A team from William Mitchell College of Law tied for first place in the 2000 International Negotiation Competition held July 7-9 in Wollongong, Australia. WMCL tied with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. This is the first time in the law school’s history that a student competition team captured first place in an international competition. Peter J. Culp and Bruce A. Grosland competed against five teams representing four countries at the competition, which was hosted by the faculty of law at the University of Wollongong. A team from the College of Law, London finished third. Culp, a May 2000 graduate of William Mitchell, and Grosland, who finished his J .D. degree at WMCL this summer, advanced to the international competition after taking first place in the American Bar Association’s 1999-2000 National Negotiation Competition in Dallas, Feb. 12-13. They took first place at a regional competition Nov. 6-7 at the University of South Dakota. Grosland credits what he refers to as the “Mitchell component” for much of the team’s success. “Peter and I were like a microcosm of Mitchell,” says Grosland. “We were an example of that unique blend of ‘traditonal’ and ‘non-traditional’ students that makes WMCL so unique in terms of law schools.”

"William Mitchell is extremely proud of our team and coaches for their great achievement in this competition," says Harry J . Haynsworth, William Mitchell's president and dean. "I know that they all worked hard in preparing for this competition. Their achievement is an important mark of excellence not only for our competitions program, but the entire institution." Coaches of William Mitchell’s negotiation teams are Karen D. Olson, manager of the consumer enforcement and antitrust division of the Minnesota attorney general’s office, and Ned E. Ostenso, partner in the Hopkins law firm Merrigan Brandt & Ostenso, who practices in the area of litigation. They tied for national first place in the negotiation competition in 1993, when they were students at William Mitchell. Negotiation competition tests law students’ skills in a process that’s central to what nearly all attorneys do on a regular basis: communicate with counsel representing other parties to resolve disputes and to structure transactions and agreements. The international competition included three rounds of negotiation. During the first two rounds, each two-person team represented a fictional client and had face-to-face meetings with a team representing another client that was also a party

in the negotiations. A panel of judges observed the sessions. The final round was a three-way negotiation, where two teams each represented a 50-percent shareholder in a fictional company, and the third team represented a party interested in buying the company. Prior to the competition, each team received negotiation simulations, including a common set of facts known by all participants and client directives known only to participants representing a particular side. Culp grew up in Green Bay, Wis., and earned his bachelor of business administration degree at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Before law school, he worked as a credit analyst and commercial lending trainee for First National Bank-Fox Valley; as a legal assistant-administrator in the legal-affairs office at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; as a systems analyst in the Wisconsin public defender’s office, and owned and operated TechnoLaw, a small business that provided computer and network support. After passing the bar exam, Culp will join the Kennedy & Graven law firm, Minneapolis, as an associate, working primarily in the public-finance area. He lives in the St. Paul suburb of Gem Lake. Grosland earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota-Morris and a master’s degree and additional educational certification at St. Cloud State University. He served in the U.S. Navy and was an elementary teacher in Morris, Minn. He held administrative positions in public school systems in Minnesota, including Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, Appleton, Clinton-Graceville, Crosby-Ironton, and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial. He has helped manage his family’s jewelry and music business and has served as minister of music at Living Waters Lutheran Church, Sauk Rapids. After law school, Grosland plans to practice law or work in education or a closely related area. He lives in Sartell, Minn. He is educational consultant to the law school and plans to teach education law at St. Cloud State University this fall.

VOLUME 46, ISSUE 1

MITCHELL DUO GLOBAL CHAMPS Grosland, Culp Win International Negotiation Competition William Mitchell Public Relations Department

FALL 2000

Special points of interest:

From the Editor

2

WMCL Forum

2

Cartoons 6

SBA Update 7

Student Organiza-tion Roundup

8-10

Special DFL Promary Feature

13

You Might’ve Missed It

15

Inside this issue:

W ILLIAM MITCHELL C O LLEGE O F LAW STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Karen Olsen, Peter Culp, Bruce Grosland, Ned Ostenso

The Opinion, Round Two

“Well, we managed by the very skin of our teeth, whatever that archaic Thorton Wilder-esque phrase might mean, to get our first issue of the val-iantly resurrected Opinion out during finals last spring. We had the usual errors—both of grammar and judgment—that accompany last minute activ-ity of any sort.

We swore this issue would be easier. We’d take it slow, plan all summer, recruit new writers, and stroll into fall orientation with a brand spankin’ new new and improved Opinion.

Ummm… This is the fifth publication, large and small, I’ve worked on, and I’m now privy to the dirty little se-cret of journalism: newspapers, much like appellate briefs, are always, always, always done at the last possible minute. Speculation as to why this works this way is useless—adrenaline, laziness, fear—all of these things could be a (or the) factor. It really doesn’t matter. Suffice to say we’ve been running around like madmen for the last few weeks. It did-n’t help when the business manager of the U of M paper laughed at us and explained that we should have a staff. Staff???

So, we rolled this out just in time for orien-tation, and, for all my bluster, I’m honored and thrilled to be at the helm of this year’s Opinion. I’m

thrilled that our first issue is hitting the proverbial stands right at orientation—that key time of trepi-dation and anticipation. My geekiness being abso-lute, the start of each school year gives me a re-newed thrill. It reminds me that I came to law school because I can’t think of anything luckier than another chance at education. Joseph Addison once said that education is “a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, and no despotism can enslave.” Full disclosure, journalistic and legal: I didn’t dig up the Addison quote myself, but cribbed it from the venerable Lewis Lapham at Harper’s. How-ever, it’s true nonetheless. We are all damn lucky to be here.

Enough said. We’re here. We’re back. We have the same vague, havoc-creating agenda as before. But this time, we have a whole year to in-dulge ourselves.—Editor Lisa M. Needham

tive passed a partial birth abortion ban by a vote of 287 to 141, which is a large enough margin to over-ride an expected presi-dential veto. Legisla-tion banning the proce-dure has twice been passed by Congress, but President Clinton vetoed both bills. The president said he would sign a ban if it provided for exceptions in cases where the pregnancy presented a health risk to the mother. Currently, 30 states have passed par-tial-birth abortions bans, but these laws

face challenges in court. Laws in Nebraska, Iowa and Ar-kansas were struck down by federal appeals courts, while similar laws in Illinois and Wisconsin have survived legal challenges. On One Hand... "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Roe v. Wade equals partial-birth abortions,” said Wanda Franz, Ph.D., president of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Carhart. “Partial-birth abortion is murder, because the procedure is often performed on a viable fetus. For that reason, a federal ban is needed. The law must not contain health exceptions that could be applied to non-life threat-

On June 28, 2000, the United States Su-preme Court struck down Nebraska's ban on late-term abortions, ruling that the ban violates the constitutional rights of women seeking to end a pregnancy. The 5-4 decision could have major rami-fications in the 29 other states that have late-term procedure bans in place. In January, the Supreme Court reviewed the constitutionality of banning late-term abortions, often called partial-birth abor-tions. The case, Stenberg vs. Carhart, is the first one involving the controversial procedure to be con-sidered by the Supreme Court. On April 5, the U.S. House of Representa-

ening conditions like depression, which would render the law meaningless and allow doctors to continue to perform partial-birth abortions on demand, “ comments Dr. Franz. On the Other Hand... "We are cautiously pleased that the Su-preme Court has joined with the vast majority of lower courts in striking down these dangerous and deceptive bans," said National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Betsy Cavendish. "We have always maintained that such bans are extreme, deceptive, and unconstitutional as they generally lack an exception to protect women's health and could ban a number of safe abortion procedures, including some used in the earlier stages of pregnancy." "The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision spot-lights the judicial branch's role in protecting and preserving the reproductive rights of American women," continued Cavendish. "In the face of ever-increasing legislative assaults on the right to choose, the courts often must draw the line by striking down laws that threaten the very heart of Roe v. Wade." The Debate This issue of The Opinion Forum is dedicated to the hot debate surrounding this im-portant legal, medical, ethical, constitutional and religious issue. Lisa Needham’s article dis-cusses the legal and constitutional history of abortion in the United States. Doctor LeRoy Carhart has provided a synopsis of his impas-sioned comments to the United States Supreme Court in Carhart v. Stenburg. 3-L Jennifer Hen-derson’s article criticizes the decision as wrongly

The Editors of the Opinion have begun the search for mate-rial to appear in our next edition, due out in August of 2000. If you are interested in contributing an article, editorial or artwork, please forward your submissions to “The Opinion; c/o William Mitchell College of Law, 833 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55155”, or to “theopinion@wmitchell.edu”. The Opinion has selected its Editor-in-Chief for the 2000-2001 academic year, but remains interested in identifying more raw, unabashed, journalistic talent for positions as Contributing Editors, If you are interested in being a mem-ber of the Opinion staff for the 2000-2001 academic year, please forward your letter of interest, along with a writing sample or column idea to The Opinion; c/o the Managing Editor. The success of this newspaper and is tied to our ability and willingness to build a community that appreciates and culti-vates a diversity of opinions and points of view. The contri-butions of students, staff, faculty are essential to make this venture successful. We look forward to hearing from you.

Staff Business Manager: Faculty Advisor Jennifer Macaulay Douglas R. Heidenreich

Contributing Editors: Chris Frank, Dan Gilchrist, Patrick W. Ostergren, Chris Leeder, Jennifer Hen-derson, Angela Ring

The OpinionThe Opinion Editors-in-Chief

Lisa M. Needham

The Eighth Circuit, the Supreme Court, and a Woman’s Right to Choose

PAGE 2 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

Consider two similar scenarios. In the first, a child is born and moments later stabbed in the head with a scissors by the doctor who deliv-ered it, until it dies. In the second, a child is deliv-ered by a doctor, but six inches prior to its emerg-ing completely from the birth canal, the doctor stabs it in the head with a scissors, sucks out the contents of its skull, and then proceeds with the delivery of the now dead baby. What is the differ-ence? In the first scenario, the doctor would be charged with murder. The second scenario, how-ever, has been sanctioned by the United States Su-preme Court in Stenberg v. Carhart.

