So… last week classes started back up. I’m pretty excited. The Trademark prof is colorful… which will go a long way toward making class tolerable. Evidence is easy. By that I do not mean that Evidence is uncomplicated or simple… I just mean that it is coming to me more easily than previous classes have. I’m happy for that.
Law & Psych is a great seminar so far — I think it’ll be interesting — and that this might be the last time it’s offered makes it even better.
I haven’t had Trial Ad yet. The syllabus is daunting. Direct Examinations and Closing Statements on the second day of class? Suits to every class meeting? Should be an interesting semester.
Moot Court is going to get rolling in a few weeks, so are a lot of other organizations. I’ve started at two jobs… Kaplan (which is going really well. I’m enjoying it a great deal) and The Job Which Shan’t Yet Be Named. That’s coming soon, I promise.
So… I guess what I’m trying to tell you is… I’m one busy guy. 2nd year is supposed to be that way though.
There are two law school related things that I want to write about, though, so I guess I ought to do that now.
First… the new PGAs1, during their training, were instructed not to tell their group members that one of the local bars was offering no cover for law students and good drink specials. This, I think, is a display of brash ignorance and wishful-thinking rolled up into one big giant ball. If I could tell the Dean of Students office anything, it would be this: back off. Yes, I know, they were appalled that the class of ‘08 had a lot of drinking related arrests. It’s worth noting, however, that 2/3 of them came after they sat us down and gave us a talking-to. This is not because we were rebelling. It is because we are adults and we make our own choices and decisions. The 1Ls, too, are adults… and they’re going to go out and drink if they feel like it. The only thing that instruction to the PGAs is going to do is lead to mistrust “What else are they being told to keep from us?”
The Dean’s office is grasping at straws. If you’re serious about it, kick people out who get DUIs. Put people on academic probation (or whatever) who get PIs. They want us all to magically transform into paragons of temperance and I’ve got some news: it ain’t gonna happen.
The second thing… drama. Welcome back. I don’t mind the drama. Why? Because I don’t feel the need to get involved. And when I do, I don’t sit around and act appalled to be “pulled into it.” Let’s look at a concrete example of a different way of handling it… I’m going to call it the Hass Method… for obvious reasons. My philosophy is that if there is drama going on (and there always is, no matter where you go) and you don’t want to be a part of it… just don’t. Don’t blog about it. Don’t talk about it. Don’t perpetuate it, mention it, or give it any air-time whatsoever. If someone is serious about not wanting to have anything to do with the drama… just let it go. If someone wants you to get involved… to blog about it, to have an opinion, to take a side… just don’t. Tell them you don’t do drama. Don’t try to give advice, don’t try to solve the problem, Just Say No.
The key thing here… is that drama does not create itself. People create it. They are not interested in solutions, they are interested in drama. They want people to talk about it. They want mentions on blogs, they want gossip, they want attention. If you write a post and mention, even in the most oblique way possible, their particular drama… that is positive reinforcement of negative behavior.
If you say “Oh! Woe is me! People are gossiping about Joe & Sally’s break-up! I hate the drama!” You have just vindicated the gossipers and perpetuated it. Now they will say “Did you see so-and-so’s post! He was talking about us!!!”
The Hass Method, as far as I can tell, is used by two types of people: those who want to convey the image that they don’t do drama while simultaneously getting involved in it and those who genuinely hate drama, but like to blog, and don’t realize what they’re doing.
It does not help. It doesn’t reduce drama. It only perpetuates it. For those of you using the Hass Method (and there are way, way more than just the namesake) — If you don’t like drama, quit blogging about it. If you can’t stop blogging about it… maybe you like the drama more than you’d like to admit to yourself… and that’s something you’ll need to clear up.
And, at the end of the day, I’d rather use drama as a stress outlet than, say, illicit drugs, lots of promiscuous sex, or drinking until I puke on myself. But that’s just me. I don’t mind the drama at all.
(PS: This is not some attack on Doug. He just has a different and, to my reasoning, inferior method of combating drama)
I’ve got lots more to say about PGAs, but it’ll wait for another day.
August 27th, 2006 at 12:52 am
Hey, Pete, I get to do the mock trial this year. :o]
… That was just random information I thought you should know about.
LOVE YOU.
August 27th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Neener neener, my trial ad doesn’t have to wear suits to class. Prof. Tanford said he thought about it, but he doesn’t want to have to wear a suit to class either.
As for Law and Psych, I agree, it’s gonna be awesome. Except for those damn quizzes every week, those I’m sure will be a pain in the ass. Luckily, they shouldn’t be hard, just irritating.
~K
August 28th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Do y’all have some sort of code of conduct you sign or something? Just wondering why the law school would give two shits about drinking arrests, as long as you get to class on time =)
August 28th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
Because those arrests prevent people from speedy admission to the Bar of their choice… which is bad for us. Once you hit law school, arrests and such are taken much more seriously. Basically they [a Bar's Character & Fitness committee] say “Look, you’re in law school now, you really ought to respect the law.” If you look at it cynically, I’m sure this is bad for one of the law school’s stats.
Unfortunately, they’re between a rock and a hard place because they can’t really kick too many people out… that would, I’d guess, severely damage their graduation rate.