University of Virginia Library

Claims Bias

Rawlings Attacks Visitors

By Donn Kessler
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

George C. Rawlings, Jr., Democratic
candidate for the United States Senate
from Virginia, told University students
Wednesday that he was opposed to the
way that the University placed students
on the Board of Visitors.

In commenting on campus unrest, Mr.
Rawlings said that he felt that students
should have some voice in running the
nation's colleges. He added, however, that
"the University had replaced one big
banker with one small banker on the
Board of Visitors."

"And that small banker then ran off
to run for Congress," he continued, "and
is not at the University to help the
students."

Mr. Rawlings was referring in this comment
to the appointment of J. Harvey Wilkinson III
to the Board of Visitors last year. Mr. Wilkinson
replaced his father on the Board.

In continuing his attack on the Board of
Visitors, the former University student stated
that the "people on the board are more attuned
to special interest groups than to the problems
of the students."

'Inverted Priorities'

Speaking on "America's Inverted Priorities,"
Mr. Rawlings stated that he felt that campus
unrest was in part due to the feeling of students
"that nothing is being done to re-order our
priorities." He said that he felt we must try to
solve our problems if we wish to see student
unrest end.

Mr. Rawlings hammered away at the idea
that he wanted to re-order the nation's
priorities to meet peoples' needs and that he
was the "Peoples' Democratic Candidate."

The first step in re-ordering our national
priorities, he said, was to end the American
involvement in Southeast Asia. "It is wrong to
spend $30 billion a year in Asia," he stated,
"when funds are needed for life in America."

Mr. Rawlings called for Congress to
"re-assert its authority over war-making." He
also called for a definite deadline for the
removal of all of our troops in Asia.

In speaking about the draft, he stated that a
solution was not "a volunteer army, but a fair
and democratic draft and an opportunity for
young people to give service in organizations
other than the army, such as the Peace Corps."

Mr. Rawlings also answered questions on
crime. He stated that we "must protect people
in their homes and on the streets and must
enforce the law but we must not trample on the
rights of individuals." In response to a question
from the audience, he stated that the preventive
detention and 'No-Knock' laws were
unconstitutional , in his opinion

FBI, Bombings

The democratic candidate added that he had
"immediate reservations concerning the use of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation to probe
the bombings of college buildings." He also
called for the upgrading of pay and training of
police and a "prime effort by police to solve
serious primes against people without trampling
on the rights of individuals."

Mr. Rawlings stated that drug abuse was one
of America's most serious problems. While he
said that he did not favor the legalization of
marijuana, he added that the government must
look at drug abuse as "a health problem and
not just a concern for punishment.

The candidate stated that he wanted federal,
state, and local co-operation in setting up
health centers to help treat drug addicts.

On the Mideast problem, Mr. Rawlings said
that he opposed the use of American troops in
Jordan or for Israel. "We must learn our lesson
from Asia," he said. "If we use troops in
Jordan, it could become another Vietnam."

While he stated that Israel does not need
troops, he added that we should sell the Jewish
state planes and support it economically.

Mr. Rawlings came out in favor of President
Nixon's welfare reform bill but stated that the
minimum guaranteed income should be over
$1600. He added that we "should make sure
everyone who can work is able to work and not
train them for jobs and then have no job to give
them."

On the question of school busing, the
candidate stated that he opposed massive
school busing to desegregate schools. He added
that a better plan would be to "locate schools
on the borderlines between white and black
population areas."

Photo by Harry McWreath

Senatorial Candidate George Rawlings Addresses University Audience

Democratic Nominee Charges University Board Of Visitors With Special Interest