by Kirsti Buick | Mar 13, 2012 | News
The Science Stadium now has another R600 000 to add to its coffers, thanks to an ex-Witsie .
The Science Stadium, which hosted its first lectures in 2011, is due to be completed this year, with help from Esorfranki, a local engineering company, and its CEO Bernie Krone.
Bernie Krone, who graduated from Wits in 1975 with a degree in civil engineering, stressed the importance of maths and science for students hoping to pursue a career in engineering “For that reason, the correct and excellent infrastructure is important.”
“We are deeply grateful for the donation from Esorfranki,” said Vice-Chancellor Prof Loyiso Nongxa. “As a civil engineering company, you know the importance of quality infrastructure. At Wits, we firmly believe that the quality of the education we offer depends on the quality of the infrastructure with which our academics and researchers have to work.”
The structure is a renovated version of the former Charles Skeen Stadium, which was once a sporting venue.
The three-storey building is made up of chemistry, physics and biology laboratories. The facility accommodates 3500 students. The building is intended for first year science, physics, mathematics and engineering students
The stadium will be underpinned by a 30% increase in staff over the next five years. The project forms part of the R1,5-billion Wits infrastructure and development plan.
by Kirsti Buick | Mar 13, 2012 | News
- Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the past century.
- About 70% of freshwater is used for irrigation, 22% for industry and about 8% for domestic use.
- One in six people worldwide do not have access to safe freshwater.
- According to the UN, each person needs 20-50 litres of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning.
- Each person only requires 2-4 litres of water a day for drinking, but it takes 2 000 to 5 000 litres of water to produce enough food for one person for one day.
- A hundred litres of water is required for a five-minute shower.
- A hundred and forty five litres of water is required to produce one soft drink.
- Over a thousand litres of water is required to produce one hamburger.
- Africa has 9% of the world’s global water resources.
- Johannesburg Water experiences 3500 sewage blockages a month.
- Ninety-eight percent of Joburg residents have a reliable water supply.
by Kirsti Buick | Mar 6, 2012 | News
Academics this week backed the university’s opposition of the Protection of State Information Bill and its threat to academic freedom.
The university issued a statement backing Higher Education South Africa (HESA) urging the National Council of Provinces to reject the bill in its current form.
HESA noted much opposition has centred on the implications for the media.
The secrecy bill, as it is commonly known, was approved by the National Assembly in November last year.
The bill is still to be be debated before the National Council of Provinces.
It will announce its decision in April. If approved by the NCOP, the Bill will be passed into law.
Dr Mehita Iqani, a lecturer in the Wits media studies department, said:
“As the HESA statement rightly points out, the secrecy bill could also introduce very troubling constraints on academic freedom. It could discourage academics and students from researching certain issues of governance, policy making, service delivery and more.”
“It could close the door on research into corruption. The bill takes away the power of academia to act as another watchdog on political power.”
HESA said academics could face imprisonment for dealing with classified information even if that information is in the public interest.
“This will inevitably have a chilling effect on academic freedom,” the statement says.
One of the specific examples HESA uses is research in the field of law, which details how the bill would make research into court proceedings and critiques of court judgments “impossible”.
Prof Natania Locke of the Wits School of Law said the bill would make research in the field problematic:
“As an academic, all aspects of our daily working lives depend on the ability to speak our minds freely and to critically enquire into the fields that directly concern our disciplines,” said Locke.
“It is what we do, especially as legal academics.” According to Janeske Botes, an associate lecturer and PhD student in media studies,”academics will be affected as their research interests could clash with the bill.
“So crucial academic research which can have important ramifications on civil society will be blocked.”
“The media will not be able to inform the public of this, so we see a cycle of information suppression developing,” said Botes.
The HESA statement concludes with an acknowledgement that there is “information that should be kept secret to protect national security” but stresses that the bill, as it stands, will restrict the process of knowledge generation and place academic freedoms in jeopardy.
