tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76790192692206557732024-02-20T04:53:38.832-08:00PrivilegeLaw: Know Your BirthrightThis blog is developed to maintaining control of legal education by the privileged. By comparing the dangers of initiatives like Moneylaw and Classbias, the superiority of a PrivilegeLaw approach will be evident.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-9269908490795644902008-09-10T12:02:00.000-07:002008-09-10T12:11:42.313-07:00Off the WagonSorry about the gap. I will admit I fell off the wagon. I had good intentions. My "buddy," Brent, and I were really helping each other out on our efforts to remain recovering elitists. The one night we were talking and, he said, "Chadsworth, do you remember how good a massage feels?" Well, it's not that a massage is an elitist thing but just one sip of the old life and we were off and running. The next thing I know I am mail ordering from the best New York delis, having some suits hand made and thinking about renewing my subscription to the New Yorker. And then the bottom fell out in the form of Sarah Palin. Egads, how could this not bring out the worse in all of us elitists. No Ivy League background, no summers on the Vineyard, no shopping in San Francisco, wears heavy make up. I'll bet she or at least some of her children have crooked teeth. And that boyfriend. Levi or whatever! It real set off an elitist binge not just with Brent and myself buy by many of us.<br /><br />So of the last two weeks I have been in E.A. lockdown. Cold turkey. Forced to read USA Today and watch Ellen. Lots of starches at dinner. It's hard but I know this is right for me now.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-9481183424848119182008-08-03T16:16:00.000-07:002008-08-03T16:27:39.299-07:00My First E.A, MeetingAs I was saying, I went the first meeting. A tall man who looked a bit like the real John Nash but was not introduced himself. "Hi, I am Raymond Everworth and I am an elitist. I have been practicing non elitism for 4 years, two months and 17 days if you do not count the one day I slipped and dropped the name "Duke" while visiting my family doctor. Tonight I am your leader."<br /><br />I was very surprised at what I heard that night. First, did you know that elitism is actually a disease? Also, once you are an elitist you are for the rest of your life. It is a day by day process. Also, and actually I knew this, elitism although perhaps not genetically determined does run in families. In fact, the probability of non elite parents having elitist children is only about 5%. Elitist parents on the other hand have a 90% chance of having elitist children. As I said, there is no screening for this. In a few states DWE (driving while elitist, something I have done, well, every time I have driven) is illegal. <br /><br />More on my first meeting later but I ended up staying 30 days and now and into my 61st day of non elitism if you do not count the day I told my law school dean that I could not possibly teach in the fall because of a possible migraine.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-1014738732994931502008-07-31T15:03:00.000-07:002008-08-03T16:16:39.773-07:00My Name is Chadsworth, I Am an ElitistAs I noted below, an intervention was staged by Marvelle and Dean Bumble. I was at the tennis club just getting a rub down when they appeared and said, "Put on your clothes and bring whatever medications you need." I had no idea what was up. I have had ups and downs with Marvelle and Dean Bumble but I thought they meant we were just going for drinks.<br /><br />Wow was I wrong! After about an hour drive we arrived at GreyStern: Visas for Better Vistas. They referred it as a "treatment facility." Another name might be a deprograming center or even a prison.<br /><br />My clothes were taken -- all cotton, wool and silk -- and replaced by tagless overalls and a polyester t-shirt. I resisted but you may recall that Marvelle is in possession of certain photographs that could be a problem. So I went along.<br /><br />By 6 PM I was fully checked in and went to dinner with the other "guests." Dinner was cafeteria style and afterward you scrubbed your own plate. The came the first meeting.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-59143586722766850732008-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:002008-07-29T20:39:43.344-07:00Back and a Better PersonIf you have followed any of this you know I am a privileged law professor living and teaching in Iveyville. Over the last year or so I have made a case for privileged people like myself to take back their birthright. We went to Harvard and Yale because we are smarter, better bred and most of the time more attractive than, well, virtually anyone else.<br /><br />I have had some problems. I was saddled with showing Senator Faceworth around campus. He turned out to be a terrible womanizer with an insatiable demand for young Jennefirs. The results were disasterous when his Monkey Business was revealed.