For more information,
please contact:
Gwen Osborne,
director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS AND ASSIGNMENT,
LEGAL, PLANNING, BUSINESS, AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO-- February 3, 2003--Chicago-Kent
College of Law, the Stuart Graduate School of Business
and the Center for Law and Financial Markets have
experts available to discuss current issues. To reach
any of our experts, call Gwen
Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312)
906-5251. Copies of press releases and earlier advisories
are available on our Web site: http://www.kentlaw.edu/news/
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell presented satellite
images and audiotapes to the U.N. Security Council
Wednesday. He presented what he called "irrefutable
and undeniable" evidence that Saddam Hussein
has concealed weapons of mass destruction from inspectors
in Iraq. Powell told the 15-nation council that Iraq
has violated U.N. resolution 1441. The members' response
to the evidence will determine whether the Bush administration
will seek U.N. authorization to use force against
Iraq. Foreign policy experts and Chicago-Kent professors
Bartram S.
Brown and Henry
H. Perritt, Jr. are available for comment.
What are the international human rights implications
of military action in Iraq and the "War on
Terrorism"? Professor Bartram
S. Brown will discuss the human rights implications
of the use of force and the landmark establishment
of the International Criminal Court this week in a
panel discussion, "Righting Human Rights,"
at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Professor Brown is
available for interviews. For more information about
the "Conversations at the Carter Center"
program series, visit the Web site at www.cartercenter.org.
The Bush administration continues to deploy troops
to the Persian Gulf as the U.S. prepares for the
possibility of war with Iraq. Professor Michael
I. Spak, a colonel in the U.S. Army reserves,
is a co-author of Servicemember's
Legal Guide: Everything You and Your Family Need to
Know About the Law. He can discuss legal matters
of concern to members of the armed services, including
the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Soldiers'
and Sailors' Relief Act of 1940.
The tragic deaths of the seven astronauts aboard
the space shuttle Columbia has prompted some Americans
to question the validity of space exploration. In
the wake of the Columbia tragedy, Eliezer
Geisler, professor and associate dean for
research at Stuart Graduate School of Business, says,
"It would be wrong to underestimate the immense
benefits and long-term value this program has given
us over the years, and continues to give. The question
should not be whether we should continue our space
program, but how to strengthen it with renewed focus
and direction." Professor Geisler, author of
Creating Value with Science
and Technology, is available for interviews.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told the
Illinois Supreme Court that former Gov. Ryan exceeded
his authority by granting clemency to 21 Death Row
inmates who did not specifically request it. Madigan
also asked the court to invalidate clemency for 16
inmates who were waiting to be resentenced by lower
courts because their previous death sentences were
overturned. Dean
Harold J. Krent, a constitutional scholar
who has written on clemency issues, says, "Governors
historically have enjoyed wide latitude in granting
clemency, and they should. A governor's power to pardon
is intended to check legislative power, and Attorney
General Madigan's position would undermine that salutary
function." Dean Krent is available for comment.
You Don't Know Auctions!: Each year, Internet
auction fraud costs American consumers approximately
$5 million. The most prevalent complaints involve
identity theft, misrepresented merchandise or undelivered
goods. How can consumers protect themselves? Honors
Scholars of Chicago-Kent College of Law have collaborated
with the City of Chicago Department of Consumer Services
and AT&T, to create "You Don't Know Auctions!",
an interactive Internet game to educate the public
about online auctions and to caution them about the
dangers of auction fraud. The Web address for the
game is www.youdontknowauctions.com.
Dean Harold J.
Krent and honors scholars are available for
interviews.
"E-Regulations: E-Security and Knowledge"
is the topic of the United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe workshop next week in Geneva, Switzerland.
Chicago-Kent professor Richard
Warner will address the group on civil liability
for inadequate network security. Professor Warner,
who teaches in the Legal Aspects of E-Commerce certificate
program, is also director of Project
Poland.
Age Discrimination: The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission last week announced the largest settlement
in an age-discrimination lawsuit. More then 1,700
retired public safety officers will share $250 million
in cash and in upgraded benefits. The lawsuit was
brought by injured police officers who alleged that
California's pension fund gave injured workers benefits
based upon the age at which they had been hired rather
than the extent of their injuries. Chicago-Kent professor
Howard C. Eglit,
an expert on law and aging and employment discrimination,
is available for interviews.
