Santa photos

Here's a great opportunity to get family photos with Santa without the lines or extortionate prices at the mall.

The Latina/o Law Students Association has recruited Prof. Schnapper to play Santa Claus for photos next Wednesday. Apparently he’ll be all dressed up as the jolly old elf, complete with a festive, Latino-inspired backdrop. LLSA will take your photo with a digital camera and email it to you, and/or you can bring your own camera. LLSA will email you the photo they take. LLSA is asking for a $3 donation, but apparently everyone actually gives $5.

Money raised will benefits LLSA’s outreach programming for disadvantaged students.

Here’s the info:

Wednesday, December 5, 2007
2:30 to 4 p.m. in Gates Hall, Room TBA
UWLS Main Hallway
Email Rosario Daza, rdaza@... for more information.

Law School Stress talk

Adjunct professor Andy Benjamin spoke at lunch today at a meeting sponsored by Nontraditional Law Students. I was enlisted to take notes, and I took pretty thorough ones, so if you would like a copy, email me at kremerl@.... Here are some highlights.

Benjamin is a pretty thorough critic of the law school pedagogy. "We create cynical, angry, hostile folk," he said. Law school undermines professionalism and health, he said, because it:
* negates healthy values such as intimacy and community
* promotes unhealthy values, such as valuing external rewards, status and comparative worth
* substitutes competition and anxiety for healthy motivation such as personal enjoyment and values-based effort
* Habituates students to frustration of fundamental needs, such as health routines, self esteem, relatedness, authenticity and security.

Solutions:
Address health and social issues:
* solid sleep, eating, exercising patterns
* Social support
* Knowledge of signal emotional states – result in activation of wellness behaviors
* Balance struck in all areas of life
* Any two of four conditions above absent, seek assistance from Sandra, SBA, Mentors
Minimize unnecessary excessive stress:
* Eliminate habitual overwork
* Abandon zero-sum competitive “need to win” paradigm, which creates perception of failure for any previously successful students
* Build skills at collaboration and legal counseling.

I know some people are interested in this: Benjamin repeated the observation that he has been criticized for making in orientation sessions: single women tend to be the most negatively affected by law school. Women in relationships tend to survive law school's stresses better. "Romantic involvements are protective," he said. "I’m not joking. Please start dating."

Here are symptoms of depression to look out for:
* mixture of anxiety, depression and hostility
* thoughts of killing self
* feeling so unhappy that you cannot shake it
* dissatisfied or bored with most aspects of life
* nicotine use (the most efficient anti-dysphoric on the legal market)
* disruptive sleep – never feeling sufficiently rested (early waking, inability to fall asleep)
* increased social isolation
* limiting normal exercise patterns

If you have more than two of these for more than a couple of weeks, he said, get counseling.

The session covered more ground, including many very specific questions from students. Also, all these lists came from his powerpoint, which had cites for studies that were the sources of the info. If you want the notes or the powerpoint, email me.

Diversions

It's getting toward the end of the quarter, papers are due, exams are coming. Time for distractions.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a link to the now-classic “Landlord” video with Will Ferrell. Caution: if you don’t like seeing 2-year-olds swear, you might not like it. Oh, come on, it’s totally worth it.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

Here’s a mom’s version of the William Tell Overture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ati3k32-NXI

(thanks Mary Whisner)

And finally, this is just an amazing wildlife video. This is NOT funny, just amazing. It gets a bit grim about two minutes in, and then gets even grimmer, but the ending is great. It’s called the Battle at Kruger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Managing stress

Here's a nice event held by Non-Traditional Law Students (NLS is generally for older, second-career-type students, or anyone who considers themselves different from the traditional path). Last year NLS held a couple of events with Andy Benjamin, and they were well-received. I'll be going to this one -- please rsvp to Lisa G at lgoldoft@ ... if you are planning to go.


