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Chris Edley, Chris Kutz, Jesse Choper Discuss Academic Freedom and Prof Yoo

PBS, The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, October 20, 2009 by Spencer Michels
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec09/tenure_10-20.html

Christopher Edley, dean, U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law: While many students and faculty are critical of the Bush administration policies and even of some of John’s actions, they think that academic freedom means that his right to be here and to teach has to be protected, until or unless there’s some sort of a conviction.

Christopher Kutz, president, U.C. Berkeley Academic Senate: You need something more than simply incompetence to revoke a professor’s tenure, especially somebody who’s been hired, promoted, published in the top journals. John is one of the most prolific scholars on the Boalt faculty.

Jesse Choper, law professor: He gave them an approach that was wholly consistent with virtually everything he did as a scholar beforehand.

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Chris Kutz Argues for State Funding of Public Education

The New York Times, October 15, 2009 by Chris Kutz and UC Faculty
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18letters-t-003.html?_r=2&scp=7&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt

If the legislators and the public have come to see investment in an educated citizenry as anything less than the central pillar of social and economic growth, then we educators must redouble our efforts to make the case.

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Chris Kutz Supports UC Decision to Hire Bain & Co. to Analyze Budget

-Contra Costa Times, October 1, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13464661

For the most part, instructors seem to be accepting that, said law professor Christopher Kutz, chairman of the campus Academic Senate. “We were really impressed by Bain,” said Kutz, who was involved in choosing the company. “They said the right things, and they understand their limits.”

-San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 2009 by Nanette Asimov
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/05/BAJ41A0EVD.DTL

Law Professor Chris Kutz, who chairs the Faculty Senate, likened the situation to a homeowner who wants to save money on the heating bill and invests in a new furnace. “We think there’s a good chance of achieving savings that dwarf this investment,” Kutz said.

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Stephen Rosenbaum, Chris Kutz, Susan Gluss Respond to Questions about Professor Yoo

The Daily Californian, May 8, 2009 by Katie Meyer (Corrected May 11)
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105632/professor_john_yoo_could_face_disbarment

“One can argue about the appropriateness of someone teaching in a law school who has expressed those interpretations of the law,” Rosenbaum said.

“The dean is always mindful of the interplay between academic freedom, which is the right to express an opinion no matter how vile or odious, and the need for law professors to abide by the highest ethical and professional standards,” Gluss said.

“I do not believe that the memos are professionally adequate statements about the law, nor did the Justice Department—they repudiated all the memos written by John Yoo,” [Kutz] said.

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Chris Kutz Notes Problems with Privately Funded University Research

The Daily Californian, May 6, 2009 by Carol Yur
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105588/increased_role_of_private_funding_concerns_some_ca

One concern with privately funded research is that companies want immediate gains, which may conflict with the university’s interests, said Christopher Kutz, a Boalt Hall School of Law professor and vice chairman of the campus’s Academic Senate. “There are some special concerns about private corporate funding having to do with short-term profit interest,” he said. “Finding an intersection with short-term interests with the university’s interest can be challenging, but I think it’s also possible.”

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Christopher Kutz Explains Limits of Spanish Case against U.S. Attorneys

The Daily Californian, April 1, 2009 by Erika Oblea
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105041/professor_john_yoo_may_be_charged_in_spanish_court

The court accuses Yoo and other lawyers of the administration with creating a legal framework that justified the torture of a Spanish citizen, said Christopher Kutz, a Boalt Hall School of Law professor and vice chairman of the campus’s Academic Senate. But because the case is being reviewed in Spain, Kutz said it is doubtful whether Yoo and the other lawyers will be arrested. “The likelihood of him being arrested and standing trial is basically zero,” Kutz said. “The case has legal significance apart from that, because it concerns the possible violation of serious domestic and international laws.”

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Chris Kutz Says UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate May Consider Inquiry about Professor’s Off-Campus Work

The Panther, March 30, 2009 by Martin Syjuco
Corrected 4/20/09, Correction Printed 4/27/09
http://www.thepantheronline.com/article.php?id=1156

“It is possible that the Academic Senate will take up an inquiry based on these complaintsֽ” he said. “Yoo would not be disciplined for his work outside the university unless, and until, there are credible findings.”

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Chris Kutz and Chris Edley Address Questions about Professor’s Off-Campus Legal Work

San Jose Mercury News, March 20, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11962421

Edley, who was on President Barack Obama’s transition team and who has held positions in two Democratic administrations, said he and others on campus are conflicted about how to handle Yoo…. “All of us need to work through the tension of the principles that preserve the excellence and independence of the university versus the principles that govern society.”

