THE DISTAFF SIDE
A radical change took place in one of the publications last week and it came as a great shock to many students on campus. Opening up to the inside pages of TheDartmouth, where in days past the sports columns have reigned supreme, we saw staring at us a cut of a baby and the boxed heading "LET'S GO MOMMY." It seems that not only have the wives invaded the dormitories and the classrooms; they now have their own column in the newspaper. It is a homey column telling of the doings among the Fayerweather and Lord sets. Such tales as "dropped in to see the Jones' yesterday, and surprised Bill in the act of changing Sue's diapers" have added but another angle to our opinions of the trials and tribulations of the married veterans.
Green Key elections were held since the writing of the last column. A great change was made in the manner of electing. For the first time since the Navy came to Dartmouth the elections were open to men of the V-xa Unit. In a discussion before the ballots went out, the pros and cons of reorganizing Palaeopitus vs. enlarging the Key were discussed. After a lengthy and very late argument it was decided, with the advice of the faculty, to delay Palaeopitus until next year, when the enrollment of the College will be normal, and to enlarge the Key at the present time to make it more representative of the larger student body. The problem then arose of electing the new men. In the past, the policy has been to have each organization put up a certain number of men, depending upon the size of the organization, for the College as a whole to vote on. These men have then been supplemented by a certain number picked from the College at large. It was impossible to have each organization pick the same number now, because many of them no longer exist, and those that do, do not have the same number of men. The Key therefore made a survey of the organizations and found the exact status of each. Then a specified number of men were appointed to the ballot from each organization and the rest were taken from the College at large. At the same meeting the proposal was made concerning the addition of Navy and Marines to the group. It was decided, after another lengthy discussion, that they should also have representation.
In our opinion this is a step that should have been taken a long time ago. It is true that all through the war the Navy men on campus have had their own represen- tatives meet in an inter-ship council, but they met separately from the civilians. The argument was put forward at that time that civilian and Navy problems had little in common. Although it is in the nature of crying over spilled milk, we will say it should have been done before. The outcome of the elections as announced the next day in The Dartmouth gave the Navy and Marine's eight representatives on the Key.
One side of the elections was disappointing, however. The turnout at the polls was very poor. It was a bad day, with rain threatening at all hours, but even considering this factor, less then ten percent of the students voted. It is our opinion that this is a very poor showing for many reasons. It certainly shows that interest in the Key is at a low ebb. Whether this is the fault of the Key or merely that the students are willing to let someone else do their voting is not known. If it means that the students have lost interest in having a representative government it is too bad. It is true that the administration is not a dictatorial tyrant always standing over you with a club, yet it is wrong not to have a feeling of responsibility for the running of your own college. Granted the College will come to no drastic end if Green Key passes out of existence, in the spirit of the past it should not be allowed to fail now. This spring may not be truly representative; next fall will tell the story. We sincerely hope it will turn out the other way.
