University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Standing Ovation For Jolly Green Giants

Conspiracy theories are very
popular these days –
conspiracies in business, in
government, and in almost
every walk of life which one
cares to mention. Oftentimes it
has been among our tasks here
in the government and foreign
affairs department to challenge
these theories – seldom have
"responsible scholars" had the
opportunity to call attention
to plots which they themselves
feel they have uncovered.

Well, whether such action
on my part be "responsible" or
not, and whether the condition
of which I have written about
stems from any "conspiracy"
or not, let me at least vent my
spleen on a matter which I
believe has troubled more
people here at the U. this
semester than ever before. I
speak of the unspeakable
uddle into which
all-too-many classes have been
dumped by the combined
efforts of the registrar and his
minions, the department of
buildings and grounds and its
shrnkies, and the various
operatives (and inoperatives?)
of the admission office.

We are confronted with
basically this set of conditions:
enrollment, is growing while
facilities (at least in Cabell
Hall) are not. The infamous
"Room Tsar" enthroned in
Garrett Hall insists on assigning
classes to rooms which will not
accommodate even that number
of students who have
pre-registered for a given
course, and finally the Jolly
Green Giants of buildings and
grounds remove many of the
chairs that have been stuffed
into the existing classrooms in
attempt at least make do in
the crisis.

In the basement of Cabell Hall,
for example, we have been
blessed by some all-knowing,
but less-understanding
providence with new, colorful,
plastic (or is it fiberglass?)
chairs to replace the old,
rickety, bulky and drab
wooden ones. True, the new
situation is more aesthetic, but
that remains true only so long
as the room is empty.

When one attempts to put
the facilities to use, however,
one discovers (1) that the new
chairs are not as numerous as
the old ones, and (2) that they
have no sort of arms, supports
or any such thing upon which
to rest a notebook, pad, or any
such thing in which to take
notes. What's become of the
old chairs? Have they gone to
be used as kindling in the
magnificently "useful" (or are
they merely "traditional")
fireplaces in Garrett Hall?

I know that someone seems,
long ago, to have determined
that the U. is here to serve the
administration and not the
students, but with all the
tuition that we students have
to pay, can we not hope that
we are entitled to a place to sit
and at least a place on which to
write? (Of course, part of this
condition is not new, no one
has seen the need for chairs
with writing arms or of any
sort of "desk" in Maury Hall
auditorium for years.)

Is it too much to expect
that the U. provide sufficient
room for its students to sit in
class, AND ON CHAIRS? I
know we cannot expect the U.
to provide dormitory space for
us to sleep, nor really adequate
library facilities for our
graduate students to do
research (how many of you
have gone the Library of
Congress route?), but this is
the last straw.

If any more of Cabell Hall is
carved up into offices, and any
more of its classrooms halved
in size while the number of
students increases and the
number of chairs (even of a
semi-functional variety)
decreases what are we to do?
Would those who complain
about the sloppy state of
student attire care to dust the
hallowed floors with the
trousers or jackets of their
three-piece suits? I doubt it.

Students of the U. arise!
You've got to! There's no place
to sit!

NATO II

Now that the Vietnam war
has ended let us, the American
people, mend the ties to our
European friends that were
strained by the armed conflict.

On my last trip through
Sweden during the Christmas
vacation, I gained the
impression that the Swedish
people were strongly opposed
to the U.S. military action in
Southeast Asia. Viewing
detailed television coverage
there of the most recent
bombing of Vietnam, I felt
acute embarrassment for being
an American, held responsible
for my government's policy.

But now with the cease-fire
agreement in force, there is
time to restore Europe's
confidence in America as a
peace-loving nation.

My recommendation is that
the University of Virginia
sponsor a meeting of U.S. and
European representatives and
scholars to discuss the Atlantic
community in a post-Vietnam
war era.

This is one thing we can do
to prevent further abuse of our
European allies' loyalty.