First!!!!

survival of the fittest.

Just carry around an EpiPen. What's the big deal?

A peanut allergy is nature's way of saying you should be dead.

pwn3d bitches!

Atlanta bonuses to your choice of free Casio or Timex wristwatches!!!11!!!1!

Subtle George Washington Carver troll

In related news, the Planter's Peanut Man has filed a lawsuit for defamation and looking to certify a class action!

In related news, the Planter's Peanut Man has filed a lawsuit for defamation and is looking to certify a class action!

OK - I understand why elementary schools are required to peanut proof themselves - but a law school? She's a grown-up.

As long as everything is labeled properly and any food produced on campus (by the cafeteria or whatever) doesn't contain peanuts, why should the entire school have to ban peanuts? If her allergy is really that severe, I would imagine she wouldn't be eating anything from an unknown/untrusted source anyway. Maybe I don't know enough about severe peanut allergies - but is the mere presence of peanut m&ms in a vending machine really cause for concern?

Like hell I'm going to be told I can't bring a pbj for lunch (pretty much all I could afford on a regular basis in law school) because of a grown woman with an allergy. I'm allergic to penicillin - I've managed not to die...

Please reveal which dean this is and which TTT he infests.

Life-threatening peanut allergies? God truly wants this person dead.

"ATL readers: Please take this opportunity to engage in a vicious comments clusterf**k spirited debate over whether schools, airlines, and other institutions go too far -- or not far enough -- in accommodating people with extreme food allergies."

Not much of a debate, if nobody is going to stick up for the peanut-haters...

2:39(1) and 2:40: And if your skull cracks when someone whacks you on the head with a lead pipe, that's just nature's way of saying you should have worn a helmet. Assholes.

2:39 (2) - I admit that I'm surprised that the law school is going peanut-free to accommodate the student. My children's elementary school is nut-free, but they're children. My son is one of more than half a dozen peanut allergic kids in the preschool alone. I wouldn't think the entire law school would need to go peanut free for one adult who can use her own Epipen, any more than an office would.

Lat -- why redact the dean's name? He published it himself.

People w/ extreme food allergies should have to change how they interact/live, not everybody else.

I can't believe how selfish you people are. Are you really suggesting that having your Snickers bar is more important than someone else's life?

I second 2:47. There's no excuse for redacting his name. He's an asshole who's abidicated his responsibility to his students.

Are you really saying that you would not give up a peanut-butter sandwich if you knew that that by doing so you would reduce the RISK OF DEATH of one of your colleagues?

If so, fuck you. And fuck you again. You make me want to live in isolation in northern Greenland, far, far away from this fucking joke of a society.

But THINK of all the peanut-related tort and criminal law hypos you could milk this for.

"A man, in a deer suit, standing in Pittsburgh fires a high-powered peanut gun into Ohio, unaware that Derek Schoenfeld has a severe peanut allergy..."

or something like that

I think some food allergies can be so severe that even standing near a peanut can kill you, such that anyone with a Snickers in the same class room as you is dangerous, or walking by a vending machine with peanuts in it, or touching a door knob that someone who previously touched a peanut recently touched.

Who knows, maybe even thinking about peanuts could kill. After all, what kills you is your body's reaction to the peanut, not the actual peanut itself. What if you have a dream about eating a peanut?

2:48-
Your analogy does not work. Everyone (for practical purposes) gets their skull crushed by a lead pipe. Not everyone dies from peanut ingestion. Nice try, though.

B WAHAAHA... Does this mean that a Dean at a law school was the source of the leak to the ATL....

This is totally what they make plastic bubbles for. I'm allergic to bullets but you don't see me trying to take peoples guns away.

Atlanta to peanuts!

Oh wait, that is the status quo.

I like the fact that when the law student left, her school celebrated their ability to eat peanuts a la Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz. I like it even more because the dean described it that way in a mass email. If that doesn't make the allergic student want to pound down a bag of peanut butter M&Ms, I don't know what will. Excellent work, Dean Mark.

I'm pretty sure I know who this person is. do we get in big trouble for outting people here?

Will her future law firm go peanut free as well?

Interesting Emily Bazelon article on Slate about nut allergies:

http://slate.com/id/2146628/

Do NOT out the student.

DO out the dean.

so are they going to de-peanutize fordham?

A good guess would be Villanova...I heard they had a peanut allergy last year, and the Dean's first name is Mark.

well considering I'm posting this from the law school where this person resides as Dean, I'm a little hesitant.

I guess there might be severe food allergies, but being told not to eat peanut butter would most likely make me want to swtich from my turkey sandwich routine to a pb&j once in awhile. It gets a little ridiculous that everyone has to accommodate one person! Does anyone remember when people used to smoke all over the place? Or when people weren't allergic to perfume? (I think the latter is made up...)

Hey Lat -- any updates on NY bar exam results? All indicators are that this is the week they should be coming out but there is nothing but a deafening silence coming from the powers that be up at the BOLE. Any word? Anybody receive any correspondence of any type from those jackanapes?

There's a Dean "Mark" at a non-Ivy law school in a Philly suburb (take your guess ppl..it's easy). The law school did go crazy attempting to enforce the peanut ban w/constant reminders to its students and other crap. I wonder if that's the school..can you at least give out the region of the US Lat?

please don't out the student.

The student is _going to_ Fordham. I guess that's the most important information, because the Peanut Police are going to be out in force there, likely inspecting all bags that enter the premises. What next? Banning handguns in law school?

This doesn't help with outing Dean Mark.

Nobody would out this student...that would be way too cruel. You might have an issue with the school, but you can't have an issue with the student.

"Inhalation. An allergic reaction may occur if you inhale dust or aerosols containing peanuts, such as that of peanut flour or peanut oil cooking spray."

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/peanut-allergy/DS00710/DSECTION=3

i have sympathy for peanut girl. however, this is going to damn far. she is entitled to as much of a normal life as her disability will allow. however, that doesn't entitle her to ruin the lives of everyone around her

Oh Lat, you deleted my irrelevant reference to my former law school classmate who liked to dress up in a deer suit and shoot high-powered rifles across state lines. Killjoy.

BOLE is closed today, so we're not getting bar results for NY until tomorrow at the earliest. We're also not going to hear any updates today.

Has the shit literally been scared out of you, 3:05, or are you exaggerating?

Last time I checked you don't need PB to live homeboy.

Good thing for dean mark that she's not allergic to assholes.

yep - it's villanova

Her undergrad and big corporate employer (NYC) before law school had no problems making a peanut free environment. (neither do most NYC private and some public schools) Nova on the other hand didn't take it seriously. This girl has a severe allergy and she could die from the slightest exposure.
I can't believe that dean mark did that.

Jimmy Carter, if you are calling her peanut girl then you must go there too, huh?

On the one hand, some people get seriously f-ed up from peanut fumes. On the other hand, I don't know how much fume one pb&j emits. Anyone know this stuff?

Without taking any stand on whether it's necessary for an entire school to go peanut-free for the sake of one student, I'd like to attempt to clear up a few misunderstandings on behalf of those with nut allergies.

1. It is not easy to avoid eating a food you are allergic to, especially such a common ingredient like peanuts/peanut oil. Foods contain many hidden ingredients, and there is always a risk of misinformation and cross-contamination. The people preparing the food don't always know what's in the food, and they almost never think about what ingredients are used to prepare the food or what ingredients might have gotten into the food by accident.

2. In the case of a severe peanut allergy, it can be close to impossible to avoid life-threatening exposure. The reason schools develop peanut-free zones isn't only because children are more likely to eat something without knowing what is in it, but because some people can get an anaphylactic reaction simply by being near the forbidden ingredient.

3. It is not easy to handle a severe allergic reaction, even with an Epipen. An Epipen is for emergency, life-saving use only -- it requires stabbing oneself in the thigh with a shot the size of a magic marker. This is after the allergic reaction has set in, causing the student's face to swell and throat to close up. She couldn't just chow down on a Snickers and then take her medicine.

4. People with life-threatening food allergies DO have to change how they act/live -- and there is still very little awareness of the difficulties and dangers they face, despite the fact that 12 million people in this country suffer from severe food allergies. Every day that that nut-allergic student eats food she didn't prepare herself from scratch is a day she needs to be constantly vigilant and constantly afraid that she will be given incorrect information about what she is about to eat. The creation of nut-free zones is just a way to save lives, health costs, and legal costs in a way that does much more good than harm and does not substantially inhibit anyone's freedom. You can live without peanuts till you get home, with much more ease than a person with a peanut allergy can avoid a severe allergic reaction.

If we were discussing accommodating those with recognized disabilities, rather than food allergies, your reactions would probably be much more sympathetic -- but the circumstances are not that different.

I may have some residue stuck to the walls of my colon but that would be about it. Does anyone know how much lead time we get in NY? Will they send an email saying "tomorrow at 9am" or do they just post the passers on the website and we find out its available through the grapevine??

sorry I left off the second s ... my keyboard left it off for savings

I don't see why the Dean's an asshole for writing that to somebody he knew. He had no idea he was going to send it to everybody. He said that de-peanutting a school is a pain in the ass. Who cares?

I'd love to see some low-wage worker demand a peanut-free workplace.

3:14 - I'd have to disagree, the school took it very seriously and in some ways went overboard with it, including posting signs on every classroom with a picture of a crossed out peanut designating them "peanut free zones"

Halfway to an official comments clusterf**k...

You can have my peanut butter samwich when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Your insensitivity hurts me. It is not easy.

I'm in the library at said school eating a Payday bar right now...ahhh, the prohibition is over.

2:54(1), that was awesome.

This is why I read this site. Good stuff. What an idiot this Dean Mark is. This is of course made even better by the fact that one of the deans who received this had to have forwarded it to Lat. Seems Dean Mark isn't universally liked by his peers. I can see some TTT Dean cackling in their office as they hit 'send' to Lat. HA.

