USD Magazine, Fall 1999

for ideas, the planned Institute for Global Health and Values Among Multicultural Populations, will focus on nursing, research, education and practice initatives. At the same time the School of Nursing reaches out to local populations, it also will be increasing its profile around the world. The school has affiliated with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center at the University of California, San Francisco, allowing for research partnerships with graduate programs in other countries. Groups of nursing students from Taiwan already have come to Alcala Park for classes, and in the coming years professors look for ways to expand into other international areas, such as South America and Asia. "We're open to taking international opportunities as they appear," Rodgers says, "as long as we can offer the same quality we provide in all our programs." The school's focus on underserved populations is something that will not change, however. Research on how to better provide health care for the chronically ill, elderly populations and minority groups continues to be a passion for faculty, and conducting more high-pro– file studies is a future goal. "We're here to contribute to nursing knowledge, and fulfill the needs of all the communities we serve, locally, nationally and interna– tionally," Rodgers says. "Input from nurses on health care issues will only become more important in the future, and our faculty and stu– dents are ready for that challenge." School of Law Professors have verdict an future al law school leaching T he way law is taught is changing faster than the way it is prac– ticed, and it may remain that way for some time. While technology already has revamped the law classroom - with online classes, teleconferences and high-speed Internet research - it has been slower to change the courtroom. "The courtroom of the future, and even of the present, will be more sophisticated and technically wired," says School of Law Dean Daniel Rodriguez. "But the essence of law, the ability to think like a lawyer with learned legal reasoning, will not change."

Rodriguez believes technology will, and to some degree, has, bro– ken down walls in the study of law. He says that over the next several decades, law and fields such as health and the arts and sciences will become further blended, eventually leading to combined degrees.

"A well-rounded lawyer will mean exactly that," says

Rodriguez. "A business lawyer needs to know more about new kinds of accounting and commerce, and a lawyer in the health field needs to know the latest in medicine. We'll see more cross-disciplinary degrees. And classes will be taught with that in mind." Yet those classes might not be taught in a classroom. Professor Lawrence Alexander says traditional law schools may become obsolete as the role of a law professor evolves into a "hands-on, clinical train– ing." Alexander predicts students will face a battery of exams to get into law school, doing the equivalent of the first two years of study on their own. The only year at a law school may be one of clinical prepa– ration. "When teaching law," Alexander says, "you need to present cer– tain problems to your students and then get feedback. But this can be done in a cheaper, more efficient way. Students will simply do as much as they can on their own and then apply to schools that will be increasingly competitive." Professor Chris Wonnell, a member of the law school's Teaching 2000 Committee, already is looking at the changes in law school teaching. "Law school teaching is distinctive in that it is so necessarily interactive," says Wonnell. "The professor asks questions of students, who are then called upon. These.are Socratic dialogues - every answer leads to a question. That's not going to change, but it can be taken to new degrees by technology. New lawyers will have access to a wider variety of thought."

1997

Del 29 - San Diego approves master plan for building projects over next 25 years. Nov. 12 - First Founders Day celebrated on annual feast of San Diego de Alcala, USD's patron saint.

Oct. 16 - President Bill Clinton and Sen. Bob Dole debate in nationally televised event in Shiley Theatre.

April 3 - Suspected Unabomber arrested.

Fllhruary- Women's swim– ming/diving squad wins first– ever champi– onship.

June - Sister Sally Furay steps down as provost after serving 44 years at university.

July - Aromas coffeehouse earns top ranking among collegiate coffeehouses.

Dai:amhar - Ethics Across the Curriculum initiative approved.