SUSS-EX CLUB
NEWSLETTER No.17 NOVEMBER 2010
As you look through the Newsletter you will come across events which involve prior booking. Please respond promptly if at all possible! It helps the venues, and it helps our volunteers who make the arrangements.
The Suss-Ex Club and USPAS are holding a joint Christmas Party again for former staff and their guests on Wednesday 15 December, from 12.30-2.30, in the Meeting House Quiet Room an opportunity to catch up with friends and former colleagues.
USPAS members will receive a separate invitation via the USPAS Office, and to avoid confusion should respond to Tracey Llewellyn rather than using the form in this Newsletter.
Suss-Ex Club tickets are priced at ฃ6 each and include a buffet lunch and drinks. Book early to avoid disappointment. Please complete the form at the end of this Newsletter and return with a cheque or credit/debit card details by the closing date, Friday 3 December.
Organisation of the event largely depends on volunteers, so helpers will be needed on the day of the party to prepare the room and to clear up afterwards. Offers of help will be much appreciated: please contact Sue for details (email sue.bullock@hotmail.co.uk , or phone 01273 682133).
Better than a Thousand Words
6 for 6.30 pm, Friday 28 January 2011
Conference Centre, Level 3, Bramber House, University of Sussex
John Barrow was a member of staff at Sussex from 1981 to 1999 and is now Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He has written 20 books and has the happy knack of being able to communicate to both scientists and non-scientists. He was elected FRS in 2003 and his many awards have included the prestigious Templeton Prize in 2006 and an honorary degree from Sussex in 2010. He will talk about pictures that have influenced the development of science - a topic that he turned to in his book Cosmic Imagery and his recent lecture given on receipt of the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize. This is awarded for excellence in communicating scientific ideas in lay terms.
Welcome drinks will be served in the Conference Centre lounge at 6 pm, with Johns talk starting at 6.30 pm. This will be followed by a hot buffet supper (including drinks), at which there will be plenty of opportunity to catch up with friends and former colleagues.
There is a booking form at the end of this Newsletter, to be returned before Friday 14 January 2011. Current staff of the University as well as guests are welcome, so feel free to pass this information and booking form on to others.
ฎ THEATRE TRIP, early February 2011 ฎ
Here is the latest suggestion for a Suss-Ex trip to the Theatre Royal, Brighton. The play is Yes, Prime Minister not a repetition of the TV show, but an up-to-date version, which had a sell-out season at Chichester. The original writers of the BBC series, Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn, have reunited for this production, which stars Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey and David Haig as Jim Hacker. This should brighten a dull time of what promises to be a difficult year!
We can get a group reduction on the price of tickets for the performances listed on the form later in the Newsletter if at least ten people want to go. The price would be ฃ22.50 for Monday to Thursday evenings or the Saturday matinees, while the Thursday matinee would be ฃ16. (Note that, unusually, this run of performances starts on a Thursday.) Dinner together beforehand, or after a matinee, will be booked at Carluccios for those who would like it. continued on p.3
If you are interested, please let Jennifer Platt know by 8 December (preferably by email to j.platt@sussex.ac.uk - or phone 01273 555025, or post to Freeman Centre [n.b. no longer Arts D] on campus, or 98 Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton BN1 6HE). A booking needs to be made promptly to ensure that tickets are available, and your money then has to be sent in time for the total bill to be paid in advance; hence the lead time. Please use the slip at the end of the Newsletter: just mark all days/times which would be OK, number those in order of preference, and indicate the number of tickets wanted and whether you would like to join dinner before (evening) or after (matinee). You will be notified of the outcome very soon after 8 December.
Dr Robert Whittle
For those who knew Robert Whittle, his sudden death at the age of 68 on 23rd August 2010 was a real shock. Robert had many interests and talents. He was still enthusiastically planning to visit new places and undertake new ventures right up to the time of his death.
Robert came to Sussex in 1968 to work as a postdoctoral research fellow in Professor Jimmy Sangs laboratory, but soon obtained a permanent position as a lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences and later senior lecturer. Bobs research interest and that of the team was centred on the genetics and development of the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster. Bob retained this interest in the patterns of organism development over the whole of his working life at Sussex. I was fortunate to get to know him because I too was attached to the genetics group at that time working on ageing in blowflies, but more especially because in 1970 we were both partially seconded to the writing team of the Joint Universities Genetics Project based at the Open University. The outcome in 1974 was the publication of S299 Genetics by the OU.
Robert Whittle was a most likeable colleague with a great sense of humour. He was an excellent teacher and supervisor of students and for some time served as Sub-Dean. He was always willing to give help to anyone who requested it. As a result students and colleagues spoke very highly of him. He had a strong social conscience, but was always willing to listen to different views, even if he disagreed with them.
As well as his research and broad interests in biology, Bob had considerable talents within the Arts, especially painting and poetry. Last year for example, to celebrate the bicentenary of Darwins birth in February 1809, Robert wrote an extended poem (12 cantos) on Darwin and the London Underground. His interest in painting started in his teenage years and as well as his SciArt he describes the majority of his paintings as follows: I attempt to convey ideas and images by design in watercolour and black ink, somewhat like a plan for a piece of stained glass. Several of his paintings have been exhibited in galleries and take on board a variety of subjects or recall phases in his life - for example, his academic research links with Spain and time spent in that country.
