University of Maine President Peter Hoff will step down on Aug. 15, ending long-standing speculation that his time as head of the state’s largest university was nearing its end.

Both Hoff and University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal are playing nice. But we don’t buy it.

Hoff accepted a non-tenure professorship with the university so he could “take on new challenges,” the Associated Press reported this week.

Regardless of the sunny rhetoric coming out of Orono, the shake-up at the University of Maine doesn’t look so nice. By appearances, the 59-year-old Hoff was forced out and then compensated nicely for it.

Hoff has been working without a contract for almost a year. His contract was not renewed when it expired in August 2003. No new contract is a pretty strong message, despite bureaucratic explanations from Westphal that the delay was not meant as a slight.

Hoff’s ongoing and high profile search for a new job also contributed to the feeling he had one foot out the door. Most recently, he was a finalist to become the president of the University of Nebraska. He was also a finalist for president at the University of Texas-Arlington and for chancellor in the Oregon University System.

Whether Westphal pushed him the rest of the way out or not isn’t clear. What is clear: A golden parachute will ease the transition. Hoff will reportedly make more than $118,000 a year – about 75 percent of his current salary and nearly eight times the 2004-05 in-state undergraduate tuition rate – in a research position at the university. He’s also eligible for a one-year, paid sabbatical, the AP reported.

In seven years at the university, Hoff has overseen the school’s growth from 8,900 students to more than 11,000 and has tripled the amount of research dollars coming in, now about $60 million a year.

Westphal said he’s grateful for Hoff’s service – grateful enough to give him a nice job but not enough to keep him as president.

With his non-tenured position, Hoff will have the chance to search for a new job while drawing a paycheck and plotting a graceful exit, a nice improvement since grace has been woefully absent so far in this messy affair.

Netting phishers

Phishers.

They’re not spelling-impaired anglers or fans of the jam band Phish. They’re lawbreakers who use phony Web sites, made to look like legitimate business, to scam online consumers out of money and personal information.

A new bill in the U.S. Senate looks to toss a net over the criminals who go phishing. They’re already breaking a bunch of laws by fraudulently obtaining personal information, but the proposed legislation would allow law enforcement to react before harm is done. As it stands, law enforcement officials have to prove a scam has caused measurable harm before they can pursue the criminals.

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is sponsoring the legislation, phishing has grown into a $2 billion a year fraud and threatens legitimate online commerce.

The scam works like this. An e-mail, faked to look as if it has come from a bank or online business, is sent out telling people there’s a problem with their account. The e-mail includes a link that directs the person to a Web site dressed up to look like a real business. The Web site asks for personal information, like Social Security numbers, passwords and bank accounts. The information is then used to steal the victim’s identity.

Leahy’s bill is an important step in improving Internet security. It should become law. Congress has a little time left before adjourning, but that shouldn’t prevent action on a bill that will help protect online consumers.