Varying levels of competition

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsThe moment you are tasked with convincing people to vote for you, there is an inevitable streak of competition that it stokes. While this is effectively channelled in the selection process of student bodies in some colleges, it invariably leads to year-long bitterness and disagreement in other institutions.For instance, the student body at DG Vaishnav College is nominated by faculty members at various departments and one head is elected by these class representatives. The members are then handed out responsibilities on a round-robin basis, removing competition and infighting from the system.On the other hand, there are colleges – Queen Mary’s College for instance – where the student body does not evoke a sense of belonging among the students because of the indirect selection process and many consider it a burden. While peace may reign on some campuses, all isn’t hunky-dory on others. Passions run high, tempers stand frayed and animosity is the name of the game at the Madras Christian College and the MOP Vaishnav College for Women.MOP Vaishnav perhaps is a microcosm of the cacophony we see in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. With 166 members, the student cabinet with all its MPs is the largest student body in the city. Doubtlessly, the design of this system itself will bring out differences.“When you put so many people together you are bound to have a difference of opinion. Classroom politics and manoeuvring around is present, but not to the extent that it is visible on the surface. Inter-department competition tends to make members scrape each other the wrong way, but that’s about it,” says an ex-PM of MOP’s student cabinet.But this is only part of the process, according to the college management. “You will always have problems during the settling-down period, but we believe that the students can think of themselves. So, when we tell them why a certain rule is in force and the reason behind it, they usually understand,” says Archana Prasad, Dean of Students. The differences run a lot deeper at the MCC, to the extent that prejudices and polarisation could prove to be a microcosm of India itself. The divisions are many.It could be anything as real world as community and native region to campus-bound considerations like department or hostel. Even as a bit of violence at Presidency College is reportedly customary on the day after the elections, most college managements seem to have learnt to deal such situations with an iron fist.first published:September 08, 2012, 08:35 ISTlast updated:September 08, 2012, 08:35 IST
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The moment you are tasked with convincing people to vote for you, there is an inevitable streak of competition that it stokes. While this is effectively channelled in the selection process of student bodies in some colleges, it invariably leads to year-long bitterness and disagreement in other institutions.

For instance, the student body at DG Vaishnav College is nominated by faculty members at various departments and one head is elected by these class representatives. The members are then handed out responsibilities on a round-robin basis, removing competition and infighting from the system.

On the other hand, there are colleges – Queen Mary’s College for instance – where the student body does not evoke a sense of belonging among the students because of the indirect selection process and many consider it a burden. While peace may reign on some campuses, all isn’t hunky-dory on others. Passions run high, tempers stand frayed and animosity is the name of the game at the Madras Christian College and the MOP Vaishnav College for Women.

MOP Vaishnav perhaps is a microcosm of the cacophony we see in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. With 166 members, the student cabinet with all its MPs is the largest student body in the city. Doubtlessly, the design of this system itself will bring out differences.

“When you put so many people together you are bound to have a difference of opinion. Classroom politics and manoeuvring around is present, but not to the extent that it is visible on the surface. Inter-department competition tends to make members scrape each other the wrong way, but that’s about it,” says an ex-PM of MOP’s student cabinet.

But this is only part of the process, according to the college management. “You will always have problems during the settling-down period, but we believe that the students can think of themselves. So, when we tell them why a certain rule is in force and the reason behind it, they usually understand,” says Archana Prasad, Dean of Students. The differences run a lot deeper at the MCC, to the extent that prejudices and polarisation could prove to be a microcosm of India itself. The divisions are many.

It could be anything as real world as community and native region to campus-bound considerations like department or hostel. Even as a bit of violence at Presidency College is reportedly customary on the day after the elections, most college managements seem to have learnt to deal such situations with an iron fist.