Like the relationship between the media and the government on the national stage, the relationship between Ramsey’s school newspaper and its student government tended to be adversarial. Like newspapers generally, Ramsey Blueprint saw itself in the role of a watchdog.

In its Nov. 17 issue, the paper turned a spotlight on the workings of student government at Ramsey. A front page feature story by Blueprint co-editor Craig Eckert revealed council meetings to be chaotic and accomplishing little. An editorial declared that “Ramsey’s Student Council is bulky, unorganized, ineffective, without any apparent goals, and has obviously failed to adjust to these problems.”

The issue also examined how student councils were functioning in high schools in St. Paul and other suburbs, where they faced many of the same problems. Then it looked at the Minnesota Student Union (MSU), an independent student organization with a more radical, left leaning perspective that challenged school authorities and fought for students constitutional rights. Ramsey’s MSU chapter was also faltering, the school newspaper reported, with dwindling membership.

A Blueprint poll found Ramsey students critical of both organizations. The reason both were not accomplishing much, a letter writer suggested, was widespread student apathy.

Looking back, it seems possible that one reason students weren’t more engaged in self-government was that things were really pretty good at Ramsey High School. The issues that had galvanized student activism at other schools were largely non-factors. Elsewhere in the metro area, students and administrators were still fighting over censorship of the high school paper, dress codes, and similar issues.