<br /><br />My wife of my best friend accused me of making improper advances against her even though I thought it was the other way around. <br /><br />As revenge, Marvelle (that was her name and I am not kidding) took some embarrassing photos of me -- maybe shopping at Old Navy or something like that -- and blackmailed me. I was required to shop at WalMart on a Friday night and attend a Hank Williams Jr. concert. I suppose my reaction to these horrors was insufficient and Marvelle and the Dean at my Law School, Dean Bumble staged an intervention and for the past two months I have been in an elitist deprograming center.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-25820752597312880802008-04-13T18:26:00.000-07:002008-04-14T17:07:48.153-07:00Getting Back from Hank<a href="http://www.bucklesofestes.com/images/music_and_movie_stars/Music%20Instruments/C150E-Country-Music-Rect.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://www.bucklesofestes.com/images/music_and_movie_stars/Music%20Instruments/C150E-Country-Music-Rect.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />It's been awhile but I can explain. My Hank Williams "concert" is now over a week ago. Another of Marvelle and Dean Bumble's efforts to humiliate me over a silly disagreement which you will only understand by going back over a year of these posts. Let's just say they will NOT break me.<br /><br />As instructed I arrived at the concert in my most dapper yet conservative tweeds. Needless to say I was over dressed. The general wear of those attending was jeans and checked shirt with sleeves sissored off. Quite fetching. Just kidding because all the males there, at least those over 25, were sporting large guts. I think they must be using implants. Some enterprising plastic surgeon slides some enormous saline or silicon breasts in the stomach. And the jeans are made to button or fasten just under the gut. Something like a gut bra. Lots of cowboy hats and boots. There was a pervasive odor of bacon. It was thick like the smoke in a European bar. My clothes, even my hair, were of no use to me unless I too wanted to smell like bacon. And it was not just ordinary bacon. I am pretty confident it was breaded and deep fried bacon. Had to be! My tardiness in getting back to you is a result of undergoing a medical procedure to degrease by hair and skin.<br /><br />Hair -- you do not want to know. How can there be enough bad hair stylists to account for so many bad hair styles. Mixed with the bacon was the smell of hair spray. I am talking fat hair too.<br />I retched within 15 minutes but it was fine because all of the bathroom stalls were occupied by fellow retchers. Their retching choice was beer. I was dizzy from the bacon/hair spray cocktail.<br /><br />Butts. Did I mention the butts. I think it must be an attractive feature to Hank's fans because very clearly when someone was possessed of a large butt, the goal was to display it in the tightest possible jeans. I am talking about the women here. The men tended to not to have butts at all. In fact, I suspect there was a great deal of butt implants in the building.<br /><br />Fights. Lots of fights.<br /><br />And right in the middle of it-- Dean Bumble and Mrs. Dean Bumble suitably attired for the evening and squealing along with every song.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-48173629071180466442008-03-23T13:25:00.000-07:002008-03-24T04:41:28.535-07:00Back From RehabSorry I missed you. After the WalMart experience I became lost. I could not seem to remember things. I was unable to repond to the many invitations to give lectures or to the many job offers from other schools that I know must have come in.<br /><div></div><div> </div><div><br />It's the Marvelle thing. She sent me to Walmart with orders to spend $200 on items that cost no more than $2.00 each AND this had to be on Friday night after 9:00PM. I have never seen such a display of flesh and ill advised hair styles. </div><br /><div></div>That explains my 6 week funk. But I felt better today. I had a nice massage and then tennis with Hugo Valencia and that devilish Marvelle. It was after tennis that things became less pleasant. A note from Marvelle:<br /><div></div><div>"Attend the Hank Williams Jr, concert tomorrow night. Wear your finest suit, tie and tasseled loafers. Do this or the photo will go to Caroline and the entire law school faculty." </div><br /><div></div><div>I do not know Mr. Williams. Never heard of him. The concert is Saturday next.</div><br /><div></div><div>Dean Bumble is behind this and that is so unfair. After all I am an Ivy League man and deserving of respect. Plus, I took care of Senator Faceworth and his unquenchable thirst for Jennifers. </div>Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-40964243138923557292008-02-15T09:31:00.000-08:002008-02-15T09:37:16.249-08:00The Pervasive OdorIt has been almost a week and the popcorn/hot dog disinfectant oder stays with me. WalMart should bottle it. Only at Walgreens have I noticed such a pervasive, penetrating, and gag inducing odor.