Archives for the month of: February, 2012

31% of Univ. of Baltimore Law’s revenue to the general budget, or, why I had to bring my own whiteboard markers to class

February 29, 2012 //

I graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law last May. Last July, my dean of all three years, Phillip Closius, resigned. As the state of Maryland let the door hit him on the way out, he publicly accused the university of using the law school as a cash cow–jacking up law school prices, then taking nearly half of the revenue earned to support the rest of the university, to the tune of 45%. All of this was on the heels of a (somewhat) shocking New York Times expose about the dirty business that is law school.

Photo belies the awkward, no?

Hey, good news: it was only 31%.

As a person who pays $1,763.74 per month for her time at UB, there’s a lot to be disappointed about regarding this revelation. However, I think the Times, the Wall Street Journal, et al have done a pretty good job covering the risk/reward problem facing law students. I want to talk about white board markers.

Teaching often requires visual aids. My sales & leases and commercial law professor, Judge Smalkin, used to draw the most amazing diagram involving a boat, robbers hiding in bushes, the Church Hill Liquor Store, and a pile of checks somewhere in a mountain in Colorado to demonstrate negotiable instruments. The only way he could draw the diagram was by bringing his own dry erase markers. If his markers ran dry, students would toss their own markers to the front of the class. Why? The school couldn’t provide. Same for chalk, batteries, functioning computers, and library materials.

Is that what the 31% was supposed to be paying for? A better learning environment? The school part of law school? Yes, there’s a huge problem valuing legal education. But, in Baltimore’s case, there’s an even simpler problem of getting what you pay for.

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Categories Non-library work

Lulu at In Custodia Legis: Pic of the Week from the Library of Parliament in Canada

February 24, 2012 //

Check out the beautiful dome and weather vane (!!!) on the Library of Parliament in Ottawa, ON at In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress.

We had a great time in Ottawa, I totally want to live and work in Canada, and yes, I am sitting on an ice chair with iPads frozen into it.

At the ice sculpture competition, part of Winterlude, in the Rogers tent

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Categories Law librarianship

Not what I learned in law school: equal marriage in Maryland is the first major change to my legal education

February 24, 2012 //

I took family law at the University of Baltimore in the spring of 2011, my last semester of law school. At the time, a bill was before the Maryland Legislature to legalize same sex marriage. The bill ultimately failed, but it came awfully close to passage. At UB, on April 14, 2011, we hosted a debate on the bill between Former MD Atty. Gen. Joe Curran, and State Sens. Jamie Raskin and Chris Shank. I live tweeted it; here are the notes.

View this document on Scribd

I understood Sen. Shank’s argument that he needed to represent the interests of his home district in the far western part of the state (against gay marriage). But, then he wandered off into what-if-Catholic-institutions-don’t-want-to-offer-benefits-to-couples-they-do-not-condone-religiously territory, and lost me. Ironically, national political debate is revisiting Catholic institutions–but let it be know that Maryland has overcome.

Yesterday, the Maryland Senate passed SB 241 by a 3 vote margin (25-22), and as soon as Governor O’Malley signs off, gay marriage will be legal in the Old Line State.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-senate-same-sex-roll-call-20120223,0,6516863.story(Above picture is from this Baltimore Sun article, taken by Algerina Perna–amazing shot.)

There may be a voter referendum. There will certainly be hemming and hawing. But, this is the first major upset to something that I learned in law school, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m getting married next month, and despite arguments that same sex marriage cheapens hetero marriage, I say the more, the marry-er.

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Categories Non-library work, Reference

Librarianship: Stuff White People Like?

February 22, 2012 //

I was reading my librarian tweets last week and saw one about a blog called This Is What A Librarian Looks Like: Challenging the Librarian Stereotype One Post at a Time. I scrolled through as many pictures as my attention span allows for (tl;dr), and noticed that all the librarians in the pictures were white. I said as much on Twitter, and one of the editors suggested that I look again. I did–and there was indeed one black person on my second scroll through. Again today, the librarian Twitterverse reminded me that lookslikelibraryscience.com is pretty white bread. I love librarians breaking the mold (as bad ass derby girls, for example), but the pictures in the blog seem to be highlighting something different: does librarianship fall under “stuff white people like?”

