And this update on embattled University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. A special panel at the university has concluded that Churchill’s controversial comments about the Sept. 11 attacks could not be grounds for his dismissal and that his statements were protected by the First Amendment. In an essay written shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Churchill compared some of the victims to Nazi Adolph Eichmann. However the controversy surrounding Churchill is not over. The same committee has called on the university to investigate a series of allegations about the professor’s academic research. Churchill has been accused of plagerism and fabricating his Native American heritage. Churchill’s lawyer, David Lane, described the new inquiry as “blatantly unfair’’ because the professor was given no opportunity to present a defense. Lane said, “If they had bothered to call Ward Churchill, they would have investigated his response, found the allegations to be baseless, and there would have been no further action taken.”