News

Essex graduates leading Costa Rica

Following a closely fought election, Essex graduate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias has been elected president of Costa Rica for a second time, with another Essex graduate taking one of the two Vice-President positions.

President Arias, who was previously in office between 1986 and 1990, had been predicted an easy victory but the election became one of the hardest-fought in four decades, with the leading candidates virtually neck-and-neck. Almost a month after the vote, and a manual recount and series of legal challenges, the competitor, Otton Solis, conceded defeat. President Arias was quoted on the BBC website as saying: ‘I thank the Costa Rican people for their confidence.’

Dr Arias studied for his PhD in Government at the University in the 1970s. One of his two Vice-Presidents is Kevin Roberto Casas Zamora, who completed his MA in Latin American Government and Politics at Essex in 1994.

The Costa Rican presidential election took place amid widespread disillusionment with politics in the country, after a string of corruption scandals. President Arias, who won his Noble Peace Prize in 1987 for spearheading talks to end civil wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador, was seen as a politician untainted by these scandals. As president, he intends Costa Rica to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) with the US. Costa Rica is currently the only country in the region to not have ratified this deal, which comes into effect later this year.

South African theatre pioneer heads new MA scheme

Brian Astbury, a pioneer of non-racial theatre in South Africa, is to head up East 15's new MA in Professional Theatre.

Brian Astbury co-founded South Africa’s first non-racial theatre and arts centre, The Space, which in the 1970’s the venue produced theatre, dance and exhibitions which broke apartheid taboos while also winning critical acclaim abroad.

After relocating to London, Brian went onto teach in some of the UK's best drama schools and headed the pioneering project, Arts Threshold.

With graduates including the award winning director of Billy Elliot Stephen Daldry, and writers April De Angelis and Julia Pascal, East 15 has a tradition of nurturing writing talent. The new MA aims to continue that tradition and create a new generation of writers and directors able to collaborate with actors and create new work for radio, TV, film and theatre.

Four directors and four playwrights will be enrolled each year who will work alongside actors. John Baraldi, Director of East 15 explained: 'By working alongside actors, we hope directors and playwrights will learn how to devise and to create new work collaboratively. By selecting a handful of committed directors and writers each year, we will concentrate on giving each a unique professional experience.'

Sociology works with sixth formers

Over 400 students from the Colchester Sixth Form College and other local schools attended the Department of Sociology’s third AS Level Sociology Conference last month.

The event aims to strike a productive balance between helping students to improve their AS exam performance and giving them the chance to look at their topics in a new way.

Dr Pam Cox, who organised the event, said: ‘Most students study standard units such as ‘the family’, ‘education’ or ‘crime.’ We take these units as a starting point but push them beyond the AS syllabus. For example, this year departmental staff spoke about cultural criminological approaches to crime reporting, as well as family practices in Bolivia and the British lesbian and gay community. We also offered subjects that were completely new to the students, such as human rights and the body.’

Departmental Assistant Camilla East added: ‘The conference gives teaching staff at BA and AS level the chance to keep up with each other’s fields and gives students a taste of university life. We hope it helps our undergraduate recruitment, too.’

Also in the printed April edition of Wyvern:

• Vice-Chancellor poses question
• Science fun for school pupils
• Volunteers needed for a good cause