November 2008 Archives

Photo via Flickr

Happy Thanksgiving! Just a reminder that the Law Library closes at 4:30 pm today and is closed Thursday and Friday Nov 27-28, with regular hours resuming on Saturday Nov 29. (UMN Law students will still have access through their UCards)

Here are some fun Thanksgiving Legal (and other) Resources:

Congress Establishes Thanksgiving: http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving/

Did you know that a lawyer invented the classic jellied cranberry sauce ‘log’ produced by Ocean Spray? Marcus L. Urann, lawyer and co-founder of Ocean Spray, came up with the idea for canned jellied cranberry sauce as a way to use up excess cranberries. Source: WSJ Law Blog via Ross-Blakley Law Library blog

Thanksgiving Thoughts on Toleration: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/11/thanksgiving-thoughts-on-toleration/

Thanksgiving Dinner in Space: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/11/26/thanksgiving-dinner-in-space/

Thanksgiving 2.0--TurkeyTracker.com: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20516

The President of the United States has the power under the Constitution to issue Executive orders. These orders are have been used by Presidents throughout the history of the U.S. and since about 1907, are numbered consecutively. The text of Executive orders appears in the daily Federal Register as each Executive order is signed by the President and received by the Office of the Federal Register. The text of Executive orders beginning with Executive Order 7316 of March 13, 1936, also appears in the sequential editions of Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Both the Federal Register and CFR can be found at www.gpoaccess.gov and in hard copy in the library. Executive orders from the early 1980's on can be found on Westlaw and Lexis. Executive orders are also posted on the White House web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/. Executive orders have the same force and effect as laws passed by Congress.

Presidential Proclamations are usually ceremonial in nature and sometimes are issued as statements of policy (for example, the Emancipation Proclamation). Proclamations are also numbered consecutively in a different series than Executive Orders. Presidential Proclamations can be found in the same sources as Executive Orders.

Presidential Signing Statements are statements issued concurrently with the President's signing of a law passed by Congress. While some are merely laudatory statements about a law being passed, increasingly they include the President's interpretation of the law as well as how the executive branch will be directed to administer the law. Signing statements are available on the White House web site, at www.gpoaccess.gov (Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents) (back to 1993).

Posted 11/24/08 on bkallusky01's blog (Hamline Law School)

Law Library Thanksgiving Hours

Wed Nov 26: Closing at 4:30 pm (Security Monitor: 3:30-9:30 pm)
Thurs Nov 27-Fri Nov 28: Closed* (No Security Monitors)
Sat Nov 29-Sun Nov 30: Open regular hours (Security Monitors: 8 am to midnight)

*U of MN Law Students can still access the library with their UCards at all times.

How knowledgeable are you on American history, government, and economics? According to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, more than half of Americans who took its test on civic literacy failed, and elected officials scored even lower than the general public.

Read the report and take the quiz at http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/

See also: The Center for Civic Education for more resources.

Source: Ross-Blakely Law Library Blog

As exams approach, pelase remember to not leave personal belongings unattended while in the library. Thefts of laptops, purses, and other valuables do occur, and it would be awful to lose your computer with a semester's worth of notes and outlines on it just before finals! If you see suspicious activity while you are in the library, please notify one of the library staff and/or security (612-624-2677).

Cell phone use is not permitted in the library. Please set your ringer to vibrate or silent when entering the library, and if you receive a call while here, take it to the library lobby so you do not disturb others.

Thanks for your cooperation!

UMN Law Librarian Sarah Yates, foreign law and rare book cataloger has reviewed Robert Hickey's Honor & Respect: The Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address.

An excerpt:

I turned to the Protocol School of Washington’s Honor & Respect to answer a specific question: If I am ever introduced to a former vice president of the United States, how should I address him? The question is not purely hypothetical for me; one former vice president does appear now and again where I work. But if you are neither one of my colleagues here in Walter F. Mondale Hall nor a librarian at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, you might not expect to run into former vice presidents in the line of duty. In that case, would Honor & Respect be a useful addition to your library?

Read more of the review at: http://aallspectrum.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/review-of-honor-respect/

Twin Cities-area schools more segregated than ever
By Beth Hawkins and Cynthia Boyd
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008

Thirty-six years after a federal judge ordered Minneapolis to begin busing students to achieve racial balance, Twin Cities-area schools are more segregated than ever. The trend is accelerating, as well as the likelihood of serious social consequences, a MinnPost investigation reveals. First of five parts.

You can read the full story at Minnpost.com:
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/11/17/4549/twin_cities-area_schools_more_segregated_than_ever

Source: Kenny Ronnan, Minnpost - Staff Member
http://www.minnpost.com/

The UMN Human Rights Center's recently produced Community and School guides for the Close the Gap documentary series -
http://www.hrusa.org/closethegap/main.php

The video segment on "Resegregation: Fact of Fiction",
http://www.mnchannel.org/partners/closethegap/case_place.php, highlights Myron Orfield and the Institute on Race & Poverty's work on this issue.

Brief Summary of the Close the Gap Initative:

The 5-part Close the Gap documentary series on race, class, and place disparities was created by the Twin Cities Public television (tpt) in close partnership with the Itasca Project and Twin Cities Compass & Wilder Research. The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center designed two companion guides to foster dialogue on ways to recognize and eliminate these race, class, and place disparities in our schools and communities.

The Educator Guide provides curriculum resources for engaging youth in grades 8-12. The Community Guide offers key discussion activities for Human Rights Commissioners, community leaders, and other interested individuals to better understand these disparities and their causes, as well as to work to overcome them.

