uk 33 - 20 mei 2010 | jaargang39

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‘Traitors’ at election debate 2 A mystery unveiled 4 Shifting stars 9 Moving to Amsterdam 11

33

I N D E P E N D E N T W E E K L Y F O R T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F g ronin g en n 2 0 M A Y 2 0 1 0 n Y E A R 3 9 In this issue

Saudi students not happy A lot went wrong when 36 Saudi students arrived in Groningen in 2007 to be trained as doctors at the University. Having to learn Dutch was unexpected and proved too difficult. Later groups were given the option of following an English programme. The University also improved information to prospective Saudi students.

But not all are happy. “They have shattered my dream.”

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4 & 5

Pharmacists sell false hope Popular food supplements that are supposed to help against diabetes are sold by many pharmacies. But despite costing dozens of euros a month and having potentially dangerous side effects, the supplements have no proven effect. This follows from the PhD thesis of physician Nanno Kleefstra. He investigated popular self-care treatments for diabetes, such as cinnamon and chromium supplements.

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7

It’s expensive at the top Groningen has quite a few student sports teams competing at a very high level to boast about. But it’s not easy to stay at the top. Money is a serious problem, as is the rapid turnover of students.

“People only stay in our team for a few years. After they graduate, they’re gone.”

>.

15

English edition Deze week verschijnt de UK helemaal in het Engels – we doen dat drie keer per jaar. Goede zaak? Laat je horen! Stem in onze poll op Nestor, gooi je commentaar in de shoutbox of stuur je reactie naar uk@rug.nl This week, we have produced a completely English UK – which we will do three times a year. Let us know what you think: Vote in our internet poll on Nestor, drop your comments in the shout box or send an e-mail to uk@rug.nl

Guerrilla girl Still from the film ‘Closing in on Tanja’. Courtesy Pieter van Huystee Film

Former RUG student Tanja Nijmeijer placed bombs in Colombian buses. A new book and a film explain the remarkable career choice of a smart young Dutchwoman – to wage war overseas.

It was a magic moment when her fingers first touched a gun. It was back in 2001, during a peaceful protest mission in Colombia, when Nijmeijer met two battle-worn guerrilleros from that other guerrilla movement: the Ejercito Liberacion Nacional. With her personal

charm and political commitment, she gained their trust during a long conversation. So convincingly that they gave her a handgun to hold for a while.

The meeting is described as one of a sequence of key moments that led to the decision by the former RUG student to join the ranks of the oldest, largest and richest guerrilla movement in the world: Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

The book is written by Dutch human rights activist Liduine Zumpolle and former Colombian guer-

rilla León Valencia. They make no secret of their political goal with this book: to prevent more young Europeans following in the footsteps of Nijmeijer.

“We don’t need people like her in Colombia”, Zumpolle says in the film Closing in on Tanja. The film is made by Leo de Boer, who travelled to Colombia with Nijmeijer’s mother and older sister in search of reliable information. It’s the first time the family comments in-depth on the fate of their guerrilla daughter.

The film was broadcast last Tuesday on national television. A pri-

vate session was held for family and friends last Saturday.

Tanja Nijmeijer graduated in Romance Languages and Cultures at the RUG in 2001. She then returned to Colombia and decided to join the FARC guerrillas in 2003. In 2007 she became world news when her diary was discovered by Colombian army forces and published. Afterwards, the Colombian government issued an arrest warrant for her because of her suspected involvement in several violent incidents. [ Jan Blaauw ]

Continue on page 8 >

Gyas rowers run into tanker A boat from Gyas rowing club with eight rowers and a coxswain on board was run down last week by an inland vessel during the Ringvaart Regatta, a 100 kilometre rowing race between Leiden en Delft. Noone was injured, the boat is badly damaged.

Rower Carolien Out saw her rowing eight run into the ship. Due to backache she had stayed ashore, accompanying her team for mental support. With almost 60 kilometres covered and a break in sight, the coxswain decided to pass a small pleasure yacht as it was creating a lot of waves. “That way the boat would get into smooth water again”, Out explains.

“The coxswain was concentrating so hard that she only noticed the large tanker once they had passed

The remains of the Gyas boat the yacht.” Panic broke out as the boat could not turn to port or starboard.

Out: “In a split second the team had to jump into the water. Some of the girls ended up under the tanker.

At the very last moment the captain

Foto Michel van Bergen luckily shut down his engine”, she says in relief. “Otherwise it would have been a totally different story.”

The rowing eight was ahead of its schedule, Out says, although it is hard to tell how they were doing overall as teams start at differ-

ent times. “We had rowed 25 kilometres in two hours. That is really fast.”

Everything went well, until the crash. Except for some bruises noone was injured.

In 2005, a RUG student in a skiff was hit by an inland ship on a ­Groningen canal. The student escaped a terrible fate, as the skipper immediately turned off the engine. And in 2007 a rower died after a collision with a bigger vessel near Almere.

“These accidents happen regularly”, says Merijn Soeters of the KNRB, the national rowing association. “Rowing is a very healthy sport, but unlike soccer it is not confined to limited surroundings.

We don’t yet know exactly how this accident happened. But it was a long race and we can’t stop all river traffic over a distance of 100 kilometres.” [ nicole besselink ]

2 THIS WEEK

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Academy Building, Groningen > 11/05/2010 20:10 > Student par ties debate

Just keep on knocking!

The leaders of all University Council student parties confronted each other last week in a debate at the Academy Building.

By teodor lazarov “You were bribed by the rulers of this university! And now a guillotine blade is hanging over the heads of all new undergraduates!”

There is a war going on under the watchful eyes of great professors in the Senaatszaal at the Academy Building. The room is like a soccer stadium filled with supporters wearing their team’s shirt. They have gathered tonight to witness the debate between the candidate leaders of the three student political parties and they are all showing their support for their own team by interrupting, laughing, applauding and shouting “boo” during the debate. Calimero, the Studenten Organisatie Groningen (SOG) and the Groninger Studentenbond (GSb) are debating why students should vote for them, their ideals and their programme.

One very hot item on the list is the decision taken by the Board of the University that all undergraduates have to gain at least 40 ECTS in their first year or they will have to leave their degree programme.

This measure is called the Bindend Studie Advies (BSA, binding study advice).

A young, bright-looking fellow in a black suit and a green tie takes heavy fire from all sides. “You betrayed students by voting in favour of the BSA!” A brunette in an orange shirt is waving her hands somewhere at the back of the room.

Rosa

“Why didn’t you fight with us?”

A guy at the front with blond curly hair joins in the attack. The bright-looking fellow remains calm. He is Wouter Hemel, the representative of Calimero. An enigmatic smile on his face, he repeats the same argument over and over again. “We want to guarantee a high level of quality at the university.” The room explodes again with accusations, but this time the chair steps in, “I think we should move on to the next topic. Is occupying a university building a good way to practise politics?”

A slender lad wearing a red shirt that is obviously a few sizes too big nods. He is Albert Thie, an artificial intelligence student who represents the student association GSb. “We didn’t plan for this to happen!

It just did. And don’t forget that we are a bigger organization that also fights political decisions that are taken in The Hague. Which reminds me of the fact that we must all go and demonstrate on 21 May to save our grants!”

Everybody laughs. It is the third time Thie has enthusiastically mentioned the demonstration. The girl next to him, SOG representative Szilvia Nagy, is furious. “You can’t just storm a building and take it over! That’s not the way you get things done!”

Thie laughs. “Oh really? So how do you get things done, when nobody listens?”

Nagy throws her hands in the air. “We just keep knocking on the door until someone opens it and starts listening.”

Thie: “Well, we did knock on the door and when it opened we just went in!” Applause.

It’s past nine thirty and the chair

Photo Jeroen van Kooten closes the debate. The supporters leave the Senaatszaal whispering, nodding their heads and discuss-

Celebrating

“How’s your mum doing?” That’s the question I’ve heard most over the last few months. Since I told my friends she was ill, they have become obsessed with her. And after I wrote a column about her in February, complete strangers started e-mailing me with questions and sometimes even half-condolences. I know you meant well and I’m grateful.

But let me just say one little thing: I hate it.

I can’t stand people talking about her all the time. Whether I’m eating a sandwich or kissing a man, someone is bound to ask me about her. When most of the time I just don’t want to think about it at all.

I am always thinking about her anyway.

Worried about everything she has to deal with. I see the fear before she hears the result of a test, the stress of having more surgery and not knowing where it leads.

I live with it all the time. So when I don’t - for just a minute, I would like to keep it that way.

It’s also the way that people ask. I can

see they’re uncomfortable with the subject and I understand this but don’t treat me like a victim. I shiver when people look at me with pity and say they feel so, so sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself; it’s just the way it is. Life goes on.

Even my mum laughs about it. We went shopping “to spend the inheritance”.

And if she says she wants to take a family photo my dad comments: “Wouldn’t wait too long with that if I were you.”

Sometimes it’s hard, but I have to think about my exams, my columns and my own health.

I have to take care of myself. In fact, I’d rather you asked how I’m doing. After all, my happiness doesn’t depend completely on how my mum is doing. That’s because I know that if I wait with being happy until everything is perfect, I never will be. So I’m drinking another glass of wine with my mum. We celebrate life while we still can.

Rosa Timmer, fourth year student Linguistics

ing what has been said. “I expected more from Calimero,” one girl says to another. “Yeah, and I was truly

surprised by the GSb. They’ve got a really good representative this year. For a change, that is.”

Colofon UK editorial address: Oude Kijk in ’t Jatstraat 28, PO box 80, 9700 AB Groningen.

Telephone: 050-3636700; Telefax: 050-3636698; E-mail: uk@rug.nl; Internet: www.universiteitskrant.nl

Editorial board: Hanneke Boonstra (editor-inchief) 3636697, Jan Blaauw (news coordinator) 3636696, Christien Boomsma (editor) 3637802, René Fransen (science) 3636695, René Lapoutre (design) 3636693, Ernst Arbouw (International Page) 3636130.

Other editorial staff: Wouter Beetsma, Nicole Besselink, Bart Breman, Michel Dijkstra, Peter Keizer, Lieke van den Krommenacker, Teodor Lazarov, Hans Miedema, Janita Naaijer, Tjerk Notten, Elisabeth Oosterling, Stijn Roelofs, Diane Romashuk, Filmo Verhagen, Dorien Vrieling, Marcel Wichgers.

Columnists: Ana van Es, Rosa Timmer, Gerrit Breeuwsma.

Photos: Reyer Boxem, Jeroen

van Kooten, Liz Main, Elmer Spaargaren.

Drawings: Bert Cornelius, Paul de Vreede, Eric van der Wal, Kees Willemen Published by: Stichting Universiteitsblad Print run: 19.000 copies Press office: The UK cooperates with other university papers in the Higher Education Press Office (HOP) Advertisements: Bureau Van Vliet bv, PO box 20, 2040 AA Zandvoort, tel. 023-5714745, telefax 0235717680 University of Groningenadvertisements, announcements and Ukaatjes: Heiny de Ruiter (3636699) Subscription: € 30 per year, (internal rate € 20).

Change of address for University of Groningen staff: Inform the relevent Personnel department. ©UK. Copyright reserved.

No article may be reproduced either wholly or partially without permission of the editor-in-chief.

N E W S 3

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Rally meets mixed reception Five or six buses will take Groningen students to the national student protest rally in Amsterdam on Friday 21 May. Student leaders are optimistic about the turnout.

Will a good weather forecast and promising keynote speakers guar­ antee huge numbers for a political rally in Amsterdam? National stu­ dent leaders have high hopes. “I think thousands of students will come”, says chairman Henno van Horssen of student association ISO.

“A thousand people have signed up already on Facebook. From experi­ ence we know that we can multiply that number by three.”

State Secretary Marja van Bijs­ter­ veldt will address the crowd at the Museumplein, as will Socialist Par­ ty leader Emiel Roemer and liber­ al MP Mark Hadders. A speech by social democrat leader Job Cohen is uncertain.

Anne Muyres of LKVV, the na­ tional association of student un­ ions, says that her association is involved in organizing a protest ral­

ly for the first time in its history.

“We’re not experienced campaign­ ers”, she says. “But our organization is well equipped. We have asked 46 local student associations to call upon their members to join. So far, the response has been good.”

However, amongst Groningen as­ sociations enthusiasm for the ral­ ly appears to be lukewarm at best.

“We support the rally and have spread the word on the possibili­ ty to get there by bus for free, but that’s where it ends”, says Paul de Rook of Contractus student union

Dirk Z. may face 18 years in prison

association. “We have decided that no immediate student union inter­ est is at stake here. Students are di­ vided on the need to protect stu­ dent grants at all cost. Members can make up their own minds, but I won’t be there.”

Student association Albertus Magnus, for instance, will not be present. “We do support it”, says spokesperson Anne-Marie Noten. “But we have an impor­ tant activity this week and Friday we need all hands to clean up.” [ Jan Blaauw, HOP ]

Bat fellatio triggers outroar

RUG gets four new KNAW members The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected 27 new members. Four of them are associated with the University of Groningen.

Two are full-time professors in Groningen: Thom Palstra, professor of solid state chemistry and director of the Zernike Institute of Advanced Materials and Pauline Westerman, professor of philosophy of law.

Also elected are Hein de Baar, professor of ocean ecosystems and professor of isotope physics Hans van der Plicht.

An article about bats having oral sex has triggered a debate about academic freedom.

Leading academics, like Daniel Dennett, have signed an online petition calling for University College Cork to stop “abusing its harassment policy to limit academic freedom”.

Cause of the uproar was a discipli­ nary action against staff member Dylan Evans from UCC. He showed a female colleague a peer-reviewed article from the Public Library of Science entitled ‘Fellatio by fruit bats prolongs copulation time’. The woman found it offensive and is­ sued a complaint for sexual harass­ ment. The university board placed Evans on probation for two years and ordered counselling.

Evans said on Times Online that the precedent worries him. “This means that if you share published science with a colleague, and she happens to find it offensive, it is no defence that you were discussing a peer-reviewed paper without intent to offend. It bodes ill for academic freedom.” More then 3300 already academics signed the petition. [ christien boomsma ]

Pretty women prime students Being in the presence of a woman increases the cortisol stress hormone in male heterosexual students. This might be a response to the opportunity of courtship arising.