Perhaps you think this scenario overstates the heinousness of the partial birth abortion proce-dure sanctioned in Carhart. If so, consider this tes-timony from a nurse present at a partial birth abortion presented to the Supreme Court for con-sideration and cited in Justice Thomas’ dissenting opinion: “The baby’s little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby’s arms jerked out, like a startle reaction, like a flinch, like a baby does when he

thinks he is going to fall. The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening, and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby went completely limp.”

Based on the fact that the procedure cited above is akin to infanticide, Nebraska and many other states enacted legislation banning it. Accord-ing to the Court’s last significant decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the states have a substantial state interest in potential human life and may regulate to protect that interest. Moreover, a ma-jority of the population of this country agrees that potential human life deserves protection. Accord-ing to a recent LA Times poll, 65% of people do not approve of second trimester abortions. Other sur-veys show even greater numbers oppose these pro-cedures. Even American Medical Association pub-lications describe as “ethically wrong” the method of abortion Nebraska sought to regulate in this case.

The Carhart case is not about those abor-tions that become necessary because the life of the mother is in danger. The statute contained an ex-ception for those unfortunate situations. Neverthe-

less, the Supreme Court sanctioned the procedure in Carhart based on its perception that banning the procedure places an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to have an abortion. Undue burden? How is it that these abortions become necessary in the first place?

Is it too burdensome to obtain one of the common and inexpensive methods of birth control available in the United States today to avoid be-coming pregnant in the first place? Even in cases of accidental pregnancy, is it too burdensome to go in and have an abortion right away, before the baby develops to the point where it has fingers and toes and has almost reached viability?

Dr. Carhart and his team of lawyers and amici convinced the Supreme Court that this proce-dure is necessary. Yet, according to Justice Ken-nedy’s dissenting opinion, “Dr. Carhart has no spe-cialty certifications in a field related to childbirth or abortion and lacks admitting privileges at any hospital.” Justice Kennedy further notes that Dr. Carhart performs this abortion procedure even though the physicians who provided expert testi-

(Continued on page 4)

stealing,” was sentenced to be sterilized. Steriliza-tion, it was thought, would not only deter him, but would prevent him from passing these unpleasant traits along to another generation. In Skinner, the Supreme Court, for the first time, declared that the right to procreate—regardless of one’s status as chicken thief—was fundamental. Procreation was now considered a basic liberty, and we could not now be deprived of it lightly. Note: those of you who HAVE taken Con Law Lib will remember a particularly boring equal protection argument that goes along with this decision, but, mercifully, I’m not going to go into it here. Leap forward to 1965, when the court

The road to Carhart is certainly a rocky one. For quite some time, American Constitutional law has grappled with the questions of how and whether to regulate sexual behavior and sexual reproduction. An examination of some of these cases can provide us with a better ground to under-stand the court’s decision in Carhart. So, forth-with, for those of you who’ve not yet been dragged through Con Law Liberties, the Opinion provides this handy guide to the reproductive rights cases. The modern-day story beginswith a 1942 case, Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942). Skinner, a habitual criminal whose crimes included robbery and the ignominious offense of “chicken-

heard Griswold v. Connecticut. 381 U.S. 479 (1965). Griswold was director of the Planned Parenthood League in Connecticut, and was arrested in 1961 for having the temerity to provide information and ad-vice to married folks in the delicate matter of contra-ception. Justice Douglas decided to solve this prob-lem by inventing the right of privacy. (OK, that’s not entirely accurate, and DON’T say it in class.) Truth-fully, what Douglas did was assert that several amendments—First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth—taken together, along with the penumbras that emanated from them (don’t ask) created a guar-antee of privacy stemming from our Bill of Rights.

(Continued on page 4)

Vaguely Worded Abortion Bans Violate the Constitution Leroy H. Carhart, M.D.

Stenberg v. Carhart Wrongly Decided Supreme Court Sucks Life out of the Constitution Jennifer D. Henderson

The Road to Carhart Lisa M. Needham

1971 and has performed over 3,500 vasectomies to date. In 1982, he established the first U.S. Air Force training program to teach vasectomy surgery to Family Practice residents. The following is an excerpt from a statement made by Dr. Carhart to the United States Supreme Court in Stenburg v. Carhart.) “Today I am both honored and humbled by the opportunity to bring my case before the United States Supreme Court. I am thankful to have the right to pursue justice and - in doing so - expose the lies anti-choice politicians and extremist organiza-tions have devised to hurt women's health, over-turn the right to choose, and to criminalize doctors who provide the finest possible medical care to their patients.

Seeing this challenge to Nebraska's abor-tion ban all the way through to the Supreme Court has been one of the most difficult but rewarding experiences of my life. I could not have persisted these past three years without the unwavering support of my wife and family, my dedicated staff, and fellow abortion providers. I am indebted to Simon Heller and Janet Benshoof, my attorneys and advocates from the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy -- my dream team. They have pro-vided me the best legal representation possible. And, they have given me hope that, in this country, in America, we do not make criminals out of doc-tors because they provide the best care possible to women who need abortions.

(Continued on page 4)

(LeRoy H. Carhart, M.D., has been performing abortions since 1973. Dr. Carhart attended Hahne-mann Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsyl-vania and graduated in 1973. He completed his surgical residency at Hahnemann Hospital and its affiliates and served as Chief Resident, 1977 and 1978 at Atlantic City Medical Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dr. Carhart retired after serving twenty-one years in the United States Air Force, and now works full time providing abortions, teach-ing other providers in the techniques of first and second trimester abortions and acting as a consult-ant to abortion and family planning clinics throughout the United States.

Dr. Carhart has been performing vasectomies since

PAGE 3 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

intervene in the most personal and private decisions of families for the purpose of pursuing an extremist political agenda. In this country, politicians are not supposed to be able to tell you when and how often to bear children. In this country, politicians should not be able to threaten the lives of women to gain politi-cal advantage or an electoral office. I was a young physician in the years before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal. I saw women who came to the hospital dying or close to death and it made a lasting impression on me. Thousands of women each year died needlessly and others were left sterile because they could not receive critical medical care. I learned then that women will do whatever they have to do - whether legal or not - to end a crisis pregnancy. The costs of illegal abortions to women's lives, to their families, and to the Ameri-can society is too high. There must be a firm moral, medical, and political commitment to prevent a re-turn to the days when we sacrificed women.

(Continued from page 3) I have said before that I never dreamed I would be involved in a case before the Supreme Court. But I stand here today knowing I have done the right thing. Nebraska's abortion ban is not about "late" abortions nor is it limited to any par-ticular procedure. The American College of Obste-tricians and Gynecologists and other medical groups that have signed on in support of my case agree that the vaguely worded law applies to all stages of pregnancy. That's why this case and these bans are so insidious-they are deceptive at-tempts to overturn the right to choose whether or not to have a safe and legal abortion. Challenging this extreme ban was, for my family, and me, an act of citizenship and patriot-ism. This ban violates the Constitution. This ban threatens the health of women. This ban also vio-lates the very essence of what it is to be American. In this country, in America, the government cannot

(Continued from page 3) mony, “who are board certified instructors at lead-ing medical education institutions and members of the Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists” do not. Dr. Carhart also performs abortions through-out pregnancy, including when he is unsure whether the fetus is viable.

According to Dr. Carhart, this kind of in-fanticide is justified by the constitutional concept of liberty. But mangling constitutional liberties in this way is exactly what post Lochner era critics were afraid of - and rightly so. In legal terms, the

Carhart decision is an unfortunate example of the warped constitutional law that can result from sub-stantive due process.

Years ago, the Supreme Court found a right to marital privacy “implicit” in the concept of constitutional liberty. Later, based on the right to marital privacy, the Court justified the contracep-tion cases. From the contraception cases, the Court created a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Details of how the right to obtain an abortion fol-lowed from a right to marital privacy were largely ignored. For example, abortion is not necessarily

began the decision by noting that a right of per-sonal privacy exists under the Constitution, thanks to the decision in Griswold. Blackmun also noted that this privacy had previously been extended to issues of marriage, contraception, and procreation. The court decided that this privacy right was broad enough to encompass a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. The Roe Court also created the now-familiar “trimester framework,” which allowed that, prior to the end of the second trimester, a woman was free to end her pregnancy without gov-ernment interference. After this point, where the fetus was assumed to be “viable”—ready to live outside the womb—the government was free to re-strict or ban abortions. Without torturing you with the annoying Con Law Lib strict scrutiny night-mare, suffice to say that the government is allowed to restrict abortion in the last trimester because it has a compelling interest in preserving the life of a viable fetus. This compelling interest can be said to outweigh the woman’s compelling interest in her privacy right only in the last trimester. The Roe decision created two important new jurisprudential animals: the right to choose and the compelling interest/trimester framework monster.

There has been no end of legislation and hopeful judicial activism seeking to overturn the right to choose. Oddly, though, the biggest change in the Supreme Court’s approach to abortion came

not from attacking the right to choose, but by throwing out the trimester framework. Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), in a com-plicated decision, (which Tony Winer will make you graph. Be forewarned.) created a new rule, al-though technically without majority backing. The new rule, proposed by Reagan appointee O’Connor, suggested that the trimester framework, thanks to medical advances, was no longer an accurate way to measure the right to choose. The plurality in-stead proposed an “undue burden” test, where if a state regulation imposes an undue burden on the right to obtain an abortion, only then is it unconsti-tutional. O’Connor suggested that this new test would balance out Roe, which she felt placed too little weight on the state interest in “potential life.” This test allowed the court to uphold state statutes it had previously frowned upon, such as 24 hour notification statutes.

Though not binding authority, the Court used this new “undue burden” standard (which, it is generally agreed, is a much more restrictive standard than the compelling interest test) in Carhart, and found the restrictions there too strict to meet even this lowered standard. However, this is surely not the last salvo on either side.

Carhart’s Statement, cont’d

Henderson, cont’d

Needham, Cont’d

PAGE 4 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

(Continued from page 3) Indeed, Douglas found the right to privacy to be older than the Bill of Rights itself. This right to privacy ensured that a married couple had the right to make contraceptive decisions as they saw fit. The court found it had no right to interfere in the affairs of the marital bedroom as far as procre-ating (or not procreating) was concerned.

