This year wecelebrate our 30thbirthday as Britain’sonly independentuniversity. The storyof Buckingham can betold simply. During the1970s a group ofdistinguishedacademics and their

supporters got together to create auniversity that was going to be different.Because all other British universities wererun and funded by the state, they had totake their instructions from the state - andthe founders of Buckingham anticipated,correctly, that the state would not lookafter the universities or their studentsproperly. So, for example, in 1976staff:student ratios in British universitieswere on average 1:9, whereas now theyare 1:17. But in Buckingham they are still1:9 and we continue to put the studentsfirst.

Between 1976 and 1996 the Universitygrew well, and it embraced a culture ofliberal education: every student,regardless of his or her major course ofstudy, had to dissect a shrimp and learn asecond European language. Neverthelessthe University grew increasingly vocationalin its orientation, and the Law School,followed by the Business School, soonemerged as the largest disciplines. Butthe University has remained true to itsorigins as a liberal arts college, and thehumanities (as represented by Englishand Modern Foreign Languages, and byHistory and Philosophy as taught withinInternational Studies) and the sciences(as represented by Biochemistry,Psychology and Information Systems) andthe Social Sciences (as represented byEconomics and Politics) continue to thrive.

In 1996, however, the university took aknock when the conversion of thepolytechnics in Britain into universitiesreversed the longstanding shortage ofuniversity places in the UK, and suddenlythere was a surplus (of free places, toboot, for home students!). In one yearalone, 1996, Buckingham lost twohundred students, falling from a thousandto eight hundred.

The University responded by cutting itscosts and by recruiting more avidly, andover the last three years I’m glad to saythat the numbers of full-time residentstudents have been steady. In addition,the University has entered intopartnerships with a number of foreignentities including the Sarajevo School ofScience and Technology in Bosnia, theIrish National College of ComputingAnalysis in Dublin, and the EuropeanSchool of Economics in Lucca, and thenumbers of students that are registeredwith the University of Buckingham nowagain exceeds a thousand.

We have, moreover, expanded in recentyears, and we have created a new Schoolof Education and we are in the process ofcreating a School of Medicine. These, andthe innovations of the established schools,have been described in recent issues ofThe Independent, and we hope you’llsample some of them during ourupcoming ‘Homecoming Weekend’. Wehave also created a significant number ofscholarships, and our research has soflourished that it now accounts for 10 percent of our income, a record. Indeed, ourresearch is of such quality that the recentstudy from Professor Smithers and DrRobinson on the study of physics in theUK even generated a cartoon in PrivateEye. It is reproduced here.

None of these developments would havebeen possible without significantdonations and I thank the MB Foundation,the Garfield Weston Foundation, theDixon’s Foundation, Sir ChristopherOndaatje, Mr and Mrs R.M. Gregory, MrJohn Desborough, Professor RonaldCoase, Sir Ray Tindle, Mr David Fisher,Slough Estates, Mr Ralph Yablon, TheAmerican Friends of the University, andothers for their considerable generosity.These donors have built on the pastdonations of such giants as Lord Tanlawand Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, in whosemunificent gifts we still rejoice.

As we celebrate our 30th birthday,therefore, you can see that we are auniversity determined to grow in numbers,reputation and scholarship. Since thequality of an independent universitydepends largely on the size of itsendowment (and since our alumni havean interest in the quality of the university,because the higher the quality, the moreprestigious the degree) and since weneed more scholarships (to help poorstudents) and facilities (we would love anew sports hall) we’ve decided to launch a30th anniversary fundraising campaign.The appeal will feature the number 30prominently. So, for example, Mr AnthonyGreen RA, the famous artist who is amember of Council, has kindly offered toproduce a limited edition (30 or 300copies) of The Buckingham Print, whichwill be a collage of the campus, Mill,swans and depictions of the great peoplewho have been associated with theUniversity. Meanwhile I’ll be writing tomany alumni over the next year or twoasking if they would like to contribute $30or £30 or more.

Buckingham is unique and uniquely goodand uniquely important. We want to makeit even better and we’re asking for yourhelp.

Dr Terence KealeyVice- Chancellor

Winter/Spring 2006

Message from the Vice- Chancellor

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The Graduation ceremonies are over,winter term is almost at an end and weare now planning for our big summercelebration here at Buckingham. 30thanniversary events will take place on29/30 July and we hope many of you willbe able to find time to come back and visitus and take part in the celebrations.

Beginning with everyone meeting up inthe Chandos Road Buildings (the newexamination suites) for coffee, we move tothe main lecture theatre for welcomeaddresses by the Vice-Chancellor anddignatories.

We then break for lunch, following whichpeople can spend the afternoon visitingtheir own schools, chatting with lecturersand there will be on campus games etcfor any spouses and children. Each schoolwill be arranging their own programme ofevents for the afternoon.

From 5pm there will be entertainment onBeloff Lawn, with a BBQ starting at 7pmand (weather permitting) people can spillout from the Refectory to enjoy the music,

dancing and entertainment. Prizes for theonline competition (to choose a memberof staff from both the academic andsupport team who made the greatestimpression on you during you time here -if you haven't voted yet, please do) will beawarded during the evening.

On Sunday morning there will bebreakfast in the refectory followed by amorning to do what you would like. At 12noon buses will take those who wish to goto Stowe where there will be a picnic,cricket match and games. Finishing at4pm the buses will bring everyone back toBuckingham where we will say goodbye.Hopefully many friendships will have beenrenewed and many new ones made. Oldstaff members will have been back tomeet with students they have known andit will be a chance to network and relax ina familiar and nostalgic setting. Everyoneis free to join as many events as they wishto, but we would ask you to let us know ifyou will be here for Saturday lunch,Saturday dinner, Sunday picnic or for all.Wet weather arrangements will be inplace (just in case!), but we hope for the

best. If you can come, please could youlet us know for sure no later than 1 Julyso that we can finalise cateringarrangements.

We will also put a list of names of thoseattending on the website and would askthat you let us know if you do NOT wish tobe named, otherwise your name will be onthe list ..... an attraction for others tocome.

We do hope that many of you will be ableto attend. Please check the AlumNetwebsite as it will be updated regularly(https://extranet.buckingham.ac.uk/alumnet/),enter the competition, let us know thatyou are coming (and if you are bringingyour family) and we look forward towelcoming you to Buckingham onceagain.

Anne MatsuokaTel: +44 (0)1280 820338Email:anne.matsuoka@buckingham.ac.uk

Dear Friends,

I am happy to tell you that you are holdingin your hands a unique edition of theIndependent with news of Graduation2006 and a special ‘taster’ of the‘Homecoming Weekend’ to celebrate the30th Anniversary. But let me be morespecific.Firstly, I would like to begin withGraduation, which this year was held on4th March. As always, everything from theChurch ceremony to the Swan Ball wasbrilliantly organised. I would like to extendmy thanks to everyone who helped makethis Graduation unforgettable for thegraduands, their families and guests. Theexcitement at seeing old friends and tutorswas tangible and for some students veryemotional. Graduation Day is the most important dayof the year at Buckingham. UniversityChancellor, Sir Martin Jacomb,congratulated the 2006 graduates. Healso gave honorary degrees to DameElizabeth Butler-Sloss, formerly thehighest ranking female judge in thecountry and the Honorable MichaelEugene Misick (LLB’ 01), a formerBuckingham student and Chie

Minister of the Turks and Caicos

f

Islands.

Dr Mary Welstead, Dr Terence Kealey, SirMartin Jacomb (back row) The HonorableMichael Misick (Law ’01)(front row) -receiving his Honorary Degree atGraduation 2006

This year the Palamountain Award forexcellence was awarded to MichaelBallard Smith (LLB’ 06) and the DameBarbara Shenfield Medal was awarded toGeorg Friedrich Baur (MSc ServiceManagement’ 06).Following the ceremonies a reception washeld in a marquee on Beloff Lawn whichwas later transformed into the venue forthe Swan Ball with 3 cocktail bars, achocolate fountain, and various musical

acts. Academic gowns were swapped forball gowns and the partying (which beganwith a dinner in the local Villiers Hotel)went on until six in the morning. Asalways, the famous Survivors Photo wasthe final event of the day.

We would like to congratulate all ourgraduands and wish them success in theirfuture endeavours! We enjoyed havingyou here! Looking forward to seeing youand your families at the ‘HomecomingWeekend’ on 29/30 July 2006 to revivethe good, old memories of Buckinghamand have some fun!Iva G. Netzova (LLM '05)Tel: +44 (0) 1280 820230Email: iva.netzova@buckingham.ac.uk www.buckingham.ac.uk/alumnet Getconnected!

