They are bright and energetic and doing a marvelous job with this year's conference 4 it promises to be one of the best. UO Law School Professor and Associate Dean James O'Fallon agrees. One of the greatest challenges for the students involves organizing the panel discussions and keynote speakers. There's no shortage of ideas, says Hartman. They have a particular interest in an area and they know somebody working in the field and they research it.
Ideas also come from people in the community.
We stopped taking panel ideas a month ago and people are still calling in, and they are so disappointed that we have no spots for them. The panel discussions include international law, urban sprawl, pesticides and salmon, primate research, hazardous wastes, sacred living, global warming, mining laws, eco-taxation, national parks, biotechnology, indigenous and tribal rights, wilderness zoning, salvage logging, oil and gas litigation, suing multinationals, alternative media, population, free trade, whaling, Lane County land use, and direct action. Not all the interactions at past conferences have been cordial and polite. Heated discussions have erupted in panel sessions over tactics and methods. The next day, the young woman apologized to Julia, and Julia will be opening the conference this year.