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Professors and octopuses have one thing in common: They both know how to use ink in order to produce clouds that hide the truth from those not supposed to see it. German professors in particular made ample use of this technique when they were required by law to implement the so-called Bolognareform, a wide-ranging overhaul of most elements of teaching 'as they knew it'. As quickly became evident, the hitch with Bologna is this: If taken seriously, it cannot but devalue essential investments, intellectual as well as habitual, individual as well as institutional, that have 'framed' the professorial way of life. Hence this new policy was considered an unreasonable demand and an intolerable intrusion. Almost everyone felt victimized, pondered inner emigration or even open resistance, and invented nobler causes for this than his own comfort. The reformers were in a position to enforce compliance with the letter, if not the spirit, of the law. In return, their opponents did what was in their power -- while adhering to the letter -- to kill its spirit. Adapted from the source document.