Professor Karin Mika presented at the Biennial ALWD (Association of Legal Writing Directors) Conference held at the University of Minnesota, July 19-21.  The theme of the conference was, “What Unites and Divides Us.” The title of Professor Mika’s presentation was, “The Legal Writing Classroom in a Post-Trump (win) Presidency.”  In her presentation, Professor Mika discussed views on whether the divisions in our country should be discussed in the classroom and, if so,  how it should be done to avoid bias or being overly political.  She also discussed how the classroom atmosphere has or has not changed since the election, especially in relation to minorities (both teachers and students) who may feel intimidated by the current climate in the nation.  Finally, Professor Mika discussed whether there is liberal bias in colleges, and whether professors implicitly or explicitly encourage it in the classroom.

Professor Sterio at the Radio Bleu Touraine radio station, participating in “The Inquiry,” BBC Word Service

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio participated as a panelist in a BBC World Service radio and online show “The Inquiry,” in an episode entitled “Who Gets to Have Their Own Country?”  According to the BBC description of this episode, available here:

You might think simple rules decide the creation of nation states. You’d be wrong.

There are plenty of people out there who want their own state – like in Iraqi Kurdistan and Catalonia, which both have independence referendums coming up. Yet the national governments in Baghdad and Madrid say the votes – whatever their outcome – won’t result in new countries. So how do you start a new country? Making sense of an atlas dotted with exceptions, special cases and lands in limbo, we ask: who gets to have their own country?

In addition, Professor Sterio was quoted in a BBC article on the same topic, entitled “How do you start a country,” available here.

SEALS Panel on the Trump Administration and Foreign Affairs and National Security Law Issues

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented on a panel entitled “The Trump Administration and  Foreign Affairs and National Security Law Issues” at the Southeastern Law Schools’ Association (SEALS) Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, on August 5.  In addition, Professor Sterio presented, at the same conference, as part of a discussion group on overcoming bias threat and stereotypes in law school teaching on August 6.

Professor Deborah Geier has published “Indexing Basis for Inflation: The Intractable Problem of Debt” at 156 Tax Notes 507 (2017) in response to an earlier piece suggesting that asset basis of certain assets (but not others, including debt) be indexed for inflation in measuring taxable gain or deductible loss for Federal income tax purposes. Tax Notes is available online only to subscribers, but a pdf copy of the piece can be accessed here:

Tax Notes 7-24-2017

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, appeared on the BYU Public Radio public affairs show “Top of Mind,” to discuss a proposed federal antitrust exemption. The new law would permit news organizations to bargain collectively with Google, Facebook, and other online platforms for a bigger slice of online ad revenues. You can hear audio of the segment here.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, appeared on the Fox Business program Neil Cavuto Coast to Coast today to discuss antitrust obstacles to the pending Amazon/Whole Foods merger. You can watch the clip here.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, appeared on “Air Talk,” a current affairs program on the Southern California public radio station KPCC, to discuss a new bill proposed by the newspaper industry. The law would exempt them from antitrust for the purpose of bargaining collectively with Google, Facebook, and like firms over online ad revenue.