The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 1, 1991 Page: 1 of 20
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Rice Thresher
VOLUME 79, NO. 10
IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU CAN PLACE OUT OF A&M
NOVEMBER 1,1991
Council penalizes twenty-eight students for honor code violation
by Jill Salomon
The Honor Council recently
charged twenty-eight students with
penalties for violation of the honor
code after conducting an investiga-
tion at the request of a university
professor. The professor initially
identified thirty students as being
potentially involved in the infraction;
28 entered a plea of guilty and 2
entered a plea of not guilty, accord-
ing to the case abstract, written by
Honor Council Trial Clerk Abigail
Martin. The two students who pled
not guilty were found innocent
Below is a summary of the charge
as contained in the abstract
The Honor Council recieved a let-
ter of accusation from the professor of
a lower level science course. The class
has multiple sections which meet at
different times during the week. The
professor had noted that attendance
had dropped within the lectures. The
professor also noticed, however, that
the quiz grades of students in the later
section were consistently higher than
those of students in the eariier section.
In order to test whether there was
reason to be suspicious, on one mul-
tiple choice quiz the professor changed
the questions on the first part of the
quiz so that the answers given in the
earlier section would be incorrect on
the second quiz.
After the quizzes for the later section
were graded the professor noted that a
large number; of students failed, and of
those that failed, many had marked
the answers to the first part with an-
swers that would have been correct
that would have been correct for the
quiz given in the earlier section.
On this evidence, the professor
suspected that members of the later
section had had answers to the quiz
answers, presumably through a mem-
ber or members of the earlier section.
Presented as evidence were the keys to
both quizzes and the quizzes of all the
students in question.
According to the abstract, only
nine of the 28 students brought an-
swers to the qua with them to class,
implying premeditated cheating. The
other 19 charged with cheating cop-
ied answers from other students
during the quiz itself. The council
And the winners are...
After tabulating all the ballots, the Student Association an-
nounced ten year old Evans Wittenberg, son of Sid Richardson
Mast'ers Gordon and Susan Wittenberg as homecoming king, and a
brown 1980 Honda-CVCC homecoming queen.
Evans said he was more than a little surprised that he won. "When
I found out I was just totally shocked. I was practically breathless,"
he said. "I was so happy I couldn't even talk. 1 can't even believe it."
Although the car gave no reaction to her victory, the owner, Baker
senior Ben Lynch, was ecstatic. "I think it's excellent. I think it's time
Rice got back to electing something interesting. It makes me proud
that Rice students still have that little bit of uniqueness that makes
Rice, Rice/' he said.
Ben said he was sure his car was a female because she "is a jealous
bitch. My car will not let females drive it. Males have no problems
with it, but the minute a female steps into it, itbreaks." Even without
females driving it, the car seems to have gotten around pretty well
with over 164,000 miles racked up in a little over 11 years.
SA president Mitra Miller and Will Rice junior Wynn Martin will
attend the Cotton Bowl as official representatives.
assessed equal penalties to both
violations.
"This is the largest Honor Coun-
cil case ever brought to trial to my
knowledge. It is an unprecidented
case," said Wendy Burk, Honor
Council chair. Burk was unable to
comment on particulars of the case
'This is the largest
Honor Council case
ever brought to trial to
my knowledge. It is an
unprecidented case.'
—Wendy Burk
due to measures of confidentiality
specified by the honor code.
Twenty-five of the 28 students who
pled guilty were given a penalty of
quadruple loss of credit and a two
consecutive semester suspension
clause. Two others received a grade
of 'F in the course and an indefinite
suspension clause due to previous
violations.
One student received sextuple
loss of credit and a two semester
suspension clause due to the fact that
the individual lied to the council dur-
ing the hearings.
"Accused # 1 responded by saying
that he knew he neglected to tell us
about the fact that he had seen and
made a copy of the answers to the
earlier quiz, but that he believed that
since he had pled guilty that he wou Id
receive a penalty regardless," ac-
cording to the abstract Suspension
clauses set a minimum penalty level
in the event of a second violation.
Because of the size of the case,
the council divided the 28 who pled
guilty into groups of four hearings
"so that the council might determine
penalties," according to the abstract.
The council heard separate testi-
mony from the two who pleaded not
guilty. Each individual involved was
assigned an ombudsman.
Standard consensus penalty for
an honor code violation on an assign-
ment that is less than ten percent of
the final grade is "triple loss of credit
with a suspension clause for one se-
mester," according to the abstract A
student receiving a suspensio n clause
is not automatically suspended upon
the first violation.
"UsuaOya future council will abide
by a previous council's recomen-
dation," said Burk.
