Minerva

Most of the publicity about the dangers of exposure to sunlight has focused on the prevention of skin cancers. Less emphasis has been given to the prevention of cataracts. Fewer than one third of Australians wear hats (Medical Journal of Australia 1997;166:671), and they wear sunglasses for only one third of their time out of doors—yet the evidence linking ultraviolet light to cataracts is just as compelling as that for skin cancer.

A review of sex workers and sexually transmitted disease in Genitourinary Medicine (1997;73:161-8) includes the information that in Britain 6.8% of men have ever paid a woman for sex. Customers of sex workers were more likely to be unmarried and to work away from home. One study in London found that one third of these men had had sex with men as well as with women.

Oxford University's magazine Oxford Today (1997;9(3):24-6) has a long review commenting on the problems of funding and its link with research ratings. Seventeen universities in the United States have larger endowments than Oxford, but if the university puts all its efforts into research to attract more money it may miss out on teaching. “The danger,” says the review, “is that in world terms Oxford could end up as a second level research university.”

Ocular toxicity is a known side effect of tamoxifen, but a paper in …