House Editorial: Dishonorable disregard
Honor council would do well to remove middleman and hear student voices
Posted on January 11, 2007

Voter turnout is generally poor for U.S. elections.

Does that mean Americans should abdicate their right to vote?

It might, if it were left up to the JMU Honor Council.

The Honor Council is currently mulling a decision that would put a notation on a student’s transcript if he or she were convicted of an Honor Code violation. The notation would remain on that student’s transcript for a year, potentially making it difficult to transfer to another school.

Recently, the faculty was surveyed on the matter and 313 responded. Next it was suggested that the students be polled on the issue. However, that student input may be left to SGA — the logic being it represents the student body and should do so in this instance. Honor Council President Kurt Taves said the reason for this is because he didn’t think the students would respond to a survey.

However, the student population generally views the SGA with apathy. The meetings — held every Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Highlands Room at the Festival Center — are open to the public, but sparsely attended. The yearly SGA elections garner little interest from the students.

In life, the middleman is largely unpopular — hence the rise of satellite television. Usually middlemen will cause us to have less money, less input and, most importantly, less choice.

U.S. and state senators and representatives are essentially middleman. They are go-betweens for us (the public) and them (the government). They act as our voice. They vote for us on issues we don’t have time to. And as a whole, politicians are largely distrusted.

For the Honor Council, playing the role of “them” in this story, to not consult the students on an issue, which directly applies to them seems lazy, as it is quite possible to send mass e-mails and surveys. They do it for Dining Services and they did it for the faculty.

For once, let’s cut out the middleman and let those the decision affects actually decide.