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COMMENTARY-- One of the things I like to do at the end of the year is look through old newspaper clippings from the year that's over as well as prior years. I guess it's my way of taking stock and comparing "now" to "then". Anyway, I found a piece by then-South student Alex Frase, where several flaws of the NHS (National Honor Society) program are pointed out. While I won't pretend to be an expert on NHS, and in fact was never a part of the program (though I was eligible, and recieved a letter telling me so), I feel that this piece is worth commenting on.

The NHS's supposed mission is to allow talented students to celebrate their intelligence and give back to the community. However, there are only three activities associated with the NHS program:

1. Collection of recycling (mainly paper...the fact that cans and other products are not commonly recycled at South is a topic for another time)
2. Tutoring (each NHS member must spend a set number of hours tutoring other students in the SHS media center).
3. Coordinate the annual Sadie Hawkins' dance (the last is a fundraiser, though I'd like to know exactly where the money from that ends up...)

None of these things--except tutoring--involve celebrating intelligence or giving back to the community. And all could easily be spun off to other people or organizations. Student Government does precious little--except coordinate dances other than Sadie's--so they are better qualified to deal with the Sadie Hawkins dance. Next up, the "engineers" (janitors) are some of the laziest people you've ever seen. One of their primary job functions is to stand on the side of the volleyball court and chat with the gym teacher. Other than that, the only thing you see them doing is cleaning off the lunchroom tables with the same mop they just used to clean the floor. So I think they should be able to handle recycling collection. All we're left with is tutoring. So start a tutoring club, and we have completed all the tasks formerly done with NHS, and then we can throw a moneyhole out of the building. Anyway, as Dennis Miller says, "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong". If you think I am wrong, let me know in Vinny's Message Boards!--Editorial Writer K. Kess Hell is an SHS graduate.

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