A snapshot of 2000
In this year at Warwick:
- Warwick Medical School opened.
- Bill Clinton visited Warwick to give his last major foreign policy address as US President. His speech covered many issues, including Third World debt relief, fighting infectious diseases such as AIDS, basic education rights and the “digital divide”.
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The University of Warwick signed an agreement for academic exchange and co-operation with Hokkaido University in Japan.
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Honorary Degrees were awarded to Michael Shattock, Dr. Ken Edwards, Baroness Amos, Sir Terry Frost RA, Professsor Sir John Krebs FRS, Jane Lapotaire, Professor Jacob Palis, Professor Barry Supple FRHistS FBA, Professor Julian Hunt CB FRS and Dr DeAnne Julius.
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The University's new London premises in Westminster were officially opened. They were intended to be used for lectures and meetings.
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Westwood Library closes.
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Warwick's Council and Senate approve the appointment of Professor V David Vandelinde as the University's new Vice-Chancellor.
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Warwick Diabetes Care - a new national centre was launched by Colin Dexter (the creator of Inspector Morse and himself a diabetic). The centre’s aims were to improve the care and treatment of diabetics, delivering courses and degree programmes for health care professionals.
This work was commissioned for the Warwick Arts Centre in 1999; the artist explained his aim as follows:
“To celebrate the outright victory of analogue over digital time, I propose a solution which simultaneously celebrates the theatricality of the clock face and the semaphore of the hand, but also asks some questions about our habitual perception of this device”.
The passing and recording of time is intrinsic to the Arts Centre; particular times of day signal the start of theatre, dance, music, cinema and gallery events. The audience arrive in advance of their event, they immediately clock into 'Arts Centre time' and then, with ten minutes to spare, buy a coffee, registering each minute that passes before the performance begins.
The Warwick dials encourage visitors to become more conscious of the importance of time and their need to clock-watch in the Arts Centre. Visitors have to work to piece together information provided by each clock face and focus on all three hands equally.
And in the world:
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The Tate Modern opened in London.
- The Concerns over Y2K passed without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted.
- The UK fuel protests took place, with refineries blockaded, and supply to the country's network of petrol stations halted.
- The Summer Olympics was held in Sydney Australia.
Warwick Dials | Richard Wentworth