Dear Readers,
We are about to start another month at the Journal. This month we are looking forward to our Second Annual Symposium, Catalysts for Change. This Symposium is going to be held on November 8, 2013 in Room 323 of UALR’s William H. Bowen School of Law. We have more information about this event under the Catalysts for Change section of the website. There are going to be two free hours of CLE credit offered during this event, with one hour focused on cause lawyering and one hour focused on the use of interpreters in the courtroom. The CLE hours are going to be from 2-4pm. If you are planning to attend we would appreciate an e-mail at socialchange@ualr.edu, just so that we can get a head count.
The Journal’s publication focus this month is loosely framed by public service. Following the partial government shut down and entering into the traditional election month in U.S. politics, we wanted November’s publication to also talk politics on some level. Therefore we are starting off with an article by one of the Journal’s members, Daniel Ford, which discusses the need for disclosure requirements to be made by electoral candidates. His article takes a look at some state reactions to Citizens United.
In the middle of the month we will publish an article from Bowen Law Library faculty member, Jeff Woodmansee. Professor Woodmansee’s article focuses on how the increase in Pro Se Litigants is affecting public law libraries across the country as well as the duty these professionals must serve while avoiding the trap of providing legal assistance.
We also are going to publish a book review of How Change Happens – Or Doesn’t- The politics of US Public Policy, by Elaine C. Kamarck. Her well written book offers an interesting look at the history of “change in the government and politics” of the United States.
We hope that through these articles we can open up a dialog on the duty of politicians and other public servants to maintain honesty and fairness. We once again want to extend the invitation to respond to our articles through the website, or through any of our social media outlets. If you have a written response article that you would like published, send it to us at socialchange@ualr.edu. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing all of you at our Symposium on November 8!
Thank you,
Alexis Cook
Editor-in-Chief
Arkansas Journal for Social Change and Public Service.