“A criminal conviction is not necessary,” said Christopher Kutz, a law professor and vice chairman of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate. But discipline based on anything less is “new territory, and it’s dangerous territory,” Kutz said.

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Christopher Kutz Suggests an EZ ‘Nanny Tax’

Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2009 by Christopher Kutz
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kutz17-2009feb17,0,3953953.story

“In short, if the government is serious about people paying their taxes, then it should make it easier for people to pay them. More important: If we want to support and value hard work, we need to bring the most vulnerable workers into the system as contributors and ultimate beneficiaries.”

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Chris Kutz Describes Genesis of Blue Sky: New Ideas for Obama Administration Web Site

The Daily Californian, January 27, 2009 by Leslie Toy
http://www.dailycal.org/printable.php?id=104062

“I just noticed in talking to faculty how much of a shared excitement there was about the upcoming Obama administration,” Kutz said. He has invited scholars from all departments to submit their own ideas without restricting them to their official areas of expertise. “I hope that it will be an opportunity for more Berkeley faculty to voice and attract the ideas that they have.”

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Law School Scholars Propose New Ideas for the Obama Administration

San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 2009 by Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Christopher Kutz, Jacob S. Hacker, Larry Karp, Jinhua Zhao
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/25/INT315F820.DTL&type=printable

-Chris Hoofnagle Recommends Public Reporting of Identity Thefts
Despite its incidence and severity, consumers have few tools to avoid identity theft. A light touch regulatory approach could spark a revolution in the prevention of fraud if banks and other credit-granting institutions were required to publicly report the number of identity theft incidents, the forms of identity theft and the amount of loss suffered or avoided.

-Chris Kutz Wants Executives to be Liable for Company Losses
So let’s require firms that want to pay in stock options to include a liability component as well, so that executives share both in the upside and downside risks. Liability would force managers to account for the risks they take with other people’s money.

-Jacob Hacker Prescribes Health Care Reforms
In acting now on health care, we’ll be keeping Americans healthy, reducing the financial risks of health care, and encouraging good health-industry jobs. We’ll also be tackling the leading long-term threat to the federal budget: runaway health costs.

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In the News



Chris Edley, Chris Kutz, Jesse Choper Discuss Academic Freedom and Prof Yoo

PBS, The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, October 20, 2009 by Spencer Michels
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec09/tenure_10-20.html

Christopher Edley, dean, U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law: While many students and faculty are critical of the Bush administration policies and even of some of John’s actions, they think that academic freedom means that his right to be here and to teach has to be protected, until or unless there’s some sort of a conviction.

Christopher Kutz, president, U.C. Berkeley Academic Senate: You need something more than simply incompetence to revoke a professor’s tenure, especially somebody who’s been hired, promoted, published in the top journals. John is one of the most prolific scholars on the Boalt faculty.

Jesse Choper, law professor: He gave them an approach that was wholly consistent with virtually everything he did as a scholar beforehand.


Chris Kutz Argues for State Funding of Public Education

The New York Times, October 15, 2009 by Chris Kutz and UC Faculty
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18letters-t-003.html?_r=2&scp=7&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt

If the legislators and the public have come to see investment in an educated citizenry as anything less than the central pillar of social and economic growth, then we educators must redouble our efforts to make the case.


Chris Kutz Supports UC Decision to Hire Bain & Co. to Analyze Budget

-Contra Costa Times, October 1, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13464661

For the most part, instructors seem to be accepting that, said law professor Christopher Kutz, chairman of the campus Academic Senate. “We were really impressed by Bain,” said Kutz, who was involved in choosing the company. “They said the right things, and they understand their limits.”

-San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 2009 by Nanette Asimov
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/05/BAJ41A0EVD.DTL

Law Professor Chris Kutz, who chairs the Faculty Senate, likened the situation to a homeowner who wants to save money on the heating bill and invests in a new furnace. “We think there’s a good chance of achieving savings that dwarf this investment,” Kutz said.


Stephen Rosenbaum, Chris Kutz, Susan Gluss Respond to Questions about Professor Yoo

The Daily Californian, May 8, 2009 by Katie Meyer (Corrected May 11)
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105632/professor_john_yoo_could_face_disbarment

“One can argue about the appropriateness of someone teaching in a law school who has expressed those interpretations of the law,” Rosenbaum said.

“The dean is always mindful of the interplay between academic freedom, which is the right to express an opinion no matter how vile or odious, and the need for law professors to abide by the highest ethical and professional standards,” Gluss said.

