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14 February 2018
Photo Moeketsi Mogotsi
Kovsie students in the process of building their Eco vehicles
The countdown has begun to the Kovsie-ACT music festival that will take place on 17 February 2018 at the Cross Country Fields.
With just a few days left before the main event where students and the community will be wowed by performances from the likes of Prince Kaybee, Jack Parow and Shekinah, students can look forward to the "Social Cohesion" college festivities namely: the West College Project Neon party, East College Graduation party, Central College Yellow party, South College Feballoween party, North College Cowboys and Crooks party, and finally the Kovsie-ACT Fiesta Mexican party.
Each day leading up to the main event, senior on-campus residence students will be working on the building of their various Eco vehicles. Students will be grouped in their designated colleges at the UFS Rag Farm, with the support of the first-years, pending the Eco vehicle race that takes place on Friday 16 February 2018 from 13:00. The ACT office is working towards obtaining sponsors for the overall winners of the race. Their aim is to give the college that wins the race a-once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend an official international car race, where they will be represented by their residence committees. The following race criteria apply:
Race criteria:
| Drag race | Fastest time taken to cover distance wins |
| Slalom race | Fastest time taken to complete course minus penalties |
| Obstacle course | Fastest time taken to complete course wins (Obstacles will be introduced on the day, no preparation) |
| Three lap-race | No winner, just preparation for final endurance race but drivers must change each lap |
| Endurance race | Longest distance covered |
Students will also be working on art projects in the form of a canvas that must be made of waste materials such as plastic, scrap metal and/or sustainable organic materials. The work must be between three and five metres high and two to four metres wide. It should be durable and not perish if it is placed outdoors for a year. It must be accompanied by a manifesto that explains the theme and symbolism of the artwork so that the five colleges can effectively illustrate what is important to them and their community.
First-year students have also been assigned to participate in projects that engage with local secondary schools in the Bloemfontein area. The content of the projects will be directed through a short learning programme that will take place during the course of the year.
The Kovsie ACT team looks forward to the activities at the Rag Farm, and encourages students to attend and take part in their numbers. For more information about Kovsie ACT visit the UFS Rag page or the Ofm official website.
Laptop in, paper out
2013-07-31
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Prof Pieter Nel gives advice to students.
Photo: Johan Roux
31 July 2013 |
The first major steps to a paperless lecture environment for the School of Medicine were taken in July 2013 with the presentation of laptops to all first-year- medical students.
The aim is to have the entire undergraduate medical programme computer-driven within a few years and to get rid of paper in the classroom.
Prof Pieter Nel, Programme Director: Health Sciences at the school in the Faculty of Health Sciences, said, “As far as we know, this action is the first of its kind in any medical school in South Africa whereby an entire class are supplied with computers for this purpose. We also have no knowledge of anything similar in any programme within any other faculty at any university in South Africa.”
All first-year medical students received laptops. The UFS is facilitating the process to provide students with computer access via their own laptops. “The reason for this is that the undergraduate health-sciences programme will be totally computerised from now on. Students will therefore utilise their laptops in all their contact sessions.”
The entire building where teaching takes place is equipped with Wi-Fi. The students buy the laptops at a much lower cost than the commercial price.
Prof Nel said the printing costs of study material during a student’s undergraduate study years can amount to as much as R5 000.
In future, first-year students will receive laptops, computerising the entire undergraduate health-sciences programme within a few years, Prof Nel said.
During the presentation of the first laptops, Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, referred to this action as a big step forward in modernising the undergraduate training of medical students in the faculty.