MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO DELIVER FINAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY RUSK CENTER LECTURE

Monday, October 21, 2002 WRITER: Kristine Fortunato, 706/542-5172 CONTACT: Gabriel Wilner, 706/542-5238, wilner@uga.edu MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO DELIVER FINAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY RUSK CENTER LECTURE ATHENS, Ga. - The fourth and final lecture in the Dean Rusk Lecture Series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Dean Rusk Center -- International, Comparative and Graduate Legal Studies will take place on Monday, Oct. 28, 2002 at 3:30 p.m. in the UGA School of Law\u27s Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom. Titled The United States and Europe: Political Cleavages and the Use of Law, this lecture will be given by Dr. Manuel Medina Ortega, a prominent long-time member of the European Parliament. Dr. Medina belongs to the Group of the Party of European Socialists in the European Parliament. He is currently a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market and the Committee on Citizens\u27 Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. Medina is also active in the European Parliament\u27s relations with Latin America. In addition, he holds a chair and teaches at the Universidad de La Laguna and at Universidad Complutense. Executive Director of the Dean Rusk Center Gabriel Wilner said Dean Rusk considered the maintenance of close ties with Western Europe an essential element of U.S. policy. Many issues today appear to pit the United States against its friends and closest European allies in the European Union. Dr. Medina will articulate many of these problems ranging from trade differences to the difference over policies in the Middle East and give the \u27European\u27 perspective of a prominent European whose positive sentiments about the United States began when he did graduate law work at Columbia University. The Rusk Center was established in 1977 and merged with International and Graduate Legal Studies in 1999 to bring research, teaching and service at the University of Georgia School of Law into the evolving international dimensions of law. A former secretary of state, the late Dean Rusk was the inspiration behind the center\u27s creation. It was his profound belief that through education, international cooperation could be a conduit of maintaining peace, building democratic institutions and raising standards of living throughout the world. The three previous lectures in this series were: Democracy Beyond Nation State: World Trade Organizations and European Union given by Eric Stein, the Hessel E. Yntema Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Michigan, held Sept. 25, 2002. Constitutional Rights and Human Rights given by Louis Henkin, University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, held Oct. 2, 2002. The United Nations and Peace Operations given by Abiodun Williams, director of strategic planning in the Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, held Oct. 17, 2002. For more information regarding the lectures or the other events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Dean Rusk Center, please contact Hala Khuri at (706) 542-5211. #