Friday, September 30, 2005

MA-R

Martie (1984-1985)

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Martie is a law partner in the Wichita, Kansas firm, Foulston Siefkin, LLP.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Yes, Martie was profiled by Wichita's bizwomen.com website.

And remember, no lawyer is responsible for the (alleged) behavior of her client.

4. What else do we know?

She gives talks for "medical group management" audiences. She's an expert on medical records privacy.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

RAP

Robert

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Robert is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Ed & Molly Smith Professor of Business Law at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas, Austin.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Yes. Bloomberg News, June 11, 2004, had a story about how Halliburton was being investigated for bribery in Nigeria:
Regulators may be trying to demonstrate to other nations that the U.S. is vigorously enforcing its anti-bribery law after getting 33 other countries to agree to common standards in 1997, said Robert A. Prentice, a professor of business law at the University of Texas in Austin.

"We're saying, 'We're really working hard here, we'd like you to get in line here too,'" Prentice said. "It doesn't hurt to make examples out of Halliburton and Exxon."
So I guess a lot of Halliburton executives are headed to jail?

4. What else do we know?

Robert authored the Student Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. FYI: that's the law Congress passed in 2002 in the wake of Enron and other cases of business fraud. He's written lots of article and books on business and securities law, ethics, etc.

Does that sound exciting to you? If so, you may want to skip his coauthored piece "Liability for Transmission of Herpes: Using Traditional Tort Principles to Encourage Honesty in Sexual Relationships." Journal of Contemporary Law 11, 67-103.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

JAC

John (1984-1987)

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



Who's chasing him?

2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

He is an attorney in his own Denver, Colorado firm.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

John (and his firm) represented the plaintiffs when the University of Colorado and its athletic program were sued for Title IX civil rights violations in that alleged sexual assault case a couple of years ago. Debate teams don't recruit like this:
Boulder County prosecutor Mary Keenan decided against assault charges but has said she believes the athletics program entices recruits with sex and alcohol
Perhaps John's experience in that case prepared him for his presentation at this upcoming Employment Law Conference.

4. What else do we know?

John is listed as a "Cooperating Attorney" by the ACLU of Colorado.

He hangs out with RWH III's ex-high school colleague.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

KMF

Kevin

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Kevin is an attorney for Frieden, Haynes & Forbes in Topeka, KS.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Yes. Thanks to Kevin's practice, Anthem, Inc. is in no danger of bankruptcy. Don't ask about the health insurance premiums. He is trying, however, to reduce electric bills to make up for that.

It appears that Kevin offers the same advice to his clients that he used to give to his debate colleagues:
Fowler said his client would remain silent on even the most mundane questions because a response might open the door to more serious questions.


4. What else do we know?

Kevin is arguably the former Jayhawk debater most able to kick your butt. So don't send him any hate mail.

Look what Kevin said about Kansas insurance commissioner Kathleen Sebelius:
"She was usurping authority that was never given to her in the first place," said Kevin Fowler, a Topeka lawyer representing Indianapolis-based Anthem Insurance Cos.
Anyone ever say that about the HJ?

Friday, September 23, 2005

CP-J

   Carolyn

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?

Carolyn JohnsonShe's on the left.

2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Carolyn is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Kansas.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited KU earlier this year, the Daily Kansan reported this:
Visits can help personify some of the material law students study, said Carolyn Porto Johnson, an adjunct lecturer in political science.

"They benefit by getting to see the person who writes the opinions that they’ll be studying," she said, "and they’ll be studying them a lot."
This April, the University marked her 15 years of service.

4. What else do we know?

Carolyn serves as the Interim Director/Volunteer Coordinator with the Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Oh, here's the family...at work, or play?

And haven't we seen that guy somewhere else?

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

zpg

Zac

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

He is President and Founder of ZGrant, LLC, which is a "boutique sponsorship marketing practice dedicated to serving" its "clients and partners quietly and effectively."

Unless you are ready to talk about a couple of million bucks, don't call.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

It "wouldn't be prudent" to say.

4. What else do we know?

As recently as 2002, Zac was still involved with the promotion of women's golf -- and Chick-fil-A.

Zac's slogan? "All achievement begins at play."

That sounds like Zac.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

BLP

Barry (1986-1989)

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Barry is a litigator with Spencer Fane in Kansas City.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Well, Barry followed up this article in the Journal of the Missouri Bar with this exciting conclusion. I'm not sure I fully understand the "finality trap," but I think I know why it was sufficiently important to merit serialization:
All litigators with appeals in federal courts now face an uncertainty that should not, and need not, exist. The trap threatens uninformed litigators with malpractice.
Notice the dirty word?

4. What else do we know?

People remember his debate career fondly.

Friday, September 16, 2005

DBC-P

Diana

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Diana is a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas and is dean of the Graduate School and Office of International Programs.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Diana created DebateWatch in 1996 and was national director for DebateWatch 2000. Citizens were asked to watch televised presidential debates "and then explain in discussion groups what they learned from the debates, which formats they liked and how the debates could be improved." Debate Watch is now sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

From the Austin American-Statesman, September 27, 2004:
Diana Carlin found that people were both attracted to and repulsed by conflict.

