Ninety-five Years
of
Editorial Freedom
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Vol. XCV, No. 68 Copyright 1984, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, November 28, 1984 Fifteen Cents Eight Pages
Honor Code: Is it
By CARLA FOLZ
For the 4,000 undergraduate students
enrolled in the University's College of
Engineering signing an honor pledge after
taking an exam is as natural as signing their
names..
Over the last few years, the college has ex-
perienced fewer reported cases of cheating
than LSA, but do the numbers really mean that
fewer students are cheating?
While many engineering students say they
stick to the code, others have doubts about its
effectiveness.
THE HONOR Code was established in 1915 to
put the responsibility for academic honesty in
the hands of the students instead of the faculty.
Under the code, exams are given without a
proctor and at the end of the test each student
must sign a pledge reading "I hae neither given
nor received aid on this exam.''
Students suspected of cheating are brought
before the Honor Council, a group of students
who decide whether the code has been violated.
Mechanical engineering Prof. Francis
Fisher has chaired the Engineering Faculty
Committee on Discipline for the last five years.
Fisher said that during each of these years only
one or two students were suspended for
cheating.
AN ADDITIONAL eight to 10 students found
keepingo
guilty of a minor first offense is usually given a
zero on the section of the test involved. The
final grade on the exam is then lowered one
notch, for instance from a B- to a C - For a
more severe violation, a student's entire course
grade could be lowered.
In comparison, last year the LSA Judicial
Council punished 21 of the colleges 13,500 un-
dergraduates for academic dishonesty. Twelve
students were suspended, two were expelled
from the University, four were given an in-
crease in the number of credits needed to
graduate, and three had their graduation date
deferred.
Many engineering students feel the Honor*
engmneers honest?
Code is an effective deterrent against
cheating. William Ickes, an engineering senior,
said though he has never seen anyone in his
engineering courses cheat, his LSA courses
were a different story.
"I THINK they put the pledge in so it's sub-
conscous and reinforces beliefs of what not to
do," Ickes said.
Other students aren't so sure signing the
Honor Code Pledge will keep students honest.
Michael Amicangelo, who is working on his
second engineering degree from the Univesity,
said the Honor Code wouldn't deter him from
cheating.
"If I'm going to cheat, I'm going to cheat,"
Amicangelo said. "The oath doesn't mean
anything."
HE DOES believe that the possibility of being
turned in by fellow classmates keeps many
people from cheating.
A student is required under the code to in-
form the Honor Council about any suspected
violations. One student, who asked to remain
anonymous, said while this obligation may
make some students more likely to reveal
chaters, he would inform on a suspected
violator because of his own moral convictons,
not because of the code.
Another more powerful motivation for
See ENGINEERS, Page 2
Treasu
unveils
new tax system
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department
recommended yesterday a sweeping overhaul of the income
tax system that would finance new rate reductions by
eliminating many popular deductions. The Treasury
estimated 78 percent of Americans would pay less or the
same under the plan.
President Reagan said the proposal meets his demand for
simplification without being "a tax increase in disguise." He
promised to carefully review the thick report and public
reaction to it before sending his version to Congress early
next year.
THE PROPOSAL was unveiled at a news conference by.
Treasury Secretary Donald Regan. "This will go a long way
to assure any American that the other person is being taxed
on the same basis as he or she is," he said.
The plan calls for replacing the detailed system of personal
income tax brackets with just three steps -15 percent on the
first $19,300, 25 percent from there up to $38,100, and 35 per-
cent on anything higher.
"Under the proposal 78 percent of all taxpayers will ex-
perience either no tax change or a tax decrease," ex-
planatory material released by Regan said.
ALTHOUGH 22 percent of the taxpayers will face higher
payments, "more than half will experience a tax increase of
less than 1 percent of income," the department study said.
It would result in little shifting of the tax burden from one
income tax level of individuals to another, Regan said. Ac-
cording to the Treasury, those with incomes between $20,000
and $30,000, for example pay 10.3 percent of taxes under
present law and would pay 10.2 percent under the proposal.
Those between $50,000 and $100,000 now pay 32.8 percent;
they would pay 33.1 percent.
The plan would also double the $1,000 personal exemptions;
increase the standard deductions; slash the maximum in-
dividual tax rate now 50 percent to 35 percent; limit to $5,000
the writeoff for interest other than a home mortgage, and
wipe out the deduction now permitted for state and local in-
come taxes.
THE "MARRIAGE penalty" deduction of up for to $3,000
for two-earner couples would be killed, as would the deduc-
tion for state and local taxes. Unemployment compensation
would become fully taxable; only charitable contributions
that exceed 2 percent of adjusted gross income could be
deducted.
