Expertise & Excellence » In the News

Dean Klonoff shares insight about former classmate Sonia Sotomayor

Emily — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:06:32 +0000

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

Anti-trust expert addresses European Commission ruling against Intel

Jodi Heintz — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:32:15 +0000

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.

Expert on torture comments on released interrogation memos in LA Times

Jodi Heintz — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:45:38 +0000

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

Law professor addresses argument of naming victims in environmental abuses

Jodi Heintz — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:38:59 +0000

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?

Professor defends academic value of Chavez’s controversial gift to Obama

tspeel — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:22:30 +0000

Bruce Podobnik, associate professor of sociology, shared his thoughts with FOXNews.com about the book Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez handed to President Obama at the Summit of the Americas earlier this month. Titled “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” the book was published by Eduardo Galeano in 1971 and remains controversial for its critical depiction of the United State’s role in the colonization of Latin America. Podobnik included the book in his course “Latin America in Cultural Perspective” last fall, but notes that the text presents a one-sided analysis, which he offset with Walter Rostow’s “The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto.” According to Podobnik, the importance of such a comparative analysis is that “the students get exposed to a polarized discussion that continues to go on today.”

FOXNews.com (New York, NY) Book Chavez Gave to Obama Is Used as Core Text on Many College Campuses

Economics professor quoted in U.S. News

tspeel — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:51:37 +0000

Professor of Economics Eban Goodstein is quoted in a recent in U.S. News & World Reports about a trend in educating youth about conservation. Goodstein, co-director of National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, led 804 institutions and 250,000 people in a “day of engagement” on February 5. The teach-in was designed to bring college students together to discuss global warming and policy solutions and included student participation with members of Congress through videoconferences. On the generation this teach-in targeted, Goodstein said, “Students have a truly heroic task that they have no choice but to fulfill in their lifetimes. [The task is] saving the planet as we know it, so that their children can also inherit a beautiful and rich planet.”

US News (Washington, D.C.) The Future of Climate Change: How to Teach Children to Conserve

Law alum advocates on behalf of low-income community

tspeel — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:47:21 +0000

As Director of the Washington Attorney General’s Public Counsel Division, Lewis & Clark Law School alum Simon ffitch believes that heat and light are essential services for people, whether or not they are behind on their bills. ffitch’s dedication to working on behalf of people from low-income communities, including a recent appeal to a request by a local utility company to raise customers’ taxes, earned him some media attention. “We think it’s important, especially during this economy, that there’s not one extra penny taken from people’s budgets,” ffitch said.

ffitch is not alone in his commitment to public service as a professional career. More than one out of every three graduates of Lewis & Clark Law School chooses to work in the area of public interest law.

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) Simon ffitch acts as ratepayers’ representative

Center for Animal Law Studies director comments on animal rights

tspeel — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:58:12 +0000

In an Associated Press (AP) story that has made its way into publications around the world, Pamela Frasch, law professor and executive director of the Center for Animal Law Studies, comments on the growing field of animal law.

For the past 16 years, Lewis & Clark has been at the forefront of this emerging legal field. The school was the first to publish an animal law journal, the first to establish an international conference on animal law and the first to develop an animal law clinic, with full-time faculty.

In the AP article, Frasch points out that animal law is where environmental law was 20 years ago—demand is growing rapidly but much about this legal practice area is still to be tested and developed. In 2000, Lewis and Clark was one of nine law schools to offer animal law studies. Today about 100 do.

Frasch notes that because state laws vary to such a wide extent, there continues to be a mix of inconsistent laws regarding animal rights. “A mouse as a pet has protection. A mouse as a pest can be killed at will. Research mice have no protection. It is the same animal but it is a matter of context.”

San Fransisco Chronicle (San Fransisco, Calif.) More laws being passed to protect animals

MSNBC Animal cruelty laws among fastest-growing

Chicago Daily Herald (Chicago, Ill.) Animal law one of the fastest-growing niches in the industry

Detroit Free Press Animal law makes steady gains in states, experts say

The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) Animal rights? Some things shouldn’t happen to a dog

Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.) Animal rights become hot field of legal study

York Daily Record (Pennsylvania) In some states, they shoot dogs, don’t they?

Students contribute to study on Oregon’s dying trees

tspeel — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:06:59 +0000

Ecological data collection conducted by undergraduate students during a College Outdoors trip has been included in a Science journal paper titled “Widespread Increase of Tree Mortality Rates in the Western United States.” The paper discusses the mortality rate of trees in the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia. Studies show that the rate of tree death in this area has doubled in only 17 years. This can partially be attributed to the fact that temperatures have risen over one degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, leading to droughts and an abundance of insects and disease. Their research contributions on the changing dynamics of western forests has recently drawn the attention of a number of high-profile national and international media outlets.

Lewis & Clark students have collected data for the Franklin lab every August since 2006 as part of the Environmental Service Project. Alum and 2006 Break Away trip leader Brian Erickson ‘06 said, “We returned to plots that were established 30-plus years previously and remeasured every five to 10 years to provide an ongoing image of forest dynamics over time. The students collected high-quality data, worked extremely hard, learned a lot, and had a good time in the process.”

