University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Hopeful Trend Shown In Academics

Mr. Robin Lind, in his final
commentary (CD, October 5),
bemoans the "declined standards"
of the undergraduates at the
University which he blames
principally on its size; he makes
much of the fact that only 53.3 per
cent of the class that entered in
1965 graduated four years later and
that 70 per cent of that class took
five years to graduate. Not bad, as
he admits; as he and I know, only
53 per cent of undergraduate
students nationally ever arrive at a
degree.

He is exactly right on his
figures, as supplied to him by our
own Office Of Institutional
Analysis, but his conclusion that
standards have "declined" -because
of University size-may be
open to question. When the
University was smaller, the
percentage of four or five year
graduates was even lower than these
figures he thinks are now so low.
For example, only 40.8 per cent of
the 1961 entering class graduated in
four years and only 61 per cent of
them graduated at the end of five
years. In another context, if Mr.
Lind had chosen it, he could use
the figures of the class that entered
in 1965 to prove that standards
were improving.

He taus to mention other
aspects of undergraduate progress
over the last few years-when the
University was increasing in
size-that might indicate something
other than "declining standards."
For example, in June 1961 about
17 per cent of the College was
named to the Dean's List, but in
June 1971 over 42 per cent made
it. And the academic attrition rate
in the Session of 1961-1962 was 5
per cent, for 1970-1971 it was 1.9
per cent. When the percentage on
the Dean's List rises and those who
flunk out comprise a lower
percentage, I don't think a very
good case can be made statistically
for Mr. Lind's pessimism.

From student comments that I
hear in this office and from the
comments of my colleagues, I do
not share Mr. Lind's assessment of
the quality of education here as
"appalling." Indeed, even a casual
scanning of the course evaluations
given by students over the last five
years will indicate the encouraging
and appreciative student response
to the College's offerings. As
grateful as we all are to Mr. Lind
for his very conscientious grappling
with some real problems that face
the University, I felt I must point
out what seems to me to be some
hopeful signs of academic
improvement over the last several
years.

Money Raised

We, the brothers of Delta Tau
Delta Fraternity, would like to
express our thanks and gratitude to
the University community and The
Cavalier Daily for your support of
our recent fund raising drive, "Up
With Determination."

While a fund raising drive never
collects as much money as it hopes
to, we were able to raise over $700.
Next year we hope to raise even
more and we will once again seek
your support.

Thank you once again for your
contributions.

Delta Tau Delta Fraternity

Radical?

Upon reading A. Warren
Walton's letter (Confederate Flag
Ruling Blasted as Step Backwards."
October 7, 1971), I was amazed by
his continued use of the phrase
"Black Radicals" in reference to
those students who, because they
found the flag offensive, requested
that it cease being waved during the
game. Mr. Walton, due to an
undying obsession with the good
ole "Stars and Bars," was obviously
overwhelmed by the emotional
tension of the event and
consequently judged the students'
action as radical. Keeping this in
mind and seeing that he relied on a
simple analogy ("...the Student
Council, takes a step backwards,
instead of holding your ground.
Like giving a small child a piece of
candy to stop his crying, even
though you know you are
wrong...") to help convey his idea, I
will use a simple example so that he
may better understand what
constitutes a "radical" action.

Let us suppose, Mr. Walton, that
you are standing, unintentionally
perhaps, on another persons foot. If
that person asks that you refrain
from doing so is that a radical
action? If that person does not ask
you to refrain from standing on his
foot and simply takes out a 45
caliber pistol and, shall we say,
alters considerably the appearance
of your foot, then, maybe you
would be justified in classifying
that as a radical act

Whether Mr. Walton considers
the action taken by Student
Council as "a step backwards" is
based entirely on his judgement,
but if he still considers the action
taken by the blacks as "radical," I
not only question his judgement
but I pity him.

Bike Solutions

The purpose of this letter is to
hopefully give a plausible solution
to a problem which needs to be
corrected immediately. Specifically,
I am referring to the mass
confusion of bikes, pedestrians, and
cars on McCormick Road.

The following are suggestions to
oliveate
sic
the mass confusion
on McCormick Road:

1) Construct speed bumps every
50 yards down McCormick Road.

2) Construct signs at the
Alderman Road-McCormick Road
intersection and at the Emmet
ramp-McCormick Rd. Intersection
saying "Slow-speed bumps- 15
MPH."

3) Situate stop lights at the
above mentioned intersections and
at the intersection just beyond the
bridge crossing Emmet. Street
(toward the law school).

4) Raise the minimum G.P.A.
required of students to have cars
from 2.0 to 2.4 (these suggestions
may be unpopular, but possibly
some compromise could be found).

5) Establish bike paths
sectioned off from the roadway
not only by a white line but also a
bridge in the road. This would in
effect be a small curb. These curbs
are found in England and seem to
work well.

These suggestions may merit
reading and reading only. I do not
think so. To me a human life is
worth more than $1.42 in different
chemical elements-especially my
own.

Guarantee Life

In the article on the
Charlottesville Right to Life
Committee's complaint against the
Virginia Weekly, Mr. Bigelow, the
paper's managing editor, is quoted
as saying, "We are determined that