Representatives from Hoos Against Single Sanction and Students for the Preservation of Honor met last night to debate the merits and problems associated with the multiple sanction proposal which will appear as a referendum on the spring ballot.
"The elections are coming up later this week and we believe it's very important for students to hear the arguments and make an informed decision," said Vadim Elenev, vice president of the Washington Literary and Debate Society, the organization that hosted the debate.
The non-binding resolution, which was introduced to the ballot by a petition by Hoos Against Single Sanction, introduces changes to the Honor Constitution that would establish a multiple sanctioning system in dealing with honor offenses.
Sam Leven, president of Hoos Against Single Sanction, and Rachel Carr, vice president of the group, argued that the proposal would increase reporting of Honor offenses and make the system less arbitrary.
"I know there's a strong sentimental tie to the single sanction," Leven said. "There should be, it's been there for 165 years. All we ask the students to do is to change the way we look at honor."
Jay Trickett, vice chair for trials for the Honor Committee, disagreed, acknowledging flaws in the current system but stating that the proposal does not sufficiently address those flaws.
"My main concerns with this proposal are the introductions of arbitrariness and bias into the system where they don't [currently] exist," Trickett said.
Trickett was joined by Josh Hess, founder of Students for the Preservation of Honor, in opposing the proposed resolution.
Hess cautioned against making changes to a system that he said he believes works well.
"The system we set up now has more or less proven to be insulated from real world biases," Hess said. "Why would you want to institute a system that explodes the amount of subjectivity that takes place in jury deliberations?"
Participants in the debate discussed how multiple sanctions would affect the reporting rate of honor offenses and whether such a system would lead to too much subjectivity. Participants also discussed the effect of multiple sanctions on possible discrimination in the Honor system.
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