Monthly Archives: March 2015

Oh dear what can the matter be King-ston has gone down the lavatory Staff survey, what a calamity! Ratty is tearing his hair. The long wait for the results of the staff survey is finally over. As widely predicted, they … Continue reading →

Ever felt you’ve been Lesleyed? You probably thought you were already a professional in higher education — despite the salary cuts, the overwork, the undervaluing … all part of education now. But no: you cannot be a professional HE teacher … Continue reading →

Universities are now supposed to be hotbeds of enterprise ­— industrial and software spinoffs, that sort of thing. The University of Sussex, the place run by Michael “Penny” Farthing, the VC 239.75 old pennies short of a pound, seems keen … Continue reading →

Dear plebs (you’re not even worth a capital letter) February is a short month – suits me because I’m a shortarse. However I can do a lot of damage in 28 days. First, some changes within the SMT. We have … Continue reading →

The political use of language as a tool to defend the indefensible was ably expounded by Orwell in his 1946 essay. He expressed this in extreme parody in the novel 1984 in which Newspeak was the language of control by … Continue reading →

Made in Kingston. That’s the tag line that Ratty likes to apply to the “Wall of Fame”, though famous is not the word you’d associate with most of the incumbents there. Apart from a couple of sporting alumni, the word … Continue reading →