U.S. Attorney General Speaks at Duquesne

Focusing on the importance of public service in legal practice, United States Attorney General Eric Holder gave the keynote address at the Duquesne University School of Law’s centennial anniversary today.

Holder says every law school graduate should have the opportunity to work in the public sector for at least part of his or her career. He says that would help America adhere even more faithfully to its “founding documents.”

The Attorney General also spoke about his tenure leading the Department of Justice, highlighting the emphasis on national security.

“The Department [of Justice] has responsibility as a civil division, an environmental and natural resources division, an anti-trust division, a criminal division, a tax division,” says Holder, “but I think I spend probably maybe 60 or 70% of my time on national security, whether it’s dealing with threats from al-Qaeda [or] dealing with problems in Mexico with the drug cartels.”

Holder says the main funding source for those drug cartels is the sale of marijuana in the U.S., which is the major reason he’s against legalizing the drug. However, Holder says he won’t use his Department’s limited resources trying to fight medical marijuana use.

Holder didn’t comment on the Obama administration’s decision to drop support for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage.

Listen to Holder's Address here.

Listen to the Q and A following the address here.

Duquesne Dormant During G20

At Duquesne University, classes will be canceled and nonessential offices closed during Pittsburgh’s G20 summit this September 23, 24 and 25. Emergency and food personnel will still report to work, says the school’s Vice President of University Advancement John Plante. He says no extracurricular or athletic activities were planned those days. Class time will be made up on Monday, November 23 and the following Tuesday – days that were originally set aside for a Thanksgiving holiday.

Plante says traffic was the biggest concern that drove the G20 closings, not security; the university expects safety levels to be adequate for the summit. Spokeswoman Tara McBride of Point Park University says that her school is still in the “review stage” and has not made a decision on whether they will cancel classes or not.

Duquesne Lessens Carbon Emissions

Duquesne University has announced results of its second greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which says the school has reduced students’ individual carbon footprints by more than thirteen percent in 2008. 4.0 metric tons of emissions are released by each student annually, down from 4.6 per student in 2006. Native Energy of Vermont says the average American household emits 10.8 metric tons per year.

Duquesne professor and principal investigator of the study Stanley Kabala says compared with other schools of similar size and location, Duquesne is looking good. He says figures of those schools range from four metric tons of carbon released per year to over ten metric tons emitted annually.

Kabala says the decrease in emissions was in large part due to the university’s reliance on renewable energy generated on campus. Other contributing factors include regular maintenance of heating and cooling systems and sealing windows and doors of school facilities. Kabala says off-campus transportation to ball games and other extracurricular activities account for a large part of the university’s emissions. He says more energy saving ideas, like a shuttle bus to the South Side and on-campus solar panels, are up for consideration.

Duquesne Dismisses Law Dean.

Duquesne University this morning removed Law School Dean Don Guter from his leadership position. A release from the university only says he will be replaced by Professor Ken Gormley on an interim basis and will be allowed to remain on the faculty. A University spokeswoman said the university does not comment on personnel issues. Guter, the former Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Navy, has not been available for comment. Law School Professor Bruce Ledewitz says the news “came out of the blue” and he called it “an outrage.” Ledewitz says to dismiss a dean in the middle of a term usually means there is something wrong with his leadership but he says he feels that is far from the truth. He points to the school’s improving bar passage rates and says the morale at the school is the highest it has been in years. Ledewitz says President Charles Dougherty must have know this would have a negative impact on the school going forward. Ledewitz says the school was going through the process of evaluating the dean for reappointment and he is saddened that Guter will never know how the staff, students and alumni feel about his leadership. Ledewitz says the dean shared a letter with him from the president’s office giving him 24 hours to resign or be removed.

Entrepreneur's Conference To Be Held At Duquesne University

Duquesne University will be hosting it's 10Th annual Entrepreneur's conference on June 5Th. The conference will have two keynote speakers, Andy Masich, President and CEO of Sen. John Heinz History Center, and Andy Litinsky who was on NBC's "The Apprentice." The conference is hosted by Duquesne University's Small Business Development Center. The conference offers many workshops for conference goers. Some are, "Why Entrepreneurial Thinking is the Only Way", All in the Family: Preserving Your Family's Business Legacy and Profitability", and "Confession of a CEO." The conference is expected to have 500 people in attendance.

NAACP partners with Duquesne University

Duquesne University has partnered with the NAACP to allow 3rd year law students to work on civil rights complaints that come through the NAACP. The students worked on a variety of cases from someone being denied witness protection because of race to someone being denied accommodations at a hotel because of race. The students took the cases as far as they needed to go. Most cases do not end up in court so it is a way for students to gain actual legal experience before entering the work force.

Saudi Students Organize 4th Annual Open House

The Saudi Students House has organized its 4th annual open house about Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Students House comprises students from Saudi Arabia who attend the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duquesne University. The goal of their open house is to open up avenues of communication with Americans who do not know much about Saudi Arabian culture. The event is being held on Friday, Feb. 22nd, in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room at Pitt. It will start at 4:30 and conclude at 9 pm.