Racial harassment cases are up

Five cases of racial harrassment were among the more than 30 incidents reported to the Judicial Inquiry Office during January. Acting Judicial Inquiry Officer Catherine Schifter said that five people are cited in the reports which come from two separate incidents, one which charges one student and another in which four students have been charged. In the three months prior to January, there had been two cases of racial harassment. Schifter said the new cases have not been settled yet. In January, the JIO settled 25 cases in which students broke the Codes of Academic Integrity and General Conduct, but that month 32 new cases were brought to the office, the latest JIO incidence report states. Among the settled cases are eight cases of disorderly conduct, two cases of students charged with possessing fake identification cards and four reports of theft. One female graduate student was found guilty of plagiarism and sanctioned directly by her professor. Schifter said the student received a failing grade in the class, and the incident will be recorded in a permanent JIO report. For their roles in attempting to steal a parking meter and pole from Spruce Street last October, two male College students must each perform 15 hours of community service and reimburse the Philadelphia Parking Authority for reinstalling the meter. Among other minor individual sanctions, four male College students were found guilty of underage alcohol consumption in separate incidents and each was required to undergo evaluations by members of an alcohol awareness program.

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