Gallion OUT!

Good for the Peanuts ban. I hate those big headed little kids and their boring holiday specials.

3:20 ... the school took it seriously but only after dragging their feet, fighting with her about just how "serious" her allergy was and a severe allergic reaction.

>>>>

Well, isn't this why peanut bans don't really work anyway? Okay, you make a peanut free zone, and John Dick and Mary all dutifully give up their snickers and PB&J, but they have no idea that every other solitary thing they bring with them is chock full of peanut oil, etc.

I suppose it's one thing to ensure that all things *provided* within the school are peanut free, and quite another to insist that anything brought by a student must be peanut free.

I wonder if these bans extended to the student housing, or were just in the classrooms, library, etc...

If you make peanut butter illegal, only the criminals will have peanut butter. Delicious, creamy peanut butter. Is that what you want?

Hey - anybody remember the peanut allergy death kiss story? I thought that would make an excellent law school hypo. She consented to a non-lethal kiss. Anyway, point being, I have NO work at all right now.

No, it is not reasonable to expect everyone else to forgo peanuts, even if this girl is deathly allergic. What if someone has full blown AIDS? Should everyone else be required to wear masks so that they don't spread any infections through the air? Accommodating disabilities by installing wheelchair ramps or automatic doors does not inconvenience everyone else. This does.

I make my living from peanuts, I hope this girl is happy. BEcause of her, my family didn't eat last week.

-Member of the Souther Peanut Farmer Federation

But is she allergic to deez nuts?

3:28: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you can't catch AIDS through the air.

Some peanut allergies aren't like "normal" allergies - meaning, the person with said allergy is in trouble if someone in the next room has peanut butter. I'm sure this person carries an epipen with them anyway, but as much as I love Snickers, I'd accommodate. It's not that big of a deal. There but for the grace of God...

i actually know for a fact that she won't die from peanut exposure, since she was around it all the time and didn't notice it.
dean mark may be an asshole, but he's not alone in his opinions.

It's easier to put on slippers than it is to carpet the world. Bring out the bubble...

Um, how about the person with the peanut allergy just DOESN'T eat food at the school...you know, like religious Jews bring their own KOSHER food to eat. They don't require the entire school to be kosher...

And the email was hilarious. I like that dude.

The e fact is that in THIS particular situation, it is resaonable to ask people to simply not eat peanuts. HoIt seems there are quite a few whiney students at said school who should stop bitching about not being able to eat peanuts. It disgusts me.

3:28, you are an idiot. You could have at least used the drug-resistant TB guy in your stupid hypo, instead of dragging AIDS into it. Not like the dean shoved a peanut up her ****, now is it?

A great academic debate, but irrelevant when you people realize that all nurishment will soon come in allergen free pill form.

Mr. Doctor - I think the point 3:28 was making was that we wouldn't go to extremes to keep the AIDS infected person from catching OTHER infections from us.

I would refrain from eating peanuts, but I'd be irritated. Did the school know about her allergy before agreeing to her being a visiting student?

Mr. Doctor, I hate to be the one to expose your ignorance and lack of reading comprehension ability, but people with full blown AIDS are extremely susceptible to minor infections that wouldn't affect people with healthy immune systems.

3:28 -- You can't compare accommodating full-blown AIDS in a non-hospital setting to accommodating a food allergy. One is a terminal illness, the other a treatable condition that causes no health problems until activated by the allergen.

As for inconvenience, you don't think paying for the cost of installing wheelchair ramps and automatic doors is an inconvenience? That cost is absorbed in part by consumers (in this case, students).

My point is, with a little more awareness and very minimal effort on the part of the non-allergic public, those with allergies would incur many fewer allergic reactions that were not due to their own mistakes.

Isn’t the point of a reasonable accommodation is that it’s reasonable? Perhaps having the school serve peanut-free food may be reasonable, but to not allow the rest of the law school to enjoy food with peanuts in it? That is way past reasonable, especially considering how common peanuts are in our cuisine; it’s ludicrous in an adult environment. Bring out the bubble…

Hey 2:51. Yes, my snickers bar is more important than someone else's life. Snickers really satisfies.

Thanks for explaining all of that. I didn't know that because while studying for my medical degree they didn't cover all of the amazing things you know.

Confirmed what I thought..Nova. I'm not surprised...as the comments mention, the schl did drag it's feet and it did seem like they weren't taking it seriously enough until some incident happened..not really sure what, but I sort of remember it. It's completely unprofessional for the Dean to talk to his peers about a student at his institution w/a legit. & serious problem.

My mother always told me, you can't make orange juice from a melon.

Let this broad homeschool - Snickers satisfies.

You guys seriously want to put 12 million people in bubbles?

3:36, I don't see a significant difference. AIDS would not be a terminal illness if one could guarantee that the person would never be exposed to any type of infection.

And the cost is a separate issue. I don't have a problem making disabled people pay for their accommodations.

As for preventing fewer allergic reactions not due to their own mistakes, by doing so, we bring natural selection to a grinding halt. There are "fit" and "unfit" people for a reason.

Mr. Doctor - is there some doctor website you could be visiting instead of wasting our time here?

"If her allergy is really that severe, I would imagine she wouldn't be eating anything from an unknown/untrusted source anyway. "
__________________________________
If she were that allergic, she would have been dead by the age of 12. How could she walk down a public street? Ride public transportation? Go to a mall? She literally would have to live in a bubble, because short of eliminating peanuts from society, there is no way to guarantee that no one within a couple of 100 feet of her would ever be emitting peanut fumes; this isn't about "reasonable accomodation," because there is no way to "reasonably accomodate" a frailty this all-encompassing. Either they're exagerrating her vulnerability, or they're being absurd.

I am amused by the image of this poor peanut-fearing student as some law school "hot potato," tossed from one institution to another....

3:30 - you still have that deer suit?

Today you hate me, tomorrow you want me to save your life. Such is the plight of Mr. Doctor.

Did the school institute a total peanut ban or were there zones where you could eat peanuts? You may think people are being selfish a$$holes, but pb&j is a cheap source of protein - especially for vegetarians. this girl has to take some responsibility for herself. also, i think the more you tell a bunch of law students they can't do something, the more they are going to resist (see the above posters) - having peanut ok zones seems like a compromise (this may be less of a problem at Fordham because the "campus" is like 2 buildings in the middle of the city)

i sympathize with the elementary school kids - they're often too young to really understand what's going on and the consequences - but I don't get how an adult is going to function in society as a whole if they can't even function at school? unless this girl truly never goes anywhere other than school, home and work (no mall, no subway, no restaurants, nothing)....

there are not 12 million people who will die because of peanut dust, most of those peoples' allgeries require more concentrated doses.

12 million bubble boys would be hilarious though.

also - Bubble Boy > The Boy in the Bubble

3:30: But what do you call nutz on your chin? Chin nuts?

Shelling out a few tax dollars for a wheelchair ramp is completely different from forbidding me to eat peanuts.

I'd be perfectly content to contribute (in school fees or whatever) to some sort of a peanut safe zone or peanut free zone where it's safe for peanutgirl to eat.

Just how far did this ban go, anyway?

Just a clarification: There was no f-ing peanut party. That's a lie.

The ban was building-wide.

Speaking of swallowing potentially distasteful things, Bitchy, tell us more about your predilections. I like when you talk dirty in the comments.

Seriously, "Gallion," enough with the "Gallion OUT" crap. This isn't Jim Rome. Aside from that, your comments are fine.

she lies, its for attention. people eat peanut near her and shes fine, then as soon as she finds out about it she turns bright red and has a "life-threatening" attack and runs home. she also gets to take her finals in a private room by herself due to her peanut allergy. when someone else was placed in the same room for a legitimate reason she insisted on having the other person moved because she wouldn't be able to concentrate with someone else typing - and oh yeah - what if the other person forgets and eats something with peanuts. then peanut girls parents will have to come back into the school and insist that its peanut free or they'll sue again...

I'm so happy she's out of our school - not becuase it stopped any of us from eating peanuts to begin with (as long as she didn't know she was fine) but now we dont have to deal with all the e-mails from the administration which was purely an ass-covering attempt anyway.

right, correction -- not 12 million bubble boys -- more like 3 million. is that any more reasonable?

3:47, I had a feeling it was something like this. She seems like the type of whiney liberal that I wish would get hit by a bus.

Just put yourself in her shoes. If you had this allergy, and you could die from minimal exposure, wouldn't you expect society to cut you some slack and allow you to do something as simple as attend law school? What if we are talking about a future Supreme Court judge here? Let's have some compassion. Cutting PB from your life for a few hours a day is a small price.

I'd be bringing my peanut butter sandwich in. Mind your fucking business.

My right to eat peanuts is in the Constitution! It's right there next to privacy, sodomy, and abortion.

This board is a bunch of drama queens... I knew the student, who is, as Dean Mark said, a good student and nice person. He was merely apologizing for sending what he knew to be a logistically difficult situation to another dean. Obviously he needs to pay more attention to which is "reply" and which is "reply all," but otherwise you people are really getting your panties in a twist over something that's only mildly humorous.

Clearly, however, you people have no familiarity with the concept of courtesy. Even though the situation was no one's fault, it's still nice to recognize the situation and offer your apologies. Not that we'd really expected people who run around calling other schools "TTT's" or getting uppity about the deans of their law schools to have any social tact or sense of common respect. Obviously your talents are too thin to be spread beyond legal theory and into common human decency.

Question: what if the allergic person wasn't a student but, rather, a maintenance guy at the school. Or a secretary in the Career Center. Or a security guard. Do you think the school would still accommodate that person, or would they tell him or her to work elsewhere?

