18 OCTOBER 1968, Page 5

On the scene

CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS

Mr Barry MacSweeney of Newcastle, aged twenty, of whom it is alleged that he will be proposed as a candidate for the Oxford Pro- fessorship of Poetry, says, 'I do feel confident that I could do the job . . . If elected . . . I would take an active part in the student scene.'

Left-wing students, Writing for the Cherwell And sitting down on the pavement, Clamour to participate.

Dreaming spires vie with red brick, And, though Newcastle is top of the crime-league, Oxford comes third.

But he's going to be a professor.

Though undergraduates may be equal to dons, Are dons equal to undergraduates?

Will the students stand for a professor Who takes part in the student scene?