According to Honor Committee statistics released yesterday, only 18 trials still are pending from the 158 total cases filed by Physics Professor Louis Bloomfield since April 2001.
"Our goal is really to leave the new [Honor] Committee with a very few number of trials and hopefully that committee will have them done by the end of the academic year," Committee Chairman Thomas Hall said.
Of the 51 cases referred to trial, 13 resulted in guilty verdicts. One case resulted in a not guilty verdict for cheating and another resulted in a not guilty verdict for lying.
Fifteen students chose to leave the University admitting guilt and two cases were dropped before trial.
Four trials were dropped based on psychological evaluations revealing that a contributory mental disorder was found in the accused.
Bloomfield first initiated honor charges after developing a computer program to search for plagiarism in term papers submitted electronically. He used this software to identify plagiarism in term papers from his "How Things Work" course. Total charges originally numbered 122, but the number has grown to 158. This figure includes one case against a student who took the class last semester.
Bloomfield declined to comment on the latest trial statistics.
Hall says the trials are progressing smoothly this semester and he expects to complete the two remaining Bloomfield cases from the Class of 2002 this weekend.
"It's complicated trying to coordinate the schedules of about 25 people for any given trial [but] generally we've had no major problems," Hall said. "I think realistically we're going to be done with all the investigations probably by the end of this month."
It is unclear if the Bloomfield trials will affect student opinions on the informed retraction proposal, which would allow accused students to admit guilt and accept a three semester suspension from the University rather than face expulsion if found guilty at trial.
The proposed informed retraction amendment is on the ballot for the Feb. 25-27 student body elections.
"I'm not sure how it will affect the informed retraction decision ... I do think the spotlight that Bloomfield has put on Honor has increased the awareness of Honor in the cases of every University student," Commerce Rep. Brad Buchanan said.
The Bloomfield-initiated honor trials present a special situation for the Committee. An Honor Investigation Panel must initially review each case to determine whether a case should be dropped or referred to trial.
The investigation stage alone can take as long as four weeks. The Committee only can hold two trials per week, and processing the Bloomfield trials must be balanced with unrelated honor trials.
The Committee experienced further delays last semester in reaching accused students studying abroad or who transferred before their case was processed.
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