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Your columnists can become very self-indulgent - witness Bob Brecher's rant last week (Working Knowledge, February 18). He asserts that "in all too many universities, honesty is becoming conspicuous by its absence" and lying is endemic.

We all know that academic life is challenging, that we have to do many things that we would prefer not to do and that "It Weren't Like This When I were a Lad/Lass".

I get fed up with all sorts of things, from complaining students to excessive quality monitoring, to pointless government initiatives. But I do not feel I am surrounded by liars: most people are pretty upfront about their views, however different they are from my own.

It's surprising that a reader in moral philosophy can't distinguish between things he doesn't like and things that aren't true.

J. R. Shackleton
Head
Westminster Business School