University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor:

Security Guards As Doormen?

I would like to comment on the
decision of the I.F.C. and President
Ed Hayes to institute uniformed
security agents as mandatory doormen
for fraternity parties over Midwinters
Weekend.

The large number of uninvited
guests, particularly non-University
students, at fraternity parties and
the unfortunate incidents which
have occurred at those parties
definitely poses a serious problem
to most houses. The solution offered
by the I.F.C., however, is less
than desirable.

The hiring of security guards has
several disadvantages. First, it
places an additional financial burden
on the houses, since most
fraternities are able to hire doormen
at a cost rather below the
exorbitant figure of $24.50. Despite
the assertion that these doormen
would cost only an additional
33 cents per member, the outlay
for the house treasury would be
considerably more. Secondly, the
atmosphere which the presence of
uniformed security men would
create would be very undesirable.
Since the doorman would not know
brothers from other students, the
former would be subjected to I.D.
checks in order to get into their
own houses. A uniformed guard
seems quite out of place at a
Virginia fraternity party. Even
house mothers would be a preferable
alternative to Link Security.
Thirdly, the effectiveness of such a
guard must be questioned. Supposedly,
these men will give greater
protection to fraternity members
and their dates. Yet the problems
which have occurred in the past and
which the I.F.C. is trying to prevent
have not taken place in the houses
or the surrounding area, but rather
in poorly lighted areas away from
the immediate vicinity of any
houses. How a uniformed squad
could prevent such an incident remains
to be seen.

The I.F.C. has legislated for the
fraternity community at large and
in doing so, has put forth a plan,
however earnest in intent, which
cannot meet the problem at hand.
A better attempt at finding a solution
would be placing the responsibility
for discipline with each
fraternity while "protection" for
members might best be achieved
through each individual's assuming
the responsibility for his own welfare
and that of his date.

Meter Maids

ALL HAIL THE POWER OF
THE UNIVERSITY SECURITY
POLICE.

I think it's about time someone
mentioned our illustrious "meter
maids" and their function. About
all one can discover at first glance is
that they know how to fill out a
ticket for an improperly parked
vehicle. (I'm quite sure our
Psychology department could train
chimpanzees to do this job with
equal skill).

The point is that chimpanzees
would not realize that the parking
situation at the university is critical
and handing out tickets which are a
real pain is not going to help the
situation. It's akin to punishing a
person because he gets the flu.

If the members of our security
force have more intelligence than
chimpanzees they should realize the
problem we have and make allowances.
"Please Mr. Lamb, call off
your dogs." I suggest that the energies
of the security force could
more usefully be spent protecting
the dates of the UVA men who fear
for their safety. These same dates
know that although they may be
brutally assaulted the illustrious
UVA. security force is away writing
tickets.

As a matter of fact, I mentioned
above that at first glance all I could
notice was their ability to write
tickets, has anyone else seen something
they can do?

Come On CD

I believe a newspaper should
above all report news as it really
happens. Don't you think you
stretched the truth a little too
much when you reported that there
were "over 1,000" people at the
demonstration yesterday? Perhaps
you should go back to school and
learn to count. Come on Cavalier
Daily tell it like it is.

Lorraine Vagal

UPI's estimate, which it sent out
on its "A" wire (to the world), was
1,500 — ed.

Keep Hickman

Tuesday night, a grave mistake
was made when a petition was
circulated around the Student
Council table asking for Ron
Hickman's resignation as President
of the Student Council. This action
was precipitated by Mr. Hickman's
withdrawal of support from the
Student Coalition and his unwillingness
to come to a Council meeting
called for by Mr. Murdock. In the
former instance, Mr. Hickman was
presumably guided by his ideologies,
which paralleled 85 per cent
of the student body who did not
turn out to support the demonstration.
How could he represent as
a leader, the majority, a majority
which did not overtly support the
"11 demands."

Secondly, it was not ethical to
call for Mr. Hickman's resignation
on the grounds that he would not
call a special session of the Student
Council on the night preceding
their regular scheduled meeting. At
times Monday evening there were
enough members to constitute a
quorum, but even they did not wish
to have the meeting. Nevertheless,
the following evening the demands
of the Student Coalition were
passed without much debate and
without the disapproval of Mr.
Hickman.

I ask the Student Councilmen
not to initiate impeachment proceedings
for whimsical and personal
causes, which can be remedied by
By-Law changes such as the motion
offered by Mr. Mannix at Tuesday's
meeting.