University of Essex in the press...

Monday 26

We can help prevent global food shortage
Tom Parkes from the Gazette speaks to Professor Jules Pretty from the Centre for Environment and Society about how the easy availability of produce may be lulling us into a false sense of security and how land-owners in Essex could play their part by taking more land into agriculture.
Gazette

Facing up to the impact of wars
A series of talks will take place in Colchester as part of the Queen and Country exhibition which is currently showing at the University of Essex. The talks range from the role of war artists in the 21st century to psychological strains of the Great War and what home meant to British Soldiers and finally, Conflict and Pipe Bands: the troubles in Northern Ireland.
Gazette

Findings in enzyme research reported from University of Essex
Dr Maria Mason and colleagues from the Department of Biological Sciences have had a study published in the Biochemical Journal on The steady-state mechanism of cytochrome c oxidase: redox interactions between metal centres.
Proteomics Weekly
News RX.com

Findings in mental health reported from University of Essex
Professor Amanda Sacker from the Institute for Social and Economic Research has had a study published in Psychosomatic Medicine which looks at how socioeconomic position influences physical and mental health dynamics. The Whitehall II study of civil servants collected questionnaires on six occasions from 1991/93 to 2006/07.
Pharma Business Week
Health and Medicine Week
Mental Health Weekly Digest
Biotech Business Week
News RX.com
Drug Week
Obesity, Fitness and Wellness Week

Sunday 25

International auditing who makes sure the accountants are accountable?
Professor Prem Sikka, Professor of accounting at the University of Essex, said the rules of accountancy were stuck in the industrial era when it was easy to value tangible assets. He argues the profession has failed to adjust to the post-industrial age where assets are harder to value. Professor Sikka argues that auditors should be answerable to a public body rather than the fee-paying client and that accounts should be capable of being drafted like bank statements on a daily basis to give investors and the public better clarity. Read the article here.
The Guardian

In defence of life
Jamaican Writer, John Maxwell writes in his column about how a personage as august and unlikely as the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, launched his campaign for the breaking up of the big banks, plus tough, new regulations to force them to behave more like banks and less like the Mafia. In his drive to break up the banks, Mr King joins a distinguished assemblage on this side of the Atlantic including Professor Prem Sikka from the University of Essex. Read the article here.
Jamaica Observer

Saturday 24

Infidelity? Most readers wouldn’t dream of it
Has infidelity lost its sex appeal? Forget the titillating headlines and popular culture “norms”, marital affairs remain strictly off-limits — at least for most Times readers. Maybe we are getting better at sticking together. In his book Changing Relationships, Malcolm Brynin, of the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, claims that the proverbial seven-year itch does not start until couples have been married for at least 11 years. He suggests that we should view relationships “as more fluid than in the past”. Read the article here.
The Times

How we used the internet to tell the story of the internet
Late in the summer we began a project to tell the story of the internet using the internet. It is published today as an interactive people's history from that first Arpanet connection in 1969 to the events of 2009. The history also includes people who put the technology to new uses - Dave Hughes, who turned the bulletin board to political purposes in Colorado Springs in the early 1980s (Roger's Bar), or Richard Bartle at Essex University who co-created multi-user online gaming (MUD) in the late 1970s. Read the article here.
The Guardian

Friday 23

Doug Richard - Biography
Find out more about Honorary Graduand Doug Richard and the School for Start-ups events he is holding, one of which is in Colchester and is funded by the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) and the University of Essex.
Fresh Business Thinking.com

All aboard the insolvency gravy train
Insolvency practitioners are making vast sums out of the recession ... and leaving creditors with pennies. Read Professor Prem Sikka's article here.
The Guardian

Appearing live at the Lakeside
The latest season on shows at Essex University's Lakeside Theatre has been announced and the £800,000 revamp of the Lakeside should be finished by the end of the month with the autumn programme starting on 2 November.
Essex County Standard

Historic Hythe reflects the big changes
As part of the Colchester from the Air series, the Gazette profiles the Hythe and talks about the University of Essex.
Essex County Standard

Hed Kandi's Ibiza Uni Party
A sweet night of funky house at its finest will be heading to the University of Essex this weekend when the record label and music brand Hed Kandi will be visiting the Colchester campus.
Gazette

