University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Aloof CD Buries Head In Reactionary Sands

No credit can be given The
Cavalier Daily for its narrow,
misinformed and ultimately
stupid editorial concerning the
Virginia Weekly.

A discussion of the forces
that hounded the Weekly into
ceasing publication would have
been more in order, especially
since CD coverage of the
various suits, harassments and
administrative attacks against
the Weekly was only cursory.

Since I do not recall the CD
being in the Vanguard when it
came to attacking the racism at
UV or the sexism of the
Virginia abortion laws, or the
varied aspects of the Indochina
war (such as the bombing of
the ike systems in Northern
Vietnam), or the Intolerable
wage situation of the
University's non-academic
employees, it seems not only
petty but patently unfair to
omit mention of these struggles
when discussing the
Weekly whose pages and
whose staff reflected a
commitment to social justice
notably absent in the aloof CD.

The Weekly dealt with
issues that affected students in
the broadest of the term.
U.Vs. cannot stick its head in
the sand much
longer–although the CD seems
to still be trying. Many of us
who are alumni will miss the
Virginia Weekly.

We can only hope that
someday The Cavalier Daily
will find itself aware of the
nature of the real world and
where power lies. Perhaps the
CD will take an unpopular
stance and try to stay with it
and be then assaulted by the
same reactionary force that
tied up the Weekly staff's time
and energy.

Perhaps then the CD will
care to be so smug in its
condemnations of those whose
view of journalism is serving
the people, not catering to
the Board of Visitors and the
Student Activities Office, who
guarantee more funds to the
CD per year than the Weekly
saw in its entire existence.

Finally

Your editorial of September
20, concerning the demise of
the Virginia Weekly, was a very
welcome breath of fresh air.

If this example of fairness
and objective editorializing is
an indication of the tone you
will take through the year,
then the Cavalier Daily is to be
praised indeed.

If only the Student Council
had seen the issue as fairly as
you have. There would have
been no need to resort to
lawsuits and the like.

Let the Council take note.
The parceling out of funds
manditorily collected from
students should be done with
utmost care and concern.

Hindsight

In reference to the Air War
in Indochina reviewed by Fen
Montaigne, a few points
relevant to the current
situation in Vietnam should be
made.

Many knowledgeable people
agree that if the conflict was
recognized earlier to be
primarily guerrilla in nature
there would have been no real
air war to speak of today. The
maxim still holds that the
battle is really won or lost on
the ground, not in the air, but
hindsight will not necessarily
solve our current problem.

The fact remains that short
of McGovern's solution (?) to
the war and all its attendant
complications, the use of air
power is the most logical
response to the
conventional-type invasion of
S. Vietnam by twelve North
Vietnamese divisions.
well-armed with tanks and
artillery.

The obligation of the
American and South
Vietnamese commander is to
destroy the enemy and
preserve the lives of their men.
If the citadel in Quang Tri City
is more easily taken by massive
air and artillery strikes, rather
than suicidal, "Hamburger
Hill" charges, then that's the
way it should be. To ask any
soldier to risk his life
needlessly when the mission
can be accomplished by
"remote control", however
undramatic that appears to
those who have no conception
of a "no-hero war," is indeed
ruthless and savage.

Finally, the air war is
credited with the bulk of the
6,000,000 refugees in S.
Vietnam. A propos to the
present situation we see
thousands fleeing to ue City
from Northern I Corps around
Quang Tri City, thousands
fleeing to Danang and Saigon
from areas west of these cities.
Needless to say, prior to the
NVA offensive these people
were in the process of
harvesting their rice crop on
lands recently returned to the
farmer by the South
Vietnamese government when
it appeared the war was
beginning to subside. Wishful
thinking, eh?

Catalogue

We really dug the
AT- LAST- THE- WHOLE-ALDERMAN
– CATALOG
blurb in Thursday's paper.
Howsoever, we want to make
sure you tell all those
citron-lovers out there that, if
they come to Alderman, they
can have the whole WHOLE
ALDERMAN CATALOG.
(Why settle for half a loaf?)
And they can have it in
Aquamatine, loving Citron, or
Fern.

A lot of people are asking
who wrote the CATALOG.
Well, you see, one of the
friendly folks on the last whole
alderman staff has a sister
named Janet and Janet did it
with a little help from her
friends. If you like it, why
don't you send her a lollipop
(preferably unused), care of the
Reference Desk?

Open Honor

A number of students who
eat their meals in Newcomb
Hall are annoyed with the Food
Services' barrier between the
Contract and Open Square
Cafeterias. The only discernible
reason for this wall is a possible
claim by Food Services that
free drinks and salad are being
taken by Open Square
customers from the Contract
Cafeteria.

What we'd like to know is
do we have an Honor System
or don't we? We would like
Food Services to explain why
students who are on contract
can't eat with their friends in
Open Square and vice versa!!