They didn't listen to learn. They viewed debates like hometown football games, hoping to see their team run up the score.

Though more than one-third of viewers said that the debates were important in helping them decide how to vote, most used the debate to confirm an existing belief, Carlin said. Only 8 percent of the electorate in 1992 said the presidential debates changed their vote.

"What we found is that the debates reinforce," Carlin said. "People want to have their minds made up."
Hmmmm.

Diana is spreading the virtues of political debate worldwide -- in faraway places like Moldova and Benin.

4. What else do we know?

Diana is chair of the Board of Directors, Kids Voting Kansas and member of Kids Voting USA Board of Directors.

She has slept in the White House.

Diana deserves part of the "credit" for KU's recent football "success."

She gets to say "here come da judge just about anytime she wants.

And then there's this.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

RCR

Robin

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Robin is Chair of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas.

Robin is also a "Senior Consultant" to a firm called Advocacy Research Institute, which engages in "jury research and litigation consulting services."

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Maybe. Well, yes, at least some years ago.


However, Robin has clearly been active "behind the scenes," as they say. For example, he's been involved in Israel Advocacy Retreat, which "was designed to teach students how to defend Israel in various situations, from the public lectures in their classrooms to the conversations they have with their peers at bars." He apparently
discussed why we should defend Israel, the barriers we might encounter and the rhetoric and different types of communications skills needed to defend Israel to all types of audiences.
Robin has also worked as a political consultant for Representative Dennis Moore (D-KS). In 1999 and 2002, Moore visited Robin's KU classes. The stories about Moore's visits don't seem to disclose the connection.

4. What else do we know?

Robin co-authored an award-winning book in 2002, Shared Land/Conflicting Identity Trajectories of Israeli and Palestinian Symbol Use.

Robin has been involved with his local ACLU chapter, thinking about the Patriot Act.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

GS

Gary

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Gary is an Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, and is executive director of the Gulf/2000 project.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

He is frequently cited as an expert on Iran. This came from an August 18, 2005, Voice of America report:
Columbia University Middle East Studies Professor Gary Sick, a former Iran analyst at the National Security Council, says the new Cabinet represents a changing of the guard in Iran to the generation that fought the Iran-Iraq war.

"I think, we are going to see a much more self-confident behavior among these people, at least in the beginning," he said. "They may discover that confidence is not justified. But I think, they are coming into it, not as a youthful group looking up to their elders, but as a group that has fought the battles of Iran over the past 20 years, and they are, in their own view, now ready for power."
GS was the Iran specialist on the National Security Council during the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations.

Gary may have coined the phrase, "the Iraq Syndrome." Look for more frequent use in the next decade.

Earlier this year, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at KU gave GS an Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.

4. What else do we know?

GS called one of his books October Surprise...and his was a doozy:
Gary Sick, the National Security Council expert on the Middle East at the time, soberly reports in October Surprise of an alleged clandestine deal between the Iranian mullahs and Ronald Reagan's campaign operatives. In return for holding the fifty-two Americans until after the election, the Republicans promised to pay back Iran through surreptitious arms deliveries via Israel. The book's implicit message is that without the foul play, the Reagan-Bush era may never have occurred. If the allegations are true, the 1980 election would be, in Sick's words, the first "political coup" (p.12) in American history.
The book came out in 1991.

More recently, in American Dynasty, Republican-journalist Kevin Phillips looked at the evidence made public since 1992 and concluded that the story is plausible. Phillips looked at data from French, Iranian, Russian and Israeli sources. Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr corroborated GS's account in his own book.

Update 9/14/05: After receiving an email from GS, I corrected his current work responsibilities.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

akr

Katrina

Note: I try to alert subjects that they are being profiled, but I don't have an email for her. If anyone does, please forward her a link to this post. Thanks!

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Katrina is CEO of Cistera Networks, a company that designs and markets XML-based application appliances utilized in Cisco IP Communications environments.

Whatever that means.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

In 2003, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece about Silicon Valley "dot-com" executives burned by accepting stock options rather than cash for their services:
[S}oftware executive Katrina Roche...twice took generous options in lieu of large salaries.

Ms. Roche was hired for the first of those jobs, at Baan Co., Europe's second-largest software company, in 1998. Her new boss figured her options eventually would be worth at least $7.7 million. But the day she started work, the company announced it would miss earnings -- and the share price began a downward spiral. "There was no hope I was going to see money from those options," she says.

After several years at Baan, she joined i2 Technologies Inc. in Dallas as chief marketing officer, again receiving a large option grant. But the stock started downward soon after she joined, and Ms. Roche, a single mother of an infant son, realized that her salary alone would be insufficient to provide for her child, who today is 19 months old. She recently left i2 but hasn't forsaken options altogether. She is now president and chief operating officer of Nonstop Solutions, a closely held company with no current plans to go public, where she received options to buy a certain share in the company over time.
Ouch!