3:52 - Hi Dean Mark!

Dean Mark may be kind of a putz, but I don't think he's dumb enough to post on here...

3:55 - that was funny.

What about a rule saying that students can't stink like the cigs they've been smoking outside between classes because it makes people want to vomit. I'd be down with that rule.

that may be, and if someone really had a life threatening peanut allergy that would be one thing. the fact of the matter is that it wasn't life threatening, and whenever peanut girl wanted to get out of doing something (like going to legal writing) she would fake a "life threatening" attack, the school woudl throw a hissy fit, go from "no peanuts in her classroom" to "no peanuts in the wing she happens to be in" or to the next appropriate level. it was unnecessary and most people knew what was going on - but no one wanted to say anything because it would be insensitive. good thing for anonymous message boards.

I agree with 3:47, im happy shes gone so i can enjoy my third year without the unnecessary whining and ass-covering from the school.

Oh, my God. To be known as "peanut girl."

I'm a bit late to this, but is all this really because a law student is allergic to penis?

i go to the school where said "peanut girl" went, and it was a HUGE pain in the ass not to be able to bring anything with peanuts in it - that being said, the school took it very seriously (to an obnoxious degree) and we are all happy now that we can bring in food without hiring a specialist to determine its contents. HOWEVER - ignoring my mild sarcasm, it wasn't THAT big of a deal to abstain from peanut products for what - the 4 hours a day tops I was in the building to help protect her LIFE. she had a serious allergy - while i hate allowing a minority to impose its restraints on the majority, its the least you can do for another person.

4:01

i think we've established that she's not really that allergic - so it would have to be a lot of penis

Bitchy, comments on 4:01? I get the impression from other threads that you have the opposite problem?

i was there and agree with 4:05. there was a certain amount snideness from the administration in its adherence to the ban though.

I remember the dean of students sent around an email after the ban was lifted this year that seemed to make light of her situation.

anyone know if this girl summered anywhere and what steps were taken to accomodate her?

No 4:07, the slightest penis - even yours - could cause her throat to close.

Don't think it...

Please remember not to out her by giving too much info. This board is one thing...outing her is another.

Please be sure not to out her. Commenting on this board generally is one thing...outing her is another.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fenway Park. Please note that there will be no peanuts served today, as Ms. Please Re-Arrange Your Lives For Me has decided to attend today's game. She is severely allergic to peanuts. We're sorry that you will not enjoy baseball's traditional snack, but the rights of this girl to see a baseball game trump everyone else's right to eat what is just about the most common snack food known to man.

Please be sure not to out her. Commenting on this board generally is one thing. Outing her is another.

Villanova Law had a student die (off campus) from a peanut allergy a few years back. I would guess it's not that Mark, although he is an idiot.

Sorry for 3 posts. My computer sucks.

First they came for the peanut butter, but I said nothing as I do not eat peanut butter. Then they came for the milk, but I said nothing again as I am mildly lactose intolerant. Then they came for the muffins and I LOVE MUFFINS, but alas no one was left to fight.

WHY GOD, WHY DID YOU FORSAKE THE MUFFINS!

My bigger question is who is the asshole dean who forwarded this to ATL? You know it's only going to be mildly embarrassing to Dean Mark, but the student IS going to hear about this and read all the dickwad comments you people have left on here at her expense.

What kind of malignant ass exposes an innocent student to this sort of BS so she can embarrass another dean?

Nixon Peanutty

4:15 - I'm pretty sure she already has heard - who else would be SOOOO concerned about protecting her identity as to post 3 times reminding us not to out her....

jesus christ you people are a bunch of whiny bitches. i go to this school and not eating peanuts was probably the easiest thing ive ever had to do in law school. talk about being selfish, oh no i cant eat my peanut butter sandwich! ridiculous

3:43: but seriously, do you think she prefers tapes or CDs?

Does this girl need every single building she walks into to be completely, 100% cleansed of peanuts and peanut residue? Will she need to call ahead before every deposition she ever attends at another office and have them de-peanutize? Every lawyer who ever works with her will be forever banned from snacking on a Payday at the office? "This is to announce that the firm has hired Ms. X. Peanuts are henceforth banned. The firm's cafeteria will completely re-arrange its food preparation for this girl."

Absurd.

Out her now!!! If she interviews with biglaw, we need to know who she is. That way, we can all no-offer her -- lest we be subject to her reign of terror.

4 09:

well done

penis penis penis

A dean who likes to post things on the internet...who used to have a website...and then deleted it when students found it.... a dean like that. that's my best guess.

4:17 - how about the few non-assholes who post on this board and are concerned more about protecting the student from unnecessary crap than providing fodder for titillating your small mind. Go log on to TMZ or watch E! with the rest of the teenage girls.

Unmoved by the peanut allergy and seemingly hostile, Warren G dedicated a line of "Ain't No Fun" from the debut album "Doggystyle" by Snoop Doggy Dog, to the peanut prohibition proclaiming: "So back up b**** cuz i'm strugglin, so get off your knees and then start jugglin these motherf***** nuts in your mouth."

NY to 190
NY to 190

Villanova to Darwinism!

3:30(2), you are a moron. 3:28(2)'s point was that we don't wear masks to protect someone with AIDS from catching our infections (since you are the AIDS expert, you may remember that it is an immune deficiency), not that we don't catch his AIDS. It's the peanut girl who is threatened by other's peanut consummation, not the others who are afraid to "catch" her allergy (which you can't catch through the air--or otherwise-either). Think before you write, idiot.

oh, and also i must have missed out on this peanut party. if i were dean douchebag id be more concerned about the abundance of cokeheads attending his shcool than people not being able to eat peanuts

Where are my NY Bar results!?!? Do they give you advance notice of publication date or do they just post them randomly?

Honestly, avoiding peanuts for the short amount of time I was at school with her was not that big of a deal. Sneaking peanut M & Ms while I worked in the library, not that big of a deal. Yeah, it sucks having to change your diet.. or in my case, pretend to change my diet, but as someone from 'Nova, I can honestly tell you this is not that big of a deal. Perhaps if she were nicer, this wouldn't be even talked about by the students that have known her. I don't know. I didn't know her that well, but isn't being called "Peanut Girl" punishment enough for enforcing your very real, or not so very real allergy on others? Lets all just let it be... and enjoy some peanuts.

4:28: What? You'll have to explain that better for me.

It's a good thing she wasn't allergic to ugly - nearly 99.8% of the student body would have to be expelled.

Can someone please shoot the wgwag guy?

The problem was not that we weren't allowed to eat peanuts. It wasn't even that we weren't allowed to eat nuts in general. It was that you were expected to check the labels of everything you buy that you might bring to school for any type of ingredient that might be nut-related. It was a pain! And her attitude about it didn't help.

It's a good thing she wasn't allergic to ugly - nearly 99.8% of the student body would have to be expelled.

It's one thing for anonymous jackasses with nothing better to do to complain about this Wicked Witch of Peanuts on ATL, but it's something much more serious when her dean writes an email like that. If he had just hit 'reply all' to a tasteful email, Lat would probably never have received it. Describing spontaneous joy at a newly-found ability to eat nuts is really hurtful to the cause of the peanut ban, and it makes it sound like it's a real pain in the ass to put up with, which it probably wasn't.

Mark is the real dipshit here, not Peanut woman or Peanut woman-haterz.

Nova's full of cokeheads? where!? hook it uuuuuuuuuuppppppp...

Mr. Doctor - You come in saying stupid things and then try to call someone else for incoherence? Wow.

I am a student at the school also, and I think that most of the people who were whining about the peanut ban should just shut the hell up. It's so ridiculous to be so selfish about something as dumb as eating peanuts when it made such a huge difference to that girl's life. It WAS a big deal. Don't listen to the people who say otherwise. They did not know her because if they did, they would realize that it was a really serious issue and she dealt with it the best she could under the circumstances. She is also a very capable and smart person. Making fun of someone for having a peanut allergy is like making fun of people for having a disability or for being of a particular race. It's ignorant and bigoted.

is villanova a good school?

So let me get this straight, suppose she's exposed to both peanuts and penis, which one is more harmful?

4:29 I didn't say you were a moron; I said 3:30 is.

Quite whining. Having to abstain from eating peanuts could not be nearly as bad as the fact that you go to Villanova.

4.35

that wasn't clever. shut up.

(penis)

YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME

I saw peanut girl eating at a popular Thai restaurant last year at Nova. Oddly enough, I was eating pad- Thai loaded with peanut oil. Weird.

4:35 - No.

Haha..totally agree w/you 4:30. The b-school is where all the hottness was.

Making fun of someone for having a peanut allergy is like making fun of people for having a disability or for being of a particular race. It's ignorant and bigoted.

And fun.

hey 3:47 - eat it, numbnuts.

and 3/4 of the people posting on here are utter morons, peanut girl is entitled to accomodation under federal law whether you fools like it or not.

Gallion OUT!

Moops.

This Dean Mark fella sounds like he's now harbororing weapons of nut destruction. We're taking him out.

NIXON PEANUTTY

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Making fun of someone for having a peanut allergy is like making fun of people for having a disability or for being of a particular race. It's ignorant and bigoted.

======================

Stupidest. Thing. Ever.

If I ever hook up with Peanut girl, I'm going to cover my penis with peanut butter.

Come on, Lat, this whole story was just a shameful attempt to solicit deez nuts jokes from your readership.

I think we've had just about enough from the peanut gallery on this one.

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.

If I ever hook up with Peanut girl, I'm going to cover my penis with peanut butter.

-----------

Wouldn't those cancel each other out?

Freebirds World Burrito: Best Mexican Restaurant Ever
9-Nov-2007
Written by: Susie Kopecky

Freebirds - the only burrito you will ever truly eat.

