An angry member of the public recently called the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals demanding it institute a student dress code on the grounds that students "especially in Southampton" were "an absolute disgrace". The caller was mollified with the suggestion that it might just be a potential matter for a vice chancellors' working party. Antithesis has no hesitation in nominating Mike Fitzgerald, the earring-wearing Rod Stewart lookalike who runs Thames Valley University, as chairman.