24 JUNE 1978, Page 16

Distortion

Sir: In your issue of 10 June Mr Nicholas von Hoffman refers to the year 1968 as that in which 'the students almost burned down Columbia University'. That statement is very much of an exaggeration. Some of the students were inflammable; the university was not, and on the world (or Sorbonne) scale, our troubles were relatively mild and brief. Even in the United States, several other institutions fared worse: Only, we had the advantage of extensive local coverage in the press and over the air, which produced the distortion that misled your contributor. Jacques Barzun University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, London SW1