This conclusion is drawn by Uni­ versity of Groningen psychologist Leander van der Meij in a paper to be published in the journal Hormones and Behavior. Van der Meij brought 84 male students into brief social contact with a man or a wom­ an. Before and after the contact, cortisol levels were measured in the student’s saliva. After contact with a man, the cortisol levels dropped in line with the normal circadi­ an rhythm. This drop was much smaller after contact with a woman.

The prettier the woman was (as per­ ceived by the students), the higher the cortisol level.

Van der Meij suggests that the op­ portunity of courtship also elicits the chance of rejection, hence the higher levels of the stress hormone.

Furthermore, a low stress response would prime the students for flirta­ tion. [ René Fransen ]

The Dutch public prosecutor has requested an 18-year sentence for Dirk Z., a 21-year-old man charged with murdering 25-year-old English student Suzanne Martens. Martens was killed in her apartment in November 2008. She was stabbed nineteen times in her face, chest and neck. Z. was sentenced by a lower court to 14 years in prison, while the public prosecutor had requested a 20-year sentence.

The prosecutor argued that “14 years is too little for such a horrible crime”.

The Court of Appeal will pass judgment on Friday 21 May.

Free opera tickets for students Dean of the Faculty of Arts Gerry Wakker (left) receives the signatures.

Foto Elmer Spaargaren

Sign for Ankersmit

“The professorial chair in theoretical history must be maintained. It’s a disgrace that the Fac­ ulty Board has decided otherwise.” Djurre Fijen, Jilles Hazenberg and Abele Kamminga presented a petition to the Board of the Faculty of Arts last Wednesday.

The students want the chair of Frank Ankersmit, emeritus professor of Theoretical History, to be

maintained and collected 268 signatures from other students to make that happen, but until now the Board has not reconsidered.

Ankersmit was the first professor of Theoretical History at a Dutch university and has an excellent reputation. He retired a few weeks ago. There will be no successor, because his professorship is by special appointment. [ hanneke boonstra ]

Locker solution takes getting used to Every day the porters of the UB university library deal with students who forgot their locker number. Their solution takes some getting used to.

Marjolein de Graave, a second-year law student, has been through the ordeal three times already. After a long day of hard mental labour, she trudges down the stairs of the Uni­ versity Library. Once in the lock­ er room she realizes she has com­ pletely forgotten the number of her locker. After a few vain attempts, the whole wall of lockers blocks for a couple of minutes and she finds

herself the focus of angry looks.

And the porter won’t help her until the library closes.

“The first time I forgot the number I had to wait until ten at night. I swore I would never make the same mistake again.” Sadly enough she did.

The library has now come up with a solution to this inconvenient problem. Each locker contains a basket with the number of the lock­ er on it, so you cannot possibly for­ get. “The problem is that nobody returns the basket to the locker”, laughs De Graave. Other students don’t need a basket and just throw

it aside. “I think the idea is a good one, but why didn’t anybody foresee this problem?”

Porter Albert van der Kloet agrees.

“A lot of students got the message immediately, but there is always a handful of people who just don’t want to work with the system.”

Van der Kloet hopes that it will on­ ly be a few weeks before the stu­ dents get used to the system and stop leaving baskets in the mid­ dle of the corridors. Until then he and his team have to clean up the mess. And help annoyed students to get to their stuff at closing time. [ teodor lazarov ]

Students call graduates for money A team of RUG students is calling thousands of RUG graduates in a new type of fund­raising campaign.

The American style campaign aims at asking several thousands of former students of medicine, phar­ macy and dentistry for a financial

contribution. The funding is spe­ cifically requested for a number of programmes, such as the Junior Scientific Masterclass (medicine) or a pharmaceutical Top Master.

The alumni desk’s Yvonne Jordens claims that so far results are prom­ ising. “Last night alone, our team of six students raised 1600 euros.”

For six consecutive weeks, the team will be making phone calls in the evening between 6 and 9.30 p.m.

According to Jordens, the RUG is the first Dutch university to try to involve its former students in this way. “If it works, we will try to ex­ pand the method to the entire Uni­ versity.” [ jan blaauw ]

Students who buy a voucher for a drink in the Stadsschouwburg of Groningen and show their OV-kaart, get a free entree ticket for the modern opera ‘Wake’, a performance of the Nationale Reisopera. The opera (May 29) is about the impact of disasters like hurricane Katrina, of the plane crash in Tripoli on peoples’ lives. Electronic music is used, but also multmedia, singing and spoken words. It’s wise to book in advance, because expectations are it will be a full house.

Oboema visits Groningen Oboema Sesetokoe, a famous character from the Jiskefet comedy series played by Michiel Romeyn, will visit Groningen on 25 May on the invitation of Flanor, the literary student society, and ZaZa study association of Dutch studies.

During the evening at USVA Student Cultural Centre, he will read poems he has written and clarify them in his own, special way.

Educated smokers quit more easily People who are highly educated are more confident they can stop smoking than those with less schooling. They try more often and are more successful.

Possibly because they usually don’t smoke heavily, according to Stivoro, the anti-tobacco association. Stivoro assembled data on education and smoking. In 1988, 31 percent of the smokers were highly educated. In 2008 the percentage went down to 22 percent. [ hop ]

4 REMARKABLE

Daddy, tweet for me please Just imagine: you’ve left your bag and laptop with four years’ worth of study material on it on the bus. Panic-stricken, you arrive at your parents’ place.

What should you do? Nina Blanken’s father twittered about the loss and a day later the bag was back.

By NICOLE BESSELINK “Daughter Nina leaves rucksack with laptop and four years’ study material on bus Groningen-Haren.

Great panic. Ideas anyone?”

Father and journalist Henk Blanken made the loss of the orange floral-patterned bag public by putting it on Twitter last Sunday.

The result? A hundred retweets − including from GroenLinks party leader Femke Halsema − and numerous tips to call the bus company and make a backup in future.

Even the local police promised via Twitter to look out for the bag.

Father Blanken has never used

Twitter to trace missing personal belongings before, he says. “In fact, my tweet only turned into an appeal once other users started to respond.”

Ironically, Twitter did not make any difference in the end. On Monday morning, as Nina, a journalism student in Zwolle, planned to report the bag missing to the police, she received an ordinary phone call from bus company Qbuzz with good news for her.

“Nina’s bag has been found”, her father quickly tweeted after the call. “@ninabla overjoyed.”

Nina now uses Twitter as well. “I didn’t know how great the impact of Twitter could be”, she says. “I’ve joined now to see how it works. I might use it to post surveys for my Master’s thesis, but first I have to find out if people would view that as spam.”

Will she become as fanatical as her father? “No, I don’t think so.

I don’t like the idea of complete strangers following my tweets.”

Cloth mystery unfolds When entering the Faculty of Arts Library in the Harmonie Building, you can’t help noticing the white cloth hanging over the right side of the counter. What the f** is it doing there?

By NICOLE BESSELINK “Strange”, visiting students regularly comment as they pass the counter area in the library. A white cloth between two grey plastic tubes is suspended from the ceiling, reducing the effective counter space by half. What is the story behind it? Staff members keep their lips sealed. “I can’t say”, one says, referring us to the librarian.

“I don’t want it to be a disparaging article”, says librarian Mimi Vermeer. “The staff are doing their best.” She explains that due to the university-wide reorganization of the library, only one instead of

the usual two employees can staff the service desk. “The staff’s job responsibilities have increased”, Vermeer says. “This means that we have to do twice as much with the same number of staff.”

As they need the workplaces behind the counter, the library looked for a suitable way to make it clear to customers that the staff member on one side of the counter is not available for service, for example with the white cloth. “We want to avoid employees being addressed by customers who wonder why they cannot be served by the staff member behind the counter”, Vermeer explains.

She would like to divide the counter in half, but as radical alterations are impracticable she and her colleagues are thinking creatively. “The cloth is temporary. We are still experimenting.

Luckily the staff are creative.”

Jan Blaauw verlaat de UK. En daarom zoeken wij een nieuwe

nieuwscoördinator Heb je ruime ervaring in de journalistiek H ben je nieuwsgericht, snel, creatief en stressbestendig H hou je van hard werken H kun je andere journalisten en studentredacteuren aansturen H ben je thuis in de academische wereld H en schrijf je de sterren van de hemel Kijk dan op www.universiteitskrant.nl (onder het kopje vacatures) En stuur dan voor 1 juni een sollicitatiebrief Meer weten? Bel dan met hoofdredacteur Hanneke Boonstra (3636697)

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Are the Saudi |_

The University of Groningen

| r e p o r t | Almost four years ago, the University of Groningen announced it would train 280 Saudi Arabian doctors, each student being worth EUR 32,000 a year. But what do the Saudi students have to show for it? “They feel that years of their lives have been taken away.”

Door nicole besselink Did the University bite off more than it could chew by promising to train 280 Saudi Arabian doctors in 13 years? The Groningen Student Union, GSb, ended its memo to the University Council in April with that question. Thomas Wagenaar of the one-man faction says that the majority of the 25 Saudi students he recently spoke to want to leave the Netherlands and get their money back. “They also feel that years of their lives have been taken away”, he writes.

Sibrand Poppema, now the University’s president but Dean of the Medical Faculty when the contract with the Saudi government was signed, was not amused. He called the memo a “farce” and said it was full of mistakes.

The fact that the GSb contacted broadcasting network NOS beforehand stung too. “That is disparagement of the council’s role. But well, it is election time for the students. I have seen more questionable claims being made.” For example? “The claim that the value of a RUG degree would be decreasing.

That makes no sense at all.”

Wagenaar later visited the council of the medical faculty to explain how he came to his conclusions and consequently acknowledged that the memo did indeed contain some mistakes.

However, Wagenaar still wants an extensive evaluation of the King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) in which the Saudi students are participating. The quicker the better because “otherwise the next group of Saudis will already be standing on the University’s doorstep”, he warned.

In the meantime, that new group has arrived. Around 90 Saudi students came to Groningen at the end of April.

Waiting for two and a half years One of the 25 students Wagenaar spoke to was Abdulaziz Almadany. He says he speaks on behalf of a large group of Saudi students. Almadany was part of the first cohort of Saudis that came to Groningen in January 2007. After two and a half years of preparation courses to improve his English and Dutch, he could finally start the English ­IBMG Bachelor’s degree in Septem-

ber 2009. Just like another 12 students of the total of 36 that arrived in 2007. Twenty others have left.

Two more discontented Saudis join the conversation in the canteen of the medical faculty, but they do not want their names published.

Meanwhile, the new group is being shown around. Almadany feels sorry for them. “They don’t know it yet, but a lot of them will be sent home again. The University lets a hundred students come to Groningen but only admits 25 Saudis to IBMG. They let us come for a year because we’re worth a lot of money.”

Like most students from the first cohort, Almadany only found out after arrival in Groningen that he was expected to follow the Dutch medical curriculum. Teaching the Saudis Dutch in a year “was too ambitious”, the University acknowledges in a response to the GSb memo.

When the English Bachelor’s degree programme was announced in 2007, a number of students changed their focus and aimed at improving their English instead of Dutch. So did Almadany. “Why didn’t they inform me from the beginning what was going to happen?” Almadany wonders.

Because the University simply did not know.

“When you introduce a new programme, the road is full of bumps”, Jan Borleffs, Dean of Education at the medical faculty, explains. “At first the programme was not streamlined, but we have learnt from our mistakes and improved it.” According to Borleffs, many problems seem to have been solved with the introduction of the English-taught Bachelor’s degree programme.

Other side of the coin If so many Saudis are dissatisfied, it is surprising that none of them decided to take a seat on the International Bachelor Representation (IBR), which consists of 12 IBMG students and was set up especially to track problems in this brand new Bachelor’s programme.

Within the IBR there is criticism of the Saudi students. “The contact between them and the rest of the students is not very smooth”, student representative Sebastiaan Hoogeveen says. “We tried to involve them by organizing lots of activities, but only one or two kept coming.”

Borleffs puts this in perspective and is not so worried. “Yes, they do stick together, but so do the Scandinavian, French and German students. You’re more relaxed hanging around with people from the same country or region.”

But there is more. Some say that the level of English and the participation of some Saudis is insuffi-

cient. Girls are said to want to work only with girls in in vivo and anatomy classes as parts of the body need to be uncovered. “They have problems with nearly every form of physical contact”, Hoogeveen says.

Borleffs acknowledges that a number of female Saudi students are hesitant about some forms of physical examination. “We respect their religious beliefs and therefore their mixed feelings about some

R E M A R K A B L E 5

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

students happy yet? is trying hard, but it’s a long way to the Middle East Recap University of Groningen announces it will train 280 Saudi Arabian doctors over the next 13 years. The scholarships of EUR 32,000 a year are paid by the Saudi government and the annual profit per student is estimated at EUR 12,000 a year. The initial plan is to teach the students Dutch after which they will start following the regular Dutch curriculum.

SEPTEMBER

2006

JANUARY

2007

The first 36 Saudi students arrive.

Only five of the Saudis who are still in Groningen start following the Dutch medical curriculum. The level turns out to be too high and they have to stop only a month after beginning.

NOVEMBER The University of Groningen announces it will start an English Bachelor’s degree programme in September 2009. The realization of this is speeded up, but the plan was already there before the arrival of the Saudis.

FEBRUARY The Saudi government sends a letter to all Saudis in Groningen with the offer to study medicine at another university. The government is not satisfied with the language education in the Netherlands. Sibrand Poppema, current President of the Board of the University but at the time Dean of the Medical Faculty, smoothes down the ruffled feathers.

SEPTEMBER

2007 2007 2008 A P R I L

2008

A new group of 32 Saudi students arrive in Groningen.­

The Fernhout Committee criticizes the University of Groningen and the University of Maastricht and concludes that the Saudis were not well enough informed beforehand, the English language requirements were not strictly enforced and the universities adopted a “too dependent” attitude towards the Saudi government. Groningen and Maastricht promise to mend their ways.

SEPTEMBER

2008

SPRING

2009

A new group of 35 Saudi students arrive in Groningen.

The Bachelor in Medicine, Global Health Profile (IBMG), the English international Bachelor’s degree programme of the medical faculty, kicks off with 60 students, 25 of them Saudis.

A P R I L The Student Union GSb submits a critical memo to the University Council after haven spoken to 25 Saudis. University President Poppema calls the memo a ‘farce’ and says it is full of mistakes.

SEPTEMBER

2009 2010

Illustration Pluis of the examinations. As long as it does not negatively influence their studies, we accept this.” He adds that Saudis are not the only ones who are hesitant about some of the physical examinations. “But”, says Borleffs, “during the internships it is a totally different story. You cannot avoid physical contact then. We have made very clear to all students that they need to adapt to the Dutch culture and requirements in this ar-

ea to be able to enrol in that phase of the study.”

