The African university in the 21st century

Activist and intellectual Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, currently professor of African studies and history at Pennsylvania State University, will speak on The African University in the 21st Century: Future Challenges and a Research Agenda, at a public lecture of the African Gender Institute. The talk takes place at 12h30 on Wednesday, February 23, in seminar room 3A in the Graduate School in Humanities building on upper campus. Zeleza is the author of the two-volume African Universities in the Twenty-First Century and In Search of Modernity: Science and Technology in Africa.

Black and Blue on at the Baxter

The whimsical production Black and Blue is on at the Baxter Theatre Centre until February 26. Directed by Helen Iskander and James Cuningham, the production tells the story of Mrs Swart who spends hours alone in excruciating solitude after surviving a tragedy. That is until a knock on her door transforms her entire life. Black and Blue played to great acclaim and sold out performances at the Grahamstown Festival last year, and features versatile physical performer and award- winning actress Sylvaine Strike (also the voice of Cell C) and Daniel "Danny-Boy" Mooi.

Irma Stern exhibition

An exhibition by Malcolm Payne titled Illuminated Manuscripts will be housed at the Irma Stern Museum from February 23 until March 12. Payne's creative output includes painting, drawing, sculpture, video projection and printmaking. This exhibition focuses on new prints, notable for their brilliant colours. The subject matter is derived from objects of material culture, which at a glance bear no explicit significance, but convey messages of global disquiet manifest in HIV/AIDS, sanctimonious extremism and a warrior mindset. The artist has exhibited extensively both here and abroad. Q24 Spell was included in the New Prints 2004/Autumn exhibition at the International Print Centre, New York. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10h00 to 17h00. For further details phone 685 5686.

Dine fine

The Kaplan Cafeteria, tied to the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research, and the Medical Alumni Club Postgraduate Suite - aka the MAC Club - at Medical School have enjoyed some major makeovers over the past year. The Kaplan Cafeteria, which now boasts a bigger kitchen and more seating, not only offers the tastiest kosher meals, but also some other morsels prepared with a Cape twist. And to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the MAC Club last year, the Dean's Office and the Health Sciences Postgraduate Students Association (PGSA) chipped in for new features - benches and umbrellas on the patio, a plasma-screen television and a sound system - to make the venue suitable for both social gatherings and academic meetings. The PGSA is raising additional funds to extend these refurbishments and for other projects at the Medical School.

Month of Photography in town

The UCT-based South African Centre for Photography is hosting its third Cape Town Month of Photography

(MoP). The event, first staged in 1999, opened in February and runs until the end of March. MoP 2005 will be scattered around the city in public and private galleries, museums, shopping malls, community centres, libraries and restaurants, with the flagship exhibition at the Cape Castle. The exhibitions will be curated around several themes, including 10 Years of Democracy in South Africa. The works of South African, SADC and international photographers will be on show. Among these will be UCT graduate Mikhael Subotzky whose portfolio on Pollsmoor Prison earned him perfect marks in his final exams last year.

New developments at Brainbooks

The Brainbooks Group of Companies is proud to announce several new developments.

• Brainbooks is now a black empowered company with employees acting as shareholders of the company. Black employees hold 26% of Brainbooks and more than 35% of the company is held by female employees.
• Students no longer have to stand in long queues when purchasing textbooks as they can call the bookseller's call centre on 0861 002 002 and the books will be delivered, free of charge, within 24 to 48 hours at any PostNet or post office countrywide.
• Brainbooks has also launched a Brainbooks Gold Card that acts as a cash card, and users will qualify for discounts on airtime across all networks and on various stationery items. The card can also be used as a debit card, allowing parents and students to deposit money into the card before purchasing books, and as a credit card. Students can apply for a line of credit with the company.

Brainbooks UCT is situated in the Cissy Gool Plaza and is open from 08h00 until 17h00.

Old theories blown out of the water

The MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM) will host the International Hyponatraemia Consensus Symposium from March 23-24. World leaders in the field will gather to draft a consensus statement regarding exercise-associated hyponatraemia - low levels of sodium in the blood caused by drinking too much fluid during exercise. Five countries and 75 years of cumulative medical and research experience will be represented at the symposium. Staff are invited to attend the open presentations - free of charge - on March 23. The lectures will be held at the conference centre at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Newlands from 09h00-12h00, and 13h30-19h30. For more information, contact Lorraine Sivewright at tel 650 2459 or e-mail lorraine@sports.uct.ac.za.

Student Development hosts discussion

Dr Nico Cloete, director of the Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET), will present a paper on The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Student Development Practitioners in South Africa at the inaugural Dean of Students/Executive Director: SDSD's Discussion Forum. The gathering will be held on Thursday, March 10, from 14h00-16h00 in meeting rooms 1 and 2, Level 6, SDSD Building on upper campus.

Science awards up for grabs

Biologists, astronomers and physicists from the Western Cape are eligible for two new US $50,000 awards offering international recognition and visibility to the most outstanding scientists from developing countries. The new Trieste Prizes are a joint venture between the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World and the Italian coffee company Illycafé. Further details can be found at www.twas.org.

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