Campus highlights

African Week Celebration at UCT

The Awake the African Spirit Society invites you to join in the celebration of African Week (May 21 to 27) on campus. This week-long celebration coincides with Africa Day which will be on May 25. The society aims to contribute to and enhance UCT's vision of a world-class African university through celebrating culture, dress, dance, poetry, food, literature, and language. For this year's African week celebration, the society is inviting each faculty, department or unit to undertake any activity within their place to commemorate the event on a given day during the week. The celebration might be in the form of a lunchtime seminar, decorating the offices with African wares, or showing a short film or documentary. Also remember to dress in African attire on Fridays.

Course unlocks innovation

The UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) Executive Education unit launches a brand new course this May that aims to help South Africans at all levels in organisations re-think and re-energise how they work and perform.

The course, Smart Strategy, will give individuals a sound grounding to think and act more strategically and so more creatively and innovatively to meet the challenges their organisations face. The tools provided will be practical, focusing on achieving results. According to Jonathan Foster-Pedley, Director of the new programme, it's an opportunity for people at all levels to break the mould and become a source of fresh ideas. He says that strategy is a misunderstood phenomenon and as a result it is a blunt tool for most organisations. It's no surprise then that an estimated 80% of strategic plans fail at the implementation phase.

The programme runs over three days from May 15 to 19 in Cape Town. Go to www.gsb.uct.ac.za/smartstrategy or contact Aniesah on (021) 406 1094 for information.

Public lectures by young academics

This is a reminder of the public lectures by the five young academics who received UCT Fellows' Awards last year. On Tuesday, May 9, Dr Natasha Distiller will talk on Material Culture: Shakespeare in South African Schools. The second speaker will be Assoc Prof Fiona Ross on Bearing Witness: Women and the TRC .

Wednesday, May 10, features Dr Tania Douglas, with a lecture titled Faces and Brains: Shapes of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The second speaker will be Prof Bongani Mayosi, with a lecture titled Genetic Susceptibility to Cardiovascular Disease: Hype and Hope. The third speaker will be Dr Justin O'Riain on Inbreeding, Dispersive Morphs and Queens in a Mammal.

All lectures will take place between 13h00 and 14h00 in Zoology LT2. Each person will speak for about 15 minutes, with five minutes for questions.

Seven-year contract

The UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) has awarded Protea Hotels Empowerment Consortium exclusive rights to run its Breakwater Lodge hotel for a further seven years, it announced this month. The hotel forms part of the business school's Waterfront campus in Portswood Road.

The Breakwater Lodge Hotel has an 80% year-round occupancy rate and has been under the management of Protea since January 2002.

Built on the historic site of the old Breakwater prison, the hotel provides comfortable and affordable accommodation to visiting students and delegates at the business school as well as to tourists and corporate travellers.