Pro-Terrorist Ward Churchill a plagiarist?

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Agathon

These aren't internet allegations. They are well founded.

But let me guess, you read about them on the internet.

No, the LA Times which is just a bastion of evil conservatives.

The charges were all filed before this guy decided to make a public ass out of himself; you know it, I know it, everyone in this thread knows it. Ethics is a serious matter in academia and plagurism is one of the worst crimes and that is why short of shooting people or raping students it is one of the few things a tenored faculty member can lose their job over.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Agathon

I would think not Agathon. The one painting is from 1870.

Must be a different artist then or a different painting. This guy's son is still alive and disputes Churchill's claim. Doesn't Oerdin say 1972 in his post?

That's the one I saw mentioned.

There are two in question. One was originally done in 1972 and the other was done in 1870. Sava has correctly pointed out that it is unlikely that Churchill got permission from the artist on the 1870 piece.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
And Agathon is a teacher? My goodness.. who let this kind of man into the education system to warp the minds of students?

As much as I oppose Agathon in this thread, I trust him when he says he takes extra care at hiding is agenda in class.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Spiffor

As much as I oppose Agathon in this thread, I trust him when he says he takes extra care at hiding is agenda in class.

I really hope that he is being honest in that regard. I really most certainly do and he was not like that one professor I had two semesters ago..

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Agathon
[q] Originally posted by Boris Godunov

You can't fire them for saying things you don't like, so you find something that can be used against them. For example: a trumped up charge of plagiarism, or some other fraud. Or perhaps you bribe some graduate students to complain about his teaching or supervision (don't laugh - I've actually seen that one happen). Or - my favourite - and the most popular: sexual harassment (he looks too long at girls or once touched a co-ed).

If you have enough friends in high places in the university you can make these charges stick, or at least get the person suspended or make them fight a long and expensive case against dismissal.

You'd think that other academics would leap to the defence of this unjustly accused person.... but no... they are pretty much sheep at the mercy of the administrators.

This seems to me what is happening to Churchill. They keep dragging up **** in hopes that some of it will stick. What they are doing is utterly wrong, no matter what Churchill has done, because what they really want is to censor politically unpopular beliefs - at a university.

What's worse? An academy where people occasionally steal each others ideas, or an academy where all the ideas there are to be stolen are effectively censored by the university administration?

Give me the former any day.

Lets be clear, IMO Ward Churchill is a burke.

Agathon is, however, completely correct that this is a witch hunt. With scientists it can also include producing every trace of data from notebooks etc to prove you havent falsified results. Its even worse nowadays as tenure is disappearing completely or diminishing in value at many universities.

As to his paintings, you can see that the two examples oerdin posted are original artwork. He didnt 'photocopy' the originals and present them as his own. If he doesnt reference the previous artwork in text or verbally when discussing such art then he's a dickhead, but not a thief.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Spiffor

As much as I oppose Agathon in this thread, I trust him when he says he takes extra care at hiding is agenda in class.

He barely hides his contempt here for people that hold a different place on the political spectrum letting it drive him to the hieghts of hypocrisy. Do you truely think he does any better in dealing with people face to face?

As to his paintings, you can see that the two examples oerdin posted are original artwork.

I don't really think that creating a mirror image of another painting qualifies as original work.

[Sikander]

Churchill has done us all a great favor here. By taking every advantage he could from a system of political blackmail masquerading as an academic discipline (and then some) he has exposed not only his despicable character but the truth about ethnic studies as well. The truth is that this department which hired, protected and promoted this huckster is an institution which was created simply to placate radicals on college campuses. It has no credibility as an academic discipline, its only requirement is a minimum of anti-american rhetoric.

Consider the fact that this honorary Indian with an honorary degree was made the chair of the ethnic studies department. How bad must the rest of the lot be for Churchill to rise to the top? Consider also that it's not as if Churchill was quietly sliding by as his career progressed. He's been accused regularly of intimidating anyone who dares to contradict his often bizarre pronouncements, in particular students who don't agree with his lunatic fringe ideology and think that paying their tuition entitles them to something more than passive membership in a second rate personality cult. Add to these complaints the several cases of plagierism / copyright infringement that Churchill has been accused of over the years. Why wasn't the ethnic studies department concerned about these charges? Because there is no standard within that department which Churchill violated. In fact aside from the anti-american requirement there are no standards at all in that department.

Why wasn't the university interested in pursuing these charges?The reason is that they don't consider ethnic studies a real academic discipline, but rather a power center which consumes a set amount of money and produces a variable amount of bad press and racial balance for the faculty and student body. The solution to this problem is a simple one on a campus like CU where funding cuts are an ongoing crisis. It's time to eliminate the ethnic studies department and roll any serious ethnic studies into the appropriate real department, humanities, anthropology, sociology, american studies etc.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I don't really think that creating a mirror image of another painting qualifies as original work.

Its not simply a mirror image. It appears to be a photoshopped variant of the original pen and ink work. Whether that qualifies as original art depends on the observer and the intent of the artist. My definition of art is broad enough to include the possibility that photoshopping is an art form (although this particular piece is questionable). Here's another that I would judge to be original

[SpencerH]

and ward's version

[SpencerH]

Its not brilliant stuff. It doesnt rise to the level of this

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
He barely hides his contempt here for people that hold a different place on the political spectrum letting it drive him to the hieghts of hypocrisy. Do you truely think he does any better in dealing with people face to face?

Yup. People can be radically different when they are in the clear boundaries of their job (or any other clearly defined social role). I would even think he's frustrated of his nonpoliticking in class, and he vents on 'Poly. That's contribute to explain why he is such a radical on most issues.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Sikander

Why wasn't the university interested in pursuing these charges?

And thats the $64K question.

The reason is that they don't consider ethnic studies a real academic discipline, but rather a power center which consumes a set amount of money and produces a variable amount of bad press and racial balance for the faculty and student body. The solution to this problem is a simple one on a campus like CU where funding cuts are an ongoing crisis. It's time to eliminate the ethnic studies department and roll any serious ethnic studies into the appropriate real department, humanities, anthropology, sociology, american studies etc.

Universities are supposed to be places of intellectual thought; a melting pot of ideas including those that are not popular or are not deemed to be particularly useful. In my experience too many american universities have become research institutes that prostitute themselves in search of the almighty dollar. IMO many are no longer universities at all and should be renamed.

American universities have ethnic studies departments for two reasons, in order to honestly promote a diversity of thought or to maintain the image that they are a university. IMO the university of colorado is doing the second, thats why they dont care about the standards within the department. All they care about is whether the negative publicity will effect the funding.

[SpencerH]

A better question with respect to Ward C (I will no longer use that family name in association with him) and Agathons defense of him is whether professors have the right to say anything under the guise of academic freedom?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by SpencerH
My definition of art is broad enough to include the possibility that photoshopping is an art form.

I wish I could have found professors such as you. It might have saved me alot of time writing papers.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
I wish I could have found professors such as you. It might have saved me alot of time writing papers.

I'm not an professor of art though. I'm just someone with an open mind about what is and isnt art.