Late last week, the Honor Committee mailed out new CD-ROMs to first-year and transfer students.
The CD-ROMs "serve as an introduction for first years to the Honor Committee," Committee Chairman Christopher Smith said.
In the past, the Committee generally displayed a 10-minute honor video during orientation, which they later mailed home to incoming first years and transfer students. This is the first year the usual video has been replaced with a CD-ROM.
The CD-ROMs were not distributed at their usual time during the summer because of delays in production.
The CD-ROM not only contains a video clip hosted by ABC Sportscaster and University alumna Melissa Stark, but also includes interactive scenarios of honor cases, a quiz pertaining to the honor system and a special message from Virginia football coach Al Groh.
Replacing the VHS with CD-ROMs allowed the Honor Committee to add other interactive aspects that aid in the creation of an entertaining educational tool, according to Smith.
"I hope [the CD-ROMs] will be a worthwhile addition to Honor education," he said.
The Honor Committee chose to distribute its information differently this year for several reasons, mainly because of cost issues. CD-ROM production costs significantly less than VHS tape production. The price reduction helps the Committee deal with the recent budget cuts. The University's Parents Program funded this project by paying for the CD-ROMs.
Until today, the majority of McCormick Road residents had not yet received the CD-ROMs due to delays resulting from the large quantity mailed out. It is taking the University mailing services a bit longer than anticipated to distribute them to all the required students, Smith said.
The Honor Committee puts time and effort into mailing these CD-ROMs because they want to ensure that students entering the University are equipped with the proper information about the system that governs the University, said Duncan Brook, Committee vice chair for education.
"Students govern this system, so they need to be educated about it," he said, adding that the Honor Committee attempts to educate students about the system that governs the University.
"Honor is a huge part of U.Va. and it's important that students know the benefits of this system," Brook said.
Students who say they have viewed the CD-ROM have responded positively.
The CD-ROM is "more informative that reading a pamphlet," first-year College student Emily Center said.
Other students expressed different reactions.
"I had already seen it in my ethics class," first-year College student Kristina Hereford said.
Some students say they have no plans to view the CD-ROM.
"I have no interest in the Honor Committee, and I don't know if it affects me," first-year College student Julian Ollivierre-Brewer said.
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