Hazing at Citadel

Regarding The Citadel: The Jan. 22 letters included two from readers criticizing The Times’ editorial about female cadets, as well as the court’s actions in this matter. Both letters condoned The Citadel’s position.

The main point that most critics miss is that the acts of hazing and fierce intimidation, if carried out against enlisted men, would be felonious abuse of authority. Such actions perpetrated on one’s fellow officers would be simply unthinkable. There is absolutely no objective proof that a cadet who “can take it” comes out a better officer. It is quite possible that the abusive cadets might carry this attitude into their later lives and become abusive husbands and fathers.

The U.S. Navy abolished flogging more than a century ago. It is time that the various academies abolished hazing and other forms of antisocial behavior.

ROBERT E. GREEN

Sherman Oaks