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From the periphery of the lecturers' labour market, I empathise with Tina Brown. But are academics "gutless"? The following ads for postgraduate research fellows appeared recently in The THES Appointments pages: one offering ?18,300 to ?20,311; the other set at ?20,934 (including London weighting). There are worse wages certainly, but for seven years' training?

Who sets these salaries so low? Who builds such relatively meagre amounts into their research proposal? University lecturers, mainly.

Shame on you all. And all this while senior members of academe are able to horse trade their way around our institutions at will. It's less a problem of inactivity; what's required first is some solidarity.

Neil Clarke
Lancaster