Stress & Uncertainty: Andy Benjamin on Balance During Law School.
As the end of the quarter fast approaches, many of us find ourselves getting caught up in the stresses of preparing for exams, doing job searches, and dealing with other life demands. Join us for a lunchtime talk with Andy Benjamin about dealing with law school stressors and gaining better perspective and balance. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 28, 2007, from 12:30 to 1:20, in Room 118. Lunch will be provided.
Please RSVP if you are planning to attend so we can order enough lunches for everyone. We also welcome specific questions for Andy, which will be presented anonymously. Please send RSVPs and any questions to: lgoldoft@...

Balancing a legal career and childcare

A new study analyzes some of the ramifications of taking time out to take care of children. The study uses data from University of Michigan Law School grads. It's called "Gender and the Legal Profession" (follow link for the full study). The study profiles not only what happens when you take time out (you end up being happier, but less wealthy -- surprise!), but also what type of people do it, and some of the social stereotypes around it.

One of the study authors described the results to Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession:

In a nutshell, we find that childcare responsibilities drive much of the differences in income and promotion experienced by men and women lawyers, and that men who miss paid work to do childcare experience the same disadvantages as women who miss paid work to do childcare. We also find that both more men and more women lawyers are missing paid work to do childcare, that they are taking longer absences from paid work to do childcare, and they are working less hours after they return to their careers.

Some of our less systematic, but more curious findings are that: in part male lawyers earn more than women lawyers because they are more interested in income than the woman lawyers; women who have kids but who do not miss paid work to do childcare are more likely to be in private practice and be a partner than women without kids, even though women without kids work more hours; and women who miss paid work to do childcare have significantly higher LSAT’s and GPA’s than women who don’t miss paid work to do childcare.

Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession

Speaking of Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession, they recently published a study on diversity in the country's biggest law firms, assigning the firms "Diversity Report Cards" based on how many female, minority and gay attorneys they employ. The New York Times wrote an article on the study. Want to look up a firm? The study itself is here.

Law Students Building a yada yada is a Stanford-based student group. They recently published a post I'm rather fond of. It's sort of a manifesto on the group's goals. Here's an excerpt:

Law students at the nation’s top schools are valuable assets for firms. Ask
managing partners what their top priorities are for ensuring the continued
success of the firm, and almost all will tell you that recruitment of the very
best young associates is absolutely critical. Top schools are producing far
fewer graduates than firms need to fill their ranks. This is why large firms
have massive budgets for finding, wooing, hiring and retaining law students. And
this is why it will matter to firms if some of their best candidates decline
offers out of concern about the environment they are about to enter.

. . .

[T]he group aims to incentivize the managers of leading firms to make workable choices about billing, hiring, and community involvement.

. . .

Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession understands that law is a demanding profession. It is this, in part, that has attracted many of us to the field. But this is not the only demand we recognize. We choose not to simply set aside the demands of other aspects of our lives. We choose not to work in environments that lack diversity, openness, and a commitment to professionalism and respect.

Daylight savings, or, I want my hours back

Prof. Calandrillo has published an argument for keeping daylight savings year-round. It's here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/338554_daylight07.html

He's absolutely right, though his reasons are all wrong. Biannual time changes are hideous. Spring, of course, is obviously a problem: we lose an hour of sleep. Fall, once upon a time, seemed like the better side of the coin, the cool side of the pillow, as it were. But NO! It turns out that when the time changes, the little darlings get up an hour EARLIER. What used to be a 7 a.m. wakeup is now a 6 a.m. wakeup. Logically, you would think that would mean that they would go to bed an hour earlier, yes? No! They do not.

I am not sure where my hour went, but I want to file an appeal. I'm with Prof. Calandrillo, though my reasons may differ. Come to think of it, he has kids....

Nursing news

I would just like to say, what blog brings you boob news, eh? Is the law school's blog going to tell you the latest research on breastfeeding? I think not. Trial ad notes? Ha! Hunk99 might have been a source, but he's gone, and the FedSoc blog is moribund. No, no, my dears, if you want to know about all things mammary, this is the place to come. And you won't get thrown off the library computers for reading it!

So, to the point:

Recent research says not to blame breastfeeding for your droopiness. Nope, it's repeated pregnancies or smoking that does it. Nurse away! (So guys, if you have boob droop, quit smoking.) See the story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21599854/

p.s. Blame Laura for this post. She said the item would be "interesting to those with boobs and those who love boobs."

p.p.s. What, do you want me to write items about law school security or something? Gimme a break.

