The Tar HeelThursday. July 18. 198517
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The Mojmdf Cede; tmkem seiriomsSy at UNC -CM
By Pegs! Porter
Kaleidoscope Editor
Most students probably do not
remember agreeing to uphold the
Honor Code and Campus Code on
their applications to the University
of North Carolina at Chapel HilL
There was just another dotted line
to be signed. But the honor system
is an integral part of the academic
process, and one that should be
noted.
According to the UNC CH
Instrument of Student Judicial
Governance, students are on their
honor not to lie, cheat or steal "when
these actions involve academic pro
cesses or University, student or
academic personnel acting in an
official capacity." The Campus Code
stipulates that students must "con
duct (themselves) so as not to impair
significantly the welfare or the
educational oppurtunities of others
in the University community). Most
schools have similar rules. The.
variation is found in how these rules
are enforced.
Suppose a professor thinks he sees
a student cheating on a midterm
exam. He reports the student to the
Dean of Student Affairs or to the
Student Attorney General. Students
in the Attorney General's office then
Tops
from page 14
for the entire day.
Students and parents break up into
exclusive orientation programs. The
students' must take two placement
tests, math and foreign language, and
attend a "Changes and Transitions"
program, a skit and discussion
session provided to highlight the ins-and-outs
of campus living.
The parents are invited to a series
of seven seminars led by University
department heads. Each seminar
addresses a different parental con
cern such as financing, security, and
housing.
The night before each orientation
day students and parents are given
the opportunity to check into Hinton
James dorm for the night and an
optional evening orientation pro
gram featuring representatives from
the housing department who provide
a slide show and discussion sessions
on dorm life.
"There would be something wrong
with you if you didn't feel just a little
bit scared about coming to Carolina,"
said orientation assistant Margaret
Barrett. "We are working with the
University to make these freshmen's
first contact with Carolina a positive
one."
"I feel much more comfortable
about leaving home knowing how
nice the people here at Carolina are,"
said Daphne High from Charlotte
after attending the July 15 TOPS
program.
investigate the case to decide if there
is enough evidence to warrant
charges against the student. If there
is enough evidence, the student may
plead guilty or not guilty to these .
charges at a hearing of the Student
Court. He may be found guilty or
not guilty by them and sanctioned
appropriately.
But if the same situation were to
occur at North Carolina State Uni
versity, the process would be entirely
different. If, say, a horticulture
professor caught a student passing off
someone else's soil samples as his
own, the professor would say to the
student, "Look here, Jethro, those
aren your soil samples. What do you
got to say for yourself?"
"You caught me with my hands
dirty, Dr. Clodhopper," Jethro might
say.
"Well, well just keep this between
us, Jethro," Dr. Clodhopper would
whisper, clapping a hand on Jethro's
shoulder. "Ill give you a zero on this
assignment and well say no more
about it." Jethro would be placed on
Academic Misconduct Probation for
the remainder of his career at State,
meaning that if he is caught cheating
again, he will be suspended from
school for a semester.
All kidding aside, our colleagues
to the east place too much respon
sibility on the professor. He must act
as witness, prosecutor and judge. The
only time another party is brought
in to the situation occurs when the
professor thinks stiffer punishment is
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warranted or when the student does
not admit guilt. There is a very real
possibility that an innocent student
will be intimidated into saying he is
guilty.
The importance of having students
involved with the judicial process
cannot be overrated, according to
those administrators and students
involved. "Students should be court
members so that professors won't use
the system as a vehicle for personal
vendettas or to cover their own
asses," said Martin Gonzalez, grad
uate attorney general. Although he
could not give examples due to the
confidential nature of all cases,
Gonzalez did say, "I've seen it
happen."
Anne Bowden, Associate Dean for
Student Affairs, agreed that students
play an important role in the honor
system. "You have a right to be
judged by your peers," she said, and
in a university setting, "your peers
are each other. Because they are
peers, they may be more capable of
understanding what's plausible and
what's not."
"The system tries to treat students
as more than adolescents. The faculty
and staff are not parents. Students
have to learn what it means to be
an adult without looking to other
people to play parent."
Undergraduate Attorney General
Mary Evans said she would like to
see more emphasis placed on the
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honor system itself and less on the
judicial system. "When people think
about the honor system they think
about the Attorney General, the
court . . . things that only come into
play when there's been a breakdown
in the system. I would like to see
people having pride that they Ve done
something with integrity." -
To Evans, integrity means "having
the self-confidence to stand up for
yourself," and that means turning in
other students for violating the
Honor Code.
We are all strongly conditioned not
to rat on each other, but "at this level
of school, that's holding you back,"
said Evans. In college, students work
much harder at their studies and
there is an element of competition
for grades. "When you work hard on
a research paper and someone else
buys one, or you stay up for three
nights studying for an exam and
somebody gets a copy ahead of time
and blows the curve for a class of
200, that's not fair."
Many students are reluctant to
turn other students in because it
cannot be done anonymously; a
defendant has the right to face his
accuser. "It really hurts me," Evans
said, "when someone calls me in tears
and says I saw the girl in front of
me cheat, but that person doesn't
want to get involved."
UNC-CH's judicial system falls
somewhere in between those at State
and UVA. At UVA, anyone con
victed of any honor offense, including
lying (for example, telling your
prfssor that you got snowed in in
Tryon and couldn't get back for the
test in order to get an illegal extension
is an honor offense); is summarily
expelled from the university. Other
universities have proctor or monitor
systems, in which tests are patrolled
by student or staff monitors who
watch for cheating. Evans says these
systems fail because they are based
on distrust rather than trust.
Here at UNC CH, sanctions vary
from censure, a formal letter of
reprimand, to expulsion. The usual
sanction in cases of academic disho
nesty, including cheating, plagiarism
and unauthorized collaboration, is
suspension for a minimum of one
semester and an "F" in the course.
The "F" applies regardless of the
assignment on which the student
cheats; even if it is a homework
assignment worth 5 of the total
grade, the student receives an "F" if
convicted of cheating.
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