“I do not believe that the memos are professionally adequate statements about the law, nor did the Justice Department—they repudiated all the memos written by John Yoo,” [Kutz] said.


Chris Kutz Notes Problems with Privately Funded University Research

The Daily Californian, May 6, 2009 by Carol Yur
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105588/increased_role_of_private_funding_concerns_some_ca

One concern with privately funded research is that companies want immediate gains, which may conflict with the university’s interests, said Christopher Kutz, a Boalt Hall School of Law professor and vice chairman of the campus’s Academic Senate. “There are some special concerns about private corporate funding having to do with short-term profit interest,” he said. “Finding an intersection with short-term interests with the university’s interest can be challenging, but I think it’s also possible.”


Christopher Kutz Explains Limits of Spanish Case against U.S. Attorneys

The Daily Californian, April 1, 2009 by Erika Oblea
http://www.dailycal.org/article/105041/professor_john_yoo_may_be_charged_in_spanish_court

The court accuses Yoo and other lawyers of the administration with creating a legal framework that justified the torture of a Spanish citizen, said Christopher Kutz, a Boalt Hall School of Law professor and vice chairman of the campus’s Academic Senate. But because the case is being reviewed in Spain, Kutz said it is doubtful whether Yoo and the other lawyers will be arrested. “The likelihood of him being arrested and standing trial is basically zero,” Kutz said. “The case has legal significance apart from that, because it concerns the possible violation of serious domestic and international laws.”


Chris Kutz Says UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate May Consider Inquiry about Professor’s Off-Campus Work

The Panther, March 30, 2009 by Martin Syjuco
Corrected 4/20/09, Correction Printed 4/27/09
http://www.thepantheronline.com/article.php?id=1156

“It is possible that the Academic Senate will take up an inquiry based on these complaintsֽ” he said. “Yoo would not be disciplined for his work outside the university unless, and until, there are credible findings.”


Chris Kutz and Chris Edley Address Questions about Professor’s Off-Campus Legal Work

San Jose Mercury News, March 20, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_11962421

Edley, who was on President Barack Obama’s transition team and who has held positions in two Democratic administrations, said he and others on campus are conflicted about how to handle Yoo…. “All of us need to work through the tension of the principles that preserve the excellence and independence of the university versus the principles that govern society.”

“A criminal conviction is not necessary,” said Christopher Kutz, a law professor and vice chairman of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate. But discipline based on anything less is “new territory, and it’s dangerous territory,” Kutz said.


Christopher Kutz Suggests an EZ ‘Nanny Tax’

Los Angeles Times, February 17, 2009 by Christopher Kutz
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kutz17-2009feb17,0,3953953.story

“In short, if the government is serious about people paying their taxes, then it should make it easier for people to pay them. More important: If we want to support and value hard work, we need to bring the most vulnerable workers into the system as contributors and ultimate beneficiaries.”


Chris Kutz Describes Genesis of Blue Sky: New Ideas for Obama Administration Web Site

The Daily Californian, January 27, 2009 by Leslie Toy
http://www.dailycal.org/printable.php?id=104062

“I just noticed in talking to faculty how much of a shared excitement there was about the upcoming Obama administration,” Kutz said. He has invited scholars from all departments to submit their own ideas without restricting them to their official areas of expertise. “I hope that it will be an opportunity for more Berkeley faculty to voice and attract the ideas that they have.”


Law School Scholars Propose New Ideas for the Obama Administration

San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 2009 by Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Christopher Kutz, Jacob S. Hacker, Larry Karp, Jinhua Zhao
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/25/INT315F820.DTL&type=printable

-Chris Hoofnagle Recommends Public Reporting of Identity Thefts
Despite its incidence and severity, consumers have few tools to avoid identity theft. A light touch regulatory approach could spark a revolution in the prevention of fraud if banks and other credit-granting institutions were required to publicly report the number of identity theft incidents, the forms of identity theft and the amount of loss suffered or avoided.

-Chris Kutz Wants Executives to be Liable for Company Losses
So let’s require firms that want to pay in stock options to include a liability component as well, so that executives share both in the upside and downside risks. Liability would force managers to account for the risks they take with other people’s money.

-Jacob Hacker Prescribes Health Care Reforms
In acting now on health care, we’ll be keeping Americans healthy, reducing the financial risks of health care, and encouraging good health-industry jobs. We’ll also be tackling the leading long-term threat to the federal budget: runaway health costs.



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