University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Council President Releases Endorsement

Having maintained until
now the diplomatic silence
which my office imposes upon
me, I would like finally to
declare publicly what I have
long felt in private—my
complete confidence in Jim
Rinaca for Student Body
President and in Larry Sabato
for Vice-President.

I am endorsing Jim and
Larry because of the crucial
need for stable leadership in
the future. Jim's organizational
ability can not fail to steer
Student Council toward
effective community
leadership. At the same time,
Larry's experience with the
General Assembly and the
Governor's Office will lend an
impact that the Student
Council has never had before.

Both Jim and Larry have
wide experience. Together they
are a team that makes sense. If
you share my concern for
effective leadership without
arrogance, vote for men who
will offer work, not words.
Vote for them on April 26 and
27.

Dignity

I read with pleasure The
Cavalier Daily's endorsement
for Phil Chabot. Knowing Phil
personally, I can heartily
concur with everything that
was attributed to him.

Having served two years on
Student Council, Phil has come
to know well the weaknesses
and strengths of Council, and
he has now proposed to do
away with the political
appointees of the current
committees and open them up
to any and all interested
students.

On the same issue, that of
increasing Council's efficiency,
Mr. Rinaca has stated he would
like to "reduce the Council's
bureaucracy." That is not a
concrete proposal, such as
Phil's. Rather it points to the
fact that Mr. Rinaca doesn't
seem to have done much
thinking about what he
actually plans to do next year
if elected.

This impression is further
strengthened when we read
that Mr. Rinaca has blindly
accepted the Administration's
dictum "if we cut first-year
enrollment back we'll have to
cut the number of out-of-state
students accepted." Since the
student body seems clearly
opposed to this idea, Mr.
Rinaca is hardly the man to
support for this election.

This latter statement also
points to the fact that Mr.
Rinaca is likely to blindly
accept all that the
administration of this school
puts before him. Tom Collier's
support for Mr. Rinaca makes
him further suspect, since Mr.
Collier has hardly put up a
fight against the administration
this year. Mr. Collier's last
action was to ensure that the
students would not strike,
which is a big plus for the
administration who can now
claim that they controlled and
quelled the students
themselves.

In contrast, Phil Chabot has
pushed calendar reform so
steadily and with so much
energy that next year we are to
have a reformed calendar in
spite of heavy faculty and
administrative resistance to its
implementation. Also, the
article in yesterday's The
Cavalier Daily which quoted
Mr. Cauthen as saying that a
calendar without reading days
is "academically wrong" shows
that the issue is not settled,
and I am confident that Phil
will devote his energies toward
including reading days.

Mr. Rinaca also finds it
necessary to have a running
mate. This is perhaps because
he was not on Student Council
this last semester and needs Mr.
Sabato to inform him of all
that has occurred. Mr. Chabot,
having served steadily during
the past two years, is already
well-acquainted with all that
has occurred. Phil is running on
his own merits, and he prefers
to be elected on what he alone
will do, not on what he and a
running mate will do.

In closing let me say that it
is clear to me that Phil Chabot
is the man that we need for
Student Council President if
we are to retain our dignity
before the administration.

Anti-torial

This letter is being written
in response to the editorial
endorsement of Phil Chabot
for Student Council President.
It is one thing to support a
candidate through letters to
the editor, Colloquium, and
other methods accessible to all
students.

It is quite another to use the
influence of a student funded
newspaper to achieve this end.
I am appalled that The Cavalier
Daily would attempt to use its
power to sway the results of a
University-wide election.

Also, attempting to slip this
endorsement in at this late date
appears to be a blatant attempt
to prevent rebuttal by those
opposed to the views of the
Editorial Board.

This action is an obvious
violation of the Board of
Visitors Ruling that student
allocations may not be used for
religious, social, or political
purpose.

I therefore request that The
Cavalier Daily Board of
Directors meet immediately to
establish policies concerning
candidate endorsements on the
editorial page.

Hugh Riley
Secretary
School of Engineering

—Ed.)

Paper Mill

I do not believe there is
anyone in the past four years
who has dedicated himself
more to the workings of
Student Council than Mr. Phil
Chabot Nor do I believe that
there has been anyone who has
churned out more reports,
probably in the history of the
University, than Mr. Chabot.
Unfortunately, it is doubtful
whether there has been anyone
whose reports and efforts have
met with less success than Mr.
Chabot.

From all indications, it
would appear that Mr. Chabot
has an unlimited supply of
paper, and he does make nice
reports, but they never
accomplish anything. The
reports might as well have
remained unwritten.

The student council has
been determined over the past
several years to write
everything into reports and
then attempt to let the reports
handle the details of operation
themselves.

The only concrete attempt
at improving the student life at
this University, which, after all,
is what Council is for, was