First Monday - May 1, 2006

In this issue:

• College of Law to Launch "Water of the West" Initiative
• Victims' Rights Clinic to Provide Statewide Service
• Law Student Receives Fulbright Award

College of Law to Launch "Water of the West" Initiative

Due to the efforts of law professor Barbara Cosens and colleagues across the University, the College of Law will play a central role in creating a new interdisciplinary graduate program in water resources with law, policy and management tracks.

Entitled "Water of the West," the program will offer graduate-level instruction bringing science and law to bear on water resources issues. The program is one of five new initiatives selected from 43 campus-wide proposals developed in response to UI President Timothy White's "Plan for Renewal." During the first five years of the "Water of the West" initiative, University funding will enable the College of Law to hire a new law professor and a law teaching fellow. Thereafter, the College will use privately raised funds and (as needed) law student professional fee funds to sustain the initiative. "Water of the West" is an important step toward achieving a distinctive emphasis in natural resources and environmental law, as envisioned by the faculty in strategic planning for the College of Law.

The university's announcement of the "Water of the West" initiative and other successful proposals, as well as a "blue ribbon" process for selecting them. Further information specifically regarding "Water of the West" is available from Professor Cosens: bcosens@uidaho.edu.

Victims' Rights Clinic to Provide Statewide Service

The Idaho Victims' Rights Clinic (VRC), a part of the Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Idaho College of Law, has been awarded $105,000 to fund its second year of operation. The funding comes from the United States Department of Justice through the National Crime Victim Law Institute at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The Idaho VRC is one of eight such clinics in the United States to receive such funding. During its first year the Idaho clinic represented survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and arson, as well as victims of embezzlement and other theft crimes, in north-central Idaho.

During its second year, the VRC will add adjunct faculty in Lewiston (Jamie Shropshire) and Boise (R. Monte MacConnell) in order to expand services to state courts throughout Idaho. In addition to supervising clinic students, they will help recruit attorneys for a pro bono roster. They will also provide outreach and education to criminal justice system participants and to the public about crime victims' rights. Clinic professor Pat Costello will continue to act as supervising attorney and principal investigator for the Victims Rights Clinic project. Further information about the VRC is available from Professor Costello: costello@uidaho.edu.

Law Student Receives Fulbright Award

3L student Richard A. ("Ritchie") Eppink has been chosen, in an exceptionally selective process, for a prestigious Fulbright Award. His approved proposal (pdf) is to conduct rigorous research on public legal education ("PLE") in Canada and then to build elements of PLE into a project for civic engagement and citizen empowerment in the United States. PLE in Canada is conducted by a long-established network of government-funded agencies that educate Canadians about the law as well as their rights and responsibilities. Mr. Eppink will investigate PLE as a model for making justice more accessible, understandable, and responsive to diverse populations in the United States. For further information, he can be contacted at eppi0937@uidaho.edu.