The International Business Model for Universities and Evaluation of Research Proposals By Title. (November 8, 2012)

On the day that Californian voters endorsed Proposition 30 to bolster state funding for its education sector by US$6 billion annually, we have the executive director of the Group of Eight, Michael Gallagher, telling The Australian's Andrew Trounson that the onshore international student market in Australia had reached saturation point, and it must look to growth opportunity online: "Unless Australia is thinking about this then others will, and I think we will lose out on this huge market."

He went on to tell Mr Trounson that it was beyond the government to provide the resources for Australian universities to push their international businesses online onto quality platforms, and that private sector partners were an obvious source of capital: "We are well positioned in a lot of respects, but it will need a leap in thinking."

Just how this line of reasoning is going to increase the quality of research and learning of Australia's universities (did we mention he is executive director of the Group of Eight), is apparently not an issue.

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And then there is Liberal MP agricultural economist Andrew Robb who currently is Shadow Minister for Finance, Deregulation and Debt Reduction as well as Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee.

Mr Robb has taken up the sport of assessing the efficacy of peer reviewed ARC research grants on the basis of their titles; a game indulged in by members of the US Congress from time to time: "Under this government we have seen grants thrown at all sorts of questionable projects, when money could be better spent."

Examples: a study into the emotion and morality of climate change by the University of Queensland; the history of emotions in Europe from 1100-1800; the history of an ignored credit instrument in Florentine economic, social and religious life from 1570-1790; a study on who reads Thomas Keneally's work; the History of Emotions (Europe 1100-1800); A study of Charlotte Bronte and the Romantic imagination; the early history of the moon.

In defence of the grant to study emotions in Europe from 1100-1800 Historian Philippa Maddern defends the $24 million grant as reflecting on modern Australia whereby it contributes to modern day wellbeing and better political and social decisions. Apparently the ARC's peer reviewers agreed that a study of the reasons for suicide and community reactions during this period helped fill gaps in understanding for psychiatrists today. "We need that information so that we can better prevent suicide today," Professor Maddern told The Australian. "What is the Coalition saying? They don't want suicides today to be better prevented? I hope not. "Understanding our past can really help us to modify our future in a better way."

Clearly exercising cheap-point scoring is alive and well.