The Present

Risk of smoking double the previous estimate, but research finds no link between above average caffeine intake and pre-term babies This research examined metabolites from smoking (cotinine) and caffeine (paraxanthine) in the blood samples of more than 900 women. Photograph: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy Drinking some tea and coffee does not harm babies, but smoking is twice as bad as previously thought, according to new research . The NHS recommends that pregnant women should drink no more than 200mg of caffeine a day , equivalent to two cups of instant coffee or tea. They should also stop smoking. This is because drinking large amounts of caffeine and smoking have been associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications, premature birth and foetal growth restriction. But a study by Cambridge academics has found no evidence that above average caffeine intake throughout pregnancy is linked to pre-term birth or smaller babies. In contrast, the study calculated that women who smoked during pregnancy were nearly three times more likely to give birth prematurely compared with non-smokers – more than double the previous estimate. It also found that babies born to mothers who smoked were four times more likely to be small for their gestational age, putting them at risk of serious complications including breathing difficulties and infections. The findings come as a separate study by the University of Essex found that a pregnant woman or partner losing their job was associated with an increased risk of miscarriage or stillbirth . The study found a doubling in the chances of a pregnancy miscarrying or resulting in a stillbirth after the loss of a job. Previous studies looking at the links between smoking, caffeine and adverse pregnancy outcomes have tended to rely on self-reported data to estimate exposure, often at a single time point in pregnancy, which is not always reliable. This research, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology , examined metabolites from smoking (cotinine) and caffeine (paraxanthine) in the blood samples of more than 900 women who took part in the Pregnancy Outcome Prediction study between 2008 and 2012. Researchers analysed levels of cotinine and paraxanthine found in the blood at 12, 20, 28 and 36 weeks of pregnancy and classified the women’s exposure to smoking and caffeine consumption accordingly. Prof Gordon Smith, the head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Cambridge, said the findings underlined the importance of smoking cessation services. “We’ve known for a long time that smoking during pregnancy is not good for the baby, but our study shows that it’s potentially much worse than previously thought,” he said. “It puts the baby at risk of potentially serious complications from growing too slowly in the womb or from being born too soon.” But Smith said the findings did not mean that pregnant women should start drinking lots of espressos. Studies have shown that very high intake of caffeine, in particular coffee, is linked to a higher risk of miscarriage and still birth , which were not included in this research, he pointed out. “We only studied women who consistently had above average levels of caffeine metabolites. We did not study women who had extremely high caffeine intake. Hence, we would not interpret our findings as indicating that current recommendations around caffeine intake should be changed.” Responding to the findings, Fleur Parker, a senior practice coordinator at NCT, said that stopping smoking during pregnancy was beneficial to the health of mother and baby, but that quitting was difficult. “For many women, increased anxiety about pregnancy, birth and life with a new baby can make it even harder to change the habits they often rely on to manage their anxiety,” she said and advised pregnant women to talk to their midwife for help. Source: The Guardian

CQC study finds falls across a range of metrics dealing with antenatal care, labour, childbirth and postnatal care The findings underline the already acute concern about the quality of care provided by NHS maternity services in England. Photograph: UK Stock Images Ltd/Alamy More than a third of pregnant women in England do not always get help from maternity staff during labour or childbirth, the NHS care regulator has found. Even more – almost half – do not always get help when they are in hospital after giving birth, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of almost 19,000 women’s experiences of maternity care found. A significant minority of women do not have confidence in the staff who look after them when they are receiving antenatal care (30%), during their labour and birth (23%) and after they have delivered their child (31%), the research also shows. In addition, one in seven do not get the pain relief they feel they need during labour and birth and a quarter are unable to ask staff questions after their baby’s birth. The worrying findings underline the already acute concern about the quality of care provided by NHS maternity services in England, many of which the CQC has deemed to be unsafe. In September, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said: “The crisis in our maternity services … is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night.” He also warned of the risk of “disaster greeting women in labour tomorrow” and that problems existed in hospitals across England. Many of the metrics the CQC uses when seeking women’s views about maternity care have got worse over the five years since the annual survey began, it said. For example, just 64% of this year’s participants – who gave birth in February – felt they could always get