The National Basketball Association's All-Star Game
will be held February 9 in Atlanta. Adjunct
professor and sports attorney Eldon Ham is
the author of Play Masters:
From Sellouts to Lockouts: An Unauthorized History
of the NBA – a book about key legal issues
related to the league. Professor Ham is available
for interviews.
Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 drama, A
Raisin in the Sun, has been selected as
the next book in the city's "One Book, One Chicago"
program. There will be citywide readings, video presentations
and discussions of the book and the issue of race
and housing in Chicago. Events in Hansberry's award-winning
play were inspired by her father's legal challenge
to restrictive covenants in Chicago real estate sales
that prevented African-Americans from living in certain
neighborhoods. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case,
Hansberry v. Lee, in 1940. Chicago-Kent professor
A. Dan Tarlock
teaches courses in property law. Professor Tarlock
is available to talk about the Supreme Court decision
and about racially restrictive covenants in Chicago
prior to 1948.
President Bush has proposed eliminating the tax
rate on investors' dividend earnings. Professor
Keith Black of IIT's Center for Law and
Financial Markets says, "While this move will
cause a large decline in Federal revenue, and will
likely be opposed by Democrats as a ‘gift to
the rich,' it may cause a change in many companies'
dividend policies." Professor Black says that
in the U.S. corporate income is taxed twice -- once
at the corporate level and again when investors pay
taxes on dividend distributions. While many investors
are asking large corporations for increased dividend
payments, a weak profit picture may preclude companies
from safely offering higher dividends to their stockholders.
What does this bode for the valuation levels of the
U.S. markets? Professor Black is available for interviews.
Martha Stewart says legal fees, lost business and
the decreased values of shares in her company
have cost her an estimated $400 million since the
government began its investigation of alleged insider
trading. The investigation came as a result of Stewart's
sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems Inc.
stock in 2001. The transaction occurred the day before
ImClone announced that the FDA had rejected its application
for approval of a cancer drug. Her company, Martha
Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), is traded on the New
York Stock Exchange and includes Stewart's television
and radio programs, publishing interests and several
joint venture agreements. Stuart Graduate School of
Business professor Joel
Goldhar is available to discuss the impact
of the scandal on Stewart's personal branding issues.
High school basketball star LeBron James was
declared ineligible by the Ohio High School Athletic
Association (OHSAA) for accepting $845 worth of sports
jerseys from a Cleveland clothing store. The store
gave the student Gale Sayers and Wes Unseld jerseys
in exchange for James posing for pictures to be displayed
on its walls. However, the OHSAA said James broke
an amateur rule "by capitalizing on athletic
fame by receiving money or gifts of monetary value."
Adjunct professor and sports attorney Eldon Ham
is available for interviews.
Robert S. Abbott graduated in 1898 from what is
now Chicago-Kent College of Law. Abbott was best
known for founding the Chicago
Defender in 1905 and expanding it into the
country's most influential African-American publication.
He is credited with focusing the nation's attention
on lynching, Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination.
The Defender, which
was outlawed in several states, encouraged African
Americans to leave the rural South for the urban North
in the early 20th century, giving rise to what was
called "The Great Migration." Chicago-Kent
has rededicated a scholarship to honor Abbott. The
scholarship provides funding for law students from
underrepresented minority groups. Richard Van Hees,
assistant dean for institutional advancement, is available
for interviews about the program.
On the Downtown Campus:
March 11: "Hospitality Begins with a Quality
Union Contract: The Union's Role in Reviving the Industry"
is the topic of the fifth annual Distinguished Labor
Leader Lecture delivered by John W. Wilhelm,
president, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees
International Union, AFL-CIO. The program, which is
free and open to the public, will be held in the Gov.
Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium. The Distinguished Labor
Leader Lecture series presents addresses by leading
labor leaders on critical issues in the workplace.
The program is co-sponsored by the Chicago Federation
of Labor, AFL-CIO and Chicago-Kent's Institute for
Law and the Workplace. For more information, call
(312) 906-5090 or visit www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle
on the Web.
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