Advertisement

Pinellas college notebook: Forums tackle water issues, judicial bias, climate change and more

 
Published Feb. 27, 2017

SPC to host forum on the region's water challenges

Award-winning author and journalist Cynthia Barnett talks about the future of Pinellas County waters in a talk Tuesday at St. Petersburg College's Seminole Campus. Barnett will outline a vision for a "Pinellas water ethic," exploring the question of whether citizens and local government can work together to solve the county's looming water challenges. Three local experts will join her: Paul Boudreaux, professor of environmental law at Stetson University College of Law; Christopher F. Meindl, associate professor of geography at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and Doug Robison, who created the management plan in the 1980s that revived Tampa Bay's health. Linae Boehme-Terrana, interim director SPC's Bay Pines STEM Center, will moderate. The talk runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the conference center at 9200 113th St. N. Admission is free but advance registration is required at solutions.spcollege.edu.

Reporters to discuss project on judicial bias

A panel of reporters from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune come to Eckerd College on Monday to talk about their recent project, "Bias on the Bench." Their reporting uncovered systemic racial bias in how Florida judges sentenced black defendants compared to white defendants who committed similar crimes. Their work is the most comprehensive study conducted to date about individual judges' sentencing practices. After their discussion, the reporters will take audience questions. Join them at 7 p.m. in Fox Hall.

Partnership aids veterans needing legal help, health care

Stetson Law has launched a new partnership that provides free civil legal assistance to qualifying low-income veterans enrolled for care at the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. Veterans can get help with non-criminal offenses, as well as assistance in veterans benefits, guardianship, disability benefits and more. Alumnae Cherilyn Hansen of Gulfcoast Legal Services and Julie Ann Embler of Bay Area Legal Services will work with VA social workers to help veterans. The service is available 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the main building of the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center, room 1E-241. For information, call (727) 398-9592.

Chemistry professor weighs in on climate change

Song Gao, a Stetson University chemistry professor, delivers a free talk on the state of the global climate and the science behind climate change at noon Monday in Stetson Law's Great Hall, 1401 61st St S, Gulfport.

Stetson earns moot court honors

Stetson Law's moot court board has been named No. 6 among the nation's best 20 moot court programs during this decade. National Jurist magazine also listed Stetson among its best 40 schools for bar exam preparation.

At USFSP, a lecture on handedness

Philosophy professor Peter Westmoreland of the University of Florida presents his research about handedness on Wednesday at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He'll discuss "Left Hand, Right Hand: Myths and Norms About Handedness" at 4 p.m. at Nelson Poynter Memorial Library on the USFSP campus.

Eckerd to screen recent, award-winning film

On March 3, Eckerd College is hosting a screening of Moonlight (2016), the winner of this year's Academy Award for best film. Directed by Barry Jenkins, the three-part saga follows the growth of Chiron, a young black man discovering his sexuality and manhood in Miami. The film plays at 7 p.m. in the Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium.