The crowd always seems to shout jump. It clamors for death, blod, or failing that the harshest punishment available. Not surprising, nothing changed in the last 2K or so. Also, people are lazy. They tend ot prefer to do the same thing every time as it is easier.
I don't think it's quite so mindless as you imply. The argument is that there is no such thing as "cheating a little bit", and that all cheating is therefore equivalent. What I'm seeing, though, is them telling kids that if they're going to cheat, they might as well cheat big.
Of course, it's certainly true that it also sends a "don't cheat at all" message. It's still frustrating, though.
Perhaps the faculty should discuss this as a group? Or a group of concerned students and faculty? There was an article in the last TKS expressing similar sentiments - I'm a bit concerned about the Honor Board simply because it's on a strictly vollunteer basis, attracting a certain set of people all the time.