Manners on College Campuses

Re “Rude Days in Ivied Halls,” editorial, April 11.

The disruptive, anarchistic, criminal behavior of students even in the classes of higher education, while shocking, is nothing new. It has been going on for years and it is getting worse.

To do something about it is not an easy task. The suggestion to throw the bums out is obvious. It works in the short run.

To solve the problem in the long run, the parents should teach their kids civilized behavior (which they apparently do not), on the one hand, and the professors should superbly know their subjects if they want more respect from their class, on the other.

GEORGE KEMENES, Los Angeles

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Chatting on cell phones in college classes? Reading the newspaper? Drop those students from the class immediately!

Hurling insults at the professors? Stalking them? You are correct--throw the bums out! If they need lessons in civility, they are not ready for college.

If colleges tolerate criminal behavior to retain tuition checks, they deserve what they get.

ANN BOURMAN, Los Angeles

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You’re surprised at “Rude Days in Ivied Halls”? You call for stiff disciplinary remedies? Too late. That’s what should have been done in the 1960s, when students trashed administration buildings and demanded to take over and make over curricula, to be more “relevant.” “Home to Roost” suggests itself as a better headline.

LAWRENCE HENRY, Charlestown, Mass.