AMSTERDAM, 06/01/04 - The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is urging the creation of a university code of conduct. Dean Paul van der Heijden believes this would increase public confidence in scholarship, he will declare on Thursday during the celebration of the 372nd anniversary of the UvA.

In the recent debates on subjects including integration of minorities, remuneration of top executives and the government cutbacks, the facts were overshadowed by the drama, Van der Heijden proposes. "Now that trust in social institutions has sharply declined, this process contributes to the undermining of public confidence in scholarship." A university code of conduct would safeguard the quality of education and research and convince society of the value of the efforts of the universities in addition, he reasons.

In his speech, Dutch history professor Piet de Rooij will sketch a picture of what he calls the 'lonely being right' of Baron Van der Capellen tot den Pol, Eduard Douwes Dekker and Pim Fortuyn. In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, these three political commentators all wrote a pamphlet entitled: "To the people of the Netherlands". They considered that a clique had made itself the master of the population, but De Rooij will explain why he considers that "we can be pleased that none of them gained power," according to the UvA.

The UvA will also award an honorary doctorate to Kees Fens on Thursday. "He can be considered the most influential Dutch literature critic of recent decades," according to the university.