I have to admit that I have not been following the Churchill matter closely....however, my question is this....isn't the issue of academic fraud, etc a pretext or pretense? (I have difficulty differentiating the two at times).  It seems that these accusations are coming after the fact of the 1st amendment debate....isn't post-event rationalization a concern here?

Dan

>>> [log in to unmask] 2/15/2005 10:03:52 AM >>>
Along the same lines, there was a reported case in the NYTimes last year
were a German scientist had his PhD stripped away by the conferring
university NOT for misconduct in gathering evidence in support of his
dissertation, but because papers SUBSEQUENT to receipt of his PhD were
based on fabricated evidence.  The story appeared in June 4, 2004 edition
of NYTimes on p. D2.  The first lines of the story read as follows:  "A
German university has revoked the doctoral degree of the former Bell Labs
scientist who claimed a series of research breakthroughs, then was fired
two years ago when it was discovered that he had manipulated data and
fabricated results.
     "The physicist, J. Hendrik Schon, 33, did not commit misconduct in his
doctoral research at the University of Konstanz, an investigation there
found last year.  But on Friday, the university said it had a legal right
to rescind a degree when the recipient behaved 'unworthily' of it."
      Apparently the investigation stemmed from research results which were
incapable of replication by others.
                                           BDF
At 10:29 PM 2/14/2005 -0500, you wrote:
> 
>This story in the LA Times covers a different aspect of Churchill's fraud
>-- his fabricated pseud-scholarship. 
>
> --------------------------------------------- 
> Dr. Gavin Clarkson
> Assistant Professor
> University of Michigan
>   School of Information
>   School of Law
>   Native American Studies
> 303C West Hall
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
> 734-763-2284
> [log in to unmask] 
> http://www.si.umich.edu/~gsmc 
>  
>Colorado Professor Faces Claims of Academic Fraud 
>Ward L. Churchill is accused of distorting historical facts about American
>Indians. 
>By David Kelly
> Times Staff Writer
> 
> February 12, 2005
> 
> BOULDER, Colo. â€" University of Colorado professor Ward L. Churchill has
>come under fire recently for comparing the Sept. 11 victims to Nazis and
>for questionable claims of Indian ancestry. Now, fellow academics are
>accusing him of fraud.
> 
> Several professors have alleged that in his writings, Churchill distorted
>events surrounding a smallpox outbreak among Indians in North Dakota, as
>well as the facts concerning requirements for tribal identity.
> 
>""""
> 
>"" in which he says the U.S. Army distributed blankets infected with
>smallpox to the Mandan Indians on the Upper Missouri River in 1837.
> 
>""""
> 
> Churchill cited his source as Russell Thornton, an anthropology professor
>at UCLA specializing in American Indian studies.
> 
> Yet when Brown compared Thornton's account of what happened to
>Churchill's, he found serious discrepancies. Thornton, in a 1987 book, said
>nothing about the U.S. Army handing out blankets infected with smallpox.
> 
> Thornton said a steamboat came up the river June 20, 1837, stopped at Ft.
>Clark â€" in what is now North Dakota â€" then arrived at a Mandan village.
> 
>"" Thornton wrote.
> 
> In Thornton's account, the death toll was between 20,000 and 30,000, not
>the 125,000 Churchill wrote of.
> 
>""""
> 
> Churchill has refused numerous requests for comment, and his lawyer did
>not return calls Friday.
> 
> Thornton, a Cherokee, said there were historical cases in which blankets
>were used to try to infect Indians, but not in this instance.
> 
>"" he said.
> 
> Brown, an expert on Indian nationalist movements, said Churchill had
>invented the story.
> 
>""""
> 
> Churchill's writings are being reviewed by the University of Colorado's
>interim chancellor to determine whether there are grounds for his dismissal.
> 
>"" â€" referring to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi who designed the Holocaust.
>The essay was not widely known about until recently.
> 
> Churchill, 57, gave a fiery speech at the Boulder campus Tuesday, refusing
>to back down and promising to fight for his job.
> 
> While many, including the university Board of Regents, question whether a
>tenured professor can be fired for what he says, academic misconduct is
>another matter.
> 
> John LaVelle, a law professor at the University of New Mexico and a Santee
>Sioux, has written extensively about Churchill's treatment of history.
>LaVelle said Churchill had repeatedly fabricated a key element of the
>General Allotment Act of 1887, a measure designed to break up Indian
>reservations into individual allotments, with the rest of the land sold off
>to white settlers.
> 
> Churchill said the law required tribe members to have 50% or more Indian
>blood to receive land. Tribes later imitated this standard in setting
>tribal enrollment standards, he said.
> 
>"" â€" likening it to the racial policies of the Nazis and apartheid in
>South Africa. He also accused Indians of racism.
> 
>"" he wrote.
> 
> But LaVelle said there was no mention of any such blood requirement in the
>General Allotment Act. The act allowed tribes to set their own standards
>for membership, he said.
> 
>""
> 
> Critics say Churchill's motives were clear: As long as tribes required
>some standard of proof for membership, he would never be admitted.
> 
> Churchill has claimed membership in the United Keetoowah Band of
>Cherokees, but leaders say he has no affiliation with them.
> 
> On Friday, Chad Smith, principal chief of the 250,000-member Cherokee
>Nation, said there was no evidence of Churchill having Cherokee heritage
>and that he was not eligible for citizenship.
> 
>""""
> 
> In a 1978 application for a lecture position in Native American studies at
>the University of Colorado, and again in a 1990 application to be an
>associate professor, Churchill claimed to be American Indian.
> 
>""""