<br /><br />Marvelle knew what she was up to. Is this my plight?! I have always done the right thing. I planned the Summer in Italy program that does not require students to go to the trouble of being in Italy. I escorted Sentator Faceworth and did not say a word about his needs for a steady supply of duel Jennifers. I apoligized to Marvelle although it was her, completely understandable, obsession with me that led to this unhappy situation.<br /><br />I worry about her next order.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-55060619689737712982008-02-11T06:16:00.000-08:002008-02-11T13:02:50.229-08:00IN REHABThat is where I need to be. I followed Marvelle's instructions and spend $200 at Walmart on a Friday night. I came home and showered for an hour. What an experience.<br /><br />The stench when I walked in -- popcorn and hotdogs. The people. My God, It was like a fat convention. What is it about the American lower classes? It must be from eating way too much corn bread or whatever it is that those people eat.<br /><br />The clothes. I did not know jeans came in double wide butt sizes. Really!! for an Ivy Leager like me it was a shock to the senses. These people have no sense of style. The hair! Tight perms on the older ladies and slut-styles on the younger ones. Mullets galore -- even on some women.<br /><br />The children. Can every kid under 10 have a runny nose? Where is my Purell? I need several gallons. Actually, I quicky went to the garden section and acquired some gloves before handling any of the products.<br /><br />The skin ! The dental work? Not that I saw a sign of any.<br /><br />I mean I give money to all kinds of "liberal" causes but that is just to make sure I actually do not have to mix with these kinds of people.<br /><br />Marvelle, I did nothing to you. Why are you doing this to me?<br /><br />I had to cancel class this week to deal with a possible migraine.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-68313785758519768572008-02-06T11:37:00.000-08:002008-02-06T11:48:35.546-08:00Ghost Articles and a Message From MarvelleDean Bumble, who I thought was my friend, would be, if he were part of a test, the answer "none of the above." He wants a list of my recent publications. I listed my most recent ghost article which was coauthored by Hugo Valencia, supreme president of University Foreign Programs, (the ideas were mainly mine) and Bumble says it is not an article. "If it cannot be downloaded and then the downloads added up, it's useless." I may file a grievance but hopefully he will come to his senses.<br /><br />Marvelle's first note came today and I quote:<br /><br />On Friday night of the 15th you are to go to WalMart. There you are to purchase $200 worth of items. You may choose any items but no one item must have a price in excess o f $2.00. You may not select duplicate items. If you fail to do this, the photos will be sent to Caroline an posted on the web. Chadsworth, you are an insufferable a**hole. You take the items the following morning to the GoodWill store and leave them there.<br /><br />Love MPrivilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-19389658756916584152008-02-02T14:14:00.000-08:002008-02-02T14:45:27.635-08:00Mezzo Notte e due<a href="http://www.dogsindepth.com/toy_dog_breeds/images/pomeranian_h01.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.dogsindepth.com/toy_dog_breeds/images/pomeranian_h01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, two days since my redevous with Marvelle at the bell tower. Do I know where I have been since then? No. Do I want to go back? Maybe.<br /><br />I told Caroline I had to back to my office to get something around 11:30 on Thursday. At midnight I drove to the bell tower dodging the College police who would delight in interrogating an Ivy League man such as me.<br /><br />Marvelle was in the shadows. It has been a year since the unfortunate Valentine's day when she presented me with an actual heart as a rebuff to what she thought were my inappropriate advances but which were my effort to be kind in discouraging her from from obsessing about me which, upon reflection, I realize she was not doing at all. It's a long story and I am not in shape to retell it here but it is all on this blog.<br /><br />When I could see her face I could see that she was with Dean Bumble. Her first words, "Chadsworth, you are a pig. First you attack me then you are pimp to Senator Faceworth. You run a bogus foreign studies program. Finally, you will do something useful."<br /><br />Well, being an Ivy League graduate, I had never heard this type of thing. I started to play the "that is inappropiate" card but somehow it just did not seem . . . . . well, appropiate.