30th Anniversary - “Homecoming Weekend” 29/30 July 2006

Graduation 2006

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Ahmad Fadzel and his best friend

This is what Ahmad Fadzel (LLB’ 01) hadto say on his life and career after leavingBuckingham ‘’… I would like to sharesome news on what has been happeningever since I left the University ofBuckingham.

I attended the Certificate of Legal Practicecourse back in Malaysia in September2001 until June 2002. Then I worked as aresearch consultant and legal executivefrom July 2002 till February 2004.

I immediately went to Australia to studyfor my LL.M at the University ofQueensland, which is one of the topuniversities in Australia. I graduated onthe 20th July this year. If I am notmistaken I am the first person fromBuckingham University to enrol in theUniversity's LL.M programme.Interestingly enough, the Head of the LawSchool had heard of Buckingham. In fact,one of my former Contract tutors atBuckingham, Professor Francis Rose, is afriend of his. I am currently waiting to do aone-year legal research internship here inAustralia.

I would say my undergraduate training inBuckingham has helped me tremendouslyto prepare in adapting to the rigours ofpostgraduate law studies here in Australiaand helped me successfully to complete it.I really appreciate all the helpful things Ilearnt in Buckingham Law School“.

Ahmad Fadzel (LLB’ 01)

This is what Iain Holmes (BSc BusinessStudies’ 03) has to say about his life: ‘Iam moving up to Denver Colorado - Iknow many of you will ask why? I am suresome of you are thinking, Coors Light, orthe Broncos, however I am sure many ofyou soon come to the realization that Ithink Justin Timberlake is cooler thenfootball and light beer. I am moving toDenver first and foremost for a change. Istarted thinking about the possibility ofmoving, and then things went rathersmoothly after that my company offered to

accommodate my move; my best friendjust bought a house up there, and thecompany's office is located about 15minutes from one of the many polo clubsthere.

The company I am working for has offeredto cover the relocation of not only me butStella and Clarita (my 2 horses). Thereseems to be some good low goal polo upthere. They play indoor in the winter, andthen low-medium goal on the grass fromMay to September. I am not particularlyconcerned about the cold, I plan onmeeting a girl quite soon after arriving,and if that fails I can revert back to theBritish technique of a good stiff drink!

Iain Holmes and his two horses

Iain Holmes (BSc Business Studies’ 03)

I can’t believe it’s been 7 years since Igraduated in 1999. It feels like yesterday. Ihave been receiving regular updates ofthe Independent and I would like to thankthe team for this. I think it’s great. A lothas happened to me since I graduated. Istarted my own IT Company once I wentback to Kenya after graduating. In 1999,in 2001, I had the privilege to visit Perth,Australia and fell in love with the place. Iapplied for migration and am currently wellsettled in Perth where I work for Telstra (atelecommunications company) as a salesconsultant. I got married in 2001 as welland currently have two kids, Yash wasborn on 17th December 2003 and Jiya on2nd August 2005. I have lost touch withmost of my friends from Buckingham asmy email crashed. Here is my new emailaddress for those who would like to get intouch. It is sagarh@lycos.com

Sagar Hindocha(BSc. Information Systems withBusiness Studies ’99)

1976 – The InauguralYear of The UniversityCollege at Buckingham

I enrolled as a nineteen-year old Lawstudent at The University College atBuckingham (UCB) in 1976, the year thatUCB opened its doors to its first students.1976 proved to be a very special year.Paul Seligman, the first President of theStudent Union, wrote in the StudentHandbook in December, 1976 that:

“…We are engaged in an educationalexperiment – an experiment in terms ofindependence from the State, in terms ofbreadth in education, in terms of theintensive nature of our academic course,in terms of our relationship to thecommunity…and to a large extent thesuccess of UCB rests on our shoulders”.

The outside world was also aware of theintellectual importance of UCB’s attemptto establish a university completelyindependent from state finance. Mrs.Thatcher, the Conservative Leader,commented during our opening ceremonyin the Parish Church of Buckingham on6th February, 1976 that:

“The inauguration of the UniversityCollege at Buckingham…is….. a sign ofhope that teachers may now beencouraged …..to embark uponinstitutional adventures which do notinvolve the lobbying of public opinion orgovernment departments”.

Mrs. Thatcher’s view was not accepted byeveryone within the Conservative Party.However it was particularly opposed bythe Labour Government which believedthat all universities should be under thefinancial control of the State. The LabourParty’s ideological hostility had practicalconsequences since only certain localeducation authorities would provide UCBstudents with discretionary grants andUCB was not included in the list ofinstitutions attracting mandatory grants.The Law Society, the Council of LegalEducation, the Institute of CharteredSecretaries and Administrators, theInstitute of Bankers and the Institute ofChartered Accountants in England andWales were initially the only bodies whichrecognized the Licence as a degree forthe purposes of entrance to theirprofessions although the Licence wasrecognized by many other associationslater on. Articles describing UCB as “aplayground for the rich” or “elitist”appeared regularly in the Press and UCBwas under great pressure.

Alumni News

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As a new and controversial institution, wewere fortunate to possess outstandinglecturers who were happy to involvethemselves in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. We also had manyhighly-motivated students willing to workvery hard to obtain good grades toestablish Buckingham’s academiccredentials and to start extra-curricularclubs and societies. Professor Beloff, thePrincipal, was an inspiration to us all. Hewas tremendously articulate and hadvision and drive. Professor Beloffpublicized our cause effectively and raisedlarge sums of money for UCB particularlyin the United States. Buckingham wouldnot have survived and prospered withouthim. Dr. Clarke, the charmingly modestDean of Admissions, was a talentedhistorian. He organized the AdmissionsOffice into an extremely efficientdepartment and developed the newSchool of History, Politics and Englishwhich opened in 1977. Professor James,the Head of the Law School, had animpish sense of humour. He was a goodadministrator and excellent academiclawyer. His Law School colleague,Professor Hall was tall, thin, gentlemanly,amiable and very intelligent. I particularlyenjoyed his Introduction to English Lawlectures and the courteous atmosphereprevailing during his tutorials.

The students were a talented andcosmopolitan group comprising at leasttwenty nationalities and the worldlyexperience of the mature studentsprovided an important steadying influence.Paul Seligman, the Student UnionPresident, was excellent at deflectingaggressive questions from the Press withwell-chosen remarks and generallyhandled our Public Relations well. AnnaBramwell was academically outstanding inmost subjects right from the start andbecame UCB’s first First Class HonoursLicentiate, in Law, Economics and Politics.Nigel Rawlence, an amiable Old Etonian,was our first Captain of the Cricket Club. Iam sure that all the members of the 1976Cricket Team will remember his inningsagainst the Stowe School Second XL andthe quiet encouragement he gave us at alltimes. Jomoria (Joe) Ogbiru, as the Vice-Chairman of The Overseas Students Club(OSC), helped many students studying along way from home to settle in at UCBand was involved in planning the OSC’sinitial cultural activities.

The two-year Licence taken over eightterms was a new concept in the Britain ofthe 1970’s, but the curriculum taken bystudents in the three Schools of Law;Economics; and Law, Economics andPolitics; was particularly innovative. Inaddition to their Main Subject(s), allstudents read Supporting Subjects

including French and German, EuropeanHistory, English Literature, Mathematicsand / or Life Sciences. UCB allowed thestudents to influence the structure of theLicence which was a valuable part of ourlearning process. For example, LawStudents were originally required to studyMathematics and Life Sciences, but thiswas reduced to either Mathematics or LifeSciences after representations by thestudents.

The multi-cultural intellectual atmosphere,extra-curricular activities, team spirit andcamaraderie in 1976 provided studentswith a quite exceptional experience. TheBuckingham Evening Lectures, whichwere open to the general public, wereestablished and proved to be a fantasticsuccess. I particularly remember TedDexter speaking about “A SportingChance in Life”, but the standard of all ofthe guest speakers was extremely high.We were really learning all the time. Evenafter we had finished studying in theLibrary or in our rooms, conversationsabout almost everything under the suntook place from 10.30 pm onwards at IstraCottage, which was then a StudentResidence, over tea, coffee, toast andbiscuits in one of the several kitchens.The usual participants included UmiPalmer, Simon Barton, AnthonyFairtlough, Chris Codrai, Pat Francis,Mary Smith and myself although otherstudents were often present.

The outstanding academic and extra-curricular education which I am describingwill be familiar to every BuckinghamUniversity student regardless of when theywere students. Although I did not obtainthe Licence, my UCB education helpedme to obtain my four degrees atStrathclyde, Wolverhampton and StirlingUniversities and a PGCE at DurhamUniversity. UCB also provided me with agreat example of how to start up anyorganization rapidly and efficiently. Indeed,the innovative atmosphere at UCB in 1976continues to influence how I think and runmy businesses today.