Thursday 22

Hallowscream
Essex Arts Graduate Laura Marshall hopes to make this a hair-raising Halloween for hundreds of visitors to Britain's most fearsome attraction, the London Dungeon. Laura is one of the actors in its special Halloween show, the Scare Witch Trials.
Daily Mirror

Wednesday 21

New drive to fight world hunger
Britain's national academy of science is calling for a multi-billion-dollar research program on global food security. The Royal Society says genetically modified plants should be an essential tool for feeding the world by 2050. Royal Society research team member, Professor Jules Pretty, says the team took into account a number of changes that are expected in coming decades, such as climate change, massive rises in world population, and new consumption patterns.
Voice of America
Thai News Service

Call for publicly funded research into GM crops
The Government should provide £2 billion worth of funding to increase food crop production in the UK, says the UK's premier scientific institution - The Royal Society. 'The predictions for climate change are that Northern Europe is going to become one of the major bread baskets of the world,' said report co-author Professor Jules Pretty. 'The capacity for our agriculture to be successful is going to be important for us but increasingly for the world as well.' Read the article here.
The Ecologist

Scarcity fuelling mass migration
A predicted rapid rise in global population to 8 billion by 2030 is set to unleash a “perfect storm’’ of food shortages, scarce water and energy crises that would fuel mass migration, conflict and unrest, British scientists have warned. Professor Jules Pretty of the University of Essex said he believes that the general premise of a number of critical problems coming together is correct but said setting 2030 for the date “is rhetorical.’’ “We don’t know whether things will become critical in 2027 or 2047 – no one has any idea – but within the next generation, these things are going to come to pass unless we start doing things differently,’’ Pretty said. Read the article here.
Manila Bulletin

Tuesday 20

The danger of ‘Nabucco complacency’ in Turkey-EU relations
Read an article written by H. Akın Unver who is a PhD candidate at the University of Essex.
Turkish Daily

'We allow staff to give feedback - and they most certainly give it’
Read an interview with Deborah Baker, Essex History and Government Graduate and now Director for People with BSkyB.
People Management

Dying child court case
The NHS in North East Essex have been taken to the High Court over claims they're not doing enough to support a dying 6 year old boy who needs 24 hour care. In recent months the child's health has deteriorated significantly and he is now considered to be in the end of life stages of his illness. The Children's Legal Centre has been given permission to start a judicial review on behalf of the child's mum.
Heart 102.6
East Anglian Daily Times
Ipswich Evening Star
Gazette

Social, Gender Rights in Mexico discussed at West Virginia University College of Law
Essex Sociology graduate Katya Rodriguez is a Professor of Sociology and political Science at University of Guanajuato, Mexico and will be speaking about social rights and divisions in Mexico.
US Federal News

An audience with Alison
Read an interview with East 15 graduate and Honorary Graduate, Alison Steadman.
Lancashire Life

Business leaders turn out for finance for growth seminar
More than 150 people representing 85 businesses packed in to the Weston Community Stadium in Colchester for a seminar entitled 'How to Grow Your Business and Prosper'. Professor Heather Höpfl from the University's Business School gave a presentation on 'Growth Through People'.
East Anglian Daily Times

First-class battle
Professor Geoffrey Alderman and Roger Brown have fired off a letter to Professor Colin Riordan, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Essex and author of the recent HEFCE report accusing the committee of "simply skating around" crucial issues.
The Guardian

Rural Commission gives a call for action
The Essex Rural Commission, chaired by Professor Jules Pretty from the University of Essex have published their long-awaited report on the future of the county's rural areas.  The findings will also influence the new Essex Rural Strategy, due for publication in late November.
Essex Life

Monday 19

Tories fail the tax test
The Conservatives would create only loopholes when a total reform of the tax system is needed, says Professor Prem Sikka. Read his article here.
TRIBUNE

Psytechnics CTO to speak at VoiceCon San Francisco
Psytechnics, a leader in voice and video performance management for managed service providers and enterprises announced its sponsorship at VoiceCon San Francisco 2009. Psytechnics CTO, Dr. Mike Hollier, will also be discussing how and why traditional QoS (quality of service) based network, VoIP, and video management tools just don't cut it when it comes to managing service levels from a user quality of experience perspective. Dr Hollier is an Essex graduate and was Alumnus of the Year in 2006.
PR-USA

