University of Virginia Library

Council To Fight Amphitheater Parking

By MEG VINSON

First Commencement Exercises In Amphitheater:

Once The Site Of Graduation In 1921, The Amphitheater Will Now Be The Scene For Student Protest On Tuesday Leveled Against Its Present Paved Condition of Asphalt And Automobiles.

After much debate,
Student Council voted 12 to 6
Tuesday night to sponsor a
demonstration May
advocating the re-grassing of
McIntire Amphitheater.

In conjunction with this
demonstration, Council voted
to send a letter to each of the
45 owners of the parking
spaces in McIntire
Amphitheater urging them to
donate their spots to anything
other than a parking space for
their car on Tuesday, May 1.

According to third-year
man Greg Luce, sponsor of the
motion, students should try to
convince their teachers to hold
classes in the amphitheater
and other students and
community members should
use it for any other type of
activity, ranging from studying
to frisbee.

The purpose of this activity
protest will be to show the
administration that the
"general use of the
amphitheater was intended for
people, not cars", and "to
convince the administration of
the discontent about parking in
the amphitheater."

There was much discussion
concerning the success and
timing of such an all-day
demonstration.

College Council
Representative Mark Vorder
Bruegge commented that it was
"foolish" to have this protest
on Tuesday because it might
"work against us as much as
for us."

Council Vice President
Larry Sabato said "President
Shannon didn't indicate
support at all (for the
re-grassing) and it will take a
lot more than one day to
change anything." He believes
that "every part of this has to
be a success" if the
demonstration is going to
persuade administration
officials to change their minds.

College Representative Sam
Brown said that he's "afraid it
might bomb out, if there is not
enough publicity to support it
and "if it does, we will lose
hope for the future." He also
suggested that Council hold
their next Tuesday night
meeting in the amphitheater to
culminate the day's activities.

Need 'Mass Action'

College Representative Taylor
Putney commented that
Council "must push for mass
action and encourage student
use of the amphitheater. We're
not pushing for a major
renovation, just get some grass
down there."

During the discussion, Mr.
Luce said that whether or not
Council approves his motion,
"he was going to try it." He
said that throughout this past
year, the Traffic and Parking
Committee had been working
on the amphitheater issue and
he "had been under the
impression that they had been
making headway" until the
University announced that
parking spaces will be available
for sale beginning May 1.

According to Mr. Luce,
"this is the last chance we have
to get the parking out."

To Bring Petitions

Council President Jim
Rinaca announced to Council
members that he will bring the
petitions concerning the
re-grassing of the McIntire
Amphitheater to President
Edgar F. Shannon's office on
Friday, probably in the early
morning. Anyone interested in
presenting the petitions to Mr.
Shannon is welcome to
accompany Mr. Rinaca.

Reportedly, petition
signatures already total over
2,000.

The University opposes
the amphitheater renovation
because of the heavy air
traffic, which it feels would
make meetings in the
amphitheater impossible.

Also, the amphitheater is
tentatively scheduled to be the
site for a new social science
building complete with
multi-story parking.

No Proposal

But according to University
Traffic and Parking Committee
member Lynn Ivey, there is no
money, no plan and no definite
site for the proposed building.
Mr. Ivey said any new structure
is unlikely to appear until the
late 1980's and "the University
needs more green space now."

In other action Tuesday
night, Council voted to
strongly oppose the future
construction of an Observatory
Hill Cafeteria. Food Services
Chairman Taylor Putney
proposed the motion, saying it
would cost the University
much less money to renovate
the old cafeteria than build a
new one.

Postpone Posters

A motion made by Kim
Davis to postpone the
placement of posters, flyers,
and pamphlets around the
University, especially windows,
was unanimously passed. There
will be no enforcement of this
resolution but Council will try
to build up public sentiment
against the placement of this
"trash."