Cameron Donnelly(LLB’ 78)

Goodbye and Hello!On behalf of us all in the Alumni Office Iwould like to say a big ‘’thank you’’ toSuzanna Tomassi (Service Management'02), who left us as Alumni Database Co-ordinator at the beginning of March. Butwe have not lost her – she has moved intothe QA (Quality Assurance) Office as aSenior Quality Administrator where shewill be taking on a very demanding andimportant role. Thank you for all your hardwork, Suzanna!

We would like to welcome, in Suzanna’splace, Pam Lindsay. Pam has beenworking as a library auxiliary and we areextremely happy to have her with us in theattic. You will, I am sure, be hearing a lotfrom her as she rapidly masters thedatabase. Good to have you here Pam!

You can contact Pam on+44 (0) 1280 820133or emailpam.lindsay@buckingham.ac.uk

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Alumni News

ADVERTISING

With a circulation of 8,500,the Independent opens Advertising

Pages for all our alumni.

You are more than welcome to take thisopportunity to publicise your business.

Please contact us with wording, logoetc., and indicate the size you would

prefer. The costs will be: quarter £50,half £100, full £200, all in four colour

and based on A4 size sheet.

If you have any queries, please contact: Patricia C. Prada JimenezTel: +44 (0) 1280 820210

Email:patricia.prada@buckingham.ac.uk

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Alumni News

Isabella with her daughter Anjali

After graduating from Buckingham with adegree in Business Studies (’89) I workedin the private and public sectors for morethan ten years. After becoming a mom in2003, I wanted to continue working, butfrom home. I set up a research companyin Chiang Mai, doing business researchfor American, Japanese and Britishclients. During my graduate work atGeorgetown, I took classes inentrepreneurship and small businessmanagement, as my long-term goal wasto start my own business and I wanted tohave the skills to do that.

After moving to Thailand, I fell in love withThai handicrafts. Many of my friends havehad babies and I have spent lots of timelooking for interesting and uniquehandicraft gifts to send to them. One ofmy friends suggested I make a business

of it. This was the perfect opportunity totake advantage of Internet technology, tolink my creative interests into a small, butglobal business.

First, I needed a catchy name. Mydaughter loves papaya, so I createdpapayakids.com. This name is easy topronounce in both English and Japanese,the languages of my primary targetmarkets.

Isabella with business partner WattanaJaturasita

Second, in order to develop a set ofunique products I gathered product ideasfrom friends, who had newly becomemoms. My business partner and I spentthe next year visiting factories, villagesand local artisans about developingproducts that would be cost effective andof export quality. Ensuring that the

products meet our artistic vision andquality requirements is an on-goingprocess.

E-business is still undeveloped inThailand. As a small business, I havebeen unable to get a local merchantaccount to accept credit cards on-line. Inow plan to use a US company, because Ibelieve that there is no way to do crediblee-business without accepting credit cardson-line.

For the time being, I don’t expect to earna living from the e-business. But it hasbeen an educational and enjoyableexperience. I hope to leverage that know-how into a new e-business in the future.

If you see any problems, typos, glitchesetc. on the web-site, please feel free topoint them out to me. You can reach meon berarin@loxinfo.co.th I am also open toany suggestions or comments (positive ornegative), so please keep those coming.Papayakids.com is an ongoing project, soI am very keen to get feedback fromeveryone!

Isabella K. Badenoch(BSc Business Studies’ 89)

Having graduated with my LLB (Hons)degree from Buckingham, I returned toLusaka, Zambia to embark upon my Barexams in 1997 at the Zambia Institute ofAdvanced Legal Education.

Tukuza Tembo

Towards the end of that course, my sistersdared me to enter the Miss Zambia 1997competition, and I jokingly entered.....tomy greatest surprise and shock,I won thecompetition and on September 27th 1997,was crowned Miss Zambia 1997!

That was the beginning of a journey which

has truly changed my life forever.The dayafter I was crowned, my Pageantorganiser, Paul de Sousa, told me wordsthat to this day remain etched in my mind,and I did not then realise the magnitude orimpact of his words...."If you work hard atit and are focused, this title will changeyour life positively forever..."

I was privileged to become anAmbassador and represent my country atthe Miss World Pageant 1997 held inMahe, Seychelles, where I met a lot ofwonderful women, many of whom I amstill in touch with. The interaction with allthe nations and cultures in the worldbrought to my mind memories of my timeat Bucks, where I met a lot of people fromdifferent backgrounds, cultures andcountries. With that experience, it wasrelatively easy to mix with all the otherladies proudly representing their countries.

In addition to attending the Miss WorldPageant, I was also fortunate to representZambia at the Miss Malaika 2001 pageant(An African and African Diaspora Pageant)held at Sun City, South Africa, where itwas an honour for me to fly the Zambianflag as a top ten finalist.

During my reign as Miss Zambia, Iattended to national duties, publicengagements, charity work and wasexposed to numerous experiences andpeople, who have influenced my life, notonly as a person, but in my chosen careerof law.

I worked with (and still do to date) anorphanage called Kabwata Orphanage,established by Mrs Angela Miyanda (theformer Second Lady of Zambia) thatmainly attends to abused children andchildren orphaned through HIV/AIDS.From Mrs Miyanda and the children, Ihave learned the art of being humble andsensitive to others' needs and plights, aswell as appreciating and being grateful foreverything, no matter how small, that weare fortunate to have in life.

I can say that being Miss Zambia taughtme to be confident, social and pro-active(which has greatly helped me in mycareer!), as well as to be focused in life,setting goals, and striving to achievethem. I also learned the art of beingpatient not only with oneself, but also withthe ways of the world, which with mycareer has come in quite handy!

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Having 'Hung up my high heels' anddeparted from the world of fashion,glamour and modelling, except for the oddpublic appearance which is mostly forcharity, I am now focusing on my career inlaw (I think much to the relief of my father,who though proud and supportive of myachievements, I think secretly despairedthat after all the effort at Buckingham, I had decided to give up a career in lawfor fashion and beauty!).I am currently aState Advocate working for the Ministry ofJustice, as the Assistant Administrator-General & Official Receiver. Previously, Iwas the in- house lawyer for GrantThornton Associates. The question of mymarital status........no, I am still single andno children!!!

I have my family to thank for 'nudging' meonto that path that has turned out to be aphenomenal highway in my life and I ameternally grateful for their constant supportin all my endeavours, which have shapedme into the person that I am today. Ifthere is one thing that I learned from myexperience as Miss Zambia 1997, it’s thatlife is full of surprises and with it, anythingis possible if you put your mind to it.

Tukuza Tembo (LLB’ 96)

Quotes of the SeasonAllan Katatumba (LLB’ 99)Thank you and your fellow staff very muchindeed for working hard to make sure thatthose of us Alumni may continue to be intouch with Buckingham and our formerpeers.

Raymond J Noel (LLB’ 91)Hey you guys out there, it’s real sweet ofyou. In our part of the world birthdays areusually observed by children! 54 year-oldsare more concerned with their kids'birthdays. Nonetheless I don't mean to beunappreciative. It’s been 15 years since Igraduated from Bucks. Never been backalthough I'd love to.

I am still in legal practice working as acourtroom lawyer. That's barrister's workfor you. Bucks gave me a good education,fine friends and lovely memories. TheBuckingham Evangelical Church was asolid support to us Christian students fromMalaysia. God bless you all and keepthose snippets of news coming.They keep me in touch and give thefeeling that I never left Bucks.

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Alumni News

Law School LegalWorkshop

Jennifer Shearman (left) and AlumniAdvisers

Jennifer Shearman, who is a SeniorLecturer in the Law School, has beenrunning the extremely popular annualLegal Workshop for the last 12 years.This is an event organised to give thestudents some insight into how bothbranches of the legal profession work andto help them decide what sort of lawyerthey would like to be – a Solicitor or aBarrister. Practising lawyers (many ofthem alumni) give up their day to providethe law students with a taste of practicallife. They each take small groups fordiscussions about their particular areas of

practice, followed by a negotiation orclient interviewing exercise, which asolicitor might typically undertake. After abreak for afternoon tea, each group thentakes part in a bail application or a plea inmitigation, acting as a barrister on behalfof a client.

The day is rounded off with supper at theTanlaw Mill, giving the students anopportunity to chat informally to thevisitors. Often students have been able toarrange mini pupillages or vacationplacements as a result of impressing thevisiting lawyers.

Jennifer says "This is a fun event and Ihave been extremely well supported byour alumni over the years. Many havereturned as qualified lawyers and given uptheir day voluntarily on behalf of the nextgeneration of Buckingham law students.Some have returned year after year. AsRobert Benzynie (LLB 92) once put it, hefeels glad to be able to put somethingback into Buckingham.”

