The latest word on Ward Churchill is that the University of Colorado may buy out the so-called ethnic studies professor's contract, possibly for as much as $10 million.

And they say crime doesn't pay? Instead of being bought off, this seditionist - who preaches that the 9-11 victims were "little Eichmans" that had it coming and that terrorists are justified in attacking America - ought to be locked up.

If the latest report is true - that there's a tape of Churchill giving instructions on how to attack Wall Street or Seattle with explosives - then he's guilty of treason in both word and deed. But even without that, there's plenty of reason why this fraud should be in jail instead of rewarded with a buyout.

Here's a man who has been reliably reported to have engaged in plagiarism, art fraud, copyright infringement and a list of lies as long as your arm - on his rsum, his scholarship, even his Native American bloodline. No American Indian groups have been able to confirm his heritage, even though that was one of the key affirmative action reasons CU hired him to head its ethnic studies program.

The confusion around Churchill is that, though he's done things that could land anyone outside the insulated world of academia in all kinds of hot water with the authorities, he and many others in the misguided intelligentsia - including brainwashed students - believe his tenure and free speech rights somehow shield him from paying the consequences for betraying his country.

They do not. Tenure was developed nearly a century ago to raise and guarantee professors' salaries so they wouldn't be lured into more lucrative fields, as they often were at that time, and to protect them from being fired for teaching or speaking out on controversial subjects. That does not mean they have license to engage in criminal speech or to side with America's enemies in wartime. It's an outrage to compel taxpayers to fund seditious talk that could put them at grave risk.

Besides, according to several reports, Churchill's tenure has a bad odor. He qualified for it after only one year, although it generally takes at least a half-dozen years and a doctorate to become tenured.

The University of Colorado must fire Churchill. To do otherwise would be disgraceful. There's plenty of cause - incompetence and academic fraud as starters. Then state law enforcement should look into reports of his criminal conduct - there's much too much smoke for there not to be a fire.