People

New sporting success

The University of Essex Mentoring scheme has been running successfully for the past three years and has now spawned a sporting sibling.

Widening Participation Officer Ben Fowler and Julie Goreham, Volunteer Co-ordinator at the Students' Union, have joined forces with a local school to offer undergraduate students at Essex the opportunity to gain vital sports coaching experience.

Sports Mentors Peter Francis and Joe Edwards 
with mentees from the Sir Charles Lucas School

The aim is that through the medium of sports activities and coaching, trained mentors will help break down the school pupils' preconceptions of further and higher education and make the idea of university life appealing.

Ben Fowler explained: 'The project will run as a sports mentoring scheme, with sporting activities and coaching skills used to develop a foundation upon which effective mentoring can take place.'

The scheme is running as a pilot this year with a view to rolling out the programme to further schools next year. Three students have started Sports Mentoring at the Sir Charles Lucas School and are excited at the prospect of gaining vital coaching experience.

Joe Edwards, a first-year Government student and University Football Team member, has just started as a Sports Mentor: 'As a Sports Mentor we had the normal Mentor training with everyone else involved on the scheme, however, we are really lucky as we will instantly have sport as a shared interest upon which to build a positive relationship with our mentees. I hope to be able to help those students who are attempting to balance a love of sport with the need to get academic results.'

Alice Gilkes, a final-year US Studies student and a keen Hockey Club member, added: 'During school we all had to strike the correct balance between our sports interest and study time, so I suppose we will be role models for the pupils although, that is a very scary prospect indeed! Seriously, we will be there to answer any questions the students may have about sports at University and the benefits of University in general.'

 

New appointment for Professor

Professor Jules Pretty has been appointed to a search and nomination panel to establish an international Science Council for agricultural research.

The new Science Council (SC) will oversee the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It will be composed of 7 eminent biological, physical, and social scientists and development experts, and will be appointed by 1 July 2003. The SC will ensure the quality and relevance of science practiced meets world-class scientific standards.

The CGIAR is a network of 16 international agricultural research centers. It is the largest publicly-funded research consortium serving developing countries and has an annual budget of $350 million. It employs 8500 staff, including more than 1000 scientists, in 100 countries.

The Search and Nominations Committee has a world wide membership and is chaired by Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan of the Third World Academy of Science.

Also in the printed February edition of Wyvern:

• Tackling UK car prices

• Marathon challenge

• Double honour