<p>lol I just read that as well - college students will be college students no matter where you go...</p>
<p>how "college students will be college students" when these three guys go to a house in Wooster Square and burn the American flag, then ask the cops in the neighborhood how to get back to campus (five city blocks away), the cops assist the kids by giving them directions back to campus, then the same cops eventually arrest the three (later on) for attempted arson?
additionally, explain to me how it is "funny news"--maybe I don't get either the "humor" in the story, or the bon mot in the cliche "college students will be college students."</p>
<p>I don't get the humor either. Were these guys drunk? Just wanting to be rowdy? The fact that two are on student visas and therefore the GUESTS of the USA, yet they want to act in this reprehensible manner -- you better watch out as I'm sure the Conservative bloggers and newsmachine will get hold of this one... "How will ULTRA liberal IVY League school deal with foreign students who burn US Flag" </p>
<p>Geez -- these guys' stupidity is going to blow up huge--</p>
<p>I didn't apply to Yale, but if I had, and I had been rejected knowing these guys HAD been admitted, I don't think I would think this was a very "funny" story.</p>
<p>I fail to see the humor!</p>
<p>pandora and bythecliff: go over to the Hartford Courant website and read the "comments" that are attached to this story. People in CT don't necessarily have a love affair with Yalies. And now you have "foreigners" burning a US flag. You may take it lightly but most of mainstream America would find this situation repulsive in the extreme. Your chuckles belie a rather naive view of how most of your neighbors feel about this -- especially those with loved ones in the armed forces right now.</p>
<p>This thing is going to be ugly any which way you look at it. Frankly, I hope Yale punishes them to the fullest extent of the Code of Conduct.</p>
<p>yeah, it's pretty reprehensible</p>
<p>College kids did something stupid? Oh my god, no way! </p>
<p>If anything this just illustrates that no matter how selective or prestigious an institution is, no matter how much we build it up in our minds, no matter how badly we think we want something or how much we think it means to go to an Ivy League school... it's NOT THAT DIFFERENT! These kids did something stupid, but they also remind us how fundamentally similar we all are, because this really could've happened just as easily anywhere else. In fact, I think that if it HADN'T happened at such a well-known, highly-regarded institution, it wouldn't be "news" at all. </p>
<p>This has nothing to do with the troops, or the war, nor does it really have any greater political significance, and those attempting to invest it with such importance are really doing more harm than good. As the article states, flag burning isn't illegal. It IS utterly reprehensible that they destroyed a complete stranger's property, and I hope that none of my classmates next year exhibit similar behavior in that regard.</p>
<p>quark: While it can only be speculation as to why the three set ablaze the flag, please don't be ignorant of the impact of what the action does in the eyes of Yale and its context in CT and in the country in general. Rightly or wrongly, it will be perceived as snotty Yalies (and foreigners to boot) pouring contempt on a symbol of America.</p>
<p>I'd invite you to go to a non-campus coffee shop and poll the average person and see what he/she thinks about it. Although Yale is located in New Haven, often Yale students forget that and feel they're an island.</p>
<p>While you declare it has no greater political significance, perception can be reality. All I'm saying is be sensitive to why people would be outraged.</p>
<p>What would have happened if instead of three drunk international Yale students that it had been three Caucasian frat guys from UConn, hanging out before the Yale-UConn football weekend. They stroll by the Afro Am house and see an ethnic-themed banner hanging on a pole. They light it up. Or they stroll by a Yale apartment and there's a GLAD banner outside. Any political significance? U tell me...</p>
<p>I mean, the Yale/New Haven relationship is awkward sometimes, but this occurs primarily because Yale represents New Haven and is its industry, business, etc. </p>
<p>That said, eh, it's kind of funny.</p>