University of Virginia Library

University Hospital Bars
Virginia Weekly Circulation

After two months of uninterrupted and
untroubled circulation in the UVa
Hospital lobby, The Virginia Weekly has
found itself litterae non gratae. The
highest echelon of the Hospital
administration ordered The Weekly out
of the lobby and out of the Hospital
entirely. A request to position the rack
on the Hospital's front porch was also
denied.

The administration has taken the position
that the lobby is not a student area and that the
public using the lobby area should not be
exposed to the paper or to any other free
literature.

Tom Breslin, Weekly circulation manager,
was told by Bruce Thompson, Assistant
Director of the Hospital, that housekeeping
problems had also figured in the decision to
remove the Weekly, but at another point told
that the "neat" Weekly rack presented no such
problems.

Mr. Thompson noted that, as the paper was
free, there was no real demand for it. When
questioned on this point, Mr. Breslin could only
say that he had trouble keeping the rack filled
and that at least 150 papers a week moved off
the lobby rack. He also stated that part of the
Weekly's subscription list was made up of
people who had first read the paper in the
hospital lobby.

Mr. Thompson noted that the efficiency of
hospital employees was cut back by the
availability of the paper, and further that the
presence of the paper presented "problems
within the organization."

The Weekly has carried articles on the
working conditions of hospital employees at
Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville and
on the Obici Hospital strike. Mr. Thompson
denied that political or intellectual motives
were behind its move.

The Hospital Administration has invited the
staff of The Weekly to petition it for right of
access to the lobby of the University of Virginia
Hospital. Its spokesman offered little hope that
the same people who were responsible for the
original decision would be willing to reverse
their decision, however. The Weekly staff will
make such a petition today.