George Washington University Law School Scholarly Commons Nota Bene, 1999 Nota Bene, 1990s 8-30-1999 Nota Bene, August 30, 1999 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/nota_bene_1999 Recommended Citation George Washington University Law School, 6 Nota Bene 1 (1999) This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Nota Bene, 1990s at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nota Bene, 1999 by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Inside: Open Letter to lL's page 3 Summer Movie Roundup NOTA BENE page 6 Newspaper of the George Washington University Law School NEW! Brenda & Kelly Vol. 6, No. 1 Monday, August 30, 1999 Law School Expansions Underway Building E construction to begin this spring for E is available, Stuart is promised, there BY CHERYL DEMMA Editor-in-Chief should be no further obstacles." Meanwhile, the Elliott School will be moving to a new building across the street Though it may not be obvious, the from the State Department, which should Law School expansion into the "E" build­ be completed by the summer of 2002. At ing on the corner of 20th and G Streets, that time, the law school will continue its and eventually into space now occupied by expansion into Stuart. the Elliott School of International Affairs Now that the law school has an ex­ in Stuart Hall, is well underway. panded amount of space, it must decide Unfortunately for the students and what to do with it. According to Professor faculty who have to travel the overcrowded Peter Raven-Hansen, Chair of the Build­ hallways on a daily basis, it will still be a ing Committee, architects have come up couple years before they can take advan­ with three alternatives. tage of the added classroom, office and The first alternative proposed by the lounge space the expansions will make pos­ architects, who Raven-Hansen describes as sible. "law school specialists," is to divide the According to Dean Roger Trangsrud, space up by functions. This would leave the construction in building E (formerly Lerner and Stockton Halls for expanded occupied by admissions and financial aid) is slated to begin in the spring. With hope, Pictured above: Stuart Hall and Building E, with Burns in the background. By 2002 it will be occupied by the summer of 2001. "There is likely to be these buildings should all be connected. Construction on the building was de­ layed when the University informed the law some relief two years out The second alternative is to mixfunc ­ said Professor Raven-Hansen. school that the Elliott School would be for faculty offices and tions; intersperse office, classroom and According to Raven-Hansen, con­ moving, and that space in Stuart Hall (next possibly seminar rooms, lounge space. This would promote the most struction drawings for the expansion are to E) would be coming available. The law contact between the faculty and students, still a long way off, but, he adds, "there is school accepted the offer of Elliott's space break-out rooms, and but could make the ten minutes between likely to be some relief two years out for in Stuart Hall, and some additional class­ student organization classes even more hectic. offices and possibly seminar rooms, break­ room space in Lisner Hall. The third alternative proposed is to out rooms, and student organization of­ These buildings, when connected to offices." separate the functions floor by floor. This fices." E building, which will connect to Bums, -Professor Raven-Hansen would mean one level for offices, the next Though expanding the law school will give the law school a complete comer few for classrooms, etc . around the corner of 20th and G will help of the quad. Both Raven-Hansen and Dean alleviate overcrowding, long-term plans Though E had already been emptied, Trangsrud agree that the first alterative is indicate it isonly a start. According to Dean the interior had to be redesigned to include classroom and student lounge space, while the best. "The physical layout [of the ex­ Trangsrud, the next step in expansion is to a connection to Stuart Hall. At this point, putting all offices into building E and Stuart isting buildings] strongly suggests that the according to Dean Trangsrud, "the money Hall. first alternative is clearly the way to go," See BUILDING page 3 The Earth Opens Up on H Street SBA Hosts Annual As students returned this year, they were met by a huge chasm on the comer of 21st and Organization Fair H Streets. At some point in the fu­ ture, that hole will become the BY NOTA BENE ST AFF Most groups will still hold Media and Public Affairs Build­ their initial meetings in the next ing. couple weeks and used the fair to The Student Bar Associa­ Meanwhile, across the preview what they do and what to tion (SBA) held an organization street, law students will have to students can expect as members. fair last week in the Burns Library suffer through a few more years "I thought it was useful to Great Room. Over twenty student of construction noise and dust. get to know the variety of organi­ groups set up tables to attract new It has only been a few zations at school, and I hope I can members. weeks since the IMF construc­ make time to enjoy them," said The fair targeted first years tion (across from the front of the first year Lauren Pachman. and gave them a chance to see the law school) has wrapped up and "You could come and get all wide variety of organizations GW the portion of H Street between the information you needed from Law has to offer. Students could the groups. You didn't have to do 19 th and 20th reopened.. sign up for groups ranging from This is just part of a rash your own research," added class­ the National Lawyer's Guild, of construction happening all mate Clinton Rockwell. Equal Justice Foundation, Street over the GW campus. Incom­ George Burkoski, the execu­ Law and Nota Bene to the Feder­ ing freshmen were given mock tive director of Law Revue XXII, alist Society, Republican Law Stu­ hard hats during orientation this was pleased with the turnout at the dents Association and the Military year, incoming one-L's were not. fair. "It was a great way to recruit Law Society. 'This is an outrage," cast members for this year's In addition, many of the stated an angry Steven Kameny, show." skills boards (such as ADR and '01. "It's bad enough that my Steven Kameny, a member Trial Court) and both of the legal exams were interrupted by jack- of the Jewish Law Students Asso­ honor societies (Phi Alpha Delta hammers last year. Now I have ciation would like to remind stu­ and Phi Delta Phi) had members to put up with this!? Where's dents, "we're having Shmooz & present to inform students of the our new building?" Schmeer followed by ultimate What is that big hole in the ground? criteria for joining those groups. frisbee on August 31!" Page 2 Monday, August 30. 1999 Nota Bene EDITORIAL Your Legal Philosophy? We BY JENNY SPLITTER, '01 On many occasions during my first doubt this reaction mode was learned in law year at George Washington University Law school: issue, rule, application, conclusion, Welcome back to school, welcome back to studying, welcome back to an School, I remembered the speech Professor repeat. Of course, that type of problem- other fun-filled year of reading Nota Bene. Paul Butler gave during orientation — a solving is essential. But without analysis For the benefit of the One Ls (and the upperclassman who never paid atten­ discussion of some of the cases he had tried and reflecting, you have a lawyer who can tion), Nota Bene is the law school's student run newspaper. It used to be called as an Assistant United States Attorney and - yes - solve problems, but in a vacuum. The Advocate, and it used to have a much better reputation. However, since the the philosophical questions that arose for I propose normative analysis be ap­ name was changed four years ago, Nota Bene has been the butt of many a Law him, none of which he had time to ponder. plied in two ways: (1) to the law itself and Revue and Professor Banzhaf joke ("If it's not news, it's in the Nota Bene," etc Should he be prosecuting this defendant? (2) to the legal profession. With regards to . .). Last year the newspaper ran with a staff of four. Even with the low Was the judge's decision a good one, a just the first area, in every law school class, the numbers, increased coverage was given to news, more editorials were written, one? Was this a system he wanted to be a inquiry should begin with the body of law part of? He suggested that law school is and less jokes were made. This year the number of staff has almost reached itself. For example, we should begin by the ideal place to contemplate our own le­ asking what purpose a particular piece of double digits and we look forward to continuing growth and increasing service gal philosophies because there is scant time to the GW Law School Community. doctrine serves. Is this rule the best way to for such thoughts in the real legal world. achieve that policy goal? If not, what is or I particularly liked this speech be­ what are alternative legislative schemes? Is Advice, advice, advice.