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–December 6, 2006–Chicago-Kent College of Law and Stuart School of Business have experts available to discuss current issues. To reach any of our experts, call Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312) 906-5251. Press releases and earlier advisories are available on our Web site: www.kentlaw.edu/news/advisory.
U.N. Ambassador John Bolton resigned after it became clear that he lacked congressional support necessary to retain his position. President Bush nominated Bolton to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in March 2005, but a Democratic filibuster prevented his confirmation. In August 2005, the president used his constitutional authority and installed Bolton to the post as a recess appointment. As the December 31, 2006 expiration of the appointment neared and it became apparent the Senate would reject his nomination a second time, Bolton resigned. Chicago-Kent dean Harold J. Krent is a constitutional scholar and the author of Presidential Powers. He is available for interviews about executive privilege and the Senate’s advice and consent role. Professor Bartram S. Brown is an expert in international law who frequently has served as a consultant to the United Nations.
Businesses must save employee e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents as a result of new federal rules that went into effect December 1. The new rules, which were approved by U.S. Supreme Court administrators in April, amend existing rules governing civil litigation in an attempt to help the courts and parties in federal lawsuits manage electronic evidence. Professor Henry H. Perritt, Jr., who teaches courses in civil procedure and is the author of Law and the Information Superhighway, is available for interviews about the new rules. Dean Harold J. Krent is available to discuss privacy issues. Joel Goldhar, professor of technology management at Stuart School of Business, can discuss the potential for fraud in the digital documents that businesses are now required to keep.
Best-selling author Michael Crichton’s latest techno-thriller presents a genetics industry he says is “fast, furious and out of control.” In Next, Crichton imagines a world in which blondes are threatened by extinction and it is possible to design one’s pets. And, while tissue donors and their families are not yet being pursued by bounty hunters intent upon harvesting genes for biotech companies, Chicago-Kent professor Lori B. Andrews, a bioethicist and director of IIT’s Institute for Law, Science and Technology, says gene patenting could have a chilling effect on American health care delivery and scientific innovation. Professor Andrews presents her findings in a recent article in Science Magazine (co-authored with Chicago-Kent professor Timothy Holbrook, student Danielle Bochneak, and Jordan Paradise of the University of Minnesota) citing recent actions by the U.S. Patent Office and the U.S. Supreme Court that move us closer to the horrors imagined in Crichton’s fictional work. The article calls for scientists to work with policymakers to help them “understand that open access to basic laws of nature, products of nature, and mathematical formulae is necessary for scientists to explore and innovate.” Professor Andrews is available for interviews.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) have been asked to provide additional information to the Department of Justice, which is reviewing the proposed $8 billion merger between the two exchanges. CME and CBOT account for nearly 80 percent of the total U.S. futures and options-on-futures traded. Professor Michael Gorham, of Stuart School of Business’ Center for Financial Markets, worked for the CME for eighteen years and has served on the board of the Chichago Board Options Exchange’s futures exchange. Professor Gorham also served as the first director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight. He is available to discuss the review process and the impact of the proposed merger on the derivatives market.
Dreaming of a green Christmas? Professor John Paul Kusz, associate director of Stuart School of Business’ Center for Sustainable Enterprise, has a number of environmentally friendly gift suggestions to share.
There won’t be a crèche on the lawn outside the Tippecanoe County, Ind., courthouse this holiday season. County commissioners refused to amend a policy in a way that would have allowed the nativity scene to be displayed. For the past five years, the Fair Lawn, New Jersey, council has declined permission to erect a menorah at the borough hall. Holiday displays of menorahs, nativity scenes and other religious symbols on government property have often been the subject of lawsuits. Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod, a constitutional scholar, can discuss the controversies involving the separation of church and state, and recent court cases.
Chicago-Kent students Joel Roberson and Susan Clark will spend their winter break working as volunteers in the Gulf Coast region providing assistance to residents impacted by Hurricane Katrina. It will be the second time Susan and Joel have been to the area. During their 2006 spring break, they worked on housing issues at the Mississippi Center for Justice. Between January 7 and 13, 2007, they will work in New Orleans as part of the Student Hurricane Network, a coalition of students from Illinois law schools formed “to provide one-on-one advocacy support and community rebuilding services” to displaced residents. The students are available for interviews now and after they return from the Gulf Coast in January.
Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and the late Ken Caminiti are among 17 first-time players on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Despite their stellar on-field performance during their careers, controversies regarding their use of performance-enhancing drugs may prevent their induction. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham is the author of Larceny & Old Leather: The Mischievous Legacy of Major League Baseball. He is available for interviews about McGwire’s, Canseco’s and Caminiti’s nominations to the Hall of Fame and about steroids in professional baseball. Professor David Rudstein is a die-hard fan who believes baseball “is not just a spectacle, but a part of life.” He is available for interviews about this year’s nominees to the Hall of Fame--from a fan’s perspective.
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