Category Archives: School
Continuing Education
My Dad had just purchases a history book. It was called “A Patriot’s History of the United States“. From what I gathered about it, it seems to be a conservative alternative to “A People’s History of the United States“. Anyway, he was really into this book, spending a lot of his free time reading it, finding a new hobby since football season is over.
My step-mom was chastising him for wasting his time reading about things that happened in the past. She stated how it was boring and never changed, so what was the point. He retorted that she spent all her time reading celebrity gossip magazines like OK! or People, and that was a waste of time because she had no connection to these people. Basically both people were saying “what you are reading doesn’t matter”.
I think these two arguments represent two types of people in society. I think there are certain people who continue “learning” because they simply like knowledge. Every few hours my Dad (despite my obvious eye rolling) would come up to me and excitedly repeat some fact he learned from his book.
Why? Did he gain anything from it? No. I think he values education. That is not to say my step mom doesn’t. She is educated, and not by any stretch some ET watching bimbo or anything. In fact, her mocking of my Father shocked me because she pushes my step sister so hard to do well in school and focus on their studies. She does value education. She might even push my older step sister to go get her Masters. However, it is how she views or values education’s purpose that is different. She views education as a certification or an opening of a door. Almost like a skill, or learning a trade. She pushes her daughter to be nurses because they can get jobs that pay well.
So, is that really “education”? Or is that learning a trade for a job? I take a more liberal arts view of education (see here and here), that knowledge itself can be the end goal and not simply the means. My Dad’s passion for history is the same. It doesn’t gain him anything, but he finds value in it. I think being a well rounded useful member of society requires you to expand your mind and experience new ideas and concepts.
What is your definition of education? Can a person be simply “get an education”? Does that end with graduation? Am I being elitist by looking down at certain hobbies as less intellectual? Do you do anything to strive to learn something new, or do you feel like you have a firm grasp on what you need to know and just try to enjoy yourself?
Tim Kaine to Teach at Richmond
Virginia has term limits for its Governors. Since Gov. Kaine’s term is up, he accepted as position as the head of the DNC. In addition, he recently announced he will teach classes at the Univeristy of Richmond – in the law school and the school of leadership studies.
Gov. Kaine has taught at the University before, and even practiced law in the area. I bet attendance at a few of his classes will be larger than the class roll.
Here is the email the school sent announcing his appointment:
I am happy to announce that Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will return to the University to resume teaching upon completion of his term in office in January.
Gov. Kaine served as mayor of Richmond and lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth prior to his election as governor. A Harvard law graduate, he practiced law in Richmond earlier in his career and also taught law courses at the University in areas including professional responsibility. He will hold a joint appointment in the School of Law and Jepson School of Leadership Studies and will begin teaching in the spring 2010 semester. He will also assist in advancing the University’s strategic plan, The Richmond Promise. To all of this important work, he will bring a valuable perspective from his leadership experience at the national, state, and local level.
Deans John Douglass and Sandra Peart join me in welcoming Gov. Kaine back to our community and in looking forward to the ways in which he will bring to life for our students the practice of leadership, decision-making, legislative process, and creating public policy.
Edward L. Ayers
President
Is Owning Your Music Important?
I’m working on a law paper for my IP class and I’m weighing an issue that I keep running into. Namely, How important is owning your music content? Let’s say you could subscribe to a service where you had access to ANY AND ALL music and it would play on any music device, your home stereo, your ipod, your car, your computer, etc. It costs $10/month, but if you don’t pay it, you stop getting access to music. Would you be interested?
I’m curious as to what value people put on owning their content. Do you think there is value in actually having a “copy” of your music on your hard drive? Let me know. Also, if you have specific thought please leave a comment!
Students Get Windows 7 for $30
Windows 7, the new version coming out at the end of the year is releasing October 22nd. It is widely regarded as the version of Windows that actually works. It should erase the dismal failure of Vista, and keep PCs on par with Apple machines. Microsoft is also including XP Compatability Mode – so your old software will still work.
The upgrade fee for Windows Home Premium (the version most users will buy) is $120. The upgrade fee for Professional (the version most schools and businesses require) is $200.
However, Microsoft is encouraging student adoption by offering 7 upgrades for $30! All you need to authorize your student download of Windows 7 is a .edu email address. Many of my friends are either in grad school or law school, or an alum with a still active .edu email address. That is quite the savings.
The hidden things they don’t tell you – You can get the Professional Version for $30 as well. On the order page, just click the “I need to connect to my school’s domain” link. They offer you Pro for the same $30. Also, you can order a cd if you don’t feel comfortable downloading 7 for an extra $13.
So, again: if you have a .edu email address. Go to: http://www.win741.com/ and register, and you can get the new Windows 7 Operating System for $30!
From the business perspective, this is very smart for Microsoft to do.
- They are losing a lot of market share to students. More and more students are buying Macs. By offering a very cheap upgrade to 7, maybe fewer people will feel the need to switch once they see how easy the new windows is to use.
- By targeting students, they build their young customer base. Younger people are critical because after someone becomes very comfortable using a certain OS they are less likely to switch. If you get enough people using Windows young, they are less likely to want to learn how to use a mac.
Generations
I love these pictures.
On the top is my pledge class, after graduation in 2007. On the bottom is the class of 2009.
Take a look and you will note some neat similarities.
Sure, my class is much smaller. But you can see each group genuinely likes each other. They are having fun.
While the younger guys are a bit classier and wore pants while we wore shorts, the uniform of blue and white dress shirts and khakis is striking.
I bet you could find pictures from 20 years ago and they would be astonishingly similar.
W&L. Phi Psi. Tradition.
There is something magical about it all.
