CITY SKILL SET

UTAS moving into the city is failing to achieve all the potential of using the CBD. (University on a crash course to fail, Ian Howard, September 1). There are many opportunities to develop Hobart as a university city.

Talking to groups in the Mall counts as a masters in sociology. A workout at Zap is prior learning for a degree in human movement. A visit to the remaining banks in town is prior learning for accountancy. Eat in a local restaurant takes you to a food technology diploma. Parking provides the basis for traffic engineering. The State Library, of course, is out of bounds as it does not fit the vision of a future learning hub focused on Minecraft and Pokemon.

Elizabeth Osborne North Hobart

PUBLIC SERVICE PAIN

WHILE an avid fan of public scrutiny I believe there is too much emphasis on what is wrong not what is right.

Our public servants perform a difficult job under pressure; as a previous public servant in the UK many years ago, I had the same pressures as well.

Despite the negativity many perform well despite the ponderous administration

This is the biggest problem facing the service, no one can bypass a structure even when it is obviously incorrect.

Possibly the supposed experts can sort it out without resource to an inquiry at public cost; after all, public servants should be able to sort out the problems private enterprise seems to be able to do so without any problems.

David Farnham

Mt Stuart