University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Library Check Endorsed

The Student Council heartily endorses
the installation of a book
check out system in Alderman
Library.

The institution of this system
was recommended by the Council
last spring as a measure which
would serve to greatly enhance the
effectiveness and usefulness of the
library as a research facility.

It should not be deemed as
offensive to our spirit of Honor
for it is intended to alleviate the
problem of carelessness and
thoughtlessness in checking out
books which investigation has
proved to be the major cause of the
disappearance of books.

I urge all students to support
this new system.

Judiciary Approval

The Judiciary Committee has
been the body before which cases
involving misuse of the library
have come. It has been our experience,
verified by the Honor
Committee report, that negligence
rather than theft is the predominant
explanation for unrecorded
book withdrawals. For this reason,
the Judiciary Committee endorses
the check point proposal and urges
that the University Community
view the new system as an effort
to promote maximum library efficiency
rather than a manifestation
of student distrust.

Gay Justified

By defeating the motion to take
action against Phi Alpha Delta
the Student Council missed its
opportunity to show that its rule
against segregated facilities is not
a hollow facade. Rather, the Council
did prove that it only wanted
to go down in history as a group
of enlightened gentlemen, understanding
enough to make a rule
against a social absurdity, but not
so fanatic as to actually enforce
it.

Of course, Mr Gay's remark
about the racist policy of this
Council was fully justified. The
passive attitude, i.e. tolerating discrimination,
is the most common
form of racism these days. Mr.
Ford considers it "beneath the
dignity of a Council member to
call the Student Council racist."
He states that the Council was
"not unwilling to enforce the rule,
but deemed it wise not to at this
time."

The only way the Student Council
can prove its integrity, is by
acting according to the principles
it allegedly stands for. Until there
are reports of the Council's actions
beyond just hollow talk,
there is hardly anything which is
beneath the dignity of a Council
member, and the most dignified
thing he can do, is lock himself
up in a dark room and stay
there.

Name 'Little Man'

As an undergraduate Economics
major who is justly proud of the
excellent reputation of his department
and equally concerned with
its reputation five years hence, I
call upon the officers of the Graduate
Economics Club to publicly
name the people in the administration,
including the "little man in
his elaborate...office," whose
actions and motives in wrecking
our Economics Department have
earned them the avalanche of
criticism that is forthcoming. An
administration is too vague to attack,
specific men are not.

To attract and induce prominent
faculty such as Professor Buchanan
to settle in Charlottesville, hardly
a cultural mecca in anyone's book,
requires benefits such as country
club memberships and gravities
such as free passes to athletic
contests in addition to higher
salaries than competing institutions
are willing to pay. In this
respect the University even lags
behind such academic strongholds
as the University of South Alabama.
I hope that somebody wakes
up and realizes that the city of
Charlottesville by itself won't act
as the magnet to draw and keep
scholars here before we lose all
of our Professor Buchanans.