July 15, 2010 05:07 AM UTC

CU Regents: Yes, Plagiarism Is Bad

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• by: Colorado Pols

Here is a statement from University of Colorado Regents Michael Carrigan and Stephen Ludwig–you might recall that the CU Board of Regents has some experience dealing with plagiarism.

DENVER- Democratic CU Regents Michael Carrigan (CD-1) and Stephen Ludwig (At-Large) issued the following statement regarding the recent disclosure that Former Congressman Scott McInnis engaged in significant plagiarism in research papers written for a foundation.   Both Carrigan and Ludwig serve on the Board of Regents and voted to affirm the CU faculty’s decision to dismiss Ward Churchill based on CU’s findings of plagiarism.  Speaking for themselves and not on behalf of the entire Board, their statement is as follows:

“Mr. McInnis has claimed that his plagiarism only matters because he is a candidate for governor and that it’s a non-issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s hard work and claiming it as one’s own – this is no more permissible for a candidate or politician than it is for a college professor. In the past, the public, including many elected officials, demanded consequences for those engaged in plagiarism.  We agree and think the same standard should apply to Mr. McInnis.” [Pols emphasis]

Churchill, a former CU faculty member, was dismissed [Pols emphasis] in July of 2007 after a CU investigation into research misconduct that found he had plagiarized.

Anybody gotten former Gov. Bill Owens on the record yet? We have to figure he’d agree.