Estimate

They will read Mr Muldoon's wild estimate of $10 million ("give or take $5 million or so") wasted on failed university units and shudder. (The failure cost in Australia, with 96,000 students as oposed to 25,000, was recently put at $10 million).

Learned academic arguments and pleas for moderation will make poor headlines in comparison.

The education lobby has apparently been split, and judging from the Vice-Chancellors' Committee and University Grants Committee's inaction it has little stomach for a fight.

The most important point seems to have been overlooked.

Although both sides may largely agree on long-term objectives, if changes are made in the present atmosphere of financial pressure this will be what is perhaps the right solution, but for the wrong reasons. In this way a great disservice would be done to the status of universities by what would be a virtual reproach.