University of Virginia Library

Our Business

Several years ago there appeared in this
newspaper a series of articles dealing with the
bookstore operations of Mr. "Billy" Williams.
The Cavalier Daily pointed out the captive
nature of Mr. Williams' customers due to the
need for books and the virtual monopoly he
had in the bookselling business. The entire
issue was an example of the suspicion and
lack of faith University students placed in
Charlottesville's businessmen, and the great
advantages those men reaped by selling to
students.

We have had no reason to look into Mr.
Williams' business lately, but we have, both
through data and personal experience, reason
to believe that students are not getting a fair
deal from some local merchants. We cite the
recent report of the Graduate Business School
as an illustration. The report indicated that 45
per cent of the local business was attributable
to the University. Contrast that fact to certain
establishments which are located adjacent to
the Grounds refusing to accept student
checks.

We have always suspected that the
University, being Charlottesville's major
industry, was responsible for much of the
bread on the table of local merchants. This
report concludes that much more of that
bread was bought with University-associated
dollars than even we had expected.

Of course there is no reason to begrudge
anyone their justly-earned income, and we are
the first to laud the upright, honest, and
cooperative manner which pervades most of
the business community. But there are
exceptions–cases where students are welcome
for their money (as long as it is in
greenbacks), welcome for their parents'
money (when they visit the University), and
welcome for their trustworthiness, but are
unwelcome even to write a check for the
amount of purchase. There are also cases of
ludicrously high pricing–stores which take
advantage of students' rather irregular tastes
and whims, capitalizing on those tastes by
charging premium prices because the nearest
competition is in Georgetown or Richmond.

What is required in a community of this
nature, where students and University
personnel account for 45 per cent of the local
business, is a little mutual respect. The
students know that they have a good thing–a
quiet, peaceful, largely unpolluted town, with
most of the shopping conveniences of a major
University city. The businessmen would do
well to take stock of what a good thing they
have, too–a comfortable place to do business
and a large (and growing) captive market. A
few concessions like check-cashing privileges
(something a good Honor Committee always
tries to extend) are expected in the spirit of
goodwill which should pervade the
atmosphere of such a community.

Housing, a special case which The Cavalier
Daily is continuing to examine, cost members
of the University community over $13 million
during 1971-72. The money which poured into
local developers' coffers from Massachusetts,
Louisiana, and Illinois should be matched
with a commensurate amount of good faith
on the part of the developers when they are
dictating the quality of their dwellings. Caveat
emptor may be the law of the economic
jungle, but Do Unto Others... has a special
applicability here also.

The University of Virginia, as an entity,
and the community of Charlottesville, as an
entity, will never be separable from a business
standpoint. Each needs the other; each will
flourish with the cooperation of the other.
That interdependence is present in every facet
of the life of the community. The leaders of
both the University and Charlottesville
community (including Commonwealth's
Attorneys, Sheriffs, University
Administrators, and Student Officials) are
wont to take potshots at each other from
time to time which we feel are detrimental to
the community spirit at large. Everyone
would have his lot improved by more
cooperation, and less dissension.

Lest we leave this subject on a dour note,
implying that everyone is scrapping to take
advantage of everyone else, we reiterate that
there is indeed much goodwill about
town. The longer a student lives here,
the more he generally likes it. Those who do
their best to foster that goodwill, mutual
trust, and respect have our accolades. Those
who lag in this respect should wake up to the
reality of the community's dependence on the
University and the University's dependence
on the community. We hope that as the
University grows, the community will prosper
and the students will continue to be treated
like they are wanted here.