University of Essex is Jump Starting Small Business says Doug Richard
Doug Richard, Dragons' Den investor and serial entrepreneur delivered his "Get Started Right & Grow Fast Now" Master Class to more than a hundred entrepreneurs at the University of Essex Saturday October 10th.  The class was offered free to start ups and struggling small business owners in the Essex area under the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF).
PRLog
Media Syndicate
Open PR

Friday 16

Town's bid to be UK Culture Capital
Southend is set to compete with Manchester, Durham and Derby to become the first UK Capital of Culture in 2013.  Southend Council believe that investment by the University of Essex in converting the old Clifftown United Reformed Church into a base for the East 15 acting school are one of the many compelling reasons for Southend to be given the accolade.
Echo

Business Diary Dates
'Sales for Non-Sales People' and 'Using the Media More Effectively' are two courses which are being held at the University of Essex next month.
Essex County Standard

Let us entertain you at our new-look theatre
The people at the Lakeside Theatre at the University of Essex have certainly pulled it out of the bag for their latest season of shows and it might have something to do with the fact that they will have a swanky new theatre to put them on in. The £800,000 redevelopment of the Lakeside should be finished by the end of the month and the autumn programme will start on 2 November.
Gazette

Actors' bag pack
A group of performers from the University of Essex Theatre Arts Society will be doing a fundraising bag pack at Sainsbury's in a bid to raise cash to enter a drama competition.
Gazette

Thursday 15

Will election spell an end to agency's work?
If the Tories come to power next year the East of England Development Agency could be no more as getting rid of Government agencies and quangos has become one of the party's main aims.  Over the past five years, the East of England Development Agency has invested £30 million in Southend - some of this has been spent on University of Essex projects such as the new campus building and Clifftown Studios. Read the article here.
Echo
Basildon and Wickford Recorder
Chelmsford Weekly News
Brentwood Weekly News
Thurrock Gazette
Gazette

Obituary for Professor Dennis Marsden
Read an obituary for Essex Sociology, Professor Dennis Marsden.
THE

Basildon burger is about to hit town
The Basildon burger just got reborn and in comes a lean and healthy alternative burger, made from venison. The new style Basburger is the advance guard for a wave of new caff and takeaway recipes and are primed to be more appetising, but they are also the key to a serious health mission. A line-up of food activists which includes a leading Essex chef, a nutrition consultant, and a statistician from Essex University who will monitor progress of the campaign. Read the article here.
Echo
Basildon and Wickford Recorder
Brentwood Weekly News

Essex debugging technology wins EEDA funding
UltraSoC Technologies, a pioneer of next-generation debugging technology for embedded systems, has been awarded a grant from the East of England Development Agency. The grant will part-fund an eight month project, of value up to £115k, to assess the technology and commercial feasibility of an innovative system which will be a key part of UltraSoC’s debugging platform. Read the article here.
Business Weekly
Electronic Specifier
Embedded Europe

The man who saved the mansion
Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich could have been knocked down and replaced by a row of terrace houses but for banker Felix Cobbold.  No-one seemed to know very much about him. So Rosalind Thomas sought to find out - sacrificing Saturday after Saturday to trawl through old newspapers such as the EADT in a bitterly cold basement at the University of Essex. Read the article here.
Ipswich Evening Star
East Anglian Daily Times

THE Book of the Week
Professor Jules Pretty from the Centre for Environment and Society reviews 'Nature's Ghosts' by Mark V Barrow, Jr. Read his review here.
THE

Vox Populi
Thomas Scotto, Lecturer in Government at the University of Essex will quiz residents of six different countries on foreign policy issues. About 3,000 people from the UK, USA, France, Canada, Germany and Italy will have the chance to contribute to the study which will be of use to academics, political analysts and politicians.
THE

This is how I want the world to remember my Paul
The work by Turner prize-winning Steve McQueen shows pictures of 155 dead servicemen and women as facsimile postage stamps and is on display at the University of Essex. The artist has said he considers the work unfinished until the stamps are issued and Gemma Long, Widow of Paul Long who is featured on one of the sheets of stamps, visited the exhibition to add her support to the campaign.
Gazette
Essex County Standard