Robert Whittle was a multi-talented man, who was a great protagonist in bringing together ideas within the Arts and the Sciences. He also used his arts-science experience to put together some very stimulating and wide-ranging seminars for the interdisciplinary Human Sciences degree.
He wrote and directed a memorable series of pantomimes. The plots tended to the surreal, and the memories of the participants are probably more focused on the rather unlikely mix of costumes that resulted.
Although he will be greatly missed his lifes work remains still, to be seen and read.
Mike Tribe
Maureen Weller, 1937-2010
Maureen Weller joined the Library staff in the golden age, on 2nd August 1965. Her appointment, together with that of five others, including Madeline Peasgood and myself, represented the expansion of the University in the mid sixties. Stages 1 and 2 of the Library had been completed some months before our arrival and in a pre-computer library, one of Maureens responsibilities was the production of book records on 5x3 catalogue cards, and filing those cards each morning into the catalogue drawers (Spence designed) that dominated the ground floor catalogue hall. She also had subject responsibility for the geography book stock, working with Professor Tom Elkins to build up those collections. Maureen came to Sussex from a public library background and left us in 1972 to continue her career in the West Sussex Library Service from which she retired in 1996. However her experience of higher education at Sussex did not deter her from later studying for a degree with the Open University. Never in good health, Maureen still managed to enjoy many interests, including a love of downland walking, spinning, dyeing and weaving, music, reading, gardening and food. I considered her an expert on wild flowers. She died suddenly at her home in Shoreham on 12th August.
David Kennelly
Additional 2009 publications
See also the lists in Newsletters 15, 16.
Christopher
J. Arthur
The Concept of Money in Karl Marx and Contemporary Philosophy,
eds A.
Chitty and M. McIvor, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
The Possessive Spirit of Capital: Subsumption/Inversion/Contradiction
in Re-reading Marx: New perspectives after the critical edition,
eds Riccardo Bellofiore and Roberto Fineschi, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Suss-Ex activities are organised by a steering committee, which currently comprises:
Gordon Conway, Chair G.Conway@imperial.ac.uk
Robert Benewick r.j.benewick@sussex.ac.uk
Sue Bullock sue.bullock@hotmail.co.uk
Jackie Fuller jkfuller21@hotmail.com
Charles Goldie c.m.goldie@sussex.ac.uk
Arnold Goldman a.goldman@cowbeech.f9.co.uk
Jennifer Platt J.Platt@sussex.ac.uk
Steve Pavey miniperson2003@yahoo.co.uk
Adrian Peasgood adrian@peasgood.plus.com
David Smith j.d.smith@sussex.ac.uk
Ken Wheeler kenneth.wheeler@ukonline.co.uk
We are always seeking ideas for social occasions when we can meet former colleagues. Please let us have your suggestions or volunteer to join the committee. We meet once a term, when practicable immediately before a Suss-Ex event.
Please complete this form and return by 3 December with a cheque or credit/debit card details to
Sue Bullock, 104 Bonchurch Road, Brighton BN2 3PH,
if you are paying by card, the form and card details may be returned by email to: sue.bullock@hotmail.co.uk
Your details
Name(s)... .
Address
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Phone number
Email address.
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Please book place/s at ฃ6 each Total ฃ |
ƒ I enclose a cheque for ฃ .. (payable to University of Sussex).
ƒ Please charge my debit / credit / Maestro card with ฃ ..
Valid from....................to.................... Maestro issue number
Security Code (last 3 numbers on signature strip on reverse of card)
Name on card ..
Signed . .
Please complete this form and return with cheque or credit/debit card details by Friday 14 January at the latest (preferably before) to: Jackie Fuller, 21 Pelham Square, Brighton, BN1 4ET. Alternatively, if paying by card, the form with card details can be returned by email to Jackie at: jkfuller21@hotmail.com
Name... ..
Address .
Phone number . Email address: . . ..
Booking Details
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Please book ..place/s at ฃ25 (welcome drink, talk and buffet supper including drinks with the meal) ฃ Please book ..place/s at ฃ5 (welcome drink and talk only) ฃ ....... Total ฃ . Any dietary restrictions? ..
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Payment Details
ƒ I enclose a cheque for ฃ .. (payable to University of Sussex).
ƒ Please charge my debit / credit / Maestro card (indicate which) with ฃ ..
Valid from ........................to .............................. Maestro issue number ... .
Security Code .. (last 3 numbers on signature strip on reverse of card)
Name on card .. Signed . .
In case of any query, Jackie Fuller can be reached on (01273) 688538 or jkfuller21@hotmail.com
ฎ Theatre Trip, early February 2011 ฎ
If you are interested, please let Jennifer Platt know by 8 December (preferably by email to j.platt@sussex.ac.uk - or phone 01273 555025, or post to Freeman Centre [n.b. no longer Arts D] on campus, or 98 Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton BN1 6HE).
See p.3 for instructions on how to complete these forms.
Please remember to submit the form to Jennifer Platt by 8 December!
Evening performances
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Thurs.Feb.3 7.45 |
Mon.Feb.7. 7.45 |
Tues.Feb.8 7.45 |
Wed.Feb.9 7.45 |
Thurs.Feb.10 7.45 |
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Matinees (none on Feb.3)
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Sat.Feb.5 2.30 |
Thurs.Feb.10 2.30 |
Sat.Feb.12 2.30 |
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