Jennifer has now handed the task ofrunning the Legal Workshop and acting asLaw Careers Officer to JaniceDenoncourt, who joined the Law Schoollast year. She would therefore like to takethis opportunity to thank all those alumniwho have helped her all these years, andhopes she has not forgotten anyone.

They are :-Stephen Akinsanya (LLB ’92)Nicholas Alexander (LLM ’95)Pepin Aslett (LLB ’95)Yew See Bailey (LLB ’85)Robert Benzynie (LLB ’92)Rodney Corner (LLB ’98)Dean Dunham (LLB ’97)Fiona Hewitt (LLB ’99)Tania Panagiotopoulou (LLM ’94)Emma Paton (LLB ’00)Simon Perkins (LLB ’98)Pauline Powell (LLB ’98)Michelle Rich (LLB ’00)Robert Shuster (LLB ’88)Peter Silver (LLB ’86)Damian Stuart (LLB ’95)Stephen Taylor (LLB ’93)Helaine Whiteside (LLB ’88)Gordon Woolridge (LLB’ 98)

Finally, if any qualified alumni out thereare interested in helping at future LegalWorkshops, then please contactjanice.denoncourt@buckingham.ac.uk

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University News

Buckingham Law School

I was delighted tobe asked to writean article about theLaw school for thefirst edition of theIndependent in our30th anniversaryYear. It gave methe opportunity toreflect on what wehave been doing atBuckingham LawSchool since our

25th Anniversary five years ago. Law isstill a popular option for Buckinghamstudents with the Law School having over300 full time students, with another 40 orso part-time students. We remaincommitted to providing an excitinglearning experience that will bothchallenge and engage our students. Overthe past five years our programmes havestood up well to the increased competitionfrom other UK universities and from theUSA and Australia. This is because weoffer something unique at Buckingham.There are few other Law Schools that canprovide the individual attention given insmall group tutorials and none who givestudents the advantage of studying a fullthree-year undergraduate degree in onlytwo years. Whether students are fromBritain or overseas, the School continuesto produce confident, skilled lawyers, ableto practise almost anywhere in the world.Those of us who travelled for theUniversity last year were lucky enough towitness the proof of this for ourselveswhen we met so many of you in differentcorners of the world, and saw first-handhow you have built such successfulcareers after graduating fromBuckingham.

We are fortunate in retaining dedicatedand talented staff at Buckingham, with astrong emphasis in all major areas ofscholarship. Inevitably, there have beensome changes in staffing over the pastfive years - most recently and significantlywith the retirement last summer ofProfessor Durand after nearly 30 years atBuckingham Law School. This sadlycoincided with Professor Alcock’sdeparture to start Salford Law School. Weshall miss them both, but I am delightedthat we have been able to attract suchhigh calibre replacements in JonathanBlack-Branch as Professor of InternationalLaw and Nigel Foster as Professor ofEuropean Law, both of whom enjoy aninternational reputation in their respectivefields. We remain well known for ourexpertise in International andCommercially orientated subjects but wehave also been able to increase other

available options during the past fiveyears. International Sports Law is provingvery popular and likely to be more so asthe date for the London Olympics growsnearer. Dr Ioannidis (who joined us in2003) is currently representing the Greeksprinters, Kostas Kenteris and KaterinaThanou against charges that they missedanti- doping controls during the lastOlympics. There is massive interest in thisarea. It is hard not to speculate thatperhaps the athlete who wins is theathlete who has the best chemist and thebest lawyer.

Jurisprudence, Sex & Gender issues,International Labour Law, Advertising andMarketing, and a totally revised BankingLaw course are other welcome additionsto our profile. For those of you who onlyhad the option to study single honoursLaw you will be interested to know that wecan now offer a qualifying law degree witha minor option taken from the School ofBusiness and Humanities.

This is a very interesting time to bestudying law – although common lawyersamongst us may bemoan the sheerquantity of legislation emerging from theEnglish Parliament. European law isbound to have an ever-increasing impactwhen in May 2004 ten new countries,including some from the former USSR,joined the European Union. Now 25nations and 457 million people share asingle market in which they can trade,travel and work.

The Human Rights Act 1998 (which cameinto force October 2000) has begun toimpact on all areas of English law. In myown field, the law of negligence, it lookedat one point as if interpretation of Article 6threatened to undermine our wholeapproach to compensation in negligenceclaims. However, the English courts havenow adopted a more restrictive approachand made it clear that Article 6 cannot beused to create any substantive civil lawrights but merely provides a proceduralguarantee. Fewer appeals are going tothe ECHR in Strasbourg now that our owncourts are interpreting those rightsenacted in the HRA. Some would arguethat this has been more than made up for,however, by the number of times the Acthas been invoked to protect the civilliberties of suspects under arrest.

The threat from international terrorism anddrug trafficking has led to theimplementation of a duty on, inter alia,solicitors and bankers, to report anysuspicions to the authorities, and theintroduction of a criminal offence of‘tipping off’. This raises issues about theconfidential nature of the relationship andthe Court of Appeal has recently had to

decide whether this new duty takespriority over the duty of confidentialitybetween solicitor and client.

Finally, we have yet to see the full effectof the major constitutional changes inEngland and Wales provided for in theConstitutional Reform Act 2005 (cominginto force later this year). The Actconcerns, inter alia, changes in the roleand functions of the office of LordChancellor and the way in which membersof the judiciary are appointed, as well aschanges to the structure and function ofthe House of Lords with the establishmentof a new Supreme Court. From time to time the judiciary has had tofight hard to maintain its traditionalindependence from the power of theexecutive. We all applaud its ability to doso. Those of you in commonwealthjurisdictions may be aware of recentdecisions by the Privy Council that havegiven rise to discussion about its role as afinal court of appeal. We would welcomecontributions from our alumni as to theirviews on developments in this area.

Last year saw the Law School achieve itsfirst trophy in a National MootingCompetition with success in the 2005English Speaking Union MootingCompetition. We also reached the finals ofthe Weekly Law Reports MootingCompetition. Dr Ioannidis, our Master ofMoots, has proved a worthy successor toMr Goldberg who retired in 2003 and whodid so much to encourage mooting atBuckingham. The Student MootingSociety is thriving and their weekly mootshave reached ‘standing room only’ statusthis term – no doubt encouraged by lastyear’s successes!

Dr Ioannidis and Students at a Moot

2005 also saw the Law School emergewith flying colours after having beensubjected to its Quinquennial Review. Allthree of our external assessors praisedthe structure, content and delivery of ourprogrammes which the Bar Councilbelieved boded well for the future of ourLaw School. They praised those elementswe have introduced in response to theneeds of the profession.

(continued on page 10)

Charlotte Walsh

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8

Congratulations to all thefollowing alumni whohave recently married,become engaged oradded to their families:

Engagements

Alaistair Jerrom-Smith (BScInformation Systems’ 02) is happy toannounce his engagement to HeatherMcClarty, which took place on the 14thAugust 2005 in Jersey.

Ben Marr (BSc Accounting andFinancial Management’ 92) is happy toannounce his engagement to MissRenuka Kukanesen. This is what he hadto say: “We shall be getting married in afew places... Bosnia, and UK and possiblyMalaysia to allow relatives and friends totake part without difficult travelarrangements. The wedding in the UK willbe in September 2006“.

Marriages

Cecilia McCann (LLB’ 95) and EdwardHughes are happy to announce theirwedding, which took place 30thSeptember 2005 at Trinity Church,Doynton and afterwards at “The Park,Wick”. Their best man was StephenDonley (LLB’95) and his wife ClareDonley (nee Neville) who was formerly alibrarian at Buckingham.

This is what Nyree Lane (LLB ’94) had tosay about her wedding: “The date of thewedding was 30th April 2004. We weremarried at St Mary's Church StaplefordTawney near Epping Essex. Our receptionwas at Leez Priory at Hartford End inEssex. My husband’s name is JohnWatkins and I am now Nyree Lane-Watkins”.

Johann Kottulinsky (BSc BusinessStudies’ 00) is happy to announce hismarriage to Xenia. Their wedding tookplace in the Black Forest on the 6thAugust 2005. Best man was DominicBakic (BSc Business Studies’ 00),another Buckingham alumnus from theyear 2000. Xenia is CFO at Siemens andHans is CFO with AVL List an Austrianengine development company andindustry leader. As of early February thisyear they have started their ownconsulting company and are supportingforeign companies who want to enter theChinese Market.

Marriages and Births

Ekaterina Soukhoroukova (LLB) andMichael Carter (Politics Economics andLaw) are happy to announce that they gotmarried on 25th February 2005. Therewere two wedding ceremonies – one inWestminster, London and the other inRussia. The wedding picture below wastaken at the Westminster ceremony.

