I thought you wanted a cultural experience last Tuesday night ("Crowd at Lee speech was inconsiderate," Jan. 30 letter). What is culture to you; sitting smug, butts tight, hands folded in your lap, with an emotionless face thinking, "Should I clap now?"

To say that certain people in the audience were, and I quote, "acting out like 2-year-olds," clearly shows that you were not looking for a truly cultural experience. The cries of "tell the truth," "oh yes" and "mmmm hmmm" are in fact a part of the black cultural experience. This form of expression is dubbed "call and response," which I will take a optimistic stance in hoping you can guess where the term came from -- and if not, that mandatory G.I. class should help.

What is the problem with clapping your hands in agreement, or laughing at a joke the speaker told? I thought you were supposed to laugh at jokes you thought were funny. In some cultures, such as my own, it is considered rude if you don't.

You are right, we are in college and we should act accordingly, which is why I find it hard to believe that people, like you, have become offended to the reactions of people of a different culture other than your own.

If you attend another function like the previous one and people are reacting in ways which you clearly don't understand, I suggest you talk to them and see why they were acting out before you make assumptions. You may learn a lot.