Up-to-the-minute news briefs of faculty, student and staff successes

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Dean Klonoff shares insight about former classmate Sonia Sotomayor

In the wake of President Obama’s selection of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, media reports have explored the judge’s personal and professional history to gain insight into what she might bring to the bench. In that process of assessing Sotomayor, Robert Klonoff, dean of Lewis & Clark Law School, has provided invaluable expertise. A friend and former classmate of Sotomayor, Klonoff has compared the judge to Thurgood Marshall and said that, while classmates at Yale, “she was always willing to speak up and give her point of view.”

Learn more in the following stories:

CNN.com Sotomayor ‘always willing to speak up’ at Yale Law

New York Times Sotomayor, a Trailblazer and a Dreamer

Washington Post For Sotomayor, Humble Beginnings to High Court

The Oregonian Obama’s historic pick for the U.S. Supreme Court

FOX Business News Who Is Sonia Sotomayor?

The Oregonian Classmates remember Sotomayor

FOX News Judicial Philosophy

CBS News Gingrich: Sotomayor is Racist

1190 KBND Reaction to Obama’s Choice for Supreme Court Justice

DailyKos.com Sí, Se Puede!!!

Washington Post N.Y. Federal Judge Likely on Shortlist

27 May 2009

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Anti-trust expert addresses European Commission ruling against Intel

Law lecturer Geoffrey Manne published commentary at Forbes.com regarding the European Commission’s recent ruling against Intel and the Obama administration’s announcement to pursue more anti-trust cases.

Manne also weighed in on a New York Times story covering the recent European Commission ruling against Intel.  Manne’s specialty areas include law and economics, antitrust issues, intellectual property, and corporate and international economic regulation. Manne previously served as a law and economics specialist for Microsoft and currently serves as director of LeCG, a global expert services and consulting firm.

22 May 2009

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Student earns scholarship for commitment to global engagement

Senior Mahmood Khan’s insights on the value of international education earned him first place in the LewerMark “Make Your Mark” scholarship program.

Khan, a computer science and mathematics major, was born in Afghanistan, but he moved to Pakistan with his family in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet-backed regime. In his scholarship entry, Khan described the experience of living as a refugee and observing his parents break down barriers between the Afghan and Pakistani communities through education.

MahmoodKhan’s devotion to education inspired him to study languages and computers, and eventually earned him a position with Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian aid organization based in Portland. After traveling widely as a field system administrator for Mercy Corps, Khan decided to pursue a college education.

At Lewis & Clark, Khan has continued his study of technology, while still working part-time for Mercy Corps.

“Because of his extensive international education, talents and skills, life experiences, international perspectives, and passionate commitment to help others, Mahmood will most certainly make a difference in our world,” said Carolyn Locke, administrative coordinator for the International Students and Scholars Office and Khan’s sponsor for the scholarship competition.

Khan plans to pursue a post-graduate degree in computer science and mathematics, with the ultimate goal of integrating his studies and his relief work to increase awareness of global humanitarian need.

“I believe that my study in those fields will help me prepare for my goal of teaching and promoting the use of technology in poor countries in more creative and affordable ways,” he wrote. “I hope that one day I will be able to use technology to make more people aware of the extreme hardships that exist in our world and also to make it more accessible and easier for those willing to help to reach those in need.”

Read Khan’s essay and learn more about LewerMark online.

21 May 2009

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Expert on torture comments on released interrogation memos in LA Times

John Parry, law professor:

In a recent LA Times article about interrogation memos written in 2002 and recently released by the Obama Administration, Parry, offered his views on the legal justifications outlined in the memos.  Parry has written extensively about torture, including Understanding Torture: Law, Culture, and State Violence which is soon to be published by University of Michigan Press.

LA Times Jay Bybee silent on interrogation memos

21 May 2009

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Professor of Chinese Dede earns two research fellowships from Fulbright

Keith Dede, associate professor of Chinese:

Dede received a research award from the Traditional Fulbright Scholar Program, which is supported by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES).  In addition, Dede received an institutional award from the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) program. This latter program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and provides fellowships for faculty members to conduct research overseas in the fields of modern language and area studies for  three to 12 months.  The terms of the awards stipulate that Dede cannot accept both fellowships, so he is in the enviable position of having to decide between the two.

Dede’s research project is titled “Contact and Change in the Chinese Dialects of Qinghai.” Four months in China will allow Dede to gather naturalistic speech samples from native speakers of Qinghai Chinese dialects, train local researchers in language-gathering and documentation techniques, and work with local scholars on the social history of northeastern Qinghai to further elucidate the historical language-contact scenario and subsequent evolution that created the mixed language phenomenon there today. Generally, this will allow for the testing of theories of language evolution.

17 May 2009

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Alum earns Pulitzer nomination

Alum Matt Wuerker ‘79 was one of three finalists for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. Wuerker, a political cartoonist and illustrator for the Politico, has appeared in numerous newspapers statewide for the past 25 years. On his natural attraction to political cartoons, Wuerker said, “It’s a small niche, this place where political opinion and art get to mix in the editorial pages of the nation’s newspapers. Where else do you get to be a combination of Dr. Seuss and Noam Chomsky?”

15 May 2009

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Law professor addresses argument of naming victims in environmental abuses

Meg Garvin, law professor:

According to a recent article in The National Law Journal, the national Crime Victims Rights Act is being used more and more frequently in environmental court cases. The growing trend has some legal experts questioning the validity of this legal maneuver, arguing that it is not the established intent of the Crime Victims Rights Act. Garvin, executive director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute, countered that the environment is not the only thing compromised in environmental violations. “Individual victims are suffering greatly from environmental crimes,” Garvin said.  “We have to find a way to make them whole. Having that happen in the criminal justice system makes sense because that process is already under way.”

The National Law Journal Is Crime Victims Rights Law Being Misused in Environmental Cases?

13 May 2009

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