University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - Terra Mariae Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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Srrra iKariar. 1912 fact, nian - students who have clieated have been known to boast of the fact that they man- aged to successfully crib at the examination under So-and-So; and before examinations ingenious plans were made, not jjrimarily to cheat, but to outwit the examiner an l his watchers. In other words, when the students were waTchUd, that .spirit, that perversity i if impulse seen both in the examination room and on the outside, would assert itself and many would feel inclined to do just the opposite of what they knew to be right. It is man- ifest that under the Honor System all this is an impossibility, for under it there is no external compulsion, but, if it may so be termed, there is an autogenous one, a force emanating from one ' s own free will and conscience. Therefore, so long as a class of stu- dents determine to live up to the Honor System, so long must it be a success. And let it be known that the Honor System here is supported determinedly by the students : that it has already passed through a trial triumphantly, and that it exists here not in name (inl , nnl in the minds of some, but in reality and in fact. ISAAC M. MACKS. Y

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arrra iHariar. 1911 mcnilKT- (if the Major Faculty. At least twD-tliirds of the ineml)ers constituting the aji- peal court must be ])resent to constitute a (|uoruni. and the votes of three-fourths of the nienihers present shall he necessary to sustain the judgment and the decision of the lower court, ' i ' here shall be no appeal from the decision of this second court. 111. Xo foreign language shall be used in the examination room. I. . The professor who is giving the e- aniination shall be re(|uested to remain in the room for the purpose of answei-ing any i|uestions of the students concerning any jiart of the examination, etc. X. No tudent shall be permitted to leave the examination room except for xime ab- solute necessity; and the student is to be accompanied by some one designated by the jiro- fe sor in charge, said professor limiting the time of the students Uiv .staying out. XI. it shall be optional with each student whether he shall, by a written pledge, .state lliat he has neither given nor received aid. but such a pledge is recommended. In explanation it might be stated that every school at which the Honor System pre- vails has its own rules which are fitted to its own peculiar needs and conditions. Some have criticised our rules as being too restrictive to suit the ideas of some as to what an Honor System consists of. Whatever might be said, surely no one expects a Utopia even at the millennium, much less at the outset of the establishment of a plan to put the moral plane of the students of a school on a very high liasis. Therefore it is evident that some rules must be had, some method of procedure. If any choose to regard the so-called restric- tions as rules limiting their liberty, as regidations curtailing what they term their rights under an Honor Svstem. then let them consider the matter again, and upon second thought I am sure thev will see that in view of the fact that the Honor System is just in its in- fancy here, too much strain should not be placed ujjon it right at the outset. To be sure. the Honor Svstem here is alread a jiretty strong infant and growing rapidly, but let it gather strength as it grows. It is well to take our lesson from nature in so much at least and nourish our voung one, not expose it on a bleak mountain and leave it to the mercy of the elements. . s time goes on, however, and as the system becomes a part of the stu- dent ' s life, as it becomes an integral part of this L ' niversitw it may be made more like to suit the views of the idealists. . test of the new svstem was gisen at the mid-year examinations and the result was gratifying to all. The fears of a few ])essimists were (|uieted, especially after the cxannn;i- tion in Senior Surgery held under I ' rofessor Randoliih Winsjdw. It was noted in this ex- ;imin;ilion that although the men were permitted to spc;ik to one another, that ;dtliough the were under ])racticallv no restrictions in the room, the students felt more comiielled to pay attention to their (iwn work th,-in under the old system where they were TCd c d ' i . ' The good results under the new system are brought about by extremely simple causes. iMrstly. the student is made to feel that he is honest, and resi)onds accordingly He has no desire to cheat, because he knows that he is taking an examination in which a trust is put in him, and no man likes to betray one ' s contidence. especially his teacher ' s. Second- ly, no student likes to be considered a black sheeii, and that is what he would be con- sidered bv his fellow-classmates were he s en che;iting imder the new system. h ' ormerlv, under the old sysieiii, watchers, alias assistants, were placed in the cxam- in.-ition room. Therefore, by che;iting. there was no one ' s contidence to betray, because no trust w;is put in the student. There was no fear of the o|i|irobrium i f classmates, be- cause the students considered the watchers more or less of a common enemy .and although the majoritv of the students would not themselves cheat, nor attempt to do .so. yet they were apt to consider it as of no i)articular breach of honesty if one of their associates did so. in

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PROFESSOR RANDOLPH WINSLOW, B A, MA. M D. LL D.