Council Committees

Every member of the Student Council has a dual job to perform. First, he must attend the Council's weekly meetings where the group discusses various policy matters and makes recommendations to the Administration. Second, he must assume, alone or with another Council member, the leadership of one of the Council's working committees. Although the first function is important, it is the second which forms the backbone of the Council's activities.

Last Thursday evening, Council Chairmen presented their final reports summarizing their year's work. Some were able to point to a year of worthwhile accomplishments, but others could only outline vague and useless dabbling. In one case, when called upon to report, a Chairman said he didn't have anything to say.

Although committee reports do not tell the whole story about a man's interest in his work as a Council member, they do point up the peculiar opportunity which an elected Council member has for doing something useful. Last year, for example, under the leadership of David C. Poskanzer '50, the Council's Education Committee turned out a report which required keen interest and active leadership. By comparison, this year's Education Committee has done little. Its outstanding project is the publication at this late date of the results of polls on General Education courses and a report on section teaching which is long overdue. The G.E. poll was taken over a year ago and is now obsolete in many respects due to the discontinuation of several G.E. courses.

There is no use in further singling out the failures of certain other committees because their leaders will not be around next year. But the new men who have just been elected to the Council should dig into Committee work where they can make significant contributions to the College and, incidentally, gain valuable administrative experience.