Property Exam

Recap: 3.5 hrs. 4 questions. Open book. I got my a$$ handed to me today.

Que I. 20%. Four part question dealing with future estates.

Que II. 40%. Long essay with 2 sub-questions. Dealt with covenants, easements, & future estates. Took me FOREVER to finish this question. My problem was that when I began applying the rules to the facts & got stuck. I could not figure out how one of the rules applied & got hang up for about 20 minutes because I had to make it work & I couldn't make my argument logical until the rule fit in to the facts. I should've moved on in hindsight.

Que III. 15%. Continuation of fact pattern in Q. II dealing with Takings. At this point I had 15 minutes to spend total on this question so I wrote whatever I could in this time. Found out later from talking to people I applied the wrong case hence the wrong rules.

Que IV. 25%. Essay still on same fact pattern dealing with Tenancy. Main ideas were whether the landlord had a duty to mitigate & whether the tenants had any defenses left to them. I had 20 minutes total to complete question & completely missed the defenses of the tenants. I don't know how that happened but I did. To top it all off, while still working on my 2nd question, one guy got done & left. I mean, how is that possible? Unless he was writing an outline I do not see how he could've gotten done in less than 2 hours. No way. But maybe I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. I'm staring in the face of a failing grade. I'm seriously going to drop out of school if I have to retake this class again.

Semester in Review

1L classes ended today & I'm thrilled about that. This semester was definitely harder than the 1st which was surprising as I thought it would get easier now that I had become adept at knowing what to look for when reading cases. I enjoyed Constitutional Law the most although coming in I thought I would like it the least. The prof was absolutely brilliant & she was entirely responsible for me enjoying this class. However, I am most concerned with her exam so we'll see how that goes.

Legislation was my least favorite class although the prof was great. He had lots of energy and taught the material very well but it's the content that I disliked. Still don't think this class should be mandatory although I get where they're coming from since we're all at some point going to deal with statutory interpretation. Property was in the middle. My prof's British & she knows what she's talking about although she would get confused sometimes in class but she always followed up to clarify.

Exam schedule: Property 4/30; Con Law 5/4; Legislation 5/7.

Enlightened!

The piece of knowledge that has thus far been most surprising to me in law school is that the President no longer has the power to use the "Line Item Veto." The Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York (1998) struck down this power. Didn't get the memo until I got to law school & sat through Legislation. Why does this matter?

Well, the Iraq War Spending Bill was passed tonight in the House 218-208 (awaiting Senate tomorrow) & the President has said he'll veto this Bill because it gives a timetable for when troops should pull out. If this was pre-1998, the Pres. could've used the line-item veto to strike down the timetable portion & then sign the rest of the Bill into law. But since he doesn't have this power, he has to veto the whole darn thing. Congress could override this presidential veto with a super-majority (2/3) in each House. Problem: Dems can't get enough votes to pull this off so this Bill will die though it may revive later but it'll definitely be sans timetable.

Glad my tuition is being put to such good use. Really.

Nothingness

I got a $10 award for completing a survey. I redeemed it for Chili's since eating out is such a rarety (if that's a word) due to lack of $.

Yesterday we got evacuated from the building in the middle of class at about 2pm. We got to sit outside for about 30 minutes before the all clear was given. Don't know what the problem was.

Columbus has a brand new airline called Skybus & it's selling tickets for $10 each way. Gotta love that except I have no reason to fly to almost all the cities it's offering service to.

Bought a new skirt suit today from Marshalls. It's really nice although I was disappointed since I cannot seem to find pant suits. I prefer skirts but I need a little variety. The dress code at my summer job will be formal so I'll need a few more suits before it's all said and done.

I cannot seem to get started on my outlines. I have a skeleton one for Property but just thinking about all what needs to be done (Legislation & Con Law) makes me feel like not doing anything. Overwhelming. Only good thing is that all my exams are open book so if I don't get done it will not be the end of the world. Outlining though is a great way to review so I'll give it a try.

Joe has a CD that just came out & his new single is nice. Also like blogmusik where you can put songs in your playlist & listen to them later. Make sure to create your own playlist because the one already there will not save your songs after you log out. Variety of songs isn't that hot though but it's free.

Today: Weather is fabulous. No classes because it's a Constructive Friday (don't ask). Laundry is done. Sanjaya is no longer on American Idol. What a great day!

What a Day!

Today I went to the Student Health Center at OSU. I've been to this building before & they had about 20 parking spots just outside the building where people park their cars. When I drove up today, half these spaces had been turned to handicap parking spots and the rest had been reserved for state cars. Not a problem. There's a small adjacent garage with a similar number of spaces so I parked my car there. As I was locking my doors, I noticed that it cost $2.00 to park...CASH ONLY!!! I didn't have a single cent. Couldn't get out because of the bars that safeguard the exits. Ugh.

