VOL. VII, NO. 1
OCTOBER 1, 1965

IN COUNCIL

By Chris Birchlield

Students of Maine West, some people claim that Student Council is a farce! You know more about Congress in Washington, D.C. than you know about student government in this building! The Westerner feels a certain responsibility to acquaint the student body with the inner workings of your council.

Why a council? The purposes of council are to express the ideas of the student body, to mediate between the faculty and the students, and to introduce us to small scale government now in order to prepare us for our roles in later life.

You ask, "What does the Student Council do?" For that, Patty Clement, a SC member, relates a typical Council meeting.

"This meeting is called to order. All rise for the pledge." Thus starts a Maine West SC meeting. In order to illustrate how the Council carries out one of its main purposes, to aid the students, let's follow a typical project from beginning to end.

Minutes are read; the four standing committees, Citizenship and Service, Public Relations, Organization, and Social, give their reports. The Service Committee reports that several requests for school record hops have been received in the Suggestion Box. The president refers this suggestion to the Social Committee to look into and report on.

At the next weekly all council general meeting the Social Committee reports that the Dean has approved the idea.

Now a detailed plan for the hop must he submitted for approval. This would only be a trial hop, so everything must go well in order to have more.

A "Record Hop" committee is appointed to work on the details. The SC members, excited by this project, are eager to help out and assure its success.

Finally, after all the hard work and planning, the Record Hop is held. It is non‑profit since the SC feels that it is a service to the students. Everyone agrees that it is a great success and that more can be planned. The work, however, is still not over. All the committee members make out evaluations so that future hops will be even more successful.

Patty's example in using record hops illustrates just one of the projects for which your Council is responsible. V‑Show, AFS, TB‑drive, Homecoming, Student Hops, Dial Tone, Teacher Recognition Day are but a few of the other projects your SC sponsors. And that is just what it is‑YOUR Student Council.

Suggestions, comments, opinions, and editorials are welcomed and wanted. Submit them in the SC Suggestion Box or The Westerner News Box‑but PLEASE NO CANDY WRAPPERS. (They Mold!)