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05 October 2018

The public participation process regarding the review of the position of the MT Steyn statue in front of the Main Building on the Bloemfontein Campus is concluded and the reflective column in front of the statue has been removed. The reflective column was placed in front of the statue to elevate engagement and solicit comments from the university community regarding the position of the statue.
 
The public participation process started on 9 July and was concluded on 9 September 2018. During this process, the university community had several opportunities to submit oral and written submissions regarding the position of the statue. The oral and written submissions received during the public participation process were analysed by an independent analyst and a report was provided to the special task team. The broad themes that emerged from the public participation process included opposition to the current location; opposition to the removal; removal to alternative positions off campus; and the addition of other statues next to the statue.
 
The public participation process was by no means a vote on the matter; the aim was to obtain as many opinions and comments about the position of the statue as possible, as it forms part of a broader endeavour to review the position of the statue.   
 
The process going forward is as follows:
 
(i)            The report on the public participation process will be incorporated into the draft Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), and the heritage consultant will submit the final report to the special task team;
(ii)           The special task team will engage with the final HIA and make recommendations to the Rector and Vice-Chancellor;
(iii)          The Rector and Vice-Chancellor will discuss the HIA assessment and the recommendations of the special task team with the university’s executive management and will subsequently make recommendations to the UFS Council for consideration during its meeting in November 2018. 


Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

Romania and UFS work together on diagnostic programme
2009-04-28

 
Here are, from the left: Dr William Rae with Prof. Chirvase and Prof. Caramihai of the Romanian research team during their visit to Bloemfontein.
Photo: Supplied
 
A group of academics of Romania visited the Department of Medical Physics of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently. Proff. Mihai Caramihai and Ana Chirvase are senior researchers of the Facultatea de Automatica & Calculatoare, Universitatea Politehnica Bucuresti who are working together with Prof. Charles Herbst and Dr William Rae of the UFS on the project MAmmary Malignancy Modelling using Artificial intelligence, ROmania South Africa, or Mamma Rosa. It is part of a larger local project aimed at implementing a computer-aided diagnosis programme (CAD), designed within the UFS's Department of Medical Physics, and which will take into account some of the South African requirements for computerised diagnostic radiology support. The National Research Foundation (NRF) provided travel funding and Prof. Herbst and Dr Rae visited Bucharest in November 2008 to collaborate with the Romanians. The visiting Romanian researchers were involved in a similar project where they were planning to model the changes in tumours as they grow and as they are treated. Dr Rae says there are many synergies between the two departments. The project has many aspects and there are several possibilities for related sub-projects. As a result the UFS has been able to attract three people to be involved in the project and they will do their Ph.Ds with the UFS. On the visit to Bloemfontein the roles of the researchers in the project were defined and the programme for the three-year collaboration was established. The stimulus created as a result of this collaboration has resulted in projects that will continue for at least the next four years.

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