Minnesota Journal of International Law Symposium Examines Rule of Law at U of M
Contacts: Cynthia Huff, Law School, (612) 625-6691
Ryan Mathre, University News Service, (612) 625-0552

(11/12/2008) -- The Minnesota Journal of International Law will host its 2008 symposium, “Creating a Global Rule of Law Culture,� 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14, in Room. 25 of the Law School, 229 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis.

The symposium will examine the rule of law as a framework for international legal reform and development, focusing on creation of a global rule of law culture. Panelists will include eminent scholars, practitioners and judges who have studied the rule of law and led reform efforts around the world. Featured will be founders of the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) and Center for Rule of Law Initiatives.

CEELI was founded in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall to help develop the rule of law in countries under the former Soviet Union’s control. With CEELI’s enormous growth, the Center for Rule of Law Initiatives was created and includes legal reform programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The symposium offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the rule of law as a framework for reform and development going forward.

There is no cost for attending the symposium. Information on the day’s agenda and the registration form are available at http://www.law.umn.edu/mjil/2008-symposium.html

The Law Library now subscribes to International Investment Claims (IIC). IIC is a new module in the Oxford Reports on International Law database. Access is available to all users within the Law Library and Mondale Hall. U of M Law faculty, students and staff also have remote access with their U of M Internet ID and password.

The IIC module contains awards and decisions arising out of international investment arbitrations, and related enforcement or review decisions from national courts. The collection at launch includes over 300 arbitral awards, decisions, and determinations issued under the auspices of various established arbitral bodies. Also included are reports awards and decisions of ad hoc international arbitral tribunals, such as those dealing with claims presented under the NAFTA or under the arbitration rules of the UNCITRAL. Determinations on insurance contracts made by the US OPIC are also reported.

Questions? Contact the Reference Office: law-ref@umn.edu

Image by [j]t via flickr

This week Law Students have been participating in Life-Balance Week events such as massages, meditation, or pet therapy as options for dealing with stress as they approach exams.

Tomorrow (Thursday Nov 13), 9-2 on the Subplaza Level, the Law Library will staff a table showing how getting Library Help = Less Stress in exam prep. Useful brochures/handouts, reserve books, and other information will be available for review.

Today, November 11, is Veterans Day. Here are a few resources on the topic:

From the US Dept of Veterans Affairs: http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/

From the Library of Congress: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/today/nov11.html
and http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/modern/veteran_1
and http://www.loc.gov/vets/

Take a Veteran to School Day: http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=54799

Famous Celebrity Veterans: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20112

Law School Students: Looking for ways to sharpen your writing skills? And maybe make a little coin to help with your tuition? Take a look at these websites that feature writing contests. Good luck!

· University of Richmond Legal Essay Contests Catalogue

· HierosGamos Writing Competitons

· ABA Law Student Division Scholarships & Writing Competitions

· Law Student Writing Contests Compiled by Lewis & Clark Law School

· Law Student Writing Contests Compiled Western New England College School of Law

Thanks for the tip, Sarah Yates (Cataloging Librarian).

Here are a few new or updated legal resources of note:

Chief Justice Roberts on Legal Research and Analysis
John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, spoke recently at Drake University Law School about how changes in technology have affected the way cases are decided. He recognized computer-assisted research as a powerful tool “for locating potentially relevant material,� but he went on to say:

Finding the law is now not such an important or elusive skill. With the push of a button or two, everyone has every case, for example, that cites a particular regulation or employs the critical legal terminology.
…
But law students and lawyers must continue to focus on what is relevant and what is not. With so much more raw material available at the push of a button, courts, especially mine, increasingly prize shorter and more coherent briefs. We judges can access raw data too, and what we look for from lawyers is help making sense of it all.

New Fact Sheets from the State Department
The U.S. Department of State has issued a flurry of fact sheets including:
Financing for Development
U.S. Commitment to the Millennium Development Goals
Promoting Food Security Worldwide: A U.S. Commitment
United Nations Management Reform
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The United States' Response to the Darfur Crisis
The United States' Commitment to Human Rights

Waiting to Be Drawn

What: Exhibit: Waiting to Be Drawn: Political and Editorial Cartoons Focusing on Presidential Election Years
Where: T. R. Anderson Gallery, Wilson Library
When: Through Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Free and open to the public.

This exhibit marks this year’s Presidential campaign and election through a selection from the thousands of editorial cartoons from the collection of Jerry Fearing, long-time editorial cartoonist for the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press. This group of material is one of the newest additions to the remarkable collections of the Archives and Special Collections department of the University of Minnesota Libraries.

The Law Library now subscribes to International Law Reports. This database reports (in English) the decisions of international courts and arbitrators as well as judgments of national courts. Coverage includes all significant cases of public international law from 1919 to the present day.

Campus-wide access and remote access for U of M affiliated users at: http://www.lib.umn.edu/get/internationallawreports

*Access Note: click on the "Continue" button located in the "Sign In" box to access the database.

continuum: The Magazine of the University of Minnesota Libraries has just released issue 7, Fall 2008. You can view the issue, and past issues, online at: http://www.lib.umn.edu/publications/continuum.html or pick up a free copy at the Law Library.

Three articles of note in this issue:

Out of the Box and Into the Archives
A recently opened collection celebrates the life of eminent Minnesotan Max Lowenthal

The Conservation of a University
The University Digital Conservancy is capturing the scholarly culture of the University

Curating Cultural Heritage
Two of the Libraries’ many special collections strive to save the heritage of a culture and the cultural arts

Photo by e20ci via Flickr

Join the Law School Community in celebrating Election Day with All-American Apple Pie!

Apple Pie will be served today, 11-1 in the Law Library Lobby.

Here is the list of new titles the Law Library acquired in October 2008. The list is on the library's home page.

October Acquisitions