Careless casualisation

A footnote to the sad record of academic exploitation: universities, it would seem, have cottoned on to the cost-saving strategy of employing staff on 10-month teaching contracts commencing in September, thereby relinquishing responsibility for supporting them during July and August (and condemning the staff concerned to almost certain unemployment during these "fallow" months).

Since the staff concerned will be denied the opportunity to develop their own scholastic profiles during the crucial months of July and August, it is difficult not to interpret this latest ploy as careless of the academic traditions of the university, the scholastic careers and aspirations of those for whom the university professes a duty of care, or both.

Jon Nixon, Kendal.