(May 31, 2001) -- Most Associated Student Body charters clearly state that ASB’s primary objective is to represent the student body and to promote its welfare. However, has Clark’s ASB done anything remotely similar to the definition stated?

Absolutely not. Time after time, ASB has never failed to disappoint the student body – whether it is their lack of interest in student affairs or poor financial skills. It is a serious problem that requires a revolution within the student body.

The first and foremost problem that needs to be corrected is that most ASB members are not qualified for political positions. The majority lacks the skills and intuition required to exercise effective political authority. Additionally, students who run for ASB candidacy are usually people who run for the purpose of impressing universities when college application time draws near.

Whatever the case, ultimately it is a contest of good looks and popularity, and beauty pageants don’t necessarily have intelligence or experience entry requirements. Take the ridiculous 2.5 GPA prerequisite. One would think that individuals in executive positions could perform better than a C average.

However, this is not to say that all parties involved in student government are under-qualified. Take the sophomore class officers. They’ve managed to raise a substantial amount of money, while the senior class officers had difficulty raising funds.

This leads to another problem. What of higher powers? Even if officers are qualified, there is always the possibility that school officials will limit the abilities of ASB. In this respect ASB officers are nothing more than puppets and false stamps of democracy.

Their purpose: to provide the student body with a feeling of significance and involvement in the school. In fact, ultimately the faculty and administration control all events and decisions that revolve around the school.

So rather than pointing the finger at the dangerously underqualified ASB members, point the finger at school officials who control the student government. For they are the puppet masters of the show and ultimately responsible for any problems that exist in the student body.