University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

'Land Of Emasculated Butterflies'

A segment of one of your
editorials of January 8, 1935 and
March 20, 1970 read as follows. "If
any student here feels the necessity
for military training, he may
transfer to VMI, VPI, or Maryland."

In other words, you are saying
"If you don't like things at Virginia
as they are, go elsewhere and leave
this school well enough alone."

Now that you have said it, and
in view of the fact that the majority
of the members of The Cavalier
Daily staff as well as some others
are trying to change this University
to satisfy their own desires and suit
their own ideals, may we suggest
that you practice what you preach
and move on to some higher ground
where "your" ideas are accepted,
and, instead of having to fight for
them, you may sit back and reap
your reward of instant happiness in
the land of emasculated butterflies.

Busing Program

I would like to indicate my firm
support of the President's recent
policy statement concerning the
issue of the busing program to
achieve racial balance.

As I see it, the proponents and
opponents of this program are each
divided into two schools of
thought. The proponents are composed
of people genuinely concerned
over the inferior educational
facilities and unequal learning opportunity
facing ghetto residents of
minority groups. They also are
composed of a more extreme group
who desire complete numerical
integration immediately, regardless
of whether the rest of the community
supports this idea or not.

The opponents consist of those
appalled by the social and monetary
cost of transporting children to
satisfy an artificial and contrived
standard of racial balance. Their
ranks also contain die-hard segregationists
who will use any argument
to block the progress of social
understanding between the racial
groups in America.

The President has chosen to
observe the valid points made by
each group. He points out the
deficiencies of busing students as a
waste of funds and based upon a
value judgment that is not in line
with present social attitudes of the
majority (including those well-informed
in socio-economic disciplines).
He also recognizes the need
for improvement of the quality of
education for the poor and disadvantaged.

There are those who will accuse
the President of trying to play
politics by attempting to satisfy
everyone. I choose to believe that,
in this issue at least, President
Nixon is genuinely concerned about
the social and educational welfare
of the Nation and has taken a
positive step toward solving the
crisis in our schools. He deserves
our support, not further polarization
of thought that only serves to
continue the antagonism in the
country.

Parietal Hours

Representatives from the First
Year Council, the Student Council,
and the Senior Counselors talked
with Dean Williams last week about
First year parietals. We argued for
them on three counts.

First of all the First Year
Council and the counselors found it
extremely difficult to enforce the
rule that was handed to us by the
Administration. Last November it
was made clear that we would not
be granted completely open hours.
On that basis we asked for the
weekend hours, because we see no
reason why visitation restrictions
should not be removed.

This brings us to the second
point. At one time the University
had a responsibility in legislating
morality among its students.
Whether it has that responsibility or
not is immaterial. The University
can no longer use that as an
argument for restriction of visitation.

Finally, we are in contention
with the structure that does not
allow the First Year Council to
establish its own social regulations.
The Alderman Council has this
power, and the First Year Council
has become strong enough to
assume this responsibility.

Based on these arguments, the
First Year Council, Student Council
and The Executive Committee of
Counselors have filed a request for
24 hour, seven days-a-week visitation
rules. It is hoped that President
Shannon and Dean Williams will
effect the necessary change immediately
after Spring Break.

Protocol

Mr. Clement Conger presented a
fascinating description of the
mechanics of government protocol
Monday night. He showed how the
combined intricacies of timing,
precedence rules, spatial limitations,
etc. constantly challenge the
State Department in its production
and maintenance of a favorable
climate of diplomacy. His talk
entertained with several colorful
behind-the-scenes episodes that do
not show in the headlines, but the
humor cloaked a rather sobering
thought.

Mr. Conger pointed out that the
enormous weight of international
relations can often depend upon a
seemingly trivial detail that can
undermine years of careful work.
This is a bit frightening to consider.
For instance, it is striking how
much diplomatic business is conducted
at the state dinner table so
that even menus may take on
political implications.

Last year President Nixon gave
an American style dinner for
DeGaulle in Paris. The menu
included Idaho potatoes with
French sour cream and Russian
caviar. It caused DeGaulle to make
a humorous but politically ironic
remark. The rest of this particular
episode made a very funny story,
and, of course, one does not wish
to distort the picture, but one
cannot help but be the cynic and
wonder just how much of our
present world situation has been
the result, not of rational discourse
about the starving masses, but of
serving a favorite dish or diplomatic
indigestion.

No St. Lochar

It was with a wry smile tempered
by a minor sense of indignation
that I read your report on the
impending visit of the University
rugby football club to the British
Isles (Cavalier Daily, Wednesday,
18th March). They were, we were
told, to go sightseeing in Scotland,
hopefully having time to stop off at
Aberdeen to visit 'the world-famous
St. Lochar cathedral.'

I am a native of North-Eastern
Scotland, and have been resident in
Aberdeen for seven years (till
October, 1969). I have yet to hear
of this cathedral. However, we do
have a well-known Cathedral of St.
Machar, with close connections
with the University of Aberdeen.

Assuming that no typing error
was made, I humbly draw this
inaccuracy to your attention, lest
the rugby club find that many of
their "ports of call" are unknown.

U. Hall Profits

Mr. Cass of Student Council is
quoted in yesterday's Cavalier Daily
as saying that profits (over cost) of
renting U. Hall go to the Athletic
Department. Is that true?

It is one thing for Council to
preempt the allocation of U. Hall
rental funds from the Athletic to
the Admissions Department. On the
other hand, I understood that these
profits go to pay off the University
debt which allowed U. Hall to be
built in the first place - therefore,
not to the Athletic Department per
se. But the University already gets
some fourteen dollars per student
from each of us out of the
"Comprehensive Fee," to pay off
that debt. Where do the rental fees
go - University indebtedness or
Athletic Department general funds?

Al Barringer
Law 1

Gorkl VW

I should like to comment on a
letter in a recent (3-24-70) issue of
The Cavalier Daily in which an
obscure graduate student named
Neal Frey somewhat incoherently
flop advocated the bias disestablishment
of a garble Virginia
Weekly. That a snarfle flurp student
like Frey lends his gorkle to this
absurdity snurpp surprises since
absurdities tweet-glonk blapp trade.

In Frey's own words, "Letters
glump gorkle whump hilarity perfle-tong
disgust on the whilleper.
All glupp-gubble furtherance of the
chaff slurp-gobble."

Blurp gleep gorkle flubsnerk
gloppy-glop-gloppy blippy-blip-blippy
snerd florp gleep tweedly
bamboozle charismatic snerk
quackery swallooow. Imposters
snarflecolp.