The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 1996 Page: 4 of 20
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The deliberation process
is the most important and least pub-
1 process,
^liberations at every trial are
different. What I
want to do is try JA*
to show what we FlJNDLING
do at a typical HONOR COUNCIL
The first subject of discussion is
whether a violation occurred or not.
Die council decides this by looking
at the evidence that directly relates
to the suspected violation.
Council members vote "in viola-
tion" only if they determine the evi-
dence against the accused to be
"clear and convincing."
The way the honor code applies,
to this particular class is very impor-
tant. The professor and the class
syllabus are essential in this
regard. It is the professor, not the
iabbie or the grader, who determines
what is or is not acceptable in his
(lass
Often the accused presents evi-
dence which is not relevant to the
rase, and I would like to give ex-
amples of what we do not consider
during deliberations.
We do not consider, for example,
the grade the accused had in the
class. We have seen people cheat to
bring an A to an A; we have seen
people gheat and have their grade
remain an F
The Honor Council never hears
character witnesses for or against
the accused.
Similarly, the council does not
consider a person's previous record.
If someone has earned straight
A's for their time at Rice, it says
nothing about whether a violation
occurred
This is done in the interest of
fairness and does not hurt the
accused's case.
The council refuses to hear char
acter witnesses against the accused
and gives no merit to suspicions
outside of this case.
For a verdict of "in violation" to
be given, the council must be unani-
mous. If even one council member
does not find the evidence "clear
and convincing," the accused is
found "not in violation."
If the council rules "in violation,"
the deliberation continues to deter
mine the penalty.
The council has a set of public-
consensus penalties. These are the
maximum penalties available for
each type of violation.
For a repeat or 'heinouS violation,
the consttosus penalty is an F in the
course and indefinite suspension
from the university. A heinous viola-
tion is one exceeding the bounds of
what is normally considered cheat-
ing, for example, heading a cheat ing
c6n$pj;r<ac<y or breaking into ;wfoffice
to steal a test.
The council has not convicted
someone of a heinous violation in
recent memory. .
If the violation was on an assign-
ment worth 15 percent or more of a
course grade, the consensus pen-
alty is an F in the course and a two-
semester suspension
If the violation was on a non-col
laborative assignment (e.g. quiz)
worth less than 15 percent of the
total course grade, the consensus
penalty is an F in the course and a
one semester suspension.
If the violation was on a collabo-
rative assignment (e.g. homework)
worth less than 15 percent of the
course grade, the consensus pen-
alty is an F in the course
'ITie council will deliver the con-
sensus penalty if the case had no
valid mitigating circumstances.
The council is willing to listen to
any relevant mitigating circum-
stances the accused cares to put
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;ided on a few
will consider
/ill not.
made in good
leniency by the
council. "Made in good faith" means
you turned yourself in out of respect
for the honor system; it does not
mean your professor was about to
accuse you so you turned yourself in
first.
Severe emotional distress which
directly leads to the violation is also
considered by the council. The key
hyre is that it directly leads to the
violation.
Unintentionality has been a hotly
debated topic by the Honor Council.
The student has the responsibility
to know what is expected under,
the honor code, as well as to make
sure his work conforms to that
code.
However, if the student made an
effort to follow the code, the council
may take it into consideration in as-
The council realizes that some
assignments and courses do not fit
into our concensus penalty struc-
ture In these cases, we consider the
severity of the violation and deter-
mine an analogous penalty.
The council does not consider
academic stress as a mitigating cir
cumstance (everyone at Rice is un-
der academic stress).
We also do not consider remorse,
ignorance of the system or fresh-
man status.
ITie consensus penalties and miti-
gating circumstances are set and
publicized by the council at the be
ginning of each academic year. The
above policies may be different next
year, so be sure to read the Thresher
article on the Subject.
The mitigat ing circumstances are
debated until a penalty is decided
upon by a simple majority.
Once the penalty has-been de-
cided, the council officially states
that it is recommending the penalty
to the dean of students.
In addition, a suspension clause
is usually attached to the student's
record. This is used only to convey
to future councils that a person has
been previously convicted. The sus-
pension clause is seen only by the
Honor Council.
