Dr. Chamard presents at Neighborhoods USA conference in Anchorage

Left to right: June Sobocinksi, Dr. Sharon Chamard, Kitty Farnham

Dr. Sharon Chamard, Justice faculty member, presented at two workshop sessions of the Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) 2011 Conference held in Anchorage May 25-28, 2011.

Dr. Chamard, June Sobocinski of United Way, and Kitty Farnham of Catalyst Consulting Services, team taught a session on "Improving Our Community: How Individuals, Associations and Agencies Can Work Together" on May 26.

Later in the day, Dr. Chamard was also a guide for the "Community and Problem Oriented Police in Anchorage" tour of Fairview and Spenard. The tour highlighted the work of the Anchorage Police Department's Community Action Policing (CAP) Team, and looked at Fairview sites that were to be the focus of a workshop on Friday.

On May 27, Dr. Chamard and her co-presenter, Allen Kemplen, AICP, spoke on "Reclaiming Spaces Through CPTED and Defensible Design." Dr. Chamard discussed how elements of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) were used in Fairview to reclaim its public spaces.

Left to right: Allen Kemplen, AICP, and Dr. Sharon Chamard

NUSA is a national, non-profit organization created in 1975 with the mission of building and strengthening community organizations. The theme of the 2011 conference was "Great Lands, Great Neighborhoods."

Prof. Periman presents at upcoming Color of Justice event to foster diversity in the law and judiciary

Prof. Deb Periman, J.D., Justice faculty member, will present at the "Color of Justice" event scheduled for June 22-24, 2011 at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and the Alaska Court System Boney Courthouse.

"Color of Justice:  Fostering Diversity in the Legal Profession & Judiciary ...One Student at a Time" is an annual program of the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) and features workshops on law and legal careers taught by Northwest law school professors and Alaska judges and attorneys. Two workshop tracks are available: College/Career Track and High School Track.

Prof. Periman's topic is "Follow Your Dream: Think Now About Your Future" part of the High School Track, and will be team taught with Susan Lee, Gonzaga University School of Law Admissions Director.

 NAWJ developed this highly effective program to encourage girls and minority high school students to consider pursuing careers in the law and judiciary.  Experienced judges and lawyers discuss law school and the requirements for admission, share their experiences including the reasons why they chose their careers, and answer questions in small groups. Students, judges and lawyers have praised the project, and it has been reproduced successfully around the country.

Registration is free. This event is supported by the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Alaska Bar Association, and other state and national partners. For additional information contact mnewman@appellate.courts.state.ak.us.

Dr. Rivera evaluates Oregon program for families

Dr. Marny Rivera, Justice faculty, attended a Family Connection Grantee meeting in April in Bethesda, MD as part of her ongoing evaluation of the Family Connections Program in Jackson County, Oregon. The evaluation is a 3-year study. The mission of the Family Connection Grant Program is to help children who are in, or at risk of entering, foster care to reconnect with family members.

The Oregon program is administered by OnTrack, Inc., a local provider, and offers comprehensive services to expedite reunification of families where children have had to be removed temporarily because of safety threats caused by or contributed to by parental substance abuse. A variety of services are provided including residential family treatment and case management to assist families in overcoming barriers to permanency and self-sufficiency. OnTrack, Inc. works in partnership with Oregon Child Welfare, Jackson County Circuit Courts, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the Family Nurturing Center.

The evaluation by Dr. Rivera includes comparing child welfare outcomes for a control group of families whose cases have been handled in the standard way, rather than by diversion to this type of family treatment. This program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families.

Dr. Payne presents at international crime conference

Dr. Troy Payne, Justice faculty, will present at the 20th Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis (ECCA) Symposium which will be held July 19-21, 2011 in Durban, South Africa.  His presentation is titled, "Criminogenic Features of Apartment Complexes: A Preliminary Case Control Study," and was co-authored with Heidi L. Scherer of Kennesaw State University and John E. Eck of the University of Cincinnati.  This study uses epidemiological methods to compare high crime apartment complexes to low crime apartment complexes along multiple dimenions, including management practices and the immediate spatial context of the complexes.

Environmental criminology is the study of crime, criminality, and victimization as they relate to locations, and the way individuals and groups shape their activities in terms of geographic space.

ECCA is an international association of scholars in the fields of environmental criminology, crime science, situational crime prevention, intelligence-led policing, and problem-oriented policing.

2011 Justice Center Bike to Work Team

Today is Anchorage's 7th Annual Bike to Work Day. This year's Justice Center Bike to Work Team pedaled in the sunshine and a bit of wind to the UAA campus. The team for 2011 included the family of Justice faculty member Dr. Brad Myrstol: Tana Myrstol, UAA Office of Special Programs, and their son, Finn. Team members also enjoyed the barbecue at noon provided by the UAA Office of Sustainability. Prof. Deb Periman, Justice faculty member, has led the team as Team Captain for the past several years.

