10 NOVEMBER 2007, Page 21

Selfish students

Sir: I read with great interest the article by Harry Mount (Better always to be late than selectively late', 27 October) about punctuality. He quoted his friend's father's opinion that Cambridge students are less punctual than before because of the mobile phone. That is also the case with universities in Japan. The students are much more likely to be late for meetings with their teachers. When they are late, just before the appointed time they almost always send emails saying they will be late. It seems they think it all right to be late and keep their teachers waiting as long as they let the teachers know that they will be late. I hate this trend.

Koshi Okano Tokyo, Japan