University of Virginia Library

Chris Mallis

—Ed.

Robert Proutt

I do not agree with the Honor Committee's
decision concerning the vending matching case
and in my opinion they should have been
permanently dismissed. To quote from a
pamphlet entitled The University of Virginia
Honor System, "One of the things you might
find worth discussing is the severity of this one
penalty. There have been many students who
have felt that it's not fair. We should give a man
a second chance — suspend him perhaps for a
year on the offense, let him back in, and on the
second offense maybe kick him out forever. Or
if it's just a little lie or a little theft fine him or
suspend him for a day or two." I say to this
that there are no degrees of honor. However if
they were correct in assuming that this incident
was not "classified as dishonorable by the
public opinion of the student generation
involved," then the Honor Committee made the
right ruling. But this decision is left to the
discretion of the Honor Committee without
any established provisions for securing student
opinion. For this reason I am stressing that
formal channels should be created in the form
of referendums and polls by which the general
student body consensus could be obtained.