A later case, Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972), extended this right to single folk, not-ing that it is the right of an individual, no matter what marital status, to be “free from unwarranted governmental instrusion” into decision whether to procreate. Some might assert that Eisenstadt is where the problem begins. Griswold cautiously discussed the right of privacy in the sanctity of marriage, but Eisenstadt went much further. The statute in Eisenstadt did not ban use of contracep-tives; only their distribution to single people. As such, the court’s decision, some argue, could not wholly be about privacy. Instead, Michael Perry notes, Eisenstadt “unmasked” Griswold as a case about sexual liberty. At root, Eisenstadt presented Americans with the proposition that they had a fundamental right to control their right to procre-ate—a wholly different animal than an amorphous “right to privacy.”

Only a year later, the landmark Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) was decided. The court

The future of the right to choose abortion is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. No matter what the Court decides, I will remain grateful that I live in a country that allows me - just an average citizen from Nebraska - to defend my convictions. I am proud that I served in the armed forces of the United States, the freest land in the world. I am proud that I have pro-vided my patients with the best medical care this country has to offer. I feel equally privileged to have the opportunity to stand before the Supreme Court as a representative of the millions of Americans who believe that women's health and rights must never be oppressed by or sacrificed to a zealous, violent fac-tion intent on undermining the Constitution and de-stroying what is best about our country - the right of individuals to achieve their dreams and live their lives in freedom. “

linked to the privacy of the marital bedroom, or to marriage at all for that matter. Nor is the right to obtain an abortion a right that has been histori-cally protected.

Using substantive due process essentially to re-write the Constitution, the Court with Carhart sanctioned infanticide in an attempt to avoid inconveniencing the modern woman. With dangerous precedent like Carhart, it is no wonder that respect for human life in this country contin-ues to disintegrate.

doesn’t hurt at all that three oh-my-god they’re gorgeous girls sing intricately ethereal harmonies over computer-programmer-by-day-music-auteur-by-night Christian Erickson’s electronica ar-rangements. But the real deal is that the lyrics are achingly good, and you have to keep remind-ing yourself that this is an upstart local band. Their songs about superpowers, spaceship launches, and the new millennium disguise Erickson’s brooding reflections on relationships and loss.

Adding to the eye candy, the group is, unsurprisingly, web savvy, with www.astronaut.wife boasting cool retro graphics, trippy Shock-wave flash intro, and that rarities of rarities on band websites—non-outdated links!!

Perhaps most importantly, though, Astro-naut Wife represents the new guard in music distri-bution. They’ve released a CD, the beautiful 6-song “Now that 1999 is Gone” on their own, without label support. They got Amazon.Com to distribute the platter nationwide. They posted songs to MP3.com and Listen.com for rampant downloading. Even after the CD came out, you can still continue to download some tracks from the disc and various remixes.

Astronaut Wife doesn’t do many live gigs, which is a damn shame both for the did-I-mention-they’re-hot? factor and the sometimes slim pickins of non-boy-rock local music. The website posts the lat-est tracks and gigs (and has an all important band photo) to tide you over.

I am so Smart. S-M-R-T… Chris Frank

Lisa Needham

your roommate learns to find his keys on his own. Maybe if he learns to find them on his own he won’t continue to leave them about so care-lessly. He says, “I don’t know where I left them. If I knew where I left them I wouldn’t be asking.” You follow up: “Well, when’s the last time you used them?”, “When I came home from work”, “And what did you do when you came home from work?”, “I watched TV.” (At this point you’re try-ing to figure out when he went to the bathroom…not so you can tell him where his keys are…but because you want to ask him so he can figure it out himself.) “What did you watch on TV?” “Have you been watching TV since you got home?” “Did you go anywhere else?” He an-swers: “The only other place I went was to the can.” You pounce: “Did you look in the can?” He finds the keys. Your profs are going for similar effect, sometimes with all the mean-spiritedness at-tached. They’re leading you on, but they’ve os-tensibly got your best interests at heart. Law school is all about learning to find your own damn keys.

I was a first year law student once. I also recall having been a freshman in college. I faintly recall being a freshman in high school. More than anything else I remember third grade. I think the third grade experience stands out as the most rele-vant and poignant in my human experience. When I have to rely on some sort of wisdom to get me through the most difficult times, I always seem to hearken back to being eight or nine years old. Oddly, the wisdom of that experience got me through my first year of law school.

This isn’t meant to be some sort of Ful-ghumesque expose on human experience. I don’t have any deep profound need to taunt others with the depths of my psyche and academic-spirituality in such a way that leaves you writhing in agony, looking for some vast eternal dogmatic truth to re-veal itself to you…like some sort of childish pop-up book…like a god-forsaken lottery ticket…like the Socratic method. I’m not a poet. I’m just a law stu-dent. I’m not a lawyer. Don’t call me for legal ad-vice. Don’t ask me about your landlord trouble in the bar. Don’t tempt me to delve deeper.

The first year of law school is supposed to be horrendous. It’s supposed to be this sort of ex-perience that scars your confidence and jars your solid, stolid and sometimes squalid ego into some sort of pathetic intellectual disparity. It’s supposed to make you cry or something.

They call it the Socratic method. As a

PAGE 5

Gravity Loses its Grip—The Ethereal Goodness of Astronaut Wife

To start the story of falling in love with Astronaut Wife, I need to tell you about my room-mate. He’s a big fellow who shaves his head bald. His favorite music runs toward old-school goth and new school metal. He thinks most music where girls sing is ummm…not printable here.

So I bought the new Astronaut Wife EP a while ago, and loaned it to him. He ran off to work with it, and I never saw it again. In fact, the only way I managed to retrieve it was to send an ever-increasing spiral of impolite emails explaining the word “deadline.”

So, what is it about Astronaut Wife that attracts a big grumpy fellow like my roommate? It

Once you graduate from law school you will immediately thank me for telling you this secret. No-tice, this first sentence has been carefully crafted to presuppose certain things. First, I have presupposed that you will actually graduate from law school. I as-sume that you will not fail out, get kicked out, or quit due to the psychological trauma of it all. I am too kind! Second, I presuppose that when you graduate the first thing on your mind will be figuring out how to thank me for getting you there. A wonderfully crafted sen-tence, I must admit.

Now, before I tell you the big secret, let me first tell you about myself. My law school cohorts have dubbed me with the nickname “Homer.” Not Homer as in the Greek philosopher. Homer as in Homer Simp-

son, the idiot father of Bart Simpson—the character that grows more ignorantly blissful with each weekly episode. This is hardly a strong indicator that I should have any success in law school. However, I do not even attempt to disclaim this label. In fact I emulate the two-dimensional pen-drawn character as much as is possible in a three-dimensional organic world. Homer Simpson always thinks he has the world’s greatest idea. Homer always acts as if he knows what he is doing and acts as if he can do no wrong. Homer never thinks he failed. Homer always thinks he is just about to succeed.

My keen understanding of the Homeresque thought process is what led me to my discovery of the biggest secret in law school. The secret is: law school is not full of smart people. It is full of people who think

they are smart! Just think, Homer goes to law school, Einstein does not, Newton does not, Shakespeare does not, and Mozart does not. And you don’t even have to be smarter than Homer. You just have to think that you are!

In the same respect, here I am writing this article to you as if I have something worthwhile to teach you, some deep wisdom with which to share in this medium. Why am I the one to bestow such wisdom upon you? Not because I am the person with the great-est wisdom. Not because I even necessarily have any-thing worthwhile to say. Only because I think I have something to say. You are whatever you think you are, so choose carefully. Doh! Now that you understand this, you will be just fine.

Socratic Method Deciphered by Cocky 3-L Jennifer Macaulay

public service announcement, I’m here to tell you that the Socratic method is law school’s false tor-ture. If you believe it’s torture, then it’s torture. If you don’t buy into it, you too may hearken back to sometime in your early development…and realize that it’s all old hat. You already know this game and have been willingly or willfully playing it for as long as you can remember.

If I leave it with you that simply, you’ll ignore it. If I give you a public service announce-ment, you’ll treat it as a polite interruption in your life. You tempt me to delve deeper. Law school has not conditioned me to avoid temptation. Instead it has conditioned me to wonder why you tempt me. Perhaps that makes sense to you?

You read on. Good for you. That’s the first step. Admit that you’re confused. Admit that you don’t understand what’s being presented. Suc-cumb to the pedagogical and ideological conformity long enough to find out what is being said. Smart move.

Your roommate lost his keys. He says “I don’t know where I left my keys”. The dumb-ass loses his keys all of the time. You’re tired of his rant. You say, “Where did you see them last?”, in-stead of “They’re on the floor of the bathroom, un-derneath the sink.” Why do you do this? What asi-nine motive do you have? Are you a hateful human being? Do you want to watch your roommate suf-fer? Perhaps. Or maybe you think it’s time that

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875 Summit Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55105

WILLIAM MITCHELL COLLEGE OF LAW STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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The Student Newspaper of the William Mitchell College of Law

