Changes proposed to Honor Council

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by Anita Raman

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Two amendments to the Honor Council constitution are being proposed in the upcoming general elections: the addition of college representatives and the creation of a pool of optional advisors to the accused.

The addition of college representatives would enlarge the potential pool of voting members by nine, one from each college and an additional graduate student representative.

The council currently consists of 16 members, elected by the undergraduate student body and the Graduate Student Council, and two freshman representatives, chosen by the council.

The proposal, which failed in last year's elections by a narrow margin, was introduced with the intent of making it easier to call together the full panel of voting members necessary to hold a trial. The council feels that increasing the number of voting members would be more fair to the accused by expediting trials.

The addition of college and graduate student representatives would also increase council interaction within the colleges and with the student body. According to Honor Council Secretary Heather Morchauser, members could keep their colleges informed of council announcements and make the council a more prominent presence within the colleges.

Currently, the council has found it difficult to call together a full panel due to academic and extracurricular conflicts among members. Also, members are required to excuse themselves from cases which involve acquaintances and are encouraged to do so if the accused is a member of their college.

Student concerns regarding this proposal last year included the possibility of compromising confidentiality and the chance that the panel could be "stacked" toward a certain decision.

While the council meets to discuss cases, only the panel members on a given trial know the specifics of the case or the identity of the accused. Since the voting panel would remain at nine, the council feels confidentiality would not be compromised.

"Stacking" the room would also be rather difficult due to the process of calling a trial panel. Members generally show no set voting pattern on a given issue. The secretary, who calls the panel, knows the identity of the accused to ensure that a conflict of interest does not arise but is not informed of the accusation.

The council also hopes to further ensure a fair trial for the accused through the addition of advisors. Currently, the accused is assigned an ombudsman who can explain procedure but cannot provide suggestions for preparing the case.

The advisors would be selected from the Student Affairs administrative staff and trained in both Honor Council and counseling procedures during summer orientations. They would provide the accused with the option of another opinion regarding evidence, witnesses and the fine details of the case.

In addition, the advisor would serve as a counselor to discuss a variety of issues with the accused. In many instances, individuals coming to trial feel uncomfortable discussing the issue with family or friends but feel the need to air their emotional and personal concerns with an informed member. Since council members and ombudsmen are not allowed to discuss individual cases, the advisor could provide the accused with options regarding the direction of their case.

The counselor would not, however, be allowed to sit in on the trial.

"Currently, there is no one to whom the accused can turn for general support," Morchauser said. "The spirit of these proposals is to make the trial process more comfortable for the accused, more expedient and therefore more fair."

Morchauser also said that the council welcomes student responses to and concerns regarding the proposed amendments.

"We hope to hear the opinions of the student body and to address any concerns that may be circulating," she said. "We wish to make it clear that these proposals will benefit the student body by improving nature of the trials and increasing accessibility."

This item appeared in the News section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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