The Valpo Core

Jus Vitae presents:

Is it Always Wrong to take a Human Life? A Discussion about Abortion, War, Capital Punishment, Assisted Suicide and what it Means to be Pro-Life

November 10, 2009, 5 pm

Harre Union, Ballroom A

It’s often said that a person cannot be Pro-Life if he or she supports a war or execution.  Conversely, is someone authentically Pro-Life if he or she opposes war and capital punishment but favors legalized abortion and euthanasia?  Hopefully this discussion will provide some answers. This will be a candid discussion about sensitive issues that encompass morality and the law. Our panelists include: Dr. Rachel MacNair, Professor Geneva Brown, Professor Derrick Carter, and Professor Ed Gaffney.

A free dinner will be served.

All students, faculty, and interested members of the community are welcome.

Thursday, April 16, 12:30-4:00 pm

Huegli Hall, Lumina Room

12:45-1:30: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Social Justice

1:45-2:15: Breakout sessions

•    The Law School Admissions Time-Line

•    Surviving the First-Year of Law School

2:30-3:30: Legal Practitioners Panel on Career Paths in the Law

Panel includes a US Federal Judge, a JAG Corps Attorney, a Public Defender, and a Civil Litigator

Networking Reception to Follow

Sponsored by: Prelaw Society, Office of Graduate Studies, and
College of Arts and Sciences

Flyer: Law Day

The Conversations Project will be hosting an event on environmental justice.

Greener Pastures: A New Era of Environmental Policy?

The event will take place on Tuesday, April 7th, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Christopher Center Community Room.  Panelists will discuss U.S. environmental policy in connection the movement towards international environmental regulation including the Kyoto accords.  Panelists will share their views on policy options on the national level as well as their experiences regarding the effects of environmental regulation on Indiana.

The panel will include: Dana Dobosz, a second-year law student and a former Park Ranger at the Indiana Dunes; Marty Irwin, director of Indiana’s Center for Coal Technology Research; and Kim Ferraro, a graduate of the Valparaiso University School of Law and the Executive Director of the Legal Environmental Aid Foundation of Northwest Indiana.  The discussion will be moderated by two second-year law students; Nathan Vis and Joshua (J.J.) Hermes.  J.J. is also the leader of the Valparaiso’s Environmental Law Society.

CONVERSATIONS PROJECT TO DISCUSS THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE

The Valparaiso University Conversations Project will continue its programming on February 19th, 2009 with “Big Government Fights Back: Responses to the Economic Downturn.” The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Valparaiso University Christopher Center Community Room and is free and open to the public. Panelists will start a conversation exploring the impact of the recent economic downturn on different sectors of the economy.

Professor Alan White of the VU School of Law will focus on credit and housing markets. Professor Emeritus James Bernard of the VU Economics Department will address the labor market, providing an overview of the industries that have been most adversely affected, the sectors that are still growing and therefore hiring, and the prospects for job creation in Indiana. Mark Lopez, the District Director in the office of Congressman Pete Visclosky, will focus on the fiscal challenges facing Indiana and governmental responses to those challenges, including the stimulus package recently passed and its expected impact on the Indiana economy. Professor Niru Devaraj of the VU Economics Department will moderate the event.

A reception following the public discussion will allow audience members to continue individual conversations with one another and the panelists.

The goal of the Conversations Project is to promote mutual education, understanding and political reconciliation through dialogue, while at the same time forging connections between the University and the Northwest Indiana community. The program is supported by Valparaiso School of Law and the Valparaiso Project on Civic Reflection.

The final Conversations Project event of the 2008-2009 academic year, “Greener Pastures: A New Era in Environmental Policy?” will focus on energy policy and environmental justice.  It will take place on April 7, 2009 from 7-9 p.m. in the VU Christopher Center’s Community Room.

For more information about the Conversations Project: http://www.valpo.edu/organization/conversation.

A lecture by Graeme Mitchell, Q.C.

We are having a very important lecture tomorrow at 4:00 at the law school that you may find absorbing–imagine being picked up at age 15 on the battlefield in Afghanistan and then taken to Guantanamo. That is the plight of the detainee the law school’s Scholar-in-Residence, Graeme Mitchell, Q.C., will discuss in the Benson classroom at the law school (Wesemann Hall) tomorrow (2/18) at 4 pm. Khadr, a Canadian citizen living abroad, was only 15 years old when he was taken to Guantanamo after being captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan under suspicion of killing an American soldier. He has served more than six years in detention. His incarceration at such a young age, his treatment as a presumed terrorist, and the conditions at the Guantanamo facility have all made his case controversial. In one poll, more than 64% of Canadians supported his release. Mr. Mitchell is one of Canada’s most important humans rights lawyers and will discuss Khadr’s situation from the perspective of Canadian and American law and human rights.

25th Annual  Edward A. Seegers Lecture
Friday, March 28, 2008
4 to 5 p.m.
Tabor Auditorium, Wesemann Hall
Valparaiso University School of Law

Catharine A. MacKinnon
Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law
The University of Michigan Law School

Lecture Title:  “Women’s Status, Men’s States”

In this discussion, Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon addresses the
masculinity of states as an overlooked and crucial dimension of
international politics.  She surveys the status of women around the
world and in the international system at the same time.  Professor
MacKinnon explains why she concludes that international approaches to
women’s rights offer distinctive promise for addressing sex
inequality.

Reception to follow from 5 to 5:30 p.m. in the Duesenberg Commons.

VU School of Law

The Hispanic Law Student Association Presents

“Immigration Law & Policy in 21st Century America”

Co-sponsored by the Multicultural Law Student Association & the Black Law Student Association

Tuesday, November 13th, 5-7 pm, at Tabor Hall, VU School of Law (656 S. Greenwich St.)

The panel will discuss immigration policy and its political impact on the 2008 election, the influx of Mexican immigrants and their impact on American labor and economy, and the Mexican/American border wall and its sociopolitical significance.

Flyer for Panel on Immigration Law

FYI: An upcoming event that is approved for Core 5th-hour credit:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will present a public lecture this Thursday, October 18th at 1:00 p.m. in the Chapel of the Resurrection.

Justice Scalia’s lecture will focus on “Constitutional Interpretation.”  The talk is free and open to the public, no ticket required.  Doors open at 12:00 p.m.

This will be an interesting, enriching experience. Come see, listen to and ask questions of a member of the highest court in the United States. It’s not often we have this opportunity, so please take advantage of it.

For more information:

http://www.valpo.edu/news/index.php?action=display&newsid=3218&sy=2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia