Category Archives: U.Miami

Today’s Miami Herald carries a generally friendly profile of UM President Donna Shalala on her fifth anniversary in office.

Despite grave disagreements with some of what the University is doing in the aftermath of the strike, I’d agree that there’s no question that on balance Shalala has been good for UM and has the ambition needed to be even better. I did, however, get the feeling that the reporter hadn’t tried very hard to get the other side, and indeed soft-peddled even the gripes encountered. Even so, it’s not quite a puff piece, and it’s a nice read.

Among other virtues, Shalala is an impressive fountain of energy. Many academic administrators start to run out of steam by their fifth year. There’s no danger of that here. Interesting times remain in store.

I think the law school needs an official blog, run by the Dean’s Office, so that we could have quick and official answers to frequently asked student questions. But that’s probably years away. So I’m going to do my best to give unofficial answers to the questions posted by an anonymous student. I’ve put his/her questions in indent and interspersed my responses at the regular margin. Note that the italics are part of the original from which I’m quoting.

They fixed up the student lounge. Fantastic! I didn’t go in but it looks like they got rid of the couches and desks and ripped up the carpet. So it’s a sterile room with more space for setting up chairs but nowhere to actually do the lounging.

We’re having a reception in there tonight. If I recall, I heard that the furniture should turn up in a few days.

Now we can only print a set number of pages, then after 1,200 pages, you have to pay. That’ll work great. I’m sure no one will have any complaints about things like oh, I don’t know…how on any given day at least two printers are broken, which means you send something to a printer and it just disappears into cyberspace, meaning under the new system you’ll still get “charged” with having printed it.

We studied this carefully. 1,200 pages is much, much more than all but a handful of student (ab)users print out. For over 95% of the class, there’s plenty of margin for error. Fewer abusers also means the machines and paper supplies should last longer.

Some of the classes, including Trusts and Estates with professor Elements, were suddenly cancelled. I know several people who are angry about that because it threw off their schedule. I assume the reason is that Professor Elements is not doing well. I knew he was sick but have no idea how he’s doing. Here’s hoping he gets better — if in fact the reason for cancelling the class is that he’s sick.

At present, he’s not reliably well enough to teach, alas.

[Long screed about parking]

Parking is controlled by the university, not the law school, alas. E-mail President Shalala’s office about the flooding, something might actually happen…

Every new entering class brings with it new student bloggers. Pointers to U. Miami Law 1L bloggers (or 2Ls & 3 Ls missing from the left column) most welcome.

I participated in the Law School’s orientation program today by moderating a discussion on the law relating to Guantanamo with the incoming students in section ‘H’. I don’t teach in the first year — haven’t in far too long — but the idea was that students having a teacher who won’t be grading them this year would make students more willing to talk.

I don’t know if that was the reason, but it was certainly a lively session, and gave me a great feeling for the strength of the incoming class. I saw my role in this session primarily as devil’s advocate, so I didn’t make any effort to give my opinions, although one or two may have bled through. I told the class that if they wanted to know what I think, they’d find it here. So, students wanting to know what I think about the issues will find a hint in my 105 postings on Guantanamo and in the 67 posts on Torture. Since the posts are in reverse chronological order, you should start at the bottom, where you’ll find Guantanamo: Our Collective Shame. Posted October 10, 2003 and still true.

This news story about a recent legal decision will have a special resonance for many UM law students who, in their first-year “Elements” course, spend a good deal of time pondering the law relating to the ownership of engagement rings post pre-marital breakups.

Judge Rules Fiance Can Keep $40,000 Engagement Ring: A New York judge ruled that a woman who dumped her allegedly cheating fiance can keep her $40,000 engagement ring, reports the New York Post (link unavailable).

Jilted men are normally legally entitled to get their rings back because they’re considered conditional gifts. But Judge Rolando Acosta ruled that because Brian Callahan was still technically married to another woman when he proposed to the Dana Clyburn Parker, he couldn’t get back the 3.41-carat round ideal-cut diamond ring.

“When one of the parties is married, an agreement to marry is void as against public policy,” said the judge.

You may recall that story I noted about a UM accounting prof being related to Genghis Kahn? Well, he got a second opinion.

And it’s all a mistake. Gotta hand it to Prof. Thomas R. Robinson for getting another DNA analysis before cashing in. That’s class.