)

Dr A Bittles, Division of Biomedical Sciences, King's College

Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Research Seminars Held on Thursdays at 13.00 in Room ItA, Strand. Contact Or lan Robertson, ext 2523 for more information.

14 ovemixr Second Generation Mobile and Personal Communications Systems Or Hamid Aghvami, Head of Communications Research Group.

21 ovember Recent DeveLopments in NeuraL Networks Or Trevor Clarkson., Communications Research Group.

28 ovemixr High Temperature Superconduaors in Microwave Circuits Professor C W Turner, Director of Research, Dept of Electronic and Electrical Engineering 5 Decemixr Microwave CAD using FieLd-Based Simulators Or Manook Soghomonian Communications Research Group

LECTURES The British Institute of Human Rights Lecture Tuesday 3 December 1991, 13.00 Thomas Paine and The Rights of Man Profe sor Paul O'Higgins, Department of Law ew Theatre, Strand Campus

The Halliburton Lecture Tuesday 26 ovember 1991,17.30 Reversals of Fortune in Neurobiology Professor S Zeki, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London The ew Theatre, Strand Campus

The forthcoming lectures in the flfst series are on the following theme: Law in America: Acceptance and Resistances Professor Eric Mottram At 17.15 in Room 27C, trand Building on 19 ovembeT,3 December

Wednesday 20 November 1991, 17.30 Religion and Empire: British Expansion in the Long 19th Century, 1780-1914 Professor A N Porter, Department of History The New Theatre, Strand Campus

The Runciman Lecture Thursday 28 November 1991,18.00 The Battle of Manzikert Professor Speros Vryonis, Jr The New Theatre, Strand Campus

Lecture in Pharmaceutical Sciences Monday 11 November 1991, 18.30 What is so special about the 4-quinoline antibaeterials ?

Professor J T Smith, School of Pharmacy, University of London College House, Manresa Road

The King's College Lectures in American Literature and Culture These are a new series of open public lectures recently instituted by the English department. Distinguished scholars and writers will be invited to lecture on major issues in the field of American Literature and Culture. The emphasis will be interdi ciplinary and cross-cultural.

Monday 18 ovember, 13.05 Derick Kane, euphonium and Peter Jones, organ: to include works by Weber and Mendelssohn St Mary-le-StraDd

CONFERENCE Women, Discipleship, and Spiritual Power Saturday 14 December, 09.15-17.30 Council Room, Strand Campus For more information contact Peter Clarke, Director, the Centre for New Religious Movements

Inaugural Lectures Tuesday 19 ovember 1991,16.30 Values in prtUtice: can studies in primary care help to put health into a national service?

Professor R Higgs, Head of the Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Lecture Theatre 1, The Dental School, King's College London

CONCERT DIARY

Monday 25 ovember, 17.30 Sharon Choa, violin and Simon Morris, cello: to include music by Beethoven and Brahms Great Hall

Thursday 28 November, 13.05 Philip Bonser and friends: clarinet quartets RoomGOl

COLLOQUIA Institute of Advanced Musical Studies Colloquia Held on Wednesdays at 17.00 in Room GOl, 152-153 Strand Campus

Friday 29 ovember, 19.30 To celebrate the new BMus course and the establishment of the Centre for Advanced Performance Studies between King's and the Royal Academy of Music a concert will be held in the Great Hall.

20 ovember 1991 Literature, philosophy and the rise ofa musical canon in eighteenth-century England William Weber, University of California

The Royal Academy of Music Sinfonia will play a programme of music by Rossini, Nielsen and Beethoven. Seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

27 November 1991 Towards a theory of the Mozart cadenza William Drabkin, Southampton University

Tuesday 3 December, 17.30 Concert given by the Departmental Choir and the Twentieth Century Workshop: to include music by Gombert, Janacek, Berio and Lumsdaine Great Hall

Wednesday 4 December 1991 Music drama at the Paris Odion 1824-1828 Mark Everi t, King's College London

Department of Computing Colloquia Held on Wednesdays at 13.15 in Room 3D, Strand Campus

20 November 1991 Compiling a lazy functional language to C Simon Croft

27 November 1991 Functional Databases Alex Poulovassilis

Thursday 5 December, 13.05 Chau Yee Lo, Lik Ling Chua and Daphne Teo: music for two pianos to include works

by Darius Milhaud RoomGOl

Tuesday 10 December, 19.30 King's College Orchestra performs works

by Mozart, Schubert, Dvorak, Cop land and Prokofiev Chapel

Thursday 12 December, 13.05 Jeremy Thurlow, piano: to include music by J S Bach RoomGOl

WHY KING'S? )11

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Why King's?

In respon e to the findings of the recent market rese;lrch on King's applicants (see Comment 055), the External Relations Department has produced an attractive, full colour leaflet for potential recruits to King'S. The leaflet Why Kmg's? was designed to be sent to students at the point of offer of a place, or invitation to an interview for a place, at King's. It is hoped that it will al 0 be of interest to applicants' parents who have proved to be very influencial in their sons' and daughters' choice of university.

The leaflet will serve as a useful publicity tool for King's staff to take along to any potential recruitment or promotional event.

Copies of the leaflet can be obtained from the Schools and College Liaison Office in Cornwall House Annexe, ext 3003.

Farewell to Ken Groves Comment is the College's regular staff newsletter, issued by the Press and Publications Office (telephone 53202) three times a term, with special editions if required.

Contributions are welcomed from any member of staff of the College. These may take the form of, for example, news of events or people, views on College matters, photos, items for sale. Please note, the Editor reserves the right to amend items as necessary.

A leaving party for Ken Groves, Director of KCL Research Enterprises, was held on 31 October in the Council Room. He was thanked for his work for the College by the Principal, who also made a presentation to him.

Ken Groves wrote to Comment: 'Could I express my thanks to members of the College for the friendship I have received during my time here. I would also like to thank those who have written or telephoned messages of goodwill and contributed to the handsome present I received. '[ shall remember King's with affection.

Good wishes for its future successes.'

If possible, please send your piece on an Professor Barry Cox, Assistant Principal in the External Relations Department, will be taking over some of Ken Groves's responsibilities, and plans to outline his new role in the next edition of Comment.

Apple Macintosh 3.5" Micro Floppydisk, using Microsoft Word programme.

The next Comment will be published in mid-December and contributions should be received by mid-day on 5 December.