<br /><br />It was about then that I saw that Dean Bumble had a taser pointed right at my most sensitive region. It was only a split second later there was a shocking and burning feeling is the same region. I know I folded over and I faintly recall being dragged to a car and then a pinching sensation in my arm<br /><br />I am writing this from home now. I woke up here. I recall what I have described and then I recall great pleasure but it is vague. When I first opened my eyes, Caroline was there. Here only words, "Do not talk. I do not want to know." I realized that the raw feeling on the top of my right hand was a newly applied tattoo -- a pomeranian in three colors.<br /><br />My shirt was hung over the chair near my bed and, in it, a folded note: "Chadsworth, we have photos, many photos that you may not want to be revealed. In the next few months, we will provide instructions. Follow them and the photos are yours. Do not and there will be consequences." M and Dean B.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-22562923882877957752008-01-20T21:12:00.000-08:002008-01-23T17:21:02.425-08:00Ghost ArticlesGhost article represents the combination of two ideas presented to me by similarly privileged and, therefore, productive (although not Marvelle-proof) colleagues.<br /><br />Idea 1. It's that time of year when the dean creates a glossy brochure listing everyone's publications. You realize that a few months ago you were in a discussion with someone and an audience was there. It was taped and you had your secretary type it up. Presto! an article for your resume.<br /><br />Idea 2. You read a draft of a colleague's article, made some suggestions and so on. You are a ghost coauthor and rightfully could claim this on your resume.So, the other day Hugo, Supreme President of Foreign, Internationl and Interstellar Programs, and I were having some drinks and playing a bit of tennis and I realized we are have a perfectly marvelous discussion about the best spots in Europe to have summer programs. It was in depth. <br /><br />All we needed was someone to write it down.Think about it. Does the fact that no one was there to write it down really change the substance of our scholarship? In effect, we had coauthored a ghostarticle, worthy of listing on our overflowing resumes and to be including in the annual decanal glossy.Thus. the birth of the new journal Ghostarticles.Volume 1 contains the first article by Hugo and myself since the journal's birth. And what a journal. No pesky reading, no cumbersome downloads, no snotty law review editors. No, right from your mouth to your resume!!!<br /><br />C. Osborne and H. Valencia, "International Legal Education," 1 Ghostarticle 1 (2008).Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-51112988934325950482008-01-20T20:57:00.000-08:002008-01-20T21:18:18.029-08:00Mezzo Notte and Marvelle<a href="http://www.danielscottpoynter.com/projects/images/tower/belltower_large.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.danielscottpoynter.com/projects/images/tower/belltower_large.jpg" border="0" /></a>Hugo, Supreme President of Foreign Programs, at my University is married to a lovely if somewhat skittish lady, Marvelle. They own Pomeranians.<br /><br />If you have read along you know that at one time Marvelle -- how can I say this -- found me quite irresistible. And for good reason. I am, after all, an Ivy League man. What that means is that women with good taste have their heads turned. Marvelle is over endowed with good taste and about a year ago it was clear to me that I had to let her know that I am spoken for by my cherished Caroline.<br /><br />So, we had lunch and I told her that I understood the effect I had on her and that she must get over me. She handled it quite well and pretended not to know what I was talking about. In fact, she left from the restaurant somewhat hurriedly. Some misunderstandings ensued including and awkward Valentine's exchange. This was about the time Dean Bumble was having me serve as host to the ill-fated Senator (no Monkey Business) Faceworth. But enough of that that. It can all be reviewed by linking to the posts of February and March of last year.<br /><div></div><br /><div>I write now only to report that I have received, in what is most certainly Marvelle's distinctive handwriting, a note: 30 January, mezzo notte, the bell tower.<br /><br /></div>Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-70550692537016665812007-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:002007-12-15T09:48:49.534-08:00Oh, Pleeeeeze<a href="http://www.1-costaricalink.com/costa_rica_images/tabacon_hot_springs.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.1-costaricalink.com/costa_rica_images/tabacon_hot_springs.