The following summaries provide some examples of cases handled in the campus judicial system. More detailed information is available in the 1996-97 Annual Report of the Office of the Judicial Administrator.
Visit that office, at 223 Day Hall, or call 255-4680, if you would like a copy of the report or if you have further questions.
Case 1: A staff person was found to have participated in a "pyramid" or "get rich quick" cash scheme from a university computer. The incident was determined not to be work related and was therefore handled by the judicial administrator. The staff person admitted non-compliance with the university's computer policies and was assessed a penalty of 40 hours of community service, 20 of which was suspended as a deterrent and because the person was not aware of the severity of this offense. (Such schemes are considered postal fraud by the U.S. Postal Service.)
Case 2: A student was found to have run a program that allowed him to intercept passwords associated with computer network IDs. The student had downloaded a "keystroke memory program" to a computer in one of the public computer labs. The student admitted to a violation of "reckless or malicious interference with or damage to . . . computer data, files or other information" and was assessed a penalty of 65 hours of community service.
Case 3: A student was found to have broken a window while intoxicated. The student admitted a violation of "damage to or loss of property" and was assessed a penalty of 35 hours of community service, restitution in the amount of $170.01, plus referral to the Alcohol/Drug Education Course. The severity of the penalty was influenced in part because this was the second incident this person was involved in that evening.
Case 4: A student admitted stealing university property as part of a prank and then providing a false report to the Cornell Police, which he later corrected. The conduct constituted a violation of provisions which make it a violation "to steal or knowingly possess stolen property" and "to furnish false information to the university with intent to deceive." The JA's office assessed a penalty of 60 hours of community service, 20 of which was suspended.
Case 5: A student shoved and hit a Residence Life employee during an altercation just off Libe Slope during Slope Day. The student was intoxicated at the time. The student admitted that he had "used physical force to endanger or injure another person" and received a sanction of 65 hours of community service. The student was not referred to the Alcohol/Drug Education Course for this incident because he had been involved in another alcohol-related incident a couple of weeks prior to Slope Day; he was referred to the course for that incident but had not yet been able to attend.
Case 6: A panel of the University Hearing Board (UHB) considered a case in which the JA and the defendant were not able to reach a summary decision agreement. The charge presented to the board was that the defendant violated Title Three, Article II.G of the Campus Code of Conduct, which states that it shall be a violation "to threaten or use physical force to endanger, injure, abuse, intimidate, or coerce another person." The case arose out of an altercation in a residence hall in which the defendant allegedly waved a knife in the air in a manner that was threatening to other students.
The UHB concluded that the student had engaged in the conduct alleged and that his behavior violated the section of the code cited. The board imposed the following sanctions: counseling referral to Gannett Health Center; general disciplinary probation until Dec. 31, 1997; and a disciplinary record until May 31, 2000, or the defendant's undergraduate graduation from Cornell, whichever is earlier.