University of Virginia Library

Who's Who At Birdwood

(70)There will be a need for speeding the development of
relationships lest the year pass quickly without the benefits of
community actually coming about. Let there be a gallery or
galleries in some of the buildings fronting the plaza in which
snapshots and brief self-written comments are displayed for
the year (both students and faculty—and probably the staff of
supporting workers should be included also). It might well be
an appropriate student-aid job to gather and assemble this
material, and it might also offer an enterprising free-lance
student photographer a chance to earn some money.

(71)There will be a need, despite all the best efforts to
create a self-contained community, for some occasional mass
transport to the Grounds. Tom Wolfe is not likely to lecture
once in Cabell and once at Birdwood; nor will Janos Starker
give duplicate recitals. No instant rematch is going to be
scheduled at Birdwood following our annual loss to Navy in
Scott Stadium. The sensible way of viewing this need is to
consider it in relation to a similar need for mass transport in
the whole city area of Charlottesville. The following scheme, or
a modification, suggests itself: get a few double-decker buses
(for novelty and interest) and make round trips to and from
the Grounds every ten minutes for the three hours preceding
and following a major event. Soon enough the clever student

will arrange to tie in that needed hour in Alderman Library
with a scheduled bus trip, thus killing two birds with one tank
of petrol. Lease the buses to the city when not in use by the
University—especially for carting tourists out to Monticello.

(71a)For car-less students at Birdwood who need to get
someplace where the bus isn't, buy a dozen used VW
Microbuses for them to check out (small fee) in three-hour
stretches (to a flick-plus-beer and back). Every dollar additional
voted by 2500 students to their fees will buy an additional
Microbus, it should be noted. This small fleet will also come in
handy for those courses that need to take occasional trips into
Washington or Appalachia or wherever. A sizeable number of
students will own their own cars (just as they do now), and
thus we will not be providing transportation for all of our
students. There should be little parking problem at University
Hall, and this in fact is where most major events in this
expanding University will be taking place—even (shudder!) the
sold-out Tuesday Evening Concert Series and other programs
that we are accustomed to seeing in Cabell. Anything more
elaborate in the way of a transportation system than
major-occasion buses, Microfleet, and individual cars (such as a
high-speed monorail or a tram system) is going to war against
the notion of creative isolation and self-containment that has
been stressed as a virtue of Birdwood.