The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, November 5, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

Newcomb Hall. The University
of Virginia's student union. The
place to go when the burdens of the
world all seem to be resting on your
shoulders. Right? Sorry, wrong,
dead wrong.

Anyone who has spent much
time in the building, and I suspect
most of us have, soon learns that
Newcomb Hall develops depression,
magnifies melancholy, and Fosters
suicidal tendencies. When your favorite
girl or boy friend dumps on
you, or its Saturday night and
you're in the dorms studying, or
some other such common situation,
don't head for Newcomb Hall, unless
you really want to go crazy.

With the exception of the listening
rooms, and they are never when
you need them most, the building
sits as a structure dedicated to
institutional walls, misplaced pictures,
unintelligible films in the
ballroom, and old women. One
wonders whether the average age of
the University female is near 60. A
few hours in Newcomb Hall certainly
leaves that impression.

All Bad?

There certainly must be some
really good things about the union
building, you say. Surely it can't be
all bad? Well, ever try to get a quick
bite to eat in the Grill? Even if you
are only one of five people waiting
to get a three-day old hamburger
and some soggy fries, its bound to
take forever. You'd be better running
to the truck stop in
Ruckersville. At least there might
be some excitement there. I don't
know if the two cafeterias are
recommended by McCalls, but they
aren't really all that bad. Compared
to other college cafeterias they fare
pretty well.

New Building

Newcomb Hall, which isn't an
old building (it was built in 1958),
must have been designed by someone
with absolutely no ideas at all
of the emotional needs of the
students and community which it is
supposed to serve. No fault lies
with those who presently run the
operation-Mr. Herring and crew,
and the present head of the University
Union, Clay Spencer, who is
doing a fantastic job. But the
facilities with which these people
have to work with are atrocious and
make many outstanding ideas only
figments of the imagination.

It may seem to some groups
other than students that to make a
fuss over the inferior status of your
student union building is to quibble
over luxuries. A student union
building, though is not a luxury,
but an integral part of the atmosphere
under which everyone
attempts to fulfill the purpose
which brought him to the
University in the first place.
Assuming that in most cases the
purpose is an academic or
intellectual one, the type and
functional character of the building
may be as important as the faculty,
classroom buildings, caliber of
students, and quality of life in the
dorms.

Quality Of Life

It is the last point that is only
recently being accorded the
attention that it deserves. The
quality of life throughout the entire
nation is in a sorry state. In many
places you can't breathe, see, drive
anywhere, leave your house for a
few moments without being fearful
that some undesirable consequence
will befall you. Wherever you go
are those blessed Muzak speakers
spewing forth that disgustingly
sweet music.

Recent studies of college
students have concluded that the
nonacademic atmosphere—dorm
life, social life, availability of
pleasant, diverse opportunities to
do non-academic activities, may
have a very important role in the
productivity of the students, their
mental health, and their ultimate
success or failure. The opportunity
to meet other students, to exchange
ideas, pleasantries or whatever is
severely limited when there is no
central place where students from
the entire University, not just the
undergraduate portion, can go to
and when they leave, leave
reluctantly. Usually you can't wait
to get out of Newcomb Hall.

Functional

A large, functional, appealing
student union building serves a
wide range of students, faculty and
townspeople. Its use is not
restricted to a small group whose
interests happen to coincide with
the limited purposes to which the
building is designed. There is much
more to be gained by building a
new Union building than a new
track, football field, or other such
non-necessity.

Somewhere along the line our
priorities have gotten really screwed
up. Money for the Athletic
Department but the library suffers.
Last summer a devoted group of
students, including Clay Spencer
spent a good deal of their time
collating a study of the interests of
the student body and cataloging the
failures of Newcomb Hall to
provide satisfactory outlets for
those desires. They produced a
booklet which everyone ought to
read (unfortunately there are a
limited number of copies available)
which proposes a large quantity of
changes that could be made to
improve the current Newcomb Hall
setup. Their ideas are practical,
well-thought out, and relate
directly to the quality of life problem.

Proposals Endorsed

The proposals have been endorsed
in general terms by the
administrative committee charged
with the responsibility for the University
Union and Newcomb Hall.
The office of Student Affairs is in
favor of the changes. The hangup
comes when the money issue is
raised. Estimates for renovating
Newcomb Hall in the manner
suggested run to half a million.
Given a sufficiently high priority,
one that is deserved, the money
should be made available.

Fund-Raising

If necessary the University
should encourage a fund-raising
effort similar to the one that raised
the money for the new track. Such
an effort might be used to provide
the funds necessary which are
totally beyond the availability of
money currently held by the
school.

In any event, what is needed is a
commitment by the Administration
to face up to this problem
along with the other important
ones and to take steps to rectify the
situation quickly. If it doesn't, it
may find more and more of its
students going crazy for want of
better things to do and places to go.