The Free Trade of Ideas

In the October 18th edition of SIUC’s school newspaper, the “Daily Egyptian,” Joe Crawford reported the reactions of a few Carbondale professors to what has become known as “the Poshard scandal.” According to Crawford, sociology professor Robert Benford admirably asserted that he will hold students to a higher standard of writing. Bensford is quoted as saying, "If they want to redefine it here through the looking glass, or in this Orwellian world of SIU, they may, but I think most of the faculty I know in the humanities and the arts and social sciences just do not accept the excuse of inadvertent plagiarism" (Bensford qtd by Crawford 9)
Although the professors were advocating a stricter interpretation of plagiarism, many readers of the electronic version of the “Daily Egyptian” posted a starkly different opinion of this case. In one reply to this article titled “I Support Glenn No Matter What,” an anonymous poster writes, “All of those professors mentioned in the article should resign. I mean if you disagree with Glenn or the BOT, you have no business being here.”
The Freedom of Speech ensures the free exchange of ideas that are crucial not only to democracy, but also academic development. This poster’s call for the resignation of professors simply because they disagreed with “Glenn or the BOT” is symptomatic of the type of ignorance and intolerance that promotes an atmosphere of fear and narrow-mindedness. I had always thought that the university valued examination, discussion, analysis, and open debate—what Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called “the free trade of ideas”(Holmes para. 13)— not silencing voices of dissent.
I am proud to say that this blog, created and maintained by SIUE English 101 students, is an example of our commitment to the academic discussion. We are dedicated to the idea that entitled to a voice, both the anonymous DE poster AND the SIUC professors, and no one should be required to pay for this right by resigning his/her position.

Works Cited
Crawford, Joe. "Professors.” The Daily Egyptian 18 October 2007, p.9.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell “Abrams v United States, Holmes Dissent.” Cornell University Law School. October 18, 2007..