JASON J. CZARNEZKI

See here.

More and more American universities are opening up campuses in Asia.  Now this news that Yale will open a campus in Singapore.  NYU already has a planned campus in Shanghai.  These elite universities seem most comfortable with the stability of joing forces with major governments and/or universities they control as sponsors.  The demand for this type of education exists in Asia, and I’ll be curious to follow whether these univeristies, if successful, will attract not only native populations but Americans interested in a more global education.  I do expect this will fundamentally alter the nature of study abroad programs.  This is all part of a huge overhaul in Asian higher education.  The Chinese have already expended their undergraduate university system and are currently expanding graduate programs, and Hong Kong is reforming its education model to conform with mainland China and the United States, resulting in the anticipated hired of hundreds of additional faculty.

I earlier posted about how Wisconsin cities would begin to lose their recycling programs.  It seems now that “Gov. Scott Walker is backing away from his proposal to eliminate mandatory recycling, and instead his administration is suggesting that some localities might want to merge their garbage collection to save money.”  Full article here.

When I visited Sweden last month, citizens spoke of “strong society,” a goal and the platform that the public/society/social compact should provide its citizens with some basic services. When I watched “Waiting for Superman” last night (a very depressing film), the movie noted that while Americans are falling behind in math, reading, and education, we’re number #1 in thinking we’re doing great and better than anyone else (even though we’re not).

We’re We’re destroying our natural environment, the House wants to end Medicare, so many lack health care, our schools are in trouble, yet we have the strongest military in the world and politicians claim we’re the best at everything and the “greatest nation in the history of the Earth.”

I just want us to own the facts that our education and healthcare systems are failing, the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and we’re number #1 in self-confidence and military strength.

Prosser wins by wins by 7,316, but the margin is below the 0.5% limit which will allow Kloppenburg to request a statewide recount. See here.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/everyday-environmentalism-book-review.php

Internship Opportunity

American Micro Dairies (AMD), a new non-profit organization that promotes the success of Micro Dairy farmers nationwide is offering a summer internship for 2011. The organization is currently working on a project that will be conducting interviews and researching current regulations that obtain to Micro Dairy farmers in the state of Vermont. The outcome of this project will be preparing a set of model regulations that can be further taken into effect by the state. These model regulations will be written in a manner that satisfies both the state and the farmers requirements. The end goal of this project is to allow Micro Dairy farmers to produce local farm fresh milk for direct sale in a safe and wholesome environment. This internship will involve researching Vermont’s regulations that obtain to farmers producing and selling dairy products on the farm, providing written documents, and field work. AMD is looking for a professional individual that is ambitious and willing to approach the various tasks given. Please send resume and writing sample to Program Director Ryen Leach at:

American Micro Dairies

P.O. Box 924

South Royalton, VT 05068

or via email amdairies@gmail .com

Vermont Law School Dean Jeff Shields provided commentary on VPR about the effects of a potential state-wide, single-payer health care insurance plan in Vermont.  Listen here.  I think his commentary will be concerning for anyone who ideologically supports universal single-payer healthcare.  This is because I’d describe his thesis this way: Under VT law, combined with the new federal healthcare law, most Vermonters (unlike many states) already have access to healthcare, so, in VT, the key issue is cost, and this legislation may not save money.

On behalf of the Vermont Law School’s US-China Partnership on Environmental Law, my colleague Jingjing Liu attended the International Symposium on Environmental Courts and Tribunals at Pace Law School on April 1, 2011, and participated on a Panel on the Environmental Courts in China.

She presented on the Chinese legal system and the development of specialized environmental court and shared the work that Vermont Law School is doing with the courts in China.  The other four panelists were my former colleague Tseming Yang, Professor Bob Percival, Senior Attorney Tim Epp from the Environmental Appeal Board of the USEPA, and Vivian Wang from NRDC.  Each of them shared their observations on whether China’s courts can play a similar role in advancing environmental law as the courts have done here in the U.S.

To watch the video of the panel, click here.  The panel on China and Environmental Courts begins at 02:05:00.

Voir Dire posts measures of state peacefulness.  The New England states fair very well, with Vermont ranked #3.  What is visually striking to me is the north-south divide.