Double Feature

Within a stretch of three weeks the senior class marks two separate ballots to elect its Permanent Class and Class Day Committees. The Permanent Class Committee interest is high and numerous petitions pour in, producing a healthy-sized ballot. But most seniors think the Class Day election is a place for classmates losing out in the earlier vote to try again, and for others afraid of the competition of the Permanent Committee election to sneak into class officialdom.

Because of this stigma, plus the rather concentrated work of the Committee, few seniors run in the Class Committee election. This year, for example, only 19 names and faces will appear on the Class Day ballot compared to 71 for the Permanent Class election. This is illogical since the two groups are quite similar in character: they are both service committees, and the qualifications--competence and the confidence of the graduating class--are the same.

By combining the two elections the disproportion could be avoided in the future. In the combined system the twelve candidates polling the most votes would be sliced off to form the Permanent Committee--with the Class Marshals chosen as they are new. The next ten candidates would receive positions on the Class Day Committee. It is possible that some seniors would not want to serve on the committee planning the Class Day exercises; they could merely decline their elections, moving men who "just missed" up to Committee spots.

In this way candidates for the Class Day Committee would not need to round up a second petition's worth of signatures and the Committee would have its members chosen in a fairer, more competitive election.