News

Chancellor retires

At the end of this month the University's Chancellor, Lord Nolan, will be stepping down after almost six years.

Lord Nolan was appointed Chancellor of the University in July 1997. During this time, he has seen almost 9,500 students graduate and presided over 40 degree congregations and 5 meetings of the University Court.

More broadly Lord Nolan has witnessed the continual growth and development of the University.

Over the past six years the University has expanded considerably, in its physical size and student numbers. The University embarked on its biggest building programme since the campus was built in the 1960s, including the completion of South Courts student accommodation, the Sports Centre extension and more recently the opening of Building 2001.

The University has also continued to climb the national league tables for both teaching and research and, following the recent Research Assessment Exercise, broke into the top ten universities in the country for the first time. The University also reached further beyond its Wivenhoe Park campus and incorporated East 15 Acting School in Loughton and forged a new partnership for Higher Education with South East Essex College in Southend.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivor Crewe, paid this tribute : 'The University is indebted to Lord Nolan for his commitment to the University during his time as Chancellor. He has taken a keen interest in the University's affairs and his period of office as Chancellor has coincided with a particularly successful period in the University's history.'

Lord Nolan
Lord Nolan was elected as the third Chancellor of the University in March 1997 following the retirement of Sir Patrick Nairne who served as Chancellor for fourteen years.

Lord Nolan was educated at Ampleforth in Yorkshire and at Wadham College, University of Oxford where he has been an Honorary Fellow since 1992. He served with the Royal Artillery from 1947 to 1949.

Called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1953, Lord Nolan was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1968. He became a Judge at the High Court of Justice from 1982 to 1991 and was Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit from 1985 to 1988. He was a Lord Justice of Appeal from 1991 to 1993.

In 1994 Lord Nolan was made a Life Peer and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He was knighted in 1982 and became a Privy Counsellor in 1991.

A leading expert on ministerial ethics and standards of conduct, Lord Nolan became a household name when he was asked to Chair the Committee on Standards in Public Life, established in 1994. The Committee was set up in response to concerns about the conduct of some politicians following the 'cash for questions' scandal in which it was alleged that some MPs were taking cash for putting down parliamentary questions. Following reports from the Committee, the Commons set up new machinery to oversee member's conduct. Lord Nolan retired from the committee in 1997.

In 2000 he was asked by the Roman Catholic Church to review its child protection procedures.

The review was set up following a series of allegations of child abuse by Catholic priests. The final report of the inquiry made a total of 83 recommendations to protect children and was welcomed by welfare organisations across the UK.

Democracy under Blair?

Has Britain become more democratic under 'President Blair'? That is the question posed by the Democratic Audit in Democracy under Blair, a follow-up audit of democracy and human rights in the UK.

The Audit's first two volumes, The Three Pillars of Liberty and Political Power and Democratic Control, both published in the late 1990's, analysed freedoms and democratic arrangements in the UK up until 1997. The new audit examines a wider range of democratic and human rights issues after five years of New Labour government. It finds that while the Blair government has introduced major reforms, like devolution and the Human Rights Act, it has also employed the huge and overweening powers of the British executive to make central government even more powerful.

The Democratic Audit is a research organisation that investigates the quality of democracy and political freedoms in the UK. Sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Audit is attached to the University's Human Rights Centre.

The audit was co-authored by Stuart Weir, Director of the Audit, along with David Beethan, who as acted as consultant to the audit, Ian Byrne, a Fellow of the Human Rights Centro and former research officer at the Audit, and Pauline Ngan, an Essex graduate who has also worked for the Audit.

Democracy under Blair provides a comprehensive democracy assessment, using the methodology that David Beetham and Stuart Weir developed for the inter-governmental organisation, international IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). This methodology covers the powers of government, state officials, the armed forces, intelligence agencies and the military; the ability of Parliament to check government, the State and Brussels; the autonomy of devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; the protection of economic and social as well as civil and political rights; the fairness of elections; the extent of corruption; participation in public life; and Britain's role abroad.'

Democracy under Blair was officially launched in London last month

International festivals on campus

To mark Mexico's national holiday Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, members of the University's Mexican Society recently set up a shrine in the Lecture Theatre Building foyer.

The Day of the Dead, a day on which Mexicans pray for and celebrate the lives of their lost loved ones, was marked by a number of Mexicans on campus who visited the shrine.

To mark Diwali, one of the biggest Indian festivals, about 75 staff and students celebrated in traditional Hindu style by lighting a candle-type light known as a diya, and setting off firecrackers.

The auspicious Indian festival celebrates the day the god Rama defeated Rawana, a victory of good over evil. To mark the event Professor Prem Sikka, Head of the Department of Accounting, Finance and Management, and a social worker, Dr Ram Vedya, delivered speeches about the purpose and importance of the festival.

Also in the printed December edition of Wyvern:

• Confusing and contradictory laws put children at risk
• University signs estuary strategy
• Children in Need