You’re in and you’re out So what about the 90 students who recently arrived? With only forty medical places reserved for Saudis each year, it seems the majority will have to go home. That’s right, says

Borleffs. “We already know that not all of them will be good enough to start IBMG. There certainly won’t be 40 of these 90 students who can start studying medicine in Groningen.”

Saudi students have to abandon their studies if their level of English is insufficient after an intensive three-month language course. That means the first students from the freshly arrived group could be sent

home by the end of July. “Most of them then go to Saudi Arabia any­ way because of the holidays”, Borleffs says soothingly.

He was surprised by the GSb memo and the criticism students apparently have. “That hurts us and does not do justice to our efforts to make the programme a success.” Not much new on the horizon then? “No, the memo mainly contained old matters.”

The University wants to be transparent and open about the Saudis, Borleffs says, and he refers to the University’s response to the memo.

In this letter, the University attributes the dissatisfaction of the 25 students to the major differences in educational culture and level between the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. “In the Pre-University College we do our utmost to bridge this gap. With better selection in Saudi Arabia, focused on the students’ level of English, we have achieved some success on this point. In spite of this, a number of students are

still unable to meet the high requirements for starting medical training in the Netherlands, which sometimes leads to disappointment and problems accepting the situation.”

Almadany is not impressed. “They have shattered my dream. I wanted to work for the army as a doctor, but you cannot be older than 27 when you join.” He is 22 and, after two and a half years of study in Groningen, still in his first year.

According to Poppema, the Saudi students know they cannot study medicine if their level of English is insufficient. “This year we have done the utmost to inform them about the program beforehand, in Saudi Arabia. They have been told.”

He is convinced the KASP-program gets better each year. “It is a great way to make the Netherlands better known to the rest of the world and to bring in money for higher education. Yes, we make money on it, but that has always been the intention.”

Bedroefd hebben wij kennisgenomen van het overlijden van

Met verslagenheid hebben wij kennisgenomen van het overlijden van

Rudolf heeft toch afscheid moeten nemen.

We zijn erg bedroefd dat

Rudolf Raven

Rudolf Raven

Rudolf Raven

Rudolf was sinds 1988 werkzaam op de afdeling Financieel Economische Zaken van de Faculteit Medische Wetenschappen, nu het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, in de functie van hoofd FinanciĂŤle Administratie en stafmedewerker.

al meer dan 20 jaar werkzaam bij onze afdeling, is overleden.

We zullen hem missen.

Het UMCG verliest in hem een medewerker die zeer werd gewaardeerd om zijn persoonlijke inzet en toewijding.

Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen Afdeling Financieel Economische Zaken

Wij wensen zijn vrouw en kinderen veel sterkte met het dragen van dit verlies.

Meer dan 20 jaar was hij hoofd van de FinanciĂŤle Administratie van de Faculteit der Medische Wetenschappen en Sector F van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen.

Hij werd zeer gewaardeerd om zijn vakbekwaamheid, grote inzet en stevig karakter in combinatie met zijn typisch Groningse humor.

We zullen hem missen.

Namens de Raad van Bestuur van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, L. C. Bruggeman, voorzitter

Namens Sector F van het Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen A.J. Kee, directeur

Nieuwe vacatures

Postdoc Research position EPR Spectroscopy

Postdoc PROZYMES project: Biocatalysis with tautomerases 1,0 fte | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

1,0 fte | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Docent/Trainer Communicatieve en Managementvaardigheden

PhD position PROZYMES project: Directed evolution of tautomerases 1,0 fte | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

0,7 fte | Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfskunde

Postdoc Researcher Healthy Ageing, Population and Society

PhD position PROZYMES project: Carbonyl transformations with tautomerases 1,0 fte | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

1,0 fte | Faculty of Spatial Sciences

Postdoc Researcher Binational marriages 1,0 fte | Faculty of Spatial Sciences

PhD position PROZYMES project: Genome mining for new tautomerases 1,0 fte | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Nadere informatie over deze vacatures vindt u op: www.rug.nl

Openstaande vacatures

Lecturer (Universitair Docent) English language and linguistics 0,8 fte | Faculty of Arts

De RUG biedt speciaal aan meeverhuizende werkende partners van nieuwe medewerkers goede loopbaanfaciliteiten.

De RUG streeft naar een evenwichtig opgebouwd personeelsbestand. Op een aantal terreinen zijn vrouwen nog ondervertegenwoordigd. Daarom worden zij vooral uitgenodigd te solliciteren.

werken aan de grenzen van het weten

Lekker weertje, niet

?

STEEDS MEER KOEIEN KOMEN NOOIT MEER BUITEN. WORD WAKKER! www.wakkerdier.nl

Ik zou het niet weten.

S C I E N C E 7

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Debunking diabetes remedies diabetes. So if there’s an easy remedy, patients will be interested. But when Nanno Kleefstra investigated a number of self-care interventions, he found them without measurable effect.

ow

Valuable flints Surface scatters in the form of flint artefacts and sometimes pottery fragments are the most abundant archaeological remains to be found on Pleistocene surfaces in the Northern Netherlands. However, these artefacts have usually been disturbed and therefore tend to be ignored by archaeologists. But in his PhD thesis, Bjorn Smit ar­ gues that surface scatters can pro­ vide valuable information about the past. He advocates a ‘landscape approach’, in which archaeologists use surface finds to assess poten­ tially interesting locations. When working under Archaeological Her­ itage Management (compulsory ar­ chaeological surveys for sites that are threatened by building plans), a wide (1 kilometre) perimeter of the landscape around the threat­ ened site should be assessed.

Smit defends his thesis today at the Faculty of Arts of the University.

| r e s e a r c h | Life is not easy with type II

By René Fransen It sounds too good to be true when you’ve got type II diabetes: take some chromium or cinnamon supplements and your blood sugar levels will improve. It’s the regulation of blood sugar by insulin that’s not functioning well with this disease, and this can cause both acute and chronic complications.

“These supplements are something of a hype amongst patients and they’re on sale in many pharmacies”, says Nanno Kleefstra, a physician who works at the Diabetes Centre of the Isala Clinics in Zwolle and the Langerhans Foundation, an independent information resource for professionals in diabetes care.

“There have been some scientific studies which showed a positive effect of these domestic remedies and this was taken up by the popular press. That’s why we decided to do some research of our own.”

The Diabetes Centre has a long history of independent research into diabetes. “We stay close to the clinic; all research questions are generated on the work floor. Our head of Internal Medicine, Professor Bilo, encourages this type of research.” It has resulted in several PhD theses and a host of peer-reviewed articles.

Kleefstra first looked into chro­ mium­ supplements when he was a medical student, over ten years ago.

“There is literature on lab rats that develop insulin resistance, the hallmark of type II diabetes, when they are put on a chromium-free diet.”

But Kleefstra found no effect of chromium supplements on blood sugar control. “We can’t rule out that these supplements do work on patients with severe chromium depletion, but you probably won’t find such patients in the Western world.

And as there is a risk of side effects from these supplements, I would advise against them.” The American guidelines for diabetes care have included Kleefstra’s studies on

Shor t

Teaching Google some geography

Illustration Matthijs Keijser

Cinnamon user in a chrome frame chromium in a recent revision.

Cinnamon supplements had the same results as chromium. And cinnamon contains potentially harmful substances such as coumarin, which slows down blood clotting.

Another study tested a device that was supposed to help you lower your blood pressure through simple breathing exercises. High blood pressure is an extra risk factor for patients with diabetes. But the device didn’t work either. Nor did the self-testing of blood sugar improve the blood sugar control of diabetics who did not use insulin injections. “I found that the self-testing reduced the quality of life, possi-

bly partly because it confronted patients with their less-than-perfect blood sugar control.”

‘Patients are not to blame for using these treatments’ Last Wednesday, Kleefstra defended his thesis which debunks these four self-care interventions. Where’s the fun in that? Kleefstra is driven to provide his patients with the best information there is. “They’re not

to blame for using these treatments.

There is a rational idea behind all of them. But in the end, only active interventions such as a healthier diet and more exercise are really effective for many patients with diabetes.”

Kleefstra will continue to work at the Diabetes Centre and the Langerhans Foundation. “As a medical student, diabetes was never a passion, on the contrary. But as I began to learn more about it, it grew on me. I’m not sure about my future, but I do know there are lots of interesting and very practical questions about diabetes that need answering.”

Appearance is everything

By René Fransen Joe Hillhouse PhD, of East Tennessee State University, and colleagues studied 430 adult female indoor tanners on the college campus. People have been thrown off the campus for less! But Joe Hillhouse and colleagues had the perfect excuse: it was all in the name of scientific research, and their findings have just been published in Archives of Dermatology.

Tanning (indoor or outdoor) increases your risk of melanoma and other skin cancers, certainly if you indulge in ‘risky tanning’, i.e. without any sunscreen. Joe Hillhouse and colleagues wanted to know if they could change the tanning behaviour of these female students by providing them with an instructive booklet. These booklets usually contain dire warnings about skin cancer but this one was only­ about people’s appearance. The booklet

discussed the history and current sociocultural context of tanning and the potentially damaging effect of tanning on the skin – not cancer, but wrinkles and other symptoms of ageing.

Imagine reading that while you’re soaking up UV radiation from the tanningtoaster. Well, it certainly scared the 200 adult female indoor tanners on campus who received the booklet. Compared to the tanners who didn’t receive it, their time spent tanning on campus (we don’t have tanning facilities on campus here in Groningen, but in East Tennessee it seems to be an important part of student life) went down.

Now the interesting bit, according to the authors, was that pathological tanners were influenced as much as non-pathological ones. So what’s a pathological tanner? That’s someone who tans because of seasonal affective disorders, or a variety

of other reasons, such as believing one’s natural­skin tone is unattractive. The theo­r y was that these pathological tanners might not be persuaded by the mere fact that tanning would make their skin look old. But they were. Apparently, appearance is everything.

This opens up new ways of tackling other problems, like obesity. Health officials have long stressed that being overweight increases your risk of cardiovascular problems and diabetes, but that doesn’t seem to be having much effect. So how about publishing a booklet that highlights the fact that obese people are not attractive, tanned or not. But which scientists would be willing to volunteer to study 430 overweight, middle-aged tanners?

In this feature, the UK presents remark­ able, shocking or laughable news from the world of science.

Information retrieval systems on the internet usually lack geographi­ cal­ intelligence, despite the fact that some 18 percent of all queries have a geographical dimension.

Geoffrey Andogah has developed several mechanisms for adding ge­ ographical intelligence to informa­ tion retrieval systems. One way is to use the names of places or im­ portant people that may appear in documents. This allows the system to link the document to a geo­graphical position with about 80 percent accuracy. Another ap­ proach is to enhance the original query with additional terms using a feedback system. Finally, Andog­ ah shows how linking geographical relevance to the general relevance score of retrieved documents can improve the ranking system.

Andogah performed his research as part of a project that supports the development of IT facilities in his native Uganda. He will be awarded a PhD tomorrow by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natu­ ral Sciences of the University.

Physician, reflect!

Learning to communicate with pa­ tients is part of the training for medical doctors. However, com­ munication is also important in other aspects of the profession. In her inaugural lecture as Professor of Endocrinology on 11 May, Thera Links pointed to the communica­ tion between medical profession­ als in multidisciplinary teams that are involved in treating complicat­ ed illnesses. Peer feedback is also important when considering pro­ fessional conduct and career devel­ opment. This reflection may pre­ vent burnout, a common ­problem amongst health care workers.

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Still from the film â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Closing in on Tanjaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Searching fo

|â&#x20AC;&#x201A; r e p o r t â&#x20AC;Ż |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; University of Groningen graduate Tanja Nijmeijer learned to use all types of weapons in Colombia. And used them. But the FARC want her for her nationality and brainpower, not her fighting skills.

By Jan Blaauw (continued from page 1) â&#x20AC;&#x153;I do not acknowledge the monopo­ ly on violence by the state.â&#x20AC;? A stu­ dent member of the Groningen In­ ternational Socialists once took this provocative stance during a Studium Generale meeting on po­ litical activism and the rule of law.

That was in December 2008.

Few people will share this point of view. Even fewer will publicly ut­ ter such words. And very, very rare are the people who actually dare to cross the wide gap between a town hall debate and a jungle reality filled with assault rifles.

Tanja Nijmeijer is such a person.

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Bel 023 - 571 47 45 en vraag naar Isabel de Vreud of Ernst Henneke voor gratis advies over de advertentiemogelijkheden.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a rebel without a causeâ&#x20AC;?, says human rights activist Liduine Zum­ polle in the Leo de Boer movie Closing in on Tanja (see box). Obvious­ ly, Nijmeijer herself will disagree.

Both the film and a book describe a young woman longing to be a radical and longing for action. She found her cause in a bitter and at times ugly civil war across the At­ lantic Ocean.

Guerrilla no. 273098, according to her FARC personal file, is profesora de idiomas and joined the ur­ ban guerrilla front in Bogotå on 15 November 2002. Between that date and the day in March 2003 on which she entered the jungle, Nij­

meijer led a double life. During working hours, she was an English teacher at a prestigious university institute. In her spare time, she was involved with bombing attacks on a police station, Transmilenio buses and several commercial companies.

She knew how to use explosive de­ vices such as Molotov cocktails, bodegóns and gorro chinos.

Nevertheless, Nijmeijer may not have found what she was looking for. The Zumpolle Valencia book confirms what her diary fragments already disclosed: a young wom­ an with the will to fight but with too much brainpower to be given a mere fighting position. The FARC leadership values her intellectual skills. They want Nijmeijer to teach

or to assist commanders as a secre­ tary or interpreter. In his film, De Boer includes footage of Nijmeij­ er interpreting between FARC and three American hostages.

Still, she appears to have been lucky to survive the summer of 2007. First of all by escaping from the surprise attack by Colombian special forces, and also because she survived disciplinary action after the loss of her compromising dia­ ry. Her commanding officer, Carlos Lozada, was degraded to the rank of common soldier when he lost a lap­ top containing a gold mine of per­ sonal information on the FARC. According to Valencia and Zum­ polle, Nijmeijer was placed under the personal supervision of FARC

Closing in on Tanja Two Dutch women risking their lives in Colombia, both appar­ ently unwilling to compromise.

