First Monday - February 1, 2010

In this issue:

• Applications for Admission to College of Law Show an Early Increase
• Native American Law and Policy Issues to be Illuminated in Annual Conference and in 2010 Bellwood Lecture Program
• Law Review Symposium to Explore Alternative and Renewable Energy Issues

Applications for Admission to College of Law Show an Early Increase

Fueled by the recruiting and communications efforts of our new Director of Admissions, Jenifer Finney, and of our Associate Dean of Students and Administration, Helen Albertson-Ploucha, applications for admission to the College of Law are currently running 16% over last year. (Nationally, applications are up approximately 5.5%.) The College’s admissions office has received 536 fully completed applications to date, compared to 464 a year ago, with a substantial portion of the admissions cycle still ahead. In 2009, 743 completed applications eventually were received for an entering class of 114 students.

In addition to the recruitment and communications efforts, the causes for an elevated interest in studying law at the University of Idaho may include the planned availability, when approved by the American Bar Association, of a full third-year program in Boise as well as Moscow. Another factor may be the College’s recognition last September by National Jurist magazine as one of the nation’s top ten “best values” in American legal education. The magazine based its determination upon objective, data-based criteria: bar examination passage rates, graduate employment success rates, and costs of attendance.

Further information about the admissions process at the College of Law is available from Ms. Finney.

Native American Law and Policy Issues to be Illuminated in Annual Conference and in 2010 Bellwood Lecture Program

Building upon a newly established area of curricular emphasis in Native American law, and upon an expanded outreach to Northwest Indian tribes by the University of Idaho, the College of Law will present an array of special programs this spring, highlighting legal and policy issues in Indian Country:

• Annual Conference Will Focus on Tribal Economic Development. On March 26, 2010, the College will present its annual Native American law conference, entitled “Living in Balance: Tribal Nation Economics and Law.” The conference, to be held in the College of Law courtroom at Moscow, will feature noted scholars and practitioners from the West and Midwest, as well as the College’s own Professor Angelique EagleWoman, the conference organizer. Professor EagleWoman was recognized in January as one of twelve emerging national scholars by “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education” magazine. The conference is open to non-lawyers as well as lawyers (who will receive CLE credits). Further information about the conference is available on the College of Law website.
• Bellwood Lecture Program Will Feature Three National Leaders in Native American Law. Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary of the Interior and head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will anchor a distinguished trio of experts on Native American law, presenting a unique set of dialogue-based programs in connection with the 2010 Sherman J. Bellwood Memorial Lecture. Echo Hawk, formerly a Professor of Law at Brigham Young University and past Attorney General of Idaho (the first American Indian in U.S. history to be elected as a state attorney general), will be joined in each program by Lawrence Baca, national President of the Federal Bar Association and former Deputy Director of the Office of Tribal Justice in the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, as well as by Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar and Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Together, these eminent authorities will present a series of dialogues reflecting the diverse perspectives of a policy-maker and administrator, a civil rights lawyer, and a scholar on Native American and international law, as they examine topics organized under the theme, “The United States and Tribal Nations: An Evolving Relationship Guided by Domestic and International Law.” The first program will be presented during the evening of April 15, 2010, in Boise, at the Boise Centre on the Grove. The next day, April 16, the speakers will conduct a dialogue for, and with, students in the courtroom of the College of Law in Moscow. Later that same day, the speakers will jointly present a special Bellwood Lecture program in the ASUI Kibbie Dome. The Bellwood Lecture is open to the public.

The Bellwood Lecture series is the University of Idaho’s largest endowed lectureship. Prior Bellwood lecturers have included national leaders of the legal profession, the academy, and the judiciary, including most recently the Chief Justice of the United States, Hon. John G. Roberts, Jr. Further information about the 2010 Bellwood Lecture programs can be obtained from Professor Angelique EagleWoman or from Associate Dean Helen Albertson-Ploucha.

Law Review Symposium to Explore Alternative and Renewable Energy Issues

On April 9, 2010, in the City Hall Building at Boise, the Idaho Law Review will present its annual symposium. The program, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of legal, scientific, and business experts, will address the topic “Energy Independence: Challenges Facing the West in Adopting Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources.” Specific subjects will include (1) the impacts of energy regulation and environmental laws upon the development of alternative energy sources; (2) the challenges faced in the transmission and transportation of renewable energy; and (3) how new energy sources can be used to create sustainable communities. Further information about the symposium, including registration information, will be posted this month to the College of Law website.