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The Opinion

This year’s 1Ls are not taking Legal Writ-ing. Instead, they are taking a new course, Writing & Representation: Advice & Persuasion (WRAP). A year in the making, WRAP has been designed by the Legal Writing and Lawyering faculty and ad-ministrators to include elements of both of those courses. Like Legal Writing, WRAP is a six-credit, two-semester, graded course. It covers legal re-search in primary and secondary sources, in print and computer-based media; legal reasoning; writ-ing of office memos, advice letters, and motion practice memoranda; and oral argument in a mo-tion practice setting. It is taught primarily in “homerooms” of about twelve students by adjunct professors who are practicing lawyers. It mixes one-hour large-section “plenary sessions” taught by reference staff and full-time faculty members with the two-hour homeroom meetings occurring during “primary periods.” Unlike Legal Writing, WRAP also covers “representation skills”—interpersonal skills such as client interviewing, counseling, contract negotia-tion, interviewing of a witness, and dispute media-tion (that is, some of the skills currently taught in the Lawyering course). Each homeroom has not only a writing professor, but also a representation

professor, a practicing lawyer teaching as an ad-junct professor, who critiques the representation exercises. The representation exercises are con-ducted in groups of six students (two per home-room) in a model closely resembling Lawyering small-group exercises. Primarily to permit scheduling of the rep-resentation exercises, students have a two-hour “secondary period” set aside in their schedule. When representation exercises are not occurring, students may use their secondary period for activi-ties they are assigned to do in teams, such as statu-tory briefs and research problem sets. WRAP is structured around cases, with students working on three cases each semester. Each case involves a mix of skills and graded pro-jects. For example, in the fall, the Kelley case (re-designed somewhat from last fall) leads to a graded office memo. The second case entails secondary-source research and leads to interviewing and counseling of a client, and the third case involves primary-source research and leads to an advice let-ter. The three cases in the spring involve (1) re-searching for and drafting an office memo, negoti-ating a contract, and drafting contract clauses; (2) interviewing a witness and mediating a dispute; and (3) researching for and drafting a motion prac-

tice memorandum and arguing a motion. WRAP is the first of two new required skills courses. In spring 2002, when this year’s 1Ls are 2Ls, the second course, Writing & Representa-tion: Advocacy, will debut. Current plans call for it to feature advanced research (including legisla-tive process and administrative materials), discov-ery and trial skills, and appellate briefing and oral argument. The two W&R courses represent substan-tial changes in the first-year curriculum and in the required skills course sequence. The Legal Writing and Lawyering faculty members who have devel-oped W&R believe that the changes will serve two primary goals: helping students to see how law-yers use both writing and representation skills to serve client problems, and permitting all of the skills to be taught first at a basic level at the outset of law school and again at a more advanced level midway through law school. The WRAP faculty appreciate the hard work of Cassandra Headrick, who served on the task force, and the insights of students who participated in last year’s survey about the skills curriculum, and they look forward to an interesting year.

organization in that it represents the interests of the collective student body at WMCL. The 16 elected representatives are the Board of Governors who govern and manage the activities of the SBA. But let it be known that every student has a voice in how the Board conducts itself. If you are not satisfied with the way the Board conducts itself or if you have an issue that you believe needs to be addressed, then I urge you to bring it to your Board representative so that they may bring it to the open forum.

Every student is invited to attend Board meetings. The time, date, place and agenda will be posted three days before each meeting in the glass case between Hachey Commons and the student mailboxes. The SBA belongs to all of us and we should use the SBA to address the many issues

We are currently entering into an exciting time. The 2000-2001 academic year is about to be-gin at WMCL, bringing with it new students, new classes, and an enthusiasm to get back to our goals and ambitions. But we are also entering an excit-ing time concerning the Student Bar Association and I would like to share some of what I have ex-perienced over the summer and what we can look forward to this year. First, I think there is some confusion over what the SBA is. The SBA is NOT a group of 16 elected students hiding in a secret room conducting secret meetings. I know that this perception is among the student body as I used to share the same feeling, and at times, it has seemed this way. The SBA is an organization that every student who takes classes at WMCL and pays their student fees belongs to. It is unique from every other student

that circulate throughout campus each year. It is an old cliché, but we are far more powerful united than divided. So, I charge every student with the responsi-bility to speak with their representatives about the issues that concern them everyday in school. This is the only way we can be effective in making WMCL a better community for all of us. This summer I attended the ABA/LSD an-nual conference in New York City. All of the ABA accredited schools are invited to this conference to decide national issues that effect students throughout the nation. WMCL had two votes, myself and Jamie Habeck (the ABA/LSD President for WMCL), and we voted on issues such as who will represent the law schools in the ABA House of Delegates, what position law students will take on multi-disciplinary practice

(Continued on page 14)

Spend Your Summer in Bali: Law School Study Abroad Programs Dan Gilchrist

What Happened to Legal Writing? Professor Ken Kirwin and Professor Deborah Schmedemann

SBA Update Justin Weinberg

cational experience that I highly recommend to all students. It was unique because the international aspect enhanced the classroom experience. Swedish students attended the program and participated regularly in classroom discussions. They provided an interesting European perspective. Swedish pro-fessors also made occasional lectures on European Union and international law. The American stu-dents also provided geographic diversity because they came from throughout the United States. However, most learning occurred outside the class-room. From our base in southern Sweden, we American students traveled. I toured Stockholm, Oslo, Trondheim, and Copenhagen. Others went to Berlin, Athens, Amsterdam, Prague, Paris, and

Dublin. As a group, all of the students and profes-sors toured the Danish Supreme Court, the Swed-ish Court of Appeals, a Danish castle, and a Danish museum. Another part of our European experience was watching the European Cup soccer tourna-ment along side with Europeans. The excitement and revelry generated by the Cup makes the NFL playoffs seem painfully dull. During my studies, travels, and experiences, I met several fun and in-teresting people with whom I still keep in contact. In short, overseas law programs provide much more than a legal education. They provide an en-during life lesson. So I encourage students to seek out these programs when the ads and posters begin to appear in January.

Do you want to earn law school credits while visiting Bali next summer? You can. Numer-ous ABA accredited law schools throughout the United States offer summer programs at foreign law schools. From Beijing to Berlin and from Que-bec to Quito, American law students study U.S. and international law in exciting foreign settings. William Mitchell College of Law itself sponsors summer studies in London, England. This summer I spent 24 days in Lund, Sweden studying International Business Transac-tions and Internet Law through a program offered by Suffolk Law School of Boston. Suffolk professors taught the classes in English. While there, I earned four credits that count towards graduation at Wil-liam Mitchell. Studying abroad was a unique edu-

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Mitchell in September, bringing in Stephen Kunin from the United States Patent and Trademark Of-fice in Washington, D.C., to discuss the recent changes to the patent rules. There will also be a time for students to learn the “ins and outs” of the Patent Office. We are also taking an active role in the visit of Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in October. The CAFC appellate court has exclusive jurisdiction in patent cases and hears nu-merous trademark cases as well. We will be volun-teering to help at the formal banquet and will also be helping to host a half-day of hearings scheduled at Mitchell. As we have done in the last few years, we will also organize “round-table” discus-sions with leading experts in various areas in intellectual property. There will also be a “meet your intellectual property professors” reception so that anyone who is thinking about venturing into intellectual property can learn more about it and meet those from

whom you will be learning. Students at Mitchell have also expressed an interest in reviving the moot court program, and SIPLA is making this a priority this year. We hope to have a smaller competition this fall into spring and have a full-blown moot court competition, com-peting regionally and hopefully nationally, within the next couple of years. Any of you who may be interested in it in the future are strongly encour-aged to begin this year because in order to compete, we need students who are dedicated to learning about it this year that can participate next year. Lastly, we have monthly meetings and communicate primarily by email and will begin us-ing the web this year. Our first meeting is Wednesday, August 30 at 6:30 pm in Room 223. Come to find out more and how you can be in-volved. We will also have a table at the orientation picnic on Friday evening so feel free to stop by and speak with us then. You can also contact Ginger Ewing, president, at 651-905-3655 or hreddwing@aol.com.

Intellectual property is at the forefront of both the news and the legal world. From cyber-squatting to patenting business methods to Nap-ster, there are countless topics for discussion and learning for those in SIPLA, the Student Intellec-tual Property Law Association. “Intellectual Prop-erty” covers a wide variety of legal interests includ-ing computer law, trademarks, patents, copyrights, entertainment law, e-commerce and advertising/media law. SIPLA aims to give law students an opportunity to not only learn the developments in these areas, but also to network with practitioners by providing bringing in speakers and providing an opportunity for students to network outside of Mitchell’s walls. You will also find that the SIPLA members themselves come from a wide variety of law firms and in-house positions, which provides yet another networking opportunity. We are co-hosting a CLE (“continuing le-gal education”) with MIPLA (the “Minnesota Intel-lectual Property Law Association”) at William

PHI DELTA PHI The choice of a legal fraternity may de-pend upon many factors, one of which, obviously is the local Inn. But if you are a student at William Mitchell College of Law and are looking for the or-ganization with the largest number of student leaders; with the highest standards of scholarship and service; and with a fellowship based upon more than mere sociability -- you will find that it is Phi Delta Phi. The individuals you want to be associated with very likely are those who are guided by the ideals of Phi Delta Phi and its Con-stitution. If you are interested in learning more about Phi Delta Phi and meeting our members, please visit our website at: http://phideltaphi.homestead.com/pdp.html or contact our president at chills26@yahoo.com. We look forward to hear-ing from you.

WMCL RUNNING CLUB The WMCL Running Club is a great way to take a break from studying and stay healthy and energized during school. Its also a great way to meet other students in a relaxed atmosphere. There will be a sign up table for all those inter-ested in the Running Club at the orientation pic-nic. We will have a very short meeting within the first week or so of school to figure out which times work well for everyone to run. All levels of run-ners are encouraged to sign up. For additional in-formation, contact Jamie Habeck at 612-920-2872.

change within the legal system that will make it more responsive to the needs and concerns of the African-American community; and to do any and all things necessary and lawful for the accomplish-ment of these goals.

Currently, BLSA has an innovative group with progressive individuals willing to dedicate themselves to helping one another achieve their goals. BLSA is important to the African-American law student because it provides a unique network of professionals, students, and professors within the community and all over the nation.

Further, BLSA has organized study ses-sions, exam reviews, and legal writing workshops

The Black Law Students Association (BLSA), William Mitchell Chapter, is a member of the National Black Lawyers Association or-ganization, created and designed to articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of Black law students. With the help of the na-tional chapter and the 208 affiliate members, BLSA’s mission is to foster and encourage pro-fessional competence; focus upon the relation-ship of the African-American attorneys and those aspiring to enter the field; to instill in our members a greater awareness of and commit-ment to the needs of the African-American com-munity; to utilize their expertise to initiate a

led by prominent legal professionals . BLSA also offers students organizational mentors, campus tours, and peer counseling.

