University of Virginia Library

I am amazed at Mr. Gartlan's
utter lack of political perception
and journalistic expertise. In the
September 23 edition of the
Cavalier Daily, Mr. Gartlan, whose
byline indicated that, indeed he was
a CD staff writer, wrote two
political articles. The first described
the appearance of George Rawlings
at the University, the second dealt
with the candidacy of Congressman
Al Lowenstein.

In the Rawlings article, Mr.
Gartlan offered an erroneous
scenario of the controversy
surrounding Senator Byrd's
independent candidacy, and the
events at the Republican State
Convention last June. Perhaps Mr.
Gartlan was vacationing at that
time, or perhaps he limits his
political research to the columns of
the Virginia Weekly.

In his second attempt, Mr.
Gartlan wrote a passable column.
He described the nation-wide
movement to help Lowenstein,
praised him for his stands on a vast
plethora of issues, quoted
Lowenstein supporters at length
who further honored the position
held by the Congressman and
vilified his opponents.

Yet the column contained little,
if any, material germane to the
headline above it: how students at
this University could convincingly
campaign in a congressional race in
the 5th District of New York.

This column would have been
well within the editorial standards
of the CD if it had been placed on
the features page, or if it had been
designated as a column of personal
opinion. It did not, however,
conform to the standards of
journalism normally reserved for
news articles.