New York Times (New York, NY) Environment Blamed in Western Tree Deaths

Seattle Times (Seattle, Wash.) Regional warming hurting NW forests, study says

BBC News (London, UK) Climate shift ‘killing US trees’

Preparing students for lives as public leaders

tspeel — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:58:18 +0000

Eban Goodstein serves as a professor of economics at Lewis & Clark. He also directs the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, a project designed to harness the energy and interests of today’s college students to pressure political leaders to cut carbon emissions and pursue climate change policies. Goodstein insists that his role as educator requires him to help students build critical thinking skills to face the most difficult political, scientific and economic challenges of our time. In this commentary, he calls on his peers to see their roles as not only educators in their fields but guides to our citizenry and future public leaders.

The National Teach-In takes place on February 5 and includes more than 700 colleges, universities, and faith and civic organizations around the country who will discuss the goal of cutting current carbon levels by 40 percent by 2020. This teach-in will include lectures, faculty and student symposia, theater performances, and active engagement with political leaders and their environmental policies.

Watch this video of Eban Goodstein and colleagues discussing the importance of youth involvement in the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions:

Inside Higher Ed (Portland, Ore.) Education or Advocacy? Engaging a Hotter World

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) National “global warming teach-in” returns to Oregon

Professor questions proposed pipeline in Mt. Hood National Forest

Emily — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:51:27 +0000

A proposed 47-mile natural gas pipeline through Mount Hood National Forest has raised questions about the Forest Service’s role in upholding environmental standards governing protected areas. According to Forest Service estimates, the Palomar pipeline, slated for construction in 2011, would require clearing more than 700 acres of national forest land, including 100 acres of old-growth forest.

Law professor Dan Rohlf, director of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC), challenges the Forest Service’s role in the $800 million project. Administrative changes put into effect by the Bush Administration have eased the approval process for pipeline projects, he said.

“When FERC shows up at the door and says we want to put the pipeline here, the Forest Service…says, ‘OK, how do we have to amend our plans to get this done.’ They don’t take as hard a look as they used to,” Rohlf said.

The Oregonian: Forest Service plans to clear legal path for pipeline in Mount Hood forest

Assistant Professor Jeffrey Jones argues for “New Economic Covenant”

Jodi Heintz — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:05:03 +0000

While the federal government and economic experts focus their attention and resources on the corporate sector, Jeffrey Jones, assistant professor of law and author of The Unaffordable Nation: Searching for a Decent Life in America, argues in this opinion piece that U.S. workers should not be left out of economic stimulus plans.

“Much has been made about bailing out American corporations and whether government has done enough to help American workers,” Jones writes. “The interests are not opposed. Restoring our economy requires policies that promote good employment.”

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) A New Economic Covenant

Associate Professor Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell named Professor of the Year

tspeel — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:24:04 +0000

Associate Professor of Psychology Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell has been named the Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges Professor of the Year Award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The CASE/Carnegie prize is the only national award for excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring.

Detweiler-Bedell, who joined the psychology faculty in 2001, immerses students in interactive and challenging lessons starting in their first psychology course. Students in her Introduction to Psychology class, for example, handle a human brain and imagine themselves as subjects in classic psychology experiments. More advanced students in her Clinical Psychology course assume the roles of therapist and patient as they learn to solve realistic problems. “CASE and the Carnegie Foundation saw in Jerusha what we also see in her: an inspiring and very talented teacher whose pedagogical approach in the classroom and laboratory is informed by excellent scholarship,” said Julio de Paula, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, of the award.

For additional details about Detweiler-Bedell’s award, including her acceptance speech, visit this Lewis & Clark site.

The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, D.C.) 4 Faculty Members Are Honored as U.S. Professors of the Year

Inside Higher Ed (Washington, D.C.) Top Profs

USA Today (McLean, Va.) 2008 Professors of the Year prepare students for lifelong learning

The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Lewis & Clark professor wins national educator honor

Video: Sophomore featured in Project Happiness documentary

tspeel — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:49:13 +0000

For sophomore John-Nuriel Vissell, the key to happiness lies in doing what you love. During Vissell’s senior year at Mount Madonna School in Watsonville, California, his Values Education class was offered a challenging opportunity to evaluate the concept of happiness with two other schools from India and Nigeria. Selected by Project Happiness, a non-profit group inspired by the Dalai Lama’s book “The Ethics for the New Millennium,” these three groups were filmed for an entire school year while interacting with each other through the internet and eventually meeting in India on a trip to visit the Dalai Lama.

For Vissell, this experience was life changing. After his group asked the Dalai Lama how to obtain lasting happiness, Vissell noted, “He sat silent for a while, then responded, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ It was the perfect answer. This was the pinnacle of our work on this project. We ascended the mountain and as soon as we met with him on the summit, he sort of brought us back down to where we started.”

Santa Cruz Sentenial (Santa Cruz, Calif.) Spreading ‘Happiness’ worldwide - one young person at a time

Law Student Nick Kahl wins District 49 House race

tspeel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:58:39 +0000

Law student Nick Kahl attributes his win in the District 49 House race to voter outreach. Kahl, who took in 56% of the votes against his opponent John Nelsen, was not very surprised with his victory: “We ran an aggressive grassroots campaign. I’ve knocked on, I’d say, 14,000 doors. The amount of voter outreach – that was the difference-maker.” Although Kahl was pleased with his win, he stresses that he wants to make a difference in his community first and foremost by revitalizing the sense of pride in Rockwood that he was so used to as a child growing up.