Education: WORD OF MOUTH

Tory longevity?

With only a breath to a general election, this research may bring a beam to our dear PM's face. Two Bristol University dons, Prof George Davey Smith and Dr Daniel Dorling, have discovered that the average Tory voter lives longer than a Labour voter. No kidding! Their findings, writ large in the British Medical Journal, are based on results and constituency mortality rates in the 1983, '87 and '92 general elections in England and Wales. When compared with the Townsend Deprivation Score (living conditions index), surprise, surprise: areas where there was a big Conservative poll showed low Townsend scores and vice versa. But Before Mr Major rubs his hands too gleefully, it means that people who are better off, in decent jobs and with a roof over their heads live longer than the poor, jobless, homeless and hungry.

Rebuilding ivory towers

The binary line, demolished when the country's 38 polys became universities, is being reincarnated by a handful of vice-chancellors. This has led to a first-class row between Oxford and Cambridge. When the V-Cs of Warwick, Edinburgh, Cambridge and UCL called for a university "super league" in a recent letter to a Sunday newspaper, they argued that Britain's best universities should be "treated like premier league soccer clubs ... only that way can we score goals in the research World Cup." Now an editorial in Oxford Magazine has given their "crass" argument the two-finger salute: "The analogy of a league, with its strict divisions, promotions and demotions, is a dangerous one to introduce into public discussion", it says, and for funding levels to depend on presentation skills (as they do in the current Research Assessment Exercise) is silly. "Football-style transfers have made Britain look extremely foolish in the international scholarly community, which has watched the antics with incredulity." Author of this slammer? Colin Matthew, Professor of History, fellow of St Hugh's, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, is the man who has put some V-Cs to shame.

Another league table:

And, since we're on the subject, have you noticed an obsession with league tables? Schools, universities, exams, all graded like eggs. Yet when it comes to cash, there's a deathly hush. So let me present you with another league table not to be proud of: since 1981 MPs' salaries have floated to top o' the league with an increase of 49 per cent. Next, non- manual workers (up by 37 per cent), schoolteachers (35 per cent), doctors (34 per cent) and nurses, bless 'em (29 per cent). Bottom of the pile? University lecturers, a mere 9 per cent up. New graduates get average starting salaries of pounds 15,325. A bottom-of-the-scale lecturer is paid pounds 15,154.

M25 bookworms:

Good news for people working for any of the 38 higher education institutions within honking distance of the M25. From now on they will be able to choose from 15 million books and 10,000 journal titles. This remarkable deal is possible thanks to the "M25 Consortium of Higher Education Libraries." Readers need only collect the unobtrusive M25 Access Scheme card from their own college library. Every library on more than 100 campus sites has joined the scheme, including the great Wellcome Library of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and the magnificent London University reference library. No single library can afford all that's printed, but together these 38 hold 20 per cent of Britain's library collection. For details, call Philippa Dolphin, Birkbeck College (0171-631 6250).

Your write to physics

Physics is in the doldrums, as readers of The Independent know full well (report, 23 January). Only that, but, as a spin-off, engineering places at universities are also going begging. To delay a further rut, the Institute of Physics has launched a "Science in Print" contest with pounds 2,000 prize money aimed to encourage budding science writers to "share the wonders of their world with the general public" by producing an article reflecting the "importance and excitement of physics." It may not solve the problem, but it's a start. Closing date is 2 May. (Details: Sue Osborne, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 OLW).

And finally ...

The following item has appeared in the Yorkshire Post: The French are more likely to go on strike, partly because of a cultural attitude: French drivers are a bit like university lecturers in the UK: they can't do deals behind the scenes, so their only option is to strike