The temperature of Ward Churchill's water is rising.

University of Colorado officials investigating embattled professor Ward Churchill received documents this week purporting to show that he plagiarized another professor's work.

Officials at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia sent CU an internal 1997 report detailing allegations about an article Churchill wrote.

"The article . . . is, in the opinion of our legal counsel, plagiarism," Dalhousie spokesman Charles Crosby said in summarizing the report's findings.

Churchill and university attorneys are nearing an agreement on a settlement that would lead to his resignation from the university. It has been a plank in my platform for the presidency of CU that Mr. Churchill will not be fired and will not be paid anything to leave the university, but rather that he will continue in a non-teaching capacity. Interestingly, a sticking point in the settlement discussions is that Churchill wants to teach through the end of the term.

In response to suggestions that Churchill, 57, might not agree to a settlement unless he was allowed to complete teaching his spring semester classes, [Churchill attorney David] Lane said, "I don't think there are any sticking points. It's just a matter of drafting an agreement that's acceptable to everyone."

Doug Sundseth in comments on a post here at Scholars suggests that regents voting for this settlement would lose in the next election. I would go further and offer a slate of candidates that would denounce the settlement and inform CU faculty that no more greenmail will be paid by the trustees.

RMA, take heed.