Gatekeepers to the middle class

Mike Smithson, Oxford's (and formerly Cambridge's) development director, says "in Cambridge it just takes ten signatures on a ballot to bring an issue before the Regent House. I found that to be quite a dampener". Since Regent House is the governing body, the real fear would be the denial of such a vote. If Smithson thinks that Oxford is less democratic than Cambridge, he may be in for a surprise.

A. W. F. Edwards

Gonville and Caius College

Cambridge