University of Virginia Library

Stuart Pape

Place Of Pleasure And Frustration

—Ed.)

It's always a pleasure to begin a
new school year, or at least that's
the case with me. Aside from
hassles about class schedules, one's
real worries are usually nominal. If
you are a football fan, I guess you
can concern yourself with the
plight of the hapless Wahoos. Then
again, unless you are Don
Lawrence, you can take a
somewhat philosophical outlook,
remain unfettered by the ignominy
of a 56-0 loss, and wait eagerly for
the start of the basketball season.

The new year also brings with it
a clean slate in terms of parking
tickets, and if you are fortunate
enough to be living within walking
distance of classes, you have a
fighting chance to avoid filling the
Security coffers for a week or so. I
guess the return of so many students
(remember when there were
only 7 000 students in the
entire University?) warms the cockles
of the hearts of every Unicop.
After once collecting three parking
tickets in a single afternoon from
the same Security representative
(who continue to wear weapons
while patrolling for illegally parked
autos) I began to wonder if Mr.
Bromwell has his men working on
some sort of commission system.

High Finances

I've always looked forward to
another year because my bank account
and other financial resources
are at their peak. Such euphoria is
usually short-lived since each new
semester means another trip to the
Corner bookstores for that
semi-annual re-distribution of
income. For some unknown reason,
though, the money is always going
from my account into Billy
Williams'. Things are even worse
psychologically if you are a law
student, since you don't get the
false feeling of exercising your
choice as a consumer in a free
economy by deciding between a
purchase at the University
bookstore and at Anderson's. The
latter is the sole supplier of law
books. You also aren't able to
exercise a real choice by doing as
much of your buying at Newcomb
Hall as possible. The profits for the
Newcomb Hall Bookstore are
funnelled back into
student-oriented activities.

There is also another recurrent
and mandatory payment that
begins again in September—that's
rent, unless of course you were
unable to sublet your apartment, in
which case you have already spent a
substantial amount of your
hard-earned summer money. While
it's never easy to part with sums of
money that landlords get these
days, especially in view of the
condition of many of these
dwellings, one can always be
consoled by looking in The New
York Times or The Village Voice
and comparing apartment prices in
the NYC area. On the other hand, if
you came to Virginia because of the
low tuition and lower living costs,
such comparisons may be small
consolation.

Food prices can also do a nasty
job on your wallet. Food services
must have had advance warning of
Nixon's price freeze, as they niftily
raised the price on drinks by a
nickel, and on those infamous
doughnuts and coffee by two cents
each.

Eating Pains

The prospect of regularly eating
out and eating what you want must
be pleasurable to some, but frankly
I find it to be a pain. Were it not
for the friendly confines of my
fraternity house, still standing since
undergraduate days, I suppose that
I would wind up eating Archie's
pizzas and McDonald burgers until
I wound up at Student Health with
chronic food poisoning. There is a
nasty rumor going around
Charlottesville that some of the
finery eateries have cornered the
market on Campbell's Chicken
Vegetable and Bon Vivant
Vichyssoise, but after a careful
survey, I have been assured that
this is nothing more than a rumor.
Most restaurants maintained that
they were perfectly able to produce
their own botulism and didn't see
any need to go with the imported
stuff.

Fond Memories

The coming of another school
year also brings fond memories of
my first year when we all gleefully
wandered to the hospital one
evening for that infamous stripper
of your dignity, known as the
"Official U.Va. Physical." I've
never been fond of mass physicals
myself, especially after seeing
"Alice's Restaurant" and suffering
through similar indignities for the
draft. At least when you go for a
draft physical you can direct your
anger at the men in uniform and
use a good part of your ingenuity in
an attempt to fail the physical and
thus escape the grasps of the
military. But, to whom do you
direct your frustrations after a
Virginia physical and for what
rational reason would you want to
fail.' About all you can do is feel
sorry for the doctor who gets to say
"Please spread your buttocks," and
hope for the best.

New years also bring one back
into contact with too many students.
For while it seemed as if
Charlottesville was blessed with enlightened
law enforcement officials
who were content to concentrate on
the pushers, especially those who
dealt with the high school student
and in some cases with those in
lower grades, as well as the pushers
who sold smack or drugs other than
grass or hash. The summer saw a
turnabout in that policy with
numerous busts for mere possession
occurring. In this case discretion is
the better part of valor, as well as
one's paranoia.

Another favorite aspect of each
new year was the enthusiasm which
the students and some members of
the faculty exhibited towards
confronting the substantial
problems facing the University and
discussing potential solutions. One
could attend a meeting with lots of
other students and find all sorts of
volunteers for work not usually
resulting in rapid self-gratification,
if ever. Or, you could attend a
faculty meeting and see the agenda
loaded with important resolutions
aimed at things like limiting the
number of students in the College
until there are sufficient resources
to handle them all in a superior
manner; to eliminate the obnoxious
and unnecessary language
requirement or to provide for new,
unique and desperately needed
academic reforms.

Unfortunately, most of this
activity soon peters out, as
students get caught up in studies,
dates, or general frustration. As a
result, a few students are left doing
yeoman's work and still managing
to accomplish numerous and
substantial changes.

Another Story

The faculty is another story
altogether. Whereas a few students
who are dedicated can get results
by all the necessary research and so
forth and then exerting the
required pressure through Student
Council, or directly into the
Administration, no amount of hard
work by individual faculty
members ever seems to result in
meaningful gains, unless the entire
body is willing to act.

The dynamics of a faculty
meeting are a story unto itself, but
suffice it to say that as rarely as
there are more than one-third of
the members at a faculty meeting,
it is even rarer when meaningful
discussion occurs. The beginning of
the agenda is always full of material
for quick action, but somehow it
gets to be close to six and then
everyone knows that adjournment
is near so why bother with the
"tough" questions. If forced to
name the single-most damaging
aspect of the faculty's behavior
here one must conclude that it is
their failure to deal with major
problems of the University and
their almost complete acquiescence
to the administration. All members
of the faculty by no means fall into
the category of the uninterested,
but a quick glance at the College
crew will shortly convince the most
disbelieving individual of the
essential truth of the indictment.

I still think that the new year is
a pleasurable time but in many
respects it is the most frustrating.
You try and be optimistic, hoping
that changes will occur, that
adjustments will be made, but you
know deep down that you are being
unrealistic, barring a miracle or
some other divine intervention.