I never thought I would have to write about this. I watched as other media -- big-time media -- were dealing with reporters who concocted stories, stole from other reporters and wrote outright lies to the public.

I cringed each time I heard about another journalist ruining the perception of my chosen field. It was shocking to see that Jack Kelley of USA Today, a man so revered and respected in the business, made up stories -- even after meeting him and hearing him talk about the stories in question.

But, I really never thought of the possibility of it happening here.

I treasure all 193 of my staff members, and the time and dedication they have given to the Collegian. Just as it happened at The New York Times, USA Today and other reputable newspapers, it happened at the Collegian.

It was brought to my attention this weekend that our arts and entertainment enterprise columnist, Jay Barimani, had written two columns that bore striking resemblance to a story written days prior on the humor Web site www.collegehumor.com.

"Ten College Commandments: Parts I and II," which ran on April 8 and 15, respectively, are the columns in question. Some of the concepts and writing in them are eerily similar to the ones written in the story on collegehumor.com. This is a hard situation, because I want to believe Jay. He said the idea was his own and that he did not take anything from the site.

But the similarities were too close for me to sit comfortably and let it pass by -- so Jay is no longer a staff member of The Daily Collegian. I apologize to the readers and to collegehumor.com.

You trust your staff members to the fullest that they are doing their jobs correctly, and most of them do. But just as it has in the past, they slip by sometimes, and it goes against everything so many amazing journalists have worked so hard to create.

Public perception of journalists is skeptical at best. Media credibility, words commonly thrown around, is always in question with readers. Situations such as Jayson Blair of the New York Times and Kelley hack away at the heart of journalism and what it stands for. This situation that rests in my hands is just as bad and just as disheartening. I know many people do not take the Collegian seriously at times, and this obviously does not help.

Journalism is a testy business. We are supposed to provide the truth, accurately and objectively. But, there are people who do not do this and ruin the spirit of an entire profession.

It's ironic that today we are running a full-page promotional ad about the awards Collegian staff members have won during this year. It's ironic, but it shows that situations such as what this column is about are not the norm. Thousands of journalists work every day to keep the public informed and do a very good job of it. This situation hurts me personally. I value what journalists do and what the majority accomplish through newspapers, including this paper. But, what I hope to offer our readers is that it won't be tolerated at the Collegian. I will not, never have and never will allow staff members to betray our readers with false or plagiarized material. I can confidently say that goes for every editor, reporter, photographer and graphics artist at the Collegian. Those in charge will not tolerate it after I leave in May.

I hope that the credibility of journalism can be saved, even if the few bad ones are found. I hope our readers have confidence in us to provide accurate, objective information daily.

Don't let one person stomp on the spirit of an entire organization.