I protest

Sir—I feel I must protest strongly at the treatment accorded Prof. Buchanan by amongst others, lames Mitchell, in his article "Bluff your way with degrees". If James Mitchell chooses to criticise Prof. Buchanan on the grounds of not being academically impartial he would do well to reflect on the one-sided viewpoints expressed by many of the International Club's guest speakers. I have long felt that overseas students, particularly those from some of the Colombo Plan countries are not a truly representative selection. This being the case they would naturally prefer any of their own nationals who share their opinions in preference to those with whom they disagree. Yes, there are two sides to every story and from James Mitchell we are hearing only one.

Whatever criticism may be levelled at Prof Buchanan it could never be that of not being truly humanitarian—in fact a man with stronger humanitarian convictions I have yet to meet. Thus I applaud his refusal of the International Club's invitation— how many others would have blithely accepted? — for by doing so he nas demonstrated that the convictions moulded by a particularly intimate study of Asia are more than strong enough to withstand any criticism by the uninformed.