Of course not everyone has been silent regarding the problems brought on universities over the last two decades or so by a new breed of management. An interesting series of comments can be found in:

Strathern, Marilyn (ed.) Audit Cultures: anthropological studies in accountability, ethics and the academy. 2000. London: Routledge.

A much earlier, and rather more powerful, warning about the dangers of intellectuals colluding in attacks on their own integrity is:

Benda, Julien The Treason of the Intellectuals. 1969 [1927]. New York: Norton. (Orig. La trahison des clercs. Paris: Grasset).

See also:

Furedi, Frank Where have all the intellectuals gone? Confronting 21st century Philistinism. 2004. London: Continuum.

There have been a number of recent newspaper comments on declining standards in British universities:

'Slow corruption' that threatens our universities The Observer, 8 August 2004

• campaigns against the decline in academic standards
• defends individuals against victimisation
• gives moral support and informal legal advice
• investigates malpractice and publishes findings
• seeks to develop a support network with unions and other organisations.

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Skorupski's Law: "The more vain one's ambition, the more redundant one's grasp of morality"