At one point in the hearings, the
council decided that penalty should
be harsher than the standard level
because "the actions of the accused
were such a blatent violation of the
Honor Code and because none of the
accused seemed particularly re-
morseful," according to the abstract.
Many members felt that by mak-
ing the penalty stronger, future viola-
tions of this type would be prevented.
Copiesoftheab stract for th i s case
are posted in all of the residential
colleges.
Wrong wristbands attract attention
by Amy Keener
Student security officials at Wiess'
Night of Decadence college party
identified many guests with unoffi-
cial wristbands, sparking an investi-
gation into the source of the bands
and potential alcohol policy violations.
"There were definitely some
wristbands that we had not issued,"
said Wiess social coordinator Dave
Roberts. "There were enough bad
wristbands that some people at the
party actually thought that [light
blue] was the official color." Roberts
was unable to estimate the number
of people with counterfeit bands, but
estimated that fewer than twe nty were
told to leave the party.
According to Roberts, security
officials issued brightblue wristbands
to students of age to drink upon
paying the $4 admission fee to the
party. However, a number of indi-
viduals appeared wearing instead
light blue bands.
While no official investigation is
yet under way, members of Wiess
are contacting other colleges in an
attempt to determine which colors of
bands have been used and where.
"There have been a number of
'There were definitely
some wristbands that
we had not issued.'
—Dave Roberts
people pointing fingers and making
accusations," said Roberts. "We are
trying to get to the bottom of it"
"The worst thing that could hap-
pen is that people start pointing fin-
gers before we know anything," he
said, adding that, "As far as where it
[the investigation] is going to be
taken, I don't know."
Roberts explained that Lhe issue
was brought to his attention partly
because of the financial loss incurred
due to the party. "NOD did not make
money this year and I think that made
people step back and see what could
be the problem" People with an un-
official wristband would not have to
pay admission.
According to Roberts, Director of
Student Activities Sarah Nelson
Crawford and the campus police are
aware of the situation. Roberts said
that Crawford expressed disappoint-
ment at the infraction and is inter-
ested in persuing the investigation.
The possible implications on the
alcohol policy are still unclear. Ac-
cording to the policy, all people over
21 that are consuming alcohol at any
campus party must wear a wristband
supplied by the campus police imme-
diately prior to the event.
Party security officials d id not take
names ofthose students told to leave.
Book co-op sells over 2000 books
by Wendy Paul
According to recently released
figures, the Student Association book
co-op took in $17,916 as a result of
sales with an initial inventory of over
4000 books. The co-op sold over half
of the books, with the remainder
consisting largely of spring semester
books which the SA anticipates will
be sold.
The problems now facing the fu-
We need some people
devoted and
responsible in taking
initiative in
volunteering,'
—John Shields
ture of the book co-op result from its
400 percent growth since last year.
Such tasks as sending out800checks
to students have made the book co-
op "too cumbersome for the amount
of manpower now available," says SA
Executive Vice-President Merritt
McReynolds.
Under the co-op system, the SA
returns almostall money to students,
retaining only one dollar per book
selling for over $3, fifty cents $3
books, and nothing for books two
dollars or less. According to John
Shields, Sid Richardson SA repre-
sentative, many of the books were
five dollars or less.
"Our main concern is in saving
students money instead of making
sure that we cover our own adminis-
trative debts," commented Shields.
As a result, the SA has sometimes
taken losses to insure at least a fifty
percent return on each book in the
co-op, but often, said Shields, stu-
dents are receiving 60 to 70 percent
bask onthe original cost of the book.
The campus store offers a maximum
of 50 percent return.
The lack of a permanent home is
another problem facing the co-op.
Currently, books are being housed
in the SRC basement and are carted
from location to location. The SA is
also in need of more volunteers to
help run the co-op. "We need some
people devoted and responsible in
taking initiative in volu nteering," said
Shields.
The book co-op is a result of stu-
dent complaints about the ineffi-
ciency of the Rice campus store. As
John Shields commented, "Competi-
tion always fosters efficiency."
Both Merritt McReynolds and
John Shields see the co-op as a service
project for the student body." It's one
of the many things the SA does that
has a tangible impact on students,"
said McReynolds.
Everyone interested in discuss-
ing the future of the book co-op or
interested in volunteering is encour-
aged to attend the S A meeting in
Hanszen commons at 10, November
4. An inventory list of books cur-
rently in the co-op will also be avail-
able at the meeting. There will also
be a forum specifically to address the
future of the book co-op November
10 at 9 p.m. in the SA Office.
FEATURE
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 1, 1991, newspaper, November 1, 1991; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245795/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.