University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

VPP Head Denies Attacking Individuals

It seems somewhat pointless to
continue the debate on the election
infraction leveled at Mr. Stephens
in the last campaign. The fact is
that the infraction occurred, but is
is not my place, my partisan place,
to speculate on his motivation.

The only point worth noting,
however, was that the placing of
letters in mail boxes, if nothing
else, broke an Alderman Road
Council rule. In this time when we
are trying to coordinate the efforts
of all student groups, it seems
contradictory to flagrantly break
one of an organization's rules.

I must answer, though, Mr.
Stephens' charge that the Virginia
Progressive Party ran a "negative"
campaign. Our campaign was as
direct, and probably more
straightforward, than the JP's. The
sheet we delivered the last night
(written solely by me) seems to be
the cause of Mr. Stephens' rebuke.

That letter was an answer to a
sheet put out earlier by the JP. In
that letter, the JP stated that they
"espoused no philosophy other
than to provide qualified,
competent (sic) candidates for
Student Government." I attacked
this position from the standpoint of
the VPP's ideology and
background.

I also criticized the JP for their
statement in the same piece of
literature that they formed "as an
alternative to the fraternity-oriented
caucus system." I charged
that their philosophy and practice
"served only to continue the
fraternity-dominated process."

I went on to say that "the
Jefferson Party still caters to
fraternity interest by allowing,
indeed encouraging, fraternities to
join the party en masse at
convention time and push 'their
boy' through." I stressed that VPP
members join the party as
individuals, and before the
convention.

This was not a "slam sheet" or
anything other than a statement of
philosophy. I did not attack
individuals; I hit only the JP on
points of difference between the
two parties.

May we all have a pleasant and
peaceful new year.

Bruisers

On the night of Friday,
December 11, I was slugged in the
face and kicked in front of Dobie
House by one member of roving
pack of drunken oafs who
identified themselves as "Virginia
Football." It is apparent that sheer
belligerence and inability to handle
alcohol resulted in this brutality.
Does "Virginia Football" consist of
Virginia gentlemen? Hardly.

Beyond Reproach

Poor little Cavalier Daily. You
are so perfect that you will hardly
be able to accept reproach for your
writings.

Re your picture "Stoned
Fucker" from December 14th. The
Cavalier Daily, like it or not,
represents the University of
Virginia to a large number of
people outside the University. If
pictures like that which appeared
December 14th, and the editorial of
today, December 15th, represent
student attitudes, then I must take
exception to those attitudes.

How will you, in your infinite
wisdom and infallibility, answer the
following question?

The writer of this letter is:

• a.) A prude

• b.) A hypocrite

• c.) A saint

• d.) Any 2 of the above

• e.) None of the above

• f.) All of the above

I'm interested in your answer.
One word of advice. If you think to
answer this letter or ever to
represent this student's opinions or
attitudes, Please don't.

Credit Where
Due

Once again the Cavalier Daily
has given credit to themselves alone
when Donn Kessler wrote:
"Charges made recently against the
Corner bookstores namely the
relationship with the University are
finally being answered in studies
made by the Cavalier Daily and the
Office of Student Affairs.

Perhaps Mr. Kessler is not aware
however, an organization called the
Student Council has had a
committee investigating the
problem and have already come up
with clear solutions.

In a meeting on December 9,
1970 a report on the bookstore
committee's findings were given by
myself and one of the
recommendations made was: "We
recommend that Student Council
support the desire of Newcomb
Hall Book Store to gain permission
from the University to sell
hardback books." A motion to this
effect was made by Bill Fox and
unanimously passed.

A letter has been written by
Kevin L. Mannix and is now waiting
for Dr. Shannon and the Board of
Visitors Action with a
recommendation by council to allow
Newcomb Hall Book Store to sell
hardback books.

A comprehensive report is also
being made at the present time
which will be submitted after the
holidays for council approval.

The council committee hopes
now that the student body and the
C.D. are better informed on the
actions council is taking on this
vital matter.

Inability

The Student Council has again
demonstrated its inability to
conduct a fair and efficient election
in the Engineering School. Last
Spring's ballot misprints were
repeated this Fall and compounded
by the Council's failure to
investigate the candidates' status, as
well as poor and incorrect poll
management.

One of the Student Council's
policies for election to office it that
the candidates must have two
semesters left in his school so that
he can serve his term. In the
election last week the B.F.D. Party
(a group of degree candidates
attempting to make the election a
farce) turned in petitions for three
candidates without the five dollar
registration fee required.

Since the B.F.D.'s candidates'
names appeared on the ballot the
Student Council must have failed to
inquire into the status of any of the
candidates and apparently ignored
their own rules of election
registration. Thus the election had
to be declared invalid since many
people would be under the
incorrect assumption that the
B.F.D.'s were legal candidates. The
fact is that they could not have
been elected since they did not
have two full semesters left in
school.

This is not the only blunder the
Council has made. The polls opened
at 9:00 A.M. but the ballots did not
arrive until 11:00 A.M. Ballots for
the Engineering School are
supposed to appear only in the
Engineering School; these are the
only ballots that are counted.
However, the Student Council
placed Engineering School ballots
at other polls around the
University. Any uninformed
Engineering student could vote at a
wrong poll and not have his vote
counted.

We feel that the Student Council
must start doing its job and make
sure elections are run smoothly. All
the candidates feel as if the election
will be a little more unfair being
held a week late rather than at the
regular time. If the Student Council
is unable to hold elections in the
Engineering School then we suggest
that it delegate the power to the
Engineering Council.