Filmmaker Leo de Boer portrays both guerilla girl Tanja Nijmeij­ er and human rights â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;warriorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Li­ duine Zumpolle in his documen­ tary Closing in on Tanja. The film was broadcast on national televi­ sion this week. We follow Zum­ polle through Colombian ar­ my bases and prisons pursuing her Manoz por la Paz movement.

This â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hands for peaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; movement strives to create a peaceful re­ turn to civilian life for guerril­ la warriors that want to leave the FARC, a Marxist guerrilla army.

Both womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives are in great

danger. Nijmeijer faces the ob­ vious perils of guerrilla life. In the summer of 2007, she bare­ ly survived a surprise attack by Colombian army special forc­ es on her jungle camp, leaving behind the handwritten diary that would propel her into world news. And also into more trou­ ble, as a guerrilla court martial awaited her for leaving behind information that fuelled an ea­ ger government propaganda ma­ chine like dry wood on a camp fire.

De Boer films the death threats Zumpolle receives for interven­ ing in the Colombian civil war.

He shoots Zumpolle cursing and

E D U C A T I O N 9

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Bite...

Astronomy

Letting stars fly apart The university is a source of knowledge.

But what goes on behind the closed doors of its lecture rooms? Reporters from the university paper join the student ranks. They attend lectures, make homework and tell us about their experiences. We’re attending astronomy class this time. Follow us on www.universiteitskrant.nl/hapje

By Martijn lindeboom In Astronomy, you expect computer programs from a sci-fi film and high-resolution pictures to fill your computer screen. At least, I did. But a novice astronomer starts at the bottom of the food chain, just as in any other field.

Professor Reynier Peletier welcomes me to the Kapteyn Institute on the Zernike complex before accompanying me to a comput­ er cluster where the other students are waiting for our class. Peletier gives a few short instructions about today’s subject and then I am plunged into the world of image reduction, data analysis and shifting stars.

When an astronomer wants the

or Tanja commander Mono Jojoy. A man heading the government list of Colombia’s most wanted persons and one of FARC’s top leaders. Their book claims it was another famous leader, Raul Reyes, who persuaded the other members of the collective leadership that Nijmeijer should live and that she still held great public relations value for the FARC. Reyes was killed shortly thereafter in a controversial Colombian air raid on Ecuadorian territory.

The book traces key moments taking Nijmeijer closer and closer to the armed rebels. Her time in a police cell in The Hague when she was arrested after a political protest rally; her exciting visit to a mass meeting in a demilitarized zone, shortly

Tanja during her first trip to Colombia swearing when she is confronted with corruption and sabotage attempts by parties that dislike her doings. He rides with her through Bogotá in bulletproof vehicles with trigger-happy body­ guards to pick up a guerrillera

before her decision to leave her boyfriend and join the revolution; her grief over the violent death of fellow rebel Ivonne, whom she knew from the Bogotá city guerrilla unit.

Ivonne was shot during a failed murder attack on a cattle tycoon.

Together, the book and the film clear up a substantial part of the mystery surrounding the Dutch guerrilla girl. But is Nijmeijer still the critical yet dedicated warrior she appeared to be in 2007? Or just a woman trying to make the best of the fact that she passed a point of no return when she took up arms in 2002? Only she can tell, but the jungle remains silent.

Nijmeijer chose the path of action.

That is certainly what she has got. that wants to leave the FARC. And De Boer returns to Colombia accompanied by Nijmeijer’s mother Hannie and sister Marloes, in an attempt to find out as much as they can about Tanja.

Mother Nijmeijer and Zumpolle clash at first, as Zumpolle must explain why she published Tanja’s diary. In the end they agree to disagree and together visit the army unit that is besieging the area where Tanja’s guerrilla unit is holding out. The army general swears that Tanja is still alive.

In one of the dramatic final scenes, the Nijmeijers and Zumpolle speak out directly to Tanja on the military radio channel.

They give instructions on an escape route, in case Tanja wants to get out. But from the jungle comes nothing but silence.

photographs from a telescope to correlate, he or she has to make sure the stars line up and remove any interference from the pictures.

Telescopes have a very long shutter time, so all kinds of pollution, be it satellites, vapour trails or clouds, can muck up the image. And the Earth is always moving, so stars appear to be in a slightly different location on the next picture.

This cleaning-up begins with loading consecutive photographs into a program called Iraf (Image Reduction Analysis Facility). They are then displayed with SAOimage ds9 and interfaced with an xterm window. It may sound like science­

fiction, but the photographs we’re using are from 1987, the tutorial was written in 1993 and Iraf dates from the 1980s. Nonetheless, I let out a cry of joy when the images­ appear in the viewing window.

When I ‘blink’ them, the shift is more than obvious, even to me.

For a former law student who is now a writer this scientific stuff is a challenge. Luckily two of my classmates immediately take me under their wing and help me get started.

While working out star positions, x and y shifts and inverted colour maps, they tell me a bit about their trip to the Canary Island of La Palma. The air there is much cleaner than in Groningen, which suffers from both air and light pollution.

On La Palma there is a telescope on top of a mountain, above the clouds, and there are about 300 nights of clear skies a year. Unfortunately, their trip was during the 65 bad ones…Starting at the bottom of the food chain again, I guess.

At first, I invert my calculations, causing the stars to fly even further apart. But then I get it, and suddenly they are perfectly aligned on my screen. I grin: I’ve shifted stars!

Recruiting with social media | r e p o r t | The idea is good. So good that four students from the Faculty of Economics and Business will go to Hong Kong on 4 June to challenge thirty other universities with their business idea.

And find an investor. Maybe.

By Maud Schaepkens 130 universities entered the Global Business Competition that has been organized by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Chinese corporate world. Only 30 teams have made it to the semi-finals that will be held in June.

Frido van Driem, board member of the EBF economics and business student faculty association, is one of the students who − together with Wietze Feddema, Michael Margosyan and Roel van der Sloot − will try to win the prestigious competi-

tion with their company concept: FaceCareer.

The idea for FaceCareer was born in May 2008 during a career day organized by Aiesec student organization. “I noticed that students placed too much focus on finding the right job instead of finding the right type of organization first”, says Van Driem. “I wanted to create a tool that would make it easy for them to find the type of organization that would suit them best.”

The result was a webtool that bridges the gap between recruitment and social media. FaceCareer allows students to follow recruit-

ers on Twitter, view films about a job or company, see job offers or find out where their friends are active. As from next month, students can register and in the future they will be able to use a FaceCareer application on Facebook, LinkedIn and Hyves.

During the semi-finals the students have to pitch the concept in 35 minutes to an international jury. But they will also meet with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to present their idea. “You can learn the most from real contact with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists”, says Van Driem.

So they might win the ‘Best of the Best’ Commercial Award and a cash prize of up to USD 5,000.

Still, the real victory has already been won. “I’ve learned so much in the past few years, this knowledge is my prize.”

Fresh eyes at the Frisian language | i n t e r v i e w | Nanna Haug Hilton (28) speaks five languages: Norwegian (her mother tongue), Dutch (she has been living in Holland for years), English (she also lived there for a while), German and Spanish. Soon she’ll add Frisian to the list, as she is about to be taken on as a lecturer in sociolinguistics at the Frisian Department.

By stijn roelofs

About to?

“I haven’t seen the contract yet. It’s going through the red tape now, I think. But everyone knows I was offered the job.”

Do you speak Frisian?

“Not yet. I can count to about 15 and I can probably tell you the

time. One of my strengths is that I am an outsider. And Frisian is an interesting language. It’s an indigenous minority language that has been around for a long time.”

Why choose you?

“I think it will be good to have someone young and enthusiastic who’ll see things with fresh eyes.

Perhaps this is particularly necessary for Frisian, a language closely connected to politics.”

Is Frisian a language then?

“There is a very famous saying that goes, ‘A language needs a flag and a navy.’ I don’t think the Frisians have a navy of their own, but they do have a flag. It’s about people’s identity.”

Have you visited Bernlef, the Fri-

sian Student Organization?

“No, I haven’t. They recruit you in Frisian, don’t they? Can you understand them? This is very interesting because it’s what I’m working on right now with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Norwegians and Danes can understand Swedish better than Swedes understand Norwegian and Danish.”

How come?

“We have a few ideas. A PhD student on my project carried out a study of Swedish and Danish kids. They understand each other equally well but with adults there’s an asymmetry of comprehending each other. When you grow older, your attitudes towards other languages might become more fixed.

A negative attitude could lead to not understanding.”

WIJ ZOEKEN VROUWEN die mee willen werken aan een geneesmiddelenonderzoek (095).

In dit onderzoek wordt de werking onderzocht van een nieuwe anticonceptiepil. Tevens wordt nagegaan of deze pil een minder ongunstig effect op de leverfunctie heeft en meer voordelen biedt dan de huidige anticonceptiepillen.

Dinox is een onderzoekscentrum in Groningen en Berlijn met ruim 15 jaar ervaring in geneesmiddelenonderzoek op het gebied van vrouwelijke hormonen (zoals anticonceptie, vruchtbaarheidsbehandelingen, premenstrueel syndroom en acnĂŠ) en seksuologie.

Dinox bevindt zich op het UMCG terrein: Hanzeplein 1, ingang 53, 9713 GZ Groningen

U zou aan het onderzoek kunnen deelnemen als u: s EEN VROUW BENT TUSSEN EN JAAR EN GEZOND BENT

s BEREID BENT AANVULLENDE ANTICONCEPTIE ZOALS CONDOOMS TE GEBRUIKEN TIJDENS HET ONDERZOEK

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s VOLDOET AAN DE OVERIGE VOORWAARDEN VOOR DEELNAME DEZE WORDEN TELEFONISCH DOORGENOMEN Bezoeken .A HET VOORONDERZOEK BEZOEKT U HET ONDERZOEKSCENTRUM GEDURENDE MAANDEN TWEE OF DRIE KEER PER WEEK VOOR EEN ECHOSCOPIE EN OF BLOEDAFNAME )N DE E MAAND VINDT MAAR BEZOEK PLAATS )N TOTAAL ZULLEN ER TOT BEZOEKEN PLAATSVINDEN Vergoeding %LKE VRIJWILLIGSTER ONTVANGT EEN VERGOEDING VOOR DEELNAME AAN DIT GENEESMIDDELENONDERZOEK VAN ONGEVEER ` TOT `

AFHANKELIJK VAN HET AANTAL BEZOEKEN PLUS EEN REISKOS TENVERGOEDING ` PER KM MET EEN MINIMUM VAN `

6OOR MEER INFORMATIE KUNT U TIJDENS KANTOORUREN BELLEN MET

(050) 3610999

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Het waterschap Velt en Vecht zorgt in Zuidoost-Drenthe en Noordoost-Overijssel voor bescherming tegen overstroming, wateroverlast en watertekort en voor schoner oppervlaktewater (inclusief de zuivering van rioolwater). Doelstelling van het waterschap is een betrouwbare en duurzame waterhuishouding door integraal beheer, waarbij op evenwichtige wijze rekening wordt gehouden met alle betrokken belangen. Een professionele organisatie met 190 medewerkers geeft hieraan uitvoering.

Velt en Vecht beschouwt de medewerkers als belangrijkste bedrijfskapitaal. Door te investeren in de kwaliteit van de medewerkers ontwikkelen we het prestatievermogen van de organisatie. We hebben daarom gekozen voor Investors in People als rode draad voor onze bedrijfsvoering. Wij zijn een relatief jonge, lerende organisatie die oog heeft voor ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden van mensen. We werken resultaatgericht. Daarnaast hanteren we een coachende leiderschapsstijl, communiceren we op een open manier en zijn we flexibel. We richten ons gedrag op de waarden die we met elkaar willen delen.

Voor de afdeling Bestuurs- en managementondersteuning zoeken wij een

Jurist m/v

voor 37 uur per week Wat ga je doen?

Als jurist beweeg je je op het brede terrein van het waterrecht. Je denkt aan de voorkant mee bij vergunning- en handhavingstrajecten en participeert in projecten van het waterschap als juridisch klankbord. Ook adviseer je de organisatie en het bestuur ten aanzien van de juridische aspecten van het dagelijks beheer zoals terreinbeheer en recreatief medegebruik. Je voert juridische toetsen uit en draagt bij aan de verbetering van de juridische kwaliteit van processen. In nauwe samenwerking met interne- en externe collegaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stel je onder andere waterakkoorden op. Verder implementeer je nieuwe wet- en regelgeving en vertegenwoordig je het waterschap bij de bestuursrechter ten aanzien van de onderwerpen die zich op jouw aandachtsgebieden bevinden.

Wat vragen we van je?

Op basis van je kennis en ervaring heb je een academisch werk- en denkniveau; Je hebt affiniteit met de juridische aspecten van vergunningverlening en handhaving, met name op het terrein van het milieurecht. Ervaring op bovengenoemde terreinen is een prĂŠ; Analytisch ben je sterk, je kunt gemakkelijk verbanden leggen en komt snel tot de kern; Je bent zelfstandig, durft knopen door te hakken, maar samenwerken gaat je net zo goed af; Je beschikt over advieskwaliteiten en hebt gevoel voor de bestuurlijke context waarin je functioneert; Bovendien ben je zowel mondeling als schriftelijk communicatief sterk; Je hebt een flexibele instelling, zodat je snel kunt schakelen tussen de verschillende aandachtsgebieden.

Wat hebben we je te bieden?

Een afwisselende baan in een organisatie die in ontwikkeling is. Je gaat deel uitmaken van een jong team en je zit dicht bij het politieke vuur. Velt en Vecht biedt arbeidsvoorwaarden op maat zoals o.a. een pensioenverzekering bij het ABP, sportbeleid, goede studiefaciliteiten en vergoeding van verhuiskosten. Het keuzesysteem arbeidsvoorwaarden biedt je de mogelijkheid een goede balans te vinden tussen werk en privĂŠ. Het betreft een functie van 37 uur per week. Afhankelijk van je ervaring geldt voor deze functie een salaris van minimaal â&#x201A;Ź 2.827 en maximaal â&#x201A;Ź 3.926 bruto per maand. Dit is exclusief 8% vakantiegeld en 4% eindejaarsuitkering.

