Page 62 - Phoenix1999-2000

Thursday. November 18, 1999 - Page 6 COMMENTARY Staff Letters to the Editor Editor-In-Chief Megan K. Martin '0 I The Honor and Conduct Board witness is present, but it is a lot harder if the after failing to connect to the Internet after Editor Emeritus/Webmaster witness is lying to face the defendant which 20 minutes. This 'is not the only occurrence Emily Stamathis '00 Dear Editor, is the purpose of this amendment. of this nature. During this particular time, Iam very disturbed that the article on the Also, the recording of witnesses com- many thoughts went through my mind. Managing Editor Jenifer D. Sirkis '01 Honor and Conduct Board by Kate Esposito ments is for their protection. If there was no One of these thoughts were "why should .and Jenifer Sirkis was included in the No- record of what the witness said, and he is I have to pay $120 dollars for a data phone in Assistant Managing Editor vember 9 issue of The Phoenix. accused of perjury, how is he to prove his order to use a service which is not reliable Stacie Underwood '01 It is my understanding that Honor and innocence without a record of what was and is very slow compared to the growing News Editor Conduct Board meetings are confidential, said? standards of computing?" Lisa Dale-VanAuken '02 and I believe the authors have no business As for the constant reminders of the im- I thought that this situation was standard Assistant News Editor discussing what took place at these meetings, pending trial, I believe the Honor and Con- for most college students, so I was surprised Staci George '03 but above that, I believe the editorial staff duct Board should be doing its best to make to hear word from friends at other colleges Features Editor was recklessly jeopardizing the confidenti- sure every witness is at the trial, otherwise about their Internet services. Sarah Radice '01 ality of this case by printing this article. the defendant may not get a fair trial. At first Ifigured that problems signing on One may argue it is 'ok' to discuss this .If that means witnesses have one extra the Internet must be a common problem for Commentary Editor KristenG. Fraser '00 case in private conversation, but to print this message to delete from their voice mail ev- all colleges. article in a public forum is reprehensible. ery day, then so be it. However, my friends have informed me Assistant Commentary Editor I also have several problems with the ar- I am personally ashamed as a staff writer that they never have a problem signing on to Edward Schultheis '03 ticle. The authors complain that they "must that the Phoenix would publish an article that Intemetservices. Sports Editor agree to tell the truth or face harsh conse- violates the confidentiality of the Honor and On top of that, they have cable modems MikeYestramski'OI quences." Conduct Board meetings. Assistant Sports Editor or Ethernet cards, which are a great deal faster Chris Anastasia '02 Our legal system would not work if it But, even more so, I am ashamed that than the speed that my computer can access were not for the fact that testimony presented the authors are ignorant to the fact that the the Internet currently. ' Art Editor/ArchivisULayout Michael Puskar '99 by witnesses is the truth. The only way to basis of law in this country is defending the As a result, they do not have to worry insure this is to punish those who scoff at rights of the defendant and ensuring the about their phone line being tied up while Senior Writers our legal code by perjuring themselves. truthfulness of testimony in a trial. searching the Internet. Erin Howard '00 Erin Jemigan '00 They also believe that witnesses should In several classes here on campus, and on Jennifer-Ross '00 be allowed to give their testimony without Jeremy Keil campuses throughout the country, the profes- the presence of the accused and that their tes- sors require use of the Internet for their Photographers NiaClements'02 timony should not have been recorded. Editor's note: The purpose of the edito- courses. Trang Dam '00 First, let me quote the 6th amendment to rial in question was to explain and iIIumi- Therefore, we should have an up-to-date KaseniaLantzky'99 the Constitution of the United States of nate the workings of the WMC Honor and Erin Owen '01 service that can accommodate the potential prosecutions America: "In all criminal I Hussein Samater '00 accused shall enjoy the right ... to be con- the Conduct Board which may be unfamiliar or student usage. be initialed, especially con- Brad Widner '03 even foreign This should to most students. Staff Writers fronted with the witnesses against him." In no way did the commentary intend to sidering the fact that we pay up to $120 dol- Amy Bittinger 'or This a fundamental right given in our suggest that the Constitutional rights cited lars for data phones to use in our rooms. Anne Butler '01 Constitution, and yes, "the purpose of the by Mr. Keil are irrelevant. An institution thai prides itself on prepar- Tara DellaFranzia '03 Jessica Fitzgerald '03 Honor and Conduct Board [is 1 to see that Rig/us guaranteed by the-Constitution; ing students for work in a modern and tech- Sara E. Hoover '02 students are given a fair, impartiallrial."That however, do not directly govern practices nically advanced world should be first fully Matt Hurff'03 fair and impartial trial is for the defendant, and proceedings of the Honor and Conduct Michael Jenkinson '02 prepared to incorporate the technically ,ad- Jeremy Ked '02 not the witnesses. Board. ;anced \Y1.1~I?jry~9}re,~t~d,sn~ J;fe of jhe cql- Greg Lederer 'OJ They are not the ones who are on trial. It lege .. MalissaMorin'OI is the defendant who is accused, and it is in Cathy Pcndorf '02 Continuing Int~rnet Problems Devon Reeser '03 the interest of the defendant that witnesses MattHurff j FrancescaSayJor '00 be present. , Dear Editor, Ryan Seavolt '00 Yes, it may be hard to tell the truth if the I write this leiter somewhat emotionally Rich Simmons '00 Michael Stokes '00 Have an opinion? NykoleTyson '03 JodyUllery '03 PhilipVogt '01 oft the mark Email us at Distribution by Mark Parisi Rich Suchoski '00 phoenix@wmdc.edu Graduate Assistant or Vince Chesney Come out to a staff. Adviser Terry Dalton meeting held every The Phoenix is published biweekly. The Monday evening at 6 opinions. expressed do not necessarily rep- resent ihose of The Phoenix staff, the fac- pm in the basement wty,ortheadministrntorsofWMC. of DMC. The paper welcomes free-lance submis- sionson Macintosh disks in most word pro- cessorfonnats. The editorreservestheright Correction to edit for clarity length, and libel and to publish as space permits. All submissions The Phoenix would like to clarify a (excJudingseJf-addresseddiskeues) become recent concern which presented itself in the property of The Phoenix and cannot be the commentary section concerning Jeni- returned. fer Sirkis and Kate Esposito's article en- Please include a name and phone num- titled" Are students informed on Honor ber for verification. Names will be withheld and Conduct Board procedures," on page only by the discretion of the Editor -in-Chief. 5 of the last issue of the Phoenix. Due to a technical error, the final para- The Phoellixdoes notdiscriminate based graph of the editorial was omitted from on age, race, religion, gender, sexual orien- publication, seriously changing the tone of tation, national origin, condition of handi- the article. cap,ormaritaistatus. The following was to appear as the last Mail to: A ~u1uR( :TouRt-Wlco-r A'OOU-r 10 paragraph of the editorial: - The Phoenix "Is'this thetype 'of Honor System w~ WMC, 2 College Hill 6(..,- ,./1e, HRco-r"PULI::I-rSORPRIS£'" want at WMC? We don't think so. BUI, if Westminster,MD2I157 the system stays, a g;eater effort must be (410) 751-Bim made by member of the Honor and Con- FAX, (410)857-2729" duct Board committe~ to ensure that all students are thoroughly informed of the E-Mail: pilrenix@wmdc.edu Honor Code nrocess." '