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Article Excerpt
I. INTRODUCTION
II. GETTING STARTED III. GAINING MOMENTUM IV. BUDGETARY AND OTHER CHALLENGES V. THE RUSSIAN PETROLEUM LEGISLATION PROJECT VI. SPONSORSHIPS VII. THE LECTURE SERIES VIII. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY ISSUE IX. ADVISORY BOARD X. BOARDS OF EDITORS XI. CONCLUSION
I. INTRODUCTION
It has been my good fortune to have been associated with the Houston Journal of International Law (the "Journal") for the past thirty years. Beginning as a contributing author, then a member of the Advisory Board, and now as its Chairman, I have been given opportunities to witness and participate in many of the steps along the road to the growth and maturity of the Journal. The purpose of this Article, therefore, is to share the insights I have gained regarding the establishment of the Journal and its many stages and phases of development and improvement. It is my hope that this process of memorializing the efforts of those many individuals who have devoted their time and energy to make the Journal a success will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
II. GETTING STARTED
The first volume of the Journal was dated Spring 1978. Volume 1, Number 1, was rather slim, consisting of a mere seventy pages, but it was quite a remarkable achievement. As John Brentin, the first Editor in Chief, predicted in the Editor's Foreword, "Given the phenomenal pattern of growth Houston has been experiencing in international business and commerce, the Journal will become an important medium of communication for practitioners, students, and scholars within the international community." (1) This statement has proven to be a prophetic and accurate reflection of the development of the international legal practice in Houston, in which the Journal has played an active role.
The Introduction to that initial publication was written by the Dean of the College of Law, George W. Hardy III. (2) Dean Hardy revealed some background information about the Journal's humble beginnings as follows: "I think it is extremely important for readers to be aware that this publication is the product of interest, labor, and persistence of a small group of dedicated students. Their industry has produced not only its contents but the major portion of its funding." (3) The Dean was referring to the International Law Society's pivotal role in raising funds and finding publishable articles, especially the efforts of the Society's former president, Walter Wright. I was made aware of the details of those efforts when I met Walter at New York University (N.Y.U.) Law School in September 1977, where we were enrolled in the LL.M. course of study in International Legal Studies. Walter regaled me with tales about the hours he and his fellow members of the International Law Society spent working the hallways of the College of Law in pursuit of financial assistance for the Journal. In fact, John Brentin referred to Walter in the Editor's Foreword, saying that his "vision and determination have brought us to this point." (4) Indeed, Walter Wright made the establishment of the Journal his personal crusade and should be viewed as its founder.
Professor Jordan Paust was the only Faculty Advisor listed in Volume 1, Number 1, in which he contributed a brief but intriguing commentary regarding two jet fighter aircraft incidents between the Soviet Union and the United States. (5) Professor Paust was the first professor who was asked to help create the Journal, and he has continued tirelessly in his advisory role, always making himself available to assist the law students as well as suggesting scholarly articles for the Journal. Being a prolific author, it is not surprising that he has contributed a dozen articles over these thirty years. (6)
III. GAINING MOMENTUM
By the time Volume 1, Number 2, was published in the spring of 1979, Professor Stephen Zamora was on the scene at the College of Law and had become the Journal's second Faculty Advisor. Professor Zamora has also served untiringly as an advisor since that time and has provided consistently invaluable counsel to the editorial boards. He not only became the Director of the Mexican Legal Studies Program but also served as the Dean of the Law Center from 1995 to 2000. (7)
The lead article in Volume 1, Number 2, was written by Professor Ved Nanda, who provided an interesting insight into the self-determination of Bangladesh. (8) Other articles included the first of several that I submitted to the Journal. This first one set out a recommended approach for the United States to ratify the United Nation's international covenants on human rights. (9) Having recently obtained my LL.M. from N.Y.U., I was eager to use some of the research materials I had acquired at N.Y.U. to set out my ideas about certain contemporary international issues, such as those related to human rights. Not surprisingly, Professor Paust managed to contribute another thoughtful note on standards for oil exploitation in occupied territories. (10)
Thus, the first volume of the Journal was completed at 152 pages. (11) The Board of Editors for Volume 1, Number 1, had a total of fourteen editors, whereas the new Board of Editors for Volume 1, Number 2, was comprised of twenty-three editors and ten staff members. (12) (As a result of having two editorial boards working on the first volume over a period of two years, the current year's board is number 31 instead of number 30.) This increase in the number of the law student participants revealed that it had taken only one year for the Journal to become recognized and accepted as an important periodical at the University of Houston College of Law.
The third Board of Editors, led by Scott Cramer as Editor in Chief, was responsible for the publication of Volume 2, Numbers 1 and 2, which were dated Autumn 1979 and Spring 1980, respectively. For the first time, the Journal had accomplished its goal of publishing two issues in a single school year. These were substantial issues as well, each with more than 200 pages of text. Equally important, the initial issue registered another first by being dedicated to a symposium on the "Role of Private Enterprise in Outer Space," and the introduction to the symposium was written by the well-known author, James A. Michener. (13) This generated a lot of attention for the Journal, which proved there definitely was a niche for this type of publication at the College of Law.
The Journal has produced several other symposia and special issues through the years, covering such topics as immigration, exchange controls, the use of force against terrorists, the Iran-Contra affair, investment in Mexico, the Mexico-U.S. free trade agreement, the Russian petroleum legislation project, and intellectual property. (14)
Notably, Volume 2 included sections on Current Documents and Book Reviews for the first time. (15) Of course, Professor Paust had crafted an article for the first issue covering jurisdictional issues surrounding an oil spill in Mexico. (16) For the second issue of Volume 2, I gathered additional sources together to...
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