Dear Readers,

It has come to our attention that as a paper we have published material or excerpts of material that was taken from national media outlets and various Internet sources without proper attribution. We are coming forward to admit our grave mistake and to impress upon readers that this paper will not and cannot stand for such actions.

We pride ourselves in not only being a vehicle of information for the student body, but also means to provide young journalists with experience and growth within the field. For these reasons, it is even more important to create an environment consistent with the ethical standards of the journalism profession.

This incident has brought to light the fact that not everyone who works at The Badger Herald may be aware of the danger and severity of plagiarizing and what plagiarizing actually entails. We take full responsibility for not adequately shielding the paper against such a thing and educating our staff members properly.

From this point on we will be proactive in implementing new safeguards against such a thing happening again in the future. We will strive to create an environment where every staff member understands the dangers of what plagiarizing can do to this publication and its readers.

 We take full responsibility for letting something like this situation occur and we offer our heartfelt apologizes and a promise that this will not happen at The Badger Herald again. We remain insistent that you deserve nothing less.

Sincerely,

Eric B. Cullen and Stacy Hicklin

On behalf of the Board of Directors