The first MV Connections of the school year hopes to bridge the gap between leadership and the student body.

On Nov. 17, students in Leadership met with their peers from the student body to evaluate the effectiveness of student government as well as brainstorm new ideas for fundraisers and activities. The event, MV Connections, was started by class of 2009 alumnus Steven Chien and organized this year by Campus Commission.

The two groups met in the leadership room at the beginning of fifth period. After attendance and student announcements, ASB President Samuel Lui took time to discuss the procedure and goals of the event. The mass of students then headed down to the Student Center, where the throng splintered off into five separate groups.

In 15 minute intervals, the representatives took the spotlight, encircled by leadership students eager to pick apart their thoughts. The questions themselves were dependent on the commission or class asking them, but each group shared a mutual pattern.

This question and answer procedure provided a helpful way to highlight any flaws or inefficiencies gone unnoticed by Leadership students in the past. For instance, on the issue of class fundraisers, uniqueness seemed to be of principle concern for most students.

"I would’ve gone to the 2012 Pizza My Heart one," junior Anand Sundaram said, "but I wouldn’t buy [something like] the cookie dough because there are like eight people doing that already."

Students also stressed that fundraisers not only need to be freshly original, but also convenient. Time and location are key when it comes to taking time out of one’s day busy school week or precious weekend.

"Fridays right after school when you go home, it’s always a pain to then [have to] come back to school," sophomore Ben Yang said.

The class of 2011’s laser tag fundraiser served as a prime example of this inbalance between originality and convenience; something that initially looked appealing but served as too much trouble to actually attend. However, Sundaram and junior Ryan Michelfelder both raved about last year’s Fresh Choice and ice skating fundraisers, suggesting the class arrange more joint operations like that in the future.

Leadership students took it upon themselves to generate genuine criticism as well, asking the representatives if they thought student government was effective. They were met with mild criticism for the lack of communication, sometimes between the student body and Leadership, especially concerning the dance policy. However, the reaction was generally positive.

"I think its a good thing that this [leadership] is made up of students rather than the administration," Yang said.

Representatives also took the opportunity to suggest and brainstorm new activities with the Leadership council. Senior Aditya Makaram suggested an expansion of intramural tournaments to include sports like soccer, volleybal, and football. Discussions about future tailgating parties mirroring the one held during last year’s MVHS vs. Lynbrook basketball game also circulated, suggesting the possibility of organized, school-run parties in the future.

At the end of the period, students were given pizza by Campus Commission and had a chance to socialize and reflect upon the experience. The commission itself left the experiment satisfied with its usefulness.

"Sometimes when we think we’re doing really well, it’s good for someone to say [our programs are] bad," lead Campus commissioner senior Frances Jih said, "It helps us fix things to put in place for next year."