Signs of over-enthusiasm at Strathclyde University, whose principal John Arbuthnott became Sir John in the New Year honours. The university issued a press release stating that he "received a peerage for services to higher education". Surely they must realise that only Dearing is allowed to reach such heights. However, a small drink is still in order in the Arbuthnott family - while he became a knight bachelor, his sister-in-law Meg Lindsay, director of the university's centre for residential childcare, was awarded the OBE.