Recount!


Articles Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine Other Authors Contact Us! Letter to the Editor Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine	Recount! Arthur Dent Schools exist to prepare students for the "real world." We come to this institution of learning on a daily basis so that, at the end of a 4-year term, we can go out there and function as productive citizens. We'll be expected to hold jobs, show awareness of our community, and participate in our government by voting. Why, then, doesn't Terra Nova, which should be teaching us all about how to function in a democracy, have Student Body or Class Officer Elections? Oh, we have something that we call "elections," but everyone knows what they really are - a giant popularity contest. It has become quite clear that winning an office isn't based on experience: it's based on who you know. This school is supposed to teach us how things work in the greater community, so why not have real elections? Not one single Class or SB officer makes a speech or is required to state his/her stand on any given issue. Not one. What, then, qualifies a student to run for any office on campus? Apparently, there are no set qualifications other than a willingness to show up at 7:15am for Leadership and earn a C-average or better prior to the election. We have no election assemblies, no speeches, no debates, no nothing. Oh wait…we do have something. We have a poster-making bonanza in which every candidate tries to wallpaper the school with his/her name. Name recognition is all well and good, but how about some campaigning that includes something more than "Vote for me! I'm cool!" It may seem like elections in the real-world are somewhat of a popularity contest, too, but at least those candidates have to figure out what they stand for! Our students don't even have to stand up. This is a shameful situation. Most middle schools have a more sophisticated elections process than we do! Hell, even the voting procedures for HOMECOMING are more rigorous than those for class officers, and I would hope that holding a class or student body office is more important than being crowned Homecoming royalty. Student Body and Class Officers have a lot of responsibilities. There are proms to plan, funds to raise, scholarships to create or fund, and more…we think. You see, we aren't really sure what they do because no one has ever had to explain it to us. We just see the names, and maybe we go to our respective corners of the campus and vote. People are elected to offices without having demonstrated any qualifications. There are class treasurers who have never written checks or handled money and class presidents who haven't held elected office since they were 12, but how could we have known that one candidate was more qualified for the position than the other? There were no platforms stated, no speeches given. Just show up at lunch one day and vote for…ummm…who? Frankly, I want the most qualified person in the position. If someone is going to be my class president, I want to have heard him/her speak in front of a group. I want to know where he/she stands on issues facing the campus. I want to know that the people for whom I vote really are going to represent me. Oh wait - we couldn't have that happen. That would defeat the purpose of having a popularity contest! Here's what we need: we need every class or student body candidate to have to write and deliver a speech at an assembly or over the bulletin. We need candidates to actually express coherent thoughts in order to get elected, not simply be able to breathe. After all, the right to put "Class President" on one's college application should at least be worth an hour of speech-writing, and if it's not, screw 'em: they don't deserve to represent us.	Archive Back Issues Why? Cartoons Poetry Random Rants Disclaimers Losers and Kudos of the Week Letters to the Editor Editor's Notes Picture of the Week
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Arthur Dent

Schools exist to prepare students for the "real world." We come to this institution of learning on a daily basis so that, at the end of a 4-year term, we can go out there and function as productive citizens. We'll be expected to hold jobs, show awareness of our community, and participate in our government by voting. Why, then, doesn't Terra Nova, which should be teaching us all about how to function in a democracy, have Student Body or Class Officer Elections? Oh, we have something that we call "elections," but everyone knows what they really are - a giant popularity contest. It has become quite clear that winning an office isn't based on experience: it's based on who you know. This school is supposed to teach us how things work in the greater community, so why not have real elections?

Not one single Class or SB officer makes a speech or is required to state his/her stand on any given issue. Not one. What, then, qualifies a student to run for any office on campus? Apparently, there are no set qualifications other than a willingness to show up at 7:15am for Leadership and earn a C-average or better prior to the election. We have no election assemblies, no speeches, no debates, no nothing. Oh wait…we do have something. We have a poster-making bonanza in which every candidate tries to wallpaper the school with his/her name. Name recognition is all well and good, but how about some campaigning that includes something more than "Vote for me! I'm cool!" It may seem like elections in the real-world are somewhat of a popularity contest, too, but at least those candidates have to figure out what they stand for! Our students don't even have to stand up.

This is a shameful situation. Most middle schools have a more sophisticated elections process than we do! Hell, even the voting procedures for HOMECOMING are more rigorous than those for class officers, and I would hope that holding a class or student body office is more important than being crowned Homecoming royalty. Student Body and Class Officers have a lot of responsibilities. There are proms to plan, funds to raise, scholarships to create or fund, and more…we think. You see, we aren't really sure what they do because no one has ever had to explain it to us. We just see the names, and maybe we go to our respective corners of the campus and vote. People are elected to offices without having demonstrated any qualifications. There are class treasurers who have never written checks or handled money and class presidents who haven't held elected office since they were 12, but how could we have known that one candidate was more qualified for the position than the other? There were no platforms stated, no speeches given. Just show up at lunch one day and vote for…ummm…who?

Frankly, I want the most qualified person in the position. If someone is going to be my class president, I want to have heard him/her speak in front of a group. I want to know where he/she stands on issues facing the campus. I want to know that the people for whom I vote really are going to represent me. Oh wait - we couldn't have that happen. That would defeat the purpose of having a popularity contest!

Here's what we need: we need every class or student body candidate to have to write and deliver a speech at an assembly or over the bulletin. We need candidates to actually express coherent thoughts in order to get elected, not simply be able to breathe. After all, the right to put "Class President" on one's college application should at least be worth an hour of speech-writing, and if it's not, screw 'em: they don't deserve to represent us.