University of Virginia Library

Academic Reform Proposed By Reader

Letters To The Editor

I have two proposals which, I
think, can best be voiced through a
widespread medium such as The
Cavalier Daily. They both pertain
to academic reform.

The first concerns final exams.
It seems to me ridiculous that a
student who demonstrates above-average
achievement in a course
should be constrained to take a
final exam. The student who has
earned a grade of B or better has
shown his grasp of that course; is it
right that his excellent grade should
be put in jeopardy by forcing him
to take a two-hour exam that may
count 50% of his final grade? We all
have bad days, and it seems rather
useless to rest a good grade on the
outcome of one quiz (though a
large one). I submit, therefore, that
a policy should be instituted whereby
a student with an A in a course
be excused from taking the final
exam in that course, and that a
student with a B in a course be
excused from the final exam in that
course or not, at the discretion of
the teacher.

The second proposal concerns
fourth-year comprehensive exams.
It is not at all clear to me (nor to a
great many other students) that
comps are really necessary as a
requirement for a degree. Unless
this necessity can be shown, I submit
that comps should be done
away with. Many other schools get
along fine without them, and I
believe Virginia could do the same.
I have seen no clear-cut indication
that comps really prove anything,
or that the scores on comps are
really indicative of the student's
progress toward his degree. I realize
that a good many people accept
comps "because they are there,"
but this is hardly a good reason to
continue a useless practice. Third-year
comps for English majors were
done away with, and it may be
possible to do away with fourth-year
comps. If a student has shown
satisfactory progress through four
years here, is it really necessary to
make him pass what is, in effect, a
final exam over two or more years
of materials?

I realize that there may be many
factors that I am not aware of, but
I do think that both of these
proposals deserve further study.

No Tickets

Tonight our recently successful
basketball team will play against
the second ranked team in the
nation at Chapel Hill, not an uncomfortable
drive from Charlottesville.
Unfortunately, there will be
very, very few University students
in the crowd, if there are any at all.
Not that there aren't students who
would make the trip. To my absolute
disbelief, there are no tickets
for Virginia students, nor were
there ever any. The Athletic Department,
or whoever is responsible,
neglected to obtain any
tickets for this game, and Chapel
Hill has, of course, sold out completely.
If this is standard practice,
it is a gross disservice to those of us
who would follow the team. There
are rules for NCAA teams, I believe,
which provide for some seats for
students of visiting schools. The
University should seek to secure
these, or if there is no such rule, to
purchase some seats before they are
all sold out. Unaccustomed as it is
to winning teams, this mistake is
understandable, if not excusable,
in the University's Athletic Department.
However, the department
must not shirk its responsibility in
the future.

Ogden's 'Cadre'

Somehow the effectiveness of
Alan Ogden's "Cadre" was damped
by the fact that in passing through
the doors of Minor Hall several
times during Dow's tenure I encountered
nothing but an unattended
loudspeaker. But I rest
secure knowing that if someone had
been there I would have been set
straight by superb elocution. I
regret, however, the fact that I was
not present to observe Nina
Chertoff's ideologically-stimulating
strip-tease. Admittedly I would
have left it completely unaware of
my subversion. Perhaps I was
subverted ideologically at the polo
grounds carnival several years ago
and didn't realize that, either. But I
doubt it.

This letter may be regarded by
Mr. Ogden as another example of
how "media always plays (sic)
imbecilically (sic) into the hands"
of his "People!!!" and it is
regrettable that contributes to
his program of self-applause. But
since the Cadre's failure at recruitment
came after excellent strategy
and publicity, there can be no
telling what dramatic victories may
be claimed as a result of adverse
publicity such as this.

The Communist doctrine, like
most others, operates on the
assumption that it is basically right,
and, also like most others, advocates
the coercion of dissidents.
So a communist cannot justifiably
attack such coercion on ethical or
moral grounds. Since the rightness
of communism or capitalism is a
moot point and not strictly relevant
to this letter's content, only the
degree of such coercion can be
grounds for objection. The USSR
has its "lackey press," namely all
legitimate Soviet publications; it
has used coercive power in
Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
These, as well as our own excess in
Chicago and Vietnam, are lamentable.

Fortunately, whatever coercion
of young adults goes on in business
recruiting is of very slight magnitude
in comparison with those
listed above. Although some deception
on the part of a prospective
employer may attract the recruit
down a regrettable path, everyone
usually benefits from a contract.
Since it is presently the consensus
of the people of this country that
capitalism is desirable, they are
naturally interested in its propagation.
They cannot be expected to
endanger that system by assisting
its saboteurs.

For any non-anarchic society
must resist such disrupting influence.
A society infested with
parasitic dissidents (like Mr. Ogden)
may be likened to a man infested
with a dangerous disease; if the
disease succeeds in killing the man,
it simultaneously destroys its function
and its life-source. The body
and the disease decompose together.
There is dubious reward in
self-destruction.

Even big businessmen and university
administrators have quite
legitimate interests in keeping their
salaries and fulfilling the responsibilities
delegated them by democratic
process. Hopefully, these
reasons are in the minds of men like
Mr. Simpson. We cannot know to
what extent morality guides the
actions of men like Mr. Ogden, Mr.
Simpson, Mayor Daley, President
Johnson, Ho Chi Minh. It is unfair
to judge this on the basis of offices
held, beards grown, or (indeed)
girlfriends displayed. The American
society does not conspire against
the young any more than most
youths conspire against the old.
Disobedience of the Rules on the
part of policemen is as bitterly
contested as is that of youthful
demonstrators.