Ah, Freebirds (World Burrito), how I love thee. Whether at 10 a.m., 2:30 a.m. or 8 p.m., you are the only burrito superstore for me. Freebirds World Burrito, or simply "Freebirds" to those who know and love it best, is a phenomenal Mexican food restaurant that serves up the grandest and most delicious burrito you will ever eat.

Some say that Freebirds is technically a chain, but that isn't truly the whole story. The flagship location, the Santa Barbara location, of which this article is a loving ode to, opened its doors in 1987, while the first Texas Freebirds opened in 1990, according to Freebirds' corporate website FAQ. Freebirds is a popular chain in Texas, where college students no doubt take advantage of its tasty menu, if the SB location is any indication of the Texas companion restaurant's quality.

Situated in the heart of UCSB's surrounding college town of Isla Vista, Freebirds is open 24 hours a day, and most of the time, for good reason. Especially on the weekends (pretty much every weekend at that), and unbelievably so on Halloween weekend, Freebirds is busting at the seams as hungry kids crowd in line in an effort to secure Freebirds goodness.

The first couple of years in Isla Vista, I only ate the nachos and an occasional burrito there, which both were heaven in a Styrofoam box. The restaurant is styled as a pick-what-you-want-as-you-go bar, as patrons point at which ingredients they want inside their burrito, quesadilla, monster burrito, nachos and tacos. I have yet to try the tacos, though I have seen happy customers consuming them. The nachos have been a late-night snack staple for my friends and I ever since we discovered the glory of Freebirds. And let's just say that the quesadilla is, as my friends Talia and Tall Dave might say, "heaven in a box!" Somehow, the cheese is just perfectly gooey yet fresh, the pico de gallo and onions (both friend and raw) pack the perfect punch, and the guacamole is tantalizingly super. People from all over California flock to the Santa Barbara eatery, because it is that good. Honestly, there is no equivalent to it. This reporter must be signing off now, but Freebirds dreams await. Maybe I'll see you in line next time. I recommend the nachos.

Talk to other readers about this story.

What I love the most about this e-mail is the oh-so-sincere "apology" for offloading the student followed by a description of how happy the whole student body is for having gotten rid of her.

Of course she's entitled to accomodation under federal law, but it's not at all clear exactly WHAT level of 'accomodation' is required.

No one is forcing her to eat peanuts in order to graduate, in any case.

If I ever hook up with Peanut girl, I'm going to cover my penis with peanut butter.

Freebirds World Burrito: Best Mexican Restaurant Ever
9-Nov-2007
Written by: Susie Kopecky

Freebirds - the only burrito you will ever truly eat.

Ah, Freebirds (World Burrito), how I love thee. Whether at 10 a.m., 2:30 a.m. or 8 p.m., you are the only burrito superstore for me. Freebirds World Burrito, or simply "Freebirds" to those who know and love it best, is a phenomenal Mexican food restaurant that serves up the grandest and most delicious burrito you will ever eat.

Some say that Freebirds is technically a chain, but that isn't truly the whole story. The flagship location, the Santa Barbara location, of which this article is a loving ode to, opened its doors in 1987, while the first Texas Freebirds opened in 1990, according to Freebirds' corporate website FAQ. Freebirds is a popular chain in Texas, where college students no doubt take advantage of its tasty menu, if the SB location is any indication of the Texas companion restaurant's quality.

Situated in the heart of UCSB's surrounding college town of Isla Vista, Freebirds is open 24 hours a day, and most of the time, for good reason. Especially on the weekends (pretty much every weekend at that), and unbelievably so on Halloween weekend, Freebirds is busting at the seams as hungry kids crowd in line in an effort to secure Freebirds goodness.

The first couple of years in Isla Vista, I only ate the nachos and an occasional burrito there, which both were heaven in a Styrofoam box. The restaurant is styled as a pick-what-you-want-as-you-go bar, as patrons point at which ingredients they want inside their burrito, quesadilla, monster burrito, nachos and tacos. I have yet to try the tacos, though I have seen happy customers consuming them. The nachos have been a late-night snack staple for my friends and I ever since we discovered the glory of Freebirds. And let's just say that the quesadilla is, as my friends Talia and Tall Dave might say, "heaven in a box!" Somehow, the cheese is just perfectly gooey yet fresh, the pico de gallo and onions (both friend and raw) pack the perfect punch, and the guacamole is tantalizingly super. People from all over California flock to the Santa Barbara eatery, because it is that good. Honestly, there is no equivalent to it. This reporter must be signing off now, but Freebirds dreams await. Maybe I'll see you in line next time. I recommend the nachos.

Talk to other readers about this story.

FUCK THE PEANUTS

accomodation is one thing - policing what other students choose to bring to school is entirely different.

Of course she's entitled to accomodation under federal law, but it's not at all clear exactly WHAT level of 'accomodation' is required.

No one is forcing her to eat peanuts in order to graduate, in any case.

MYYYYYYYYY PEANUTS!!!!

who cares about freebirds?

Retards, stop double-posting!

4:51 - I didn't think I cared until I read the post about the burritoes and then I started to get hungry for a burrito. So I guess the answer is: I do, I care.

Retards, stop double-posting!

Retards, stop double-posting!

This is my favorite line: "Heaven in a styrofoam box"

The retards who made it look like I double-posted my anti-double-posting post can suck a peanut-buttery penis!

The onions at Freebirds are available "both friend [sic] and raw"

Mmmmmm, burritos.

It's peanut butter jelly time!!!

I met peanut girl and she was eating peanuts and she was all like dude, I'm not peanut girl and I'm not allergic to peanuts maybe you're thinking of someone else? So I hope the lying bitch develops a real allergy and stops lying.

Burrito

B-U-R-R-I-T-O-E

Burrito

Six posts away from a double clusterf**k!

4:58, Brian the dog pisses me off.
I wish Stewie would've killed him last night.

Who knew that a little post about peanut allergies could generate almost 200 comments?

Crazy...

ATL Thread to Double Clusterf**k!

200 post is impressive, but you, Penutty Post, are no Emory Law Comments Clusterf@#k.

The retards who made it look like I double-posted my anti-double-posting post can suck a peanut-buttery penis!

200th!

Nice try 5:06, except you put your name as "Anonymous", so everyone knows I didn't double-post and that you love peanut-buttery cock.

Two-hundred and FIRST!

NY to 190
NY to 190

Nice try 5:06, except you put your name as "Anonymous", so everyone knows I didn't double-post and that you love peanut-buttery cock.

The retards who made it look like I double-posted my anti-double-posting post can't suck a peanut-buttery penis like I do! No one can!

What about . . . scatological peanuts?

I love peanut-buttery cock.

i think her boyfriend suffers more than anyone...

Heeeyyyy!!! You got your cock in my peanut butter!!

Heeyyyyy!!! You got your peanut butter on my cock!!!

5:06 - I'll take your reposting of my 5:09 anti-anti-double-posting-reposting-posting as reflective of your desire to promulgate your love for peanut-buttery penis.

Is it normal to be overwhelmed with feelings of self-loathing after reading the comments on this site?

I don't know why it was posted, but that freebird's article is right on.
They are really the best burritos I've ever had. Big ups to Isla Vista.

Now why aren't there any good burrito places in NY or NY Bar exam results?

Happy peanuts on chocolate covered mountaintops, and waterfalls of caramel. Prancing nougat in the meadows sings a song of satisfaction to the world.

...to the world.

Shit, if I'd have known it was going to be this kind of comments thread, I'd have stuck my dick in the peanut butter.

5:18 gets comment of the day. Bravo

The Beastie Boys,
Best comment on this chain. Thank you.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fenway Park. Please note that there will be no peanuts served today, as Ms. Please Re-Arrange Your Lives For Me has decided to attend today's game. She is severely allergic to peanuts. We're sorry that you will not enjoy baseball's traditional snack, but the rights of this girl to see a baseball game trump everyone else's right to eat what is just about the most common snack food known to man."

You realize that this means a ban on Cracker Jacks too! I wonder if singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" will incite a reaction?

Yea when are the NY Bar results coming out? WTF...why is BOLE taking so long. Why is ths a suspense situation right now? HELLO!!! Can we get a warning at least?!!

Yea when are the NY Bar results coming out? WTF...why is BOLE taking so long. Why is ths a suspense situation right now? HELLO!!! Can we get a warning at least?!!

If peanut girl had been in my law school class and the allergies were that serious, I would have been willing to give up candy bars for a few hours a day. However, since peanut and other allergies seem to be more common in children, I do wonder what will happen eventually if everyone with similar needs expects to receive special accomodations. How does this woman function in other environments if those type of measures are required at her law school? Will her eventual employer adopt similar restrictions? What about at a firm like mine, where the downstairs cafeteria is shared with several other businesses in the building? Could that be a "non-peanut free zone" without jeopardizing this person's health?

I truly feel sympathetic to anyone whose allergies are so severe -- that must be miserable -- but do kind of wonder whether it's possible to take special accomodations too far. Either way, I think the Dean of peanut girl's law school sounds like a complete ass.

hehehe...you wrote BOLE...hehehe

http://www.diningservices.villanova.edu/nutrition/needs.htm

"Is it normal to be overwhelmed with feelings of self-loathing after reading the comments on this site?"

Yes. Sometimes I just read the main post, skip the comments.

5:32 - wow, you are so much better than us. Now please leave.

226th!

I AM allergic to assholes, which made it impossible for me to continue at law school.

5:30 - it's one thing to give up peanuts for a few hours a day while in class with "peanut girl" - that doesn't really infringe much on the other students' "right" to eat peanuts. I think the bigger problem is making the entire campus peanut free. When I was in law school I was often there for 6-8 hour stretches - I would go early to work out, go to a class or two and then go to my on campus job. I had to eat at least once in this stretch - and given the location of my school, there was no where to really go to buy food withina few blocks and more importantly, I couldn't afford to buy lunch every day. So I HAD to eat at least once a day on campus. Often this was left overs (which may or may not contain peanut products of some sort - i don't know) or a (cheap!) pbj - why shouldn't I be allowed to eat somewhere on campus in the course of my 6-8 hour day?

