College of William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Student Newspaper (Amicus, Advocate...) Archives and Law School History 1996 Amicus Curiae (Vol. 7, Issue 2) Repository Citation "Amicus Curiae (Vol. 7, Issue 2)" (1996). Student Newspaper (Amicus, Advocate...). 383. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/newspapers/383 Copyright c 1996 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/newspapers Class of 1999 Profiled, page 4 ~mfcug ctturfae MARSHALL-W YTDE ScuooL oF LAw Americas First Law Sebool VOLUME VII, ISSUE TWO MONDAY, September 23, 1996 SIXTEEN PAGES Survey Say s • • • Marsha ll ~ Wythe On The Rise By Paul Walker equivalent must have done one hell of a University at numl?er four. Georgia State an average LSAT score at least five points The 1997 edition of The Princeton snow job on those Wahoos.) William & at number ten, and Northern Kentucky higher than Campbell (157), Georgia State Review Guide to the Best Law Schools is Mary was also ranked fifth on the list of Uni ersity arnumber thirteen. ( 157), or orth Carolina Central (149), it out and William & Mary School of Law schools with the "Best Teaching Facul­ While expre-ssing great pleasure at Wil­ is obvious that Willian1 & Mary ( 162) is - the name the school profile is listed ties." These an! vast improvements for liam & Mary's placement in the other getting better qualified applicants and ad­ under (pp. 456-57)-scored very well in the law school over the 1996 edition in rankings, Dean Krattenmaker expressed missions candidates. a number of categories. Based on the which the school didn' t place in the top or great consternation at the demand index In the revamped school profile, the survey of the student population con­ bottom 10 of quality of life, competitive­ list, indicating that numbers such as those efforts of the SBA during last year's sur­ ducted by the Princeton.Review last year ness, or teaching faculty. gi en above call into question the cred­ vey period did not go unnoticed or William & Mary was listed as the number On the downside, the law school ibility of the entire 'ranking process. As unre\ arded. The profile said very posi­ three school in the nation in the "Quality dropped off t\vo Princeton Review lis.ts Dean K pointed out with incredulity, tive things about the pract.ical instruction of Life" category (only Washburn Uni­ which it was on in the 1996 edition: de­ "Does this mean I should strive to make recei ed at William & Mary, specifically versity and BYU were ranked higher). As mand index and clerkship placement. my admissions process as demanding as the Legal Skills program: According to a corollary to our high quality of life, While apparently still one of the 30 most that at Campbell, North Carolina Central, the profile," ... over 90 percent of current William & Mary was ranked 165th in in-demand law schools in the country and Georgia State?" students rated the practical instruction at competitiveness· - meaning only fi e according to a note in the school profile, Dean Krattenmaker went on to give W&M as excellent.'' schools in the country are less competi­ the law school dropped out of the top hisoft-stated ad ice norn1all_ gi en when Quality of teaching_ and supportiveness tive (read, "cutthroat") than we are. Don ·t t\venty in the 1997 edition. This fact has the U.S. News & World Report rankings from both students and facu lty also re­ think that we will develop a reputation as to be taken with a grain of salt, however, appear: " You shouldn · t judge yourselfby ceived positive comments in the profile a powder-puffschoo\, though. Wi\\iam & especia\\ ' ¥hen one looks at Princeton standards that others de ise." A closer section. On the flip side, as expected, Mary finds itself in good com pan_ at the Review·s list ofthe most in-demand law look at the numbers illustrates the Dean ·s curriculum and plant size received nega­ bottom of the competitiveness list· Yale. schools and sees. after the expected Yale point quite well. The three schools listed tive stUdent comments - obvious! be­ Washington and Lee, Vanderbilt North­ and Harvard at one and n...o, respectively above may only be admitting 16- 17% of cause no one had yet seen the artist's eastern, and Virginia rank 166 to 170 CampbeliUniversity (editor's note: can the roughly I ,000 applicants the receive, rendering ofthe ne.w trailer classroom. At . (Virginia as the least competitive school anyone tell us where this place is?) at compared to the 23% of over 3,000 appli­ least we all know there s room for further .. in the nation!?! Come on. Their SBA- number three, North Carolina Central cants to