And though the scenery doesn't wobble any more, there is a spindly staircase whose banisters look a bit iffy.. Michael Parkinson, the BBC's veteran chat show host, has ridiculed the new breed of television presenters who are "palpably unable to cope with what is required" of them. Michael Parkinson, the BBC's veteran chat show host, has ridiculed the new breed of television presenters who are "palpably unable to cope with what is required" of them. Mr Parkinson, who returned to the BBC in 1998 after 16 years to resume the corporation's most avidly watched chat show, was asked his opinion of show-business personalities fronting programmes, such as the pin-up Melinda Messenger and the footballer Ian Wright. "The show I do ain't Pulitzer Prize, but by Christ compared to that it is," he said "Please don't insult me. They don't last because they're not very good."In today's media section of The Independent, Parkinson says: "The public aren't daft. If you can't do your job, television shows you up terribly."The producers are to blame for putting on the spot people who are palpably unable to cope with what is required.
You wouldn't ask someone who is tone deaf to take Nigel Kennedy's place playing a violin concerto, would you?"The first show in the new series of Parkinson, which featured Tracey Ullman, Denise Lewis and Dolly Parton, had six million viewers, 30 per cent of that night's viewing audience.. Twelve of the world's leading academic minds are being made available to universities via the internet. Twelve of the world's leading academic minds are being made available to universities via the internet. The scheme to sell e-lectures by such academic stars as the biologist Richard Dawkins and the historian Niall Ferguson is the brainchild of three recent Oxford graduates.Richard Halkett, 22, David Auckland, 23, and Richard Comish, 24, originally planned to offer use of the site - Boxmind, "the home of academic excellence" - to educational establishments only.But after receiving a flood of e-mail inquiries from students within hours of yesterday's launch, they are now considering whether to make the site available to subscribers from the general public.The scheme's founders, who have been advised by professors Ferguson and Dawkins, hope to revolutionise study by offering software that will enable university staff to deliver lectures online, alongside a lecture series from the group of international experts.The initial group of 12 - to which more will be added later - includes the British astronomer Sir Martin Rees and Ian Stewart, professor of mathematics at Warwick University, and the Americans John Searle, professor of the philosophy of mind, and Steven Pinker, professor of the brain and cognitive sciences.Mr Halkett said the internet was better suited to delivering information than providing a conduit for commerce. "Unlike e-commerce, this is about doing something which would otherwise be impossible."You could never get these 12 people together in the same place at the same time as we have managed to do."Those logging on to www.boxmind will find that the screen is split into four In the top left-hand corner is a talking head To the right, synchronised slides. In the bottom right is a synchronised transcript of the lecture with footnotes and, in the bottom left, a list of relevant web links.The lectures, which are added to the site's online library, are filmed so users can stop the e-professors in their tracks to consider the discourse or look up related information.Boxmind's founders admit that the complex and highly technical scope of the lectures means the material contained on the site is unlikely to appeal to the dilettante. But, as Professor Ferguson says: "We were determined to avoid dumbing down."Negotiating are currently under way with universities over the amount they will pay for access to the site.Mr Halkett said: "Obviously we are interested in making money but we are also passionate about improving access to education."Until the end of the month anyone can log on and take advantage of the world-class learning on offer.. Nearly 40,000 new university places went unfilled last year, despite Government efforts to attract thousands of students into higher education.
Nearly 40,000 new university places went unfilled last year, despite Government efforts to attract thousands of students into higher education. Opposition MPs warned that Tony Blair's target to recruit an extra 500,000 students into further and higher education could be in jeopardy, after it emerged that universities fell far below Government expansion targets.Ministers had pledged to increase student numbers in higher education by 100,000 between 1998 and the 2001-2002 academic year, which starts in September. But figures published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England show that the Government is less than half-way to its target, with an expansion of 42,321 between 1998 and the current academic year.Full-time student numbers rose by 6,457 this year, while part-time numbers were up by 7,317 on the last academic year. But the increase was far short of the 52,000 extra places on offer - 17,000 for full-time students and 35,000 for part-timers.The expansion was part of Mr Blair's efforts to increase student numbers by 500,000, as announced at the 1997 Labour Party Conference. Ministers later supplemented the pledge that half of all people aged between 18 and 30 will have the chance of a university education by the end of the decade.A spokeswomen for the Department for Education and Employment insisted the Government was on course to hit its expansion targets, with 43 per cent of 18 to 30 year-olds having already been to university - well on the way to the 50 per cent target, she said.Shadow education secretary Theresa May said the Government had failed to fully think through its policy. "They were just setting targets without any thought for youngsters or the impact on universities," she added.Phil Willis, Liberal Democrat education spokesman said student fees and loans have had a negative impact on the numbers wanting to enter university.Yesterday, union leaders warned that universities needed extra help to encourage working-class students to apply for places.