GREEN KEY ELECTIONS

The new method of holding elections to Green Key, which has just been ratified by Palaeopitus, should go a long way towards getting rid of the petty bickerings and political chicanery which have characterized these elections in the past.

According to the new plan the majority of the members of the Key will be directly elected by the activities which they represent. This is based on the assumption that neither the sophomore class as a group, nor the junior members of Green Key, are sufficiently acquainted with the candidates to vote on them with any degree of intelligence, unless it is desired that elections be conducted purely on a fraternity or popularity basis.

By throwing the elections over to the activities, however, there is at least the 'possibility of intelligent selection. The men in each activity are supposedly better acquainted with the merits and blemishes of each of their co-workers than the majority of outsiders would be. Theoretically, therefore, each activity group is better qualified than any other group to elect its own Green Key representatives. In practice, there is always the possibility of abuse—in this or any other plan.

The success of the plan demands that the boards or activities which do the electing consider each individual's capabilities and attainments only insofar as they are related to the requirements of the Green Key as a functional organization—and vote accordingly. To place the voting on any other level would mean a return to old abuses in a new guise. Furthermore only those men should be elected who are duly qualified for membership; the "maximum" clause should insure against the padding-out of the number elected from any one activity.

The responsibility for electing a 1931 Green Key that will be worthy of the name has been placed where it should be. It remains to be seen how this responsibility will be used.

F. H. Schmidt '30, of Wilmette, Ill., president of the 1930 Green Key, represented Dartmouth at a conference of organizations similar to the Green Key at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

J. B. Martin Jr. '31, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected president of the 1931 Green Key. Martin is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.