Letters: Briefly

The object of Michael Bywater's article ("Don't be silly, get thee to a monastery", Review, 1 December), was obscured by his extreme silliness in denigrating that invaluable institution, the Open University.

Its academics may not be the most skilled of television presenters, but its students, drawn as they are from all walks of life, achieve remarkable results under the direction of these lecturers.

Sonia Dignum

Thornton Heath, Surrey

I am not clear what Prince Charles and his friends mean when they ask for a "spiritual dimension" to the millennium celebrations ("Charles condemns godless millennium", 1 December). I just wish they would put their considerable weight behind a plea for a humanitarian dimension.

We don't need a pathetically futuristic imitation of the 1951 Dome of Discovery or a ferris wheel in some cosy corner of London. What we need is a financially backed commitment to provide decent affordable dwellings for all our citizens throughout the country, plus properly maintained school and hospital buildings. Is this too much to ask in a Rolls-Royce economy?

Jane Evans

Ware, Hertfordshire

I am intrigued as to why Thomas Creevey thinks that Paul Foot's membership of a golf club should dampen his revolutionary ardour (1 December). After all, Engels went hunting, but that did not stop him co-authoring the best guide about how to change the miserable society that we live in.

George J Harney

London NW2

If the Kleenex Quilted Toilet Tissue really is quilted with the Penrose tiling pattern ("Why this loo roll upset a professor", 1 December) which is "almost, but never quite repeated", how is the pattern applied?

Paul Heath

Milton Malsor, Northamptonshire