Because BLSA realizes that all work and no play does make a dull law student, we have periodic organizational picnics, dinners, and “study breaks” to break the monotony of law school. The year 2000 holds more exciting BLSA activities. To keep updated with sched-uled events, BLSA news, entertainment dis-counts, and more information about the BLSA organization, please see our web site at: http://wmclblsa.homestead.com/BLSA.html

SIPLA—STUDENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW ASSOCIATION

ORIENTATION SPECIAL FEATURE: STUDENT ORGANIZATION ROUNDUP

BLSA—BLACK LAW STUDENT ASSOCIATION

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WMCL HOCKEY TEAM The WMCL Hockey team practices once per week beginning in October. Men and women of all skill levels are encouraged to come out and skate. During the practices, the players break up and scrimmage against each other for one hour. Practices are held at Highland Ice Arena in St. Paul. There are also games against the various bar associations in the state, as well as games against other teams. The focus of the whole season is the year end game against Hamline Law School. The game is dubbed "The Res Ipsa Cup" and dates back twenty plus years, and is always a fun game to play in and watch. Res Ipsa Cup tickets support the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities. Last year, WMCL beat Hamline 10-3 to retain braggin' rights, and almost one thousand dollars was raised for the designated charity. Special thanks to all the students, faculty, and staff who bought tickets! If you're interested, contact John Lamey at jlamey@wmitchell.edu for more information.

NIABA—NATIONAL ITALIAN-AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION The National Italian American Bar Asso-ciation (NIABA) has recently approved an official Chartership at William Mitchell College of Law. Layne Jeffery, President of the organization, founded and organized the organization with the assistance of Paul Dinzeo, Jennifer Bellini, and Paul Lelii. Together, they have organized William Mitchell’s students of Italian descent and other in-terested students. This was also made possible by the organization’s faculty sponsor, Barbara Co-lombo. The organization’s philosophy is to foster unity, fellowship, and support among Italian American Law Students who share common educa-tional, professional and cultural pursuits.

We have approximately 20-25 members. The organizational Constitution, bylaws, and a list-ing of current members and upcoming activities can be viewed at our newly designed web site at www.wmniaba.homestead.com. The web site of the NIABA can be accessed there, or by going directly to www.niaba.org. Scholarship opportunities are available through the NIABA and an application can be downloaded from their web site. This summer, the organization held an informal gathering at Ciatti’s restaurant on Grand

Avenue in St. Paul. The major topic of discussion focused on recruitment of new student members and possible future activities. We anticipate having a presence at the new student orientation picnic this fall to recruit and welcome additional mem-bers. The William Mitchell National Italian Ameri-can Student Bar Association welcomes all students to join and participate in the activities and further wishes all first year students the best of luck in their studies.

SES—STUDENTS ENCOURAG-ING STUDENTS The Students Encouraging Students Men-toring Program is a student-run, student-created, student organization providing volunteer upper-classperson mentors to incoming 1-Ls. This year, the program is sponsored and coordinated by the Student Bar Association (SBA) Board. The pro-gram is most active and busy during the month before classes start and in the several months thereafter. Volunteer mentors are recruited during the final months of each academic year. This year the program coordinators have revamped the program so that two mentors will be assigned to each Writing and Representation work-

shop group (small legal writing group.) Mentors will attend orientation and will meet with their assigned workgroup to exchange contact informa-tion and answer basic questions. Some common questions that 1-L’s have had for mentors are “what exactly is my outline supposed to be?”, or “do I really have to use IRAC?”, and “what do you have to do to be on law review?”. But mentors have commonly provided more than answers to questions. Many new stu-dents find that their mentors are a valuable re-source-finding tool. There are numerous resources available to law students that are sometimes un-derutilized just because students are unaware that they exist. Mentors have been prepared and trained extensively to be aware of these numerous resources and how to use them. The SES program is always interested in student comments and suggestions. We are always looking for ways to improve the program. You are encouraged to submit any comments, questions, or suggestions to the SES Coordinating Committee by dropping them a note in the SES mailbox in Cen-tral Services, or by e-mailing them: Suzi Kusnic-nek: lawbug@netzero.com; Jen Macaulay: jen-macaulay@uswest.net; Angela Ring: ar-ing@pconline.com

SBA—THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION

dents. The SBA board consists of 16 members: one from each of the first-year sections, four mem-bers from each of the second- and third-year classes, two members from the fourth-year class, and two at-large members. The respective class sections elect board members. Every student is eligible to be elected to the Board. First-year stu-dents are elected in the early part of the year and a representative will come to classes talk more about this. It is a great way to get involved with the school. The SBA Office is adjacent to Hachey Com-mons. The SBA sponsors many activities and events throughout the year, such as speakers, a hockey game between WMCL and Hamline law school, and semi-formal socials in the fall and spring. The SBA also supports programs that are available to every student. One in particular that

is very useful to incoming students is the Student Encouraging Student (SES) mentoring program. Becoming involved in the SBA is easier than most of you probably think. You do not have to be an elected member to become involved with the SBA. The Board has many committees that students, other than Board members, serve on each year, such as the faculty search committee and the academic affairs committee. More information on these committees will be provided to you. This is only a short list of what the SBA is and what the Board of Governors does. The SBA will have a table at the orientation picnic and there will be representatives from the Board welcoming all of the first year students. We are looking for-ward to welcoming every back and welcoming eve-ryone new to WMCL. The SBA is your organiza-tion and the Board looks forward to working for and with all of you this year.

The purposes of the William Mitchell Col-lege of Law Student Bar Association are to promote understanding among students and faculty, expand interest in the legal profession, and provide social activities for members of the student body. SBA dues of $15.00 are charged for fall and spring se-mesters. They are used for improvements to Hachey Commons, sports activities, SBA adminis-trative needs, and disbursement to the wide variety of student organizations. Every student who attends WMCL is a member of the SBA. It is unique in that it is the only organization at WMCL that consists of every student and acts in the best interest of the whole student body. The SBA Board of Governors is the governing body of the SBA and formulates policies in the best interests of the students, manages the affairs of the SBA, provides funding to the many student organizations and offers a forum to all stu-

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DLS—DEAD LAWYER’S SOCIETY The Dead Lawyer’s Society (DLS) is a multi-faceted WMCL student organization started in 1999 by a group of first year students looking for yet another extra-curricular activity. The DLS con-cept was born over beers and happy-hour food after harrowing legal writing experiences, disastrous recitation exercises, and painful final exams. Originally, the purpose of the organization was to provide a fun, relaxed social agenda for “like-minded” law students, friends and family. In time, the mission and purpose of the DLS grew to include a regular publication of legal humor, (“The Old Bailey”), interaction and ideologi-cal cross-pollination with other active student or-ganizations, and many other important activities. Last year, the DLS partnered with the MSBA and the St. Paul Connections program to provide

coaches and an institutional infrastructure for the MSBA Mock Trial Program. The MSBA organizes the high school mock trial competitions in Minne-sota. When DLS member Jayne Jones (3-L) discov-ered that many of the Saint Paul high schools did not offer a mock trial competition program, she took up the task. She discovered that these schools didn’t have programs because they didn’t have coaches. Under Jayne and 3-L Jim McGeeney’s leadership, the DLS recruited scores of WMCL stu-dents and staff to volunteer as coaches. The pro-gram was an enormous success, not escaping the attention of the local media. The DLS is looking forward to continued sponsorship of this program during this new academic year. Much of what the DLS has to offer WMCL students is more social than academic. Members

have scheduled regular outings, parties, dinners, and meetings that allow students and their friends and families to step away from the law school drudgery for a bit and just relax. But this doesn’t undermine the importance and general fun of the volunteer activities that the DLS organizes. Al-though being a law student doesn’t seem to leave a lot of time open for volunteerism, it leaves a little time. Volunteering time to a worthy cause with a bunch of friends has been one of the most reward-ing aspects of DLS membership. This years’ events and goals will be discussed in more detail at the first DLS meeting. Meeting notices are posted in The Docket under “student organizations”. Individuals interested in membership should contact Jen Macaulay at 612-870-6138 or jenmacaulay@uswest.net for more information.

ORIENTATION SPECIAL FEATURE: STUDENT ORGANIZATION ROUNDUP

lic Service Program and qualify you for a notation on your transcript. MJF links attorneys represent-ing the low-income, disadvantaged, and unrepre-sented with law students. There are many volun-teer opportunities posted in Career Services and in the Legal Practice Center on the second floor with fascinating employers. Check it out!

Elections will be held early in the semes-ter for a First Year Representative from each sec-tion. Second and Third-Year Representatives are also needed. Even if you are not a class represen-tative, the WMCL MJF Local Board needs YOU to fill several vacancies!! After all, does JUSTICE really result when money dictates who makes it to court? Has JUSTICE been served when a default judgment is entered against someone who failed to make an appearance simply because they could not afford an

MJF provides two programs that line your pockets with cold hard cash, look great on a re-sume, and give you an opportunity to get legal ex-perience:

•• Summer Clerkship Program: Basically, it boils down to this: Cash AND legal experi-ence. Since 1983 MJF has sponsored PAID summer clerkships with public in-terest agencies throughout Minnesota. Work 40 hours per week for 10 weeks over the summer.

• P.I.L.F. (Public Interest Law Fellowship): PILF=PAID public interest summer clerk-ship of the law student's own design, which is funded entirely by a silent auc-tion held each spring. MJF also provides volunteer opportunities

which satisfy the 50 hours for the Law School Pub-

WLSA is a network of law students work-ing toward the advancement, support, and develop-ment of women law students. WLSA often hosts its own activities but also works in conjunction with Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL). MWL is the only organized women’s bar association in the state of Minnesota and the sixth largest organization of its kind in the United States. MWL consists of law-yers, judges, law students, and law firms. MWL’s goals are to support the professional and leader-ship development of women lawyers, to advocate on behalf of women lawyers within the legal profes-sion, and to support community action initiatives to end discrimination in the justice system and pro-mote equality of women in society. Membership in WLSA is free. Students are encour-aged to attend as many events or be involved as much as they wish. MWL student membership for

one year is $25. Both women and men are welcome at all WLSA events. Generally, WLSA hosts monthly events. Activities planned for the 2000-2001 school year include: • First-year section representative elections • MWL student mentor program • Panel discussion by women lawyers in various

legal careers (co-hosted by MWL) • Outlining workshop • Self-defense workshop • An activity involving the 2000 elections assist-

ing The League of Women Voters • “Bar Review”—Monthly outing for law stu-

dents to meet and socialize with fellow stu-dents of all levels

• Student/Faculty tea

• MWL professional clothing drive • MWL annual meeting

Elections for new officers will be held in the Spring of 2001. New this year, each first-year section will elect a representative in the fall. The representative will work with the current officers to plan events and will keep her section informed of upcoming WLSA events.

