University of Virginia Library

Charles Ribakoff

P-K German And
The Cavalier Daily Proposal

Charles Ribakoff started the current
Dance Societies controversy with a series of
columns criticizing their operations. He is a
member of the Student Council Concert
Evaluation Committee, former music critic
for Rapier Magazine and Rolling Stone, and
has promoted concerts. This is part three of
a continuing series.

I was very impressed with German Club
President Jim Doilney's reply to Robert
Cullen's Editorial recommending the
consolidation of the various concert-giving
organizations into a single group, with profits
used to finance other cultural activities.

Mr. Doilney has, in both his article and in
conversations with me, impressed me as being
a most sincere and competent gentleman who
is genuinely interested in improving the calibre
of big weekend entertainment at the University.

But I question the validity of his logic. Mr.
Doilney's attitude seems to be that we should
ignore everything that's happened in the past.
Last time I looked, they weren't running the
world that way. If Mr. Doilney wishes, as he
has indicated, to maintain the structure of the
Dance Societies, he must be willing to defend
that structure. This is not an easy thing to do
as Mr. Cullen pointed out. And the point of
both Mr. Cullen's and my articles have been
not to discredit or slander the people involved,
but to question the validity and value of the
whole concert structure. With that in mind, I
would like to once again examine Mr. Cullen's
charges.

It is rather easy to point out that the
Societies have been unnameable to outside
criticism. The Societies are a closed group, and
the officers do not believe in rule by
committee. After my first column (which was,
admittedly, poorly researched and somewhat
unfair, particularly to Joe Fiorvanti), Mr.
Fiorvanti, then PK President, wrote in The
Cavalier Daily that "The Dance Societies no
longer appreciate . . . criticism . . ."

After my second column, he stormed
around the newspaper offices, reportedly
promising to "punch Ribakoff in the mouth."
(I was, fortunately, not in the office at the
time). This is not what I would call being
exactly open to criticism, however strongly
worded. While Mr. Doilney has been
commendably diligent in seeking advice from
others, he is by no means required to do so; a
less conscientious successor could as easily
ignore everyone. Mr. Backhaus, new president
of PK (who, I understand, does all the
booking), did not bother to show up for the
meeting of the Student Council Concert Study
Committee.

Mr. Doilney's use of the Fifth Dimension
as an argument against Mr. Cullen's statement
that "there has been a conspicuous lack of
talent here" is somewhat abstruse; as I recall,
there has also been a conspicuous lack of the
Fifth Dimension.

And PK-German has not been audited
except at the pleasure of its officers. There is,
as of now, no clause in the constitution
requiring any audit. Although Mr. Doilney is
currently negotiating for a yearly audit with a
local accounting firm, there have generally
been yearly audits, except for this year when
no formal books were even kept (this makes
questionable Mr. Fiorvanti's earlier statement
that their records are audited "several times a
year" by the University; this year there are no
records to audit.)

I am not questioning the integrity of the
officers; even if they weren't completely
honest (and I'm convinced that recent officers
have been), they don't keep good enough
records for anybody to prove it. The point is
that the potential for theft is phenomenal Mr.
Doilney's statement that examining past
records serves no useful purpose may be
correct, but it does raise some interesting
questions into the ability of the organization
to maintain itself. Mr. Doilney promises to
change all this, and I believe he will. It's about
time.

There are other questions. The Societies
are unquestionably discriminatory, being composed
of about 95 percent fraternity
members.

In a University where fewer than half the
students belong to fraternities, this makes it
rather difficult for the Societies to represent
the schools; until recently, there were stiffer
entrance requirements for independents than
fraternity members. This is absurd.

My study of other Universities for the
Council Committee revealed that all
recommended that middlemen (people who
get people to get groups) not be used, as they
are inefficient and expensive. The Societies
persist in doing this because, officers claim,
the middlemen know who's available for what
price on what dates. It was my understanding
that this was the job which we are paying two
men a total of $500 a year plus all tickets they
can use (not $3,000, as I erroneously implied
earlier) to know these things. But they pay
others to do this job for them.

Mr. Doilney promises to investigate all this.
It too, will be about time.

The primary problem is that PK-German
Societies are political organizations; their
officers are elected for reasons other than
their ability to finance and present concerts,
which, non-sequitorially, is their only
function. Occasionally, by apparent
coincidence, excellent men fill these positions
(as Mr. Doilney seems to be), but there is
nothing in the organization to guarantee this.
And this is why the system should be changed.

Previous mismanagement, sound system
problems, and poor audiences (performers
don't like playing for drunken harassers),
have already resulted in PK-German (and, as a
result, the University) being black balled by
many top groups. Those groups apparently feel
they don't need the aggravation involved in
working here (The Eastern Airline syndrome).

There is no excuse for this. The Cavalier
Daily proposal is an excellent way to get
around many of these problems. There is
currently some $20,000 in "slush funds" tied
up by both Union and PK-German; consolidation
could nearly cut this figure in half. Both
Dance Society and Union officers argue that
the funds are necessary in case of losses; if
they presented consistently excellent concerts
(rather than the Strawberry Alarm Clock,
Carla Thomas, or Hugh Masekela), they
wouldn't have to worry about losses, a fact
that other schools who get only top
entertainment have proved conclusively.

By using the experienced officers of the
University Union, PK-German could avoid
many of the contract squabbles that have
plagued earlier ventures. $10,000 would go a
long way towards doing a lot of good for the
University.

The combined groups would be politically
strong enough to effectively oppose things like
the absurd 10 per cent rate all University
groups must pay for the use of University hall
(which can easily add $1,000 more to the
price of a concert).

The proposal of using extra funds to
finance a lecture series is, I feel, excellent.
There are currently no funds available for this;
concert profits are an excellent source. Many
other schools use these profits for lectures and
other cultural activities. The argument of
Union and Dance society officers is that this is
not the function of their organizations. Mr.
Doilney wants his society, to put on concerts
as cheaply as possible. I disagree; the functions
of their organizations is to serve the
University. The Cavalier Daily Proposal would
be an excellent way for them to do this.

This, then, is why the Societies are so upset
by The Cavalier Daily proposal. Mr. Cullen
takes an overview of the entire situation; the
Societies are interested in a more limited
scope. This is not having the best interest of
the University for a purpose.

These societies have done little to justify
their existence. While Mr. Doilney may do
much towards reforming them, I don't think
that the system in its present form can
function in a way that truly benefits the
University. They should do something to
justify their existence, or be disbanded.