Ekaterina and Michael are also veryhappy to announce the birth of theirbeautiful daughter Kallista born on 5thOctober 2005. Mother and baby are doingwell.

Births

John Tomlinson (LLB’ 03) and his wifeSue Dimmock (LLB’ 03) would like toannounce the birth of their son EllisMorgan Tomlinson. He was born on 26thJanuary at Milton Keynes GeneralHospital and weighed in at 8lb 3oz. This iswhat his father had to say:’’ He is doingvery well and is behaving too - sleeping allnight and not crying too much at othertimes! Sue and I both gained LLB (Hons)in 2003 via the Part-Time study route. Sueis currently at home with Ellis and hisolder brother Alexander, whilst I whileaway my time as Head of UK Operationsfor Harris Corporation, a large UScommunications company.’’

Engagements... Marriage

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Hadiza Muhammadu Buhari (BAEnglish Studies with MediaCommunications ’04) and BelloAbubakar (Politics with EnglishLanguage Studies (EFL) ’03) are happyto announce the birth of their baby girlAamina- Amal Bello born on 22nd ofNovember 2005. She weighed 3.5kg atbirth. The happy parents call their babyAmal for short, which means ‘Hope’. Thepicture was taken on 29th November2005, just 7 days after the birth.

Robyn Wood (neeJones) (LLB ’97) andStephen Wood (LLB ’97) are happy toannounce the birth of their baby girl Ellaborn on 30th December 2005. She wasborn in the early hours 12:06am andweighed in at a very healthy 8lbs 13oz.The picture was taken when Ella was 2.5weeks old.

This is what Philippa Skandaliaris (neePearce) (LLB ’04) has to say about thebirth of her daughter: ‘Sofia AmeliaSkandaliaris was born 5 weeks early onAugust 2nd 2005 weighing 5lbs 12oz toManoli and myself in Nassau’.

Chew Chin Wong (Ginny) (LLB ’96) is happy to announce the birth of herbeautiful daughter Anouk Qiyu, born inFebruary 2005. This is what Ginny had tosay about her: “I've taken time away fromwork to spend with her (and am having awonderful time!). We will be taking her tovisit eager grandparents in Singaporesoon after the Chinese New Year.Meanwhile, she's just seen her first snowin New York “.

Muriel Cutiri (nee Ukpaukure) (BAEnglish Literature '01, MBA ’03) andPaolo Cuturi (BSc Business Studies ’03) are happy to announce the birth oftheir son Vincenzo. This is what Murielhad to say: “We are very happy and it isan incredible experience for us beingparents, unbelievable since it seems likejust yesterday we met in Buckingham, andtoday we're married and the proud parentsof the most wonderful boy. I guess wehave Buckingham to thank for making allof this possible“.

Monika Mikula (BA English LanguageStudies (EFL) for Translating ’05) andDarik Miles are happy to announce thebirth of their baby. Monika gave birth atRoyal Berkshire Hospital to a baby girl.Laura Jessica was born on Saturday, 3rdDecember 2005. The baby weighed in at7lbs 13oz. Mother and baby are doingwell.

Abdulaziz Al Shaikh (BSc InformationSystems ’02) is happy to announce thebirth of his baby girl Hamda. She wasborn in Dubai on 28th March 2005. This iswhat her dad says about her: “This photohas been taken during Hamda'slunchtime, I have particularly chosen thispicture because it shows the real naughtyHamda’.

Francois de la Croix-Vaubois (BScBusiness Studies’ 89) and his wife PollyHolland are happy to announce the birthof their son Luke Henry Adam de laCroix-Vaubois. This is what fatherFranco has to say: "Luke burst onto thescene on the 15th January 2006, hereseen celebrating France's recent Rugbysuccess! He was born at St. Thomas’Hospital in London and weighed in at8lb2oz. Polly & Luke are both well andsister Daisy (3 yrs old) is very proud ofher little brother".

ages... ...and Births

68057_Univ Of Bucks 6/4/06 11:58 am Page 9

(continued from page 7)

Mooting workshops are now compulsoryand all students have to take part in amoot and a negotiation exercise as part oftheir LLB programme. We now have aproper Moot court in the Franciscanbuilding where these exercises take place.

We continue to forge links with theprofession in other ways. Many of you willremember the annual Legal workshop. Itcontinues to be heavily oversubscribedand Jennifer Shearman reports on itsactivities. Our Centre for MulticulturalStudies in Law and the Family continuesto thrive under the joint Directorship orProfessor Edwards and Dr Welstead. Wenow include an active Visiting Professorsprogramme and our students havebenefited from the expertise offered byregular visits and lectures from thesethree eminent representatives of theprofession. In the last year both staff andstudents have been stimulated to considersuch issues as the role of advocacy andthe continued use of a jury in fraud trials;the complex moral questions about therole of the provocation defence in terms ofstereotypes about gender, culture andethnic background; professional conductin the city, and corporate managementissues relating to the role of Directors.

Seminars, debates, and parties continueto be an important part of law school lifeand the student Law Society remains asactive as ever with a mixture of both‘worthy’ and social events planned for theyear.The annual Law Ball in November was agreat success and we have got off to agood start in our sporting competitions

with the Business school. Mr de Mink(who joined us as a full time member ofstaff in August 2005) has personally takenover the coaching of our sports teams sowe have every expectation of regainingthe Chancellor’s cup this year! Currently,we are busy planning festivities towelcome you all to our ‘Homecoming’weekend in July. Of course, the LawSchool has been based in the FranciscanBuilding for longer than five years, but Ihope that those of you who visit us in Julywill appreciate some of the changes.Please notice the refurbished foyer, thenew coffee bar area, the two new lecturerooms, the Moot court and extensiverefurbishment of the Denning Law Library!

Finally, we are all conscious that theenergetic and cosmopolitan nature of ourstudents remains the absolute core of ouridentity at Buckingham. We live in an agewhere worldwide communication hasbecome easier and yet this has notnecessarily led individual nations to agreater understanding of each other’scultures. With our Law School welcomingstudents from literally all over the world, Ifeel fortunate to work in an environmentthat not only provides an excellent legaleducation but also helps to foster thatgreater understanding.

Charlotte WalshDean of Law

The University ofBuckingham Press"The University of Buckingham Press(UBPL), which has been dormant for awhile, has been brought back to life by MrChristopher Woodhead (NOT ProfessorChris Woodhead in the Department ofEducation) and begins operating from Room F216 in Verney Park withimmediate effect. UBPL will be publishing journals andbooks in the areas of Law, Business andEducation as well as arrangingconferences, seminars and webinars. ThePress will also take on the task ofproducing the Denning Law Journaleach year.UBPL will use the Web to expand theestablished and profitable academicjournal model. It will provide a newpublishing environment for informedviews, for hard, evidence-basedinformation and for debate through itsjournal articles, books, reports and othermaterial. In addition the press will holdphysical and web-based conferenceswhich will enhance the strength of itscommunities of contributors and readersand create further revenue streams andmarketing opportunities. The publishing programme will be heavilyinfluenced in its editorial direction by thevalues of the University of Buckingham.Linked as it is to the only independentuniversity in the UK, the publishingprogramme reflects the tenets of theuniversity and the principles of itsfounding fathers The Universityrepresentative on the Board of Directors isDr John Drew. Mr Woodhead can becontacted on ext: 3338 or via email,christopher.woodhead@buckingham.ac.uk"

10

University News

Quotes of the Season

‘‘Good luck and thank you- Graduation 2006’’

On the eve of this graduation it is probablytimely (actually long overdue) to thank youall for being so instrumental in helping meto get this far, I am truly grateful and I willmiss you all tomorrow. I would love to bethere to share in the day along with all theother great UoB people who were alsopart of my rich treasure of life since July2003. Realistically though, the expenseand disruption to work here (MasseyCollege, University of Toronto) would havebeen more than I could afford; there islittle time to pause from drinking from thisfire hose and perhaps the trueappreciation and success is in therealisation that the water never stopsflowing and that there is nothing wrongwith spilling a substantial amount, as long

as one doesn't drown and does one's bestto live fully on the nourishment.Buckingham prepared me for this as wellas any other University, I believe probablybetter, and that grew as much from thecommitment, inspiration, accessibility andcaring on the part of the lecturers as it didfrom hard work and basic talent. From3500 miles away the pride of havingstudied at Buckingham is not diminished. Iwill think of you, raise a glass, shed a tearand find a willing dance partner. Goodluck graduands of 2006.

