31 DECEMBER 1983, Page 17

Mad Professor

Sir: Had I said that an increased weight given to the interview at Oxford and

Cambridge might result in (say) pretty girls having a better chance than plain ones, then Visiting Professor Haseler (Letters, 17 December) would presumably have jumped to the conclusion that 1 was asserting that feminine good looks `have to do with' scholarship or with 'gaining entrance to Cambridge'. And he would demand that I let your readers know what I meant by it. However, I suspect that the thought processes of your readers are less dotty than those of the Visiting Professor.

John Casey

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge