Yesterday, my colleagues and I at Santa Clara Law did something a little different . . . In a throwback to our time as kids, we all did “What I did last summer” write-ups. Professor Eric Goldman and his research assistant turned these short write-ups into posters that we then presented in a fair in the law school building. What a fun way to share with colleagues and students our summer activities (and to learn what they were up to)! (And Kudos to Eric for organizing it! Thank you!)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvEi4NqMHj6/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
As a person whose first name always gets butchered (but not being bothered by it), this NPR story was quite an amusing listen (and struck a cord). I have answered to so many many variations of my first name (Tseming), including Jeremy and Tasmin, that I have lost track. Some years ago, I adopted the coffee shop name of “Chuck.” It seemed simple and familiar to anybody. First time my daughter heard me being greeted as Chuck by a Starbucks barista, her eyes turned as big as dinner plates. And then there was the time when I used it in response to a workshop facilitator asking for my name, leaving most of my colleagues in confused silence.
What’s your coffee shop name?
New research links harder-to-pronounce names with hiring discrimination : The Indicator from Planet Money – https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1132023889/whats-in-a-name-maybe-a-job
This weekend, the California State Bar announced the results of the July 2021 bar exams. Unfortunately not everybody passes; the California bar exam is the the toughest in the country. But for me, as a teacher, finding out who did pass and will be able to join the legal profession, makes this one of the best times of the year (next to commencement). I always check the public list and send out notes to the former students for whom I have contact info. I also saw some videos of individuals finding out that they past and celebrating – what a joy! Congratulations to all of my former students (and everybody else who passed)! Welcome to the profession.
As I posted previously, the Center for Global Law and Policy was looking for a program manager for our Center programs. We recently received approval to upgrade the position to Senior Program Manager (compensation commensurate with qualifications) and thus have re-posted the job position to reflect that change. The link to Santa Clara University’s Workday listing (the University’s human resources job listings website) remains the same (but now shows the updated position title). For reference, here it is again:
https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/scu/scu/job/Santa-Clara-CA/Program-Manager_R1711
In a nutshell, the Senior Program Manager for the Center for Global Law and Policy is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Center, which includes both planning and providing operational support for the Center’s nine summer study-abroad programs in Asia and Australia, Europe, and Latin America, administering the Center’s International Law Certificates options and student exchange programs, and supporting all other aspects of the Center’s activities. For additional information for the Center for Global Law and Policy, please see CGLP’s website.
We will take resumes until the position is filled. However, for priority consideration, please submit application materials (cover letter, resume or CV, and references) by October 24, 2021. The materials should be submitted directly via the Workday job listing (which can be reached via the provided link).
Please share this job opportunity with anybody who might be interested.
Please note the October 11, 2021 update on this position.
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Oh no! The Center for Global Law and Policy’s current program manager Hallie Bodey is leaving us for another opportunity (that comes with a promotion) at Santa Clara University. So we are looking for a person to fill her big shoes. (We’ll take resumes until the position is filled, but please submit soon since we are starting to review job applications right away.) Here is a link to the Santa Clara University’s Workday posting for this position, which also includes a detailed description of the job responsibilities:
https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/scu/scu/job/Santa-Clara-CA/Program-Manager_R1711
(And yes, this position would report to me.)
Passed by Lake Shasta over the weekend and saw this dramatic evidence of the severe drought conditions in California. Several San Francisco Bay area water districts have already announced measures to reduce water usage.
Climate change has and will continue to force people all over the world to leave their homes. Climate stressors such as rising sea levels, flooding and changing rainfall patterns are increasingly making different areas of the world inhabitable. The World Bank predicts that Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America could have more than 140 million people displaced by 2050. Many of the people currently being displaced are migrating within their own countries; however, as more people are forced to leave their homes, there will be far more international movement.
The United States is not immune from the effects of climate refugees. After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans were forced to flee the island, most of which came to the U.S. mainland. The United States cannot pretend this problem is not imminent. However, the United States has done little to prepare for the influx of asylum-seekers.
Under current United States law, the definition of a refugee is extremely limited. In order to be a refugee, one must be “unable or unwilling to return to […] that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” This definition of refugee completely ignores the growing levels of displacement due to environmental factors. The term “persecution” only applies to those who are forced to leave their country due to violence by other people; and does not include the possibility of their homes becoming inhabitable because of the climate conditions.
The U.S. must be a leader in preparing the world for handling the large numbers of people who will be forced to find a new home. The first step in that process is changing how we define the term “refugee” in U.S. law to include those who cannot return to their countries of origin due to the impacts of climate change. If we do not make this change, we will have an increase in illegal immigration and, more importantly, we will be contributing to the devastation that faces people who are already forced to leave everything behind.
Nikki Dow
On October 30, 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the State Water Resources Control Board hosted a joint workshop for water utilities and assorted consumer advocacy groups to address water affordability and operational challenges aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. (The workshop was held pursuant to Rulemaking 17-06-024: Water Affordability During COVID-19.) Since January 2020, the number of customers behind on their water bills has steadily risen in the following months up until the time of this workshop. This has not been a surprise due to the massive unemployment caused by COVID-19.
Unfortunately, demand and competition for water has remained undiminished, even as California continues to face rising water shortage challenges. People still need to water their lawns, flush their toilets, and grow their food. Cultural differences between northern and southern California, priority disagreements between urban and agricultural interests, and an increasingly lopsided curve of demand and supply from a growing population in an area greatly affected by climate change have exacerbated the problems. And the icing on the cake in solving these water use tensions is Article X, section 2 of the California Constitution which declares that all Californians have a constitutional right to water.
As a result, consumers using the water system without the ability to pay for it have aggravated a financially strained system. As of 2014, California was ranked as the number 1 state in need of water infrastructure repair. With customers unable to pay their bills, how can we tackle this problem? How can a system without the ability to repair itself continue to deliver safe drinking water? As an additional layer to this quandary, there are over 100 investor-owned water utilities in the CPUC’s jurisdiction, as compared to just a handful of gas or electric utilities. With each water utility bringing its own unique and complex problems to the table, ensuring the supply of safe and affordable drinking water presents a problem far more complex than electric power distribution.
As a short-term measure, the CPUC has imposed emergency protection for consumers to avoid disconnection due to unpaid bills. Unfortunately for many, the CPUC only oversees investor-owned utilities, and thus the CPUC measure only applies to a limited number of people in the state. Others will need to find alternative means of keeping their water on. More importantly, neither water shut-offs for delinquent customers nor emergency measures preventing disconnection due to unpaid bills address the long-terms financial challenges for water utilities with respect to maintaining an aging water infrastructure, which continues to depreciate. At this point, we must put a Band-Aid on the system and float it forward, so to speak, as we continue to discuss what equitable solutions we can offer to enforce this constitutional right for California residents.
Wesley Clark
Citizen Yang 