I am dismayed to inform Technician readers of a case of plagiarism within the Student Media staff. Yesterday I received an email from a fellow college newspaper saying they suspected one of our staff columnists of plagiarizing a column that ran in their own paper. After investigating the claim, I found it to be true. Whole sections of column were copied word for word from the publication, without giving credit to the original author. This falls under Technician’s definition of plagiarism, as well as the University’s definition. After looking back at all the columns the staff member has written, all 10 of the columns we published by him were plagiarized.  I would like to apologize for publishing plagiarized material in Technician. Even though I did not know about the indiscretions until now, I am fully responsible for all content that runs in this publication. One columnist letting you down means I am letting you down.  Journalistic integrity is of the utmost importance to myself and my staff, and I’m highly disappointed that a member of the Student Media team would breach our trust and readers’ trust. Student Media’s mission statement says the student-run media works to uphold the highest standards of journalistic ethics, and this instance goes directly against our code of ethics.  Just yesterday morning, I read an article regarding a student newspaper getting in trouble for publishing an apology — much like this one — for a case of plagiarism in their own paper. At the time I thought I would never have to deal with such a situation. A few hours later, I was proven wrong. I do not want to offer excuses — they’re worthless. I want to be honest with you and offer my sincerest apologies.  The opinion columns have been taken off our website, the columnist responsible is no longer allowed to contribute to any Student Media publication and the publications the columnist took material from are in the process of being notified.  Looking internally, I will reiterate to the staff how plagiarism affects the relationship the paper has with you, the readers. We are nothing without the truth and we are nothing without our readers. My apologies, Laura Wilkinson, Editor-in-Chief