The grand old dukes of the LSE
LETTERS
From Dr E. J. Mishan, Francois Villaneau, L. E. Weidberg, Quintin Hogg MP, Thomas W. Gadd, Professor Geoffrey Barraclough, Dr Cornelius O'Leary, Tom Boardman MP, R. L. Dinsdale, Ross H. Dabney, Charles Janson.
Sir : In your otherwise informative leader, 'The grand old dukes of the LSE' (14 February), you appear to have overlooked a crucial argument: if the `no victimisation' slogan is to be adopted by the majority of students (and it seems likely), your simple solution of taking disciplinary action against ringleaders only raises new prob- lems. Indeed, the crux of the matter, as the Court of Governors see it, is just that of per- suading students to accept the need for dis- ciplinary action against a defined set of offences —and not merely `in principle,' but `in practice.'
Even if this need for internal discipline were accepted by the majority of students, the going will not be easy in the face of a militant minority determined to seek `confrontation' on one issue or another. Since we cannot call in the police in every emergency, who is there to push their way through a milling mob of over-excited students in an attempt to identify them? The academic staff? The other students? The porters?
As a postscript I might add that the task of identifying offenders would be easier if we adopted a procedure used in the us. Each student on enrolment is provided with an iden- tity card which reproduces a passport-size photograph. He may be required to produce this card at any time. If he fails to do so in an emer- gency he may be presumed to be a trespasser.
E. J. Mishan The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2
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