I think, in conclusion, that the
Soviets should be justly proud of
Mr. Ogden when the Cadre singlehandedly
delivers this country to
them. They should applaud his use
of an exhibitionists girlfriend in his
advertising, as well as his use of
neat words like "bourgeois," "masses."
"Dow napalmers," "University-big
business-government complex,"
"imperialism," and even
maybe "Cadre." They should be
amused at his hanging around the
university that shuttled him
through, to undermine the system
that supported it. They should
delight in the realization that
Americans acknowledged their approaching
demise by referring to
Mr. Ogden as "The Official U.Va.
Gadfly."

Propaganda

The following letter is an
emotional outburst that has come
as a reaction to reading the
Communist propaganda printed in
The Cavalier Daily and as a reaction
to reading about the activities of
students I can label only as spoiled
brats. What a shame it is that vocal
American youth can only criticize
and scorn the "establishment"
without pausing to realize or
appreciate what benefits and importance
it has. Haven't any of
them talked with people who have
lived under a dictatorship and
escaped from it? You who protest so
vehemently and lament that, although
inexperienced transients on
the scene, you cannot form committees
to run this University, how
would you like to wake up one day
not able to protest anything...without
being carted away to life
imprisonment or death? How would
you like to have orders from the
government carried out at gunpoint
telling you what type of music you
can play, what type of clothes you
can wear - not to mention
regulation of more important decisions
in your life such as where
you will study or where you will
work. Certainly there is censure
here but it comes from one's fellow
men and is the kind evident in all
societies from the most primitive
up.

Too many students in this
generation are utterly spoiled to a
degree that is particularly sickening
since I, by reason of my date of
birth, must count myself a member
of it. Never having lacked for
anything they ever needed and
scarcely anything they ever wanted,
they appreciate little, and indeed, it
often appears, appreciate nothing.
The greatest indictment they can
realistically and honestly charge the
"older generation" is failure to give
meaning to living, failure to provide
values so frequently scorned as
"old-fashioned."

Young leaders do not even
respect each other much less their
parents or other authority, though I
must admit in some cases it is
because the authority was abdicated.
With false idealism and
much self-pity, they are being led
down the proverbial primrose path
by militant groups proclaiming a
"better day" and a "better way of
life." What a tragedy it is that these
blind shepherds do not see in
themselves the seeds of another
Hungary. The demise of this
country could happen with little
bloodshed or violence. All that is
necessary is a little more time...a
little more time to further corrode
the foundations and pillars that give
strength to our system. A primary
target certainly is the exploitation
of our rising leaders. Why do you
think Communists begin indoctrination
of children under their
regimes at the earliest possible age?
Why do you think the control of
young men's minds is of such
importance? They are not stupid.

Do any of you realize what a
victory was achieved at Pittsburgh
with the discontinuance of credit
for ROTC courses? Do you realize
this is a mere beginning and the
anticipated end is the removal of all
ROTC units from our universities?
The cadres of Soviet socialism call
ROTC members "trained killers;"
they encourage scorn and ridicule
for them. In actuality, the program
aims at training leaders - training
educated men for the superior
defense of this country. How
wonderful for the followers of
Trotsky and Mao to lessen their
effectiveness and how wise to try to
eliminate intelligent leaders for our
side!! It is really pitiful to watch as
the bourgeoisie plays neatly into
the hands of its enemies.

In the early days of our nation,
no matter what the individual
differences were, the people joined
together to fight for survival against
their common enemies: the elements,
Indians, and foreign domination.
Today the need for cohesion
against our enemies is just as
great; the problem is that they are
unseen. There is no savage outside
your door ready to kill you and
burn your home. There are groups
here fighting for the control of
your mind and for the weakening
of your morality - and they are
making progress. Can the tide be
turned? Are the Communist-oriented
the only ones with energy? Are there
any embers left of a dying fire of
patriotism for America?

Gestapo Tactics

Last night while in the "security"
of my own home, I heard a
loud banging on my door and
before I could get out of bed with
my wife and get dressed, into my
bedroom stormed two burly Charlottesville
cops and a Dick Tracy
looking detective. I was promptly
frisked (yes, it is possible to hide a
gun in jockey shorts), had a warrant
read to me and hauled away to the
city jail. Sweet leaping Jesus, this
must be small town copism at its
peak not to mention a violation of
my privacy, and the security of my
own home.

Upon arriving down at the
station, although hustled into a
back room, I was not beaten with a
rubber hose as I had expected by
this time (how often does the fine
Police force of Charlottesville send
three husky lads to serve a warrant
for a simple misdemeanor?) but was
allowed to awaken the Dean of
Student Affairs, Mr. Williams, after
being informed that neither cash
nor a personal check (from a
student yet) would be acceptable
bail. Mr. Williams then drove down
to Gestapo headquarters and posted
a property bond for my release.

There are several questions that
immediately came to my mind:

1. Why does it take twelve days
to serve a warrant?

2. Unless I am quite mistaken, I
believe that a warrant must be
issued before the court date. I was
ordered to present my person
before the Municipal court of
Virginia Beach on 6 December or
last Friday?

3. Why was it necessary that a
warrant already a week beyond the
court date be served after midnight,
perhaps this is some erotic pleasure
indulged in by police everywhere or
is it only indigenous to the
Charlottesville variety?

4. Although a few rotten apples
can spoil a barrel, perhaps it is not
proper to judge an entire police
force simply from what I witnessed
last evening.

How does the rest of the
orchard grow, fair Charlottesville?