Information about WLSA and MWL is al-ways available on the bulletin board outside of room 234, or by contacting co-presidents Rachel Hable at rhable@wmitchell.edu or Karie Svien at ksvien@wmitchell.edu. WLSA events are an-nounced in The Docket.

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ORIENTATION SPECIAL FEATURE: STUDENT ORGANIZATION ROUNDUP

WLSA—WOMEN LAW STUDENT ASSOCIATION

MJF—MINNESOTA JUSTICE FOUNDATION attorney and did not qualify for free legal services? If you entered law school yearning to make a differ-ence, MJF is for YOU!!

We have many events throughout the year, and the first is coming up soon. The WMCL Local Board seeks walkers to join its team partici-pating in the Headwaters Fund Fifth Annual Walk for Justice on September 17, 2000. What a great way to spend a Sunday morning!! The Walk will conclude with musical entertainment and a free lunch! Next Local Board meeting: September 11, 2000 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 189. Attend the next meeting or contact either Diane Dodd at 651 454 5440 or ddodd@wmitchell.edu or Marie Tou at 651 290 9599 or mariealida@aol.com for more informa-tion.

ABA—AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIA-TION

Joining the American Bar Association is a no- brainer- It costs you $20 for the year- You get:

1) A coupon for a free Emmanuel’s study guide for any subject you choose, which you can redeem at the book store- You will need as many of these books as you can get your first year.

2) You also get money off of Bar-Bri, around $50.

3) You get a ton of benefits for things like travel, hotels, and other discounts, and a subscription to the ABA student magazine.

4) Lastly, you become involved in an extra-curricular group at school which looks great on the resume, and is super fun (you'll meet a ton of stu-dents, and hopefully new ones as well)-

The ABA really wants members so they give you a ton of stuff, basically for nothing. It is definitely worth it- There will be ABA pamphlets all around school for you to sign up or call Jamie Habeck at 612-920-2872

THE OPINION The Opinion has recently announced that

it is still William Mitchell’s student newspaper. The Spring 2000 edition (released in late April of 2000) marked the renaissance of the student news-paper. Under the able, albeit editorially naïve leadership of now 3-L Jen Macaulay, the newspa-per rose from the ashes like a phoenix or some other bird of prey that rises from ashes after being ignored for a couple of years.

The 2000-2001 Opinion will now be under the joint leadership of 3-L’s Lisa Needham and An-gela Ring. Angela and Lisa were both editors on the 1999-2000 Opinion staff, and were ratified as Editors by the Student Bar Association in late April. The 2000-2001 publishing schedule will in-clude a Fall, Winter and Spring edition.

Students interested in becoming members of the Opinion staff should contact Angela Ring (612-782-0806) or aring@pconline.com for more information. Watch The Docket for more informa-tion and meeting notices.

MAKE SURE TO VISIT THESE AND MANY OTHER STU-DENT ORGANI-ZATIONS AT THE ORIENTA-TION PICNIC!

Americans love the idea of a magic pill. We want a magic pill to restore youth, erase those extra pounds, cure disease, prevent disease, and make us rich. Right now, the dietary supplement industry is making these claims and we are buying them. I de-cided to look into this. I like the idea of the magic pill, yet if it sounds to good to be true…

I was brought up as a “Flintstone kid”, tak-ing Fred and Barney shaped dietary supplements dating as far back as my pre-school days. To this day I still take a daily multi-vitamin supplement. Only recently did I begin to investigate whether it was do-ing me any good or, worse, whether it could be doing me any harm.

To begin my investigation I bought three books on the subject. Dr. Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solu-tion by Robert C. Atkins, M.D., Stop Aging Now! by Jean Carpenter, and The Protein Power Lifeplan by Michael R. Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades M.D. I purchased these three specific books for the simple reason that they had the best product placement in the bookstore. I am the marketers’ dream consumer!

I concentrated my efforts on the vitamins known as antioxidants. These are the most heavily marketed vitamins that claim to boost the immune system, and prevent diseases and aging. The most common antioxidant supplements are vitamin E, vita-min C, and vitamin A. So what did I learn? I learned that this is much more complicated than I had antici-pated.

First of all I looked at vitamin E. Vitamin E is fat-soluble. This means it must be ingested with fat in order to ensure absorption. Vitamin C helps in the recycling and reuse of vitamin E. How nice. However, vitamin C is quickly used by the body and must be replenished throughout the day. Thus, my one-a-day pill needs to be taken with fat to ensure the vitamin E is absorbed, and later in the day I need to take a replenishing supplement of vitamin C. All three of the books disagreed on the amount of vitamin E and vitamin C that I should be taking.

And then things really get confusing. Vita-min A can be taken as either beta-carotene or as vita-min A. The body easily transfers beta-carotene into vitamin A. Dr. Atkins book cited several studies showing the benefits of beta-carotene supplements in reducing the risk of various cardiovascular events. However, some less-than-favorable studies were cited in Protein Power and Stop Aging Now!. These studies involved people at high risk for lung cancer who were given beta-carotene or vitamin A supplements. Those that took supplements actually had a higher rate of complications than those not taking supplements. The author of Stop Aging Now! claims that the results of these studies may not be valid due to “scientifically complex reasons”. All three books recommended tak-ing beta-carotene supplements and recommended against vitamin A supplements. This conflicting and confusing information is cause for concern. How is this industry regulated? Is there a government agency that ensures that only healthy products are made available to consumers? Here is what I found. Dietary supplements are regu-lated under the Dietary Supplement Health Enabling Act (DSHEA) of 1994. The DSHEA was created spe-cifically for the regulation of dietary supplements to protect the right of access of consumers to safe dietary supplements without requiring dietary supplements to undergo rigorous, expensive, and timely FDA ap-proval. In light of these good intentions it is impor-tant to note that more Americans die from vitamin overdose than malnourishment according to the Food and Drug Law Journal (49 FDLJ 269). Because sup-plements fall under the DSHEA, the FDA does not regulate this industry. What does this mean? Supplement manufacturers often make claims based on the health effects of certain foods that contain some of the same nutrients that the dietary supplement contains. For example, suppose a study was performed on people who eat large amounts of broccoli. Broccoli contains various antioxidants, among other things. Now suppose that study con-

cluded that people who consume certain amounts of broccoli were found to have lower rates of various types of cancer. A dietary supplement marketer will then claim that their supplements containing antioxi-dants will prevent cancer based on evidence from this broccoli study. Such an issue was litigated in Pear-son v. Shalala, 164 F.3d 650 (1999 U.S.App.D.C.). In Pearson, one of the claims litigated was the dietary supplement manufacturer’s claim that various anti-oxidants prevented certain cancers. The FDA tried to prevent the marketer from making such claims, stat-ing that the evidence supporting the claims in the context of foods did not necessarily lend support for the efficacy of the nutrients when found in dietary supplements. The dietary supplement manufacturers claimed that such FDA regulations violated First Amendment free speech rights. The court found for the dietary supplement manufacturer. The FDA is now left with the power to remove a dietary supple-ment from the shelves only after it has been proven to be unsafe. The FDA has little regulatory power in preventing fraudulent or misleading health claims by dietary supplement manufacturers. The only other consumer protection avail-able is the Federal Trade Commission or FTC. A quick visit to the FTC website at www.ftc.gov and a search for the term, “dietary supplement” brings up various FTC investigations, settlements, and orders against companies making fraudulent or misleading claims for such things as guaranteed weight loss, cure of cancer, cure of AIDS, lowering of cholesterol and elimination of arthritis. The brief investigation I have performed on dietary supplements tells me one thing: There is no magic pill. The available literature is confusing at best. Before you decide to experiment with dietary supplements seek professional advice from your doc-tor or a qualified medical professional. The only ad-vice that I can give you is the age-old adage buyer beware. Caveat Emptor!

Summertime in Paris: Heidenreich and You Chris Leeder

After completing a class at the College of Law of England and Wales through the Law in London 2000 program, 2L Chris Leeder decided to take a trip to Paris. As he was walking down the Champs de Mars away from the Eiffel Tower toward the Ecole Militaire (Military School) Chris noticed a foreboding yet familiar figure. He couldn't believe his eyes, but to his astonishment there in front of him walking the other way was Professor Heiden-reich! After a grueling year in Professor Heiden-reich's Contracts class, Chris thought it was very ironic that he would run into Professor Heidenreich in front of the Military School in Paris, but there he was. Unfortunately, Professor Heidenreich felt a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower was more appro-priate.

PAGE 11

The Magic Pill Chris Frank

VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

((insert clever ad here:)insert clever ad here:) (Format space as compatFormat space as compati-i-ble for clever advertisement ble for clever advertisement intended to reach thointended to reach thou-u-sands of students, faculty sands of students, faculty and staff at William and staff at William Mitchell College of Law.)Mitchell College of Law.) (Leave space for adverti(Leave space for advertis-s-ing graphic or photograph ing graphic or photograph provided by motivated aprovided by motivated ad-d-vertiser wishing to have vertiser wishing to have iimmage seen by thousands age seen by thousands of students)of students) Wondering why your ad isn’t here? Contact The Opinion, at “theopinion@wmitchell.edu” for more information, or call 612-870-6138 to talk with Business Manager, Jennifer Macaulay.

President Clinton recently called for the American Embassy in Israel to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This move is significant be-cause it recognizes Israel’s illegal occupation of Je-rusalem. I am disappointed with American Middle East policy and feel it necessary to write this brief essay:

George W. Bush quoted former poet laure-ate Robert Frost in his nomination acceptance speech when he said, “We must occupy the land with dignity.” Unfortunately, this reference recalls “manifest destiny.” We know that manifest destiny made victims of a race of peoples who already occu-pied this land with dignity; the native Americans. American schools have only recently begun teach-ing the new revisionist theories of American Fron-tier history. We should have learned from our mis-takes and the world should have taken heed of the mistakes of the American people. An observance of the true realities of the Palestinian – Israeli con-flict provides proof that we have not learned from history and are destined to repeat it over and over again.

