OPINION: The Vox Nihili

In the news of small-town political history, a breakthrough has occurred. Politically forward people—the HHS Council themselves—have finally all agreed on the same thing:

They don’t have many fans within their fellow Student Body.*

During their most recent meeting, the Student Council took a vote on who would take over the PR position. This person would form a bridge of communication between the students and decision makers. Council themselves admitted the position of power has always been one to laugh at, and—looking at the grand total of seven passed-motions on the Council Update board, only five of which I can identify without prior knowledge—one can see why.

In my own opinion, there isn’t much to fight about in a high-class, somewhat-liberal town. Hanover is simply a location where little to minor controversy ever happens, aside from the often found Juul, or petty theft at the local COOP. Of course, one should not ignore more major-situations, (such as multiple cases of harassment) but the Administration has an aptitude of covering these up.

All of this tucked neatly to the side, it is safe to say that nearly every nominee has vowed to ensure the same thing: an active voice for every student. This is a solid point when it comes to democracy, and yes, an amiable promise for them all to make. And despite this, the candidates follow through with this vow like a newly divorced couple.

Yes, they are all able to argue about how people dress and where their cell-phones go, but there’s a simple question that they haven’t quite worked on.

What do the students want?—and that includes all of them.

Of course, everyone is different, so the complexity of seven-hundred-or-so opinions may be difficult, but the main ingredient in the recipe for democracy is something council so desperately lacks: a strong communication, and a strong follow through with this communication. The connection between the students and their representatives needs a little more than an unliked post on each of the class Facebook pages.

Though some of you all may take it as such, this article is not anti-Council, nor is it trying to say that the representatives are doing poorly at their job. But it does bring to light that if the school is to have a democratic popularity-contest, they may as well get something out of it.

With Leila Trummel as the new PR, one can hope that these leaders step up their game in talking with the student body. Though they have little power in the push and pull of the tides, I hope they are able to follow through on the result of their election.

Especially since they are all fully capable of being a well-functioning and likable student government.

*(This doesn’t mean people hate them, it just means… well, students don’t exactly care.)