It is only appropriate to look back on the achievements, failures, and general uselessness of the student council with the impending disaster that is the Spring fling. As much as I am tempted to take personal jibes at our elected representatives, I will not do so because it is not the members I have a problem with but the council itself. In fact, just for good measure, I would like to congratulate the student council for living up to the standards set by their predecessors. The council has managed to follow the status quo set by previous councils and no one can blame them for doing that. It is the accepted way and it has its benefits. But, one must not forget that just because something is tradition and is accepted, that does not make it right.
If holding the arbitrary power of deciding who gets to eat the cheap pizzas counts as an achievement, then I give the council a standing ovation. And while on the subject of edibles, who decided that it was alright to pelt us poor commoners with hard candy while we are forced to watch the whimsical shenanigans done in the name of school spirit; not to mention the hard wood bleachers that give you sudden jolts of searing pain in your buttocks. Maybe these cheap rewards are in place as a faux replacement for school spirit, but that would be suggesting that the student council is failing at it’s actual job of rallying support for our talented athletes. We couldn’t possibly have that, could we?
The real reason why I wrote this article was that I had purchased two tickets for the Valentines formal. I did not want to go, but the things one does for a pretty girl... Having bought the tickets it was announced that the dance had been cancelled. The reason provided was that the student council was devoting all their resources towards helping the Kailtlyn’s wish foundation. Later I found out that the real reason was that the student council simply couldn’t get enough people to buy tickets for the dance. I do not claim to be the most morally sound person but it bothers me that the school council would use such a noble cause as a scapegoat for their failure. One does not expect such inefficiency and underhanded bureaucracy from an arbitrary student body. I would ask all the students to speak out against this waste of school resources but my nihilist tendencies deny me that urge. I would only ask you if being pelted by candy and wasting time at abhorrently uninteresting assemblies is really worth having a mock democratic body of representatives?
I would like to try my hand at being the devil's advocate:
ReplyDeleteAlthough the student council does make decisions that aren't beneficial for the entirety of the school, would you propose that we continue without one?
I believe that the student council gives students the feeling that they have a say as to what goes on in the school, and allows students to view events as things that are put together by the people, and not something they are being forced to attend by what they view as an authoritative figure (teachers).
What I'm trying to say is that, without the student council, students don't feel like they are involved with anything that goes on in the school, and that it's all set up by the teachers; because of that there will be no motive for anyone to attend, and school unity falls apart; leaving people to interact within their niche only and this would lead to contentions.
ergo no school council leads to division of the group which leads to bullies and chaos.
I would contend that in fact the council only serves to glorify and put athletes on a sort of pedestal with their whimsical rallies. Their will be niches in the school no matter if their is a mock democratic group or not. The only difference is that with the council, you now have a school administration approved way to claim certain groups to be more important. Also, these arguments are purely pragmatic. The council does not do anything to further the education of the students (which happens to be the purpose of a school) and only manages to fail miserably at making the school a socially appealing place.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to say that while I understand some of what you are trying to say, your biggest complaint seems to be that you don't like being pelted with FREE candy and that the bleachers hurt your butt. All schools have bleachers in the gym, did you expect individual lazyboy recliners?
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the above comment, Student Council always has been, and always will be a means to allow students to have a say in what goes on in their school, if you haven't put in your two cents as to how to improve things, then don't just immediately go to the extreme of saying that the Student Council is useless. It's only useless if people don't take advantage of what it is set up to do...give students an outlet to voice opinions and plan events.
The point is, you can spout all you want about how useless the Council is, in the meantime, what have you done to try and make your school a fun place to be? Student Councils are usually involved in fundraisers as well, not just in glorifying athletes, when's the last time you helped raise a bunch of money for any other reason but to save up for something you wanted?
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is, it's easy to write negative things about people, any fool can be a critic, but it takes real insight to look past the surface and see that MAYBE, just MAYBE, you are attacking well intentioned people for no particular reason but to make yourself feel like you have some significance, when really, all you're doing is putting down the work of people who have done ten times more in their school than you ever have.
Those are not my prime complaints and your statement saying otherwise goes to show that you do not understand my position. In layman's terms, I am saying that the student council has no reason to exist in a school. It is only set up to satisfy the common student's needs for feeling like they have a say in what happens to them at school. They do not and it is as simple as that. In the end, the student council is big waste of money, resources, and school time.
