University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Give Cagers A Chance

The present "Boot the Hoot"
button campaign which some students
have seen fit to undertake
shows no regard (or interest) for
the basketball team or the University's
athletic welfare in general.

Anything that happened last
year is now over and done. This
year's squad has a new refreshing
attitude. There is a certain enthusiasm
which was not present in the
past. The squad members feel that
Coach Gibson is much closer to the
team than ever before. There is no
reason to establish hostility toward
a team which has yet to have a
chance to prove itself.

Furthermore, the University is
on the brink of signing an athlete of
super-star caliber - 6′11″ Tom
McMillan, regarded as the best prep
prospect in the country and a boy
that could shoot Virginia into the
national basketball scene. (At present
Mr. McMillan seems to have
narrowed his choice to Carolina or
Virginia). The major reason for his
interest in Virginia, other than our
academies, is the fact that he is one
of Coach Gibson's closest friends.
He grew up to know and admire
Coach Gibson while Coach Gibson
was at Mansfield State.

The presence of such an athlete
would not only change the basketball
program, but with a full
University Hall give needed financial
aid to minor sports. It is the
only way Virginia will ever excel in
athletics.

In closing I ask only that we give
this years squad a chance and
remember - a star is on the
horizon.

The concept of credit or non
credit for ROTC courses, I think,
evades the real issue which is the
presence of a department representing
the Pentagon on a university
campus (grounds?). As a
civilian, I can not presume to
discredit a military professor, who
is also a professional soldier, for
either lack of academic credentials
(i.e. number of degrees etc.) or for
his non objectivity. His employer,
the Department of Defense, knows
what it wants presented and is
satisfied that he is doing just that,
whereas a soldier on active duty
does not have the luxury of
objectivity in matters such as
foreign military policy.

The matter to be considered is
the independence of a university -
should the DOD be involved in the
teaching or policy making process?
This question, weighed against a
student's right to initiate a possible
military career while attending the
university is the one which should
be made by the students themselves.

I think (and this is only an
opinion) that the DOD, with 70%
of the federal budget, and three
well-financed service academies, has
more than its fair share of influence
over all our institutions, private and
public. Is it asking to much for
there to be at least one institution
where war is neither investigated,
practiced, supplied, or "taught as a
science?" The University is the only
place left where this is possible.

Beware the College Boy.

Beware the stratified arguments
and attitudes of the University
commoner.

Beware David Giltinan.

In a lucid article full of novel
catch phrases Mr. Giltinan looked
critically and accurately at the
November 15th picnic. He showed
the indolent liberals that nothing
was "accomplished." This was a
valid chastisement of the liberal
(intellectual) spirit. However.

As a columnist his article was
sorely one-sided. No attempt was
made to understand or confront the
real opposition to ending the war.
Giltinan represents, for the cause,
just another College Boy.

That silent majority which does
not respect our criticism of the
White House must be the object of
every intelligent protest, or we will
fall. Since Dick is deaf, we waste
our time storming the Justice
building. To hit him where it hurts,
at the polls, we must prove to the
rednecks and white trash and scared
conservatives that our cause is just.
The more passionate the activist,
the more he should resign himself
to this, the only solution.

So lets educate the College
Boys. Lets teach them to fight for a
cause effectively. Attack the closed
minded with peaceful examples.
Communicate with the Nixon supporters.
Talk to them. Show them
that they can earn good favor by
supporting peace.

Take a redneck to heart for the
cause.