Leaked Rankings Show BU Law Falling ‘U.S
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ROUNDHOUSE KICK: TAEKWONDO CLUB HEADS DOWN TO AGGIELAND PAGE 3 ROUNDING UP CAMPUS NEWS SINCE 1900 THE BAYLOR LARIAT THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2007 Leaked rankings show BU Law falling ‘U.S. News’ results 2008 rankings. Until it’s officially posted at 36 and the University of Kan- 75 percent passed overall. He said the U.S. News rank- Complete listings of the sup- midnight Friday, Powell said, sas at 66. “I think we are always trying ing and others like it are valu- not scheduled for posed 2008 rankings match the information is “strictly em- Though Baylor’s ranking may to move our program forward,” able tools for prospective law release until Friday each other, but some users re- bargoed.” have dropped slightly, its pass said Brad Toben, dean of the students but added that stu- main skeptical of the informa- Baylor may be ranked 53 for rate on the Texas bar exam is Baylor Law School. dents shouldn’t rely on them ex- By Jon Schroeder tion, which officially will be re- 2008, tied with Yeshiva Univer- up to 97.87 percent — the best Despite the fact that Baylor’s clusively, specifically mention- Staff writer leased Friday. sity and Case Western Reserve average among the nine Texas ranking has remained largely ing a campus visit as a vital part Cindy Powell, U.S. News and University. law schools, according to the the same, the program has “de- of the search process. Although the official rank- World Report’s public relations That’s a slight drop from Bay- Texas Board of Law Examin- monstrably” improved over the Birmingham, Ala., senior ings aren’t out yet, the blogo- director, said she could “neither lor’s No. 51 ranking in 2007. ers. The overall state pass rate last decade, he said. Jonathan Turner said rankings sphere is hopping with news confirm nor deny” the authen- Baylor Law School cracked for the same time period was 86 Since 2000, Baylor has held like those published by U.S. that the 2008 U.S. News and ticity of any supposedly leaked into the top 50 in 1999, 2000 percent. fairly steady in the rankings, News and World Report “partly” World Report law school rank- information. The official list will and 2004, and has long main- The previous pass rate was but the number of applications factored into his decision to ap- ings are out … maybe. be available when the site’s pre- tained a ranking near 50. 96.88 percent. the law school receives annually ply to Baylor Law School and According to multiple dis- mium edition launches Friday. Three other Big 12 institu- In 2007, for comparison, has increased from 1,606 ap- the Cumberland School of Law cussion board posts, citing an It remains to be seen whether tions may have cracked the top 94.2 percent of No. 1-ranked plications in 2000 to more than at Samford University. identical list in all cases, some Friday’s listing will match the 100 list: the University of Texas Yale University students passed 4,350 in the most recent appli- users have already seen the “leaked” information. at 18, the University of Colorado the bar exam in a district where cation year, Toben said. Please see LAW, page 6 Loosier legal trouble not over Judge throws out former Baylor student’s plea agreement By Melissa Limmer Staff writer After pleading not guilty Tues- day to one count of indecency with a child by exposure, former Baylor student Justin Loosier’s case is “back at square one,” according to District Attorney Melanie Walker. Loosier was charged in March 2006 with 11 counts of indecen- cy by exposure after students at Robinson Junior High School said they saw a man masturbating in the boy’s bathroom. The charges stemmed from two separate inci- dents, according to Walker. Loosier pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to one count of indecency with a child by exposure as part of a plea Melea Burke/Lariat staff bargain agreement with the district attorney’s office. He withdrew his guilty plea Tuesday after District Judge Matt Performing under pressure Johnson of Waco’s 54th District Cypress sophomore Graham Shockley (left) and Tim Eckhart, a Peoria, Ill., freshman, assess a mannequin Wednesday during training in their EMT Basic class between Rena Marrs Court rejected the plea bargain be- McLean Gymnasium and the Bill Daniel Student Center. tween Loosier and Walker. The plea bargain stipulated that Loosier plead guilty to only one charge of indecency with a child by exposure, instead of the original 11 charges, in exchange for five years’ Student officials rule candidate ineligible deferred adjudication probation. Loosier’s lawyer, Russell Hunt Junior will still pursue “To my understanding, they disqual- According