Risk in the rules
A NASA work culture that 'normalised' the danger signs led tothe Challenger disaster, sociologist Diane Vaughan tells John Davies. Diane Vaughan is no rocket scientist; she is a sociologist. But when...
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Sino the times
As China becomes a richer society it is ironically turning its back on a wealth of discovery about its past. Jessica Rawson reports The past 25 years has been an era of major Chinese archaeological...
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Deadly cloud, silver lining
The Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster had some benefits. It damaged the nuclear electricity industry and was a catalyst for the break up of the Soviet Union, argues Zhores Medvedev Although...
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Labour looks likely winner
It is risky to forecast the result of the general election with the contest perhaps more than one year away. Unlike 1992, the economy will probably not be in recession and the recent past should warn...
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Sultans of swing
Rallings and Thrasher, the brash young turks of election punditry, tell Simon Targett how they will beat the pollsters in predicting the result of the next general election Unless you happen to be a...
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Meaningful shifts
I was pleased to read Jean Aitchison's spirited defence of her recent series of Reith lectures. May I take issue with her on the vexed pronunciation of kilometre? Professor Aitchison cites the long-...
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Meaningful shifts
Jean Aitchison (THES, March 22) is right to reject the pedantic, xenophobic and snobbish prejudice of many of her correspondents. But she quotes with evident approval a sneering attempt to stereotype...
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Skills make real world go round
Student support is a key concern for Dearing and any sensible analysis of undergraduates' needs means engaging in the oft-muddled debate on skills. Dearing's review will focus on maximum...
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Just a push at an open door
Sir Ron Dearing's review of higher education starts in a few weeks. Below, academics kick off debate in The THES with their views on what evidence he should consider. The Dearing review is Britain's...
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Testing time at the seaside
Next week's National Union of Students meeting in Blackpool has a lengthy agenda, but as in all discussions of higher education, money and organisation will dominate. Students are one of the key...
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Justified whingeing
SET96, national science, engineering and technology week, has seen the great and good entertained at Downing Street, lecture halls and labs thrown open to the public and academics doing their party...
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Marketplace muddle
Among Sir Ron Dearing's initial thoughts on the university of the 21st century are that it will have a "sharper commercial edge" and will encourage the development of postgraduate students' "...
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The professionals take the stage
The Dearing inquiry will also be an inquiry into professional education, for two reasons. First, preparation for the professions constitutes a big chunk of what universities and colleges do. Second,...
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Getting to grips with inflation
University education in the United Kingdom is at a crossroads. The Dearing review will give an opportunity to make decisions with ramifications into the next century. One of the ironies of the...
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Art for aesthetics' sake rewards the audience
Andrew Pinnock has his critical values turned inside out (THES, Letters, March 1). Art is surely not "great" by virtue of the fact that "enough of the right people agree it deserves to be", but...