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>If there is one thing that could not be clearer it is that people like us should not be burdened with writing exams or grading them. It is like asking a brain surgeon to repair a hang nail. It is for that reason that I use machine graded multiple choice exams. I try hard to keep the questions secret so they can be used each year but, if they leak out, it is not my problem.</div><br /><div></div><div>I am way to busy doing research, planning summer programs and trips, playing tennis and getting massages to be concerned about some ill-prepared annoying students droning on about an issue he barely understands. I used to give essay questions. OK, more accurately, I almost gave them once which is effectively the same thing. Then I thought, "What will I learn from reading these?" Answer: Nothing. Then "How will this benefit me at all?" Answer: Not at all. </div><br /><div></div><div>I have tried to talk some sense to professor of my ilk -- well-bred, well-trained -- but some still resist. Oh sure, sometimes there are complaints about my exams being recycled and machine graded but it is generally from students who are stubborn about not realizing what a gift it is to have me as a professor at all.</div><br /><div></div><div>Dean Bumble has said nothing about it and for good reason. His philosophy of deaning seems to be based on multiple choice with the answer usually being "none of the above."</div>Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-40791238765994491742007-12-01T09:06:00.000-08:002007-12-01T09:22:06.704-08:00I Love the StudentsNo, I do not mean intimately. Well, there was one but that was before I married Caroline and it was when dating students was actually part of good teaching. In any case, those of us with proper breeding know how to handle such matters with discretion.<br /><br />Now I did have the one student who claimed that she only got an A because of our intimacy and petitioned for the grade change to a B when our "intimacy" ended. The grading committee met and agreed that she had earned and A. I thought she probably did. I had not actually graded her exam but I know her father had attended Yale. So grading the test was waste of time.<br /><br />But enough of that. Now several students from last summer's Italy program have complained about their grades. Can you imagine! Hugo and I arrange an international program that requires us to do all the international travel while mailing postcards to the students who can stay home and enjoy their studies while camped out on the beach or in their own snug rooms, and this is the thanks we get. It seems that several of them compared their answers on the multiple choice exam and found that they received different final grades even though they had the same answers. So what? It's not like anyone actually got below a B. Some got A's and some got B's and we played no favorites. I have told them that I do not regrade exams. And, it is true that this time I did not actually read them but I did assign grades based on my best professional judgment. I gave A's to those who had attended Ivy League schools as undergraduates and B's to those who did not. They act like academic freedom is a foreign concept.<br /><br />I feel I migraine coming on.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-833346701332122912007-11-28T01:03:00.000-08:002007-11-28T01:30:27.554-08:00All Hail Dean BumbleI have in the past been less than complimentary of Dean Bumble. The incidents decribed previously with respect to <a href="http://http://privilegelaw.blogspot.com/2007/02/every-word-is-true.html">Senator Faceworth</a> and the various problems pertaining to the Summer in Italy program left me wondering about Dean B. Now he has come through. This year he has hired new faculty exclusively from the elite universities in America. Finally, a group of new faculty who can relate to the common plight of those us who must mingle with the common people. Those people have no idea what it is like to hire a good household staff these days. They cannot relate to the stress of trying to make sure your summer place on the Vineyard is poperly maintained.<br /><br />Thankfully, the only candidates interviewed this year were well bred people of standing. It is such a danger to allow faculty so see a candidatle without proper credentials. That happened a couple of years ago and the people hired. . . wel l, they had no sense of entitlement at all.<br /><br />I must concede that there is one tiny dark cloud. Dean B did indicate very gently that he would like to see me back in the classroom. For those of you who have been following this exercise, I have not actually been in front of a class for a year and have two more years of no classroom activity to come. Last year, between migraine headaches that I could have had and my obligations with <a href="http://http://privilegelaw.blogspot.com/2007/02/every-word-is-true.html">Senator Faceworth</a> and his nightly travels with the Jennifers, I just could not teach. And then there was preparation of the Summer in Europe program. During that time I felt that it was important for me to take further time off from teaching to "come down" from the stress.