Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Jan. 31, 1969, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE DECREE S.L.S. COMMITTEE REWRITES PRESIDENT’S PROCLAMATION JANUARY 31.19g, Editorial We were pleased to note^ that the results of mter inconsistencies inherent in honor systems and^a grow. views with people involved in all phases of life show a growing awareness of the dangers campus and - i a. ing opposition to honor codes or systems of any son While some students' opposition to honor system stems simply from the fact that, in their experietic/ honor systems do not work,many others join us in philosophical as well as an administrative opposition to honor systems. Almost no one would even try phiio sophically to justify a social honor system; and the few who try to justify an academic honor system seem to be doing so simply because of its label, even thou^ they have to admit, when questioned closely, that their support of an academic honor system is inconsistent As we have asserted all along, “Honor systems are dishonorable/’ The force of this slogan is that it points up the fact that the name of the system is misleading' in the past, some have felt that opposition to anythini labeled “honor” would be dishonorable. Fortunately however, more and more Wesleyan students - andf^ culty members - have come to view the issue objective' ly, realizing that the name, “honor system,” ig 3 misnomer. Systems of law, in that they prescribe only what can and cannot be done without fear of punishment, are fair and acceptable, and are necessary to an orderly society; honor systems, in that they use an individual and varying trait to enforce mass modes of conduct and in that they presume to damn a man rather than simply to punish him, are monstrous, hypocritical and philosophically insupportable. ’ Honor System Wesleyan’s faculty-stu- dent Student Life and Ser vices Committee releas ed recently a new word ing of President Collins’ “Proclamation Regard ing Protests and Demon strations.” The new wording of the Proclamation, which was originally made public last November and be came immediately con troversial, incorporates proposed specific means by which campus groups In an era of tremen dous communication ac complishment, witness the on-the-spot report ing of events from Tok yo, Viet Nam, Paris, and the moon, technology has solved massive problems to bring us these events on the day, even the hour, of their happening. In con trast, we are frequently less knowledgeable about what is going on - what people are doing and thinking in our own com munity. Not because of an absence of information flow, for this goes on a- round the clock - in the lounges - hallways - classes - on the long walk and in nocturnal bull ses sions. But what of the quality and certainty of this information? How much is poor translation of our “common lan guage”? How much is ru mor, how much fact? Do the pieces fit together, and do we have them all, or do we lacking a few pieces settle for an “al most fit” and go on to form our concept of the- situation? Man is a communal an imal. Among the rest of the animal world - a mil lion species strong - are those forms solitary and independent caring not for the association of their kind, while others like man are bound together by structure or by spirit throughout tji^ lives. These aggregates of family groups, tribes, or whole communities exhi bit relationships which range from casual to se verely strict. In the lab oratory, we examine The Portugese Man-of-War, kin to jelly fish and coral. This seeming singlebeing, we discover, consists of many individuals livingin extreme interdependency, a type specialized for each life function - feed ing, defending, or repro ducing, but all combined into a single structure. Should one type cease performance, then all would die, and the colony would cease to be. In a like manner the colonial may receive authoriza tion for the speakers whom they may invite to campus: "We propose that a group of students who wish to invite an ouside speaker to come to our . campus clear per mission for this invita tion with the Dean of Stu dents at least two weeks before the speaker is due to arrive. If the Dean of Students denies such per mission, the sponsoring group of students may ant with workers, defend ers, and reproducers de pends for continued sur vival upon the services of each specialized type do ing its own “thing.”The colony here as in The Portugese Man-of-War with this built-in inter dependency produces a sort of superorganism in which the individual is nothing alone and can only exist in the framework of the colony. Individual behavior patterns be come important to a greater degree in such communal groupings, since failure of one may decrease the survival of many. Behavior and the social order from ants to apes is determined by in herited factors, modified to some extent by learn- ing« With survival de pendent on patterns of behavior, any member which does not fit the pattern is eliminated from the group thus pre venting a dilution of the patterns best designed for survival. The community of man might also be considered a superorganism with na tions reduced to the stat us of organs in this super beast, the individual to a single molecule among a galaxy of molecules. At the dawning of man’s so cial development, one tribe might well have been unaware of the existence, much less the deeds and thoughts, of its neighbor tribe a forest away. Now the world’s problems ar rive daily on our door steps and invade our homes at the turn of a switch. The bomb, pol lution, population explo sion all demand our atten tion and