Wharton Concert Rules [Edit 1]

What are "concert rules," and why are they both reviled and ignored by students? During the Wharton Follies event, one skit in particular dealt with "concert rules" in a way that leads me to believe the Wharton students dislike these rules.

In the skit, a professor attempts to teach class to a bunch of unruly students. Some arrive late. Some yakk on their phones the entire time. Some fall asleep. One orders pizza (to class). One pees in a cup (kicking off a hilarious number called "Piss Cup"). The uptight accounting professor gets so cheesed off that he leaves the classroom in the hands of one of his students.

Though I've never seen a complete list of the concert rules, here are some of them, two of which I've invented just to keep you on your toes:

• Students are to sit according to a seating chart and name tents are required.
• Class starts and ends on time.
• Rock out with your cock out whenever possible.
• Late entry to class is not permitted.
• All cell phones must be turned off.
• Laptops are only permitted for taking notes for the class in session.
• Students must bathe regularly.

In the classes I saw over the Winter Welcome, students don't follow these rules. Some students did not have name cards. Quite a few came to class late. One class started about a minute late. Why are students not following concert rules? Why do the rules exist?

The Internet chimes in with an answer:

The stakeholder survey shows student apathy. The symptoms: lower attendance, more tardiness, less class preparation. The school's response, including the imposition of "concert rules", increased weight of class participation and more grading of punctuality and attendance, essentially target the symptoms of the apathy, not the root causes. (Wharton Journal)

I don't know if it's just because this was the week after DIP or if this is how Wharton MBAs always behave, but I found the lack of classroom discipline discouraging. Is student apathy (where it exists) unique to Wharton or is it a symptom of a larger problem, specifically, that classroom performance generally has nothing to do with success finding a job and making lots of money (which is what everybody's really after)? Do students find it hard to respect their studies because the MBA degree has become a credential and not a tool for superior performance at a future employer? Are students even meaningfully rewarded for being studious? I'd guess not based on the low-energy classrooms I observed at the Winter Welcome Weekend.

Now I know it's not fair to judge based on just a few classroom experiences, but I also know that the Winter Welcome was essentially a sales weekend for people who were admitted to multiple schools in round one and who had not yet decided which of those schools they wanted to attend. These people will (and probably did) judge Wharton based on what they saw in the classrooms last week. If I were them, I would have come away disappointed with the classroom experience. (Note that I'm not saying the entire experience sucked, just that the classroom experience alone did not live up to my expectations.)

Yes, I know the mock class received rave reviews, but that wasn't everyday Wharton. That's a bunch of high-energy admits in a classroom with an amazing professor. So my question is this: Is what I saw last week the real deal or just an unrepresentative sample? Or am I finally coming down to earth after developing unrealistically high expectations? I won't know for sure until this fall.

I'll certainly be revisiting this topic as my Wharton experience evolves.

Edit 1: Fixed clumsy wording in first paragraph.