Send your letters to editor of the Reporter, Vanessa Bridge. Email the.reporter@leeds.ac.uk or send by internal post to press office, 12.67 E C Stoner building.

All letters will be considered for publication. We will not as a rule publish 'round robin' letters, letters that have been published elsewhere or letters that have also been sent to University colleagues for action. Letters may be cut (for space) and we will indicate where this has happened. If writers have asked questions, we will attempt to answer them. If they assert things we know to be untrue, we may add an editor’s note.

PILATES TAKEOVER (from Jens Krause, biology and Johannes Knapp, physics)
Some of the regular users of the coffee and newspaper area on level 10 of the SCR were annoyed to find it closed on 1 February for the whole day for staff pilates classes. Given that we have an excellent sports centre on campus, including lockers and showers, it is unnecessary to block the upstairs area around lunch-time with these activities, particularly since this is the only place where one can sit with visitors after lunch in the SCR, which is not crowded and noisy. We sincerely hope that this was a one-off mistake and will not become a regular feature. Surely other solutions can be found in future for staff members wishing to participate in exercise classes.

Professor Stephen Scott (pro-vice-chancellor for students and staff) replies: I’m sorry some colleagues did not appreciate the activities run in healthy week, which otherwise seem to have been a great success with a high take-up, but the use of the coffee lounge for this purpose was well signposted in advance. This was definitely not a ‘one-off mistake’ but a very positive development of which staff can expect to see more. The senior common room has now been replaced by a staff club open to all.

For more on the staff centre see the Reporter staff newsletter - Editor.

REVIVAL (from Carole Craven, ISS) Many thanks to SportLeeds for organising a healthy week – it was wonderful that we had staff-only events in the programme. I was one of the many brave people to book a body MOT and thoroughly enjoyed it and I gained a number of tips to improve my fitness level. I wish I could have taken part in more, but time did not permit it. What a great idea using the staff centre as few of us know of its existence, it certainly brought life to the ‘old’ room.

CRIMINAL TEXTS (from Sue Whittle, biological sciences) In common with many colleagues I suspect, I have a number of relatively recent textbooks which are no longer the current edition. I feel sure that these would be of use to others, and have contacted Book-Aid, but they are based in London, and do not offer a collection service. Does anyone know of any mechanism through which texts can be collected and sent to other institutions? It seems criminal to throw them away!

TOUR DE FRANCE? (from Maggie Birkett, occupational health services) The recent letters about cyclists on campus highlight an extensive health and safety issue that needs to be taken seriously by the University. I would advise any member of staff who is subject to a collision with a bicycle or a near hit, or even witnesses such an incident, to complete an accident form giving details of the event. Send the form to safety manager Granville Cheetham and a copy to me. The incidents with Stephen Richardson and Barbara Summers demonstrate that collisions with bicycles are under-reported within the campus, but if I receive details of such incidents I will ensure the relevant bodies are made aware of the situation.