<br /><br />Oh, one more teeny tiny dark speck. I got this letter yestesday of myself and Senator Faceworth and a couple Jennifers. The suggestion was of some kind of impropriety. A note said "you will hear from me."Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-21805457654567349092007-11-18T08:35:00.000-08:002007-11-18T08:48:42.786-08:00Lucky JimI have just read the most disgusting little book: Lucky Jim by Kingley Amis. It's supposed to be the view of a non elite of the rest of us. As you would expect, the little twerp fails in the end. Where to these authors like David Lodge and Kingsley Amis get off making fun of those of us who put the "education" into higher education.<br /><br />At least I have the satistaction faction of living the life that others can only hope for. It's off to Italy this summer. So far 12 students have signed up for our virtual law school in Italy summer program. I am not actually teaching this semester to next because of last year when I was sick but did not take time off.<br /><br />In the meantime, there is floating around some internet garbage suggesting that faculty from elite schools are <a href="http://http://money-law.blogspot.com/2007/09/for-what-its-worth-nothing-to-do-with.html">no more productive that those from non elite schools</a>. Do yourself a favor and ignore it.<br /><br />And finally, there is the story that some of my most esteemed elite colleagues are crooked because they will say anything to make money as <a href="http://http://money-law.blogspot.com/2007/11/dollars.html">consultants or expert witnesses</a>. Again, ignore it.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-48418420976188894572007-10-30T16:43:00.000-07:002007-10-30T16:48:53.273-07:00Reason for HopeWhat good news! My law school hiring committee has finally seen the light and the first candidate invited to campus is one of the finest possible -- a Princeton/Harvard grad. Someone for me to talk to. Someone who will understand what it like to be deserving and not having it recognized.<br /><br />I see that Harrison over at Classbias has starting his usual rant. He is offended that people list "to be written" items as "major publications." He does not understand that even things yet to be written; indeed, yet to even be thought of are major publications when the product of an elite mind and education.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-40600239532665292662007-10-05T09:09:00.000-07:002007-10-09T13:54:24.644-07:00Summer Study in ItalyYes it is back. Six weeks of law study in Italy. Three in Roma and three in Florence. Please register early. Principal lecturers will be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Chadsworth</span> Osborne and Hugo Valencia. Your professors will be on site for 6 weeks delivering lectures for you. Tours to the cultural sites in Italy are including. One night at the opera as well.<br /><br />Due to some misunderstandings from last year's program, we are required by the University and the FTC to tell you that, as a student, you will not actually go to Rome. Instead, there will be videos available to you and, should there be technical problems, the professor will send an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">occasional</span> postcard.<br /><br />This summer program is designed to keep costs low and to inconvenience the students as little as possible. Thus, while Professors Osborne and Valencia will be on site working hard to create an interesting, rigorous and rewarding educational experience, you never have to leave the comfort of you sofa. Cost is $3000 per student, all inclusive except for meals and airfare.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-14590779575950221092007-10-03T09:43:00.000-07:002007-10-03T09:51:54.879-07:00Can I Work Under These Conditions?I have had to double cancel class. Once when I was assigned extra duties by Dean Bumble. The other time when I could not have taught those classes anyway because I was not feeling well. So I carried over the second cancel to this semester. I feel fine now but having been <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">entitled</span> to two missed classes I am giving myself what I deserve and not teaching this semester either.<br /><br />Still, I do use my office for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">research</span> on possible locations for summer teaching programs -- last year was Italy and I'd like to do Italy for six weeks and them maybe Norway for 6 week. Norwegian law is something are students really need to know more about.