Shame on 'wormy' research 2
As any first-year statistics undergraduate could tell you, if you want to find out whether customers prefer GM or conventional corn, putting a sign saying, "Would you eat wormy corn?", over one of...
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Worry without foundation
Patrick Ainley suggests that a move towards foundation degrees is to "dumb down" towards competence-based programmes ("The cruellest con", 7 February). Further, he says that new vocational diplomas...
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RAE funding puzzle
You report the explanation from a spokesman for the Higher Education Funding Council for England that data on research-active staff not submitted to the research assessment exercise are not being...
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Perpetuating poor language
For the past five years I have been complaining at my university that having the same Test of English as a Foreign Language/International English Language Testing System required for second or third-...
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Reading between the lines
The most interesting feature of your recent revamp is the index. Close study suggests that it lists names of institutions and broad subject areas, although "Reading" remains ambiguous since this week...
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The man who was Smart
I read with alarm the criticisms aimed at the late Ninian Smart ("Losing our religion", 31 January). I was one of the first students to join the Smart revolution at Lancaster in 1967, and during the...
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It's an error, to be Shaw 1
I'm afraid your leader "We need those who can teach" (31 January) makes the usual error of misinterpreting George Bernard Shaw's maxim: "He who can does. He who cannot, teaches." This actually comes...
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It's an error, to be Shaw 2
Gerard Kelly says that the status of those who research in universities "unencumbered by teaching responsibilities" rarely have their academic status questioned. If only that were the case. Many...
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Soul searching
The humanities have traditionally been the core of a classical university education, equipping graduates both culturally and morally. Today, however, humanities academics are increasingly questioning...
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The art of asking
A new generation of dynamic fundraisers is overcoming traditional British reticence about seeking donations - with increasing effect. Esther Oxford meets the persuaders
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Starstruck
It is not often that you will find respected academics saying 'I want to be Kelly McGillis, in Top Gun, kissing Tom Cruise', at least not in public. But the study of celebrity is full of surprises,...
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The Employment Bill - managing difficult and sensitive issues
By Diane Gilhooley
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Text messages, minus the text
Susan Bassnett admires a playfully serious paean to the joys of not curling up with a good book.
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The Europeanization of the World
This is a thoroughly well-intentioned and worthy book, but it is perhaps the ultimate example of "yes, but". It cunningly avoids calling itself "How the European heritage underlies the...
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Top 10 Academic Bestsellers: Blackwell, Manchester
1. Street on Torts: Twelfth Edition by John MurphyOxford University Press, £29.99ISBN 97801992916632. Principles of Criminal Law by Andrew AshworthOxford University Press, £30.99ISBN 97801992811453....