Justice’s Helping Hand Ohio’s Wild Wild West Are You Kidding Me? A C-M alum shares Ohio’s concealed-carry Mario Lopez to attend how a judicial law gives the freedom C-M? Full-time food clerkship is not to carry a gun, but service returns? Book only a valuable severely restricts where thefts reported in the experience, but guns are permitted. library? Turn to the an opportunity to Turns out that pepper special insert for the share in a historical spray and stun guns are latest breaking news at tradition. a better option. C-M. CAREER, PAGE 4 OPINION, PAGE 6 SPECIAL INSERT THE GAVEL VOLUME 52, ISSUE 6 MAY 2004 THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT CLEVELAND-MARSHALL COLLEGE OF LAW Exam policy SBA election altered By Michael Luby outcome challenged STAFF WRITER By Jason Smith The complaints focused on At a meeting on Thursday, MANAGING EDITOR emails sent out several days March 25, the C-M faculty ad- On April 21, the Cleveland- prior to the offi cially designated opted a new fi nal exam policy. Marshall College of Law 2004 start of campaigning. Hastie and The policy allows rescheduling Student Bar Association (SBA) Schroth sent approximately 80 of certain fi nal exams provided officer election results were emails, combined, regarding the a student is faced with multiple tabulated and announced amid candidacy of their election ticket, examinations “scheduled within controversy. The winning candi- to students before the official a limited period of time,” said dates and resulting SBA offi cers start of campaigning, as laid out Assistant Dean Jean Lifter. for the 2004-2005 school year are in the Election Bylaws of the SBA According to Associate Dean as follows: Edward Hastie, 2L, (Bylaws). Jack Guttenberg, any student Amanda Paar-Gavel president; John Storey, 3L, vice According to section one of who is required to take three or president of programming; Nick the Bylaws, “no potential can- more fi nal examinations within DeSantis, 2L, vice president of didate may begin to campaign two consecutive days may notify budgeting; and Norm Schroth, until he or she has signed [an] ac- Dean Lifter of their examination 2L, treasurer. knowledgment” stating “that the schedule and request a change. The election process did not candidate agrees to abide by [the The date for the new exam is set go as smoothly as elections in election] bylaws.” Section seven by the dean but will always be the past. On April 17, Michele states, “no signs may be posted or subsequent to the original exami- State senator takes up tuition fi ght Hyndman, 2L, a candidate for emails messages sent any earlier nation date and time. State Sen. Eric Fingerhut Additionally, the board of vice president of programming, than 1:00 p.m. on the Sunday prior The SBA lobbied for a similar appeared at Cleveland State trustees approved increases in fi led a complaint against Hastie, to elections.” Hastie and Schroth policy in September, which would University on April 1 to rally tuition at the college of busi- Schroth, Storey and DeSantis. On sent their email on April 13 and allow students to reschedule an against the Ohio legislature’s ness, college of urban plan- Tuesday, April 20, Terry Billups, a April 15, respectively, before the exam when that student had two recent decisions to cut funding ning and college of law. candidate for SBA president, fi led offi cial start of campaigning on or more exams scheduled on the to higher education. Recently, The board of trustees complaints against both Hastie and April 18 or before signing and same day. Because several stu- the CSU Board of Trustees ap- blamed state funding cuts for Schroth. All complaints were fi led turning in their acknowledgment. dents had voiced concerns over proved a 9.86 percent tuition its decision. with the Election Ombudsman, Billups said, “These violations See POLICY, page 2 increase at CSU. Turn to page 3 for more. Stephen Nowak, 3L. See ELECTIONS, page 5 U SH C-M reclaims third tier ranking O O U February By Colin Moeller now fi nds itself ranked among the jective judgments of school quality Y L L EDITOR-IN-CHIEF top 100 law schools in the country. and comprise nearly 40 percent of D D 2004 bar U.S. News and World Report’s “We are obviously thrilled to see a school’s overall ranking. annual best law schools rank- that the continued improvements W W The other factors are based on K K O O N N ings have been released for 2005 Toledo has been making are being the school’s median LSAT score results placing C-M back into its previ- noticed nation-wide,” said Carol for beginning students and its bar ously held third-tier position. Frendt, assistant