Past mistakes
Whatever the genuine lessons of history, policymakers constantly make opportunistic use of the past to justify their decisions. Matthew Reisz introduces a team of historians who are fighting back against the 'Bad History' all around us and one of these is Professor Vic Gattrell from the University of Essex. Read the article here.
THE

University of Essex
A National Express East Anglian Class 321 train  has been named 'University of Essex' at a ceremony at Southend Victoria Station. The train will serve both Colchester and Southend.
Gazette

Go! Live Music
The University of Essex hosts an Essex Rocks event in the Top Bar on Saturday with Jonas Graile and special guests.
Go!

Great minds turn their attention to great Breifne!
Belturbet historian, Dr. Brendan Scott, is passionate about history, so organising a conference in Cavan County Museum last August, where he worked, was a dream task. To launch the resultant book in the museum a couple of weeks ago was "special". One of the contributors to the book was Dr Clodagh Tait from the Department of History at the University of Essex.
The Anglo-Celt

Marriage key to finding new job
Being married is more important than education or having a mortgage in helping the unemployed get back to work, a study revealed yesterday. The study, by the Office for National Statistics and published in Economic & Labour Market Review, looked at the work histories of 2368 men between 1991 and 2006, which were recorded in the British Household Panel Survey.
Advertiser (Australia)
Daily Mail

Wednesday 14

War widow's plea to Royal Mail
The widow of a Colchester-based soldier killed in Iraq yesterday added her voice to calls for those who died in the recent military campaign to be commemorated on a series of postage stamps. Gemma Long, whose husband Paul was gunned down in June 2003, made her comments as a major work by war artist and Turner Prize winner Steve McQueen OBE was unveiled at Essex University. The Royal Mail has so far rejected calls for the soldiers to be remembered on stamps, saying a survey had shown 75% of Army families felt that it would be both distressing and disrespectful to use images of recently deceased servicemen and women on mail. Read the article here.
Ipswich Evening Star

Library-goers get to grips with Chinese culture
Visitors had the chance to delve into Chinese culture at two workshops held at Southend library, which were run in association with the University of Essex as part of the Chinese festival. People had the chance to learn basic Mandarin, watch a demonstration of Kung Fu and look at the Chinese tea tradition. The event was hosted by Dr Jun Li, from the University of Essex.
Echo
Brentwood Weekly News

Basic Equipment Gets Kids Active
A University of Essex study has found that giving children basic sports equipment could help reduce obesity.Researchers from the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science found that where basic equipment was introduced at two Colchester primary schools during break times, activity levels increased significantly, while orienteering sessions boosted self-esteem as well as raising activity.
Heart Radio

Scientists see perfect storm of scarcity driving migration
A predicted rapid rise in global population to 8 billion by 2030 is set to unleash a "perfect storm" of food shortages, scarce water and energy crises that would fuel mass migration, conflict and unrest, British scientists have warned. Read comments by Professor Jules Pretty from the Centre for Environment and Society here.
Top News.in
Monsters and Critics

Pupils build robot racers
Teams of youngsters were challenged to build their own battery-powered Roman racing machines at the fifth annual Colchester Robot Chariots event, held at Colchester County High School for Girls. The event was organised by Colchester Engineering Society to inspire more youngsters to follow careers in engineering, manufacturing and electronics.
All the youngsters involved had a treat when John Woods, from the University of Essex, brought along some advanced robots during the lunch break for a demonstration.
Gazette

 Vertical crop system is piloted
A new vertical method for growing crops which claims to use less land and only five per cent of the water usually needed is being piloted at a Devon zoo.
The system grows plants in trays of water moving on a conveyor belt.
Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, said the vertical crop system seemed like a "welcome innovation" but was still a "relatively high energy user." Read more here
BBC News Online

