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Draft #4
[VIEWPOINT]

The Popularity Factor
BY JAEHA KIM

With elections for the Middle School Student Council coming up, talks of social
popularity being a decisive factor in the election are prevalent among the student body.
Teachers continually emphasize the fact that social popularity isnt the way to choose a
candidate while candidates campaign for the election. While the teachers may be right
that social popularity is not the perfect way to choose a student council member, it seems
that they are forgetting that there is no perfect way to choose a student council member.

Teachers are right when they say, Social popularity isnt the way to vote a candidate in
a national election. However if socially popular students become members of the student
council, socially popular students would be better capable of recognizing trends within
the student body, as they are better at socializing with the crowd to come to events.
Furthermore, being able to recognize social trends would also allow such candidates to
come up with events better suited to the student bodys interests. Therefore, a popular
student council member has a fairly high likelihood of success in terms of understanding
the student body and its demands. Realizing that they could earn more support through
working hard and promoting school spirit, popular students may be the key to solving
many of the intractable issues the student council has faced.

However, not only do socially popular candidates have many necessary skills involved
representing the student body, they also have the characteristics required of contributing
to the council as an individual. Such critical characteristics include the charisma to
persuade the other members, and outgoingness to take on various new experiences. By
using the skills that socially popular students hold, the student council can both
enhance the interaction between the student body and the council as well as improve the
cooperation, efficiency, and spirit within the school council.

During elections, a one minute and 30 second speech cannot convey the candidates
credibility, intelligence and social skills on the spot. This would require students to
consider the candidates popularity to measure other criterion within the elections.
Even though popularity alone shouldnt be the only trait considered evaluating a
candidate, it is the best out of what we have. Although candidates can be better evaluated
when we get to know them over a long period of time, the short 5 minutes given to each
candidate makes popularity a considerable factor that we can legitimately consider
when voting for a certain candidate. Therefore, the next time you vote a candidate for
student council, dont be afraid to vote for the popular one if youre not sure who to
vote for.