ARMED FORCES: WHAT PRICE HONOR?

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Captain Arthur Lincoln, a lawyer and West Point graduate who represented some of the cadets at one point during the proceedings, estimates that 90% to 95% of all cheating incidents are not reported. Cadet Timothy Ringgold, who is accused of tolerating cheating, claims that "roughly one-third of my junior class cheated, and the other two-thirds tolerated it."

Some cadets are pressing their case against the honor code with astonishing frankness—for West Point. Not only are they appearing on television and granting interviews, but they are also seeking out newsmen who will listen to their stories. Now that campuses elsewhere are quiet, and have been for several years, a wave of delayed-action student revolt is washing over the 174-year-old institution, where the best way to survive has been to conform. Cadets are demanding that they be given the same rights of due process that civilians enjoy under the law. Some young legal officers at West Point are siding with the cadets, claiming that hearings on code violations are often nothing more than kangaroo courts that flout the 14th Amendment.

As the scandal rumbled across West Point, Lieut. General Sidney B. Berry, 50, the academy's superintendent, fought to get the situation under control. A tough, erect veteran of two wars, Berry confessed to TIME, "I've never been in more of a combat situation than I am now. There are things that make me heartsick in the whole situation—so many young men may have violated the honor code. But, by God, I've been heartsick in battle and done what I have to do."

What Berry has done to cope with the scandal and get at its causes is take control of the honor code away from the cadets. Berry gave Colonel Hal B. Rhyne, deputy commandant, a new full-time job: handling honor code questions and issues. He then replaced the cadets' honor committees with an "internal review panel" that will conduct the initial hearings in cases of alleged violations. The panel is made up of three field-grade officers (major and above) and two cadets who next year will be first classmen (seniors). Still not satisfied, Berry created four separate subcommittees to investigate cheating in the junior class, where the scandal is centered. Finally, he ordered the entire junior class to stay on at the Point after graduation to be available to testify if necessary.

In the face of accusations that the Point was trying to cover up the whole story, Berry last week assembled 300 members of his staff and declared: "That's a pile of horse manure. It's going to be a long summer. Somehow we've got to get ourselves organized to get this traumatic experience over as quickly as possible. It's a painful thing, but we are paid to do tough things in the soldier business."