3.03.2006
Space Law Nebraska Style
What's the leading space law school in the US?
We don't exactly have one. And now, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- that's right, Nebraska -- wants to remedy the deficiency and make a name for itself as, well, the Yale of space law.
The JournalStar.com reports university leaders are putting together a proposal to start a space law program at the law school. The law school, which may start to offer classes in space law as soon as August, is looking into purusing a "long-term goal" under the leadership of University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken of making UNL "the country's leading space law educator."
Significantly, the dream of space law dominance grew out of "Milliken's conversations with various U.S. Strategic Command leaders in the past year." A new space law program "would allow the university to partner with the powerful and deep-pocketed U.S. Strategic Command at nearby Offutt Air Force Base."
In informal talks between president and "military brass" over "ways to strengthen the weak relationship between the state's flagship university and its flagship military base" the article reports, "Milliken kept hearing that the country needed more lawyers trained in space law." I could have told him that.
Law school dean Steve Wilborn and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman like the idea. The dean is now at working on a space law program proposal and says "we're hopeful of doing something starting next year."
The idea even caught the eye of State Senator Chris Beutler of Lincoln who wrote a letter to Milliken saying, "I suspect that the College of Law might well be the ideal location for this country's first comprehensive space law program, and such an endeavor would be good for the country, good for the University and good for the City of Lincoln."
By the way if Nebraska wants to be a space law leader, one reputable model, of which of course the dean is aware, would be the University of Mississippi School of Law's National Remote Sensing and Space Law Center, under the leadership of its director, Prof. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, who also serves as editor-in-chief of the nation's only Journal of Space Law.
(And watch out, McGill and Leiden.)
* * *
UPDATE: Of course, if anyone can catch up for a moment with the University of Tennessee's Prof. Reynolds -- that is, between his endless distractions like authoring bestsellers, blogging, podcasting, and generally making those seemingly nonstop Insta-celebrity rounds -- no doubt his unique space law and education insight would be worth seeking out. (And never mind Tennessee's got him, just remember his ol' Nebraska Guitar Militia.)
We don't exactly have one. And now, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- that's right, Nebraska -- wants to remedy the deficiency and make a name for itself as, well, the Yale of space law.
The JournalStar.com reports university leaders are putting together a proposal to start a space law program at the law school. The law school, which may start to offer classes in space law as soon as August, is looking into purusing a "long-term goal" under the leadership of University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken of making UNL "the country's leading space law educator."
Significantly, the dream of space law dominance grew out of "Milliken's conversations with various U.S. Strategic Command leaders in the past year." A new space law program "would allow the university to partner with the powerful and deep-pocketed U.S. Strategic Command at nearby Offutt Air Force Base."
In informal talks between president and "military brass" over "ways to strengthen the weak relationship between the state's flagship university and its flagship military base" the article reports, "Milliken kept hearing that the country needed more lawyers trained in space law." I could have told him that.
Law school dean Steve Wilborn and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman like the idea. The dean is now at working on a space law program proposal and says "we're hopeful of doing something starting next year."
The idea even caught the eye of State Senator Chris Beutler of Lincoln who wrote a letter to Milliken saying, "I suspect that the College of Law might well be the ideal location for this country's first comprehensive space law program, and such an endeavor would be good for the country, good for the University and good for the City of Lincoln."
By the way if Nebraska wants to be a space law leader, one reputable model, of which of course the dean is aware, would be the University of Mississippi School of Law's National Remote Sensing and Space Law Center, under the leadership of its director, Prof. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, who also serves as editor-in-chief of the nation's only Journal of Space Law.
(And watch out, McGill and Leiden.)
* * *
UPDATE: Of course, if anyone can catch up for a moment with the University of Tennessee's Prof. Reynolds -- that is, between his endless distractions like authoring bestsellers, blogging, podcasting, and generally making those seemingly nonstop Insta-celebrity rounds -- no doubt his unique space law and education insight would be worth seeking out. (And never mind Tennessee's got him, just remember his ol' Nebraska Guitar Militia.)
