THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2009
NEWS
3A
LAW
Moot court to compete in Taiwan
BY MICOLE ARONOWITZ
maronowitz@kansan.com
The University of Kansas' moot court team will compete in the international finals of the European Law Students' Association Moot Court Competition from May 19 to 24 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The purpose of moot court is to simulate presenting a case in front of the Supreme Court, where there is no jury present, only judges.
The four third-year law students participating have been preparing for the competition since December.
Beau Jackson. Ben Sharp. Christina Elmore and Carrie Bader will be the first team to represent the University at the world-level of this competition. The team is coached by Raj Bhala, the Raymond F. Rice Distinguished Professor of Law.
Each spring the School of Law has an in-house moot court competition, Bader, who is from Prairie Village, said the competition generally dealt with a U.S. constitutional problem. She said the idea was to mimic a case that would go before the U.S. Supreme Court. This year, there were close to 50 teams that
competed in the in-house competition. The top few teams make up the moot court council, and those teams go to different national competitions. This team advanced to the final round of the North American regional, March 12 in Washington, D.C., which qualified them for the international finals.
"The moot court experience is meant to simulate what it would be like in front of a panel of judges at an appellate level." Elmore, who is from Larned, said.
Elmore said another advantage of moot court was that it helped prepare students for what lawyers do in every day practice. She said often times law classes focused on learning the law through books, while moot court provided experience in public speaking.
"I know I can go into a court room and argue my case in front of a judge and I'll be fine," Bader said. "It gives you a lot of confidence."
Jackson, who is from Andover, said the ELSA moot court competition involved law students from around the world who compete and present a hypothetical legal problem that would take place at the World Trade Organization. He said the
nature of the problem they have to solve for this year's competition is similar to real world problems that come up in international trade.
The team is preparing arguments for both sides of a mock case about two countries that have opposing viewpoints on international trade. One country is putting up restrictions on products it thinks damages the environment. The other country specializes in exporting those particular products. It is experiencing difficulty exporting its products to countries and is losing money because the other country has put up barriers on letting these products in.
"That's what makes it tricky," Jackson said. "You have to be able to do both sides."
To prepare for the competition, Elmore said the team had been practicing with attorneys in the Kansas City area. She said the attorneys helped by grilling them with questions similar to the ones that would be asked by the panel of judges at the international finals.
The team will be competing against 19 teams from each continent in Taipei. Bader said each time they argue, three of the four
members would have 35 minutes to present their case and answer questions asked by the panel. She said Jackson and Sharp would speak each time because they specialized in international law during their time in law school. Either Bader or Elmore will be the third group member to speak depending on the argument.
Bader said the team invested a lot of time practicing for the upcoming competition. She said she had no prior knowledge or experience with international trade law, and had to do a lot of research and self-educating on the topic. She said learning about it has been fascinating.
"it's been an eye-opening experience for me," Bader said. "It's something I never intended to learn about, but I'm glad I did."
Although the team's goal is to win the competition, Jackson said it was important to represent the University well.
"It's definitely an honor to be representing KU," Jackson said. "We have great faculty to teach us in this area. They have prepared us really well."
Edited by Heather Melanson
INTERNATIONAL
Iraqi smuggler claims he was helping government
BY MIKE BAKER Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — A defense contractor charged with trying to smuggle firearms out of Iraq claimed Blackwater guards asked him to help get rid of weapons after a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, two government informants have said in court documents.
The contractor told one of the informants that Blackwater guards wanted to dispose of the weapons before an investigation into the September 2007 shooting that left several civilians dead, according to
a criminal complaint filed in the smuggling case. The contractor, John Houston, did not work for Blackwater.
Both informants, whose names weren't revealed by federal investigators, were Army reservists stationed in Iraq.
Houston approached them for help with smuggling, the complaint states, and one of them tipped off investigators about the scheme.
Five Blackwater guards face manslaughter and weapons charges in the shooting, which prosecutors say was an unprovoked attack on civilians.
Signs welcome visitors to the private North Carolina-based security company Blackwater USA's headquarters near Mowock, N.C.
LAWRENCE
Crime rate 'spike' may be deceiving
The numbers haven't been compiled yet
BY ALEXANDRA GARRY
Jennifer McColllum, a medical investigator at the Douglas County coroner's office, said her office had not experienced a spike in crimes but that students might perceive an increase.
agarry@kansan.com
Several high-profile court cases in recent months have involved students. Former student Cem Basoflas, from Istanbul, Turkey, was prosecuted for animal cruelty in February. In combination with several sexual assaults, consistent cases of criminal damage and three student deaths, many students have noticed a perceived spike in crime since January and compared with last spring semester.
But Lawrence police and other officials say it's too early to tell because crime statistics for this year have not yet been compiled. Still, the popular perception may not be true, said Sgt. Bill Cory, Lawrence police
public information officer.
"The numbers may show an increase or even a decrease in crime; we don't know yet," Cory said, "but right off the bat, nothing jumps out at me."
"It doesn't seem out of the ordinary to us, but it may to students because it's all happening so quickly and all around the University," McCollum said.
Adam Paulitsch, St. Louis graduate student, knows what it's like to be the victim of a crime.
Paulitsch woke up to a "shocking" sight Saturday morning —
someone had moved his car, which had been parked outside his apartment in the 900 block of Alabama Street, down the street, stolen his stereo system from within the car and slashed the car's tires.
Paulitsch described seeing his car as surprising at first, but he said that the more he thought about it, the less he was surprised — especially with his apartment's location near several student-oriented bars.
"I always keep an eye on the drunk people who walk by to see if they do anything to my car," Paulitsch said. "With
"The numbers may show an increase or even a decrease in crime; we don't know yet."
SGT. BILL CORY Lawrence police
all the crime this semester, I've realized something was bound to happen sometime."
As the semester winds down next week, Cory said students such as Paulitsch could
take precautions to help protect themselves from becoming more victims of Lawrence crime. Cory said a major part of preventing victimization was to be aware of the surroundings at all times and to keep from becoming too intoxicated to control a situation.
Cory said Lawrence police weren't bracing themselves for a spike in crime but were planning to handle any crimes that did occur over Stop Day and finals week.
"We know there are certain times of the year that there will be a lot of gatherings, a lot of people out and about. We will be out in force to enforce the laws," he said.
Edited by Melissa Johnson