Embarrassing Moments of the Past
As my friends were reminiscing at alumni weekend this past weekend, one decided to remind me of an embarrassing story from freshman year. While certainly not the only (or even most) embarrassing story, it was okay.
My freshman year, I was lucky enough to have a single room. (okay, not really lucky, its actually pretty common at W&L) Couple this with the fact that I was the only person from my High School, nay the only person I knew at W&L and I was, how do I put this, overly eager to make friends.
During orientation week, we had a hall meeting. At the end of this meeting, our RA asked if anyone had anything to say? For some reason I decided to say
Well, I have a single, so if anyone ever gets tired of their roommate, or just wants to hang out- my room is where the party is at- so come by any time!
Those of you who know me, especially during college are cracking up laughing right now. My room was most certainly NOT where the party was. I’m pretty sure the reaction of my hallmates was a bit nicer, but only until they were out of my earshot.
Needless to say, my best friend from college, who I met on the hall that first year, continues to bring it up whenever he can.
Granted, this still ranks second to the ridicule I got for wearing Jorts (jean shorts) to the frat house during pledgeship. I will never look at denim the same.
Lawyer Personality Traits Linked to Higher Suicide
ABA article says that traits that many lawyers have like perfectionism and competitiveness when combined with depression lead to higher instances of suicide.
So, being a lawyer makes you want to kill yourself. 90% of the population could have told you that. Lawyers are consistently one of the jobs with the lowest satisfaction rate.
The best part of the article though lists the top 10 warning signs of depression.
Berman listed these warning signs of suicide: 1. Thoughts of suicide. 2. Increased or excessive use of drugs or alcohol. 3. Feelings of hopelessness. 4. Feeling a loss of purpose, meaning or identity. 5. Feeling trapped. 6. Withdrawing from usual activities or from loved ones. 7. Unusual behavior, including more reckless behavior. 8. A dramatic mood change. 9. Signs of anxiety, including panic, insomnia and agitation. 10. Excessive anger or rage.
Seriously. Quick poll of law students – how many of you feel this during exams daily? Awesome.
Law School Is Absurd
A glipse into the world of law school for those curious, and those soon attending.
Finals start tomorrow. Law students are currently cramming and panicking. Holed up in their homes, only scurrying outside to run to the library to study in the carrel. I made fun of a friend, who tends to be a germophobe about the swine virus. He had no idea what I was talking about. I asked 5 other law students. Nothing.
The entire world is concerned about this virus, (See Also: drudge, cnn, abc, nbc, fox, cbs, univision, the onion, your kid sister) and law students are completely oblivious.I bet there are people in third world countries without TV or electricity who know about this. But arguably the smartest people I know are too busy to realize they could die tomorrow, because they are wrapped up in a test.
This is law school. The second coming could happen and the only way a law student would know was when no one was around to proctor their exam.
The Fear Behind the Fear of Public Speaking
Thank to Alana Taylor for the original post where I found this quote.
“Surveys show that ranking very close to the fear of death is the fear of public speaking. Why would someone feel profound fear, deep in his or her stomach, about public speaking, which is so far from death? Because it isn’t so far from death when we link it. Those who fear public speaking actually fear the loss of identity that attaches to performing badly, and that is firmly rooted in our survival needs. For all social animals, from ants to antelopes, identity is the pass card to inclusion, and inclusion is the key to survival. If a baby loses its identity as a child of its parents, a possible outcome is abandonment. For a human infant, that means death. As adults, without our identity as a member of a tribe or village, community or culture, a likely outcome is banishment or death.” – Gavin de Becker
Gavin de Becker wrote a book called The Gift of Fear. It describes how our sense of fear is ingrained in us, and how it helped us survived for thousands of years. We should pay attention to this sense and find ways to help us in our current culture.
That quote is interesting because it really hit home. From a very young age, and still to this day, I HATE public speaking. When I was young and I had to speak in front of the class I would turn beet red. To the point where even teachers would comment. It got better with time, as I got to know my friends in school better and was closer to them.
However, in front of strangers I still get very nervous and visibly upset. This is problematic since I am a law student, and may at some point have to speak in front of a crowd (er jury) at some point. One of my early mock trials was horrible. I was sweating profusely, and therefore was distracted to the point that it affected my arguments. I’m sure the jury was distracted by my appearance, which probably lead to the verdict against my client.
I had one this past weekend, and performed much better. The trick? I had vigorously prepared and was extremely confident in my knowledge of the material. What does this have in common with my ease of speaking in high school?
I was confident. But it is not that simple. I felt in control. The people who I was speaking to wouldn’t change their opinion of me in a negative way. In high school I was speaking to peers who knew me for a while. If I flubbed a line they weren’t going to stop being friends or think I was suddenly an idiot. In law school, in the more recent argument I knew that I knew the material well. I had my arguments down. I was in control of my image, and I was going to improve how people perceived me.
Like Mr. de Becker states – public speaking puts your image out to a crowd. If they don’t approve of your message, or your delivery, or whatever – they will judge you harshly. So, the best way to get around that problem is to methodically and passionately know the material you are speaking about. Then you will come off in a good light, and the fear subsides quickly.
Legal World No Safe Haven In Bad Economy
Reports today about the worsening extent of layoffs. Many of my friends are looking at law school as an option for the next few years. However, lawyers are feeling the heat as well. I won’t go into practicing attorneys, but they are getting laid off in records numbers. What hits home to me is the situation for law students.
Two reports from Above the Law don’t bode well for me.
Third year law students who got offers from firms and were ready to start in the fall are getting their offers rescinded.
And second year law students (like me) are having an increasingly hard time finding summer jobs. This might not sound bad, but these second year summer positions often lead to jobs after third year. So, this is like never having a chance to interview.
