Campus Connections

Issue Date: May 8, 2006

News and Notices

President’s report to the board

The Board of Trustees met the first week in May. Here are excerpts from President Hochstettler’s report to the board:

I am pleased to report on several salient developments at the College that have occurred during the time since the last Board meeting in February, 2006:

1. The departure of Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Denis Ransmeier after only a year at Lewis & Clark has left a lacuna in the senior administrative staff that I am moving quickly to fill. Denis has agreed to remain in place through the end of this semester and into the summer, for which I am grateful. We are fortunate to have in Bill Schaeffer an experienced lieutenant to the Vice President, and I am confident that we will be well served by our existing staff during the interim. Meanwhile, I am moving forward expeditiously to fill the vacancy…;

2. The Planning Task Force is completing its work…The next step in the planning process will be for all of us to examine those recommendations closely, to vet the initiatives contained in the planning document, and to begin plotting next steps for moving forward to address the issues that have been raised by the group. As has been the case in the past, Board engagement will be crucial in our planning efforts going forward, and I am optimistic that the work of the Task Force can be translated into positive actions that will improve the quality and reputation of the College in significant ways;

3. The branding initiative has made considerable progress in recent weeks, with intense discussions on campus being the focus of activity on the part of our consultant Lipman and Hearne. Further research will be conducted in the coming months among our broader community—especially among alumni and other external constituents—with an eye toward gaining a deeper understanding of the attitudes and perceptions that those groups have of the College. The final report of the consultant is expected in early summer, and we will be sharing the recommendations with the Trustees as soon as they are available. I want to thank the Board members, especially John Bates, Peter Chang, as well as David LaFrance, President of the Alumni Board, and all other Trustees who have become engaged in this project and whose support has been critical in moving it forward.

4. The subcommittee of the Board that was charged with reviewing and possibly replacing the College’s investment consultant has worked with great thoroughness and deliberation during the last few months. The Investments Committee has approved the subcommittee’s recommendation to replace our long-standing consultant R.V. Kuhns with Cambridge Associates in assisting the College in the management of our endowment. I am most grateful to my colleagues on the subcommittee—Ken Novack, Bruce Burns, and John Bates—for their service in this regard. It bears repeating that we are all deeply indebted to the hard-working Investment Committee for its superb stewardship of the College’s investments, which has resulted in recent years in a sustained period of outstanding performance. The firm of R.V. Kuhns also deserves the gratitude of everyone at Lewis & Clark. Over the years, Russ Kuhns and his colleagues have been steady partners in our efforts to optimize our financial resources, and we are most appreciative.

During spring break, Chairman of the Board John Bates, Director of International Programs Greg Caldwell, and I took the opportunity to travel abroad to visit with alumni of the College and with parents and friends in London, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong. In the course of the nine-day trip, we were pleased to meet with many old and new friends and had, I think, great success in reinvigorating the relationship between Lewis & Clark and these far-flung outposts of the College community. It had been nearly a decade since a College delegation had visited the UAE, where the College enjoys the support of several dozen loyal alumni, not least among them Trustee Ahmed Al Badi. I am grateful to Ahmed and to all those who hosted us at every stop along our way for helping to stage many highly rewarding events on behalf of the College. I am also grateful to John and Greg for their indefatigable enthusiasm in championing Lewis & Clark among these important constituencies.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas J. Hochstettler
President

Law school commencement

Judge Anita Ušacka, a member of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, will address the law school’s 2006 commencement on Saturday, May 27, at 11 a.m.

Approximately 260 students will receive their juris doctor degrees.

A judge and professor, Ušacka contributes to a number of projects crucial to the transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. She advocates for Latvia’s establishment of the rule of law, protection of human rights, administrative law reform, constitutional law reform, fair trial guarantees, and judicial training and reform.

Judge Ušacka obtained her law degree from the Latvian University and completed her Ph.D. at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. Since 1990, her foreign experience includes research at the University of Notre Dame, teaching and researching at the Lewis & Clark Law School, and studying on a Max Planck fellowship in Germany and at the Human Rights Institute in Strasbourg.

Vance named vice president for business and finance

Carl B. Vance, vice president for finance and administration at Linfield College, has been named vice president for business and finance and treasurer. He will assume his duties on August 1.

Vance, 56, has been Linfield College’s vice president for finance and business since 1996 and has guided that institution’s administrative, financial, legal, and risk management operations, regularly completing fiscal years with operating surpluses. Under his leadership, Linfield developed and implemented campus plans that have resulted in constructing many new facilities (including six apartment buildings and two residence halls) and enhancing energy management in existing facilities. He also negotiated the donation and purchase of an acreage that increased the campus size by 150 percent, and converted some of the surplus land into a retail shopping center that helps fund the college’s operating budget.

