Phi Beta blocker: society all Greek to Arizona
Last year 62 students at the University of Arizona were tapped for membership of Phi Beta Kappa. The price of putting the lofty Greek letters after their names was a measly $30. Traditionally people...
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Time to wield axe at excess credits
Spanish universities are struggling to broaden their curricula. Rebecca Warden reports from Valencia where the country's rectors drew up their rescue plan and where staff and students at the city's...
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Report's sad note
When one of a report's recommendations is deemed "intriguing" even by its chairman, it is probably a suggestion that requires plenty of hard thought. 11 = /And a quick read of this week's National...
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Hell was best fundraiser
In more religious times the fear of hell, of long spells in purgatory, or of divine retribution provided a powerful motive for philanthropy. "Five hundred poor have I in yearly pay who twice a day...
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A quid pro quo - after deductions
By and large, the new rapprochement between business and our universities and colleges has been as helpful to the profit-makers as it has to the educators, and the much greater emphasis today on...
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Aficionados of Italy fall at the first hurdle
I wish to draw your attention to a particularly absurd example of Italian protectionism with respect to the European labour market. Among the special hoops that foreign (EU) applicants must jump...
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Small colleges daunted by the prospect of PFI
As the Standing Conference of Principals' representative on the Department for Education and Employment Private Finance Initiative committee, I must take issue with your reporter(s) who consistently...
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Robin robbed
The impact of cuts concerns us all, but few have yet changed nationality for that reason. Such, however, was the fate of Robin Hood (THES, April 12). By removing a reference to his opponent Gilbert,...
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Grade inflation: true or false?
As the academies warn that research capability is under threat, Colin Lawson suggests ways to protect standards in teaching. In the past 20 years the most likely degree grade has risen in many...
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Complex Christopher
Our article "Shards of Genius" (THES, March 29) was both truncated and garbled in the sub-editorial process. Christopher's genius for learning languages is in marked contrast with his poor...
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Fears over school pupils on courses
I write to place your front page article, "Colleges plan to enrol children" (THES, April 5) in perspective. The initial enquiry (to me) related to the Dearing report and in particular my attitude...
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Triffid compulsion to reference
Sarah Nelson's article "Best footnote forward" (THES, April 12), seems to me to be based on cultural misunderstandings between the world of journalism and the world of academic writing. I frequently...
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Triffid compulsion to reference
Sarah Nelson's antipathy to the excessive use of references in social science publications commands sympathy. Could I point out that aspiring postgraduates (however much they may agree with her), if...
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Science base rocked to core
As the academies warn that research capability is under threat, Tony Trinci puts flesh on the bones they rattle. The November 1995 Budget represents a defining moment for university education and...
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Masterly nonsense
What a lovely spoof ("All-year study is inevitable", THES, April 12)! But a little over the top. The evidently fictitious "Lady Blackstone" (nice touch) was clearly too remote from the realities of...