I understand making accomodations - but maybe instead of banning peanuts from the entire campus (including the lunch room) she could have just stayed away from the lunch room (where she probably would be too afraid to eat anything anyways) and that could be the one place on campus where peanuts were ok?

I think that people don't have a problem accomodating someone with a real health issue, I think the problem is having to rearrange their entire lives for someone they don't know.

5:45

Leaving the closet behind?

Uh, I'm fairly sure that there is really no such thing as a peanut allergy. This is ALL some bullcrap cooked up by the medical profession to increase business. Peanut allergy my ass.

Coincidence? I think not! From CNN.com today...

Study: Milk allergy can take years longer to outgrow
Story Highlights
Study: Milk allergy lasts longer than had been previously thought

For infants and young children, milk allergy most common food allergy

Study: 19 percent outgrew allergy by age 4; 42 percent by age 8; 64 percent by 12

One out of five -- 20 percent-- did not outgrow the milk allergy by age 16

By Sharona Schwartz
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When Julianne Jaffe Cohen was looking at colleges for her son Jeremy, the first question she asked was not about the academics. Instead, she wanted to know whether there was a hospital nearby.

She had "sleepless nights in the beginning, but I was determined to let this child live his life," Cohen said.

Jeremy Cohen is allergic to all dairy products which means if he eats any food containing even a small amount of milk, cheese, or yogurt, he can become very ill.

"At the slightest consumption of dairy, I break out into hives, coughing and have to go to the hospital. ... It's a very, very severe reaction," Jeremy said in a telephone interview from the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he is a freshman.

His mother's fears have already been realized. Since he started school this fall, Jeremy has had one major allergic reaction that sent him to the hospital after eating at a restaurant. "All of a sudden I started feeling sick, coughing, turned bright red, and had hives all over." A policeman in the neighborhood drove him to a nearby hospital. Watch why milk allergies are more difficult to outgrow. »

A new study published in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggests that 18-year-old Jeremy is not alone. The study showed that most children who had a milk allergy as infants did not outgrow the disease before entering elementary school, according to Dr. Robert Wood, chief of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Wood, one of the study's authors, said that finding was contrary to previous research.

For infants and young children, milk allergy is still the most common food allergy, affecting 2 percent to 3 percent of that population, the study noted.

Researchers found a "significantly different natural history of milk allergy than what had been reported in virtually all of the previous studies. ... They would have said that the vast majority of milk allergy is outgrown by age 3 and if not by 3 certainly by 5 or 6," Wood said.

According to the study, which examined children who had been sent by a doctor to a pediatric allergy center, "the prognosis for developing tolerance [to milk] is worse than previously estimated."

The study found that 19 percent of the group outgrew their allergy to milk by the age of 4; 42 percent by the age of 8; 64 percent by the age of 12. The study found that 79 percent of the group outgrew their allergy to milk by the age of 16, which means one in five did not outgrow the milk allergy by that age.

The authors said that the character of cow's milk allergy "has changed over time ... and may now truly be a more persistent disease."

"One of the huge frustrations for parents of milk-allergic children is that they will typically find that someone with peanut allergy gets lots of respect and lots of precautions taken and the same respect is almost impossible to get for milk allergy," Wood says. Examples of precautions are cleaning school lunch tables well or placing children with peanut butter at a separate table. "Whatever precautions need to be in place for something like peanut allergy, need to be in place for milk allergy as well," says Wood.

The study also found that even though many did not outgrow the allergy by age 3, some patients were able to outgrow it "well into adolescence," indicating that "there is no age at which outgrowing CMA (cow's milk allergy) is impossible."

When exposed to milk, children in the study had a range of reactions, including rashes, hives, gastrointestinal symptoms, respiratory difficulties and even multiple-organ anaphylactic shock, a severe, sometimes fatal reaction.

With data collected on 807 patients, this was the largest group of milk-allergic children ever studied.

Ninety-one percent of the children studied were allergic to at least one other food besides milk, suggesting this might be a particularly allergic group, especially since they had been referred to a pediatric allergy clinic.

The study found that kids who had asthma and hay fever were less likely to outgrow milk allergy. There was also a worse prognosis for those who had ever received infant formula.

An estimated 2 percent of U.S. adults and 4 percent to 8 percent of children suffer from food allergies, and about 150 individuals die from them every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A study by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York showed the number of children allergic to peanuts doubled between 1997 and 2002.

Wood and his team concluded that a simple blood test measuring milk-specific, or IgE antibodies can have enormous value in predicting who will and will not outgrow a milk allergy. "That test has pretty significant value in predicting the natural history" of the disease and is widely available, Wood said.

Dr. Wood last year saw 75 patients allergic to milk heading to college.

Jeremy Cohen and his family believe he will be allergic to milk for life, a belief supported by the study. Though he is a college student who has to watch what he consumes, he won't let that suppress his appetite for enjoying campus life.

I think the first school should have had to make accomodations. But why did peanut girl decide that her desire to be a visiting student for a year outweighed the food preferences of an entire other school for the year? It's a hastle to make a school peanut free. The girl shouldn't have been selfish and changed schools for a year.

Thanks 5:46. I was kind of thinking the same thing, because I also spent the better part of my day at my law school due to a long commute and typically brought my lunch, due to having no money. I have no idea whether the foods that I imported into the law school had peanut products in them, but pbj was one of my favorites b/c it didn't have to be stored in a fridge and didn't require a microwave. I guess that I would have adjusted if necessary, but do feel a bit intimidated at the idea of one day having to make accomodations for every person with various allergies and sensitivities if that's where we are moving as a society, as selfish as it may sound. I can see a world where no one is allowed to use scented detergents or eat anything with peanut products in the workplace, etc.

But logically, if her first school had to accomodate her, why shouldn't the second? Or any other environment she henceforth chooses to enter?

But why did peanut girl decide that her desire to be a visiting student for a year outweighed the food preferences of an entire other school for the year?

======================

Because she's undoubetedly been told at every stage of her life that it is her "right" to do as she pleases, no matter how much it inconveniences everyone else. Her "disability" is thus completely externalized; it's everyone else's problem, not hers. I doubt she even gave it a second thought.

Wouldn't it be easier to make the shit wear gloves? People don't inhale peanut dust.

Food allergies can be bad. I know of a child with a severe egg allergy that ended up in the hospital, because she was licked by a dog. Why, you ask? Because dog food is made with eggs.

That said, she's survived despite the fact that eggs are everywhere.

Did this chick sue Villanova? Was that the issue?

Looks like someone is getting a refund on their first two years of law school....

I really sympathize with peanut girl, but it's clear now that she ought to have been left on a hillside to die as an infant.

Nut allergies are VERY serious. The NY BOLE had me sit for the bar in an isolated room for two reasons: (1) so that I did not have a nut reaction from someone's trail mix and end up in the hospital and (2) so that I did not disturb everyone else's bar exam by needing EMTs to take me to the hospital.
I am appalled by the vitriol expressed in this thread. Clearly none of you has known someone with a severe food allergy. I am extremely careful of what I eat, and yet I have been forced to visit emergency rooms in eight foreign countries and five cities in the U.S. One of visits was the result of a law school classmate eating a nut filled food and getting some of the oil on the desk. I touched the desk not knowing of the residue, and ending up with hives in my throat, etc.
I am still very careful about what I eat, but I accept that in order to exist in "normal" society I must risk the life-threatening exposure that comes with it. I am very fortunate that my BigLaw firm makes the effort to eliminate tree nuts from events where they know that I will be present. Any officemate I have cannot consume tree nuts in our office, but people in other offices are welcome to do as they please. Whenever I show up at an event and discover there are tree nuts present, I immediately excuse myself and the firm understands. Previous posters are correct -- food allergies are protected under the A.D.A.
To all those who seem to take perverse pleasure in smearing peanut butter around their law schools, grow up.

draaaaama....

Thread delivers.

It also proves that the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory applies to law students, with a direct relationship to the perceived rank of the school attended.

it is a serious risk, but the student handled it improperly... there is no reason for the student to go to the extent of picking up a bag of trail mix in a library cubicle and bringing it to another student to take care of so that the student might not die

imposing. rude. and demanding

trying not to make light of 6:34. i was under the impression that peant allergies were to peanut protein, and that peanut oil is free from prenut protein. i'm sure the residue from a snack had some residue but i dont think that should be confused with peanut cooking oil (which probably makes sense why the student would go to a thai resturant despite the apparent risk of suicide

6:34 - but what you're saying is a reasonable accomodation. People can't eat nuts in YOUR office, but (with the exception of your officemate) are more than welcome to do so in their own offices. I also think it would be fair in this instance to ban nuts from certain common areas. Likewise, at firm events they make a real effort to accomodate you, but you, being a grown-up, also pay attention to what you eat.

I don't think anyone at any law school or law firm would have a problem with this highly reasonable request.

I think it's important to recognize the difference between law students on limited budgets wanting to be able to enjoy a pbj sandwich in at least one spot on campus and the people who are posting on ATL trying to piss you off since the former have a legitimate point.

I don't understand how a person with such a serious peanut allergy could make it in NYC. I mean, the crowds, the subway....? What a PITA. The person with the allergy has the burden of protecting herself, no? Avoid the cafeteria, maybe the professors for her classes could announce no snacking on peanut anything during class? All the peanut-free-zone-enforcement in the world at a school or workplace is not going to make it safe to go around NYC.

