Letters: Car cure

We were intrigued by the article in Feedback (29 May) reporting that the Electrolux company was to enter the baby soothing market. Many of your readers will be aware that white noise such as that from a vacuum cleaner can help to calm babies (presumably the origin of the hush sound which is used in many cultures). Other electrical appliances such as hair dryers are, in our experience, equally effective.

This noise may be similar to the sounds experienced by the fetus while in the womb, possibly emanating from the major blood vessels in the maternal abdomen. The calming effect may also be enhanced by adding low frequency, rumbling sounds such as those produced by the maternal digestive system. In the infant sleep laboratory attached to ourdisadvantage.

Even those tuition dollars often end up benefiting the local community more than the students themselves. Take for example athletic budgets. Only 14 athletic programs broke even last year, with every other program costing the university, hence the students, money. However, the local communities are certainly profiting more than the schools. Football and basketball games bring a lot of money into local businesses as fans come to attend.

Through fees and tuition increases politicians are using the weapon of funding cuts to pull more money out of the bank of students as their districts benefit from their presence, but the bank is about to dry up. As we witnessed last month during the student protests, this exploitation is reaching its limit. In the past politicians were comfortable balancing budgets