The tragedy of the German death camps has been acknowledged. Germany, Switzerland, and even the Catholic Church have recognized the need to compensate the victims of the concentra-tion camps. While it’s too little too late, the world acknowledges the horrors of history. Nevertheless, the longest-lasting victims of World War II are the Palestinians.

The struggle over the Levant has a long and complex history. Not until you put the pieces together, however, can you understand the present conflict. The area of the Middle East so in conflict involves some of the most holy sites for the world’s three major religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. A review of basic world history reminds us that this area has been contentious for thousands of years. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share the same foundations up to the time of the birth of Jesus and the later prophet Mohammed. Jerusa-lem is the center of the Jewish faith and second only to Mecca for the Muslims. Every Christian

recognizes the Middle East as essential to the faith of Christianity because it is the land of Jesus. The land has toggled between powers, some of whom are known throughout time as legendary. The Holy Roman Empire launched the Crusades in an effort to regain these lands in the name of Christi-anity. The Ottoman Empire ruled the lands for hundreds of years in the name of the Arab peoples and Islam. The Jewish faith has an ancient and powerful history in the region from King David to Moses. The land, however, is occupied and always has been occupied by Arabs.

Arabs are Christian, Jewish, secular and Muslim. They are a race of peoples and not a relig-ion. The Jewish faith dispersed itself throughout the world. The Arabs have always lived in this re-gion. Looking at late nineteenth and early twenti-eth century history, the conflict emerges as one of “manifest destiny” for a scorned Jewish people. The Levant was an economic colony for the British in the late nineteenth century. If you recall the movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” Lawrence was a Brit-ish military officer with the duty to arm the no-madic Arabs to fight against the occupying Otto-mans. The British were successful because they promised the Arabs an independent state. As the Pogroms persecuted Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe, the British reneged on their promise to the Arabs and began the process of immigrating Jews to the region. At the time of this British Mandate, the Jewish population in the region was only 2.5%.

After WWII, the international community looked for land to give to the displaced European Jews who had been so persecuted in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The two options were Africa or the Middle East. The ship the “Exodus” stood poised to deliver the new immigrants to their new country and in 1948 Israel was formed in the Levant. The only problem was there were people already living there who had occupied that land for thousands of years - not unlike the native Ameri-cans who occupied the American Frontier. The international community turned its head as bands of new Israeli citizens, young and old, ravaged the

Arabs, seizing lands, homes and anything in their path. They felt they had to act with vengeance to establish their security. Israel trained its soldiers well and in the 1960’s and 1970’s took more land by aggression.

This time the international community took notice and condemned the acts. Ever since the Israelis have been in violation of United Nations Resolutions and the Geneva Civilians Convention. The oppressed Jews had become the oppressors.

Today America aids the Israelis to the tune of 5 billion dollars a year. We press for a peace which preserves the Israeli state, though the International community agrees almost unani-mously that the Israeli’s have no legitimate claim to the land of Israel. America wants peace but the cost to the Arabs is to give up their claims and al-low Israel to continue to occupy the sources of raw materials, the water supply, and to retain the secu-rity of the region under their control. Palestinians have had their land, bank accounts, homes and hearts stolen and destroyed by aggression of the most horrid kind. The time has come for the America to change its policies regarding this region.

Enough aid to this barbaric Israeli govern-ment. America must wake up to its destiny, not as an example of the gleaming light of democracy, but as a country that has learned from its mistakes in its own country and now represents the ideals we have struggled to recognize. We must follow the lead of the international community and return the lands of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights to their legitimate and historical owners. The daily life of a Palestinian is one without a homeland. It is one of checkpoints, searches and violations of human rights. One can only imagine what it must be like to be searched and persecuted, arrested and tortured by a country that illegally occupies the land of your family.

American must recognize the problem of “manifest destiny.” We cannot move our embassy to Jerusalem. It is time for the Palestinians to fi-nally come home. It is time for Palestine!

Nonetheless, it is difficult to find a way to call the article celebratory of a new academic year. Even the most finely honed spin-master talent would be hard-pressed to find an exciting, enter-taining or enthusiastic article amongst the care-fully edited, lovingly footnoted, and heavily format-ted pages. (Although it is a favorite pastime of The Opinion staff to poke fun at all things scholarly journally, we would never question the deep intrin-sic educational value of a publication like the Law Review. We would simply note that it is certainly no fun to read.)

There’s no rest for the weary. Lots of peo-ple work really hard on the WMCL Law Review. If you want to read something someone worked really hard on, look up a volume. Otherwise, if you’re looking for something practical and possibly enter-taining…and you’ve already read The Opinion cover to cover…I have a suggestion:

I recently stumbled across a highly enter-

In celebration of a new academic year, I scanned the Volume 26 of the William Mitchell Law Review, and found nothing particularly cele-bratory in nature or tone. Paul Carrington’s essay “Tocqueville’s Aristocracy in Minnesota” was, how-ever particularly humorous. Clearly, it was in-tended to be some sort of political satire piece, bril-liant in its delivery as straight academic prose. One could hardly believe that Carrington would seriously propose that “A secondary consequence of affirmative action programs in the university law schools was to reduce the number of minority stu-dents at schools lower on the selectivity pecking order”, or that in 1970 “women at last began to enter the [legal] profession … in part reflect[ing] the declining interest of women in motherhood as it was realized that the Republic no longer had a shortage of children,” It is nearly as humorous as Volume 22’s allegorical “celebration” of academic freedom.

taining piece published in the Northwestern Uni-versity Law Review, Summer 1992. In it, I found Professor C. Steven Bradford’s article, entitled “The Gettysburg Address as Written by Law Stu-dents Taking an Exam.” 86 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1094. Bradford, Associate Professor of Law at the Univer-sity of Nebraska School of Law, agonizes over the details of what he considers to be the standard bad “other” exams, and identifies 10 categories of “other”. Says Bradford, “I don't know if a form book is available somewhere, but students from different geographical, social, and racial back-grounds with varying interests and ideologies share common exam answer styles. Year after ago-nizing year, the same dreadful, torturous exam styles appear and reappear. At least ten types of student answers are identifiable in those OTHER exams: (1) the Timeless; (2) the Empty; (3) the Waf-fler; (4) the Grammarian; (5) the Outliner; (6) the

(Continued on page 14)

It is Time for Palestine Patrick W. Ostergren

Jennifer Macaulay

PAGE 12 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

VOTE MARK DAYTON Jennifer Mattson Mark Dayton is my choice to be Minne-sota’s next United States Senator. But, in order to beat the incumbent Rod Grams, Dayton will first need to win the DFL primary. A plethora of candidates have filed for the DFL primary, but only four are seen as legitimate contenders. As the lineup was formed last winter/spring, I watched with the hope that a strong, qualified person would announce. Grams is a con-stant embarrassment to our usually progressive state and his message and presence in Washington must be replaced. I almost gave up hope until I saw that Mark Dayton announced his candidacy in late spring. Although exams were looming, I called him with the hope of helping his campaign. Dayton has shown me, in a variety of ways, that Minnesota and America would be better off through his ser-vice in the Senate. He is, and has always been, a fighter. Dayton has consistently been selfless in his work for other people. His career began as an inner-city teacher, and he has continued to serve

both publicly and privately. As Dayton has often stated, his post-college experience made him fully realize the tremendous inequities in the world. Through no decision of his own, Dayton was born into so much, and through no fault of their own, the children he taught were born into so little. Dayton has worked for DFL stalwarts such as Wal-ter F. Mondale, and helped bring in new and ener-gized blood as reelect co-chair for Senator Paul Wellstone. He was our State Auditor and Commis-sioner of Energy and Economic Development, as well. Enough about Dayton the person and pub-lic servant: let’s get into Dayton on the issues. Dayton has spent the summer talking about his beliefs that social security should be protected, as a safety net for all. Dayton will fight to protect So-cial Security from privatization. He is also taking on the drug companies, to which the federal gov-ernment provides research grant money and pro-tective patents yet they continue to take advantage of our citizens. Dayton is sponsoring bus trips to Canada on the Rx Express to illuminate the fact that prescription drug costs have risen out of con-trol in America. Dayton has also talked about making the federal government fulfill the promise

it made to schools a long time ago. It promised to pay 40% of the costs of special education, but the funding is currently at 12%. If Congress made due, local money could be used to benefit all students with smaller classes. Dayton will fight to take it a giant step further, to get the federal government to pay 90% of special education costs. Dayton wants to alleviate the financial drain comprehensive spe-cial education can cause for local districts.

MOST IMPORTANT TO ME, Dayton is the ONLY candidate, of the four DFLers, to advo-cate immediate health care for all. He believes em-ployers should be mandated to provide health cov-erage to their employees. The unemployed should be served by a quasi-private health plan that the government establishes. Understandably, health care of this scope will be a challenge to implement, but I believe Dayton is up to the task.

If you have any questions about Dayton, or would like to help him win this September or No-vember, please give me a call. 651.682.8952

the economy make global integration inevitable, working people must have a voice in shaping this economy so that living standards rise and not fall.

Likewise Janezich is also focusing on tra-ditional DFL issues like education, health care, and the family farm. On health care, Janezich is wor-ried about the 41 million Americans without health insurance. He has declared that there is a funda-mental right to health insurance. He believes that HMOs should be accountable to their patients. He supports the right to sue managed care plans if they are harmed by their plan’s denial of treat-ment. As a state senator, he has supported legisla-tion to expand the coverage of medicare to younger enrollees to bridge the gap in the federal Medicare program. He vows that when he gets to Wash-ington he will fight for full coverage of prescription drugs by Medicare.

In the Minnesota Senate, he has authored legislation to secure the largest allocation for Head Start in Minnesota’s history. He also sponsored “Fast Break to Learning,” which provided money for kids to start each day with a healthy meal. He

was the chief author in 2000 of a proposal calling for a $20 million public/private partnership to give a new parent time at home and a paycheck for the first 26 weeks of a child’s life. He has earned a 100 percent rating from the Children’s Defense Fund.

