Advocating for change, pragmatism, and Ron Paul

Ron Paul in his congressional office with his famous desk decoration.by Abrar Qadir, 3L

I am very invested, if not in a Ron Paul 2012 victory, then in Ron Paul’s candidacy for President. The momentum Ron Paul has can be utilized to give voice to debates on a mass scale which for far too long have remained boiling under the surface.

I have identified four principles advanced by Rep. Paul’s candidacy which warrant public support, and will comment on each in turn:

1. Opposition to the prison industrial complex
2. Opposition to the military industrial complex
3. Equality of peoples, not just individuals
4. The understanding of “perpetual growth” as a fallacy

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WLA celebrates contraception regulation

Percival argues the new legislation will finally bring change to Georgetown’s student health policy of not providing access to free birth control. - Photo courtesy of http://www2.tbo.comby Kelly Percival, 2L

Georgetown’s Women’s Legal Alliance applauds the Obama administration’s commitment to ensuring that all women who want it, have access to free birth control. As studentsat a Jesuit university, we are thrilled that we will have affordable access to a basic healthcare service at last.

Under the Affordable Care Act, preventive services must be covered free of charge—no copays, no deductibles. On Jan. 20, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that contraception would be included as one such preventive service and that all employers would have to cover the service. While the regulation contained an exemption for religious employers who employ primarily people of their same faith, such as churches, the exemption did not cover religious institutions like universities who have more diverse populations.

As soon as HHS announced the rule, conservative and religious coalitions, lead by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, voiced vigorous opposition to the regulation, claiming that requiring contraception coverage was an assault on their freedom of conscience. In effect, they assert that Catholic and Jesuit hospitals, universities, and charities have a constitutional right to ensure that employees and students at their institutions follow the teachings of the church.

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Simple steps for combating food waste

Photo via Creative Commons.

by Tommy Tobin, 1L

As law students, we’re busy people. We balance numerous, competing demands on our time in and out of the classroom, but we have to eat. Let’s let our hearts and hands follow our stomachs. Small changes in the way we eat can add up to significant impact.

Whether in an undergraduate dining hall or while eating out at a restaurant, the question arises: where does all the excess food go?  Dining facilities often overproduce, particularly if they are buffet-style. In the United States, nearly 40% of the food produced in the country is thrown out annually. Food waste represents an annual $240 billion loss to the American economy. In addition, this wasted food must go somewhere. All too often, it goes to the landfill, where it decomposes and emits methane – a greenhouse gas over twenty-times more potent than carbon dioxide. For American families of four, household food waste costs an average of $2,200 every year.

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To meat or not to meat? Debating vegan eating

Each Monday, two members of Georgetown Law’s SALDF group plant themselves behind a table bearing trays of cruelty-free baked goods, savory snacks, and sweet treats, loyally restraining themselves in the face of excruciating temptation to eat all 50 to 100 samples that will almost inevitably be devoured by curious law students by the end of the two- hour shift. This practice has been going on almost every Monday that classes have been in session over the last two and a half years.

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Letter to the Editor: Tenured faculty vital

The following is in response to Matthew Tilghman’s opinion piece, “Primary economic obstacle is adjustment to progress,” published on Jan. 31.

Norman Birnbaum, University Professor EmeritusMr. Matthew Tilghman, 2L, suggeststhat replacing full time facultywith adjunct professors would save the Law Center a certain amount of money. Perhaps it would. It would also destroy the sense of community and continuity which distinguishes institutions of higher education, and which enables full time faculty to think of themselves not as employees but as trustees devoted to the institution’s purposes.

Mr. Tilghman mentions Professor Lawrence Summers. He and the Harvard faculty had a certain number of arguments until a mutua ldecision was reached that his large talents could best be employed in an office other than that of President of the university. However, even in the most intense period of their disagreements, Professor Summers did not suggest that Harvard dismiss its full time faculty. Mr. Tilghman might wish to reflect on the complexities of human nature and the social institutions we construct. They are not reducible to cost-benefit calculations.

Norman Birnbaum, University Professor Emeritus (GULC 1979-2001)