to Dr. James Curry, a po- time in Waco during the week. Sr., said there is no way to ask the ified my candidacy based on the clause litical science professor and the Bob For example, he said, he was unable judge why he decided to deny the internal vice president seat concerning residency,” Hay said. Bullock Professor of Public Policy and to attend Tuesday night’s meeting be- plea bargain. He said he was still The rule in question states that a Administration, the courses that Bull- cause of work responsibilities in Aus- “optimistic” that a plea bargain By Kate Boswell candidate must “have attended Baylor ock Scholars take as part of the pro- tin. could be worked out with Walker Staff writer University, the Waco, Texas campus, gram are counted by Baylor as courses Electoral commissioner Kevin Nguy- and the judge. He also said the during the semester of his candidacy.” taken in residence. en, a Houston senior, said that to his judge could decide to try the case For many student government can- Hay is a member of the Bob Bullock Hay and the other 10 Bullock Schol- knowledge, this is the first time a can- as a felony or reduce it to a misde- didates, the road to office is a long one. Scholars Program through Baylor’s po- ars were recognized Monday in the didate has been disqualified because of meanor. But for Sikeston, Mo., junior Jeff Hay, litical science department. Texas Senate as part of the Bob Bullock this clause. Walker said she believed the road to candidacy is even longer. The program allows Baylor students Scholars Day celebration. Hay said he is bringing a case before Loosier’s case would end up going Student government’s electoral com- to take classes through the university Hay, who is working for Sen. Jeff Student Court asking it to reinterpret to trial. She also added that since mission decided Tuesday night that while living in Austin and working as Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said he the clause in the constitution so he will Hay is ineligible to run in student elec- an intern with a representative in the works up to 40 or 50 hours a week, Please see CASE, page 6 tions. Texas Legislature. which prevents him from spending Please see HAY, page 6 Course demand U.S. flexes muscles for Chinese rises off Iranian coastline By James Calderwood tions or require shifting of re- By Claire St. Amant 30,000 and 50,000 currently. The Associated Press sources if tensions did seriously Staff writer Dr. Vincent Yang, associate escalate. professor of Chinese, said he ABOARD THE USS JOHN C. Qatar, home to 6,500 U.S. You had me at ni hao. has seen a large spike in interest STENNIS — The United States troops and the enormous al- If China continues to devel- at Baylor as well. wrapped up a massive military Udeid Air Base, headquarters of op its economic and corporate Yang, who is the only full- exercise in the Persian Gulf all American air operations in power on the world stage, we time faculty member who works Wednesday, putting on a show the Middle East, said earlier this might all be hearing more than exclusively with Chinese class- of strength for Iran even as the month it would not permit an a fortune cookie’s worth of Chi- es, has been at Baylor since United Arab Emirates became attack on Iran from its soil. nese. 1994. the second Gulf nation to de- The Gulf Cooperation Coun- According to the American “Enrollment in Chinese clare it would not take part in cil, an alliance of Kuwait, Qatar, Council for the Teaching of For- classes has been on a steady rise any attack on the Islamic Re- Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain eign Languages, the number of since I’ve been here,” he said. public. and the Emirates, has called on students in the United States Yang attributes the growing Associated Press The U.S. has denied any in- all its members not to support studying Chinese in public interest mainly to the power of tention to attack. But the pub- any U.S. action against Iran. schools has risen from around A fighter jet takes off on the second day of operations Wednesday on board lic refusals of two allies to help 5,000 in 2000 to between Please see CHINA, page 6 the USS John C. Stennis in Persian Gulf waters. could affect U.S. military op- Please see IRAN, page 6 VOL. 106 No. 87 www.baylor.edu/Lariat © 2007, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY 2 The Baylor Lariat OPINION Thursday, March 29, 2007 Breaking the television habit in three easy months If asked my thoughts on the more time than we spend sit- my sister, who’s also my room- much, we only asked to see one vision out of your life is a bit latest “Bauer Hour”, you’d prob- ting in class, more time than we mate, and I decided to hold off or two shows a week.