University of Virginia Library

Since you, as the self-appointed
expert on the Honor System, have
long defended the cherished tradition
it represents, perhaps you
could alleviate a bit of confusion
on our part. Recently, in discussing
aspects of the System, an
interesting hypothetical was raised.
Suppose a periodical, whose organization
and staff were part of
the University, and thus its Honor
System, in an effort to liken their
Institution to those ivy-covered
halls of the North, sought to create
this Ivy League similarity by demonstrating
that the drug-taking
intellectuals were as numerous on
this University's grounds as they
were on the greens of Harvard and
Yale.

Suppose further, that the staff
of this periodical, in order to
fully demonstrate to our Ivy "Big
Brothers" that we neither lagged
behind them in academics nor pot,
attempted to pass off on its readers
a purported interview with one of
the mystic gurus of the Cavalier
Underground. Assume further that
said Mystic Guru rehashed the oft-heard
mouthings of the marijuana
set, quoted "Speed kills," and
opined that 10% of this student
body partakes of grass. In order
to make this palatable, the staff
created a letter to the editor,
penned by the skulking "Jim,"
which corrected a "mistake" in
the interview.

As ridiculous as this hypothetical
may seem, we raise it merely
for the purpose of inquiry. Would
this be a violation of the Honor
System?

Thomas D. Johnston

Law 1

Paul Whitehead, Jr.

Law 1

We've never posed as the "self-appointed expert
on anything, and the knowledge
we have of the Honor System
is the same as that of any student
who has conscientiously read
the and the Honor Com-
committee's clarifications of its policies.
There is a difference, we suppose,
between a hoax and a lie. If you
are that the interview with
was a hoax, , we should be most
interested in hearing your evidence.

—Ed.