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 18, 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.
What’s in a name? It has been three months since the 100-year-old Marshall Field’s department store name was changed to Macy’s. Its parent company, Federated Department Stores Inc., has seen sales, stock prices and analysts’ ratings decline. One securities analyst says “management miscalculated the impact” of the change on its customers. Last week, Macy’s began wooing former Field’s shoppers back to the stores with personal phone calls and letters, direct mail incentives, and discounted in-store coupons. Professor Joel Goldhar of Stuart School of Business, an expert on branding issues, is available to discuss the Macy’s conversion and the impending move of Carson Pirie Scott from its landmark address on State Street.
An international theft ring based in Chicago has defrauded nearly 2,000 eBay buyers and sellers of more than $5 million. Twenty-one people have been charged with defrauding people via “second-chance auctions” in which they promised customers merchandise paid for but never sent. The Chicago group allegedly has ties in Romania. Internet auction fraud costs American consumers millions each year. The most prevalent complaints involve identity theft, misrepresented merchandise or undelivered goods. How can consumers protect themselves? In 2003, honors scholars at Chicago-Kent College of Law 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 is available for interviews.
Dreaming of a green Christmas? “A gift package of ‘fair trade’ coffee or other ‘fair trade’ edibles allows us to share both the product and the ideals behind its very being,” says Professor John Paul Kusz, associate director of Stuart School of Business’ Center for Sustainable Enterprise. “I also like to give a card with a gift certificate, eliminating boxes, wrapping, and it's easy on the planet and easy to send.” Professor Kusz has more gift suggestions and contact information for businesses and organizations whose products strive to achieve “sustainable” goals.
'Tis the season to point and click. Americans are spending billions of dollars online during this holiday shopping season. Experts from Chicago-Kent and the Stuart School are available to discuss a wide range of e-commerce issues, including Internet privacy, identity theft, site authentication and laws to protect online consumers.
Nine decorated Christmas trees have been replaced at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after a rabbi withdrew his threat to file a lawsuit unless a menorah was added to the airport’s holiday decorations. While the displays of menorahs, nativity scenes and other religious symbols on government property have often been the subject of lawsuits, displays of holiday trees, Santas and so-called secular symbols have not. Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod, a constitutional scholar, can discuss separation of church and state, and freedom of expression issues.
Experts from IIT’s Downtown Campus are available to talk about the top business and legal stories of 2006 and discuss what issues are likely to carry over into 2007 -- and beyond.
The NBA has fined the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks organizations each $500,000 and suspended seven players from both teams a for total of 47 games after a fight broke out during a December 16 game. Denver forward Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games. Nate Robinson of the Knicks and J.R. Smith of the Nuggets each received a 10-game suspension. Denver players Mardy Collins, Jared Jeffries and Jerome James, and New York player Nene Hilario were also suspended. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham is the author of Play Masters: From Sellouts to Lockouts: An Unauthorized History of the NBA. Professor Ham is available for interviews about violence in sports -- on and off the field of play.
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.
Upturns in the market that occur at the start of the year are influenced by the “January effect.” As a result, stocks generally rebound from year-end selling to post some of their strongest gains. Professor Keith Black of Stuart School of Business’ Center for Financial Markets says the January effect may be minimized this year because small stocks have consistently beaten large stocks over the last year. Professor Black is available for interviews about this phenomenon.
Everything old is new again as the new NBA regulation ball may become an immediate collectors' item. At the beginning of the 2006-2007 season, the National Basketball Association put a new synthetic basketball into play. NBA commissioner David Stern last week announced that the new microfiber composite ball with the interlocking design was being sidelined as a result of players’ “consistently negative” response to it and the leather ball used for more than six decades will return to the lineup January 1, 2007. Adjunct professor and sports law expert Eldon L. Ham, the author of The 100 Greatest Sports Blunders of All Time and Play Masters: From Sellouts to Lockouts: An Unauthorized History of the NBA, is available for interviews.
Downtown Campus Events
January 24, 2007: “Body Worlds 2: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies,” a controversial exhibit developed by Dr. Gunther von Hagens, will be on display at the Museum of Science and Industry from January 17 to April 29, 2007. The work has been hailed by some as an achievement in anatomical science while being criticized by others as denigrating the deceased. Yet others raise concerns about the “commodification” of the human body and issues related to how the corpses on display were obtained. IIT’s Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future (IBHF) will host a panel discussion, “Humanism in the Age of ‘Enhancement’: A Critical Response to ‘Body Worlds,’” to foster debate about the exhibit, the effects of art and science on the human form, the use and acquisition of human bodies and biological materials, and the implications of von Hagens’ project on human dignity. Panelists include: Liz Lerman of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, University of Illinois at Chicago art history professor Hannah Higgins, Lindsey Thieman of the International Museum of Surgical Science, and IBHF-affiliated scholars Christina Bieber Lake and Katrina Sifferd. The program, which will begin in the Gov. Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium at 5:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by Three Walls, a Chicago-based not-for-profit art and art education organization. Nigel M. de S. Cameron, IBHF president and research professor of bioethics at Chicago-Kent, will moderate. The program is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. For more information, visit the Web site at: www.thehumanfuture.org, or to RSVP, please contact: RSVP@thehumanfuture.org.
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