Nadere informatie en reactie Voor meer informatie kun je contact opnemen met Hanneke Steen, juridisch adviseur, tel. (0524) 592227. Je kunt een schriftelijke reactie vóór 27 mei 2010 richten aan het waterschap Velt en Vecht, t.a.v. cluster HRM, Postbus 330, 7740 AH Coevorden of per e-mail naar info@veltenvecht.nl. Meer informatie over het waterschap vind je op onze website (www.veltenvecht.nl).

uk-velt&vecht 100512.indd 1

17-05-2010 11:55:01

@ U K 11

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Tjak

Ana

Food sounds like a Lady Gaga song | s e r i e s | Need some guidelines to make tasty meals? To cook a wonderful ’tjak’ (grub)? In this serial, the UK watches while students fix their fancy meals. This week, brand-new UK web columnist Alain Dekker prepares a ‘rijsttafel’.

Door janita naaijer When he stands on his small balcony and closes his eyes, biomedical sciences student and brand-new UK website columnist Alain Dekker (18) almost feels like he’s in France.

“My house is surrounded by the kind of scenes you see on the outskirts of Paris”, he says. He points to the petrol station, the laundrette and the row of garages in front of the old furniture factory in Helpman. It’s a whole different view and a whole different world for a highly energetic country boy.

“I checked out all the recipes on universiteitskrant.nl and I’ve decided to make you a fancy rijsttafel.”

Alain, wearing an apron that only reaches to mid-thigh, mixes sambal and soy sauce whilst campaigning against the wok vegetables from Albert Heijn. “They all taste the same”, he says. “Besides, you get more bite when you chop them up yourself.”

Debating any subject runs in Alain’s veins, just like his permanent hunger for news. “I would suck it in if I could”, he says. Now in the run-up to the Dutch elections Alain can really look forward to evenings in front of his television watching NOVA while nibbling on prawn crackers. “It’s the whole mood”, he says with a smile on his face. “If I

Fast-but-fancy ‘rijsttafel’ (2 pers.)

300 grams pork tenderloin 1 tbsp black bean sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 3 tbsp ketjap manis 1 tsp sambal badjak 2 tbsp oil ¼ head of broccoli 2 carrots 200 grams shiitake 2 spring onions A small piece of celery Thinly slice the pork. Stir-fry the pork in a wok for 5 - 10 min. until browned. Add the chopped vegetables, all three sauces and the sambal. Heat through and serve with thin slices of banana, half a gherkin, a fried egg and 1 tbsp of seroendeng for the ultimate fast-but-fancy rijsttafel! could I’d sit next to Clairy Polak.”

The meat and vegetables are cooked. Alain fries eggs and slices the gherkins. “They’re called party sticks”, he says. “What a silly name.

It sounds like a Lady Gaga song.”

It’s this extraordinary and highly associative way of seeing the world that strikes you about every two seconds when talking to Alain.

Like when he tastes the chipolatapudding, called a spring pudding by the manufacturer, and notices that,

Long nights, deep glasses... (17) Previously: Annet broke up with Sjoerd, her boyfriend from school.

Then she fell in love with her artistic, open-minded colleague Jasper. They have been together for a few months.

“One beer and two cups of tea.

There you go!” Fleur serves the drinks with her brightest toothpaste smile. “Nothing beats Groningen, right?” Before Annet’s dad can even open his mouth to launch into his usual ode to the beauty of Friesland, Annet gives him a long, hard stare. “It’s lovely”, says Annet’s mother, as she gazes out of the window of the Thuisthuis pub. “Just

Alain Dekker

lovely.”

Pa Hoekstra sips his beer. “Brrr… the lager definitely tastes better in my bar! Tell us about your last exams Annet. Still going for cum laude? Your mother and I are so proud of you.”

Annet reaches for the sugar and stirs her tea. She wants to answer her father’s question. She wants to tell him stories about straight eights and a happy new life. She wants to smile at her mother like Fleur did. But somewhere between her brain and her mouth the words keep running away.

“You don’t have to talk about uni-

apart from the pieces of fruit, it’s the same pudding as the so-called winter pudding, which has macaroons in it instead. “And Dutch music”, he says. “It always consists of the same tune on the keyboard. They only change the lyrics.”

Alain is a first-year biomedical sciences student. “I thought I was studying at the University of Groningen”, he says. “But sometimes – being stuck out there in Haren – I don’t see the city centre for weeks.”

The human body fascinates Alain,

Photo Reyer Boxem but as an extravert news junkie he does need to visit ‘other worlds’ regularly. When he needs inspiration he attends political events organized by the SIB, catches a train to Paris or goes to his father’s house in ’s Heerenbroek (a small town close to Zwolle with only 600 residents) where his father operates a small ferry together with disabled people. “That’s the best of both worlds”, says Alain. “Care and nature on the most beautiful river in the Netherlands: the IJssel.”

Last Sunday I moved to Amsterdam. My parents used to live there before I was born. On a summer evening in July 1985, my mother – heavily pregnant with me – packed a suitcase and, dragging my father along with her, took the train out of the city never to return. Their flat had to be sold at a loss.

No-one ever understood this move.

As a kid I always wanted to return to Amsterdam one day.

Well, here I am, a newspaper journalist, ready to make the leap.

In the mirror, a frightened little girl smiles back at me. Everyone knows Amsterdam is just a suburb of Groningen. A friend told me about her first day in Amsterdam: “While we were unloading the van, I met this amazing guy who lived right next door, and we ended up chatting non-stop over a glass of wine...”

Such fun, Amsterdam.

When I arrived at the spooky apartment I managed to rent in the Oostelijk Havengebied – yes, you’ll need Google Maps to find it – all the amazing neighbours stayed safely inside. It occurred to me I have loads more friends in New York than in Amsterdam.

My mother was about my age when she came to Amsterdam.

The pregnancy must have been her first real opportunity to leave.

“Shall we have a baby?” I asked my boyfriend as he helped me unpack.

Ana van Es has just started her first job.

Foto Liz Main

In-laws versity dear”, says her mother. “Today is a holiday for you too.”

Annet curses herself silently. It sounded like such a nice idea when her parents rang last week. “Your father will close the bar on Hemelvaartsdag so we can finally visit you in Groningen!”, her mother said enthusiastically. Ate Hoekstra never closes his bar. Annet knows that. Why can’t she be happy for just a few hours?

She can see her reflection in the window. And there’s that horrible feeling again, where she feels like a stranger in her own body or like an actress playing a role in a mov-

Amsterdam

ie called her own life. Is she that shy Frisian girl who wants to make daddy proud and who keeps having to convince her friends from school that she hasn’t changed? Or is the real Annet the newest bartender at Thuisthuis? The one that imitated Coyote Ugly the other day, the one that dates an idealistic left-wing photographer instead of that simple carpenter Sjoerd?

“Look at that fellow, Annet! A woolly hat in May and purple trousers. Do all the lads in Groningen look like women?” Ate Hoekstra is laughing at a lad carrying a camera who has just come in and sat

down at the bar.

After what feels like minutes but is actually only a few seconds, the boy puts his camera aside, turns round on his bar stool and walks to the table where the Hoekstras are sitting.

Playing a role in a movie called your own life. Where’s the script when you need it? “Annet, sweetie, how are you?” Jasper kisses Annet on the lips and holds out a hand to her parents. “Hi in-laws. Exploring the North, are you?”

To be continued >

Comment? langenachten@gmail.com

20 t/m 27 mei 2010

Mededelingen 1

Ingezonden mededelingen voor studenten en medewerkers

Algemeen Studium Generale Groningen Wallage, Ankersmit en Engels over de toekomst van de democratie De kloof tussen politiek en burgers is onaanvaardbaar groot.

Burgers vertrouwen partijen en politici niet meer. Daardoor neemt ook het gezag van de overheid af.

Politieke partijen moeten een andere koers varen. De huidige partijdemocratie moet een publieksdemocratie worden. Dat stelt de Raad voor het openbaar bestuur in het advies ‘Vertrouwen op democratie’. Is de democratie inderdaad aan revisie toe? Moeten burgers meer invloed krijgen op zowel beleid als keuze van politieke leiders?

Drie RUG-hoogleraren over de toekomst van de democratie, met een lezing van oud-burgemeester Jacques Wallage, voorzitter van de Raad voor het openbaar bestuur en hoogleraar integratie en openbaar bestuur en korte reacties van Frank Ankersmit, emeritus-hoogleraar geschiedenis en Hans Engels, Eerste Kamerlid voor D66 en hoogleraar staatsrecht. Na de lezingen volgt een discussie met het publiek. Datum: woensdag 26 mei.

Aanvang: 20.00 uur. Plaats: Academiegebouw. Toegang gratis.

Informatie Bureau Studium Generale Groningen, Oude Boteringestraat 13, tel.

(050) 363 54 63 studium@rug.nl www.rug.nl/studium

DwarsDiep Debat: Zelf-euthansie. Hellend vlak of finishing touch?

Ondanks de Nederlandse euthanasiewetgeving zijn er nog steeds mensen met een doodsverlangen die door hun arts niet kunnen worden geholpen. Psychiater Boudewijn Chabot pleit in zijn laatste boek Uitweg. Een waardig levenseinde in eigen hand voor zelf-euthanasie en doet ook twee methoden aan de hand hoe waardig te sterven zonder veel hulp van artsen. Chabot gaat over zijn boek in debat met hoogleraar Zorgethiek Marian Verkerk en huisarts Jaap Talsma. Donderdag 20 mei 2010, 20.00-22.00 uur, Wolters-Noordhoffzaal, Bibliotheek Groningen (Oude Boteringestraat 18, Groningen). Toegang gratis. www.dwarsdiep.nl

Bibliotheek Zaalwacht worden in de UB? Met ingang van het nieuwe studiejaar heeft de Universiteitsbibliotheek weer zaalwachten nodig.

Ben je eerste- of tweedejaarsstudent, meld je dan aan via het webformulier. In juni zijn de sollicitatiegesprekken! http://www.rug.nl/bibliotheek/ zaalwachtBibliotheek De UB in het Pinksterweekend Zaterdag 22 mei is de Universiteitsbibliotheek van 10.00 - 17.00 uur geopend; zondag 23 en maandag 24 mei (Pinksteren) is de UB gesloten. http://www.rug.nl/bibliotheek/ locaties/ub/index Workshop Refworks in English RefWorks is a web-based application for managing references. A RefWorks workshop usually consi-

> Verzorgd door de UK; eindredactie Heiny de Ruiter, tel. 3636699 > Mededelingen kunnen ingediend worden via www.universiteitskrant.nl > Aanleveren is mogelijk tot uiterlijk maandag 10 uur voor de UK van dezelfde week > De volgende UK verschijnt op 27 mei 2010

sts of a demonstration of an hour, after which participants will be given the opportunity to practice under supervision. The next workshop in English will take place: Thursday, May 27, 9:00 a.m. sharp, University Library, room 120. http://www.rug.nl/bibliotheek/ instructies/refworks/index?lan

Universiteitsraad Vergadering Universiteitsraad Op donderdag 27 mei aanstaande vergadert de Universiteitsraad met het College van Bestuur over onder meer de volgende onderwerpen: Profileringsfonds; Decentrale selectie 2011; Optimalisatie Restauratieve Voorzieningen; RUG-jaarverslag 2009; Jaarverslag UHG 2009; Sociaal, arbo- en milieuverslag 2009; Jaarverslag Bureau Vertrouwenspersoon RUG 2009; Tenure Track Rechtsgeleerdheid. Start vergadering: 09.30 uur.

Locatie: Grote Vergaderzaal, Oude Boteringestraat 44 te Groningen.

De vergadering is openbaar. Een ieder is van harte welkom.

H.J.Mast@rug.nl www.rug.nl/uraad

Diversen Bazes (26 mei) Op 26 mei 2010 zal de Bazes, de Benefietactie Zeven Erkende Studentenverenigingen, plaatsvinden.

Acht studentenverenigingen openen van 20.00 tot 04.00 hun deuren voor studenten (op vertoon van collegekaart) en organiseren leuke activiteiten, van livemuziek en karaoke tot een Beerenburgproeverij.

Een deel van de opbrengst zal gaan naar het Ronald McDonaldhuis in

Groningen. Meer info en het volledige programma is te vinden op http://www.bazes.nl. Overdag vanaf 13.00 is er een kinderspeelparadijs op de Grote Markt.

Faculteiten Rechtsgeleerdheid A LG E M E E N

Kantoorbezoek Dorhout Advocaten Wil je weten hoe het er in de rechtspraktijk aan toe gaat? Op donderdag 27 mei a.s. organiseert Ten Behoeve van Rechtenstudenten (TBR) een bezoek aan het Groningse advocatenkantoor Dorhout.

Dorhout is o.a. gespecialiseerd in ondernemingsrecht. Het bezoek is van 16.00 - 18.00 uur. Het programma begint met een rondleiding door het kantoor en een praatje één van de maten van Dorhout, daaropvolgend de mogelijkheid om vragen te stellen en zal eindigt met een borrel. Lijkt het je interessant rond te kijken bij een middelgroot kantoor? Geef je dan vóór 26 mei op door een e-mail te sturen naar promocie@tbrgroningen. nl of door inschrijving op de inschrijflijst op het TBR-bord in de Harmonie-kantine.

Stageplaatsen strafparket Hoge Raad De Hoge Raad nodigt studenten in de masterfase uit om stage te lopen bij het parket van de Hoge Raad en dan werkzaam te zijn voor één van de Advocaten-Generaal (A-G’s) van de strafsector. Hun eerste werkzaamheid bestaat uit het meehelpen bij het concipiëren van conclusies door de medewerkers van het Wetenschappelijk Bureau die voor een A-G werken; dit kan variëren van nazoekwerk in databanken en bibliotheek tot het beantwoorden van deelvragen. Wellicht kan de stagiaire in de loop van de stage zelf een concept-conclusie opstellen. De stageperiode beslaat vier maanden. Van de stagiaire wordt verwacht dat hij of zij tenminste vier dagen per week beschikbaar is. De student(e) dient te beschikken over een aanbeveling van een hoogleraar straf(proces)

recht. De stagiaires moeten hun werk op de Hoge Raad, Kazernestraat 52 te Den Haag, verrichten. Ze krijgen een contract en staan in dienstbetrekking bij de Hoge Raad. Reiskosten (per openbaar vervoer) worden vergoed; bovendien wordt bij een fulltime stage een beloning van € 550 per maand betaald. Belangstellenden kunnen per e-mail inlichtingen inwinnen bij mevrouw mr. dr.