Tuesday 6

Dragon Doug's bootcamp helps encourage new entrepreneurs
Doug Richard has set his sights on Essex as he brings his School for Start-ups to the county. They are open to everyone who has started or is thinking of starting a business and Doug will be revealing his six rules for start-ups and lessons he has learned during 25 years in business.
Gazette
Maldon and Burnham Standard
Clacton, Frinton and Walton Gazette
Braintree and Witham Times
Chelmsford Weekly News
Harwich and Manningtree Standard
Halstead Gazette
Echo
Thurrock Gazette

Shock floor posters warn students of binge boozing
Bar bosses have installed life-like vinyl posters on the floor of toilets which appear to show sozzled scholars who have collapsed in the cubicles. Paid for by drinks giant Diaego Great Britain, the stunt is on trial at tent universities to underline the risks of binge drinking.
Gazette
Maldon and Burnham Standard
Clacton, Frinton and Walton Gazette
Braintree and Witham Times
Chelmsford Weekly News
Harwich and Manningtree Standard
Halstead Gazette
Echo
Thurrock Gazette

New international studies study findings from the University of Essex
Professor Thomas Plümper from the Department of Government and colleagues have published their study 'Why is There No Race to the Bottom in Capital Taxation' in International Studies Quarterly.
Science Letter

Monday 5

Sub Zero is hotting up
Freshers Week starts at Essex University tonight with some of the biggest DJ names in the business coming to the Colchester campus. Zane Lowe, Sash and Edith Bowman will be entertaining students this week.
Gazette

School for start-ups
After a hugely successful series of entrepreneurial workshops across the UK, original BBC Dragon, Doug Richard is bringing his School for Start-ups to Essex. Designed to inspire budding entrepreneurs at a time of recession, Doug's master-classes at Southend and Colchester are funded by the Economic Challenge Investment Fund and the University of Essex.
Colchester Connected

Graduating into the world of work
The University of Essex are offering new graduates and current students a brand new Short Work Placement Scheme, starting in September 2009. The University's Research and Enterprise Office is running the placement scheme with money from the government's Economic Challenge Investment Fund.
Colchester Connected

Future homes: Winning the space race:
A new report 'The Future of the Home', commissioned by DIY giant B&Q to celebrate its 40th birthday says that according to B&Q's predictions, this is the age most children will finally be leaving home, although they'll be popping back now and again, each time they get divorced. "Parents are likely to feel there should be space for their children to return to, perhaps at any time,'' says Malcolm Brynin, principal research officer with the Institute for Social and Economic Research, at the University of Essex. "Even 30 or 40-year-old divorcees with nowhere to go need to come back to the parental home,'' he adds. REad the article here.
The Telegraph

Saturday 3

The week ahead and The Military week ahead
Queen and Country: A Project by Steve McQueen opens at the University of Essex on Thursday.
The Times

Friday 2

Special Report Relocation East of England
The region is home to a dozen higher education institutions, including Cambridge, Cranfield, Essex, Hertfordshire and University of East Anglia (UEA) - all with strong industrial ties.
Management Today

Uni to take over old Southend church
The University of Essex will formally take over a former church in Southend next week and make it the new home of the East 15 Acting and Dance School.
Bob Mack, dean of the university’s Southend campus, told the Southend Business Partnership: “There will be a major show in the building in January, which is now called the Cliff Town Studios, when all our drama and dance students will be taking part. Read the article here.
Echo

Lifetime award for uni figure
The Chancellor of the University of Essex, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, has been presented with an award for his work in charity law.  Lord Phillips won the Luke Fitzherbert Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of more than 40 years' work.
Essex County Standard

Family's pleas for help and support fell on deaf ears
A family of nine who wanted to find their son some supported accommodation and a teenage mum talk about how the the Children's Legal Centre have helped them.
Essex County Standard

Clean way to behave
The Wivenhoe Society held its autumn clear-up of the stretch between Wivenhoe Station and the University of Essex and filled a skip with the rubbish they collected.
Essex County Standard

Hotel staff set to lose jobs before Christmas
Staff at Wivenhoe House Hotel have been told they will be made redundant on 24 December under new plans to turn the Hotel into a new Hotel school. The University spokesperson said "some members of staff have already found other roles elsewhere and a few have found roles at the university and those that can't find roles on campus will be helped to find alternative work".
Essex County Standard