help during labour and birth, down from 72% in 2019. Women’s trust in staff at each stage of pregnancy has also fallen. “It is disappointing that for some women the care they received fell short of expectation and that trust in staff has fallen. “There has been decline in those able to get enough help and support during labour and birth, in access to pain relief while in labour and the availability of information and support after giving birth,” said Nicola Wise, the CQC’s director of secondary and specialist care. Joanna Corfield, of the NCT parenting charity, said: “Failing trust, confidence and timely support – this cycle of maternity failings must end now.” Safe, compassionate and equitable care must be “non-negotiable” for every woman, she added. Staff shortages are a key reason women do not always get the help they need, the Royal College of Midwives said. Midwives “often struggle to give the high standard of care they want”. More positively, the CQC also found that more women are receiving support with their mental health from maternity staff. One in five mothers develop a psychological problem related to their pregnancy or birth. For example, 76% of mothers-to-be were asked about their mental wellbeing at antenatal checkups and most said a midwife had done the same during their postnatal care. Even larger numbers said midwives always listened to them (83%) and they were always treated with respect and dignity (87%). Kate Brintworth, NHS England’s chief midwifery officer, said: “Mental health support is vital during pregnancy and it’s encouraging that mothers are saying their experiences in this area have improved. “But we know there is much more to do to ensure all women and babies receive high-quality personalised care.” Source: The Guardian

Do we really need to gulp down eight glasses of water a day – or is it a myth? We ask an expert Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian Sorry Stanley cup devotees, the environmental physiology professor Lewis Halsey at Roehampton University says there has been an “overselling of concerns” about consuming enough H2O. “It’s a tricky one,” Halsey says. “Obviously people can become dehydrated. We are set up to have quite a high water turnover rate: we sweat it out to keep cool, and we therefore need to recover those fluids. However, we can, at least in the short or even medium term, lose quite a lot of fluids and be fine.” Halsey, who’s researching sweating and drinking’s impact on body temperature, says the amount of water each person needs is variable. Bigger, more active people generally need more. If someone has very low body fat levels – either because they’re very slim or very muscular – they also need more water because muscle holds more water than fat, so more of their body tissue needs keeping hydrated. Those who live in a less humid climate may need more, as “they lose more water on their breath”. And because 20-30% of our water intake comes from food, if your diet is made up of more calorie-dense foods you may also need to drink more. “Part of the reason the food will be high density is because it’s low in water,” Halsey adds. So, how do we know if we’re drinking enough? “Drink when you’re thirsty,” Halsey says, rather than aiming to hit a certain target. His one exception is elderly people: “Typically, they have a reduced sensation of thirst, and so they’re more vulnerable to chronic dehydration.” One thing he says we all definitely shouldn’t feel obliged to do is constantly sip water throughout the day. “The body is absolutely fine at dealing with intermittent bursts of water ingestion,” Halsey says. Source: The Guardian

Research shows walk or cycle improves cognitive performance for day ahead – and day after Researchers noted physical activity can result in short-term cognitive improvements and a reduced risk of dementia. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images For cycle-to-work commuters and those who start the day with a brisk walk, the benefits of banking some early exercise is well understood. Now scientists believe activity is not just a good idea for improving the day ahead – physical activity could be associated with small increase in memory scores the next, too. A study from University College London has shown that 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and sleeping for at least six hours at night, could contribute to improved cognitive performance the following day. “The takeaway is just [that] physical activity is good for your brain and good sleep helps that,” said Dr Mikaela Bloomberg, first author of the study. The researchers noted physical activity had previously been associated with both short-term improvements in cognitive function and a reduced risk of dementia. However, Bloomberg noted many studies looking at short-term impacts had been laboratory based, and primarily tracked responses on a timescale of minutes to hours. These studies suggested benefits could be down to an increased blood flow to the brain and stimulation of chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Now researchers say they have looked at the short-term impact of physical activity carried out in real life, not only finding benefits to the brain but revealing these appear to last longer than expected. Writing in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Bloomberg and colleagues report how 76 adults aged 50-83 years old, and who did not have cognitive impairment or dementia, were asked to wear an accelerometer for eight days to track their sleep and physical activity as they carried out their normal life. Each day, participants were also given simple online cognitive tests to probe their attention, memory and processing