actions. Can we turn aside and fail to re spond, and yet how can the molecule affect the workings of this super beast? Might it be neces sary to serve first its specific function in the cell? It must be thus in man’s society, to fill those smaller roles in this . small piece of that large beast. Our piece for now is Wesleyan. And by appeal their case to the Student Life and Ser vices Committee which may support or over-rule the Dean of Students.” Dr. Davis, a member of the Student Life and Services Committee,em phasized that Dean Wilde had not asked that such responsibility be lodged with him. The new version of the Proclamation, which will be considered by Presi dent Collins, shifts its emphasis from rules to guidelines, while also re stating the purpose of the Proclamation: “While acknowledging that any statement of principles and procedures connect ed with sensitive issues is never completely satisfactory to all sides. North Carolina Wesleyan feels that it should speak as forthrightly and hon estly as possible on the problems which face all of us internationally, na tionally, and locally. What is set out in the above statement are guidelines as well as rules. Each issue or circumstance which affects the aca demic community or the city will have to be judged according to the parti cular context of any stu dent action. What we seek above all is not a hard- and-fast code of conduct, but a workable and judi cious method of meeting our responsibilities to academic freedom and community improve ment.” this smaller role, we play a larger one unseen. Each of us operates in certain spheres in the community as student, fa culty, administrator, or staff. Each invades and responds to the other spheres, our thoughts ex emplifying the feeling that “they” don’t understand “us.” THE DECREE, as semblies, committee meetings, CAMPUS ITEMS, and bull sessions all contribute but still leave gaps in the com munication between the organs of our Wesleyan body. An idea for remedying this situation grew out of some public hearings held in Rocky Mount ayear or so ago when the City was considering bids for a cable television service to be supplied to this area. At that time, there was criticism of the cable tel evision proposal, so that a public hearing was held giving opportunity to quiz both proponents and op ponents and to hear com ments by the Mayor and the City Council mem bers. Interested citizens could thus formulate an opinion based not only on newspaper articles and hearsay, but could also judge the validity of ar guments presented at these meetings. The ex perience was an enligh tening one. Could a Wes leyan Town Hall meeting, an open - - _ forum render extinct - Com- municatus hiatus? (Continued from Pg. 1) dent Collins stated that in the present situation, the faculty member and the Dean of Students de cided a student’s punish ment for an academic in- fractiono He interjected that with a n honor code, the maximum limits of operation for the student judiciary would be clear ly defined. He stressed that often the honor code becomes just that in name only. Unless the students really want it, they will be saying, in paraphras ing of an adage, “Yes, we have an honor system on our campus. The fa culty have the honor; we have the system.” Dean Moore stated that he viewed the prospect of an honor code with mixed feelings, one reason be ing that there is no guar antee that a code would succeed. He favored a graduated system of dis cipline in the code. He feels that with an alert ness of the problem of academic infractions,sit uation involving loss of integrity could be al leviated. In the establishment of an honor system by stu dents, Dean Wilde sees the transfer of more re sponsibility upon the stu dents which will allow them to have still more voice in regulating stu dent affairs. He also feels that an honor system v?ill motivate pride and uni fication among the stu dents. All three men agreed that a student oriented honor system would be favorably considered if the Senate adopted it. Dr. Davis said in an interview that he was op posed to any system which would “work by tattling.” He said further that in a situation in which one student informed on an other his inclination would be to take no “pun itive action,” though ifhe himself caught a student cheating he would take some action. Students in general a- greed that honor systems or codes are dissatisfac tory, Said Baxter Smith: “Honor codes are dis honorable. They pevert honor and use it to en force simple laws,” Other students ex pressed alarm that an honor system, once it was approved for academics, might be extended to cov er social activities. Said Julie Robinson, “Under an honor system like that, I’d be dishonorable if I didn’t inform on my friends for drinking on campus. And Iwouldn’tdo it.” Many students stated that they feared that an honor code would enforce on students the faculty’s ideas of honor, thoughfa- (Continued on page 3) flj Official Student Newspaper of North Carolina Wesleyan College EDITOR Smith BUSINESS MANAGER , Jom Mowbray manager ....John Hinnant CIRCULATION MANAGER. . , .JoelMartin .0........Julie Robinson assistant ....Marsha White PHOTOGRAPHER ............Baxter Smith PROJECTS DIVISON MANAGER....... John Dorsey Business Address: Box 3146, Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY WESLEYAN STUDENTS. OPINIONS PUBLISHED DO NOT NECESSARILY represent THOSE OF WESLEYAN COLLEGE. ACULTY ORUM By DR. A. W, SHARER Communicatus (L). To Communicate - Hiatus (L) A Gap
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Jan. 31, 1969, edition 1
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