Prior to his position at Linfield, Vance served for 10 years as vice president for business and finance at Occidental College, where he directed legal, administrative, and financial operations. Before joining Occidental, he was deputy director for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and exhibitions associate at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In 2002 Vance helped form the Oregon Independent College Employee Benefits Trust, where he served as board chair until April of this year. He also serves as the director of the College Liability Insurance Company and is a member of Educause, the Society for College and University Planning, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Vance earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois, an M.B.A. in arts management from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an Advanced Executive M.B.A. from Claremont Graduate University.

Changes at the cashier and credit office

Effective immediately, the cashier and credit office has established a dedicated window to handle departmental deposits Monday through Friday between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Deposits will be processed without delay. Deposits made at other times and deposits with a large quantity of credit card slips may be dropped off for later posting. The drop slot is located to the left of the cashiers’ windows.

Training sessions for those involved in preparing deposits and accepting payments will be held on Tuesday, May 9, and Thursday, May 11, at 10 a.m. in Templeton Student Center, Geary. More sessions will be held at a later date, subject to demand.

For more information, contact Barbara Lance at ext. 7832.

Changes in payment policy

Effective July 1, the cashier and credit office will change the options for payment of student account-related balances and will no longer accept credit cards for payment of any sort.

However, through Tuition Management Systems (TMS), students can use MasterCard, Discover, and American Express to pay their account-related balances. Credit card payments will incur a convenience fee ranging from 2.2 to 3.5 percent of the amount charged.

Both bookstores and the computer showroom will continue to accept credit cards, and the College will continue to accept credit cards for gift payments.

Over the past several years, the increased use of credit cards to pay for parts of a Lewis & Clark education has resulted in higher costs for the College—more than $250,000 this year alone. To better manage the institutional costs associated with credit card payments, Lewis & Clark has partnered with TMS to broaden the options for students when paying for tuition, fees, room, board and other student account-related balances.

Details on payment options for students and families are available online.

Animal law clinic wins first jury trial

Last week a Grants Pass jury unanimously found a man liable for shooting and killing a neighbor’s dog. The jury awarded $500 for the value of the dog, $600 in lost wages, $3,500 in emotional distress damages, and $10,000 in punitive damages. The decision, atypical for a jury in southern Oregon, came about due to the work of the law school’s animal law clinic. It was the first case the clinic has taken to trial.

The plaintiff, Donna Zumbrum, owned a yellow Labrador retriever named Miss Lily. Miss Lily was shot and killed while chasing a deer through defendant Robert Lenander’s property. The parties agreed that the dog darted from Zumbrum’s home and was trespassing on Lenander’s property. Zumbrum’s attorney contended that the appropriate response to the offense should have been a fine from Animal Control rather than a shot from Lenander’s gun. The clinic’s attorney argued that the law allows persons to shoot dogs only for harassing or killing their livestock, in order to protect property including companion animals, or for threatening or harming people.

The Josephine County District Attorney’s office has a history of not pursuing animal abuse crimes. “We are hopeful this jury verdict will send a strong message to the community, including the District Attorney’s office, that the unlawful shooting of animals is not tolerated,” said Laura Ireland Moore, Zumbrum’s attorney, executive director of the National Center for Animal and clinical professor at the animal law clinic.

The National Center for Animal Law trains and supports animal law students in order to further the field of animal law and promote legal protections for animals by fostering curriculum development; hosting conferences, competitions, and trainings; providing financial support for animal law students; and developing resources for students pursuing careers in and involving animal law. The Animal Law Clinic provides law students real-world experience in animal protection litigation and legislative efforts.

Planning Task Force: final report available online

The Planning Task Force completed its work and delivered its report to President Hochstettler and the Board of Trustees. A PDF version of the 37-page report, an executive summary, and President Hochstettler’s response to the Task Force findings are now available online.

Every building tells a story: The Dressing Pavilion

The Dressing Pavilion, also known as the Bathhouse, is located in the eastern recreational area, or lower campus. It has dressing rooms for men and women and faces the outdoor Lawrence Memorial Swimming Pool, named in honor of F.D. Lawrence in recognition of gifts by his wife and daughters.

Historical snapshot

In 2004, those attending Opening Convocation welcomed Lewis & Clark’s largest incoming undergraduate class since 1988. View more College milestones online.

People News

Published, presented, honors, and achievements

Faculty and staff serve as ambassadors for the College through their publications, presentations, awards, grants, and other accomplishments. Highlights include:

Julia Duncan, senior communications officer for new media, earned a national Silver CASE Circle of Excellence award for Inside L&C, a website created exclusively for admitted Lewis & Clark students.

John T. Parry, professor of law, published a book titled “Evil, Law and the State: Perspectives on State Power and Violence” (Rodopi Press, 2006). The book’s 15 essays bring multiple perspectives to bear on the problems of state-sponsored evil and violence and on the ways in which law enables or responds to them.

More listings of faculty and staff achievements can be found in our online pressroom.

Upcoming

Visit the campus Web calendar for events coming up in May.