Unequal standards

There have been a few stories in the press recently debating the contrasting media coverage of the respective disappearances of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews. In fact, the differing lengths of their wiki entries probably says it all. There does seem to be compelling evidence for the argument that class has played a part in how eager the press and public have been to respond to these cases.

But there's another element of bias that seems to be going on, highlighted by the murder case of Scarlett Keeling. I can't help but think that if Karen Matthews had left a two year old alone in a flat while she went to have dinner, or a fifteen year old daughter alone in a foreign country (during term time) to be looked after by a male tour guide, she would have been loudly denounced in the media for being a neglectful, unloving mother - her actions being typical of all that is wrong with society.

But, strangely, such comments are rather muted in the press. Do pretty, blonde middle class girls somehow not deserve good parenting? Isn't every missing child of equal value?

Blood on our labcoats

It always sucks when you discover an organisation you're associated with is not quite what it seems. Particularly if the hidden side isn't one of which you approve.

I strongly feel that universities should be apolitical institutions with respect to their governance. Not that students and academics within them shouldn't argue for or against various political concepts and ideals - rather that the institutions themselves are free from the sway and trends of politics, as might be imposed on their operation.

Working from within that framework, I find it both disappointing and disturbing to discover just how many UK universities have shares in arms companies. What place does arms dealing have in what is supposed to be a climate of academic thought, learning and research? It's somewhat disconcerting to realise that the tuition I sought to try to make a positive contribution to society was indirectly supported by an industry whose products maim and kill. 'Disconcerting' is probably not the word to describe the sensation experienced by those on the receiving end of such 'products'.

It gets worse (and more bizarre). Reed Elsevier, a major force in scientific journal publishing, also run arms fairs such as DSEI, which attracted protest today. I cannot begin to fathom what kind of board meeting resulted in that decision:

"Right, ladies and gentlemen, we need to do something to increase our revenue. Any ideas?"
"How about we become pioneers in Open Access publishing, thus benefiting the academic community and perhaps society as a whole?"
"No, not profitable enough. Any other thoughts?
"Well, we could run arms fairs and invite military from around the world to come shopping?"
"Excellent idea!"

As it happens, Reed Elsevier have decided to sell off this enterprise at the end of the year due to criticism from a number of sources. I'm glad of this, as boycotting KitKats because Nestle are evil bastards is one thing, but trying to avoid Reed Elsevier's publications whilst simultaneously trying to make a reasonable stab at this 'cancer research thing' is rather more problematic. It's a strange old world where civilian war casualties are somehow linked to cancer patients in peaceful nation states, but such is the complex web that underpins commercial enterprise. Whatever my purist ideals about working in academia and not industry, I'm becoming increasingly aware of my need to get to grips with commerce and economics if I want to try to live an ethical life.

How not to run a coach company

Here are some suggestions for you, if you are considering setting up business as a coach company:

• Don't sell more tickets than you have seats.
• Don't bake your passengers with excessive heating (outward journey) or freeze them by leaving a sunroof open that is inoperable by the passengers on an overnight journey from Scotland (return journey).
• Don't whinge about being overwhelmed with passengers when your main route is between Edinburgh and London and it's the English bank holiday and the Edinburgh Festival. It's not an inconvenience, it's a business opportunity.
• Don't be rude to your passengers. They are paying for a service - you're not doing them a favour.
• Don't spend the first hour of the outward journey leaving Victoria Coach Station, driving round the block, and then returning to where you started. Four times. If you really must, at least explain to the passengers what on earth is going on. And don't get narky with them when they become fractious due to lack of information. Particularly if you've been slow-roasting them during this period (see point 2).
• If you arrive two hours late at your destination, it might be nice to offer passengers some kind of explanation/apology.
• If your overbooking means you have to ask passengers to board an extra coach which will require them to change partway through the journey, perhaps a 'please' or a 'sorry' might be nice. If you then have to reverse the decision, try asking nicely. Declaring: "Right, we need six of you to go back on the other coach. You two, get your bags and get over there." doesn't really say Excellent Customer Service.
• If your drivers look so harranged that they are actually grey (and I'm not just talking hair-wise), perhaps your management is so poor that it's having a negative impact on your staff.

Only suggestions, mind. And if you're Silver Choice Coaches, feel free to ignore the above advice.

How many eejits does it take to run a council?

Parking Meter
Originally uploaded by adambowie

Quite a few, in the case of Westminster, it would seem.

Whilst the media focus was on other aspects of politics in the area, the council were busy being generally daft. They've come up with a wonderful (*ahem*) new idea for replacing parking meters. Instead of putting coins in a machine next to the parking space, you phone up a number, enter your credit card details, and a code for the area that you're parked in.

Aside from the bleedin' obvious issues of 'what if you don't have a mobile phone?' and 'what if you don't have a credit card?', there is just so much wrong with this idea. What if the number's constantly busy? What if the system that's supposed to update the attendants' hand held computers crashes? (Do you really think motorists will be given the benefit of the doubt?) The article says that for those without mobiles can use a pay and display system nearby, but a TV news report I saw said that this would also be card based. Never mind the fact that it's not especially difficult to use an intercepting device to obtain information from mobile phone calls, and thus obtain someone's card details. I must say, it takes quite a lot of skill to devise a scheme so thoroughly riddled with problems.

Oh, and I also found out that a friend who organised a charity concert at St John's, Smith Square, has had £250 deducted from the proceeds by the very same council, on the grounds that they were 15 minutes past the end of the license when they were packing away equipment. Niiiiice.


PS. I must say, I am amazed at just how many photos of parking meters there are on Flickr's Creative Commons site!