Once again the problem of class officers is brought up by the approach of the Senior class elections. While the activities of Commencement still demand a formal organization in the Senior class, the expansion of the House plan has removed almost all need of any elections in the Junior and Sophomore classes. Freshmen, being, of course, excluded from the Houses, require class officers. However, in the two middle classes the selecting of officers has become an empty gesture that could easily be done away with, since class unity has surrendered its social and athletic functions to the various Houses, and it is a generally admitted fact that most students cannot name the officers of their class.
Granting all this, there still remains the problem of the Seniors who supposedly live, eat, dance, exercise, and carry on their several activities in seven separate units; and then must select their class officers at large as if they were the compact graduating class of some small college. There is no question but that this is unavoidable in such offices as marshal, ivy orator, chorister, orator, odist, and poet. But on the other hand, there is no reason why the members of the various committees should not be chosen with one man elected by each House, especially with regard to the Permanent Class Committee. This would give the majority of those voting a better chance of knowing their choice and the result would be far more representative.
There is a definite importance in the Permanent Class Committee being selected in this manner. With the increasing scope of the House plan, it is very likely in the future that the Houses will be and are best fitted to be the center of alumni activity. Certainly they present the best opportunity for alumni unity. On the whole, therefore, it would seem desirable for the Senior class to extend the scope of the Houses into the elections wherever possible; and for the Junior and Sophomore classes to abolish them completely.
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THE PRESS