The Pioneer Log, February 18, 2011

Law School hosts and competes in regional round of National Trial Competition, moves on to Texas
Story continued from page 1 The volunteers who helped with the trials memorized a characters back-story and then testified in court as that person. The mock trial ran just like a real courtroom would, with proper decorum and procedure. The details of the case involved the murders of two young women who worked with the defendant at the Everythings-A-Dollar store. The witnesses also included a detective who had failed to look into the jealous exboyfriend, even though the defendant had seen him lurking near the store earlier on the day the murders took place. At the end of the weekend, our own LC Law Students won the case. LC Law Students can start participating in moot court their second year. Students can take a class which hosts a competition at the end of the semester, and the high scorers of that competition can then join the team. Exceptional students are asked to join the Honor Board. This year, the Honor Board is composed of Oliver OBrien and Laura Maurer, who organized and ran the moot court with the help of volunteer witnesses and prominent lawyers and judges from around the area. OBrien expressed, We dont host very often, so there was no pre-packaged formula for us to work with. We could not have done this without the undergraduates from LC. The Dean and faculty were so helpful and efficient. Many of the volunteer witnesses who appeared for questioning were students from the Law School and undergraduate campuses. Commenting on the value of moot court, OBrien, a third year law student said, Short of District Attorney work, its one of the best things you can do in law school to educate yourself. It gets you comfortable in front of a judge and jury. Maurer, also a third year law student, works at the D.A. office while going to school. She agreed, saying, It was a great way to prepare for trial work. Learning to think on your feet is one of the most valuable lessons that can be taken from the experience. The law students are judged on their opening statements, closing arguments and direct- and cross-examination of the witnesses. OBrien said that the students are also judged by how the quality of their pre-trial motions, articulation and case theory as a whole.

ASLC Update
BY MICAH LEINBACH
Staff Writer

News 3

Four new senators chosen to fill empty spots

Four new senators join the ranks of ASLC this semester, including new representation for sophomores, juniors and seniors. Katie Dahlhausen (11), Annalisa Peterson (12), Liz Scott (12) and David Amsel (13) each had their first senate meeting last Thursday. They will represent their respective classes for the remainder of the year. Each became a senator through a simple application process. Scott said, The process was relatively easy, a point that all senators seemed to be in agreement about. The application asked three questions of potential senators and were, in Amsels words, what do you want to do, what is your mission statement, and what experience do you have? The acceptance came quickly. A couple hours later, [ASLC President Dith Pamp (11)] told me I was the new senator. I dont even think I ran against anyone, said Dahlhausen over e-mail. The other senators reported a similar experience. While each incoming senator held a range of issues they wished to address, building connections at LC was a common theme. At LC, Amsel said, [we have] so many resources [and] so many opportunities, but we have to be active in obtaining them. Dahlhausen said she hoped to keep students more informed as to what their student government is doing. Said Scott, One of my goals ... will be to go to students directly and ask them what is stopping them from getting involved. Another common theme was the hope that students would communicate with their new senators. Said an animated Amsel, I want everyone to tell me what they want to do. Scott expressed interest in listening to overlooked voices on campus in the dialogue with our community here, and serve their interests as best I can. The senators goals were more specific as well. Amsel is hoping to address a work study system that is obviously not working. Dahlhausen, in turn, is planning to do [her] part in making the campus even more environmentally sound and biker friendly.

Judge Cheryl Albrecht, from the Multnomah County Court System, was one of the many lawyers and judges from the Portland area who volunteered at the National Trial Competition.

Randall Szabo, a student at LC Law School, participated in a mock trial at Multnomah County Courthouse this weekend.

PHOTOS BY LEO QIN

Law school student Zach Allen participated in the regional round of the National Trial Competition mock trials this weekend, competing against students from ten other schools. Along with Montana, Lewis & Clark moved forward to the next round of competition. This will be the national championship, which will take place in Texas.

Stambaughs case prompts language change in discrimination policy

Story continued from page 2 However, within the week, publications all over the nation had their hands on the story. Stambaughs case went national, and focused a lot of negative attention on the Beaverton School District. The District was then forced to address the issues at hand, and have since tuned up their discrimination policies and apologized to families of students and staff that were affected by the event. In one particular school board meeting, a resolution was announced, stating that Beaverton is committed to providing a safe, gin, marital status, age or disability, whereas, we are concerned that discrimination and harassment have been experienced by students and staff in our district Since the resolution, the district has continued to implement the changes they have promised, starting with a revised discrimination policy that was readopted Jan. 11 of this year. I think this is the first case in the country where a public school district has recognized that there needed to be a settlement in a case involving speech that identifies a person as gay, said Perriguey. This kind of visioning forward is so much more important than some person saying, Hey, I made a mistake, and wasnt thinking and caused a lot of problems. Amidst the issues and attention that this situation has brought Stambaugh, he has continued with his education at the graduate school, and has been working in the classroom at Sexton ever since his reinstatement. He will be graduating from the program later this spring. Its a case study, in a way, of how someone could potentially not suffer [discrimination and harassment], or not let it stand, concluded Perriguey.

Seth just wants to move forward and be a teacher.

positive, caring and productive learning and working environment for students and staff. The statement continued with the district seeks to ensure an environment free of discrimination and harassment based on any individuals actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, natural ori-

Text of the Beaverton School District discrimination policy change, revised 1/11/11