Exactly. The only real issue here is not whether they should accomodate her allergy at all, but what constitutes a reasonable accomodation, which is the protection offered by the ADA.

I am a parent of a child (much younger than this person obviously) who has a severe peanut reaction. Perhaps a number of you have not yet reached the phase of your life where you have kids. If you do, you might be a smidge more sympathetic....

In any event, if my daughter were accidentally exposed to peanuts, she could conceivably die. So we must do everything possible to ensure she is not exposed to peanuts. Most preschools are now nut free to accomodate the increasing number of children with sever nut allergies. And many elementary schools are going that route as well. 20 years from now when this large cohort of allergy kids reaches grad school, things may well be much different.... So I urge you all to be far more sympathetic and accomodating of people with severe food allergies.

As for the specifics of this person's case, there is a difficult balance to be maintained between knowing how much you can ask of others to protect yourself. As an adult, she presumably can take much greater efforts to protect herself than my daughter can. But if someone is eating peanut butter in a class room, there is nothing she could do aside from leaving the class (not an option). The problem is compounded by the fact that if someone in the prior class ate a peanut butter sandwich in her seat, she could have a reaction. So how to deal? Tough question.

The ADA requires that you make reasonable accomodations for disabilities and food allergies have been subject to the ADA. The question is what is reasonable. I do not propose the answer. But surely it requires sacrifices by many people.

One final thought, if someone who loves peanut butter is denied his or her "right" to eat it in school, he or she will be forced to eat turkey (or even soy nut butter!). If someone with a severe allergy is accidentally exposed, he or she could die. It's hard to understand how nut eaters can really defend their position without coming across as incredibly self-centered....

I am a parent of a child (much younger than this person obviously) who has a severe peanut reaction. Perhaps a number of you have not yet reached the phase of your life where you have kids. If you do, you might be a smidge more sympathetic....

In any event, if my daughter were accidentally exposed to peanuts, she could conceivably die. So we must do everything possible to ensure she is not exposed to peanuts. Most preschools are now nut free to accomodate the increasing number of children with sever nut allergies. And many elementary schools are going that route as well. 20 years from now when this large cohort of allergy kids reaches grad school, things may well be much different.... So I urge you all to be far more sympathetic and accomodating of people with severe food allergies.

As for the specifics of this person's case, there is a difficult balance to be maintained between knowing how much you can ask of others to protect yourself. As an adult, she presumably can take much greater efforts to protect herself than my daughter can. But if someone is eating peanut butter in a class room, there is nothing she could do aside from leaving the class (not an option). The problem is compounded by the fact that if someone in the prior class ate a peanut butter sandwich in her seat, she could have a reaction. So how to deal? Tough question.

The ADA requires that you make reasonable accomodations for disabilities and food allergies have been subject to the ADA. The question is what is reasonable. I do not propose the answer. But surely it requires sacrifices by many people.

One final thought, if someone who loves peanut butter is denied his or her "right" to eat it in school, he or she will be forced to eat turkey (or even soy nut butter!). If someone with a severe allergy is accidentally exposed, he or she could die. It's hard to understand how nut eaters can really defend their position without coming across as incredibly self-centered....

It seems like from most of the posts above, severe food allergies are becoming increasingly more common. Why is this? Why is there suddenly a much larger crop of children who are allergic to milk or nuts etc?

Any insight?

It's also interesting to see how deans of law schools characterize their students behind closed doors. This guy makes the Villanova kids sound small-minded and somewhat sadistic. Kind of have to wonder why he's a dean in the first place if he holds this view of his own student body.

7:02 - first, your daughter is a CHILD and goes to school with CHILDREN so a total ban is not unreasonable.

second, i do not love peanut butter. as a law student it was all i could afford. turkey, ham and other deli meats as well as soy nut butter, almond butter, etc are significantly more expensive (also, i'm a vegetarian so meat is out of the question). i would happily have gone to a special room, but telling me I can't eat one of the few foods that are both affordable and easily portable is unreasonable and it does not make me or anyone else self-centered to feel that way.

i used to also bring in a lot of left overs - sometimes they contained nuts, nut products, or things that might have been exposed to nut products , honestly, as a "nut eater" and a vegetarian who gets most of my protein from nuts - I don't really care. That being said, I would have been happy to go somewhere on campus designated as a nut zone so that I wouldn't have to change my eating habits but wouldn't risk exposing the "non-nut eaters" to any harmful.

at the adult level, forcing an entire campus, office or place of business to go nut free is self-centered. take some responsibility and stay away from the few places with nut exposure. BOTH sides need to compromise.

>It seems like from most of the posts above, severe food allergies are becoming increasingly more common. Why is this?

Dysgenics.

7:10 - It may sound crass, but my guess would be that a lot of people with severe allergies used to die. Now that we have means to keep people with such allergies from dying (medical advance, increased awareness, social accommodation), people with severe allergies are probably just surviving childhood and adolescence at higher rates.

Two-and-a-half clusterf**ks!

p.s. - F**k CivPro reading.

7:21 - I totally agree. A major problem with modern medicine and political correctness is that it is slowing down evolution. All of these lesser evolved people should be weeded out by natural selection. Then, we wouldnt have people with allergies (like peanut people) or nincompoops (like certain law school deans).

I knew the student as well and the problem with the whole situation was the way the school handled. At first it was only a partial ban, then a complete ban in the cafeteria and class rooms, then at the beginning of our second year they relaxed the ban to not include certain areas and then they had a complete ban--presumably after something happened. Then of course they posted the ban on a bulletin board but put no notices on the entrance doors even after they emphasized that the whole building was now supposed to be peanut free. They then put up these cartoonish figures with peanuts and a line through it. They even laminated them. It was crazy and I think the student body took the lead from the administration. Anyway, people for the most part did comply but the administration could have handled it better. These pronouncements were made through emails that were sent in the middle of the night, it was all just bizarre.

Anyway hopefully Fordham handled it better and yes it was villanova.

test

7:10 - I'm going to have to agree with 7:21 too. The increase in such allergies as this is probably a combination of two things: natural selection and globalization. Those with the severest allergies probably died before sexual maturity whereas today they're surviving to reproduce, thereby creating more with the severe allergy disability. With increased globalization, more products are more easily distributed in places where they did not originally evolve. I imagine the extreme peanut allergy did not come from a group of people indigenous to peanut-plentiful areas---they would have long been weeded out by dying young. But now we're shipping peanuts to previously peanut-free areas and finding some people there with these extreme allergies. And then we compound the problem as people are more easily able to travel and relocate than previously (i.e. 100+ years ago)--so previously peanut-plentiful areas have to restrict their peanut exposure possibility when someone such as Peanut Girl shows up.

Ultimately it goes back to balance and the idea of the reasonable accommodation such as pointed out by the non-nut-eater in her big firm (no eating nuts in her office, but allowed in firm in general).

From someone in the same Villanova class....

It's embarrassing that the Dean wrote this email. The part about the "peanut party" was false. There was no party. There were no munchkins. I think we were all glad to be able to have our PB&J back, but there was no party the way he characterized it. In fact, the Dean never interacts with the students enough to know that there was a party.

I think he owes an apology to the person with the allergy and the entire law school for embarrassing us.

@07:50: There was a party... you just weren't invited...

Let me make one thing clear, there was NO PEANUT PARTY hosted by any student organization at this law school. The Dean's statement in that regard is completely inaccurate.

funny! i am visiting student at villanova law sitting in class right now!

Not to make light of 6:34 or anyone else similarly situation, but if merely coming into contact with peanut residue would result in such an extreme reaction, shouldn't a reasonable accommodation for such a person be to wear gloves or not to expose their bare flesh to things that could have come into contact with the peanuts? I know other with similar severe allergies to certain common substances and that's one of the things they do because it's virtually impossible for them to not come into contact in with such common elements mainstream society. That only inconveniences 1 person---the person with the allergy--instead of forcing everyone else not ever consume a very common item. It's amazing that such people can call everyone else self-centered when they're demanding that everyone else change in a possibily semi-meaningful way for them.

And right now, it's only nuts and milk. What if other foods start to see a dramatic rise in other extreme food allergies and it's just not nuts and milk that are banned?

Thanks 7:17. I agree with pretty much everything you say. And obviously, you are not the type of unconcerned person I was directing my comments to. Designated peanut areas are probably a decent solution.

As for 7:10's question about the increasing prevalence of allergies: (1) the doctors have no idea; (2) it's likely as much due to increased diagnosis as increased prevalence; (3) my pet theory (based on my expert doctoring skills) is that the increase in allergies is coincident to (if not caused by) the near universal spread of breast feeding. Through breast milk, kids are exposed to allergens that the mom intakes. And the huge upswing in allergies in the last twenty years coincides with the huge increase in breast feeding in the US. I was not breast fed nor were most of my cohort (in my mid-30s). But almost all kids (particularly upper middle class) are breast fed today.

In our case, my wife ate peanut butter with our first kid and she has allergies. My wife completely avoided nuts while feeding our second kid and she has no allergies. This is, of course completely anecdotal, but apparently is something the scientists are considering.

THIS THEORY IS SUPPORTED BY ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENCE BUT SEEMS QUITE LOGICAL TO ME!!! :)

" In fact, the Dean never interacts with the students enough to know that there was a party."

Ah ha! So there WAS a party!

There was NO PARTY. The writer was just trying to say that the Dean has a lot of nerve acting like he knows any of the students well enough to know whether or not they are "rejoicing like munchkins". There was no peanut party.

8:13 - a major flaw in your theory is that breast feeding was the major means for feeding babies since the dawn of time. A generation or two of bottle fed formula babies isn't going to cause such a swing in the gene pool. 10,000 years is a blip in evolutionary time, 100 is not even recognizable. I take it you weren't/aren't a science kid, at least not one that discussed theories of evolution.