speed, among other faculties. The team said their results reveal that each 30-minute increase in moderate to vigorous physical activity on the previous day corresponded to a 2-5% increase in episodic and working memory scores the next, although only the latter remained once participants’ sleep data was considered. While Bloomberg noted it is difficult to say whether this corresponds to a tangible – clinical – difference for participants, she said the next step is to carry out similar work in people with cognitive impairments. “The idea is for people who have mild cognitive impairment, a very minor boost in cognitive performance on a day-to-day basis can make a huge difference,” she said. The team also found each 30-minute increase in sedentary behaviour was associated with a small drop in working memory scores the next day – although Bloomberg said exactly how sedentary time is spent could be important – while those who slept at least six hours a night had higher scores for episodic memory, attention and physical response speed the next day, after taking into account levels of physical activity, than those who had less sleep. However, the study has limitations, including that the participants had high levels of education, excellent health and high levels of everyday physical activity. Bloomberg added it is not clear exactly what is driving the impact of exercise on memory the following day, with benefits from neurotransmitters only thought to last for a few hours. She also noted different mechanisms may be behind long-term benefits of exercise to the brain. The study ties into a focus on protecting our brains as we age . “We all experience cognitive decline as we get older, it’s a normal part of ageing,” Bloomberg said. “So that’s the age group where we start to think: what are these little things we can do on a day-to-day basis to improve our cognitive function and our independence and social participation?” Source: The Guardian

Walking pneumonia is joining whooping cough and RSV on the list of lung infections making children sick this fall. Imgorthand/E+/Getty Images CNN  —  Ch ildren who have coughs that go on for weeks may have a type of walking pneumonia that’s been surging in the US this year, and they may need a different antibiotic regimen to treat it, infectious disease experts say. “It’s very much been on our radar since early summer, when we started to see a remarkable increase in the number of kids with pneumonia who seemed to have this particular type of pneumonia,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Creech says that on the same day in August, four Nashville-area pediatricians reached out to him to ask why so many kids were coughing in the summertime. These doctors wanted advice, he says, because their go-to antibiotic for pneumonia – amoxicillin – didn’t seem to be working in these cases. The pneumonia is caused by tiny Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria and cases are spiking this year, particularly among preschool-age children, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sent a bulletin alerting parents and doctors to the uptick last week. Mycoplasma pneumonia is the latest entry on a growing list of lung infections keeping doctors on their toes this fall. Whooping cough, or pertussis, cases – which also cause a prolonged cough – are five times higher than they were at this time last year, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is also rising in parts of the US . In the past, it’s been difficult to test for Mycoplasma. It’s not a germ that likes to grow in a Petri dish, which is the standard, if slow, way to test for bacterial infections. Now, Creech says, better diagnostic tests are making it easier to detect these bacteria more quickly and reliably. With so many germs making kids cough this fall, it’s crucial that doctors use these new tests to get the right diagnosis, he said. “This is the exact time where we need to be using these diagnostic tests that can guide treatment,” he said. Awareness of the Mycoplasma trend is important, the CDC says, since first-line antibiotics for kids such as amoxicillin and penicillin don’t kill this type of bacteria. The infection is usually easily treated with other antibiotics, however, such as azithromycin . According to the CDC, which monitors discharge data from a network of hospitals as well as test results from commercial laboratories, the number of children ages 2 through 4 who were seen in the ER for pneumonia and who tested positive for Mycoplasma increased from 1% in April 2024 to 7.2% in early October, a sevenfold increase. Diagnoses in older kids doubled over the same time frame, increasing from 3.6% to 7.4%. The CDC said Mycoplasma cases seem to have peaked in mid-August, but they remain high. Creech said he expects they will continue to be high for another month or so, then should begin to taper off later into the fall. On an X-ray, Mycoplasma infections can give lungs a cloudy or “white lung” appearance. Last year, China, Denmark and France all reported i ncreases of this kind of pneumonia in kids. The rise in cases is probably due to at least three factors, said Dr. Geoffrey Weinberg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The first is that rates of Mycoplasma infections are returning to where they were before the Covid-19 pandemic. “It seems very dramatic now, but it’s more because during the peak of the Covid pandemic, just about everything else went down,” Weinberg said. “But the actual countrywide rates are fairly similar to what it was before 2019.” The second reason is that most infections cycle, so some years are worse than others. Doctors tend to see spikes of Mycoplasma pneumonia every 3 to 