LYC Conference

Dealing with the New World Order will be the theme of the 33rd Annual Law, Youth, and Citizenship (LYC) Program Conference, sponsored by the New York State Bar Association , Oct. 15th and 16th, 2009 at at Lake George, NY. The conference theme: "Economy, Ecology, Equaloty; Dealing with the New World Order," will be addressed at twenty 90-minute workshops conducted by academicians, teachers, attorneys and journalists during the two-day conference. Topics include environmental issues, financial literacy, the economy, civic engagement, mock trial and the courts. Pamela Katz, J.D. and Dr. Steven Leibo, both members of the Sage faculty, will be presenting at the conference.

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
8:45am 10:15am
Updating An Inconvenient Truth
All Levels

In the years since Al Gore's film made environmental history, the science of climate change has advanced considerably. Dr. Leibo was among those personally trained by former Vice President Al Gore to give updated versions of the famous Climate Crisis slide show from the Academy Award Winning Film "The Inconvenient Truth." Over the last few years, he has given over a hundred presentations at a range of institutions from high schools and colleges to libraries and state agencies. Dr. Leibo is The Climate Project's District Manager for upstate New York (Mr. Gore created The Climate Project)

Professor Steven A. Leibo Ph.D., Professor of International History & Politics, The Sage Colleges Professor Steven A. Leibo Ph.D. Dr. Leibo is Professor of Modern International History & Politics at The Sage Colleges. He has also taught at SUNY Albany since 1986. A former Fulbright scholar, Prof. Leibo specializes in the relationship between Asia and the West. Leibo has extensive experience leading study tours through Vietnam. Dr. Leibo is also a documentary filmmaker. His most recent film, "From Albany to Saigon: Vietnam & the Capital Region," has been shown throughout the Capital Region. Professor Leibo is an author and editor of many works including the annual East & Southeast Asia 2009. Since 1997, Dr. Leibo has served as an international affairs commentator for WAMC North Eastern Public Radio. He blogs at Leibo's World Watch.

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
8:45am 10:15am

International Trade and the Environment
MS, HS

This session will look at how students can take the dilemma of the economy v. the environment to the next level by looking at the World Trade Organization and how free trade intersects with environmental protection. Current examples involving genetically modified foods and protection of dolphins and turtles in fishing industries, among others, bring the subject to life. Various Internet resources and in-class debate topics on the subject will be presented.

Pamela Katz, J.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, Russell Sage College. Katz holds a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She has worked as an attorney in the private sector in the real estate department of the Manhattan law firm of Shea & Gould. She has also worked in the public interest law sector at the New York Civil Liberties Union as Assistant Legislative Director and as Executive Director of the Capital Region Chapter. Katz is the creator and director of State Court Watch, a web-based teaching and learning environment financed with a grant from the Law, Youth and Citizenship Program of the New York State Bar Association. Since 1997, she has been a full time faculty member at The Sage Colleges, where she is currently Chair of the Department of History, Law and Government. In 2008, she and two biology professors created a new, interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program at Russell Sage College.