Briefs

Habitat For Humanity builds the nation

From June 22-29, 150 youth from South Africa, the US and Ireland will converge in the township of Masiphumelele near Noordhoek to build seven houses during Habitat for Humanity's International Student Build. Dedicated youth will build alongside home-owners to provide decent, simple housing for those in need. The week-long build will be driven by members of UCT's Habitat Club as well as the University of Stellenbosch Habitat Maties and the Cape Technikon. During the week other events, such as a township soccer tournament, are planned to increase community awareness and spirit. Volunteers will also get a chance to visit some of Cape Town's most famous tourist attractions. For more information please contact Megan Brooke on 073 146 0722 or e-mail brkmeg001@mail.uct.ac.za.

Association of African Universities conference

The 11th general conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) is scheduled to take place at UCT from February 21-25, 2005. Apart from sessions devoted to the conduct of the AAU business, there will be a major scientific symposium on the general theme Transnational Provision and the Future of Higher Education in Africa. In addition to keynote addresses, there will be papers and presentations dealing with three sub-themes: the autonomy of national education systems, access limitations and private sector involvement in higher education in Africa, and assuring quality in transnational higher education. You can register online at www.aau.org/gc/.

Local hospitals combine resources to benefit patients

Rehabilitation and cancer treatment in the Western Cape are likely to get a welcome healthcare boost when the UCT Private Academic Hospital and the Southern Cross Hospital in Wynberg combine their services. In a statement issued on May 19, Riël du Toit, CEO of UCT Private Academic Hospital, announced that the services of the Southern Cross Hospital would be relocated to the UCT hospital. Du Toit said the boards of both hospitals had agreed in principle to the relocation and that the decision would be made final once legal and financial arrangements had been concluded. For this reason, the exact date of the relocation is not yet known. UCT Hospital, a joint venture between UCT and the private sector, is the only new generation hospital of its kind in the Western Cape. It has been running in its current format since August 2002. It provides hospital facilities for doctors and academics employed by UCT and Groote Schuur Hospital who have permission to provide services to private patients. Southern Cross hospital is probably best-known for its excellent oncology, spinal and physical rehabilitation units.

Medals galore at UCT Tower of Babel

The School of Languages and Literatures sang the praises of the top students from its many 2003 courses at a recent awards ceremony. The outstanding undergraduates from the school's respective sections - African languages, Afrikaans, classics (which includes Arabic, Latin and Greek studies), French, German and Italian - were showered with class medals, cash prizes, book awards and the occasional scholarship at the event. Paige Dorkin (medals in classics and French), Saskia Read (medals in French, German and Italian) and Cara Shapiro (a medal for French and the Friulian scholarship for top intensive student continuing with Italian II) featured among the multi-award winners at the event. The consuls general from France, Germany and Italy joined staff to celebrate the students' banner year. Below, Assoc Prof David Wardle, director of the school, shares a moment with Shapiro (left) and Read after the formalities.