Contact: Peter Winograd, 277-3948 Media Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, 277-5915

August 23, 2002 UNM LAW SCHOOL RECEIVES AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AWARDS FOR 'MOST DIVERSE,' 'BEST WEBSITE' The nation's largest attorney's group recently honored the University of New Mexico School of Law with two awards at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. UNM received the Henry J. Ramsey, Jr., Diversity Award and Best Law School Web Site Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) Student Law Division. Recent law school graduate Peter Phipps compiled and entered the submissions. UNM students Amy Propps, ABA representative, and Frances Crockett, Student Bar Association second vice president, were in Washington, D.C., to accept the awards. The diversity award recognizes excellence in activities that have contributed to the achievement and advancement of women, minorities and people with disabilities in the profession. "This shows that the School of Law truly represents the state of New Mexico, where it's going and what its values are," Crockett added. "We are surprised and thrilled to receive such an honor," Propps said. The entering class of 2002 boasts a 58 percent female student body. Thirty-eight percent of the students are minority - 27 percent Hispanic, 9 percent Native American, 1 percent Asian and 2 percent African American. Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked UNM number two in its list of top 10 law schools for Hispanics. Diversity begins with students, but goes to the top - UNM welcomes its first woman law dean, Suellyn Scarnecchia, in January. "Diversity is a way of life in New Mexico and our school reflects that on all levels," said Associate Dean Peter Winograd. A team of law school staff led by Janet Roupas, web designer, maintains the ABA awarded web site. Last fall, Roupas, Cyndi Dean, Susan Mitchell and Pat Trainor began implementing a new site with quick and easy access to information. Drop-down menu bars have been added throughout the site to provide straightforward navigability and a clean interface. The Clinical Law Program portion of the site is the first of its kind in the country in scope and detail offering an inside look at clinic projects and activities. Alumni, staff and friends of the law school contributed photos for the site. UNM student and web designer Justin Baiardo designed graphics and implemented the navigation. Roupas managed construction of the site. LAN administrator David Anstine "fixed what was broken." Web guidelines have been drafted and are used to help web owners and authors maintain their portions of the site. The team continues to seek ways to improve the design, navigability and content of the website. ###

The University of New Mexico
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