dean of admis- passage rate. C-M slipped from its third tier sions at Toledo. Frendt said she Undergraduate GPA’s and 1st Time Overall perch last year, when the annual also credits Toledo’s ability to LSAT scores, along with a school’s Capital 48% 35% rankings deposited C-M into the select from a more competitive acceptance rate, comprise 25 per- CWRU 70% 61% fourth tier. pool of applicants for the schools cent of the fi nal ranking. Although C-M 58% 43% “Obviously, we are very improved ranking, in light of the part-time students at C-M tend to Ohio Northern 50% 19% pleased that our law school is weak economy. have higher numbers in these back in the third tier,” said Dean Case Western Reserve Univer- categories than full-time day stu- Ohio State 80% 68% Steven Steinglass. “Although we sity, Ohio State University and the dents, the U.S. News rankings do Akron 92% 75% feel the ranking are incomplete in University of Cincinnati held on not include numbers of part-time Cincinnati 75% 76% that they do not consider a lot of to their top 100 rankings while students. Dayton 69% 50% things we feel are important to a the University of Akron slipped Resources per student also to Toledo 89% 56% good law school education, it is to the fourth tier, joining Capital account for 15 percent of an over- always nice to see that the law University and Ohio Northern. all ranking. The number represents Out of 547 applicants, 52 percent received passing scores. Out school has improved.” U.S. News uses 12 factors to resources based on the average of of 238 fi rst-time applicants, 72 percent received passing scores. C-M was not the only Ohio law make its annual evaluation of law 2002-2003 expenditures per stu- For the 2003 February Bar Exam, 59 percent of C-M fi rst time school to see its ranking improve. schools. Two of these factors (rat- dent for instruction, library and takers passed with an overall passage rate of 53 percent. The University of Toledo School of ings by academics and ratings by support services, student/faculty Law, a perennial third tier school, lawyers and judges) involve sub- See RANKINGS, page 4 THE GAVELGAVEL Page 2 LawLaw May 2004 With Ohio permanently bars applicant By Jason Smith ous to and while attending law a judge in the Summit County board to the Ohio Supreme Court. gratitude to, MANAGING EDITOR school. While working for the Court of Common Pleas, assured The court, rather than “merely “Students need to real estate company, a tenant paid the panel of Cvammen’s integ- postpon[ing]” applicants bar ap- and for, each take the bar applica- Cvammen $5,000 for helping rity. The judge indicated that plication, permanently denied tion process seriously. the tenant fi nd a party willing to Cvammen “consistently acted in Cvammen from admission to the While not all inac- take assignment of tenant’s lease. manner demonstrating his contri- practice of law in Ohio. of you curate statements will Cvammen accepted the payment tion…accepted responsibility for The court concluded that result in disciplinary By Steven H. Steinglass without disclosing the income to his mistakes and [had a] com- Cvammen “consistently exhib- This is my fi nal Gavel column of the action, students should his employer or the IRS. mitment never to repeat those ited duplicitous behavior” and 2003-04 school year. For our students, not put themselves Because of a fear that the improprieties.” “attempted to conceal the extent it has been a productive year. We con- in a position where payment may be revealed in Cvammen’s former employ- of his wrongdoing through evasive gratulate the outstanding Moot Court all the hard work [of subsequent litigation, Cvammen ers also assured the panel of responses to legitimate questions.” Teams who traveled all over the country law school] is thrown eventually disclosed the payment Furthermore, “applicant’s false or in a public demonstration of the strengths away,” said Stephen to his employer. After disclosure incomplete answers on his applica- of a C-M education. We congratulate our Lazarus, C-M profes- of the payment and discussion While not all acts tion and in his interview and his editorial boards, who edited and published sor of professional among the company’s board of di- continued attempts to avoid the this year’s issues of the Law Review and responsibility. rectors and offi cers, the real estate of dishonesty are truth in his testimony confi rm for the Journal of Law and Health, and the On April 14, 2004, company asked for Cvammen’s discovered, when us…that the applicant lacks integ- members of all our student organizations in the case of In re Ap- resignation.