Ward Churchill And Other Local Stuff

The local news outlets are thick with versions of this story today:

In a relentlessly critical report, University of Colorado investigators said Tuesday that the professor who likened some of the World Trade Center victims to a Nazi repeatedly fabricated his research, plagiarized others' work and strayed from the "bedrock principles of scholarship."

Four of the five members of the investigative panel said ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill should be suspended without pay, though one said he should be fired. University officials said they expect to decide his fate by June 8 and refused to speculate about what might happen.

The irony is that he won't be punished for his moronic political stance (not that he should), but his high profile rantings drew attention to his questionable academic record, and that seems to be his undoing. If he hadn't uttered a whole bunch of inflamatory political statements, which weren't really related to his academic work, no one would have been the wiser. He's beyond defense now.

As our favorite lefty Boulder resident Gary Farber adds:

It came to the attention of everyone that you were a lying, dishonest, sack of... stuff, who was particularly scummy about misrepresenting yourself as an American Indian, and then further lied a lot when the tribes called you on it. Insofar as you are a leftist, you are a disgrace and you make leftists look awful by association insofar as we don't disown you. Go slink off somewhere and forge some more artwork somewhere where we'll never have to hear from you again.

And for the record, I believe this is my first and only post on Mr. Ward Churchill, whom after more than five years of living in Boulder, I am long past thoroughly sick of ever hearing about.

And, BTW, you should read the rest of Gary's post for other local news, such as the rash of mountain lion sightings in urban areas, and prairie dogs carrying bubonic plague. And of course, the locals concerned with saving the prairie dogs.

For you folks not familiar with prairie dogs, here's the only info you need to know: They are rodents, and they destroy useful vegetation. Cutish, I suppose, but prolific breeders and hard to eradicate. Out here in the West there are groups devoted to saving the critters and their habitat, which is sort of like New York City residents working to preserve rat habitat.

Now I suppose someone will tell me there really is a group in NYC dedicated to saving the rats.