University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Captain Cites Inaccuracies: Assuming Event Occurred

I am starting this letter with one basic
assumption - Paul Larsen's story in
Tuesday's Cavalier Daily really occurred.
This assumption I will have to admit is
extremely hard to make but I will assume
that Mr. Larsen reported what he heard a
young soldier relate of his experience.

The inaccuracies of the story may be due
to faulty memory or lack of interest on Mr.
Larsen's part but I think that a few of the
more glaring ones should be corrected.

In the first paragraph, Mr. Larsen stated
that "he (the young soldier) was eighteen
when the military took him." I presume the
implication was that the young man was
drafted. The article goes on to state that he
is now twenty and still has two years to
serve. Only a malfunction in the Selective
Service System would cause a man to be
drafted for a period of more than two years
and even a voluntary enlistment in the
Army is for only three years. The
implication is that the service also "put him
in a Commando unit and taught him to
parachute." Jump school and other "Commando"
schools are strictly volunteer
assignments.

Other inaccuracies: The Vietnam tour is
12 months not 13; C-45 aircraft are used
only by the Navy for reconnaissance; the
only difference between a regular uniform
and an airborne one is possibly the wearing of
jump boots with bloused trouser legs;
medals are not worn on the uniform - only
ribbons.

Finally, I won't amplify the incongruity
of one man, even armed with a knife,
jumping five men at or near the Charlottesville
bus terminal.

My only comment on the article, still
assuming that the event occurred, is - Mr.
Larsen, you have been had! You are the
recipient of what is known as a "War
Story," and not a very convincing one at
that. My younger brother who flew
helicopters in Vietnam for a year has a
much more convincing one. Someday I'll get
him to relate to you how he shot down a
MIG-21 with his aircraft.

Publicized Facts

The April election has become an issue in
the Graduate School Student Council
campaign and some partially known facts
need to be publicized. To whit:

Several Student Council members, including
Bud Ogle, refused to invalidate the
election solely on the basis of false charges
which were presented before an open
hearing on the election could take place.
These charges and the correct facts are:

- The election received insufficient
notice. The election received more notice on
posters and in The Cavalier Daily than last
October's election.

- Insufficient ballot boxes were provided.
There were 11 ballot boxes for 8
hours in April; eight boxes for 6 hours in
October.

- The history department was denied a
ballot box. The department received special
treatment in neither April nor October.

- Many people voted more than once.
The only substantiated evidence of this was
one person who voted five times for a losing
candidate.

- Mr. Wenzl's sign was improper. It was
meant to be satire.

Before the facts were known both
Graduate School Student Council members
offered to resign if the election was
improper. Once facts were known that two
candidates filed candidacy petitions after
the deadline and that each ballot box did
not have a sign-up sheet, both members
effectively resigned by voting to invalidate
the election. Fortunately, graduate students
had representatives who voted upon principle
and who were unafraid to change their
mind when proven wrong. We need to keep
them. Surely we should reelect them.

Library Hours

We at the University enjoy the facilities
of a fine, efficiently run library. It opens
every morning at 8 a.m., except on
weekends, when it opens at 2 p.m. There are
a few students who would like to use the
library before eight on weekdays; there are
many who would like to use it before 2 p.m.
on weekends.

At a quarter to eleven every weekday
evening in our library the diligent students
hear the voice of the immortal librarian
boom tinnily through the stacks and carrels
and echo down the stairways from floor to
floor: "The library will close at eleven thirty
this evening. All books are to be checked
out by eleven o'clock. No books will be
checked out after eleven o'clock."

At 11 the same voice, with a certain
added tinge of finality says, "It is now 11
o'clock. No more books will be checked
out. The library will be vacated at 11:30."
And so on, with similar warnings and a final
farewell speech at the closing hour.

This is, I believe, a University. There are
people here called students. They study.
They very often study far past 11:30. Yet,
their library begins to close at 10:45, after
which time, under the constant harassment
of the man behind the mike, no profitable
work may be accomplished.

Certainly we can afford to spend a few
dollars a year to keep our own library open,
if not all night, at least until 2 a.m. every
weekday. There are a few students who
would deny the library's importance to the
university community, above and beyond
that of other facilities on which the
administration is now, and will be, spending
a great deal of money.

VPP Disappointment

After listening to the candidates at
Wednesday night's "Open Forum," I was,
indeed, disappointed by the Virginia Progressive
Party's approach to this campaign.

I feel that anyone who listens carefully
to the re-broadcast of the forum at two
o'clock this afternoon on WTJU, will realize that the members of the Virginia Progressive
Party sees the need to attack the candidates
personal backgrounds and qualifications as
its primary aim while issues and the
methods for their implementation assume
only secondary importance.

One of the Virginia Progressive Party
candidates used a question regarding an
Open Meeting with the Board of Visitors to
attack the qualifications of the other
candidates. The initial question went unanswered
until after his alloted time had
expired.

I suggest that the priorities of the
Virginia Progressive Party need to be
re-examined. I further suggest that issues
and their implementation are the most
significant part of this campaign. It is
unfortunate that the Virginia Progressive
Party has in this respect proven themselves
deficient in the perception which they have
so vehemently accused the Student Council
of lacking.

I call on the Virginia Progressive Party to
attack the issues instead of the candidates.

Take The Lead

As past and present members of the
Student Council, we realize the need for
Council to take the lead in any movement
for change at the University — instead of
forcing a proliferation of fragmented ad hoc
groups to assume that responsibility. For
this reason, we support the creation of the
Virginia Progressive Party and the election
of its candidates.

Academic Hypocrisy

Since a university student need now be
honorable only within the limited confines
of Charlottesville — Albemarle County, it
might be more appropriate to rename the
obsolete "Honor System:" "The System of
Academic Hypocrisy Limited to..."