To the editors:

I can honestly say that your staff editorial on the 1995 murder-suicide (Feb. 24) was both the funniest and most convincing editorial I have ever read.

Funny? Here's my favorite quote: "But when it comes to advising and emotional support, we are suddenly treated as independent adults with no need for any kind of help. The week of the murder Tadesse missed three of her four final exams. Shouldn't a tutor have noticed?" Has anyone really experienced that kind of nannyism since high school, at the latest?

Convincing? Don't worry, Harvard. I will never make the mistake of thinking that Harvard students are "independent adults" again. STEPHEN SMITH   University of Nebraska Graduate College   Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 25, 1998