7 years, as people lose their immunity to the virus, Creech said. “Sometimes you just have a bad year, combined with not noticing it for a while, now we’re getting it more,” Weinberg said. Having a lot of cases after not having many at all can make the spike feel even bigger, he added. The third reason is that doctors have more advanced tests – called multiplex tests – that can check for multiple types of viruses and bacteria at the same time, so it could be that this infection is just getting picked up more often. Mycoplasma pneumoniae are bacteria that travel through respiratory droplets. People catch them when they’re near another person’s coughs and sneezes, the CDC said. For that reason, this type of pneumonia easily spreads through crowded settings like schools, college residence halls and nursing homes. These bacteria are tricky too because they hang around for a while – from one to four weeks in the body – before they make a person sick. By the time symptoms start, a person usually has little memory of what they may have been exposed to. Mycoplasma infections start off pretty generically, with a headache, a sore throat, a low fever and chills. People often feel crummy but can still get around, hence the term “walking pneumonia.” The cough is typically a dry cough, without phlegm. It starts gradually and slowly increases over a period of two to three weeks, becoming almost constant. Not everyone who gets a Mycoplasma infection will need treatment. Weinberg says that as many as 75% of kids and young adults will get over it without any therapy. Sometimes, however, the infection will exacerbate pre-existing conditions like asthma and make people seriously ill. Rarely, these germs can travel outside the lungs. In the central nervous system, they can infect the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The bacteria can also infect the nerves of the eyes, as well as the ones that control the legs and bladder. These patients may not ever develop a cough. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the amount of the increase in cases among young children. Source: CNN

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts When is laughter the best medicine? John Forrest, Kansas City Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com . Readers reply Recovering after an operation; because more often than not the patient is in stitches. ThereisnoOwl When it’s schadenfreude. BlackCrowsKindom In suitably large doses, it can be an effective diuretic. EddieChorepost When recovering from a broken humerus. David_T The late journalist Norman Cousins believed he cured himself of a serious illness by watching funny films . “I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anaesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,” he reported. He also gave himself massive intravenous doses of vitamin C, which is definitely not recommended. eibhear My dad has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was in hospital this year. He wasn’t coping without oxygen for more than an hour. Then there was an incident on his ward – it’s a long story, but poo was found where poo shouldn’t be – and people were vocal in their opinions about it. It was gloriously silly and childish in the best way, made funnier by the lack of other entertainment. Dad laughed and laughed all day and by late afternoon he didn’t needing oxygen at all. He went home without it. Hummusexual Source: The Guardian

TOKYO -- Wintry temperatures have arrived in the Japanese capital and surrounding Kanto region. It's the season when taking a bath can feel good, but that also means a higher risk of accidents, so experts are advising vigilance against so-called "heat shock": sudden changes in blood pressure that can make someone lose consciousness or suffer a stroke. Ayumi Toba, head of the cardiovascular internal medicine department at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology (TMIG), said that heat shock "is often thought of as something that only affects the elderly, but young people also need to be careful." 3.7 times more deaths than in traffic accidents Heat shock can cause sudden heart attacks, arrhythmia or stroke. According to vital statistics from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 6,073 people aged 65 and older died in bathtubs at home or in residential facilities in 2023. This was about 2.3 times as many as those who died in traffic accidents that year, at 2,678. In a survey by TMIG and others targeting fire departments across the country, a spike in the number of elderly people who suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest while bathing was seen from December to around February in a monthly breakdown in 2011. Because some deaths thought to be due to heat shock end up being classified as due to "illness," it is hard to ascertain exact numbers of deaths. The survey estimated that as many as around 17,000 people died suddenly due to related conditions while bathing. That is some 3.7 times more than the number of traffic fatalities in 2011, which totaled 4,611. When cold, blood vessels in the human body contract. When entering a hot bath in that state, the blood vessels expand and blood pressure suddenly drops. If the body's ability to deliver blood to the brain then fails, one can lose consciousness. Around 3,000 of the fatalities estimated in the survey were among people who were not elderly. Toba warned the old and young alike, "The biggest danger is to faint and drown. Please don't think 'I'll be fine' just because you have no preexisting brain or heart problems." Staying prepared is advised for people of all ages. Preventing heat shock According to Toba, you can do the following to avoid heat shock: 1. Install heating or retrofit thermal insulation in your bathroom and changing room. 2. Heat your bathroom by opening the lid above the bathtub. 