In 2002, Katrina was interviewed by Fast Company magazine.

4. What else do we know?

Katrina travels a great deal for her firm and often speaks about business-related topics.

She is also on the Board of Directors (Executive Committee) of the San Francisco School Volunteers.

Update 9/14/05: Katrina was on a panel at the 2002 World Economic Forum! The WEF is usually called "Davos" after its host Swiss city, but the 2002 meeting was held in the USA.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

PJ


Paul

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?

That's him to the left.

2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Paul is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas.

Rock Chalk!

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

Sort of. USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education) had an article in November 2004 about Paul's new book...but he apparently told them that he teaches at K-State:
The amount of friendly disagreements about politics is keeping democracy strong in the U.S., concludes a book co-authored by political scientist Paul Johnson of the University of Kansas, Manhattan.
In Kansas, of course, Paul is considered a "reliable source."

4. What else do we know?

Paul is still a party animal. Check out the title of this journal, which published his recent article on "The Power of Commitment in Cooperative Social Action," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation.

Sounds just like one of his old parties.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

ELC

Eric

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



Eric is the one on the right.

2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

Eric is a lawyer for the Snohomish Washington Public Utility District.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

You could say that. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle, June 27, 2004:
Eric Christensen unearthed Grandma Millie.

The soft-spoken, mild-mannered lawyer for a publicly owned utility in northwest Washington, Christensen also dug up “Burn, baby, burn.” And “He steals money from California to the tune of about a million (a day).” And “I got three more hours to congest.” And a host of other explosive and incriminating discussions from traders at the energy giant Enron.
"Wow, these guys are really crooked bastards," said Snohomish lawyer Eric Christensen.

Check out Eric's press clippings: CNN, the Washington Post, CBS News, USA Today, etc. And, of course, US Representative Jay Inslee (D-Wash) is a fan.

4. What else do we know?

Eric's boss, PUD General Counsel Mike Gianunzio, likes him:
"Eric is pretty much an unsung, quiet guy who's willing to work very hard. He works in the weeds and digs the dirt out," his boss said. "If we hadn't done this stuff, we basically would have had to pay Enron, and they would have gotten away with that fraud."
In 1999, Eric publicly blasted a mining company's "consigliere" for advocating "environmentally destructive corporate welfare."

Thursday, September 01, 2005

UPDATE: Steve is OK

I just received email from Robin. Steve is apparently staying with Frank in Austin.

More news as I get it.

FC

Frank

1. What does this past Kansas debater look like now?



2. What does this ex-debater now do for a living?

He is a Professor of Business Law at the University of Texas, Austin, School of Business and a Professor at the Law School.

3. Has this former debater been "in the news"?

He's trying. In 1998, the Competitive Enterprise Institute published Frank's monograph Could Kyoto Kill? The Mortality Costs of Climate Policies. Frank published a summary on CEI's webpage, December 1, 1998:
...the greatest health costs of requiring greenhouse gas emission reductions undoubtedly would result from the economic costs of such a policy. As one recent study noted, "any public policy that leads to declining disposable income, such as environmental regulations, is likely to have significant adverse health effects" from injury and disease. The Kyoto Protocol, by itself, is expected to cost between $7 billion and $1,830 billion, according to recent estimates. Using a conservative estimate that regulatory costs of $10 million induce one premature mortality shows that climate policies will result in an estimated 700 to 183,000 additional deaths each year.
Frank is concerned about the tradeoffs people will make: "Money spent on increased energy costs is unavailable for the purchase of smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, bicycle helmets, and other product that protect health. Greater wealth also increases access to health care and education."

By the way, using Frank's method, I calculate that the economic cost of the Iraq war will kill around 20,000 Americans annually, or upwards of 30,000 to-date. I await CEI's followup analysis.

4. What else do we know?

Well, on August 29, the much-read legal blog The Volokh Conspiracy noted the preliminary results of Frank's ongoing empirical study about the effects of Chief Justice William Rehnquist's on-and-off absence from the Supreme Court. When Rehnquist is out, Justice John Paul Stevens (appointed to the federal appeals court by Richard Nixon and to the Supremes by Gerald Ford) presides:They quoted our KU alum directly:
I have completed a preliminary analysis of the 2004 term. There appears to be some result from Rehnquist's absence on outcomes. For example, in the cases over which Rehnquist presided, he had a 10% dissent rate. In the cases over which Stevens presided, Rehnquist had a 30% dissent rate. While this is a fairly small sample, and the changed probability of a Stevens dissent is much less, this is suggestive that Rehnquist's absence may have had an effect.

I went by their appearance at oral argument with help from some of your readers and found 40 cases for Stevens and 30 for Rehnquist, just using cases with full argument and full opinion.
Frank is a frequent commenter on Volokh.