The natural selection theories presented earlier make more sense.

This is idiotic. If you're so allergic that you can't be in the same room with nuts, then you need to be in a bubble, not make everyone around you conform their lives to your medical problem.

A "reasonable accommodation" should not require changing the eating habits of everyone around you, and if you're a vegetarian or someone else who gets a substantial part of their protein intake from nuts, the idea of having to refrain from eating them because someone else brought their medical problem to your location is offensive.

If you're that allergic, the proper "reasonable accommodation" is to let you work from home where you can establish a nut free environment. Pretty soon we're going to have staff and patrons asserting that their food allergies should control what foods can be served in restaurants, and nut allergic people asserting that supermarkets should not be allowed to sell nuts because it prevents those people from accessing the market. Nonsense - if your allergy is so extreme that you cannot be in the same room with an everyday household item, then YOU need to accommodate for it, not everyone else.

This student was at my firm this summer and was memorable for her terrible attitude regarding her allergy. There were others in the class who also had severe nut allergies but no one else took pains to be a diva like she did. We too noticed she was only allergic if she was aware of peanuts in her midst; if she had no idea she was fine. The firm also tried to accommodate her, going so far as changing the group's travel arrangements to the DC office from airline to Amtrak (she claimed that peanut dust circulated in planes and she could never fly).

8:36, agreed.

I don't get it - how does this girl go to the supermarket?

I think most of these peanut allergies are bogus...

Once upon a time, it would have been considered common sense that the best way for society to deal with the problem of peanut allergies would be for people with peanut allergies to refrain from eating peanuts. Once upon a time...

I don't understand why the occurrence of peanut allergies seems to be so much higher now than 20 years ago. Is this like ADD where every single kid in 3rd grade is now diagnosed when in reality the number of people who truly have it is no where near that amount? WTF is going on here and why are you people defaming my good name?

G.W.C.

PS. I've retained a highly prestigious Atlanta firm (*cough cough*) for further advice.

I don't think that every person who is questioning the "peanut free law school" is insensitive -- although there are certainly a fair number of insensitive or uninformed comments above. It sounds like a big part of the objection that many students had to the peanut ban is that the allergic student was a diva, not that they all said, "f*ck the student's health, I have a right to eat pb&j." Judging from the idiotic Dean's email, maybe the student wasn't the problem as much as the poor way in which the administration handled the situation, creating the impression that the student was making unreasonable demands when the school just couldn't get its act together.

At any rate, I can understand the parent of a child with peanut allergies worrying about whether that child will be able to have a normal and safe life, but if there were another condition that required a person to eat peanuts due to a severe protein deficiency, that kid's parent would feel the same way about their child's "right" to eat peanuts. I think that some of the commenters are just trying to point out that an adult who does not want to be homebound has to be willing to make certain accomodations to their own life style, since poor law students and others may have their own reasons for wanting to consume peanut and peanut products. It's not fair to say, "I would die otherwise" and act like there are no reasonable steps that a grown adult can take to avoid peanuts outside of expecting them to be completely banished from public places. As others have pointed out, if the complete banishment from public places were really necessary, how would a person with such a severe allergy be able to ride public transportation, go in a grocery store, set foot in a restaurant, touch any surface in a public environment without gloves, etc.?

DUDES

Video of the Nova Peanut Party - it's real, baby

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=778029168

Also - peanut parent, lighten up, 'kay? We're just trying to have a little innocent fun at the expense of a person with a debilitating illness. No big.

VIDEO of the NOVA PEANUT PARTY

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=778029168

Also, lighten up - we're just having a little fun at the expense of a person with a debilitating illness. Seriously.

LAT - people are being DEPRIVED of my WITTY COMMENTS - see below

Thank you for Commenting
Your comment has been received and held for approval by the blog owner.

Return to the original entry

So, who thinks there will be a bit of tension in the room during the Deans' dinner at Fordham on January 5th? Crazy Dean Mark will be looking around the room wondering which of his fellow deans publicized this e-mail. Oh to be a fly on the wall.

I want to know if this will get any play in the national media.

this may be the greatest ATL thread EVAR.

it even has a ridiulous self-parodying post by Mr./Ms. Fed Soc.

Lat should bronze this thread and keep it on his mantle for all time.

I want to know if this will turn into a cluster-gangbang.

I didn't see anything bad about the dean's email. Its a pain in the ass to de-peanutize an entire law school, and he was just apologizing for sending that student over (I assume the receiving law school found out about the allergy only after she was accepted).

What's the problem?

Comments Thread to ClusterGangBang!

I'm just glad all of those peanut-buttery-penis-loving double-posters are gone.

It certainly was kind of Fordham's Dean "top" arrange the trip to the opera.

This girl's reaction to peanut "fumes" is similar to a mild to moderate asthma reaction.

She will not die from fumes alone, nor will she need to go to the hospital, but it makes life less pleasant for her so she made a huge deal of it and made everyone stop eating peanuts. First it was only the classrooms and then it was the whole school.

Well screw her. I ate my peanut butter granola bars and if she sniffled a bit or was a little short of breath, that is life, she can deal with it.

Had the school done a decent job of cleaning out the dust and other allergens (like the mold from the constant basement library flooding) I might not have been so indifferent to her plight.

The worst part about it was that the school DID NOT TELL US WHO IT WAS. I mean come on, if you are putting us all out to the degree that she did, then she should have identified herself so that we could avoid eating peanuts NEAR HER. It took me almost a whole year to figure it out.

I'm just glad all of those peanut-buttery-penis-loving double-posters are gone.

9:43: I don't know, something just doesn't seem right about a law school dean relating the reaction of his students to the departure of another of his students, who has a peanut allergy, to midgets celebrating the death of a tyrant. Yup, that doesn't feel right.

Why can't this person wear long sleeves, wipe down her desk before sitting down, wear a mask, or take other precautions? It's her life, and if she thinks it's so valuable then she should take more precautions. You only have one life, and it's just plain stupid to rely on other people taking care of it for you.

How do you plan on living in NYC with your allergy? This is a serious question.

She did identify herself, she stood up in first year torts when an announcement was being made about peanuts. Although I know this was probably not broadcast school wide she certainly didn't hide it.

If Cookie Monster was eating a cookie in his usual way, and pieces of cookie were flying out of his mouth onto the table, and the cookies had nuts in them, and he didn't wipe the table down, and Oscar came along and ate at his table, and Oscar had a peanut allergy, and Oscar went into shock, would Cookie Monster be liable in tort?

10:16....ummmm....no because Cookie Monster did not owe any duty to Oscar, and if no duty was owed, no duty could have been breached, and if no duty was breached, Cookie Monster could not have been negligent?

I feel so incredibly little sympathy for the dooshnizzles who feel the need to post here about their or their children's nut allergies, i have decided to place my sympathy within the following parens: ()

I believe nut allergies are positively correlated with having twatwaffles for parents. I call it the twatwaffle-treenut theorem.

No thai food, no snickers, no paydays, no salt peanuts, no honey roasted, no pb&j, no goobers, no reeces...all so little ms. nutley can be a lawyer...this is douchebehgery of the highest order. Don't tread on my peanut butter cups. I don't love your kid or you, but I fvcking love those commercials where the guy accidentally puts his chocolate into the other guy's peanut butter. Teach your kids about Darwin and move on with your life, maybe try pulling the lever on the genetic slot machine again.

10.29 you get potd = post of the day

Lat - you asked for a clusterfuck, you got one. Congrats.

NY to clusterfucks and special boni

"Will they send an email saying "tomorrow at 9am" or do they just post the passers on the website and we find out its available through the grapevine??" - 03:17 PM

Back in the day, they'd just announce when the results would be published in the NYT, and mobs of law grads who couldn't wait for the results to come by mail would fight with newsboys as the papers were tossed off the delivery trucks. Quite a sight.

YAY!

Why is it ok for Dean Mark to perpetuate negative stereotypes about wiccans and little people? That's what I want to know.

I saw that sloot at a Chinese restaurant last year. Fuck her peanut allergies.

I agree with 2:48pm(1), but the real question is: Does God want her merely dead, or really most sincerely dead?

I normally wouldn't do this, but...

Triple Clusterf**k!

As a Fordham student allergic to peanuts, this does not seem bad to me. Although I never asked the school to "depeanutize." I just don't walk into the room if peanuts are out.

Then again, this does seem pretty popular. This explains all those peanut ads on the train.

Dean Mark (we all know who he is) is a miserable dean. He was hired mainly to oversee the new building and it is taking forever. It is still being built, well it has not even started to be built (but they now have a nice parking garage--I guess), and he is running the school into the ground. He is extremely pro-catholic and has put an unhealthy spin on the value system of the school by pushing "Catholic Social Thought" as the mission of the school as opposed to marketing the school to employers.

Catholic social thought is fine and all, but the students are not that way in practice and it impedes the true mission which should be boosting the US News ranking (by getting better facilities to attract better students, increasing fund raising -- as an alumni I have yet to be solicited for a donation other than to buy a room naming rights in the new building for 100k -- no thanks, and targeting employers to increase salary/employment numbers). The worst part is the catholic conservative bent is killing the peer review number in US News. We get .4 to .5 better in the lawyer/judge review than peer review. Completely unacceptable given the level of faculty we have and a direct effect of the conservative catholic bent.

The second in command dean is the one who should be running the place. She is a tough, hard-nosed, wonderful administrator and a grad of the law school to boot. Hopefully, when Dean Mark (who clearly did not get the email use lecture we all received) moves on, the head Priest at the school will appoint her to replace him.

The high incidence of deadly food allergies these days is attributable to the insane vaccination schedule that is being pushed on little kids. Over-vaccination over stimulates the immune system and causes it to go in to overdrive. This is also why we are seeing an explosion in the incidence of type I diabetes in children (not type II which is usually caused by being overweight.)

