Several
significant events at the Law School during the fall semester, sponsored
by the National Remote Sensing and Space Law Center, offered learning opportunities
to law students and others. The programs were arranged by Professor Joanne
Gabrynowicz, director of NRSSLC.Margaret Finarelli, vice president for North American operations at International Space University, along with research professor Ray Williamson of The George Washington University, in a public forum gave an insider's perspective on how politics intersects with the real world of space technology.
Finarelli was responsible for developing the international relationships among the partners in the space station program while director of NASA Space Station Policy from 1986 to 1988. Williamson was formerly a senior associate in NASA's Office of Technology Assessment before that office was eliminated in 1995.
On another occasion, NASA's head attorney, General Counsel Paul G. Pastorek, critiqued the research of seven law students in a daylong "class" of presentations. The student work was under the auspices of the NRSSLC and Professor Gabrynowicz.
Student researcher Sherlock Grigsby said having someone of Pastorek's caliber to evaluate his work was "a valuable learning opportunity." "We have the top remote sensing expert here in Professor Gabrynowicz, and now I get to supplement her information with firsthand information from a top government remote sensing expert."
In another unusual academic experience, Grigsby and fellow students Tracy Bowles and Brent McBride were featured with Gabrynowicz on "The Space Show," the nation's first and only talk radio show focused on increasing space commerce and developing space tourism. The show airs live on Renaissance Radio, a division of the North American Broadcasting Co. Inc., and is available on the Internet.
Also arranged by Gabrynowicz was the workshop "A Legal Assistant's Guide to Legal Applications of Geospatial Information," which offered training to attorneys and legal assistants on how to use satellite and aerial images, databases, maps, and such in lawsuits. "This is real technology and real law that already exists, not the futuristic sci-fi stuff of movies like 'Minority Report,'" Gabrynowicz said.
Workshop presenters included Gabrynowicz; Linda Slade, NASA attorney at Stennis Space Center; Rick Crowsey, CEO of Crowsey Inc.; and UM Law Professor Ron Rychlak.