Mary Ann Mason Calls on National Research Council to Broaden Academic Analysis

The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 31, 2009 by Marc Goulden, Angelica Stacy, and Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/article/Assessment-Denied-the/48233/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

It is moving in the right direction by including nursing, public health, communications, and emerging, cutting-edge fields such as biotechnology, nanoscience, and race, ethnicity, and postcolonial studies. But the exclusion of other fields that produce large numbers of research doctorates seems insular and retrograde. We urge the NRC and others to consider those issues and to design future assessments that are truly comprehensive and reflective of the diversity of academe.

Ethan Elkind Promotes Policy Reforms to Permit Sustainable Development

San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 2009 by Jared Huffman and Ethan Elkind
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/30/IN7Q19E409.DTL

The real estate collapse has masked the existence of a severe housing shortage in California. While developers have oversupplied single-family detached homes with backyards, buyers looking for a home within walking distance of jobs, services, good schools, parks and public transit have few options in this state…. The primary roadblock to this development is local land-use policies.

Katherine Porter Says NY Foreclosure Judge Makes Banks Follow Credit Laws

The New York Times, August 30, 2009 by Michael Powell
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/nyregion/31judge.html?_r=3&emc=eta1

Judges and lawyers have wondered aloud why more judges do not hold banks to tougher standards. To the extent that judges examine these papers, they find exactly the same errors that Judge Schack does,” said Katherine M. Porter, a visiting professor at the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and a national expert in consumer credit law. “His rulings are hardly revolutionary; it’s unusual only because we so rarely hold large corporations to the rules.”

Jason Schultz Puts Google Book Settlement in Historical Perspective

CNET News, August 29, 2009 by Tom Krazit
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10321371-265.html

If the class action settlement is approved, Google stands to gain control of a priceless asset. Jason Schultz, acting director of UC Berkeley’s Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic, called it “the largest copyright-licensing deal in U.S. history”: the right to display the contents of out-of-print books that are still covered by copyright protection.

Christopher Hoofnagle Says Fashion Blogger’s Google Suit Difficult to Prove

San Francisco Chronicle, August 28, 2009 by James Temple
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/28/BA0419E2FH.DTL&type=printable

There are two major problems with the approach, he said. First, while there’s a legal obligation of trust between doctors and patients or lawyers and clients, no such inherent understanding between a blogger and a free online service has been recognized by the courts. Second, even if Port does successfully argue that such a relationship existed, Google can claim that its duty was limited—in the same way that a lawyer can break his confidentiality obligation to prevent a crime.

Malcolm Feeley and Margo Rodriguez Discuss Career Options for Ph.D. Law Grads

The Daily Californian, August 26, 2009 by Angelica Dongallo
http://www.dailycal.org/article/106344/uc_berkeley_doctorates_still_prove_valuable

“Are they worried about their prospects? I think everyone is,” said Margo Rodriguez, student affairs officer in the jurisprudence and social policy program at Boalt Hall School of Law.

While most students who obtain doctoral degrees from UC Berkeley end up becoming academics, those who do not end up becoming educators are likely affected by factors other than their ability to land a job at a college or university. “All of them could if they wanted,” said law Professor Malcolm Feeley, saying that some students who go through both the doctoral program and jurisprudence programs at Boalt Hall decide they enjoy practicing law after all or pursue other non-academic professions.

Alan Auerbach Supports Health Care Reform, But with Cost Controls

Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2009 by David Lazarus
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus26-2009aug26,0,6090427,print.column

“I have problems with the way this whole reform thing is going,” said Alan Auerbach…. “I’d like to see a more explicit explanation of ways that medical costs are going to be controlled, and I’d like to see a more comprehensive way of paying for it. But if we don’t do anything at all, we’re clearly going to be worse off. The problems just get bigger if you don’t do anything.”

Maria Blanco Lauds Sotomayor Appointment

The Daily Californian, August 26, 2009 by Javier Panzar
http://www.dailycal.org/article/106345/sotomayor_appointment_serves_as_milestone_for_law_

Maria Blanco, executive director of the Earl Warren Institute … said she sees the appointment of Sotomayor as a milestone for women and minorities in the profession. “It is unbelievable,” she said. “I didn’t think I would see it in my lifetime. I thought maybe the next generation of lawyers after me would see it…. It is very exciting and very inspirational.”