With fondest regards,

Patrick Byrne (LLB ’05)

Buckingham in the News

Idris secures position as SenatorAn announcement that Buckinghamalumnus, Datuk Idris Buang (LLB '82),has been elected as a Senator by theSarawak state assembly in Malaysia.The Star Online 1 December

Take company cars on an economydriveIn an article that looks at the pros andcons of businesses offering company carsto their employees, Buckingham alumnus,Chris Smith (LLB '84) is featured as acase study. Chris explains that leasingcars, as opposed to purchasing them,saves a great deal of money,administration and risk.The Daily Telegraph 17 January 2006

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University News

News from theLaw School

Professor AndrewDurand leaves theUniversity

Professor Andrew Durand retired at theend of the Autumn Term 2005, after adistinguished career at Buckinghamlasting twenty-seven years. When Andrewjoined us, Max Beloff was still Principal,and he served under all of Max’ssuccessors – Alan Peacock, MichaelBarrett, Richard Luce, Robert Taylor andTerence Kealey. At one time, Andrew wasHead of the Language Centre and he wasa notably successful Dean of Law. Andrewwas strikingly hard working, a brilliantlecturer, something of a computer expert,a good chairman and an effective andforceful member of Senate and Council.Above all, he embodied the higheststandards of personal and academicintegrity that this university was set up topreserve and uphold.

Prof Andrew Durand

When speaking at a party to mark hisretirement, Andrew mentioned that therehad been four people whose example hehad found particularly inspiring. I did aquick guess as to who they would be: Igot all four right. They were Peter Watson,James Martin-Bates, Matthew Lavis andAlistair Alcock. In their different ways, allfour represented a combination of ability,hard work and probity – qualities thatAndrew himself certainly exemplified.Quite rightly, Andrew warned us not tolook at the early days of the Universitythrough rose-coloured spectacles. Hebelieved that Buckingham had been at itsbest when there was plenty of debate andcontroversy. There had always been acreative tension between the ideals of thefounders and practical considerations.Andrew stressed that Senate was the rightplace for these matters to be thrashed out.

Andrew was a great Buckinghamcharacter and we shall miss him. We wishhim and Jane a long and happyretirement. He will probably spend most ofhis time at his houses in Scotland andFrance but promises to return toBuckingham quite frequently. We lookforward to seeing him.

John ClarkeProfessor of History &Secretary to Council

Buckingham ReachesNational Finals of theNegotiation Competition2006!

The National Negotiation Competitionbegins in the first term of the year in orderto select a team of students to representthe University in the Regional andNational Competitions held in Februaryand March respectively.

Janice Denoncourt (centre) andNegotiation team

This year, the internal competition beganin Week Two of Winter Term and wasjudged by Faculty Advisors, JaniceDenoncourt and Jennifer Shearman. As inprevious years, the Law School admittedstudents in both the first and second yearsfor the knock-out rounds.

The two internal team finalists were ofexceptional talent. Consequently, the LawSchool sponsored both teams toparticipate in the Regional Final held on18 February at the Guildford College ofLaw in Surrey. Each team honed theirnegotiating skills in preparation for twofact scenarios: a commercial dispute andan emotive ‘nuisance neighbours’ dispute.Buckingham was ably represented bynegotiating teams Clive Hughes andAaron Racine; and Tom Durbin andDenise Saunders. Janice Denoncourt wasa Competition Judge.

We are delighted to announce that for thesecond year in a row, Buckingham lawstudents have secured a place in the

National Negotiation Competition Final.Tom Durbin and Denise Saunders wereone of five teams selected from a pool ofsixteen. Competition judges commentedon the high quality of both Buckinghamteams. Together with other competitionfinalists, Tom and Denise will attend aone-day negotiation course sponsored bythe Centre for Effective DisputeResolution in London.

The National Final will take place inStoke-on-Trent on 25 March 2006. Thewinner of the National Final will representthe UK in the International Final. We wishDenise and Tom all the best in their questto win the National Title.

Janice DenoncourtFaculty Advisor

News from theFoundation Office

30th Anniversary CampaignAs you will all already know, 2006 is the30th anniversary of the University ofBuckingham. To celebrate the event, theFoundation is launching a 30thAnniversary Campaign to raise £10 millionover 6 years to help fund all the projectson the University’s wish list including amulti-purpose sports hall, which will givethe students not merely sporting facilitiesbut also a venue for social events,theatrical performances and concerts. Iam being supported in this campaign bymany people including our existingbenefactors, the Friends of the University,the Students’ Union, which is hoping toorganize fundraising events, and, I hope,by you the readers of the Independent.

One venture which is very worthy ofsupport is the important research intodiabetes which Mike Cawthorne and histeam are carrying out in the Clorelaboratory. Diabetes has increasedsignificantly and Mike has written aboutthis important work elsewhere in this issueof the Independent. If you know of anyonewho would like to help fund theirendeavours, do please tell me.

Further details are available atwww.buckingham.ac.uk/ubfoundation/ orby contacting the Foundation office on+44 (0) 1280 820142

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Donations received in2005

The sum total of donations in 2005amounted to £328,000 and I would like tothank all our donors for their generositytowards the University.

News of our donorsSir Nigel Mobbs

I am very sad to report that Sir NigelMobbs, one of the University’s and theFoundation’s strongest supporters, died inSeptember 2005; his obituary appears inthis issue of the Independent.

Sir Christopher Ondaatje

In October 2005, I attended a reception atthe Royal Geographical Society for thelaunch of Sir Christopher Ondaatje's latestbook entitled Woolf in Ceylon - an ImperialJourney in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf1904 – 1911 (published by HarperCollins). It is a highly praised account ofLeonard Woolf's time in Ceylon (now SriLanka).

Sir Christopher Ondaatje, one ofBuckingham's honorary graduates and thegenerous donor of the OndaatjeScholarship, was born and brought up inSri Lanka. In the book, he describes hisown journey following in the footsteps ofWoolf and compares the way of life duringcolonial times in Ceylon with that of thepost-colonial period in Sri Lanka. He tellsthe story of Leonard Woolf's life in theCeylon civil service, from 1904 - 1911,and his ultimate disillusionment with theBritish colonial period.

Johnny Hon

In 2005, Johnny Hon, a donor and Fellowof the University, married one ofBuckingham’s alumnae, Selina Choo. Thewedding in London was attended by manypast and present members of theUniversity.

On one of his frequent visits to HongKong, Johnny met up with another of ouralumni and an Honorary Graduate, Roderick Wu. They had dinner togetherand shared ideas about how they mighthelp Buckingham. Roderick already fundstwo prizes for law school students.

Events

In November, Rupert Carington invited adistinguished group of guests to a formaldinner at the University. It was held in thetransformed examination rooms inChandos Road. The rooms were candlelit, and Sally Kealey, the Vice-Chancellor’swife, had decorated them beautifully. TheChancellor and Vice-Chancellor talkedabout the progress of the University andthe need for endowments. Dr Kealeyacknowledged the generosity of majordonors to the new Buckingham BrunelMedical School (BBMS). Further suchdinners are planned to interest potentialdonors in the work of the University.

On March 9th 2006 the 3rd biennialGarrick dinner for honorary graduates anddonors was hosted by the Chancellor, SirMartin Jacomb. It is always a very happyevent and I will give you more news of itin the next edition of the Independent.

Sarah Rush

On the domestic front, I am currentlywithout the invaluable help of mysecretary, Sarah Rush. Sarah is currentlyrecuperating from orthopaedic surgery.We all wish her well and a rapid recovery.Apart from anything else, the Foundationcannot manage without her.

Mary WelsteadDirector of the FoundationEmail: mary.welstead@buckingham.ac.uk

News from theMarketing Office

Hello from the Marketing and Admissionsteam!

For us, January 2006 saw the launch of anew and exciting initiative – thepersonalised prospectus.

Enquirers now have the opportunity to“tailor make” their own prospectus,combining the particular subject pageswhich are of interest to them with general

information about the University, allpresented in a cover which bears theindividual enquirer’s own name. This canbe delivered in either an electronic (PDF)or traditional paper version as the enquirerspecifies. As you would expect from theUK’s only independent university, this is apioneering innovation as the University ofBuckingham is the first British university tooffer this service (although we expectothers will follow suit!). We feel that theindividual nature of this service reflectspositively the University’s personal andindividual ethos.

Another project to be launched around theJanuary 2006 enrolment was the ParentsProgramme. The Vice Chancellor hosteda reception to introduce this initiativewhich allows not just our students, butalso their families and “significant others”the opportunity to be more closelyinvolved with and informed about all thelatest developments at the University.