R.A. Kok (r.kok@hogeraad.nl), en tot uiterlijk 8 juni 2010 solliciteren ter attentie van haar; ze dienen een curriculum vitae en cijferlijst mee te zenden. Voor een selectiegesprek gelieve 22 en 29 juni 2010 te reserveren. NB: stagiaires dienen zich bij acceptatie te melden bij de stagecoördinator strafrecht, mr. E. Gritter. e.gritter@rug.nl

Medische weten­ schappen A LG E M E E N

Workshop Schrijven van een Wetenschappelijke publicatie Omdat de vorige workshop helaas niet door kon gaan, organiseert Panacea in samenwerking met VvAA opnieuw de workshop over het schrijven van een wetenschappelijke publicatie. Deze workshop zal plaatsvinden op 20 mei a.s. Locatie: Onderwijscentrum UMCG Ontvangst: 17:30 met broodjes en drinken Aanvang: 18:00 tot ongeveer 21:00 Kosten: €20,00, inclusief broodjes en koffie/thee bij ontvangst Zie voor meer informatie www.panacea.nl Highlandgames met Panacea Lieve medestudenten, Altijd al van gedroomd om boomstam te werpen, touw te trekken, aan palen te hangen of in het zonnetje te liggen? Ga tijdens de DIESweek met ons mee terug in de tijd en beleef de HIGHLANDGAMES! Waar: Hoornse Plas Wanneer: 1 juni van 15.00 tot 18.00 uur Kosten: 3 euro Enthousiast? Mail vóór 27 mei naar spoco@panacea.nl.

Geef hierbij aan: de teamnaam en wie er in dit team zitten. Teamgrootte maakt niet uit. LET OP: Je kan je ook individueel opgeven!!

VOL=VOL, Maximaal 45 deelnemers. Liefs, SpoCo spoco@panacea.nl www.panacea.nl/spoco

Agenda In de AGENDA worden alleen universitaire evenementen op­ genomen die voor iedereen toegankelijk zijn. Aankondigin­ gen inleveren uiterlijk vrijdag 12.00 uur voor de week van verschijnen: per fax naar (050) 363 6300 o.v.v. UK-Agenda, per e-mail naar communicatie@rug.nl of per post naar: afdeling Communicatie, UK-Agenda, Postbus 72, 9700 AB Groningen.

PROMOTIES EN ORATIES 20 mei Promotie: mw. A. Schwartz, rechtsgeleerdheid. Titel: De adviescommissie in bezwaar. Inrichting van de bezwaarprocedure bij gemeenten. Promotor(s): prof.mr.dr. J.G. Brouwer. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 16.15 uur.

21 mei Promotie: mw. J.S. Sansa-Otim, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen. Titel: Measuring and modeling the performance ofhigh-speed data transport protocols. Promotor(s): prof.dr. J.M. van der Hulst. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 11.00 uur.

21 mei Promotie: dhr. H. Muljana, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen. Titel: Starch modifications in supercritial CO2.

Promotor(s): prof.dr.ir. L.P.B.M. Janssen, prof.dr.ir. H.J. Heeres, prof.dr.

F. Picchioni. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 13.15 uur.

21 mei Promotie: dhr. G. Andogah, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen. Titel: Geographically constrained information retrieval. Promotor(s): prof.dr.ir. J. Nerbonne. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 14.45 uur.

21 mei Promotie: dhr. T. Voss, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen. Titel: Port-Hamiltonian modeling and control of piezoelectric beams and plates application to inflatable space.

Promotor(s): prof.dr. ir. J.M.A. Scherpen. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 16.15 uur.

25 mei Oratie: mw. prof.dr. L.C. Verbrugge, wiskunde en natuurwetenschappen. Titel: Denken over denken over denken: logica en sociale cognitie. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 16.15 uur.

26 mei Promotie: dhr. A.T.J. Wierenga, medische wetenschappen. Titel: STAT3 and STAT5 signaling in normal and leukemic hematopoietic cells. Promotor(s): prof.dr. E. Vellenga. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 14.45 uur.

26 mei Promotie: dhr. T.H. van Dijk, medische wetenschappen. Titel: Computational analysis of carbohydrate metabolism. Stable isotope techniques in small laboratory animals.

Promotor(s): prof.dr. F. Kuipers, prof.dr. A.K. Groen. Plaats: Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5. Tijd: 16.15 uur.

27 mei Promotie: mw. J.F. van Kruiningen, letteren. Titel: : Onderwijsontwerp als conversatie. Probleemoplossing in interprofessioneel overleg. Promotor(s): prof.dr. C.M. de Glopper. Plaats: Doopsgezinde Kerk, Oude Boteringestraat 33. Tijd: 13.15 uur.

27 mei Promotie: dhr. V. Oikonomou, economie en bedrijfskunde. Titel: : Interactions of White Certificates for energy efficiency and other energy and climate policy instruments.

Promotor(s): prof.dr. C.J. Jepma. Plaats: Doopsgezinde Kerk, Oude Boteringestraat 33. Tijd: 14.45 uur.

CuCo Kookworkshop 3 juni Hier zal je zelf onder begeleiding van een kok die gespecialiseerd is in Zuid Italiaans eten, verse pasta bereiden en een dessert en dit vervolgens gezamenlijk lekker opeten! Dus ben jij benieuwd hoe de échte pasta wordt gemaakt? Kom dan op 3 juni van 18-22 uur naar Gigi’s: Herebinnensingel 9/1, Groningen. Koop je kaartje op een van de volgende momenten; 18 mei om 10.30 bij 061; 18 mei om 15.30 bij 061; 19 mei om 14.15 bij 061. De kosten zijn 16 euro, er is maar een beperkt aantal plaatsen, dus wees snel! Nog vragen? mail ons. cuco@panacea.nl www.panacea.nl/cuco

in the sun at Volonté. Hope to see you there! When: June 2nd at 12:30 till aprox. 15:00 ; ‘borrel’ at Volonté starts then. Ticket sale: May 25th at 09:45 at the ‘Panacea kar’ and at 11:00 and 13:00 in building 3111 Price: €2,50 for members (€3,50 for non-members) !You need a bike! ibr1@panacea.nl

Treasure Hunt - chase through Groningen!

The day is fast approaching when med. students will compete against each other in the..... Treasure Hunt! General knowledge, medical skills, fitness, intelligence and handiness will all be needed during this day. Be there and win the prize! After the game winners will be announced and prizes will be given while we have a drink

Machaon workshop Yoga In de Dies week organiseert Machaon een workshop Iyengar yoga.

Laat je lenige kunsten zien en zorg dat je erbij bent! Wanneer: Donderdag 3 juni Tijd: 15.30-17.30.

Plaats: Kraneweg 32 Entree: Leden 2 euro, niet leden 3 euro Kleding: gemakkelijk zittende sportkleding en blote voeten Kaartverkoop: Wo 19/05: 14.15 bij 061 Di 25/05: 12.30 bij 061 15.30 bij BLZ Hopelijk tot

27 mei Promotie: mw. M. Hazenoot, gedrag- en maatschappijwetenschappen. Titel: In rusteloze arbeid. De betekenis van Cornelia Philippi-Siewertsz van Reesema (1880-1963) voor de ontwikkeling van het onderwijs aan het jonge kind. Promotor(s): prof. dr. H.W. van Essen, prof.dr. A.E.M.G. Minnaert. Plaats: Doopsgezinde Kerk, Oude Boteringestraat 33. Tijd: 16.15 uur. donderdag 3 juni! Liefs, Machaon machaon@panacea.nl www.panacea.nl

Wiskunde en Natuur­ wetenschappen B I B L I OT H E K E N

Verhuizing Bibliotheek Biologie Op donderdag 27 mei 2010 om 17.00 uur sluit de Bibliotheek Biologie voorgoed haar deuren. Vanaf maandag 31 mei wordt de collectie verhuisd naar de Bibliotheek FWN. Met ingang van 14 juni is de Bibliotheek Biologie geïntegreerd in de Bibliotheek FWN en bent u van harte welkom in de Bibliotheek Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen (Bibliotheek FWN,

20 t/m 27 mei 2010

Mededelingen 2

Ingezonden mededelingen voor studenten en medewerkers Nijenborgh 9 (Bernoulliborg), Groningen). I.v.m. de inhuizing van de collectie van de Bibliotheek Biologie is de locatie in de Bernoulliborg gesloten van 31 mei tot en met 11 juni 2010. http://www.rug.nl/Bibliotheek/ locaties/bibFWN/verhuizing WISKUNDE

Colloquium Wiskunde Date:Tuesday, May 25th 2010 Speaker:Michael Dritschel, University of Newcastle Room:5161.0267 (Bernoulliborg), Time:16.15 Title:Preorders and a realization theorem for the Schur class I N F O R M AT I C A

Colloquium Computer Science Date: Monday, May 31st 2010 Speaker:Dr.Dusko Jovanovic, Neopost Technologies Room: 5161.0267 (Bernoulliborg) Time: 16.00 Title: “Knowledge vs Specifications” (TECHNISCHE) SCHEIKUNDE

Teijin Excursie Op dinsdag 8 juni is er een excursie naar de Twaron fabriek in Emmen. In deze fabriek wordt de bekende Twaron vezel van Teijin gesponnen. De deelname aan deze excursie is gratis en er is een lunch inbegrepen. Inschrijven kan in het CB-Hok. bestuur@chemische-binding.nl www.chemische-binding.nl

Letteren A LG E M E E N

Honours College Letteren.

Ben je dit jaar begonnen met je

bacheloropleiding, maar zoek je nu al meer uitdaging in je studie?

Dan is het Honours College misschien iets voor jou. Kom naar de voorlichting voor Letterenstudenten op donderdag 20 mei van 16.15 tot 17.00 uur in H. 13.14.00.14 (Harmoniegebouw, onder de bogen).

Naast informatie over de opzet en inhoud van het Honours College, zal één van onze huidige honours studenten verslag doen van zijn ervaringen tot nu toe.

Overdrachts-ALV Studievereniging Clio Op donderdag 27 mei wordt het beleid van het bestuur van Studievereniging Clio geëvalueerd en zal het kandidaatsbestuur geïnstalleerd worden. De ALV-stukken zijn vanaf 20 mei beschikbaar. locatie: Café de Keyzer tijd: stipt 19:00 uur info@clio.nl www.clio.nl F i n o e g r i s c h e Ta l e n e n C u l t u r e n .

Hongarije Quiz 2010, win kaarten voor het Sziget-festival!

Het Europees Parlement heeft de Zuid-Hongaarse stad Pécs (samen met het Istanboel en Essen) tot culturele hoofstad van Europa verkozen. Daarom nodigt de afdeling Hongaars van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (de enige plaats in de Benelux waar je Hongaarse taal en cultuur kan studeren op universitair niveau!) jongeren van 15 t/m 30 jaar in Nederland uit om hun kennis over Hongarije te vergroten via de “Hongarije Quiz 2010”.

De vragen zijn uitdagend en tegelijk leuk om te beantwoorden. Doe mee en win o.a.: een (week)entreekaart voor het fameuze SzigetAdvertentie

festival in Boedapest, vliegtickets naar Boedapest, de nieuwste vertaalde boeken uit het Hongaars, CD’s en DVD’s! Ga snel naar de online quiz op www.rug.nl/let/hongarijequiz2010 S TA G E B U R E A U L E T T E R E N

stage: Ned. Ambassade, Brussel OPLEIDING: diverse PERIODE: febr.

2011 tot juli 2011 OPDRACHT: volgen en analyseren van de binnenlandse politieke en economische ontwikkelingen en bilaterale EUdossiers, onderhouden van diplomatieke banden, ondersteunen van politieke bezoeken en organiseren van culturele en publieksdiplomatieke bijeenkomsten. MEER INFO: Stagebureau Letteren, k.

212. Zie de website onder ‘nieuws’.

Vraag altijd eerst goedkeuring aan je docent. stages.let@rug.nl www.rug.nl/let/stagebureau stage: Youth Olympic Games, Innsbruck OPLEIDING: divers PERIODE: min.

3 months max. 12 months, 2040 hours per week, positions are open till February 2012 OPDRACHT: Translation & interpretation of website aricles, press releases, IOC documents, brochures, handbooks form German into English and French. Proffreading of English MEER INFO: Stagebureau Letteren, k. 212, Zie de website onder ‘nieuws’. Vraag altijd eerst je docent om goedkeuring. stages.let@rug.nl www.rug.nl/let/stagebureau

stage: Agratravel, Groningen OPLEIDING: RTC PERIODE: september 2010 OPDRACHT: een bijdrage leveren aan de ontwikkeling van ons marktaandeel in Frankrijk (of ander land) door met relaties te communiceren zodat zij erop kunnen vertrouwen dat wij aan hun wensen zullen voldoen. Sterk analytisch vermogen en initiatiefrijk is belangrijk. Bij gebleken geschiktheid kan de stage worden omgezet in een dienstverband. MEER INFO: Stagebureau Letteren, k.

212, Zie de website onder ‘nieuws’.

Vraag altijd eerst goedkeuring aan je docent. stages.let@rug.nl www.rug.nl/let/stagebureau stage:Fundamic, Ecuador OPLEIDING: CIW PERIODE: september 2010 OPDRACHT: Vervolg geven aan het reeds ontwikkelde marketingplan en de uitvoering hiervan. Daarnaast organisatie van lokale evenmenten, testen van positionering en communicatieuitingen, ontwikkeling van logo Fundamic. MEER INFO: Stagebureau Letteren, k. 212. Zie de website onder ‘nieuws’. Vraag altijd eerst goedkeuring aan je docent. stages.let@rug.nl www.rug.nl/let/stagebureau

Economie en Bedrijfskunde A LG E M E E N

Test je niveau Engels voor instroom Engelstalige masters Op 1 en 2 juni is er (van 18 – 21 uur in de UB) wederom de halfjaarlijkse mogelijkheid tot het afleggen van een test Engels om na te gaan of je niveau voldoende is om met succes een Engelstalige master te kunnen volgen (zie artikel 4.1 van de master-OER). Raadpleeg Nestor en schrijf je daartoe tijdig in op Progress (deadline 20 mei!).

Gedrags- en Maatschappijwetenschappen A LG E M E E N

De Methodologiewinkel Slapeloze nachten dankzij statistiek? Geen nood! Met al je vragen over statistiek en/of het opzetten en uitvoeren van een onderzoek kun je terecht bij de methodologiewinkel. Wij zijn student-assistenten die gratis meehelpen aan het oplossen van je probleem. Je kunt elke werkdag langskomen voor advies van 13:00 - 17:00 in kamer 125 van het Heymansgebouw.

