University of Virginia Library

Rebuttal

Your recent interview of
Robert A. Rutland contained
an error, an oversimplification,
and a conclusion all of which
require rebuttal. Mr. Rutland
claims that Oklahoma's Owen
Stadium was built after Bud
Wilkinson became the Sooner
head coach and had whipped
the Sooners into a mighty
football machine.

Actually the fund drive for
the stadium began in 1921.
The west section was finished
in 1925 followed by the east
section in 1928 and the north
end was filled in in 1949 to
give a present capacity of
63,000 seats. Mr. Wilkinson
was hired in 1947, and his first
big year was in 1949.

Secondly, Mr. Rutland
rightly states that faculty
salaries at OU are the lowest in
the Big Eight conference. It
should be added that OU's
salaries have always been the
lowest in their conference, but
this is partly compensated for
by the lower cost of living in
Oklahoma.

In fact, it would seem that
OU's coaches are also
underpaid. Chuck Fairbanks
left a $28,500 salary to join
the pro ranks and new head
coach Barry Switzer signed at
$24,000.

Finally, Mr. Rutland
believes that simultaneous
solicitation campaigns for an
undergraduate library at UVa
as well as for the renovation of
Scott Stadium will force a
financial squeeze in which the
"library will come out second
best." In another article, Dean
Cross realistically evaluated the
situation by indicating that
prospective donors fall into
two categories: giving-oriented
and project-oriented. Some
donors will only give money
for specific projects such as
libraries or athletic structures,
whereas other donors place no
restrictions on their gifts and
leave the decisions to those
closest to the problem. In
effect, the project-oriented
donors free (up) money from
the non-restrictive donors
which can then be applied to
the less glamorous programs.

I also share Mr. Rutland's
concern about the effect of
artificial turf on the frequency
of injuries to football players.
A member of the UVa. football
team who has played on more
than one type of artificial
surface explained to me how
the surfaces vary and why one
type may be more
injury-producing than another.

In light of this, the
University of Washington study
cited by Mr. Rutland should be
scrutinized to determine the
type of turf involved. If UVa.
is determined to have artificial
turf in Scott Stadium, the type
of turf installed should be
investigated thoroughly.