College Shorts University of Missouri-St. Louis May Eliminate Student Press

Author: Andrea Gissing

Harvard Professor to Lead First War Crimes Tribunal

Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School Luis Moreno Ocampo was unanimously chosen to be the chief prosecutor of the newly established International Criminal Court (ICC), the first permanent international war crimes tribunal.
The ICC was designed to be a permanent replacement for the ad hoc agencies that have prosecuted past war crimes. The ICC is run under the authority of the United Nations (UN).
In his role as chief prosecutor, Ocampo, who is an Argentine national, will lead investigations and prosecute cases against suspected war criminals after national judicial systems are determined to be unable or unwilling to tackle the case.
Already, over 200 complaints have been filed with the tribunal. The jurisdiction of the ICC is limited to 89 signatory nations, however neither Iraq nor the United States are accountable to the ICC because neither nation has ratified its establishment.
Ocampo has a full background in criminal and human rights law, including several successful crusades against corruption and war crimes and the prosecution of several of the Argentinean military junta members in the 1980s.
He has also taken cases in order to curb corporate corruption and promote ethical business practices. Ocampo serves as president of Transparency International for Latin America, an organization that seeks to pinpoint and reform corrupted governments and corporations.

Source: U-Wire


Tufts Re-examines Religion Curriculum

Religion experts at Tufts University are adjusting their comparative religion courses to include and address the current state of the Catholic Church. The university's move is a part of a nationwide trend sweeping colleges and universities that arose out of the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal.
According to Rev. David O'Leary, a lecturer in comparative religion and the first Catholic priest to serve as University Chaplain at Tufts, "educators have an obligation to discuss the issues related to the recent scandal in their courses."
As well as addressing the sex abuse scandal, O'Leary is now addressing other modern issues such as women's ordination, authority and dissent and homosexuality and the priesthood in his class, "Catholicism in Crisis."
Student interest in this change is strong since the issues affect not only the Catholic Church, but also the role of the church in individual lives.
O'Leary said, "I don't think you can teach Catholicism any more without addressing these subjects. If you teach Catholicism without talking about sexual abuse, you're whitewashing."

Source: Tufts E-News


University Could Close Student Newspaper

A decision by the University of Missouri-St. Louis student government could close The Current, the campus' weekly student-run newspaper.
The future of the paper is currently in doubt as UMSL's student activities budget committee decided on April 11 to eliminate the subsidy it usually provides The Current. Without the subsidy, the paper might not publish next year.
Speculation among current staffers shows that they suspect the dispute is the result of the paper's reporting.
According to Anne Bauer, the managing editor of the paper, the staff has e-mails that suggest that funding cuts were in retaliation for the newspaper's coverage.
Representatives of the student government maintain that the decision to cut the paper's subsidy arose from concern about the size of the salaries some of the student employees were receiving.
Editors of The Current appealed the funding decision Thursday. They expect to hear back from the student activities budget committee next week. If funding is not restored during the appeals process, staffers say that they may go to court, though they are hopeful that a compromise will be reached.

Source: U-Wire.com