The prefects recently proposed that teachers suggest a five minute meeting with their students during first quarter. The prefects claim this proposal will help facilitate better communication throughout the year, but 41.2% of students polled said this idea will not affect them because they already meet with their teachers. This policy would only affect 18.9% of students polled who said they do not meet with teachers, but would feel encouraged to meet with them, were this policy enfiorced.

It wastes the Faculty Academic Committee’s time to present ideas to them that don’t necessarily have the support of the student body.

We elect the prefects to represent us, to represent our ideas. They cannot do this without soliciting our involvement. Perhaps a student could complain to a prefect, but this would seem whiney and ultimately ineffective for a minor yet valuable goal.

It is not enough for the prefects to only bring their ideas to FAC. They need to start showing the administration the students’ ideas, ideas that they need to actively collect.

The Prefect Council recently polled students about their favorite restaurants near campus, but the polls should not be limited to the Prefect Council’s ideas. The sentiment of the poll is what the Prefect Council should strive to do, but on a broader scale.

Town hall meetings, open to any topic or concern, could fix this issue. A forum which would allow students to present their ideas to their representatives and prefects to show students what they have been working on. Even if no consensus is reached, these gatherings would get students, prefects and by extension, the administration, to collaborate more effectively.

We elect our prefects based on ideas they have before their terms even begin, and this is the extent of the students’ involvement in getting our ideas implemented. The constituents are calling for a change.