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Bulletin
the University of Sussex newsletter
In Brief....
Spend Spend Spend in East Sussex!East Sussex is a partner in the Rives-Manche INTERREG programme aimed at cross-border co-operation between the county (including Brighton & Hove) and the French Departements of Seine-Maritime and Somme. There is only one year of the programme left to run and the message from the Government Offices for the South East who manage the programme is: Spend, Spend, Spend! The INTERREG programme was adopted by the European Commission in 1996 and is expected to bring £7 million of European funding to East Sussex up to the turn of the century. Grants can be paid to joint Anglo-French projects in the field of economic development, mutual awareness, higher and further education, training, research & technology, tourism and cultural development, and environmental conservation and enhancement. Sussex already has several successful Interreg projects up and running and is keen to see more project ideas coming forward for the remainder of the programme - research based applications are likely to be best suited to the research and technology measure whilst the mutual awareness measure is a good way to get to know your partner(s) and build future collaborative projects. 1999 is the last year of funding for this trans-frontier regional development programme and there remain only three more deadlines in 1999: 15 January, 15 May, and 15 October. Project applications in the field of economic development are to be given highest priority. For more information, please contact: Ross Dowsett, European Liaison Officer (email: R.L.Dowsett@sussex.ac.uk; tel: 8238). Wallflowers of the World Will Benefit From New Shyness Scheme
Recent cross-cultural research at Stanford University suggests that around 50% of Britons are shy, while chronic shyness affects around l-2% of children. Psychologist Robin Banerjee has been investigating the causes of this chronic shyness, with a view to setting up an intervention scheme which will stop the debilitating condition before it takes hold. Robin, who is based in COGS, is working in partnership with the Shyness Clinic in Palo Alto, California, to develop the initiative which will attack the roots rather than the symptoms of shyness. In the past, treatment programmes have concentrated on what the child does, teaching strategies for more appropriate behaviour in certain specific contexts. Robin points that that this approach can fail for two reasons - first because it concentrates only on the skills needed for those contexts rather than on general ways of thinking or behavioural strategies which would work in any situation. Second, this approach makes the mistake of assuming that the symptoms are the sum of the problem, resulting in failure to make a correct diagnosis. As Robin points out, "Although social withdrawal is common in shy children, some shy children display disruptive behaviour as a way of coping with their social anxiety. This behaviour can be similar to that of children with very different core difficulties, like Attention Deficit Disorder." He suggests that treatment of socially anxious children should focus on the ways they think and feel about social situations as well as the kinds of behaviours they display. Robin also wants to avoid further stigmatising of chronically shy children, "Since there is already a clear correlation between shyness and loneliness, it is imperative that socially anxious children aren't isolated further." It may not be the most effective strategy to take children out of a social context in order for them to learn how to take part in a social context, so Robin wants to incorporate the intervention programme into the school system. He will be getting both shy and non-shy children to discuss and role-play social situations, such as coping with being excluded from a game other children are playing. Recent studies have shown that behaviour which Americans would label negatively as shyness are viewed in other cultures as a virtue, and Robin is wary of encouraging adults to label their children as chronically shy when they might be perfectly content the way they are. Robin's research, which he is conducting in partnership with Lynne Henderson at Stanford University, involves giving self-assessment questionnaires to children aged 8-11 and interviewing them about hypothetical peer interactions. His intervention programme will focus on samples of children who themselves report strong feeling of social anxiety. So far, Robin's research has revealed that chronically shy children are not missing out on the fundamentals of cognitive development. They have the basic tools which allow them to empathise with others, but they often have a flawed view of what others are thinking about them. As Robin says, "the basic process is there, but it's got a bit distorted." The concept of distortion rather than fundamental damage is extremely hopeful - it suggests that shyness doesn't have to be a life sentence. Student DisciplineMembers and employees of the University are reminded of the Ordinance on Student Discipline which says that: "Students shall maintain a standard of conduct which is not harmful to the work, good order or good name of the University." Under the Ordinance, all University members and employees should report any breach of University discipline to the Registrar & Secretary. The Discipline Committee refers alleged breaches of discipline to the appropriate Dean for action (if minor) or to the Disciplinary Panel if considered to be a major breach. Daphne Jackson
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Shyness can be extremely traumatic. A dry mouth, sweating palms, and a stomach full of butterflies are all symptoms with which many of us are familiar. But how many of us suffer this shyness as a pathologically crippling complaint?
Lesley Onura of Physics and Astronomy has recently been awarded a Daphne Jackson Memorial Fellowship sponsored by the Royal Society. This special Fellowship scheme for women returners to Science and Engineering was first launched in 1985 by Daphne Jackson who for years was Britain's only woman professor of Physics. After Daphne Jackson's untimely death in 1995, the scheme was re-launched as a memorial trust and has helped many well qualified women to return to high level employment after a career break due to family commitments.
Those of us who missed the Leonids Meteors should get another chance to see a display of meteors in the night sky between December 7 and 15, according to Neil Bone of BIOLS, who is also director of the BAA (British Astronomical Association) Meteor section and whose latest book (Observing Meteors, Comets, Supernovae etc) is currently in the University bookshop. This time the display is the Geminids, currently one of the most dependable of the annual meteor showers. It should reach its peak in the early morning hours of 14 December. Bursts of up to half a dozen meteors per minute have been seen previously and should be visible again this year, clouds permitting.
