L&C in the News

Across the country, demand for mental health care is at an all-time high, yet we lack enough qualified mental health practitioners. Recognizing that decades of underinvestment in the mental health workforce has contributed to this problem, the Oregon Health Authority is providing grant funds to Lewis & Clark for scholarships for mental health counseling students. As Dr. Cort Dorn-Medeiros, chair of Lewis & Clark’s Department of Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology, notes, “This is the investment we need. If you want more mental-health practitioners, especially those going to work for nonprofit agencies in medical settings, supporting them through their education” is key.

For half a century, student protestors at campuses across the US have called for divestment related to a variety of political issues. But how effective is this strategy? Lewis & Clark Professors Cliff Bekar and Bruce Podobnik explain why divestment may not deliver the economic and political effects that proponents seek.

When farmers, conservationists, and other neighbors noticed an unusual pit being dug in Marion County, they notified the authorities about possible illegal dumping. Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Professor Craig Johnston explains why the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has ordered the dump site to be shut down. 

Oregon Public Broadcasting profiles Alicia Ouellette, the incoming dean of Lewis & Clark’s Law School. Dean Jennifer Johnson, who is stepping down after a decade leading our Law School, increased the school’s endowment by more than 52%. Ouellette, the former president and dean of Albany Law School in New York, looks forward to building on this success. As OPB reports, she is “excited to see how the law school engages with the city and the community and to grow those connections.”

World renowned artists Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle spent ten days in residence at Lewis & Clark’s EAR (Experimental Art Research) Forest. The resulting work leaves audiences “full of admiration for Sprinkle and Stephens and the Lewis & Clark Faculty who work as both artists and academics, making space to be in life-changing relation to students,” according to art critic Hannah Krafcik. “Amidst the pressure cooker of the brewing climate crisis, this whole experience at EAR Forest offered a breath of fresh air.” 

As the affordable housing crisis takes hold across large cities, small towns, suburban areas, and rural counties, some communities are imposing penalties on people who are living outside. The Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to the way Grants Pass, a town in southern Oregon, is penalizing unhoused people. Lewis & Clark Professor Tung Yin explains the Constitutional issues at the heart of the case.

Scientists are increasingly finding evidence of sentience – conscious thought or experience – among insects, fish, and other creatures. This understanding of consciousness across species has important legal implications, notes Lewis & Clark Professor Raj Reedy. Currently, federal law does not classify animals as sentient, according to Reddy. Instead, laws pertaining to animals focus primarily on conservation, agriculture or their treatment by zoos, research laboratories, and pet retailers. Recognizing sentience might lead to different judicial opinions in cases that involve or effect these creatures.