Sir, - One of the first acts of the newly appointed vice-chancellor of Queen's University has been to close down four departments and dismiss 107 lecturers.
One of the departments to be axed is geology, which has a long and distinguished history of producing high-calibre graduates to the oil, mining and other non-geology sectors. The department has been deemed a "centre of excellence" for its teaching and is ranked within the top 15 teaching departments in the UK. This is not good enough for Prof Bain and the senate, who together have decided that students wishing to study geology should not be allowed to do so locally.
Northern Ireland has a richly diverse geological landscape (a fact presumably not known to Dr Bain) which provides teaching and research opportunities to undergraduates and post-graduate students alike. Over the years, through its teaching and research, Queen's has interpreted this landscape for generations of students. Queen's geology has developed strong links with other geology departments throughout Ireland (UCD, UCC, UCG and Trinity College all have viable geology schools) and the rest of the UK as well as the Ulster Museum and the Northern Ireland Geological Survey. With one swipe of his costcutting sword Prof Bain severs and destroys these important relationships.
One hopes that a final decision on closure has not been made and that, instead of its preoccupation with down-sizing, Queen's and its new vice-chancellor will concern themselves with the provision of quality teaching and learning in as diverse a range of subjects as possible. This includes geology. - Yours, etc., Frank Fleming,
Richmond Park,
Stranmillis,
Belfast 9.