Recently I read about Coach Dan Mullen of Mississippi State University telling the student body to respect the ruling on ringing cow bells at football games. I totally agree with him.

The school has been wrong through the years by not obeying this rule. Having been to other colleges before coming to State, it seemed strange to me for people to ring the bells instead of cheering for the team.

There are ways to solve this problem. For example, set up equipment similar to what is used at airports to detect certain types of metal. When a person is caught with a cowbell, take the bell from the person and later sell the bell back to them for $30.

Next, if the same person is caught again with a bell, sell it back to them for $100. Each time the same individual brings a bell to a game, the price to have the bell returned goes up.

Mississippi State should keep records of individuals breaking rules and penalize those individuals who continue to do so.

Barthel D. Waggoner

Natchez resident