I've tried to convey to you as much
as I could about this process in as
brief a format possible. If you have
any questions, you can either ask a
council member in person or sendit
to mei and I will try to address it in
future columns.
As a final note, the snazzy Honor
Council homepage is up and con-
tains the entire Blue Book plus case
abstracts from the past four years.
The address is http://ricein/o.
rice, edu/projects/honor.
Jay Fundling is an Honor Council
senior representative and a Wiess
College senior.
Attitudes, ijot colleges, should change
To the editor:
I couldn't help but feel a sharp
retort rise when 1 read last week's
letter ("College system limits social
life at Rice," Thresher, Feb. 9) pro-
claiming that the college system lim-
its social life at Rice.
Come again? I am willing to wa-
ger that Rice would be just like any
other school — where social activity
is strictly off-campus and exclusive
to cliques — were it not for the col-
lege system.
Granted, my first friends were
found in my own college, but it is
easy and pretty common to make
friends all over campus.
You do not have to necessarily be
"uncommonly outgoing" or even in-
volved in student organizations, al-
though organizations are a great way
to meet people.
Truth is, your social life is what
you make it.
There's nothing wrong with stay-
ing close to your own college or
going to parties with people from
your own college if that's where your
friends are.
But nothing says that people from
your college have to be your only
friends.
And if you're coming out of your
room pretty frequently, even if it's
just to go to the library or the Coffee-
House, you're bound to run into
someone from somewhere else,
maybe not even from Rice.
But if lack of social life is the
problem, the college system is
hardly to blame.
For a campus (and a city) with so
much to offer every weekend as a
way to unwind, it seems like a matter
of choice if you stay in by yourself.
Nobody's stopping you from pick
ing up a copy of the Houston Press,
planning a date and calling up that
interesting-looking person in your
one o'clock class — and that goes
for guys and girls.
Sure, there are a few things that
could use changing around here,
but I'd hardly list the college system
as one of them.
Attitudes, on the other hand, can
always use a little improvement.
Amy Harrison
Jones '98
Desire to learn about own culture should
not be perceived as ignorance, racism
To the editor:
Personal likes and dislikes are
sometimes difficult to explain factu-
ally, and I heartily disagree with
(iaslight wala's criticism of his friend
tor not wanting to visit Africa in the
Feb. 9 issue of the Thresher ("Igno-
rance begets ignorance").
My dislike of grape jelly, for ex-
ample, does not stem from a deep-
rooted dislike of Californians who
grow grapes, nor does my prefer-
ence for Coke over Pepsi indicate a
haired of Mormons.
But the question at hand is deeper
than that . Criticism of the American^
education system has gone too far.
There is simply riot enough time
to study every .culture, so it is most
rational to choose to learn about the
history of the culture that will be
most useful in your day-to-day living
*— that of the country in which you
live.
Rice has recently begun to allow
a class on Asian history to fulfill the
humanities requirement for S/E ma-
jors, but even that is not as useful as
the standard humanities class.
In order to be successful in the
United States, one must have a thor-
ough understanding of Western cul-
ture.
Many S/E majors are not exposed
to some of the great writers of West-
ern culture and consequently may
find themselves at a loss when they
read a newspaper article on the law
with references to the writings of
John lxjcke or David Hume.
""Though this class is about Asian
history and not African.it adequately
illustrates the point that it does not
educate about Western culture.
Furthermore, for Gaslight wala to
assert that "whites recognize that
blacks, Asians and Hispanics are
different from them without fully
accepting the equality of these
races" is simply ignorant and offen-
sive.
And to say that "unconscious pref-
erence is always being given to white
men" is an immaterial general iza
tion that Gaslightwala never backs
up.
If the American educational sys
tem is "biased" toward Western cuK
ture, it is because it seeks to educate
students about the society in which
the majority of them will live as
adults.
Because rio amount of knowledge
about African technological innova-
tions will help toearna promotion in
a Western society, it is essential to
have a basic understanding of the
history and cult ure of one's own na-
tion.
I isa i)e I-it Torre
wrt 99
VkMV
a . ■''yi >'< '<-•
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Klein, Charles & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 1996, newspaper, February 16, 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246532/m1/4/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.