The early arrivers:

Tuyet Tran, Barbara Armstrong, Amy Perkins, Tana Myrstol, Brad Myrstol, Finn Myrstol

Later in the day, the rest of the team arrived:

Barbara Armstrong, Tuyet Tran, Amy Perkins, Deb Periman, Sharon Chamard, Brad Myrstol, Troy Payne, Ezekiel Kaufman

See our complete Anchorage Bike to Work Day slideshow.



Photos by Melissa S. Green and Barbara Armstrong, UAA Justice Center.

Prof. Periman and UAA paralegal studies alum speak to young lawyers

Prof. Deb Periman, Justice Center faculty and Paralegal Studies Certificate Program Coordinator, and LaQuana Robertson, UAA Paralegal Studies alum, were among the participants in a roundtable discussion at the May 18 Anchorage Bar Association Young Lawyers Section lunch. The focus of the presentation was what young lawyers need to know about what paralegals do and to how to work effectively as a team with a paralegal.

The panel included paralegals from a variety of legal areas: LaQuana Richardson with the State Attorney General Human Services Section; Kim Pinkerton with Alutiiq LLC (Afognak Native Corporation); Paula Zawodny with Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson; and Tiffany Roberts with the State Attorney General Child Protection Section.

Pictured left to right: Deb Periman, Paula Zawodny, Tiffany Roberts, LaQuana Richardson, and Kim Pinkerton.

Prof. Brandeis skypes to Pacific Lutheran University students about constitutional rights

Prof. Jason Brandeis, Justice faculty, was invited to lecture on free speech and the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case via Skype to a Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) class on Tuesday, April 26. The class was "Civil Rights and Civil Liberties," an upper division course taught by Dr. Kaitlyn Sill. Keli Booher, a former UAA student who is now at PLU and in the class, knew that Prof. Brandeis had been one of the attorneys who represented Joseph Frederick in Morse v. Frederick, a student free speech case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007. Frederick was a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Juneau.

PLU students participated in Skype lecture by Prof. Brandeis

When her class started to discuss "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and the constitutional issues involved, Keli called Prof. Brandeis and asked if he would speak to them. Having done a Skype lecture before, Prof. Brandeis knew it would be easy to arrange. During the lecture students were very engaged in the interaction and asked a number of questions about this pivotal free expression case which concerns the rights of students in schools.

Prof. Brandeis also did a Skype lecture last semester. He was invited in November 2010 to lecture via Skype to a high school in Brooklyn on Morse v. Frederick and students rights issues. He hopes to continue this kind of technology outreach to high school and college students about constitutional and other legal issues.

Dr. Chamard presents at Neighborhoods, USA conference

Dr. Sharon Chamard, Justice faculty, is presenting at the Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) 2011 Conference and is also a guide for one of the Neighborhood Pride Tours portion of the agenda. The conference is being held in Anchorage on May 25-28, 2011.

She will be one of the guides for the "Community and Problem Oriented Police in Anchorage" tour on May 26. This tour of Fairview and Spenard highlights the work being done by the Anchorage Police Department's Community Action Policing (CAP) Team. The Fairview portion of the tour also focuses on the sites that will be discussed in Dr. Chamard's lecture presentation the following day.

On May 27, Dr. Chamard and her co-presenter, Allen Kemplen, AICP, will speak on "Reclaiming Spaces Through CPTED and Defensible Design." The focus is on crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and defensible space which includes the concepts of fencing, traffic calming, and landscaping. She will be discussing how Fairview has used this approach to reclaim its public spaces.

NUSA is a national, non-profit organization created in 1975 with the mission of building and strengthening community organizations. The theme of the 2011 conference is "Great Lands, Great Neighborhoods," and the goal of the conference is to increase citizen participation and the effectiveness of community councils, faith organizations and neighborhoods in solving issues at the neighborhood and community level.

Dr. Rosay highlighted in UAA's Accolades magazine

Dr. André Rosay, Justice Center Director, is highlighted in the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Accolades, a UAA publication for alumni and friends. He is noted as the recipient of a $517,000 grant from the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault to conduct victimization surveys in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and rural Alaska. These surveys will be modeled on the 2010 Alaska Victimization Survey. Dr. Rosay is the principal investigator under this grant.

Dr. Rosay

He is also featured as one of UAA's staff and faculty who were honored with "Top Forty under 40" awards from the Alaska Journal of Commerce. Monica Kane, UAA Academic Affairs, and Robert Capuozzo, UAA College of Education were also recipients of this award which recognizes the state's top professionals under the age of 40 who have demonstrated professional excellence and a commitment to their community.

Cost-effective justice presentation and discussion on May 14

"Cost-effective Justice: Saving Lives and Money" is the topic of a panel presentation and discussion on Saturday, May 14, 10:00a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Anchorage Senior Center.  The program is sponsored by Alaska Common Ground, a non-partisan organization that focuses on Alaska's public policy issues.  The program is free and open to the public.

Panelists include Carmen Gutierrez, Deputy Commissioner, Alaska Department of Corrections who will also moderate; Mark Mew, Anchorage Chief of Police; Janet McCabe, Chair, Partners for Progress; Bill House, Probation and Parole, Alaska Department of Corrections; and representatives from two transitional housing providers.

For more information contact www.akcmmonground.org.