University of Virginia Library

Answer To State

The voters of Virginia are not
the most liberal-minded people in
the world when it comes to
premarital sex. But since we are a
state university, we must eventually
answer to the State of Virginia, its
people and its government, for our
actions.

What affect could the voters and
legislators of Virginia have on the
financial future of the University?
The University of Virginia is one of
the few state universities that
receives less than one-third of its
operating funds from the state.

Mr. Shannon asked the governor
and his Budget Advisory Committee
on Tuesday for an appropriation to
the University of over $66 million
for the 1972-74 biennium. This
represents a marked increase in the
percentage of the total school
budget that the state is being asked
to fund.

While the University probably
will not get all of the monies that it
desires, the percentage of the
request that we do get can be
linked to the public opinion of the
University at the time that the
legislature looks at the governor's
recommendation. If a state legislator
decides that sex is once again
running rampant in the dorms, he
may introduce more stringent
legislation than that presented by
Mr. Bateman.

Last semester's resolution
merely asked the governing bodies
of the schools to review their
parietal hours and see if they were
in harmony with the feelings of the
people of Virginia. A tougher line
could be taken, with the legislature
establishing guidelines for the hours
and conditions of parietals.

If those guidelines are
established, and in turn are
disregarded by the University or the
students, serious repercussions will
result. We will not get the funds
which we seek. They will go to
some other state school. At this
time in our growth, we cannot
afford to bite the hand that feeds
us.