University of Iowa Health Conference focuses on globalisation of drug therapies
Professor Paul Hunt from the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex and UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health will be discussing global drug development and appropriate and safe medication therapy as a human right presented via an interactive live video link from the University of Essex on Saturday 17 October.
US Federal News
 

Thursday 1

'Radical change' is needed to reassure public on standards
HEFCE's Teaching Quality and the Student Experience sub-committee, chaired by University of Essex Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Riordan, was set up to investigate concerns about standards raised last year. They have now published a report for HEFCE. Read the article here.
THE
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
BBC
The Daily Mail
The Times
London Evening Standard
Birmingham Post
Newcastle Journal
The Journal
The Independent
East Anglian Daily Times
ATL
The Journal

3banana Announces Winners of the 'Share To Win' Challenge and Awards $10,000 to Top 5 Non-Profits for Using Social Media To Rally Their Cause
3banana Inc., a leading innovator of mobile information capture solutions, announced today the winners of the "Share to Win" challenge, a crowdsourcing philanthropy contest sponsored by 3banana to identify and donate money to non-profit organizations based on their ability to spread their ideas online using the company's online and mobile note-taking software. Among the many organisations that were given a special mention was the Model UN Society at the University of Essex. Read the article here.
PR Web

Negotiating ‘depression’ in primary care: A qualitative study
Susan McPherson from the Department of Health and Human Sciences is one of the authors of a study which examines how GPs would construct ‘depression’ when asked to talk about those anomalous patients for whom the medical frontline treatment did not appear to be effective. Read the article here.
Science Direct

Over the hill at 35?
University of Essex lecturer Dr Kathleen Riach has claimed age discrimination is still rife "in some sectors, such as IT, individuals can be seen as over the hill as young as 35".
Gazette

'History goes on; human beings don't change very much'
Read an article about political philosopher John Gray who studied and eventually became Professor of Politics at the University of Essex.
THE

People
Martin Henson has been named first Dean of International Development at the University of Essex. Formerly Head of the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, in his new role Professor Henson will lead the development and implementation of the revised international strategy at Essex.
THE

September 2009

Wednesday 30

Dennis Marsden
Read an obituary for Dennis Marsden, former Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Fishery says no proof its oysters to blame for illness
The oyster company at the centre of a food poisoning row says it has been unfairly blamed after 529 people who ate at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant became ill.  Mersea’s Colchester Oyster Fishery, which supplied the restaurant was blamed amid accusations its oysters were affected with the norovirus. A spokesman for Anglian Water said: “Extensive studies have been undertaken by the Environment Agency, Anglian Water and Essex University, the latter part-sponsored by the fishery, and none found any clear link.
Maldon and  Burnham Standard
Essex County Standard

County council digs its heels over 20 hours’ respite for young carers
A disabled father says social services treat his children as nothing but numbers as they battle for better support as young carers. He and his children, aged just 11 and 13, have spoken publicly for the first time over their three-year legal fight for help from Essex County Council. Solicitors from the Children’s Legal Centre, in Colchester, took their case to the High Court earlier this month.
Clacton, Frinton and Walton Gazette

University campus is on target
The new 11-storey student accommodation block for the University of Essex, in London Road, Southend, is well on track for its scheduled opening in September next year.  The building, on the old South East Essex College site, will provide homes for 561 students, as well as a new underground car park which will be run by Southend Council. Read the article here.
Gazette

Noisy Neighbours blight householders
Problems with noisy or badly behaved neighbours have become more frequent over the past two years, reversing a decade of improving relations, according to a new report.
One in five homeowners has suffered ‘serious problems’ with their neighbour this year, research for Halifax Home Insurance found.
The report was based on a study of a British Household Panel Survey, which is based at ISER at the University of Essex, of neighbour disturbances over the past decade.
Guardian Online
Durham Times
Liverpool Daily Post
Malvern Gazette
…plus many other UK online news sites

 Another Essex graduate boosts Fiducia’s ranks
Colchester-based Fiducia Wealth Management has taken on the latest in a line of University of Essex graduates. Fresh from achieving a first class degree in economics, 22-year-old John Shea has joined the firm on a six-month internship.
Shea will work in Fiducias investment team alongside Gordon Kearney and Dean Aitchison, also Essex graduates.
CityWire