ReplyDeleteHaha you really pulled out the fund raising card on an objectivist? I do not think the fundraisers the student council does are its job or duty. If students wish to donate money to charities, they can do it own their own time and in their own private lives. Please do not assume my morality. I do not assume yours.
ReplyDeleteP.S. "Their will be niches in the school no matter if their is a mock democratic group or not."
ReplyDeleteYou should be using "there" not "their", since you are not talking about a person. Please use proper grammar if you are going to write articles.
Oh and I do apologize for the error. Auto correct can be a bitch at times.
ReplyDeleteI did not assume anything about your morality, I merely asked you the last time you raised money for something? And you keep questioning the point of Student Council, but seem to insist that their point IS to be arbitrary. You cannot argue against the fact that fundraising for charity is always a good thing, whether it would have happened on its own or not, it never hurts to have a catalyst. Your argument is not strong, it fights itself. You refuse to see how the Student Council is NOT arbitrary, then when faced with those instances, say "yeah but that's not its job so it's irrelevant" you cannot do that. It's like ignoring a piece of evidence. Like, "well, this fingerprint proves that we have the wrong suspect, so it is irrelevant"
ReplyDeleteAnd you STILL have not addressed the fact that your only real complaint is that you don't like sitting on hard bleachers and that it hurts when you get hit with candy which was free. Please go get a sense of school spirit and THEN rethink how silly an argument that really is.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is sick and wrong of you to suggest that the real reason the dance was cancelled was because we did not sell enough tickets. We were on track, and had well and truly decided to call it off on account of wanting to raise money for Kaitlin's wish (you spelled her name incorrectly), which we did - we took 100$ out of Student Council budget and put it towards that charity, and with the help of the students, finished raising what Kaitlin needed and subsequently helped complete her wish. It happened quickly, as we thought it should, and now we are going to hold another dance to make up for the one we cancelled. If you do not wish us to question your morality, then please do not question ours. Especially regarding something as sensitive as Kaitlin's situation. A couple of our members are good friends with her and it was unfair of you to use something like this article to make us appear like horrible people. All we are are students trying our best to do something good for our school and community.
ReplyDeleteI coud not care less about your feelings. Your lack of understanding of the word arbitrary is obvious in the context you use it in. As to the article not being worth uploading, I am very happy to tell you that I am quite sure that my view resounds with more people in the school than you would make out. And please, if what I say is not true then you would not be bothering with replying. Also, the reason m arguments are not comprehensive is because the article holds a sarcastic tone, not an analytical one. The inefficacy of the council is so painfully obvious that it is not necessary for me to expound on why the council members are a bunch of bleeding hearts looking for a way to quench their thirst for doing something significant in the world. All they end up doing is wasting money and our otherwise not so precious time.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are clearly a much more useful person than the Council members...I'm so glad that you find it annoying when people do their best to be something more than the minimum.
ReplyDeleteSee, THAT was sarcasm.
Also, objectivism is a philosophy that usually holds in high esteem the belief that the point is life is to persue personal happiness. How can you claim to be an objectivist and in the same breath, illigitemize the attempts of members of a simple Student Counicl to be happy by being involved in their school?
ReplyDeleteAND one last thing, nihilism and objectivism actually quite conflict. At least in my understanding of Ayn Rand's objectivism. Make up your mind?
ReplyDeleteNihilism in it essence is a philosophy that says that there is no set purpose to life other than that which we give it. It is true that most nihilists tend to be pessimistic and quite misanthropic in their view of life. I do think that life, when held objectively, has no purpose. But, I also think the fulfillment of personal happiness is quite an alright objective. The student council members do not have a right to pursue their self interest in the name of the student council because it is being done at the expense of other students. You have every right to pursue your happiness as long as you do not violate my personal freedoms in the process of doing so. Also, I never said that I was a more useful person than any student council member. In fact, I am quite happy being of no use to other students. Your pathetic attempt at making a difference in a school that is ultimately run by the board is what astounds me. You keep going on and on about how you are trying to make a difference but what for? So that you can feel like you did something significant? Well then I would suggest going to a homeless shelter and helping out or actually volunteering at an old folks home. Do not go about telling people what they should cheer for or what they should donate their money. Do not go about wasting our time and the school's money with useless rallies. Put that money into the school's fine arts department and I would be more than happy to say that the school council is doing something worth doing.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh how clever of you to use sarcasm.
ReplyDelete