<br /><br />Here is my complaint. The carpet in my office is showing some signs of wear. The paint is not quite conducive to the high powered research people like me do. The chairs, the desk, bookcases, drapes -- well, they all need to be changed. In fact, I would prefer wood floors.<br /><br />I put in a request to Dean Bumble and got back a terse little note saying that funds were not available. Yet, and get this!!! I understand the secretarial staff got 2% pay increases this year and now I am told I cannot remodel my office. Talk about mixed up priorities.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-50856732449598903662007-08-24T21:39:00.001-07:002007-08-24T21:39:46.072-07:00Really PissedYes, Now I am really pissed. I returned to school this year from my hard work teaching in Italy and what do I hear -- budget squeeze. Now it is true that I actually to not have class this semester. I had to cancel this semester to make up for when I could have canceled last semester because of what might have been a migrane -- or at least the beginning of one. I was unable to cancel then because I was already not teaching due to the stress of planning the Summer In Italy Program.<br /><br />And now no breakfast in the faculty lounge, no retreat to St. Barts, no new laptop this year. Really, there must be some kind of OSHA claim I can make. This has got to be worse that a whiff or two of cotton dust.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-39513054115822209332007-07-27T10:35:00.000-07:002007-07-27T10:43:47.390-07:00Return From RomaIf you have kept up you know the hard work I had to endure to make the summer study in Rome a success. It was all worthwhile. Our five students were able to enjoy their "stay" in Rome albeit by teleconference and postcard. They learned a great deal about life in Rome and Florence and earned 9 credit hours toward their law degrees. Hugo, Marvelle, Caroline and I put our difference behind us and are now back in the USA.<br /><br />Dean Bumble and the three professors who canvassed the students in order to find out if I had been involved in any inappropriate conduct with students have asked to mediate our disagreement. That will take place next month.<br /><br />The only sour note came when I needed someone of my lighter weight suits and shoes for wear in Florence. I had my secretary send the items overnight and for some reason Dean Bumble felt this was an inappropriate school expenditure. Can you imagine?? What could be more important than being properly attired when teaching in a foreign country?<br /><br />Evidently, my law school in experiencing a budget crunch. Luckily, nothing I do is anything thing but essential to the law school so I expect no problems.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-11864407688899083922007-06-12T09:54:00.001-07:002007-06-12T10:07:44.988-07:00Buon GiorgoIt has been a hectic month and there is much to report. First, I have been forced to file a legal action against Dean Bumble and the professors who authored the survey of students inquiring about any inappropriate actions by me. What an insult. If anything, people with my breeding know how to be discrete. Plus, frankly, except for that misguided episode with Shannon, I have been true to Caroline. I mean my efforts to discourage Marvel speak for themselves.<br /><br />Here is the great news. I am writing from Rome. Yes, the summer program is in tact and Hugo, Marvel, Caroline and I are here working hard for the students. It is true we are down to 5 students and it is true that those five did not actually make the trip to Italy but we are working hard.<br /><br />As you know, some of the students were upset that the Summer in Italy program did not actually mean they were going to Italy -- only the professors. Some parents were quite rude and the intial enrollment dwindled to 5. Good riddance I say. Those students obviously were not cut out for foreign travel. The Law School decided we had to operate the program anyway because the American Association of Law Schools had already purchased 30 tickets for a team to come and inspect the program.<br /><br />We are doing our best for the five students. Each week we send a postcard with some interesting fact about Italian law. In the interest of giving the students what they want, we have decided not to administer a final exam.<br /><br />As for me, being a dedicated teacher of young people is its own reward.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-67869040732257435792007-04-15T06:50:00.000-07:002007-04-15T07:17:40.765-07:00Early Sabbatical<a href="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-081.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2002-03/02-081.jpg" border="0" /></a> I have applied to Dean Bumble for a special circumstances sabbatical. Why? Primarily because I am who I am. I know it seems redundant since I have canceled class for the next two years due to all the stress I will be under and the possibility of getting a head cold. But, if I can get the sabbatical, I can put those cancellations off. Thus three years of no teaching.