I am, of course, not in favour of any downsizing of the University of Malta - let alone its closure. On the contrary, I have often written about its necessary expansion. I am indeed in favour of the setting up of another University of Malta - obviously of a different nature. Also I have many times discussed with some regular readers of this paper the possibility of attracting to Malta branches of good foreign universities.

So why have I chosen this title? My conviction is that there is in Malta a hostility towards university qualifications - often called "paper qualifications" by drop-outs. This can be seen and heard in various fora as I shall explain.

a) Judgement
University qualifications are sometimes considered useless efforts by the promoters of a mysterious phenomenon called "judgement". People full of, er, judgement claim that this is a natural talent you are born with and which you can absolutely not obtain at university. This judgement will help you solve all problems. Ask Messrs Aesop and La Fontaine what they think about this reasoning and they will give you a revealing reply.

b) Ideological finesse
According to the worshippers of "natural judgement", it suffices to belong to a squadron of possessors of judgemental ideological finesse to eliminate the need to possess education.

c) Cosmetic qualifications
These are very much en vogue these days and belong to a common tragi-comedy. If you have poise, lots of cosmetic paste plus judgemental plastic surgery and speak excellent Anglo-Maltese, you are superior to graduates and graduands. Indeed 15 per cent is often allotted by interviewing boards to academic qualifications in Malta and the rest to a truckful of mascara.

I believe that students' associations have not yet dealt with this problem very effectively. Graduates keep being pushed aside by the "15 per cent+poise+cosmetics+judgement" people and do not react strongly against it. If this situation becomes lethargically permanent, universities might as well close. Is it not possible for student organisations to discuss with the Public Service Commission the raising of recognition of university qualifications to more than 15 per cent - if in Malta we only have human resources?

Electing a party secretary general

There are various opinions about this. Some think that a few dozen electors should suffice for a good choice of secretary general of a political party. Others dream of a democratically-idealistic possibility of involving all party voters in the choice of administrative positions in a party. The descending number of voters for party posts then goes down to card-carrying voters and then delegates, before ending up in a small number of wise men and women - obviously with plenty of judgement and representing thousands possessing less judgement.

I believe that it would be ideal to have all party voters select party officials. But this is not practical. There is also no harm in involving at least all party members in important internal elections. I think that this should be done in all parties following a serious, long-term preparation for it. The delegate-vote system is next best. Worst of all among selection structures is the closed circle decision-making one. This smells of capitalistic systems where a few intelligent officials - no doubt, full of judgement enough to deserve to wield multiple voting - choose a few people in the name of thousands of followers.

Culture under your nose

In every country one comes across the "cultural postponement" phenomenon. Rare are those regions that do not possess places of archeological, geological and artistic interest. Yet, perhaps due to the fact that they are very busy with their professional and family life, many people tend to keep postponing visits to places of interest which are so close to them.

In Malta, where these places abound, a good number of residents have probably heard about, but not visited, the numerous sites to which foreign tourists flock in their thousands.

Beyond our shores there is also a world of culture to discover. Travel agencies nowadays always include culture in their entertainment itineraries. If you find the enjoyment of cultural richness in far-away countries too much of an effort, surely you can avail yourself of cultural satisfaction around you in the Mediterranean.

Some think of Sicily as a place for shopping - totally ignoring the wealth of culture available there for the visitor's eyes. Caltabolletta, Caltagirone, Mazara del Vallo etc. are all exciting in their own way. Obviously, your choice of cultural promenade depends on your affinities. To some Maltese, geology, vulcanology and similar scientific attractions are of the utmost interest. Unfortunately, the Maltese islands do not offer much (with some exceptions) to the vulcanologist. However, so much in this domain can be found next door in Sicily - especially in the Mount Etna region.

To the ancient Greeks, Mount Etna was the realm of Vulcan, god of fire and the home of the one-eyed monster Cyclops. A recommended itinerary for a visit to Mount Etna is by the Monte Gallo and Rifugio della Galvarna (literally "moustached shrimp").

According to Boris volcano specialists, "the Etna is like a big Sicilian mamma... Every now and then she gets nervous and slaps her children in the face without letting them really understand why". Since the 2002 eruption, the Etna "revealed her more violent face... the never-ceasing ash falls and frequent earthquakes have provoked a sense of profound insecurity with many people as far as their relationship with the volcano is concerned".

Some Maltese have made Mount Etna an enthusiastic Mecca of their regular cultural obsessions in Sicily. Following on the footsteps of vulcanologist Haroun Tazieff's exploits in various geologically-volatile regions, they have put on hard boots and anorak (it may be freezing up there) and, with camera, notebook and binoculars, they spent long hours, indeed long days, up there alone just observing the fascinating presence of the volcano. They will tell you that they actually felt they were in communication with this explosive, sulphuric (among others) phenomenon. Their frequent visits to this place of scientific worship became a euphoric need and they and their acquaintances became intellectually richer by this uncommon experience.

Hunting, drugs and tobacco

Although hunters tend to vote right and conservative, the reduction of hunting in a small country is inevitable - especially because of the unfortunate development of buildings everywhere and the increase of ecological and ramblers' associations wanting to promote health and real entertainment through the enjoyment of the countryside.

The war against drugs will not be over soon and education in families and schools can go a long way to make this possible.

Developed countries all over the world, and particularly in Europe, have also started battles which will lead to the control of tobacco in the same way as that of drugs. The history of the war on tobacco in Europe is positive by its unrelenting enthusiasm to gradually and steadily eliminate the infamous leaf that destroys health and drains the finances of health services.

Dr Licari teaches psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and geolinguistics at the Department of French of the University of Malta.