University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor:

Reader Calls For Prompt Action

I have noted with some concern
during my seven semesters at the
University that the rather traditional
conservative atmosphere here
seems to have permeated the
academic community to the extent
that progressive change has been
either precluded or at least hindered
to some degree. The general
pattern of action has followed a
"wait until next year" format
which is reflected by both faculty
and administration with respect to
student suggestions concerning academic
and administrative reform.

To be sure, there have been
changes made during the last four
years: the car rule has been
liberalized, girls are now permitted
in the dorms, and there are no
longer Saturday classes. These
changes have come, but they have
come slowly, after what often
seems to have been excessive
deliberation on the part of those
who possess the authority to make
them and put them into effect. In
other areas where academic reform
might be advisable, such as the
implementation of a program allowing
students to take certain courses
on a "pass-fall" basis, eliminating
the burden of so many required
courses, or in reassessing the merit
of comprehensive examinations,
little if anything has been done.
Most notably, there has been only
token progress concerning the admission
of Negro students to the
University.

If the University continues to
languish in the splendor of the status
quo, it is conceivable that the
turmoil engulfing academic institutions
across the nation may somehow
reach Virginia, despite the fact
that it remains a "bastion of
traditional conservatism." While I
do not suggest that this or any
other university is a democratic
institution where students should
have the right to make policy, it is
becoming increasingly evident that
where students are not being given
an effective voice with regard to
university policy or where they are
ignored or put off that the
likelihood of disruption seems to be
much greater.

The faculty and the administration
can ill-afford to procrastinate
where change is needed or take a
"wait until next year attitude. It is
unfortunate that students have also
been somewhat apathetic in this
area and that they have been
unwilling or unable to effectively
articulate opinions on issues effecting
them. Where students have
voiced a collective opinion (recently
the government and foreign
affairs petitioned the faculty of
that department of eliminate comprehensive
examinations or at least
re-evaluate them), the faculty and
administration would do well to
respond to what they have to say.
At institutions like Berkeley, Wisconsin,
and Columbia the administration
and faculty have been
unable to communicate effectively
with students, and the result has
not been very impressive, and while
Virginia seems unlike any of these
institutions, so did Duke.

'Tolerant Man'

I wish to extend my sympathy
to the learned D. A. Danielson,
Assistant Professor of Mathematics,
"a tolerant man." It is unfortunate
that ROTC drill has so disrupted his
Tuesday afternoon pedagogical experience
to the extent that a
self-confessed "tolerant man" has
been pushed beyond the reasonable
bounds of tolerance. One can
almost picture a line of what were
formerly Virginia gentlemen, now
"wearing uniforms of war and
carrying implements of destruction,"
prodding the learned assistant
professor with fixed bayonets
from the level ground into an abyss
of intolerance.

The learned assistant professor
condemns "the tramping of young
feet and the harsh notes composed
in the midst of some insignificant
war" as a disruption of "the
business of this academic community."
His solution, it appears to me,
is to substitute the tramping of
young feet and the harsh notes
composed in Berkeley, San Francisco
State, and Wisconsin. Only
then, when our students are incited,
will we return to "the business of
this academic community." I would
humbly suggest to the learned
Assistant Professor of Applied
Mathematics that the business of
this academic community is the
education of its students, which
does not entail jumping on the
bandwagon of educational anarchy.

Before rallying to the cause of a
disrupted mathematics class on a
Tuesday afternoon, students would
do well to consider the benefits
derived from the ROTC program. I
do not refer to the benefits either
the country or the University
"establishment" derive; I refer,
rather, to the concrete benefit
which students upon their graduation
from undergraduate school
may well be seeking. When a
student graduates from college, he
loses his student deferment. This
means, in a vast majority of cases,
that he is subject to the draft unless
he is physically unfit or has been
enrolled in an ROTC program or
will enroll in a two year ROTC
program in his graduate or law
school. For the student who wishes
to complete his education before
fulfilling his military obligation, the
ROTC program provides a valuable
opportunity. Any undergraduate
student, sheltered by his 2-S, who
looks upon ROTC with disdain
would do well to consult with any
graduate or law student who has
tried to make it through this year
with a 1-A. General Hershey has
seen to it that there are few of us
left.

I agree with the learned assistant
professor that "The time has come
when tolerant men must act." I
would have to qualify this rallying
cry with the note that the time has
come when tolerant men must act
REASONABLY. Perhaps some accommodation
could be reached
whereby the ROTC drill would
begin after the learned assistant
professor has concluded his Tuesday
afternoon class. Perhaps the
harsh notes could be toned down.
At any rate I am certain that a
sizable majority of both students
and faculty would agree that the
benefits to be derived by maintaining
an ROTC program far outweigh
the negligible disruption which it
causes.

Voting Law

I recently signed the petition for
giving the vote to 18-year olds, and
would do it again willingly, since I
think the great majority of people
of that age are just as capable these
days as many of their elders.

However, if I were introducing
the voting law, I would qualify it in
the following manner:

(1) All high school graduates
should be allowed to register and
vote upon receipt of their diploma.

(2) All members, on active duty,
of the Armed Forces should be
allowed to register and vote upon
completion of at least six months
of active service.

(3) All citizens not included in
the above two categories should not
register or be allowed to vote until
the age of 21.

I think the above is what most
of the young people are trying to
get. It would qualify all college
students, most servicemen and
veterans, and would leave out a
majority of young "drifters" or
those without the intelligence or
will to obtain a high school education.
I think the above, if the
lawmakers would see fit to pass it,
would be the answer to most of the
petitioner's wishes. It would make
some eligible to vote at 17, but it
would assure a brighter and more
capable electorate.

Unicop's Virtue

Mr. Pysell has asked if anyone
knows of anything that the unicops
can do besides give parking tickets.
I have received two tickets during
my stay at the University and have
seen a unicop try to behave like
Humphrey Bogart over such a
ticket. Nevertheless, the unicops
have virtues as well as faults. My car
was hit on Jefferson Park Ave. and
was demolished. Miraculously, the
person who hit my car could and
did keep going at the wee hour of 2
a.m. A unicop heard the crash from
the unistation on Brandon, ran to
the corner to see the villain
escaping, hopped in a car and took
pursuit. He was caught and arrested
at the bus station, taken to the
hospital for treatment of a broken
nose and then charged. That act on
behalf of the unicops eventually
saved me $1000 for I had no
collision insurance.