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The question has been put to the list that > I read somewhere that university campuses in the late 60s were > designed to make civil protest by students as difficult as > possible - unfortunately I have been unable to cross > reference this claim, can you spare a mite more of time to > tell me whether this is possible and if so how this would > be done (what kind of design considerations)? The University of Sussex was founded in the early 60s with much of the early building plans - by Basil Spence - had "moats" adjacent. The moats had pebbles across the bottom and were c1m deep. It was also a place of tensions and tantrums at that time. At the University during the late 60s/early 70s the "received wisdom" was that the local police had requested that the moats be drained and the pebbles removed in case of insurrection. The "wisdom" continues that the then VC (Asa Briggs) would have none of this having met such officious people in his early life as a code breaker at Bletchley Park. I can confirm that this was the folklore but was it true? The only suggestion I can make is that the Sussex University Library is contacted - they were always very good at building an archive of University and Union papers. The buildings themselves are well know and listed - grade 1 I think. Mic Porter Consulting Ergonomist/Senior Lecturer in Ergonomics School of Design University of Northumbria at Newcastle Newcastle-upon-Tyne UK NE1 8ST +(44)/0 191 227 3155 (voice) +(44)/0 191 227 4655 (fax)