University of Colorado ethnic studies prof Ward Churchill has formally responded to the charges of plagiarism being investigated by CU's standing committee on research misconduct. Pirate Ballerina has a good roundup.
Here's a question, though: Why did Churchill make his response in (by all accounts) 50 single-spaced pages?
For one thing, of course, he's trying to make the committee's job as difficult as possible. After all, reading anything by the guy is like diving into a tidal wave, and single-spacing the verbiage only multiplies the degree of difficulty. And Churchill had to have footnotes. As his fellow CU ethnic studies prof Arturo Aldama once said, "Whether you agree with it or not, [Churchill's writing has] always been praised for academic rigor. He has 400 footnotes per chapter."
Just count 'em--four hundred. And he is a master at using footnotes to obfuscate. How many do you suppose he can cram into 50 single-spaced pages?
The second reason Churchill single-spaced the document? Simple petulance. This was his chance to say "fuck you" to the committee: "There's your response, assholes. Have fun!" It's all so junior high school the guy should get a D-minus and a frowny face sticker.
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