In the campaign Jerry has continued to focus on his working class background and his con-cern for working class issues. His radio ad cam-paign has noted, "Did you know that there are 85 millionaires in the Senate today, but not one elec-trician, plumber, waitress or secretary? The United States Senate should not be a millionaires' club. The working men and women of Minnesota need genuine hometown representation, not million-dollar politics."

VOTE JERRY JANEZICH Peter Nikolai State Sen. Jerry Janezich is the only non-millionaire in this year’s race of the U.S. Senate. Janezich as co-owner of Tom and Jerry's Bar in Chisholm is in close touch with the everyday con-cerns of his blue-collar patrons. As Janezich claimed when he announced that he was running for Rod Grams’ Senate seat, "Working families go to a bar, families that have struggled making a liv-ing, making house payments, making car pay-ments, worrying about their kids' education. I hear all of that." Janezich is also the DFL-endorsed candi-date. His strong support of labor in the Minnesota legislature helped ensure Janezich the endorse-ment. He has a 100% voting record for the AFL-CIO. Janezich was at the World Trade Organiza-tions conference in Seattle protesting for labor, en-vironmental, and human rights. It is Janezich’s position that while technology and the growth of

PAGE 13 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

the write- in campaign for the FICUS plant in states all over the country for the congressional seats that are up for election this fall. It’s Moore’s position that the FICUS plant is in a better posi-tion to know and represent the interests of the citi-zens of the U.S. Moore is a self-proclaimed ultra-liberal. Thus, I found myself having to step back a moment and think about his suggestion, since self-declared liberals being of the highest ethical, moral and intellectual order. In doing so, I evaluated why the FICUS plant would be a better choice than the run of the mill, vanilla, white bread politicians that parade before us each election season. At some point in my ponderings I thought, “why the hell not?’’ Therefore, I am endorsing the FICUS plant as a write in candidate for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat. The FICUS plant has all the im-portant attributes of a successful politician, (1) a platform: a really nice plant stand, (2) a vision:

VOTE FICUS Angela Ring As the Minnesota democratic primary quickly approaches, I find before me the unnerving decision of choosing a candidate. Unfortunately, the choices are an old money career politician, a millionaire lawyer, a corporate vice president, and, of course, the all important bar owner. They con-stitute a tiresome lot, to say the least. None of the choices inspire me, except, of course, the bar owner. I have had visions of propositions on the floor of the senate to install beer taps in the walls of congress, senatorial beer parties, and free coasters and pea-nuts for all taxpayers. So, as a dedicated law stu-dent, I did a little research into the possibilities. In so doing, I found a candidate, the awe-inspiring FICUS plant.

Michael Moore, documentarian, social commentator and satirist, has been spear heading

oxygen for everyone, (3) good looks: lush green foli-age, (4) an evasive yet intriguing persona: everyone loves the strong silent type, and, (4) the requisite intellect: just think Rod Grams.

Consider it for a moment. I challenge you to find a politician who truly represents his/her/it’s constituents. Politicians, in general, are self-serving egomaniacs obsessed with achieving notori-ety, fame, and power. This cookie cutter personal-ity type is prevalent in all levels of government. So, when faced with the decision to vote for a candi-date, you might as well vote for a tree. A FICUS is more likely to know what you want, what you ex-pect, and have the intelligence to understand what you’re saying. This is no time for complacency. It is time for a change in scenery. Let’s beautify the senate by sending a tree to Washington. Vote FI-CUS now.

Finally, and unlike all other law review articles, the footnotes in this piece are quite fun to read. (Although I must admit to being rather dis-turbed by the part where he thanked, seemingly without irony, Duncan Kennedy and Robert Bork.) Best, perhaps, is the author’s statement that only three things wake him up screaming in the middle of the night: student exam writing, the Rule Against Perpetuities (oh, first-years, you have such a treat awaiting you in the Rule Against Perpetui-ties!), and the thought his children will grow up to be just like him. Fears we can all get behind, I’m sure.

(Continued from page 12) Repeater; (7) the Scholar; (8) the Avoider; (9) the Crit; and (10) the Footnoter. Each of these styles is different, although some particularly inept stu-dents are capable of writing answers fitting three or more categories.”

Bradford provides examples of each of the identifiable “bad answer” styles. Most law stu-dents will find that they can identify with at least one of these styles. (I was is left wondering if there is a way to satisfy this guy.) In his example, he expects his students to simply recite the opening line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. (I was also left wondering if I could accurately recite the re-quired phrase during an exam…particularly an exam during my first year of law school?)

(Continued from page 7) and how national officers are elected. Also, and most importantly, I found out that there is a lot of money the ABA/LSD has to fund certain activities the SBA puts on; such as community outreach pro-grams. We cannot get these funds unless WMCL is active in the ABA/LSD. I also attended clinics on how the SBA can become more involved in the com-munity and be more open to students.

The ABA/LSD gives out awards for those schools that are actively involved in the organiza-tion and in the community. I am not aware of WMCL ever winning or being recognized by the ABA/LSD to date. Thus, I would like to lead a new charge for WMCL to get more involved in the na-tional arena and in the Twin Cities community. If we are successful we can improve the image of the school and the image of the students who graduate from WMCL. This is only a sample of the many things I learned at the conference. I hope to imple-ment many of the ideas I learned from the confer-ence this year. An exciting change for organizations is coming this year. The Board has begun exploration into increased funding for travel to an organiza-tion's conference. For a long time, the SBA has not

funded travel for student organizations. However, the Board will be exploring new plans to fund or-ganizations so that more travel can be funded by the SBA.

The SBA Board has worked hard this sum-mer to improve the WMCL community for students and will continue this hard work into the school year and will be doing what is best for the student body. I would like to ask all of you to speak with your representative if there is an issue you feel needs to be addressed WMCL is a small commu-nity and every person’s voice matters. So, get in-volved in the process of making WMCL a better place by becoming more involved with the SBA.

Lastly, the SBA Board will be working hard to restore respect for the organization and to continue gaining respect for WMCL in the legal community. The Board looks forward to the new challenges this year and to working with all of you.

This year’s current Board of Governors is as follows (1-L reps will be added in the early fall):

Justin Weinberg: Chair and 3-L day

rep Kim Kantorowitz: Vice-Chair and 4-L

rep

Annita Smythe: Treasurer and 3-L evening rep

Suzi Kusnierek: Secretary and 2-L day rrep

Jennifer Macaulay: At-Large rep Nicole Anderson: At-Large rep David Palm: 4-L rep Lisa Haster: 3-L day rep James McGeeny: 3-L evening rep Andre Lamere: 2-L day rep Patrick Ostergren: 2-L evening rep Scott Forbes: 2-L evening rep Jamie Habeck: ABA/LSD rep and

ABA/LSD WMCL President

SBA Update, cont’d.

PAGE 14 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

I found Bradford’s grading expose to be nearly as entertaining as it was nervewracking. It certainly is not written for an audience faint of heart, and certainly not for those without a rather stealth sense of self-depreciating humor. He warns: “WARNING: THOSE WITH A WEAK STOMACH SHOULD READ NO FURTHER. READING THESE ANSWERS COULD BE HAZ-ARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.” Bradford’s archetypes creep into all our exams. I have certainly indulged in the eternal restatement of the question when I didn’t under-stand a thing. I have also obsessively, compul-sively, dumped everything I have ever learned on the page in the hopes that the professor will think that counts for something.

Mitchell Scores High Again In U.S. News Rankings

Well, we here at the Opinion are always very comfy with blowing our own horn, but it is even nicer when we get a chance to brag endlessly about our school. Returning students, especially those who have had a chance to take Lawyering, or do a clinic, or get mercilessly cross-examined by someone like John Sonsteng, are certainly aware that Mitchell houses one of the best progressive (read: not boring lectures, but real, hands-on experience) law school educations in the country. Now, the rest of the world will be lucky enough to be inundated with our smugness.

U.S. News and World Report publishes an annual guide to graduate schools, and its rankings are taken quite seriously. Now, of course the top top schools, the one where you go if your dad is president, or you used to be a movie star, are the same every year. No one will ever see Yale or Stanford or Harvard drop out of the top rankings. However, U.S. News also ranks schools in specialty divisions, and this is where Mitchell shines. The rankings are generated by legal educa-tors who teach in the specialty areas, which means that the rankings actually mean something. This year’s Best Graduate School guide

ranked Mitchell as 11th in trial advocacy and 20th in clinical training among 174 U.S. law schools. What does this mean for you? It means that when you attend Mitchell, you’re getting a much better chance to learn what it is like to be in the courtroom, to deal with clients, and to get real, practical experience during your time at school. It means you leave school prepared to deal with the real world rather than write a treatise. Make sure you take advantage of Mitchell’s strengths in these crucial arenas.

Mitchell in the Summer Months

PAGE 15 VO LUME 46, ISSUE 1

While looking for news, we were thwarted at every turn by “DO NOT ENTER” signs that littered Mitchell. Being intrepid reporters, we were certain that something very big was being covered up by our fair school. What, exactly, was the mys-tery? Was Mitchell engaging in cov-ert ops for the summer? What were they trying to hide?

Carpet being cleaned??????? Why is the second floor off limits??

This bluey hid in the back row, most likely because he hadn’t read the case...

Everything became clear when we discovered that Mitchell was inhab-ited by small, cute, blue things with exam numbers PERMANENTLY af-fixed to them...

Bluebooks in the bathroom! Is it necessary for students to handle these bluebooks with green surgical gloves?

Were the free cleaning supplies a clue? Do all maintenance closets have boomboxes?

Just like 1-L’s blueys hang out in the hallway an inordinate amount, discussing grades.

Blueys are even adjunct professors! (We located this bluey in the adjunct faculty lounge)

Our attempts at further sleuthing were stopped by our remembrance of those ultra-scary and not-at-all inconspicuous Big Brother cameras that litter the hallway. Discovered, we decided to close up shop for the day. But, we are relatively certain this won’t be the last we see of the blueys. Now, if we could have just gotten a picture of the strange machine that gurgled...

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