To start off their semester, OHS Student Council (StuCo) has taken steps to improve efficiency that some might call drastic.

While Stuco had reached record-breaking numbers at the beginning of the year, it quickly became apparent that not everyone was putting forth their best effort. On Thurs. Jan. 8, many students received letters from the club during their class that informed them that they were no longer in the club, a number that one Stuco officer described as about 30%.

“Stuco should be a club for the truly dedicated students,” Stuco exec. Breanna Steinmann (11) said. “So now that we have weeded out people who are not as dedicated, we can get more accomplished.”

Stuco President Donald Rabin thanked these former members for their interest but informed them that they had not participated in enough of the meetings, fundraising opportunities, and events to keep their membership status.

“We appreciate your interest in Student Council,” said Donald Rabin, Stuco president, in the letter that the students received. “and would like you to reconsider applying in the upcoming year.”

The decisions about who could stay and who should be politely denied membership status were made on the basis of participation. During their first meeting, Stuco members were asked to acquire a number of “points” each semester, awarded each time they participated in one of the club’s meetings or events. It was made clear that if the students did not reach this goal, they would no longer be considered members of the club. However, many people did not even approach the goal of 50 points, and leniency had to be showed in order to keep a workable number of students in the organization. Everyone dismissed by the club had earned less than 20; people with more than 20 are required to participate in the upcoming SOMO basketball tournament in order to maintain their membership status.

“We are trying to work out all the kinks in the point system,” said Steinmann, “but I think it is a good idea because we can really make a difference.”