Tim Gutsell

The early months of 2006 will see astrong emphasis on promotional andinformation activities in the UK as wemove towards the new UK university feeregime from September 2006. Thegovernment is allowing all publicuniversities significantly to increase theirfees to up to £3000 per year for UK andEU students from this September. AtBuckingham, we are also re-aligning ourfees to allow us to be more competitive onfees with the public universities (althoughwe were always better value, of course!).

But we will, as always, be very activeinternationally as well, with visits plannedto Kenya, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Taiwan,Ghana, Nigeria, Japan among othercountries during the first half of 2006. Wevery much hope we will have theopportunity to meet you in your owncountry – where we may have theopportunity to celebrate the University’s30th anniversary even in advance of theJuly Homecoming Weekend.

Best wishes,Tim GutsellDirector of Marketing and Admissions

12

University News

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13

University News

Obituaries

SIR NIGEL MOBBS1936-2005

On October 21st 2005, Sir Nigel Mobbs,Chairman of the University of BuckinghamCouncil from 1987-1998, died aged 68.He was a true ally of the University andguided its development in an amicablemanner.

Although it is rather clichéd to commenton Sir Nigel’s physical stature, it is difficultto talk about him without averting to it. Hewas a giant of a man; 6 feet 5 inches inheight, he towered over all at anygathering he attended. However, he wasnot only large in stature, but also large inmany other ways; he was generous withhis energy, and his time, in whatever hewas asked to do He had a huge,infectious sense of humour, which heoften turned on himself, and was awonderful raconteur and a charmingdinner party host and guest. After attending Marlborough, Sir Nigelwent up to Christ Church, Oxford. Hefailed to obtain his degree in engineering,partly because he found the subjectsomewhat tedious and partly because ofan accident incurred whilst hunting;hunting was one of his great passions.After Oxford, Sir Nigel worked for SloughEstates, the company established by hisgrandfather, and ultimately becamechairman and chief executive.

Whilst Chairman of Council atBuckingham, Sir Nigel did his utmost topersuade his many friends andacquaintances to be as supportive of theUniversity as he was. He happilybombarded them with requests to makegenerous donations; they found himdifficult to resist because he himself wassuch a liberal benefactor. He set up theSlough Estates’ scholarship for studentsfrom Buckinghamshire who wouldotherwise have been unable to benefitfrom a University of Buckinghameducation.

After he became Lord Lieutenant ofBuckinghamshire in 1997, Sir Nigel’schairmanship of Council ended but hecontinued to be a friend to the University.He visited regularly, co-hosted with theVice-Chancellor the reception to launchthe new medical school, BBMS, andalways attended Graduation. His wifeJane, who was his right hand, joined himon many of these visits.

Two memorial services took place tohonour Sir Nigel, one in Aylesbury andone in London; both were packed with

friends from his many and variedendeavours. Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher,Sir Nigel’s successor to the Lieutenancy,delivered the eulogy in Aylesbury, saying

‘Whether you are a civic leader, avolunteer or an employee, your lives haveall been lifted by this extraordinary humanbeing, who ‘”walked with Kings but keptthe common touch”” ’.

Lord Luce, Vice-Chancellor ofBuckingham from 1992-1997, and nowLord Chamberlain, represented the Queenat the London memorial service in theRoyal Chelsea Hospital chapel.

Sir Nigel’s early death is a huge loss toall.

Mary WelsteadDirector of the FoundationEmail:mary.welstead@buckingham.ac.uk

News from the CloreLaboratory

Obesity and diabetes –the health Tsunami

The staggering pace of the obesityepidemic makes the world news on a dailybasis - this epidemic in turn is triggeringthe development of type 2 diabetes.Diabetes is predicted to be one of themajor health crises of the 21st century.The World Health Organisation (WHO)estimates the number of people withdiabetes worldwide will grow from 194million in 2003 to 333 million in 2025 –more than 19,000 new patients everyday.

Developing countries will bear the bruntwith India and China vying to be thediabetes capital of the world. Asia, withsix of the world’s ten largest diabeticpopulations, will experience over a 90%increase in people with diabetes.

Clore Laboratory

Diabetes is an illness that occurs whenthe body lacks insulin either because the

Islet of Langerhans cells in the pancreasdo not produce any insulin or because thepatient’s muscle, liver and fat cellsbecome resistant towards insulin andhence the patient’s own insulin is not veryeffective. The two conditions aregenerally referred to as type 1 and type 2diabetes. The latter form occurs in morethan 90% of all diabetics and can beprevented but, once present, it is treatablebut cannot be cured. Thus, once diabetesoccurs it is a chronic disease for life. InEurope and the US about 50% of thoseaffected do not know they have thedisease and in developing countries this ismuch higher. Diabetes increases the riskof heart disease and other complicationssuch as kidney damage, blindness andlimb amputations.

The annual direct healthcare cost ofdiabetes worldwide is estimated to bebetween US$153 billion and $286 billion.By 2025 it could be up to $400 billion –around 12% of the total healthcarebudget. But in many of the developingcountries diabetes is going untreated inmany patients partly because most haveto pay for their medication and theycannot afford the best treatment. Hencecomplications will worsen and over-burdenhealth service resources.

As with the tsunami, there are warningsigns of the diabetic catastrophe. Thesewarning signs are in the soaring rates ofchildhood obesity. North America, Europeand part of the Western Pacific have thehighest prevalence of overweight childrenat 20-30% but rates are rising rapidly inthe developing countries fuelled by eatinghigh caloric density food, drinking softdrinks and lack of exercise.

Research in the University ofBuckingham Clore Laboratory

The Clore Laboratory was established in1986 by Professor Anne Beloff-Chain, wifeof Nobel laureate Sir Ernst Chain to studyobesity and type 2 diabetes. The presentDirector, Mike Cawthorne, came to theClore Laboratory from the pharmaceuticalindustry in 1994. Prior to 1994 hedirected the drug discovery programmethat developed the first new type ofmedicine for type 2 diabetes for more than30 years. This drug improves thesensitivity of the patient to their owninsulin and thereby delays thedevelopment of diabetic complications.The drug is available throughout theworld.

Prior to the discovery and development ofinsulin sensitisers, Mike and ProfessorJon Arch, now Deputy Director of theClore Laboratory, developed compoundsthat acted as chemical mimics of exercise

68057_Univ Of Bucks 6/4/06 11:59 am Page 13

and had a potential utility in treating bothobesity and type 2 diabetics. Although theparticular compounds proved to beinsufficiently efficacious in man, thepioneering work laid the foundation formuch of the current drug discovery effortsfor obesity treatment in pharmaceuticalcompanies.

Today the Clore Laboratory is playing akey role in the search for new treatmentsfor both obesity and type 2 diabetes aswell as training the future diabetes andobesity researchers. Researchers at theClore Laboratory are working withbiotechnology and pharmaceuticalcompanies worldwide on evaluatingpotential new therapeutic targets andpioneering treatments. In addition, theyhave a particular interest in understandingwhy babies that are born small forgestational age have an increasedtendency to develop central ‘beer-belly’obesity and type 2 diabetes in adult life,particularly if they consume a Western-style diet. It appears that babies who areundernourished in utero (because of poordiet, young mother still growing ormaternal smoking reducing blood supplyto foetus) are programmed to surviveunder famine conditions. The corollary isthat in times of plenty, they are tooefficient and store food as fat. Workconducted by Dr Claire Stocker at theClore Laboratory has suggested that theadministration of a hormone to eithermother or the offspring in early life mightprovide life-long protection from obesityand type 2 diabetes. This work is in itsearly stages but was nevertheless judgedso important that Claire was awarded theNew Investigator Prize by the InternationalAssociation for the Study of Obesity.Claire is collaborating with other researchgroups around the world to take this workforward.

Green Medicines

Many patients in developing countries willunfortunately be unable to affordconventional medicines to treat type 2diabetes and obesity. In a whole range ofmedical conditions today’s medicines arebased on original discoveries on plant orfungal extracts, for example penicillins,aspirin and digitalis. Plant extracts areused in many countries for the treatmentof type 2 diabetes but currently thesetreatments are poorly characterised andthe secrets can be held by local doctors.The future treatment of obesity and type 2diabetes in developing countries would beenhanced enormously if plant sources ofobesity and type 2 diabetes medicationcould be identified and then grown andprocessed locally to supply the endemic

population and maybe even provide asource for the development of betterdrugs by the pharmaceutical industry.

Researchers at the Clore Laboratory haveworked on a number of plant extractsincluding a cactus from South Africa(traditionally used by Kalahari bushmen toward off hunger in times of lack of food), apotential diabetic treatment from Libyaand guggulipid from India. The latter isthe recent subject of a DPhil thesis byClaire Cornick and identified potentialmechanisms for the lipid and cholesterollowering and anti-diabetic properties ofguggulipid.