More on Outlining

Lisa asked me to describe my outlining system. Here is what I try to do every quarter:

I take notes in the book before class, writing out any questions in the margin. During class, I take notes on my laptop, using a new Word document for each week. At the end of the week, I print out those notes, read them over, and organize them into outline form. This takes me a LONG time.

Near the end of the quarter (maybe a week before classes end), I go through my longer outline and condense it to a 10-20 page outline. I try to make sure that I understand each key concept as I condense the outline. Like Lisa, I also try to create a short, 2-page outline to take into the exam with me.

Ideally, I finish all of this outlining a week before exams start so that I have the rest of the time to do practice exams. Before my 1L fall exams, I spent so much time on my outlines that I didn't have time to take practice exams, and that was a HUGE mistake. I think it is more important to take lots of practice exams and go over the answers with other classmates than it is to have the perfect outline.

I had Schnapper, Wolcher, and O'Neill during my first quarter -- if anyone wants to see my outlines for those professors, email me at porterc@u.wash

Also, I think Professor Kaltsounis's outlines are the best I've ever seen, and she has great advice about studying for exams. If you couldn't make her outlining session, at least ask if you can take a look at her outlines sometime.

Outlining

Ok so I missed the big "how to outline" shindig this week -- was it any good? 1Ls, if you want outlines from your PALS pals, let us know (email me, kremerl@, or put a comment here) what class you need an outline for. We might not have had the same teacher as you, but it's often helpful to see how other people did it.

Everyone's outline is different. I have a friend who isn't happy unless she has a 70-page, single-spaced outline to take into an exam. I do best when I've managed to condense my outline down to about 15 pages, and also have a two-page version along with me. One friend of mine made an enormous color-coded civil procedure outline with charts and graphs and boxes and lord knows what else.

So, here's my process. (I'll try to get some other 2Ls and 3Ls to describe their system here (any volunteers?)) In 1L year, I would read the material in advance and take notes in outline format, using the structure of the casebook. Then I'd take copious notes during class. Toward the end of the quarter I'd combine my handwritten notes and my outline. Which took forever.

Now my system, if things are going well, is this: At the beginning of the week, I quickly create an outline of the material we'll be covering. Before class, I read that day's material, writing notes into the book if I think I'm going to be called on. During class, I type notes into my outline. At the end of the quarter, as I'm preparing for the exam, I usually can just tighten up the outline I've already created, and find the spots where I'm confused and clarify them. Then my main occupation is synthesizing the info so I can create my 2-page version.

Structuring the outline can be tricky. Usually I just use the structure of the casebook itself, which can be very helpful in orienting myself when I'm feeling lost. But for some professors (see Schnapper) it's more helpful to create the outline based on the syllabus. For other professors it can be a combination of both.

Exam prep

If you haven't yet seen Prof. Aronson's lecture on "How to Prepare for and Take Law School Exams," don't miss it. It'll be 3:30-5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 in room 138. This is what I would call a babysitter worthy event. Or, you could probably watch it from the RLR if necessary.

Also the Career Center is having a workshop on resumes and cover letters at 12:30 Nov. 7 in room 133. It's as good a place to eat your lunch as anywhere else.

Superbug!

Well, really, I wasn't particularly worried about the antibiotic-resistant superbug that's been floating around, although a Federal Way man just died of it, but I just ran across a fairly authoritative post on how to avoid catching Superbugs. It's by Nurse William, a blogger I've never heard of, but I like his attitude. Here's a sample of his advice:

ANY old soap is "antibacterial" when used correctly; All you have to do is make
LOTS of suds. Its the suds that make a soap antibacterial. "Really?" you ask.
"How so?" you ask. Well, settle down and I will tell you: Suds form micelles
around dirt and bacteria and lift them from the skin's surface to be rinsed away
to the black hell from whence they came.

The post is at http://nursewilliam.blogspot.com/2007/10/truth-about-mrsa-without-media-panic.html.