B I B L I OT H E E K

Workshop Refworks voor GMW-medewerkers RefWorks is een webapplicatie waarmee u op een eenvoudige manier uw literatuurverwijzingen kunt opslaan, beheren en gebruiken. Een workshop RefWorks bestaat uit een demonstratie van een uur en daarna kunt u onder begeleiding verder oefenen.

Voor GMW-medewerkers is er een workshop op donderdag 27 mei, 11.00 - 12.30 uur, Bibliotheek GMW, Zaal HV320 (Heymansvleugel) http://www.rug.nl/bibliotheek/ instructies/refworks/index www.rug.nl/isd

www.rug.nl/usd

P S YC H O LO G I E

Halfjaarlijkse ALV VIP Op 3 juni 2010 zal de halfjaarlijkse ALV van de VIP weer plaatsvinden.

Tijdens deze ALV zullen het halfjaarverslag en een promotieplan gepresenteerd worden. Bovendien

Agenda

[ vervolg ]

CONGRESSEN EN SYMPOSIA 20 mei Faculteit Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen: Seminar Zernike Institute. Titel: Metals in the middle of DNA: Site-Specific Functionalization of Nucleic Acids with Methal Ions”.

Spreker: J.Müller. Plaats: Nijenborgh 4. Tijd: 16.00 uur.

21 mei Faculteit Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap: Ancient World Seminar. Titel: Ancient auloi in Eelde en Elsewhere. Spreker: Timothy Moore. Plaats: Oude Boteringestraat 38.

Tijd: 16.30 uur.

26 mei Faculteit Godgeleerdheid en Godsdienstwetenschap: Symposium. Titel: De Mondiale magie van het Voetbal. Spreker: Yme Kuiper (antropoloog), Maarten van Bottenburg (sportsocioloog), Ruud Koning (sporteconoom) en Marc Broere (Roadto 2010). Plaats: Oude Boteringestraat 23. Tijd: 14.00 uur.

EVENEMENTEN 20 mei Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid: Job Cohen College Tour.

Plaats: Huize Maas, Vismarkt 52. Tijd: 11.00 uur.

20 mei Muziek: Purper revisited. Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 20.00 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 6, - / overigen € 8,20 en 21 mei Theater: Toneel Phtuk presenteert de Huistyran. Plaats: OUTheater, Kijk in ’t Jatstraat 26. Tijd: 20.00 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders €6, - / overigen €8,21 mei Usva goes Jazz presenteert Busy, Busy,Busy. Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 20.30 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 6, - / overigen € 10,25 mei Literair: Flanor presenteert Oboema (Michiel Romeyn). Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 20.30 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders €4, - / overigen € 5,26 mei Theatraal (Albertus) presenteert Vrij. Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 20.30 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 5, - / overigen € 5 27,28 en 29 mei Dansprestaties. Plaats: OUTheater, Kijk in ’t Jatstraat 26. Tijd: 20.15 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 4 - / overigen € 527,28 en 29 mei Theater: Ubbo Emmius prenteert Het Temmen van de Feeks. Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 20.30 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 6- / overigen € 830 mei Usva goed Jazz- Gideon van Gelder. Plaats: INTheater, Munnekeholm 10. Tijd: 16.00 uur. Toegang: RUG studenten en stadjerspashouders € 6, - / overigen € 10,-

TENTOONSTELLINGEN T/m 23 mei 2010 Boekbanden van Ella Riemersma. Plaats: Universiteitsbibliotheek (trappenhuis derde verdieping) Broerstraat 4. Tijd: maandag t/m vrijdag: 08.30 - 22.00 uur, zaterdag en zondag: 10.00 - 17.00 uur.

T/m 27 juni 2010 Drie bijzondere boekenschenkingen. Het betreft de collectie 19e-eeuwse literatuur van dhr. Dick Leutscher, de drie beroemde “Kritiken” van Immanuel Kant en de verzameling boeken over film van drs. Frans Westra. Plaats: Universiteitsbibliotheek ( 3e verd. bijz. collecties), Broerstraat 4. Tijd: maandag t/m vrijdag: 08.30 - 22.00 uur, zaterdag en zondag: 10.00 - 17.00 uur.

T/m 23 januari 2011 ‘Binnenste buiten. De mens ontleed’. Tentoonstelling waarin de geschiedenis van de anatomie wordt toegelicht. Plaats: Universiteitsmuseum, Oude Kijk in ’t Jatstraat 7a.

Tijd: dinsdag t/m zondag, 13.00- 17.00 uur.

NADERE INFORMATIE Afdeling Communicatie: tel. 363 5445/5446

zal er een voorstel tot HR wijziging inzake de contributie gepresenteerd worden. De ALV wordt gehouden in het Heerenhuis en zal om 20.00u beginnen. De deuren gaan om 19.30 open. vip.gmw@rug.nl www.vipsite.nl

Wijsbegeerte A LG E M E E N

Lezing TF 26 mei 2010 Lezing georganiseerd door de vakgroep Theoretische Filosofie: Dr. Helen De Cruz - How to overcome human cognitive limitations

20 t/m 27 mei 2010

Mededelingen 3

Ingezonden mededelingen voor studenten en medewerkers in mathematical practice Human cognitive capacities are limited by heuristics, biases and memory constraints, yet mathematical practice seems to be relatively unhindered by these limitations.

This paper outlines a conceptual framework that examines three types of external resources that mathematicians draw upon to overcome their cognitive limitations: other minds, artefacts, and (artificial and natural) language.

Woensdag 26 mei 2010 15.15 u zaal Omega, Oude Boteringestraat 52 http://www.rug.nl/filosofie/ nieuws/agenda/index

Studenten Studenten Service Centrum (SSC) CENTRALE STUDENTENBALIE(CSB)

CSb wordt USD!!

De Centrale Studentenbalie gaat verhuizen en krijgt een nieuwe naam: Universitaire Studenten Desk. De USD zal vanaf 25 mei gehuisvest zijn op de 1e verdieping van het Academiegebouw. Van 19 mei t/m 24 mei zijn wij in verband met de verhuizing gesloten.

We zijn dan alleen via email bereikbaar. www.rug.nl/hoezithet www.rug.nl/USD Relocation Student Service Desk!

Due to relocation activities the Student Service Desk will be closed from 19 until 24 May. We can be contacted by e-mail. The SSD will be renamed University Student Desk (USD). The new visiting address: Academy Building, 1st Floor, building 1112. www.rug.nl/insandouts www.rug.nl/USD TA L E N T & C A R E E R C E N T E R

Themabijeenkomst: Werken bij de overheid.

Geïnteresseerd in een carrière bij de overheid na je studie? Kom dan op woensdag 26 mei (14-16 uur) naar de Senaatskamer voor de themabijeenkomst Werken bij de overheid. Wat zijn de mogelijkheden voor starters, hoe kun je solliciteren en waar? Deze keer met onder andere Ban Personeeldiensten en Randstad unit overheid.

Ook komt Monique Veldt vertellen over haar werkzaamheden als senior beleidsmedewerker van de gemeente Delfzijl. Kijk voor meer informatie en aanmelding op onze website. De toegang is gratis.

info@talentcareercenter.nl www.talentcareercenter.nl Workshop: Looking for work in the Netherlands After graduation at a Dutch university you might want to stay in the Netherlands, but how do you find a job? This workshop provides accurate information on the job-hunting process in the Netherlands. The workshop provides useful tips, gives insight in the skills most sought after and helps young professionals to apply successfully in the Netherlands. The workshop will be given by Nannette Ripmeester (Expertise in Labour Mobility). Location: Heymanszaal (Academy Building) 1 – 4 p.m.

Costs € 5,- (students and graduates of the RUG). Registration at our website. info@talentcareercenter.nl www.talentcareercenter.nl

ACLO Zomer biatlon Zomerbiatlon is een uitdagende combinatie van hardlopen en schieten. Bij het hardlopen komt het aan op kracht en uithoudingsvermogen en bij het schieten komt het aan op concentratievermogen en zelfdiscipline. De atleet loopt een 6 km die onderbroken wordt door 4 schietmomenten (liggend en staand schieten). De atleet moet dus helemaal buiten adem proberen zo rustig mogelijk het luchtgeweer vast te houden. In iedere schietronde moet de atleet vijf klapschijven (klepjes) proberen te raken. Wanneer een klapschijf niet geraakt wordt, moet er een strafronde gelopen worden (100 meter). Voor iedere misser geldt één strafronde. vicevoorzitter@aclosport.nl www.aclosport.nl

USVA Purper Revisited Donderdag 20 mei 20.00 uur; INTheater De zangstudenten Jazz & Pop van het ArtEZ Conservatorium in Zwolle treden in de voetsporen van Purper. Onder leiding van docent en jazzzanger Ronald Douglas vertolken zij de mooiste grappigste en ontroerendste liedjes van deze bejubelde theatergroep.

Gecoacht door Gerrie van der Klei en theatergoeroe Frans Mulder nemen zij u mee op reis langs het muzikale repertoire van Purper. Voor u treden op: Klaske Bos, Marieke Briek, Simone ten Brinke, Joyse van Gils, Dian Heerema, Christiaan Koetsier, Mike Pruijn, Ryanne Sambros, Michiel Schota-

nus, Nienke Visscher en Janneke Warringa. Muzikaal leider: Wiebe Kaspers. Entree €8 /€6 voor studenten en stadjerspashouders Toneel Phtuk, De Huistyran Donderdag 20 mei 20.15 uur ; OUTheater. Een militaire klucht door Godfried Bomans. De Huistiran werd door de toen 26-jarige Godfried Bomans geschreven in 1939, aan de vooravond van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het is een klucht waarin het dreigende oorlogsgevaar bijna met klem is vermeden.

Maria en Jan zijn heimelijk verliefd op elkaar, maar Jan is zo bang voor haar vader dat hij zich in talloze bochten wringt om haar hand maar niet te hoeven vragen. Maria’s vader, de Huistiran, is vastbesloten zijn dochter alleen uit handen te geven aan een militair met haar op z’n tanden, en de arme Jan lijkt daar in de verste verten niet op. Gesteund door zijn liefje weet Jan echter moed te vatten. En dan loopt het natuurlijk mis. Toneel Phtuk is een jonge studententoneelgroep. Entree: 8,- / 6,- studenten en stadjerspashouders Usva Goes Jazz, Busy, Busy, Busy Vrijdag 21 mei 20.30 uur; INTheater In samenwerking met Stichting Jazz in Groningen organiseert de Usva deze maand twee bijzondere optredens. Het eerste is van de band Busy, Busy, Busy. De Band bestaat uit ARTVARK SAXOPHONE QUARTET en NEW NIKS en is een samenwerking tussen deze twee eigenzinnige en authentieke kwartetten. Na het samenspelen op RottPod in Rotterdam besloten de groepen om een gezamenlijke c.d te maken en een serie concerten te doen. In dit project spelen beide kwartetten ieder een korte set met een gezamenlijk slotnummer voor de pauze. Daarna worden de muzikale krachten samengebundeld voortgezet gedurende de gehele tweede set! . Prijs: 6,- (studenten/ stadjerspas) / 10,- (anderen)

GSp GSp - Studentenplatform voor Levensbeschouwing Een plaats voor bezinning, religie, debat en gezelligheid. GSp, Kraneweg 33, tel. 3129926 info@gspweb.nl www.gspweb.nl GSp-Filmhuis Regisseur Jason Reitman (bekend van Juno) gooit met de luchtige dramafilm Up in the Air wederom hoge ogen. 27 mei - 20.15 uur Kraneweg 33 – toegang gratis.

Persoonlijk gesprek Wie dat wil kan voor een persoonlijk gesprek een afspraak maken met een van de studentenpastores: Geert Brüsewitz 8500387, Lense Lijzen 5260630, Tiemo Meijlink 5792805 of Matty Metzlar 0595-528775.

Laatste vesper De vesper op zondag 30 mei is de laatste van dit seizoen. De eerste zondag in oktober starten de vespers weer.

Studentendiensten Martinikerk 23/5 11.30 uur A. Diesemer 23/5 17.00 uur A. Diesemer 30/5 11.30 uur G. Brüsewitz 30/5 17.00 uur J. Hamstra

KEI Word KEI-crew / KEI-leider Ben jij beschikbaar van 16 t/m 20 augustus en ben jij in voor een KEI-goede start van het nieuwe jaar? Word KEI-crew of KEI-leider.

Als KEI-crewer ben je nauw betrokken bij de organisatie van de grootste introductieweek van Nederland. Je wordt flexibel ingezet wanneer jij beschikbaar bent en je hebt vele verschillende taken zoals het inschrijven van KEI-lopers, op- en afbouw van evenementen en backstage assisteren. Verder leer je veel nieuwe mensen kennen en krijg je tijdens de KEI-week toegang tot alle evenementen! Als KEI-leider laat je jouw KEI-groepje de mooiste kanten van studentenstad Groningen zien! Laat zien hoe geweldig het is om student te zijn!

Schrijf je in vanaf vrijdag 29 mei tussen 12 en 14 aan de Sint Walburgstraat 22! wervingenpromotie@keiweek.nl www.keiweek.nl

Diversen LITERAIR DISPUUT FLANOR

Oboema Sesetokoe bij Flanor Op dinsdag 25 mei is bij Flanor niemand minder dan Oboema Sesetokoe te gast. Dit bekende Jiskefetkarakter (neergezet door Michiel Romeyn) heeft een eigen dichtbundel geschreven, ‘Op een brommer’. Oboema zal deze gedichten voor ons voordragen en nader toelichten. De avond zal plaatshebben in cultureel studentencentrum Usva (Munnekeholm 10) en begint om 20.30. Kaartjes kosten € 5,- (€ 4,- voor studenten) en kunnen bij de Usva worden gereserveerd door tussen 9.00 en 23.00 te bellen naar 050-3634670. bestuur@flanor.nl www.flanor.nl

OVERIGE

Studentondernemers pitchen voor Jort Kelder!

