To the Editors of The Crimson:

This past weekend, hosting guests from Los Angeles on a fall "foliage tour" of New England, was spent showing off our favorite city and its environs, Boston.

One of the highlights of the area was a trip to the much-ballyhooed Harvard campus and Cambridge. Were we in for a shock! The campus was seedy, dirty and an overall state of decay. Even more of a shock was the city of Cambridge. The dirt and filth in the streets was comparable to that of the most run-down slum in New York...most store windows looked as they hadn't been washed in years and the restaurants and stores had an overall seedy look. I am sorry to say that we were unable to come up with any reasonable defense or explanation for our California guests.

I would love some explanation, enlightenment or clarification about this said, sad state that your area is in. Selma Perton