University of Virginia Library

From Maddox To God

UVM Shows Improvement, But...

By Tom Adams

The University of Virginia Magazine
needs help. In their current
issue, on page three they ask their
readers to send money for the
"continuance of a fine University
tradition to aid us in a serious
moment of need."

But the magazine's need seems
to be more than simply financial.
Though this issue is an improvement
over the first one of this year, that
is, it has more articles and more
writers, UVM could use a few more.

The bluebook cover has the
names Lester Maddox, Norman
Graebner, and William Faulkner
printed on it. That's a fair variety,
it would seem.

Turning the pages, one soon
comes to the "insights" of Mike
Russell, the new managing editor of
the publication. If the reader overcame
his pretentious vocabulary, he
will find that Mr. Russell has something
to say about the relevance of
classwork to a student's education.

After the "Insights" comes the
first of the big three names, that of
Georgia's Governor Lester Maddox.
The article is an interview with the
good governor by Jerry Elmore,
who is the President of the UVM
Board of Directors. Mr. Elmore
explains in his introduction that
besides prison and mental health
reforms, the Governor has instituted
a "new breed of honesty in
public office."

And so one reads the interview
expecting to find some of that
honesty. What the reader learns
from the interview isn't much more
than what one reads in the news
media which Mr. Maddox says has
"projected an untrue image" of
him. The interview is woefully
short and was made before the
Presidential elections.

Governor Maddox expresses his
high hopes that the American Independent
Party will do well in the
election. The interview would have
been better if it was current.

The best article in the magazine
is the one following that, "Upward
Bound and The American Mythology,"
by William A. Elwood, an
assistant professor of English.; In it
he explains that America's rural
population is not quite as happy
and prosperous as most people
think. A large portion of them are
put in a position of squalor and
ignorance from which there is no
way out.

Mr. Elwood gives a fascinating
description of the University's Upward
Bound Program, a program
which takes motivated high school
students and overcome their lack of
education to prepare them for college.

After reading his account of the
small victories achieved by the program,
they seem very great, indeed.

UVM's reprint series continues
in this issue with an interview with
William Faulkner that appeared in
the Winter, 1958 issue of the magazine.
The editors call it "Mr. Faulkner's
gift to UVM". Apparently, Mr.
Faulkner did not think much of the
magazine at that time because his
"gift" isn't much. It was taken
from a radio discussion and deals
with Mr. Faulkner's use of dialect
in his works.

In spite of his being a great
writer, not everything he said is
brilliant, however, as is evidenced
by this rather boring discussion
(Question: "Doesn't everybody in
Mississippi say dawg?" Answer:
"Yes.").

Perhaps something new should
be found by the editors of UVM
instead of dredging up the old.

Richard Wertman's profile of
the third "big name," Norman
Graebner, is perhaps a bit too laudatory.
I say "perhaps" because, not
knowing the man, I am in no
position to say. God may very well
be a member of the University's
faculty.

The photograph of Mr.
Graebner is placed on the page in
such a manner as to make him look
like a map salesman for the "Saddle
Shop."

Frank Blechmann's article, "A
Spiritual Guide to Culinary Regeneration
in Smart Charlottesville," is a
guide to those places in town where
most students actually end up
eating and is the type of article one
would expect to find in Rapier.

Mr. Blechmann's unique tour of
places not to take your date is not
only a description of the greasiest
places around, but has the added
attraction of his three and a half
years' experience in what to order.

Mr. Blechmann gives an account
of how he broke away from
"Mama-Newc Syndrome" to explore
the Corner and the better
"spots" downtown.

The photographs accompanying
the article, were taken by the author.

The editors of UVM asked a
variety of administrators, teachers,
and student leaders what they considered
to be the University's "single-most
pressing problem, and the
solution to that problem. The result
is two pages of problems that show
the different points of view of the
three groups that answered the
question. UVM plans to make this a
regular feature, which is a good
idea.

The photography in this, the
second issue of UVM, is excellent,
especially the photo-essay by Harrison
Bush of the University Observatory.

This issue is a marked improvement
over the last, but UVM
still has a long way to go if they
desire to become a first-rate college
magazine. If they can find the
writers and the money and continue
to improve, they could do it.