The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 42, Ed. 1 Monday, April 4, 1977 Page: 3 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
threshing-it-out
Proposed Honor Council amendments add flexibility
To the Rice community:
Two referenda will be on the
election ballot this Tuesday:
both propose changes in the
Honor System.
The first proposal calls for a
simple word change in two
places in the Constitution,
replacing (in both instances)
shall with should. This would
oficially make two practices
optional: for students to sit in
alternate seats in alternate
rows in a test room; and for
students to place all study
materials at the front of the
test room before the test is
administered. The Honor
Council continues to recom-
mend these two practices, but
it realizes that these practices
are not vital to the System's
working and do not reflect the
students' actual behavior. As
the rule book reads now, it is a
violation of the Honor System
not to put one's books at the
front of the test room, or not to
sit in alternate seats in
alternate rows; yet it would be
silly for the Council to
prosecute such "violations."
We would like to change the
rule to correspond to what
students really do, since
student behavior of this sort
does not seem to hamper the
overall functioning of the
Honor System.
The second proposal is
easier to Understand, but more
important. It calls for the
addition of non-voting faculty
advisors to the Council for a
one-year trial period. The
faculty advisors would, like
the Council's freshman
advisors, sit at hearings and
trials, participate in the
questioning and deliberation,
but not vote. Only one faculty
advisor would sit on each case,
but the Council would like to
choose a group of them to use
on a rotating basis; we hope
that more faculty members
will be willing to serve if the
Council demands less of each
individual's time, and we
think that using several
faculty members will increase
the general level of under-
standing of the Council by the
faculty. Since this change
would only be approved on a
one-year trial basis, the Honor
Council would be obligated to
report on the success of failure
of this change by next spring,
and in the 1978 SA spring
elections the students would
vote whether or not they
wanted the Council to
continue to have faculty
advisors.
We realize that in the last
election the first of these
proposals was put before the
students, and it failed, by six
'Think about future'
To the editor:
I have sometimes been
labeled a "liberal." If "liberal"
means believing in change,
then perhaps I am. I believe
that things can always be
changed for the better. But I
prefer to leave off labels and
simply call myself an
individual.
This country does need
changing and only people can
do it. As young adults, we and
our children will be the main
ones affected by the changes
we attempt to make. There are
too many things to detail in a
350 word letter to the editor,
but I will mention some of
them briefly.
Our public school system
stinks. Do you realize how
many people graduated from
high school without knowing
how to ^ead or write? Isn't one
enough?
An example of the direction
that anti-crime crusades are
taking is our own governor's
anti-crime package. He wants
to make it legal for policemen
to carry fake ID cards. He
wants to make it legal for the
government to tap any phone.
He wants to fight crime with
dishonesty (makes sense,
huh?).
The government is en-
couraging day-care centers by
giving tax deductions for
putting your children in one.
How .many retired grand-
mothers do you think run day-
care centers? The family is
breaking up. Young children
need individual attention and
a family or family-like
situation that day-care centers
just can't provide.
These are only a few things
to think about. I'm not asking
for you to support my views.
I'm asking you to be an
individual. I want you to think
about the future—or you and
your children. Or are you so
selfish that you don't care
about your future children?
Did you think that only your
parents could be selfish? What
will your children be saying
about you in twenty-five
years? Show that you really do
care. Write your congressman
expressing your views. Write
the president, even, for what
good it will do. If you don't
know who your congressman
is, or how to get in touch with
him, the League of Women
Voters (529-3171) can tell you.
This is our world—ours and
our children's—and it can be
better.
Beth Heckard
Brown '80
Later this month, probably the 21st, the Thresher will
publish another Magazine. We are still especially looking
for short stories (humorous or otherwise), inked art/ and
photography. An effort will be made to include most
contributions. The deadline is this Thursday; address
submissions to Magazine Editor, care of the Thresher,
second floor RMC.
votes, to win the 3/4 majority
it needed for approval. But we
are not trying to ramrod the
change through by presenting
it election after election. We
suspect that many students
did not understand why the
change was proposed—and,
unfortunately, the explan-
atory paragraph that was to
appear on the ballot with it
was inadvertantly omitted.
We hope the students
approve the two changes. We
believe they increase the
flexibility of the Honor System
for the students, allow for
greater faculty communica-
tion with and understanding
of the Council, and give the
Council additional opportu-
nity to hear different
perspectives on Honor cases.
We realize that one letter may
not answer everyone's
questions about these two
proposals. We urge anyone
with questions to call Mark
Bockeloh (521-9717), Dave
Fleischer (526-7613), Margaret
Jordan (521-9853) or any
Council member before the
election Tuesday. We're quite
willing to discuss—as we did
at last week's open meeting—
the effects these two proposals
will have on the Honor
System.
Margaret Jordan,
Vice-Chairman
the Honor Council
the rice thresher, april 4, 1977—page 3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
McFarland, Carla. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 42, Ed. 1 Monday, April 4, 1977, newspaper, April 4, 1977; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245334/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.