Op 10 juni komt Jort Kelder naar Groningen om de derde editie van de Square One Pitchwedstrijd in goede banen te leiden. Tijdens de wedstrijd kun jij als studentondernemer uit Noord-Nederland jouw idee presenteren aan een professionele jury en potentiële investeerders en een starterspakket ter waarde van €5.000,- in de wacht slepen. Tijdens de aansluitende borrel zal de jury de winnaar bekend maken. Naast een contant bedrag ter waarde van €1.000,- zal dit pakket bestaan uit: strategische coaching, korting op huisvesting, financieel-, juridisch-, marketing- en ICT-advies voor het realiseren van het idee. Het evenement zal plaatsvinden in Het HeerenHuis in Groningen. Aanmelden is vereist, er is een beperkt aantal plaatsen beschikbaar. start@square1fund.nl www.square1fund.nl/pitchwedstrijd Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Upcoming activities * International Kitchen: Multi cultural foodfest! May 23. Kraneweg 33 * Pub Quiz May 27. For Dutch and international teams * Mudwalking: Get dirty and go on an exciting (guided) mudwalking trip May 30 For sign up and tickets: Grote Rozenstraat 23 Office hours: MondayFriday 13:00-17:00 Thursday evening: 17:00-19:00 info@esn-groningen.nl www.esn-groningen.nl Erasmus Student Network (ESN) ESN zoekt nieuw bestuur en commissieleden Wil jij organisatorische vaardigheden opdoen binnen een groeiende, internationale, en dynamische organisatie? Dan is ESN Groningen iets voor jou! Een bestuursjaar of commissie bij ESN levert je veel nieuwe Nederlandse en internationale contacten op en je leert mensen kennen afkomstig uit de hele wereld. ESN heeft 8 verschillende commissies die uiteenlopende activiteiten organiseren voor internationale maar ook Nederlandse studenten, zoals excursies, een international congress, filmfestival, themafeesten en veel meer! Mail een motivatiebrief en je CV. Deadline sollicitaties: woensdag 19 mei. info@esn-groningen.nl www.esn-groningen.nl

Vrijwilligers gezocht voor Books 4 Life Wil jij je graag inzetten voor een goed doel? En houd je van boeken? Dan is vrijwilliger worden bij Books 4 Life wat voor jou! Books 4 Life zamelt tweedehands boeken in en verkoopt deze in onze winkel gevestigd in het JoHo-pand. Het geld gaat naar goede doelen zoals Oxfam Novib en Amnesty International. Lijkt het je wat? Kom dan gerust een keertje langs in onze winkel (Oude Kijk in ‘t Jatstraat 30), stuur een mailtje of kijk even op onze site. books4lifegroningen@gmail.com www.books4life.nl/groningen/ Lezing: Het Israëlische Apartheidsregime Dinsdag 25 mei zal er een lezing worden gegeven door Hazem Jamjoum, een derde generatie Palestijnse vluchteling. Hazem zal spreken over de rol van het Joods Nationaal Fonds (JNF) bij het ontstaan van de staat Israël. Hierbij kreeg het Joodse volk een thuis land, maar werd de Palestijnen hun land ontnomen en ontstond het vluchtelingenprobleem dat nog steeds een belangrijke rol in het conflict speelt. Ook zal hij aandacht besteden aan de rol van het JNF bij het huidige Israëlische beleid en de redenen waarom tegenwoordig vaak de term Apartheid wordt gebruikt als het gaat over Israël. Hazem is media coördinator van Badil, een Palestijnse mensenrechtenorganisatie, in 2003 studeerde hij cum laude af aan de universiteit in Toronto en hij heeft een BA graad in Internationale Betrekkingen & Vredes- en Conflictstudies. Deze lezing wordt georganiseerd door de recent opgerichte studievereniging Shalom Arabs van de studie Talen & Culturen van het Midden-Oosten (TCMO), in samenwerking met GroningenJabalya en zal plaatsvinden in de Heymanszaal van het Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, van 19.30 tot 22.00 uur, entree is gratis. shalomarabs@hotmail.com Het S.G.O.R zoekt nieuwe actieve leden!

Het S.G.O.R is een bedrijfsrechtelijke vereniging die op een informele manier studenten met elkaar en de advocatuur in aanraking brengt. Je kunt solliciteren voor de volgende commissies: Activiteiten Almanak Bedrijfsjuridiek Congres Corporate Game Internationaal Studieproject Voor meer informatie kun je terecht op www.sgor.nl De mogelijkheid om te solliciteren loopt tot en met vrijdag 21 mei.

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S T U D E N T L I F E 15

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Photo Harry Linker

Goalie Jolien de Lange of the Knickerbockers first ladies team, during a cup match against FC Twenthe.

No money? Be creative! | r e p o r t | The Groningen women’s teams in student sports know how to play at the top level. But there’s a catch how to stay there. And do you want to?

By Wouter Beetsma Groningen is the Dutch capital of student sports regardless whether­ this means football, hockey, basketball or volleyball. Especially the women’s teams know how to play at the top. But there is a catch: the female footballers of The Knickerbockers have just been relegated from the highest amateur level after only two years of playing there.

Their volleyball-playing colleagues of Veracles came in last in the second highest class after being promoted five times in seven years. As the most popular saying in sports goes: getting to the top is not that

hard but staying there is.

The coaches and managers of the teams could not agree more: “I don’t know if we even want to play at this level next year”, said Knickerbockers coach Evert-Jan Nienhuis.­ The last two seasons were a bit disappointing. Nienhuis’s biggest concern is the quality of the team. As the coach of a student club, you never know what the team will be like next year.

Hockey coach Mark Materek of GCHC also thinks that continuity is the biggest problem for the teams.

“People only stay in our team for a few years. After they graduate, they’re gone.”

And there is also the problem of the lucrative competition: many amateur teams offer their players a lot of money, bonuses for scoring, free shoes and many other extras.

In football and volleyball this is

quite normal. Veracles team manager Nienke van der Zwaag thinks it is a problem, but stresses that her team has something that other teams cannot give their players: “A lot of fun. Here you can play with people who are in the same phase of their lives. If a player wants the money, that’s her problem. We’ll have fun anyway.”

‘For big companies, the playing field is an ideal recruiting area’ In the end it really is all about the money. Playing at a high level

means a lot of expenses. Driving to a match that can be up to 350 kilometres away cuts into the club’s budget, as do clothing, the best equipment and better coaches. And getting the money is sometimes difficult. Hockey club GCHC is looking for a main sponsor. The Knickerbockers have had to pay part of their travel expenses themselves, and even if they are covered, student clubs generally have a fraction of the budget of the competition.

“Although we generally lack a network of people who have a day job”, says Van der Zwaag, “we are way more creative. At a home match, we had beer crates for the ball boys to sit on. It was cheap and everybody had a good laugh. That is how you get a good reputation.”

Materek agrees, but thinks a lot of companies don’t recognize the true value of sponsorship for them-

selves. “There are a lot of students in Groningen, so we are a great way for companies to reach them. For big companies, the playing field is an ideal recruiting area. We don’t have slackers on the field, only disciplined, smart people. That’s who you want to hire after they’ve graduated.”

But how to keep the women at the top in the future? “Having a cup of tea with the other top teams might not be a bad idea”, laughs Materek.

But he wants more than just chitchat. “If all these teams are playing at this level, they must be doing something right, so we can learn a lot from The Knickerbockers and they can learn something from us.”

Van der Zwaag also thinks the other clubs can learn from Veracles’s experience: “If you don’t have a big budget, be creative. Make a name for yourself.”

Tamar Lewis is singing all the way to the Aldi | r e p o r t | After six years at university 25 year old Tamar Lewis quit. She wanted to devote herself to music. Now she’s in the quarterfinals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland.

By NICOLE BESSELINK Just before she steps into café the Stadtlander in her blue ballerina shoes, her father rings to ask how her show went. The day before, Tamar Lewis had performed for an audience of twenty as support act for Flux in the old Friesland Bank building on the Grote Markt. “Tickets were four euros, and the band and I split the proceeds. I came away with thirteen

euros.”

She can’t yet live from her music, but she certainly doesn’t regret stopping her Communication and Information Science degree a year and a half ago. “After deregistering at the Student Service Centre, I walked across the Harmonieplein and felt completely free and strong. Now when I pass the University I wonder how on earth I could have stuck it for so long.”

After six years and three different degree programmes, she went for her dream – a career in music.

She worked for six months, found a guitarist via Ichthus, her student society, and started playing and writing.

In mid-April she won both the

jury prize and the audience award at the Groningen Nootuitgang, a singer-songwriter competition organized by cultural student organisation USVA. In June she’ll be in Nijmegen in the quarterfinals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland (the biggest pop competition in the Netherlands).

“Music inspired by cracking wooden floors, sun-drenched fields and distant places.” That’s the one-liner she uses in the header of the mails she sends to programme-makers to describe her music. Her knowledge of communication certainly helps when mailing people, she says. “What information do you give first, what do you put left and right in

the sentence.” She’s thought long and hard about her approach tactics. “You have to let your enthusiasm shine through, but not force it down their throats.”

Tamar Lewis’s real name is actually Tamar Tanasale, but she felt that her real name was too private to use as her artiste’s name. She was called Liz for a while, but that didn’t feel quite right. “My father’s name is Louis, and when my mother suggested ‘Lewis’ I thought, why not?” Since then she’s used Tamar Lewis on stage. Did she find it hard to tell her parents that she’d stopped her degree?

A bit. “My father was immediately worried about my study debt, but he works for DUO (what used

to be the IB-Groep)”, she laughs.

“My parents are mainly glad that I’m happy. They don’t often burn the midnight oil, but they often come to my performances. They were shouting the loudest during Nootuitgang.” The audience award goes to the artiste with the highest applause decibels. Tamar won.

Because she has to earn some money, she cleans her parents’ house once a week. “That really helps because then I can keep on doing fun things.”

She can’t allow herself many treats, however. “I used to buy a lot of clothes, but now I go to second-hand shops first. I don’t have a car any more and we now really do do all our shopping at the Aldi.”

16 I N T E R N A T I O N A L P A G E

UK 33 - 20 MAY 2010

Limits to growth

Who

the

bleep

is...?

Ruben

Illustration Paul de Vreede

| r e p o r t | In 2015, there will be 5,000

Elmer Sterken (the Netherlands) Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business. Will succeed Professor Frans Zwarts as Rector Magnificus in March 2011.

“I think that at our Faculty, things are organized reasonably well. Four or five years ago, all the lecturers who are involved in our international programmes had to take a language test; people who failed were sent on a refresher course. In evaluations, students always indicate that the language proficiency of lecturers is quite good.

In general, you can say that the international education market is very competitive. And the competition is also in fields like housing and special facilities. You need to invest in that.”

Jesús Rosales (Mexico)

international students in Groningen – at least, that’s what the Board of the University wants. But is that realistic?

By Ernst Arbouw In the strategic plan for the next five years, which was presented in March 2010, the Board of the University put ambitions into words that are – well – quite ambitious. In five years’ time, the number of international students in Groningen is to grow from the current 2,000 to around 5,000 – with total student numbers growing from 27,000 to 30,000.

Is it possible to more than

ers, but I have no complaints.

International student housing is a serious pain in the backside in Groningen. I think they need to sort that out first. There is not enough housing to match the demand, the quality stands in no relation to what you pay and the facilities – like internet – are sometimes really bad.”

Nick Broekema (the Netherlands)

Did a Master’s degree in Groningen before doing a PhD at the Faculty of Economics and Business. Presenter of Happy Hour FM, a weekly radio show aimed at international students in Groningen.

Chairman of ESN Groningen international student organization.

“I agree with everything, except the bit about the English language proficiency of lecturers. The English in the lectures I followed as a student was very good. You can hear that the lecturers are not native speak-

“I don’t think there is a limit to internationalization. However, to be prepared for the growing number of international students, the university should internationalize internally. People need to think more

double international student numbers or is there an upper limit to internationalization?

UK asked students and staff with experience in internationalization to react to the following statement: “Internationalization has, at least for the moment, reached its maximum. Before the number of international students can grow any further, the university should first increase its capacity. There should be more and more adequate housing, more and better English language information on practical matters and, perhaps most importantly, the English language proficiency of lecturers has to improve.”

internationally. Moreover, the university should have more than just a lot of ambitions. There’s no clear policy on internationalization.

Things are done on an ad hoc basis, without central direction.

We need more and better facilities for international students. They can’t always find their way around the university because English language information is inadequate or lacking altogether.”

Roman Daukuls (Latvia) Student member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Economics and Business.

“If the aim is to deliver quality, then the university has to work on capacity. I don’t think you should

put a limit on the number of international students, but I also don’t think that the university should do international marketing and attract more and more students before student housing and other problems are addressed.

Personally, I didn’t have any problems with the language proficiency, but I did hear other students complain. I think the difference is that I am not a native speaker, whereas the students who complained were mostly from English-speaking countries.”

A nine-year-old Dutch boy called Ruben found himself catapulted to international fame last week as the sole survivor of a plane crash near Tripoli, Libya. The boy had been on a safari trip to South Africa with his family to celebrate his parents’ wedding anniversary, when their plane, an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330, crashed just before landing for a stopover in the Libyan capital. Ruben’s parents and his older brother Enzo, 11, were amongst the 103 victims of the accident.

The young boy suffered fractures but he is said to be doing “reasonably well”.

On Friday, the Netherlands’ largest newspaper, De Telegraaf, caused a public outrage by publishing an interview with the little boy – no more than a few short quotes, to be fair. Apparently, the journalist had phoned the hospital and the attending doctor handed the phone to Ruben, at which point the journalist managed to squeeze in a few questions.

The public outcry following the publication prompted the newspaper’s editor to more or less apologize for the publication. In a statement, the newspaper said it decided to publish the interview because Ruben is “a symbol of hope”. That may be the case in the eyes of De Telegraaf, but it remains to be seen if Ruben feels the same when he realizes the full extent of what has happened. [ Ernst arbouw ]

Tanya Dolis (Germany) Psychology PhD student and University Council candidate for the GSb. “The GSb is certainly in favour of more internationalization, but there are important points that need improving, especially language. To give an example: as a PhD student I have a little office at the Faculty.

One morning, I came in to work and everything had been moved, so I thought I had been burgled.

It turned out that it had been the window-cleaners. There had been an e-mail asking people to make room for them, but that was only in Dutch.

When I raised the matter with the Dean, he just said it would be a lot of work to translate everything into English. In the end, a colleague and I made a little questionnaire which we sent to other PhD students. It turns out that a lot of people run into exactly the same problem. It is really worrying to see people reply: ‘I hate it here; I feel like I’m not important’.”

Mudwalking If you like mud, salt water and getting dirty in the great outdoors, than the annual ESN mud-walking trip on 29 May is without a doubt the social highlight of the year. The excursion, under the supervision of professional guides, will take you onto the tidal flats of the Wadden Sea, north of Groningen.

The trip includes lunch at a local café and a visit to the Pieterburen Seal Rehabilitation Centre. For more information, go to www.esn-groningen.nl