CLASS ELECTIONS

To the casual bystander, the senior class elections which were finally held on March 24 had all the charm of Hollywood collegiana plus an air of genuine mystery. Here's what happened. Despite the vigilance of the strong men selected by the people to take care of such things, two unknowns threaded their way through the last-minute crowd which was milling and pushing around the tables in Commons and made off with the ballot-box containing the entire first ballot of the senior class. A startling injunction which had been flashed on the screen in the Nugget during the afternoon show had set the whole affair off with a bang, and Hanover was in a political ferment such as has not been known for some years. Traditional suspicions were aired on every corner, a great whispering campaign was conducted, and the upshot of the whole matter was the acceptance of new nominations. A week later a second election was staged, and it ran off without a hitch. TheDartmouth, forseeing the general reaction to anything conducted in just this doubtful manner, said, on the morning of the last balloting: "This morning we publish the new list of nominations. It is up to you to vote. To adopt an attitude of indifference belies a streak of small-boy cussedness.

"It would be as ineffectual as it would be narrow to refuse to vote, because in the event that sixty percent of the class does not vote, it is entirely within the rights of Palaeopitus to decree that whatever votes have been cast up to previously announced date will constitute a valid vote, and that the officers and executives designated by such a count will be regularly recognized.

"There has been a diverting little quail the last few days, but the ripples have nowvanished and smooth water lies ahead. But it is up to you to vote."

The other elections were held without any difficulty. That seems to be one of the great characteristics of Hanover elections—there's never enough difficulty. Why is it always so hard to get people out? By all rights, it should be an important feature in our meagre social calendar, but it was as difficult as ever to get in the minimum numbers of ballots required to make the election valid.