Look, I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m the whitest kid you know. But, working at the largest law library in the world, having the privilege of working with some of the top law librarians in the game: only one is black. I think about walking around the exhibit hall at AALL–pretty pasty, but getting better with effort. My library school class, in my chocolate city? Mighty vanilla. I know some fab librarians of color in person and on the interwebz (and not even in that “some of my best friends are black” way, honest), but surely they’re not the only ones?

Or, could it be that photo blogs are in fact the stuff that white people like? Not ruling that out.

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Categories Librarianship, generally

Social media update: How to lose friends & alienate people on the interwebz for profit!

February 22, 2012 //

I’m getting more involved with my workplace’s social media presence (Twitter, Facebook and one potential video–if videos can be social?), and I must say that I’m distressed.

Basically, you would not believe what people are willing to say to a government entity in a public forum.

obvi the greatest new yorker cartoon of the internet age, all credit due

I suspect the following is going to sound a little “hey kid get off my lawn,” but I don’t care. Please, enjoy this short guide to interacting with your government in such a way that won’t get you on a watch list, or make social media unpleasant for those around you, you know, socializing.

  1. The only people who can represent your feelings to government are your elected representatives. You can look them up here. You should not expect a profanity laden @ message on Twitter to some unrelated agency to make it to the halls of power.
  2. However, we unrelated agencies are still part of the government. Are you very very very angry with government, and hoping to kick the bums out with a profanity laden @ message on Twitter? Guess what? We totally own this public Twitter page, and now all of your very very very angry friends will be able to see that YOU interacted with the GOVERNMENT. For shame.
  3. Were you hoping to sway us towards your political persuasion? Pro tip: THOMAS isn’t a real person. Well, not anymore.
  4. Are you offering to cook an elaborate gourmet lunch for THOMAS, and then whisk him away to Paris on an evening flight? THOMAS is very real. In fact, I am THOMAS, and I have my passport ready. On y va!
  5. Most of all, social media is supposed to be conversational without turning into a conversation. Be respectful of the forum. If you have a lot to say, send an email, Ask A Lib, write a letter. If it’s super personal, same. 140 characters can do a lot, but they can’t do it all–don’t force it.

McSweeney’s Internet Tendency does a much better job of this than I do. Check out their Get to Know an Internet Commenter column by Kevin Collier for more of what I mean. If you’re really brave, read the comments section of a national political story at the Washington Post. If you’re suicidal, try one on the Redskins, or parenting.

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Categories Librarianship, generally, Reference

Hold me: how to find Senate holds on bills

February 11, 2012 //

I’ve been answering a lot of what-can-THOMAS-do-for-me questions lately. The most interesting composite of questions asks, “how do I track Senate bills that have holds placed on them?”

Because holds are an informal part of the legislative process, THOMAS does not track them… directly. In fact, before S.Res. 28 which brought holds into the public record, we couldn’t track them at all. Now, there are a few ways to go about finding who’s preventing a bill from reaching the Senate floor.

View this document on Scribd

Option 1: Check the Congressional Record for a voice opposition to a bill. Use the iPad app if you’re really feeling fancy. Eventually, any floor opposition will be recorded in the Congressional Calendar. But, the CR has the potential to scoop the calendar.

Option 2: Still with the Congressional Record, look for a notice of intent to object in the extension of remarks, either from the Senator placing the hold, or from the appropriate leader on behalf of the Senator. Again, all of this will eventually be recorded in the calendar, but you may learn something a day or two early by stalking the CR.

Option 3: Stick to the notice of a hold in the Congressional Calendar. THOMAS links out to a variety of calendars, but you’re looking for the goods at GPO FDsys.

There’s still quite a lot of dot connecting that needs to be done, legislative history wise, to understand why a Senator is placing a hold on a bill. But, disclosure is a start. Let the sunshine in, indeed.

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Categories Reference

Super Bowl Sunday x FCC sports blackout rules: Lulu at In Custodia Legis

February 3, 2012 //

Happy almost Super Bowl Sunday! As a lifelong Redskins fan, I am hard pressed to cheer for either the Giants or the Patriots (although let it be known that we beat the Giants both times that we played them this year), and will be retreating to Canada during the big game. Seriously–it’s time for our annual winter vacation, and this year we’re going to Winterlude in Ottawa.

Anyhow, I’ve written this week’s Pic of the Week post for In Custodia Legis about the NFL and FCC blackout rules. Pop on over and enjoy it.

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Categories Reference
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