Calendar: 1968-1969 Page 378

xxxvi Annual Report of the Delegacy senior lecturers as compared with the number of lecturers and assistant lecturers should be held more or less firmly in the ratio of two to seven Established and titular professors were excluded from the reckoning In the last year or two the encouraged by the Department of Education and Science which no doubt was being prodded by the Comptroller and Auditor General has argued that professors should be included They have now won and within the last few months the universities have been informed that the approved ratio of senior to junior academic staff will be thirty-five to sixty-five If rigidly insisted upon this will have very bad effect upon London University and its colleges in some of which the senior staff already exceeds the proposed ratio But London with its wealth of resources unequalled elsewhere attracts by far the greatest numbers of postgraduates of all universities and therefore requires proportionately larger force of senior teachers It is devoutly to be hoped that the will grasp the true facts of this matter and will relax the stringency of this ruling as it affects the University of London The Faculty of Music has for the first time since its establishment three years ago produced graduating students and is to be congratu- lated upon its one First Class among the very small number of candi- dates taking the examination Music is increasingly recognised as one of the great 'bridge' subjects It has obvious affinities with languages history theology and among the sciences physics and it is most desir- able that it should have all possible facilities to play its full and important role not merely in producing well-trained and learned musicologists but also in carrying its vital and vitalising influence into other faculties and into the life of the community It is shocking to realise that in London where there is probably more interest in music than in any other city in the world the University Faculty of Music sihould be so cramped and restricted by financial shortages Another matter affecting Studies may be touched upon Residential accommodation for students has never been easy to find in London but in recent years the problem has become much worse So many housewives now go out to work that the number willing to board students has rapidly decreased Rising costs have made lodgings bed- sitting-rooms and flats in central London virtually unobtainable and students are driven to live farther and farther out in the suburbs thus increasing their travelling expenses and their travelling time Halls of residence within reasonable distance of the centre are clamant need Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor number of London