Article XII of Honor Code does more harm than help
Last year, nine Rice students got away with sidestepping the Honor Code. Even after being officially confronted with the accusation against them, these students faced no formal hearing and had no mention on their records, due to the allowances of the Honor Code's Article XII - known to many as the "loophole" clause. On the Spring Election ballot next week, Rice students will have the chance to make our Honor System significantly more fair: The amendment to Article XII must pass! What is Article XII? In a nutshell, it allows a student faced with an Honor Code accusation to voluntarily withdraw from Rice for two semesters and, by doing so, to bypass the Honor Council process and have all charges against them dropped when they return. The plain truth is that Article XII harms more Rice students than it helps and undermines the fairness of the Honor System we have all agreed to abide by.