Top table to sickbed

Equally impressive dedication was displayed last week by Keele University political scientist John Horton in attaining his stated aim (Don's Diary, THES, April 10) of getting off top table at the Political Studies Association annual dinner. In place of his intended tactic of citing gender balances, he went to the extreme of contracting pleurisy.

Semantic bails up Those who did make it to PSA included Mick Ryan, whose paper on civil liberties, delivered in the politics of law and order session, was interesting enough in itself but rather paled alongside his designation as "University of Greenidge".

This is not, unfortunately, the overdue innovation of naming universities after West Indian cricketers, foreshadowing the arrival of Lara Tech and Ambrose Hall.

It's just that spelling ain't wot it used to be.