The University-wide student election polls may have closed last week, but a few prominent positions have yet to be decided. Later this month, committee chairs must be chosen for both the Honor Committee and University Judiciary Committee. Though these representatives are just beginning their transitions into office, they must give due consideration to whom will lead these bodies during the upcoming year.
For Honor Committee chair, the Managing Board suggests Alex Solomon, who has shown great commitment to serving those in the community of trust through his extensive involvement with the honor system. Serving as a counsel since his first year and now as a mentor to new counsels, Solomon has played a key role in numerous investigations and trials. Perhaps more important, Solomon has expressed a clear vision of what he would like to accomplish: simple and realistic goals. His main concern pertains to the amount of students who do not fully understand the honor system. Though recognizing the Committee has ramped up education efforts during the past year, Solomon wants to address the root of the problem and clarify the definitions of intent and triviality in the Committee's bylaws. The two concepts are relatively straightforward, but their appropriate applications to honor offenses can be difficult to determine. For example, in a case of plagiarism, did the student deliberately not cite a source, or was it out of ignorance to certain style rules? Or when a student takes something small from his roommate, is this act a trivial offense? Solomon recognizes the occasional disconnect that arises between the Committee's and the student body's interpretations of these definitions and wishes for the honor system to revitalize its role in the University community.
Moreover, Solomon seems to have a strong grasp on the Committee's proper place in the University community. He would be a practical leader able to easily communicate and gain the trust of the student body. His experience on the Faculty Advisory Committee makes him particularly well-suited to facilitate discussion on the Committee and encourage collegial, yet substantive dialogue among its members.
The Managing Board encourages UJC to select Will Bane as its next chair. Bane's dedication to the organization and his grasp of UJC policy and procedures distinguishes him from the field. During the past five semesters, Bane has served as a counselor and as chair of the Issues Subcommittee; he has also authored an impressive list of policy changes. He built his campaign platform on three tenets: transparency, efficiency and equality. Namely, he would like to shorten the average case processing time from 45 to 21 days, calling the current timeframe unacceptably long. Though other representatives have espoused similar aims, Bane's experience and demonstrated knowledge of UJC procedures lends him a distinct advantage in confronting these issues. Also notable is his strong desire to foster outside partnerships and collaborations that will increase UJC's visibility in the University community.
Although each elected representative to these respective organizations is fit for leadership, Solomon and Bane have outpaced the rest in both their experience and specific, realistic goals. We are pleased to endorse these representatives and sincerely hope that each will be given the opportunity to lead their organizations to successful terms.
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