Saturday, January 24, 2009

In the news and on the ice

Hello friends,
You've probably noticed that my always-famous law school has been getting even more press than usual lately. Not only is our new president from here, but he seems to be taking half the faculty with him. Some of the bigger names are administrative law professor David Barron, now Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and constitutional law professor Cass Sunstein, now head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. There are a lot more, so that (besides my beloved Torts professor from last semester, whom it looks like Harvard is going to get to keep after courting him away from Georgetown), there's basically a mass exodus going on from Cambridge to Washington, D.C. It's disappointing that these people won't be teaching our classes, but it's also really exciting that they'll be running the world!

Some of my favorite coverage of this phenomenon includes the New Republic's speculation that differences between Yale Law and Harvard Law are reflected in the transitions to power of Presidents Clinton and Obama. (I'm not sure it's true, but it sure makes me glad I attended neither school in the 1970s-90s!) Meanwhile, some of my least favorite news is that Dean Elena Kagan, probably our student body's single favorite human, has accepted a nomination to be Solicitor General, the government's chief lawyer to the Supreme Court. Was it so unreasonable to expect her career to remain on hold until I graduated??

Anyhow, yesterday Russell and I took advantage of one of the Kagan era's most popular reforms: the ice skating rink they build every winter outside the law school's dining hall. We dug through the two big bins of skates that are free to borrow, each found a pair, and spent an hour or so making fools of ourselves on the ice. Don't worry, I wouldn't dare deprive you of pictures:


Aren't we adorable? Russell was a lot faster than me from the start, but I was getting downright graceful near the end. He took the only tumble of the evening (it was right after he'd wanted to quit but I said I wasn't ready, which made me feel bad. On the bright side, I got a few minutes more skating out of it, since I don't think he wanted to leave on that note.) And yes, that's the Harvard Law School seal on the ice... probably there to remind me that classes start in two days, so I'd better have fun while I still can!

Well, in that spirit, we're off to the movies. I should probably go and get bundled up! I'll write again once classes get going and let you know about my new professors. Keep sending your prayers my way until February 11- that's when they distribute grades!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great pictures. So excited about great people running our government. Soon, it will be you and your section mates!