A false quote attributed to Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland found its way into a story published in yesterday's section.

At a newspaper, magazine or any other sort of publication, there is always the risk of an individual's unauthorized activity that takes place within the office spilling over into the final product.

It can start with someone at the beginning of the editing chain making a change in a story in order to be funny. Those at later levels of editing assume that basic checking has been done properly and pass the material on for publication.

If and when this does happen, the publication must step back, realize how such material affects those whose names are connected to it and how it reflects on the staff and journalism profession as a whole.

In this case, an individual other than the reporter whose name was attached to the story in question was responsible for the insertion of the quote. The individual of course fabricated the quote, and Portland never said anything of the kind.

The individual's actions went against training and Collegian policy.That staff member has been disciplined and will no longer be allowed to work for the Collegian.

The entire staff has been addressed about just what sort of implications this has for the Collegian staff and for the future of journalists and the profession in general.

In America, journalists are consistently accused of being sleazy, sensational individuals out for nothing more than to see their name in print. They are seen as trying to grab readers' attention with outrageous stories and quotes.

An incident like this does nothing to change that image.

Not only does it do that, but it reduces our credibility in the eyes of you, our readers.

On behalf of The Daily Collegian, I apologize for our editorial process breaking down and resulting in an individual being able to insert such material into the paper.