ARKANSAS BAR fOUNDATION by: Herman L. Hamilton, Jr. Chairman
Your Board of Directors met at Bella Vista on September 10th, with very good attendance, and disposed of a lengthy agenda. The next regular board meeting is planned in conjunction with the Mid-Winter Meeting of the Bar Association in January of 1982. All Foundation members are invited and all board members are urged to attend. A list of Board members and the expiration of their terms in office is found at page 161 of The Arkansas Lawyer, October 1981 Edition. Response by Bar Association members to my invitation to become Fellows of the Foundation has been very good. Since July sixteen lawyers have either begun a new pledge or have made renewals and additional payments on a previous pledge in moving toward Fellowships. All members of the Bar who are not Fellows of the Foundation, or who have not pledged toward a Fellowship, should remember that at the end of this year the monetary cost of becoming a Fellow will increase, but that a pledge and partial payment before that time can lock them in at the present contribution level of $1,000. Having begun a timely pledge, full payment can be made within five years to qualify toward a Fellowship. This should be a special enticement to younger lawyers who, because of bUdget strain, may need the option to spread the cash requirements over such a period and at the same time enable them to make a Fellowship contribution. PUBLICATIONS Since your last report, the Foundation has participated in or fully sponsored several publications of interest. A revised and updated handbook for jurors entitled "Jury Duty, An Honored Service" has been published and circulated to the seventy-five counties of Arkansas. From the response to that handbook it may be necessary to pre-
10/Arkansas Lawyer/January 1982
pare another printing during this year. Its thrust is to explain to Arkansas citizens the requirements of jury service, to tell them what a jury does and how it works and to urge them to participate in this phase of public service. Efforts are currently underway to update and reprint the" Arkansas Senior Citizens Handbook" and the Foundation plans to fund this project from its current budget. The Young Lawyers Section is revising and updating that booklet and has established a Speaker's Bureau with a view toward utilizing the booklet and providing programs for the elderly throughout Arkansas. With these efforts, our elderly can be made aware of some of their legal rights and can receive answers to some of the common and typicai iegal questions that they regularly encounter. We have recently made a grant to the Arkansas Endowment for the Humanities to assist in publication of a booklet entitled "The Citizen and his Legislature". This booklet is designed to give the average Arkansas citizen a greater insight into the mechanics of the law making process in Arkansas. EDUCATIONAL TV David Malone reported, at the Board meeting, that three of the educational television films sponsored by the Foundation are basically complete, subject to editing and final preparations. It is planned that one of these will be prepared for screening by the Foundation Board within the next few weeks at the Bar Center. When the film is ready, a notice of that event will be circulated in order that anyone who desires may see our first efforts on this project. SCHOLARSHIPS Recently I became aware of the establishment of a major scholarship fund, honoring one of the leaders of the
Arkansas Bar, which is not to be administered by the Foundation. Although it is not always feasible for these scholarships to be set up through the Foundation, we should always be aware that the Foundation is the ideal vehicle for them and that the Foundation should be the first choice for administration 'of scholarships where possible. Your Foundation has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt organization and that status is the result of our stated purposes. Among those purposes are "...to promote... educational. .. purposes... , to promote study and research in the field of law... and the continuing education of lawyers". We all recognize the abilities and efforts of our Investment Advisory Committee and know that scholarship funds administered by the Foundation could not be in more capable hands. I urge every lawyer who has any grass roots opportunity to participate in the establishment of a legal education scholarship, to give his best efforts to see that the Foundation is the administering body for the fund. In conclusion, you should be aware that the latest financiai statements for the Foundation indicate that the investment program and mix of investments are excellent and that the longterm investment policies confirmed at the June meeting of the membership are being followed. ' "
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