<br /><div></div><br /><div>The reasons are far greater than the fact that I am, well, special. Let's review what I has happened in the last few months.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>First Senator Gerard "Manchild" Faceworth comes to town to teach for three weeks. I am his assigned host which means I actually ferry him to and from a local bar where he befriends young Jennifers and goes back to his room. We are followed by reporters who splash his photo and that of your's truly all over the world. I am referred to by some as his "pimp."</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Second, my friend Hugo, Supreme President of Foreign Programs, and I design the most perfect, student friendly, summer program in Italy only to have ungrateful parents complain to the FTC that we have engaged in false advertising. Why? Because we cared enough not to require the students to actually go to Italy. Only the professors and several guest lecturing colleagues would go.</div><a href="http://www.createvillas.co.uk/images/italy/italy_map.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://www.createvillas.co.uk/images/italy/italy_map.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>Third. A former student appeals her A in Ethics class claiming that she only deserved a B and that the A was a result our brief sexual encounter. Thankfully, the grading appeals board agrees that it was an A paper. I knew I had not given any gift grades because I know I did not grade that set of papers at all.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Fourth. Mavelle, the wife of Hugo claims I touched her when we bumped into each other on an airplane. She complains to Dean Bumble and others and three of my colleagues send letters to the students asking if I "bumped" them. Marvelle sends me a Valentine that includes an actually heart from, I think, one of her Pomeranians. (I think the one that bite me one.) Finally, we patch things up -- at least I think so.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The school year is nearly over and so far 15 of the original 30 students who signed up not to go to Italy are still going. I need the break.</div>Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-12471671471439964092007-04-11T11:47:00.001-07:002007-04-11T11:53:05.251-07:00Summer Teaching?Dean Bumble just asked me the stangest thing. He asked me to teach summer school. There are two problems. The first is I never teach summer school. Do you know what kind of students go to summer school? The dregs!! No jobs. No connections. No place for someone with my credentials to be. Somehow he thinks I should teach summer school since I have had to cancel class this semester and for the next two years. I do not see the connection.<br /><br />The second problem is that, as far is I know, the Summer Program in Italy still has 15 students enrolled. It was a little unnerving that Hugo Valencia, Supreme President of Foreign Programs, forgot that the main attractive of our program was that students would not be with us. Still, even with the recent cancellations and the threatening false adverstising law suit, we still have 15 and at $3,ooo each, we can cover most of the program costs -- our apartments, meals and air fares.<br /><br />So what is up with this?Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7679019269220655773.post-71526517261996925232007-04-09T09:16:00.000-07:002007-04-09T13:08:19.209-07:00What does "IN" MeanDean Bumble called me in today and he was in his office with University Counsel. There is a threatened class action suit against the Law School concerning the <a href="http://privilegelaw.blogspot.com/2007/01/in-service-to-students.html">Program in Italy</a>.<br /><br />I maintain that Hugo and I have been completely open about the fact that the students would not actually be required to go to Italy. What difference does it make? They do not speak Italian, eat at McDonalds, and stay drunk most of the time. They will actually learn more by staying home. But does anyone one care about how much they learn. Not at chance!!<br /><br />Instead we have these picky people worried about the fact that the students will not go to Italy when that only means they would learn less.<br /><br />So what if we said "IN" Italy? The teachers will be in Italy. The broadcasts will be from Italy (or at least the post cards.)<br /><br />I am going to have to cancel class from 2008-2009 because the ingratitude is overwhelming. Today I will see Hugo at our tennis date. He and I need to talk. According to Ms. Picks, University counsel, she has spoken to Hugo and the claims he never heard of a program in Italy that would not involve students being in Italy.Privilegelaw: Your Birthrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851533725491968269noreply@blogger.com0