Found CBC.ca, a link describing how profoundly illiterate adult Canadians are according to a recent Stats Can survey. A scary 42% of adults in this country do not have the skill to discern the meanings in magazine articles, novels, their tax returns and even to work through basic problem solving. More alarming are the 12% of university graduates in this category. Even taking into account survey error and the fact that statistics are only one version of reality, those are terrifying numbers.

Which is why I have absolutely no sympathy for the students at Mount Saint Vincent who are protesting having their papers scanned for plagarism. Frankly, if you don’t know what plagarism is by university, you missed something in high school. You also probably didn’t read those writing guides they gave you in first year English. Nor did you pay attention to the syllabus of any course with a major paper.

If you don’t plagarise, you’ve got no worries. If you’re concerned about academic education and freedom, put your energies into peer tutoring programs or volunteering with writing centres. Don’t waste your time arguing that you shouldn’t be checked for having cheated. Do profs leave you alone in exam rooms to exchange answers? Nope. That’s why there are monitors. For those in the academic world professionally, there is a system of peer monitoring. You publish something in a journal that you swiped from someone else, the world is watching and holding you accountable.

Chances are that those students who are protesting most eloquently are the ones who don’t need to worry.

You want to raise that 12%? Keep whining.