Funding

Research in the Clore Laboratory issupported by private donation andindustrial sponsorship as well ascompetitive grants. Funds are currentlybeing sought to provide two namedprofessorial chairs as well as fellowshipsand studentships to allow gifted scholars,particularly from developing countries, toundertake research in the CloreLaboratory.

For further details of the research at theClore Laboratory please contactmike.cawthorne@buckingham.ac.uk. Ifyou would like to discuss a donationplease contact either Mike Cawthorne orthe University of Buckingham Foundation(mary.welstead@buckingham.ac.uk).

Some facts

● The top ten countries in number ofpeople with diabetes are India, China,USA, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Russia,Brazil, Italy and Bangladesh.

● The country with the highest percent ofthe population with diabetes is the Pacificisland Nauru followed by a number ofPacific islands and Middle Easterncountries.

● Diabetes is the biggest cause of adultonset blindness and non-traumaticamputation.

● 35-50% of male diabetics are impotent.

Professor Mike CawthorneDirector of Metabolic Research andProfessorial Research Fellow

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University News

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University News

A 30th AnniversaryMessage to BahamianStudentsOn 17th January, I had the privilege oftravelling to the Bahamas with Mr IrvingStevens and Ms Janice Denoncourt inorder to celebrate the 30 years’connection between Bahamian studentsand the University of Buckingham. It wasthe first of several 30th anniversary visitsto different parts of the world this year. Wemade visits to several of your collegesand schools, including the College of theBahamas, the Bahamas BaptistCommunity College, Success TrainingCollege, St John’s School and StAndrew’s School. We also had a veryuseful meeting with Mr Wayne Munroe,the President of the Bar Association, inwhich we discussed the recent proposal ofthe English Bar to ‘defer call’. He broughtit to our attention that of the approximately750 registered lawyers in the Bahamas,almost 300 of you graduated fromBuckingham! It seemed fitting thereforethat our first overseas visit of 2006 shouldhave been to the Bahamas.

l-r Kenneth Lightbourne (LLM '05),Janice Denoncourt, Randol Dorsett(LLM '05) and Irving Stevens

As is always the case with overseas visits,the highlight for me was to meet so manyof you all. In response to your requestswe held a Law Forum at the NassauHilton on January 20th. Ms Denoncourt’slecture on ‘Securitisation of IntangibleAssets’ was very well received and wasfollowed by a lively debate. There seemedto be a great deal of interest in this type ofevent and topics such as Insurance Lawand Maritime Law were requested for ‘thenext time’. Unfortunately, we learned toolate that a major Bahamian Bar event wasalso taking place on the same eveningwith the result that some of you wereunable to attend both functions.Nevertheless, the Reception in theVictoria Room following the lecture wasgood fun and it was such a pleasure tomeet all those of you who came to help uscelebrate.

In travelling round, I was repeatedly struckby the large number of you who are doingso well in practice or in other influential

positions. It made me feel confident thatBuckingham must be offering an excellentroute to qualifying as a lawyer in theBahamas. Yet I know that we cannot becomplacent and the University is fullyconscious of the fact that studying in theUK is an expensive option for Bahamianswhen compared to staying at home - yet itis still the preferred option.

Therefore, in recognition of our 30thAnniversary and long association with theBahamas, the Law School will be offeringa full scholarship exclusively to aBahamian student in 2006. I am hopingthat some of you, too, as leading figuresin the legal community in the Bahamas,would wish to contribute to a secondscholarship –either personally or throughyour Chambers. The two scholarshipswould be a wonderful way in which tocelebrate our long association and givethe opportunity for other Bahamianstudents to benefit from a Buckinghameducation.

In our 30th year, I am eager to continueour connections with the Bahamas andmake Buckingham Law School the firstchoice for any prospective lawyer wantinga fast track to success. You, our alumni,have benefited from this experience and Iam confident that you would want thatexperience to be extended to yourchildren.

Finally, this was my first ever visit to theBahamas - and I was not disappointed!We met with wonderful friendship andwarmth from so many of you. Space doesnot permit me to name you all but I wouldin particular like to thank StephanieMackenzie and her team for co-ordinatingour visit, together with Rouschard Martin,the Alexiou family, Rionda Godet and JanWard, who especially looked after us andshowed us such hospitality during ourshort stay. I so look forward to welcomingyou all back for our ‘Homecomingweekend’ in July and I hope our recentvisit represents the beginning of acontinuing relationship betweenBuckingham and the Bahamas that willlast for at least another 30 years.

Charlotte WalshDean of LawEmail:charlotte.walsh@buckingham.ac.uk

Law Alumni Profile

Earlier in the month I had the pleasure ofvisiting The Bahamas on Universitybusiness. I was fortunate to catch up withone of our recent graduates, ValentinoMoreno Hamilton.

Moreno (we knew him as Valentino inBuckingham) attended Buckingham’s LawForum and Alumni Reception which washeld in Nassau at the British ColonialHilton on 20 January this year. Morenoachieved a First Class Honours in his LLBin 2002 and was our first ever lawgraduate to win the coveted EdgarPalamountain Medal for Excellence. Thisis awarded annually to the undergraduatewho, having come first within his or herdiscipline has, in the opinion of the Vice-Chancellor, shown the greatest degree ofexcellence. He then went on to completethe LLM at Buckingham and was called tothe English Bar in July 2004. As the legaland judicial system in The Bahamas isEnglish-based, Moreno has since beenadmitted to the Bahamian Bar. He thenproceeded to secure an enviable positionas Counsel & Attorney with a leadingBahamian commercial law firm, McKinney,Bancroft & Hughes. McKinney’s is one ofthe largest and oldest law firms in TheBahamas and conducts an extensiveinternational and domestic practice.

Valentino Moreno Hamilton

I visited Moreno at his office which islocated in central Nassau on NewProvidence Island. He kindly gave theDean, the Law School Admissions Tutorand myself a tour of his firm andintroduced us to his colleagues andpartners. He told us that he is currentlyinvolved in several commercial mattersand civil litigation. Although TheBahamas is a fantastic tourist destination,since the 1930’s it has been a majoroffshore international financial centrewhich attracts substantial overseascommerce. It is home to more than 400licensed banks and trust companies with atotal asset base of more than $250 billion.Accordingly, there is a high level ofinternational business activity whichresults in major commercial litigation.

We are thrilled that Buckingham’s LLBand LLM programme was of assistance toMoreno and has helped to establish himwith a premier law firm in one of theworld’s principle financial centres.Moreno’s firm website iswww.mckinney.com.

Janice DenoncourtDeputy Director LLM

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To All AlumniThis publication is for you andif you would like input into the

next issue, please sendcomments and ideas to Anne Matsuoka.

The next publication we produce will con-tain more information, updating you on

where alumniare these days and what they are up to.

Please Note:Copy for the next issue required by

31st May 2006www.buckingham.ac.uk

University News

NEW University of Buckingham’s

MA in Global AffairsThe only professional training programme of its kind in the United Kingdom

The Department of Economics and International Studies is launching a unique professional skillstraining programme that is one of Buckingham’s innovations.

Main areas of study will include international law and organisations, global governance, internationaleconomics and finance, the development of global society, security studies, internationalenvironmental politics and international negotiating.

The university is proud to welcome one of Buckingham’s alumni, Dr. Charles Henn (L. Arts Hons’79), who will be teaching on this postgraduate programme together with Professors Martin Ricketts,John Clarke, Geoffrey Wood, Richard Langhorne and Dr. Deborah Davenport.

For information on this unique MA programme please contact Linda Waterman, International StudiesSecretary, linda.waterman@buckingham.ac.uk Or visit our websitewww.buckingham.ac.uk/international/postgrad/

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAMALUMNI OF MALAYSIA

Fellowship gathering at Card Room, Royal Selangor Club, Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at6.30 pm on the following dates in 2006: 17th January; 21st March; 23rd May; 18th July;19th September and 17th October.

The University of Buckingham Alumni of Malaysia and Hong Kong friendship and goodwill dinner atKawloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong on Friday, 9th June 2006 jointly organized by the Alumni fromMalaysia and Hong Kong (family and friends included)

(18th – 26th August 2006) The University of Buckingham Alumni of Malaysia and Mauritius friendshipand goodwill dinner at Berjaya Le Morne Beach Resort, Mauritius on Saturday, 19th August 2006jointly organized by the Alumni from Malaysia and Mauritius followed by stop over at Kenya (familyand friends included).

THE UNIVERSITY OF BUCKINGHAM ALUMNI OF MALAYSIASuite 307, 3rd Floor Loke Yew Building, No. 4 Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan, 50050 Kuala LumpurTel No. +60 3-26931727Fax No. +60 3-26931741Email : vsivap@po.jaring.my/

v-siva@streamyx.com

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