Last night the University Board of Elections held a forum in which four student panelistsdebated the merits and faults of the single sanction.
The debate was moderated by University Judiciary Committee Judge Gavin Reddick and Tina Le, Honor Committee chair of single sanction forums.
Topics included strengths and weaknesses of the single sanction, its effect on the University's public image as well as the consensus clause in relation to single sanction, among other topics.
Honor Committee member Sara Page and Sam Leven, communications director for Hoos Against Single Sanction, voiced opposition against the single sanction policy.
Page said single sanction needs to be dynamic and put under regular scrutiny by the student body.
The students "are the ones who create these laws, and [the students] are the ones who embrace them," Page said.
Leven agreed, saying single sanction "violated several judicial principles," meaning one severe punishment is not appropriate for varying degrees of offenses. Leven said students are less willing to report honor offenses due to their unwillingness to subject fellow students to such a severe penalty as expulsion.
Honor support officer Jim Prosser, voiced support for the single sanction policy along with Josh Hess, Students for Preservation of Honor president, said a severe penalty like single sanction effectively deters many students from cheating. Prosser also said single sanction is an essential aspect of the University's honor system, an aspect that all students agreed to before they were admitted.
"Belonging to this community is a privilege, not a right," Prosser said.
Hess emphasized the resources that are exhausted in the single sanction debate, saying that the debate should be put aside in favor of more pressing issues facing the Honor Committee, such as student apathy and faculty relations.
The effect of single sanction on the University's public image also was debated.
"Publicly, single sanction brings a lot of credit to the University," Prosser said.
In response, Page pointed out that the University is the only school of its size that has not moved away from a single sanction policy.
The consensus clause was another topic of debate last night. Hess said the consensus clause could prevent the debate over the single sanction that arose every four years from distracting the Honor Committee from more important issues. Leven responded that the consensus clause would destroy debate not only over single sanction but also over other honor policies, causing a loss in faith in the honor system.
"Debates like we've had tonight are nothing but good for the honor system," said Leven.
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