University of Virginia Library

Dorm Visits Reinstituted

Candidates Intensify Campaigns

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Tom Jenks

Candidates for the Student Council and the Judiciary Committee
this year have intensified their campaigns by dropping the lounge
method of speaking to the first-year men in favor of speaking to the
first-year men in their rooms, suites, and dormitory halls.

The lounge method of campaigning which was instituted this year
consisted of a candidate announcing that he would speak and answer
questions for the first-year men at a given time in one of the lounges
on the dorms, or in other words the candidates would depend on the
students coming to them.

In addition to dorm to dorm canvassing of votes, the candidates
and their respective parties are now putting out vast quantities of
printed matter dealing with the current issues. They are buying time
on the University's radio stations and space in The Cavalier Daily and
are covering the Grounds with large numbers of political posters.

When the candidates go into the dorms, they speak to the
first-year men either individually in their rooms or in groups in the
suites and dormitory halls and try to acquaint the students with issues
and their stand on The issues which seem to be most in the minds
of the first-year men are, of course, those that are most relevant to
the lives of the first-year men. These issues are first-year
representation on he Student Council, girls in the dorms, self-rule in
the dorms, improvement of the Food Services, coeducation, and
improvement of the dormitory facilities.

Although there are other issues which are discussed in the dorms,
most of them are incidental and are only brought up when a
particularly interested student asks a question relating to one of
them.

The usual procedure which a candidate uses when he speaks to a
group is to introduce himself, state why he is running, state what he
believes to be the purpose of the Student Council or the Judiciary
Committee, and tell what he will do if elected.

What do the first-year students think about the campaign? and
What is the effectiveness of the campaign? Are questions that are
answered by various comments made by students.

Most of the first-year men who listen to the candidates think that
the campaigning is effective, but agree with the student who said,
"The candidates who gather the whole hall together are more
effective than the candidates who speak to one or two students in
their rooms, because the group meetings make for more questions
questions from the audience and more open discussion with the
candidate."

A different group of students said that they did not think that it
made any difference whether a candidate spoke to groups or
individuals as long as he was a good and effective speaker.

When asked what he thought about the alternatives, one candidate
said, "It is probably more striking when a candidate speaks in front of
a large group, but often it is too very difficult to bring the students
together."

Many first-year men, having heard that the Student Council in past
years has done little or nothing, expressed a great deal of skepticism
about the campaign promises of the various candidates. One student,
after listening to a candidate run down a list of things that he
intended to do for the first-year men, said, "His speech wasn't bad,
and I liked all of his promises, but as soon as he's elected, he'll
probably forget all about the first-year men."

Another first-year student felt that the candidates were often
creating issues in order to obtain the first-year vote. He said, "These
second and third-year men who are running for offices come in and
tell you how rinky-dink your dorms are, how you need televisions,
stoves, self-rule, and so on, while actually you don't need these things
at all. Most first-year men walked into their rooms for the first time
and thought they were pretty nice, and now they're working hard to
make good grades without even thinking of what extra luxuries they
'need' on dorm."

One student summed up the whole campaign by saying, "The
importance of what is going on in the first-year dorms now is that the
first-year men are, whether they realize it or not, being brought into
direct contact with the issues and the personalities that will be
flamboyant at the University in the next year or so. The campaign
in the dorms is giving the first-year men a chance not only to decide
who they will vote for but also to acquaint themselves with politics at
the University."