University of Virginia Library

The Rules Referendum

"Whereas George the III is dead, but his
spirit lingers on, and whereas the state seal of
Virginia proudly proclaims Sic Semper
Tyrannis and whereas that government is best
which governs least, and whereas the
administration's code of conduct does not
have the just consent of the governed, The administration's code of conduct shall be
replaced by standards of conduct drawn up
by an ad hoc committee appointed by the
Student Council and adopted by the student
body."

To place a referendum before the students
of the University a group needs to get the
signatures of five per cent of the student body
(approximately 550 names) on a petition or
the consent of the Student Council. The
Union of University Students were unable to
get the latter and instead gathered some 880
signatures to place the above italicized phrase
on the ballot in the student elections which
will be held tomorrow and Thursday. All
students of the University will be able to vote
on it.

We urge students to vote "no" on the
referendum for a variety of reasons.

To begin with, the petition is poorly
worded. References to the State motto and
George III are certainly amusing, but we feel
the students of the University are old enough
to realize that the Code of Conduct is not a
very jocular subject. But that is the least of
the referendum's flaws.

The real issue is whether or not the
Student Council and the Judiciary Committee
are to be trusted as the guardians of student
interests. If they are not, then it is only the
fault of the student body at large which
elected them.

In September any number of returning
students were distressed with the new code of
conduct, not particularly over the code itself,
but rather with the authoritarian manner in
which is was foisted upon the student body.
The Student Council presented the Board of
Visitors with specific changes to the code in
early October which the Board approved.

We think in approving these changes, the
Board tacitly admitted that students have the
right to formulate their own rules of conduct.
A "yes" vote on the referendum would only
rub that concession in a little deeper.

But more important than whether or not
students choose to upset the Board, is the
repudiation of the authority of the Student
Council which a "yes" vote on the
referendum would entail. Since the events of
last May, when the Student Council suddenly
discovered they were unable to provide
effective leadership, the Council has been
more or less afraid to do anything, so unsure
are they as to whether or not the students
would repudiate their actions. But the
Council did overwhelmingly reject the Union
of University Students' request to put the
rules referendum on the ballot. If students
vote to uphold this decision, it would help
restore the faith of a lot of rather dejected
councilmen.

The chances of a student getting shoddy
treatment under the present code of conduct
are virtually nonexistent. Rather than waste
time fussing over a non-issue we think student
energies should be directed towards the
formulation of a University Senate, the
residential colleges or the sad state of
Alderman Library. We urge students to bury
this essentially dead issue once and for all at
the polls.