3. Avoid bathing right after eating or drinking alcohol. 4. If possible, avoid bathing alone, and if any family members are present, tell them you are taking a bath. 5. Before bathing, drink a cup of water or a soft drink. 6. Set the water temperature to 41 degrees Celsius or less. The bathroom can also be heated by running hot water from a high-positioned shower to fill the bathtub. Another measure is to have elderly family members take a bath second, when the room has been warmed up after the first bather. If you're fortunate enough to find out early when a relative has fallen in the bathroom, Toba advises first draining the water from the tub, because trying to help them while the water is there is more difficult. She said it's also important to cover them with a bath towel to ensure they don't get chilly. "If they've only fainted, they are likely to respond when you call out to them. If they do not respond when you call their name, or if they seem distressed, call an ambulance immediately," Toba recommended. She continued, "Heat shock is indeed common among the elderly, but young people have also died. Please make a habit of taking precautions when bathing, even if only in winter." (Japanese original by Kohei Chiwaki, Digital News Group) Source: Maitini

School also decided to close its campus to the public after La’Tavion Johnson, 18, was killed and 16 were injured The Tuskegee University campus in Alabama has closed to the public and fired its security chief after a deadly mass shooting there over the weekend. The shooting, which occurred during the school’s 100th homecoming weekend, killed one person and injured 16 others early on Sunday. At least a dozen of those were injured by gunfire, authorities say. Many students were among those hurt. The university’s president, Mark Brown, announced on Monday that the closure of the campus to members of the public would take immediate effect. All guests must also wear visitor badges, he said. Students, faculty and staff will be required to show ID when on campus. The university has already hired a replacement security chief who will conduct a review of the shooting. Classes were canceled on Monday and Tuesday. “The Tuskegee University community is heartbroken by what happened on our campus early Sunday morning,” Brown said in his statement . “We offer condolences to the family of the young man who lost his life. We are providing as much support as we can to the students who were injured and their families and are allowing all students who lived in the vicinity of the incident to relocate if they desire.” The man killed in the homecoming weekend shooting has been identified as 18-year-old La’Tavion Johnson, of Troy, Alabama , who was not a student at Tuskegee. Johnson was a graduate of Charles Henderson high school. His family says he had helped care for his nephew after the death of his sister last year. The Johnson family pleaded for an end to gun violence in an interview with WSFA 12 . “They’ve got to do something,” Johnson’s father said. “They’ve definitely got to do something. Because if they don’t, we’re all going to fade away.” Sunday’s violence was one of more than 455 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive . The nonpartisan archive defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are wounded or killed. Constantly high rates of mass shootings in the US have prompted some public calls for more substantial gun control. But Congress has generally been unwilling or unable to heed those calls. Brown said that the event where the shooting occurred was not affiliated with Tuskegee University, which is a historically Black institution. Authorities arrested a suspect in the shooting – identified as 25-year-old Jaquez Myrick – on a federal charge of illicitly possessing a machine gun. He was allegedly seen leaving the scene of the shooting and was found in possession of a handgun installed with a machine gun conversion device, according to investigators. Brown confirmed that he had no plans to end the school’s annual homecoming, which is a celebration that has long been associated with the HBCU system . Source: The Guardian

Move to exclude fossil fuel firms from investment portfolios follows years of campaigning by staff and students More than three-quarters of UK universities have pledged to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios, according to campaigners. The move, which is part of a wider drive to limit investment in fossil fuels, follows years of campaigning by staff and students across the higher education sector. The student campaign group People & Planet announced on Friday that 115 out of 149 UK universities had publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels – meaning £17.7bn-worth of endowments are now out of reach of the fossil fuel industry. Laura Clayson, from People & Planet, said it would have been unthinkable a decade ago that so many institutions had formally refused to invest in fossil fuels. “That we can celebrate this today is down to the generations of students and staff that have fought for justice in solidarity with impacted communities. The days of UK universities profiteering from investments in this neo-colonial industry are over.” People & Planet set up the Fossil Free universities campaign in 2013. As part of its efforts the group has highlighted the “struggles and voices” of communities on the frontline of the climate crisis in an attempt to bring home the real-world impact of investment decisions made by UK universities. Clayson said: “The demand for