Well figured I'd just look for an ATM inside the health building. Turned out there was none. But one nurse told me that the Pharmacy was always willing to give people change. So I went there & asked the clerk, "If I buy something, can you let me get some cash back? I parked in the garage & don't have any cash." To which he replied, "Ohh I'm sorry we're not allowed to do that." So I ask, "Are there any ATM machines around here?" He replied, "Oh Hon, the closest one to here is in the Business school but it was down earlier today so the only other one I can think of is by the Ohio Union Bldg. Sorry." Great....only problem was that O.U. Bldg is about a 5 minute drive away which was probably equivalent to a half hour walk. Short of going around the building & begging for $2, it looked like I was going to be stuck in the doggone building & my 1 o'clock class was starting in thirty minutes. I was completely stumped at what to do (which is not often). As I was leaving to regroup, the girl standing behind me in line asked, "Are you needing $2 to get out of the garage?" I said "yes." She continued, "Here you go, have a great day." She gave me $2!!!! I wanted to smother her with hugs & kisses but I figured if I did this she would probably ask for her money back. So after thanking her profusely, I was off to release my car from bondage. Guess what happened next? As I approached the exit bar so that I could insert my money, the bar just raised up on its own without me having to put in the money! All that mental befuddlement for nothing. Sheesh.

So I made it to my 1 o'clock class on time. I should've skipped it. I had to make a presentation to all the students. We knew the order we were going in & by the time it was my turn, I was so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. I made it through unscathed but I hated the whole process. That's the reason why I'm going to be a transactional lawyer. I'm just not cut out to be a litigator. I need a cocktail after what I've been through today. Not to mention I was up until 5am finishing up my memo. Definitely need a cocktail.

Conundrum

Remember my story about my legal writing prof going off the rails with my memo, well, he's at it again. My trial brief draft was returned last Friday & he had made very little corrections to it. "This is a powerful brief," were his actual words. The problem is: I thought my brief was horrific! I had written it really fast & it didn't flow like any nice document would & my research was spotty at best. Planned to make numerous changes after getting what I was expecting to very negative feedback from the prof but it didn't quite work out that way. I don't trust this man. I feel like he's setting me up to fail by giving me positive feedback so that I don't make significant changes and then he'll hammer my final draft. But what if he's not out to get me and I make those changes I had originally intended to make & then he gets me for butchering a 'masterpiece'? What then? I don't prescribe to the theory of conspiracies but something sure smells fishy! It's due 8 a.m. this Friday & between now & then I have to come up with a workable solution to this twilightish situation.

Virginia Tech Massacre

A gunman killed 32 students - a toll that may rise - and injured numerous others this morning at Virginia Tech University. The first shootings occured at 7 am and the second shootings occured at 9 am in two separate buildings. This two hour time-span shows the glaring gap there is in communication between buildings of university campuses.

High schools since Columbine have become adept at locking down classrooms when a shooting takes place. I do hope this is a wake-up call to all universities to adopt communications such as those in high schools so that when these loonies go on rampages, they don't get the opportunity to harm as many students as those that were killed today. This will be no small fete due to the sheer size of campuses and the distance between buildings but it has to be done. The media coverage will no doubt inspire a copy cat situation in the very near future.

Update: 4/17. Noticed a significant number of police around the school patroling on bikes today. Must be in response to the Virginia Tech situation. Got an email that Ohio State will be observing a moment of silence on Wednesday at 3pm which will be smack dub in the middle of my Property class. Maybe we'll be let off early. Doubtful. The prof will probably cease talking for a minute & then pick it right back up where she left off.

Off To A Good Start

The registration period for picking classes for next year opened at 8 pm tonight. I was waitlisted for 1 class during Fall '07 & 1 class for Winter '08. Mighty pleased about getting into most of the classes I wanted, though there were a few tense seconds there where I couldn't get the Fall registration page to open, but about 8:00:15 pm it cooperated. That's probably why I got waitlisted. No biggie. They (classes) should open up before Fall rolls around.

Goat of the week: The PA radio jock that was fired earlier this week. Phrase that pays for his listeners was "nappy-headed hos." Howard Stern will be having plenty of company down in satellite radio pretty soon.

An aside: Why do celebrities who use racial slurs feel the need to meet with Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson? Who made these two the moral compass by which African-American standards are measured? They have so much 'baggage' about them that I cringe every time they scold these wrongdoers. I hope those who'll be spewing racial slurs in the future have learnt that meeting with Al Sharpton will do them no good - Kramer has been whittled down to nothingness and & Imus got fired. Why isn't anyone running the tape of Al Sharpton essentially branding the Duke boys guilty way before the facts ever came out & asking him to apologize? Pointless but you get the idea. They take everyone to task whenever the opportunity presents itself and it's about time someone returned the favor! Caveat: I have yet to see someone win an argument against Al.