William & Mary. However, with improvements! Statement On Proposed H onor Code Revisions By Donald Sciortino, mented, it will supersede our will be held next month. the trial process. visions. No matter what your Judicial Council Chief J ustice present Code. The revisions were proposed The present Judicial Council viewpoint please vote. • Last year, President Sullivan Until that happens, however, by last year s Judicial Council. is asking that you take an interest A copy of the proposed revi­ began a process to unify the we are subject to the present That Council sought to improve in these revisions because they sions will be placed on reserve at College' s honor codes. The pro­ Marshall-Wythe Honor Code. A what it felt were shortcomings will affect us until the unified the library circulation desk. If cess is ongoing, thus it is unclear student-wide referendum to vote with procedural aspects of the Code is implemented. The refer­ you have any questions, please when the unified Code will be on proposed revisions to the Code. Specifically, the revisions endum is your chance to either ask me or any member of the implemented. When it is imple- t-.1arshall-Wythe Honor Code seek to improve the efficacy of approve or disapprove these re- Judicial Council. Se.curity System Keeps Thieves and Students Out advantage to students: increased access By Deanna Griffith working because they are older and not in entrance and exit, as a library should " Following several delays, the library good condition. There may still be a few Heller said. hours. The building will be accessible to students using ID cards at 6 a.m., ninety security system will be up and running glitches to be worked out over the next The second floor door also contrib­ today. In an effort to prevent theft of both week or l\'lo, but Heller is confident that uted to the start-up delay. The door has an minutes earlier than before. Students who haven't checked if their library and student property, all students the system is ready to go. The library staff emergency release handle which triggers entering the library outside of normal did not want to activate the security sys­ an alarm. During the installation process, cards are programmed correctly should do so as soon as possib!e. · If a card is hours must swipe their ID cards to open tem while the problems were only par­ Heller said he assumed that scanning an the doors. ·Although the start up of the tially resolved, fearing that the faculty, ID card would override the emergency working properly, it will tum the yellow security system was originally scheduled staff, and students would suffer. release. When he found that the system light on the card scanner green. If your to coincide with the beginning of the fall Many 2Ls and 3Ls have been disap­ would only be deactivated by turning a See LIB RARY on 9 semester, law students now must alter pointed to find outthattheywill no longer handle on the door, he immediately knew · their routine~ to adjust to using their ID be allowed to enter and exit the library that this was wrong. Resolving this Inside through the second floor faculty wing. problem led to further delays in the acti­ cards for after-hours entry. Olson Addresses W&M 3 Heller explained that most libraries only vation of the security system. According to Jim Heller, Director of Computer Lab Revampted 4 have one main entrance in order to pre­ Although these problems have incon­ the Law Library, several factors contrib­ Goya Exibit 6 vent theft of books. He explained that venienced both staff and students, the uted to the delay. These problems ranged W elfare Reform 10 having an alternate exit defeats the pur­ system is on its way to making the library from hardware and wiring problems to Feeling Minnesota 12 the programming of the ID cards. Many pose of the magnetic book theft preven­ a safer study area. In addition to the safety of the faculty ID cards have not been tion system. "We will have one main aspect of the system, it offers another 2 Monday, September 23, I 996 THE AMicus CuiuAE From· the Editor'·s Desk • .. • Every fall, second year stu­ quently, a student who has select their resume drops and one should be rewarded. But this dent says it was hard to say, with dents don their suits for the dropped resumes to six firms, all must complete thorough research does not translate to the resume a straight face, that he or she dreaded and much feared job in­ of which really interest her, may on their choices. blitzkrieg tactics undertaken by "wants to work in Topeka," per­ terview. Inevitably, some arrive lose an interview position to an­ Such a system would serve some.