fossil-free came from frontline communities themselves and it is an act of solidarity from global north organisers campaigning on this … We have a responsibility to speak the lived experiences of the communities resisting these inequalities into megaphones at protests and in negotiations within university boardrooms, to highlight their stories of struggle in spaces so often detached from the reality of everyday life on the frontlines.” One of the projects highlighted by the campaign is the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) – a mega project that would stretch almost 900 miles from the Lake Albert region of Uganda to the coast in Tanzania, and release vast amounts of planet-heating carbon. The pipeline is being built in spite of local opposition, and there are reports that protesters and critics have been met with state violence. Hundreds of student organisers have been involved in the struggle. Ntambazi Imuran Java, the lead coordinator at the Stop EACOP Uganda campaign, said its members appreciated the efforts of UK students to bring an end to universities’ fossil fuel investments. “[This] supports those who have worked tirelessly to stop deadly extraction projects like EACOP … Regardless of the arrests and violations on the activists, students’ activists and communities, we continue to demand for the Uganda authorities to stop the project and instead invest in renewables.” People & Planet said four UK institutions – Birmingham City University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Bradford – had recently incorporated fossil fuel exclusions into their ethical investment policies, meaning 115 out of 149 UK universities have publicly committed to divest from fossil fuels. Later this month, the group will group will unveil its latest university league table that ranks institutions by their ethical and environmental performance. Campaigners say they will then increase pressure on the remaining 34 UK universities yet to go fossil-free. Source: The Guardian

With degrees disappearing and reading rates plummeting, the arts face a critical moment in education and culture The announcement that Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent is to stop offering English literature degrees has set several hares running, most of them in the wrong direction. The university said in effect that hardly anyone wanted to study English literature at degree level any more and the course was therefore no longer viable. If you can’t do EngLit in the city of Chaucer and Marlowe, where can you do it? Canterbury’s tale is a familiar one. EngLit is in wholesale retreat at A level, with numbers down from 83,000 in 2013 to 54,000 in 2023, and there has been a decline at university, too, over the past decade, though statistics are disputed because the subject gets studied at degree level in many guises, including creative writing and linguistics. Overall, humanities subjects seem to be losing their appeal , with only 38% of students taking a course in 2021/22, down from nearly 60% between 2003/4 and 2015/16. Tuition fees and the need to study a subject chosen to recoup a student’s substantial investment are likely to be behind the fall. The perilous state of university finances is also leading to deep cuts – resulting in the loss of the well-regarded chemistry course at Hull last week. But most concerning is the widespread closure of arts and humanities departments – art, music, drama, dance – with institutions such as Goldsmiths, Oxford Brookes and Surrey shedding hundreds of academics. EngLit might seem an easy target. Studying Beowulf is no longer quite as attractive as it was when the state paid. Meanwhile, those on the liberal side of the argument blame Michael Gove’s 2013 curriculum reforms, which ushered in an era of content-heavy courses assessed by final exams. Successive Tory education ministers also extolled science and technology while deriding the career prospects of arts graduates. Studying literature is inherently a good thing. Virginia Woolf, who was mortified by her father’s unwillingness to let her go to university, saw books as a way of transcending the self. University should be concerned with encouraging rational inquiry and the free play of the intellect; it is not about the creation of useful drones and it’s unfortunate that tuition fees have made the experience to some degree transactional. Courses should challenge students, emphasising the decoding of texts over superficial skimming. The closure of Canterbury Christ Church University’s course coincided with a National Literacy Trust report revealing that only 35% of 8 to 18-year-olds enjoy reading for pleasure — a drop of nearly 9 percentage points in a year. Reading rates are falling, the gender gap is widening and causes range from social media’s dominance to library closures and shrinking attention spans. (Should we read anything into the brevity of this year’s Booker Prize winner ? How would Our Mutual Friend have fared?) Some school teachers suggest replacing Dickens with social media studies, but, as Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop might counter: “Up to a point, Lord Copper”. We should be concerned about the closure of the EngLit course at Canterbury. Universities are in a shocking state, and the new government has barely begun the herculean task of stabilising the sector. This is more than an institutional failure. It signals a cultural shift that risks leaving future generations without the critical, empathetic and intellectual tools provided by literature. “There is no friend as loyal as a book,” Hemingway said. Reliance on Instagram influencers can only get you so far. We still need Our Mutual Friend . Source: The Guardian