University of Virginia Library

Sheep Walk In Paths

mdash;Ed.

We were asked jokingly the other day
when Topics was going to burst forth with its
customary spring editorial - "Keep off the
Grass." We replied that such an editorial
nowadays would be meaningless, inasmuch as
what grass we have hereabouts has been
covered up, so that we could not possibly step
on it even if we wanted to. However, spring
showers, warm sunshine, bone meal, and the
mysteriously vital grass seed will not be long
in transforming our acres of dusty fields on
the north side of the Rotunda into swards of
unblemished verdure, provided the nascent
elements of beauty be not trampled under the
rude feet of pedestrians.

Topics, learning from the hard school of
experience, does not come our unreservedly
this year and condemn grass-walking in its
every aspect, and under every circumstance.
The man who doesn't cut corners to catch a
street car, when he knows he will have to wait
half-a-day for another in the event that he
misses it, has not, we think, profited from his
education. And certainly, if Brooks Museum
were to catch on fire, we could not condemn
the crowd which would gather about on the
grass to cheer. Such events are special
occasions and should be celebrated as such.
But we do condemn path-making; and we do
deplore the crushing of the young and
innocent. The one indicates close kinship with
sheep; and the other is in conflict with our
manly instincts of fair play and an equal
chance for everybody.

Moreover, we know that to ask favors
without offering concessions is generally
unprofitable. And where the concession is
made in the interests of practical good sense,
it ceases almost to be a concession. We agree
with those who say that there are certain
places on the grounds where it is imperative
that new paths be laid down, old paths be
widened, and, in general, cognizance be taken
of the students' knowledge of the axioms of
geometry. We hope to be able to announce
shortly in the columns of this paper the steps
which will be taken by the Grounds
Committee to meet these very justifiable
demands. We look forward to the day when
paths now leading to nowhere will be joined
up with the breaks in the Main Street wall;
when we will no longer have to walk single file
in front of the Chapel in order to avoid
collision. We expect such improvements, and
we believe we shall get them.

In the meantime, we solicit cooperation in
the matter of preserving what this University
has - and it is a great deal of natural
beauty. We may rest assured that the
concessions to utility will not take the form
of concrete diagonals crossing the Lawn in
front of the Rotunda. The beauty which
twenty-five generations of students have
respected, we also can respect. And so soon in
the spring as the grass wears thin and the clay
appears around the big red maple in front of
Dr. Lewis' house, we may count on this also -
that College Topics will have something old
and familiar to say, not in the hope of
receiving one hundred per cent support, but
merely as a suggestion and reminder.