The Obvious Takes Time

Some people may have noticed an article in a recent daily about the MacCahon painting in the Lecture theatre foyer coming out from under wraps. Some time ago the roof above it sprung a leak, so the university's ingenious solution was to hang a long sheet of plastic over the endangered part of the work. Beauty and efficiency working in quiet harmony, someone must have thought. You could still see the painting and it didn't get wet.

What a great pity it is that university thinking on the matter has now reduced itself to the level of the obvious. Anywhere else the leak might have been quickly fixed, but at least here at the university one could expect a degree of esoteric thought. What would happen if we all went around solving problems in the fastest, simplest way?