Oh Hail Midwest Airlines

My flight this weekend was with Midwest Airlines bought through Expedia. When I got to the airport, they told me that they would have to rebook me with another airline because I would miss my connecting flight because the first plane was running late. It turned out to be a non-stop flight on American Airlines! I was surprised they made this happen because tickets bought through Expedia have ridiculous restrictions.

On my return flight yesterday, no such luck. I was issued my ticket & had to connect through Milwaukee. I was expecting an old raggedy plane but was pleasantly surprised. Plane looked very nice & clean & had leather chairs & served freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Even the connecting flight was very nice and plane fairly big which was surprising because for a 50 minute flight, you usually get the smaller planes that rock light boats at any breeze that wafts their way. Would definitely fly with them more often if I didn't have to connect through Milwaukee which has very suspect weather.

A girl was raped & robbed over the weekend right around the block from the Moritz building which is the southern most part of the school. Turns out the police have issued 5 crime alerts in the past week for the same area. That's why as soon as classes are done at 3pm, I'm outta there while it's still nice & bright outside. Too much craziness going on.

About Don Imus & him calling the Rutgers womens basketball team "nappy-headed hos": I think he should be fired from his job. I'm all about free speech & saying whatever you want to say. However, we all know that any other radio jock would've been given the boot as soon as those words were uttered but because it's him & MSNBC doesn't know who would occupy his time slot from 5:30am-9:00am, they won't fire him. His viewership won't suffer but the personalities he gets on his show will probably lessen in quality because they will be afraid that if they appear it may seem that they agree with Imus' views. I think that's a crock but that's how the media works. Moral of the story: double standards are very annoying. At the very least he should relegated to therapy!

Update 1: Imus will be suspended for 2 weeks starting this Monday.
Update 2: MSNBC TV will no longer simulcast the Imus radio show.
Update 3: FIRED!!

John McCain needs to hang it up. I don't even think he's officially stated he's going to be running for Presidency in 2008 & he should keep it that way. Did you see him yesterday on 60 minutes? He looked old & haggard after the whole ,"There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today." Then we see him walking around in a Baghdad market flanked by soldiers & apache helicopters above. Who you think you're fooling John? America doesn't want a President who's out of touch with reality. Shades of W. when he says, "We're winning the war in Iraq." Want a cold dose of reality? Vote Clinton/Obama 2008.

To My Niece

Baby's First Birthday

It's your first birthday, baby,

One candle on your cake;

Proud parents stare in wonder,

At each new move you make.

We join in celebration,

As this special date arrives,

For baby has brought pleasure,

Into all our lives.

We look forward now to seeing,

How you progress and grow;

From the cute and tiny infant,

You were one year ago.
So dig into your icing,

Enjoy your presents, too,

For the reason for this day,

Is a special person--you!

By Joanna Fuchs

My Mistake

This week, the girl that seats next to me in one of my classes showed me pictures of her family: 2 very cute & naughty toddlers(the last naughty thing her daughter did was put all her mother's credit cards through the slot of her car cd player). So after the customary oohs & aahs, I pointed to one picture & said, "That must be your Mom." She gave me that look of 'oh-no-she-didn't.' "That's my husband!!!," she exclaimed. My bad.......but the guy wears 2 earrings, has long curly hair & looks older than she does.....damn sure looked like mom's to me.

I received a "Save the Date" post card from my prospective summer employer. The topic: Schedule for Summer Barbecues & Parties. Makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside.....NOT! Just let me do my job, pay me & let me go home. Please.

Picking 2nd Yr Classes

is quite an ordeal. Two big questions:

1. Do I pick classes that will be on the Bar exam? OR
2. Do I pick classes that I'll enjoy?

Professors will tell you to take classes that you enjoy since you pay all this tuition for them but most students tell you to take a healthy dose of classes that will be on the Bar. Barbri classes teach the substantive matter during their review classes (summer before the Bar) but it gets very rough trying to learn too many new subjects. I'll be taking majority of the Bar classes my 2nd year then those I enjoy, my 3rd year. That's the easy part.

The hard part is getting into those classes before they fill up. Rising 3L's get to pick their classes one week before we do (starting tomorrow at 8pm) and we get to pick starting next Thursday at 8pm. Imagine 230 students, at 7:59pm, with their fingers poised atop their keyboards ready to madly type in call #s trying to get into an Evidence class that has only 6o seats. Vicious! We also have to take an Appellate Advocacy class this fall which I hear is a beast. It's true what they say: 1st year: they scare you to death; 2nd year: they work you to death; 3rd year: they bore you to death.