It's academic

A polite and courteous African gentleman sat next to me on the Cambridge train to London this morning. He retrieved a wad of papers from his briefcase and immediately apologised for temporarily leaning over the neutral zone between our seats. His first sheet was an agenda page for a seminar in West London. The key topic for discussion was 'the demystification of the academic infrastructure.' Given the furore over league tables that even football managers would be proud of, I think he will have to lose politeness and courtesy before he is able to get to the bottom of this particular can of worms