Employer-financed health insurance premiums exceeding
175 a month for a family plan, $70 for singles, would be taxed.
Other worker fringe benefits, including group term life in-
surance and education aid, wouldbe taxed as wages.
On the other hand, the maximum contribution to a tax-
deferred Individual Retirement Account, now $2,000 for a
worker and $2500 for an unemployed spouse, would be raised
to $2,500 each. A two-earner couple could put aside up to
Associated Press
Big smile
Artificial heart recipient William Schroeder waves
Humana Heart Institute yesterday in Louisville, Ky.
for the camera with registered nurse Lawrence Barker at the
See REGAN, Page 3
Charter changes anger MSA
By KERY MURAKAMI
MSA vice-president Steve Kaplan announced last
night that he is writing the Michigan Union Board of
Representatives (MUBR) to protest an amendment
which would give the board the sole power to appoint
students to the board.
The MUBR is the controlling body of the Union,
consisting of 11 students and 7 non-student members.
They make general decisions on the course of the
Union such as room appropriations and the retailers
allowed to open shops in the basement.
The amendment, approved two weeks ago by
University Vice President for Student Services,
Henry Johnson, would give the chairman of the board
the authority to choose a selection committee to in-
terview and recommend candidates to the rest of the
board.
IN THE PAST, an MSA interviewing committee
with the aid of two student representatives from the
board would recommend to MSA an applicant for
each vacancy. The assembly had the power to either
accept or reject these recommendations.
Last night, Kaplan called the measure a "blatant
violation of our regentially-given rights." He said
that when the Board of Regents recognized MSA in
1976 they also recognized their constitution.
In the constitution, MSA is given the authority to
"serve as the appointment body for the selection of . .
. student representatives to outside bodies . . . in-
cluding but not limited to such all-campus bodies as
the Board of Representatives of the Michigan
Union."
BUT THE chairman of the Union Board, LSA
senior Michael Perio. claims that the amendment
does not change MSA's authority. "The MSA never
had complete power of appointment," he said.
"Truthfully, I don't understand why they're up-
set." Perigo said that the selection committee
guarantees a seat to an MSA representative. And since
a unanimous vote is needed to recommend an applicant,
See MSA, Page 2
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Suicide pill
proponents
face uphill
battle
By GEORGEA KOVANIS
For the students who are requesting
that University Health Service stock-
pile suicide pills for optional use in
event of a nuclear war, the campaign
trail is rough.
The group is continuing to petition
students in order to place its proposal
on the Michigan Student Assembly's
April ballot. ' But according to
some student leaders, it is doubtful that
the group will be able to harness large
amounts of student support.
THE PROPOSAL probably won't
cause a tide of anti-nuclear war sen-
timent to flood the campus, according
to MSA President Scott Page.
Students aren't going to rally around
this cause, "simply because it isn't
going to happen or actually affect
students," he said, since Health Ser-
vice has said it isn't going to stock the
pills.
"I think that students here are more
concerned with academics," he said.
"NOT AS MANY people are talking
about it as expected," he said, adding
that students aren't becoming suddenly
emotionally attached to the group.
In the end, according to Page, the
group may be able to tap the resources
of only about 40 or 50 students to sup-
port the proposal.
According to Roy Harvey, an LSA
freshman who is a group member,
about a half dozen to a dozen other
students have approached him about
joining the group's campaign.
However, he said that because the
group is in an organizational stage right
now, they have been temporarily tur-
ned away.
THE 12-member group, Students
Against Nuclear Suicide (SANS) is
being confronted with a variety of
student opinions. Some say the proposal
is silly, others support it.
See SUICIDE, Page 3
Associated Press
Morning flakes
School children were greeted with a half inch of snow yesterday morning to
walk through in Grand Island, Nebraska.
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ToDAY-
Extension
As the White House turns
Michael Reagan, airing the latest round in the first
family feud, said Tuesday he wants to sit down with
his father and settle their differences "outside the press...
so Dad can get on with negotiating with the Russians. The
first family feud erupted when Nancy Reagan said in an
interview with syndicated columnist Betty Beale that
really don't have a whole lot of things to retract because I
was really kind of hurt. 4 don't think Nancy has to
apologize," Michael said.. "I just want to see this whole
thing taken care of, really, in an abkve board type of way,
outside of the press. I don't think our type of squabbles
belong in the press," he said.
similar issues concerning the world arms race. Questions
from the audience will be taken at the end of this last Meet
the Press of the term. The event is sponsored by The
Michigan Daily and the Canterbury Friends.
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