I'm not saying immunizations are bad - they aren't. Immunizations have saved many lives. But each year the CDC has added more and more immunizations to their recommendations so that it is unrecognizable from what most adults had as children. Some kids are just not going to handle them and they are going to develop autoimmune disorders as a result.

You can search the VAERS database if you wish. I know type I diabetes is in there (autism is not - the US govt doesn't recognize that as an adverse vaccine reaction).

The peanut allergy kids have overprotective parents who didn't let them get dirt under their fingernails when they were kids.

Kids aren't getting a chance to develop a decent immune system these days.

So if you see any really clean kids, put mud on them. Maybe spit on them a bit too. It's for their own good, and the good of all of us -- those allergy-prone kiddies will be expensive healthcare burdens for society in 60 years time! Do your grandchildren a favour!

Wow--the students in the legal writing program likely have better grammar skills than the Dean of this suburban Philadelphia law school.

I heard that Topeka was going to $65K. Comments?

yep, it was our law school. it was pretty freaking ridiculous; i had someone come up to me one day when i had a quaker granola bar and say "that might have peanut residue in it." my response was "ok, well i'll tell anyone who sits near me that if she is peanut girl, she should sit elsewhere." i also had a final where the proctor, 5 minutes before the exam said "please don't eat penaut products during the exam." some girl taps me on the shoulder and says " i ate peanut m&m's in here 2 hours ago should i tell them?" i was like, "well the peanut girl isn't in our class so you're ok." the girl left the room, told the proctor and gave me a thumbs up, like i gave a damn.
it wasn't so much peanut girl herself as it was the total incompetence from the dean and others. we had a visiting professor who saw the peanut signs with red x over them and he thought it was a joke and kidded around for 15 minutes about it. he didn't believe us when we told him it was real. we said "didn't you see the email?" he was like, "who would just send out an email and not address it further?" uh, the incompetent admins. at villanova, that's who

It's also interesting to see how deans of law schools characterize their students behind closed doors. This guy makes the Villanova kids sound small-minded and somewhat sadistic. Kind of have to wonder why he's a dean in the first place if he holds this view of his own student body.
----------------------------------
Exactly ^

People commenting about how hard it is to not have peanut products "on campus" are ridiculous. The campus is huge and there are plenty of other places to eat other than inside the nasty, dirty, ghetto law shcool building. I don't know why some people felt compelled to practically live inside the building for their law school lives -- it's a complete dump. It took them forever to "negotiate" with the maintenance ppl to have them clean the floors more than 1x a day. I was ashamed to give my friends a tour of the dump.

forgive me for not having read all these comments -- my question is what kind of sanction did these schools impose for PBan violators? If you're caught with a Snickers bar, what happens? what really are the chances a PBan violator will get caught? is there strict liability? Given the difficulty in policing the PBan, and the likelihood of there being an element of scienter, why not just do as you please and play dumb if caught?

8:13 With respect to your view about natural selection, bear in mind that while you are entirely correct, prior to modern diagnosis and treatment, those kids probably died. So, basically, until say 1950, you never would have discovered allergies. Starting at about the same time, there was a big swing from breast feeding to formula. It wasn't until the 1980s or so when there was both prevalent breast feeding and effective diagnosis and treatment. So, yes natural selection probably did play a role, just not quite the one you presume. In any event, as I said, I have no science to backup my theory....

9:20 (Let's be fair). I generally agree with your view that adults need to be able to make some accomodations with respect to their allergies and not force everyone in the world to deal with your issue. It sounds like this person may be doing more harm to her cause than good by expecting everyone at every turn to care about and address her issue. She does need to be protective of herself as well. But with education and information perhaps others will be more willing to accomodate allergy sufferers, rather than reacting in a manner that is equally if not more self-centered (demanding their right to eat pbj and any time any where). The point is, everyone needs to work to accomodate the issue -- just like any other medical issue people might have.

Finally, as to the sad sacks who have described allergies as stemming from overprotective parents: (a) I would suspect that you do not have kids; and (b) even if you do (or especially if you do), you probably should not be so quick to judge. Try a little empathy. Try putting yourself in someone else's shoes . . . .

Peanut Parent, try thinking instead of emoting all over the place.

No one is claiming the right to "eat peanuts anytime anywhere." I am sure no one would object to not eating peanuts in a classroom with this girl or in close proximity to her. But to ban peanuts -- and all products containing peanut residue (!) -- from the school entirely interferes with everyone's daily lives to a high degree. It's way beyond the kinds of minor impositions people should be made to put up with.

I have absolutely no responsibility to "work" to accomodate your kid's "issues." You might ask me, and I might say yes. When you start off from a premise that you can impose all sorts of duties on others as a matter of right, you're going to piss a lot of people off. Which is exactly what this girl is doing by turning her unber-sensitive peanut allergy into a traveling roadshow.

Finally, I do not believe for a single second she is THAT allergic to peanuts. She'd be dead already. This has all the marks of hypochondria.

I am sorry, but can't she wear a mask? Doesn't she have an obligation to prevent exposure to the peanuts instead of having the entire system accommodate her? If I had a hearing deficiency it would be a bit daft to require that all the students in the school yell so I wouldn't have to wear a ear-piece.

I would like to know whether Villanova's SBA did in fact throw a "peanut party."

If they didn't, as the poster above stated, why is the dean fabricating this kind of stuff up about his students?

peanut allergies have nothing to do with dirt. my child is in a class with two children who get dirty and stinky just like all the other kids - but these two kids have already visited the emergency room a few times each because they are highly allergic - one to peanuts, the other to peanuts and tree nuts. for this reason my child's school is peanut free.

my child can eat anything and not have an allergic reaction. does it bother me that I can't send peanut butter to school? hell no. as another poster said - there but for the grace of god go I... I feel very lucky that I don't have to carry an epipen and watch every food my child eats like a hawk, lucky I don't have to spend sleepless nights worrying that something will slip past me, or his teachers won't get to the epipen fast enough.

as attorneys i would have thought you all would be smarter than some of these responses. if you know that you could kill someone by eating that snickers, then hell YES that snickers could cause you to be responsible.

and yes there are some adults who are THAT allergic and no they are not all dead already.

and if you looooove peanut butter so much, try sunflower seed butter if you have to be in a peanut free zone.

Here's a little math, which obviously I suck at, which is why I went to law school.

Taking 12 million as the number of people who suffer from peanut allergies, and 300 million as the number of people in the US, we get a rough estimate of 1 in 30 people with the allergy. Say 1 in 10 (a total wild guess) suffer severe allergies. That's 1 in 300.

At Georgetown, we have 600 in each year. So that's probably 2 a year. say 6 people in our law school suffer from severe peanut allergies.

Why hasn't something been done? Probably b/c most people w/severe peanut allergies (above a certain age) are capable of dealing w/the issue on their own, w/o imposing relatively draconian measures on a wide group of people.

Seems to me that, without making light of Ms. Peanut's disability, there is something fishy going on here.

9:54, not everyone is affected to the same degree.

being so affected that you are sensitive to peanut dust is on the severe end of the spectrum.

Penaut allergy freaks are idiots. My firm had recommendations for kids for kids at my firm trick-or-treating in the halls -- goldfish, pretzels, and other crappy food. I gave out Reese's peanut butter cups!!! Any kid unattended by parents should realize they have peanuts, and obviously parents shouldn't let allergic kids have them. But if you have the allergy and eat one--then you deserve what you get. Btw, the peanut butter cups were a HUGE hit with the kids (and no fatalities have yet been reported).

Shall we sanitize the earth for his precious, little darlings, sir?

It really is a shame -- if true -- how peanut girl "over-handled" the situation. I have a severe peanut allergy myself. I got plenty of dirt under my fingernails as a kid (1:17 am), but I have the allergy nonetheless. And it all can work out, for the most part, if both sides compromise. I don't go into places with lots of peanuts (i.e., Five Guys burgers). My friends are kind enough to make an effort not to have any peanut products around me. I wash my hands all the time, and I take medicine if I come in contact peanut with fumes. It's not perfect, and I wish I could say I never have reactions. But most people try to do their best to help me out, because I ask nicely and I do everything I can on my end.

Also, it's worth point out that while people with peanut allergies have to be quite careful, it is not the case that everyone with the severe allergy will "die" upon "contact" with the peanut oil, protein, etc. The more severe the exposure, the more severe the reaction, so a reasonable accommodation would seek to remove the hazards of severe exposure. Indeed -- and I say this as someone with the allergy -- if your allergy is so bad that mere contact with mild residue will send you straight to the hospital, for your own safety, you shouldn't be out and about with exposed skin. But if your allergy is like most, accommodations from the school cafeteria, plus kind responses from your classmates (i.e., not eating peanut snacks in your classroom), PLUS effort on your own part are generally enough to make everything fine.

Perhaps peanut girl could be a little more accommodating, so that people on the other side would be willing to give a little more on their end, too. It's people like her (again, if the stories are true) that make it harder for those of us with allergies willing to sacrifice a lot on our end.

I echo a prior poster's comments - carry an epi pen. I have friends that love to garden but are deathly allergic to bees- answer, epi pen.

Next we won't be allowed to bring dogs on airplanes because little johnny in coach has an allergy.

Peanut Parent

Sorry about your kid, but you are idiot with respect to your "breast feeding causes allergies" nonsense. First, less than 11% of American women are breastfeeding at 6 months--I'd hardly call that "most" women. Second, a Swedish study showed that breast feeding actually is linked to DECREASED allergies. At two years of age, the children who were exclusively breast-fed for four months or more had less asthma (7.7% vs. 12%), less eczema (24% vs. 27%) and less allergic rhinitis (6.5% vs. 9%) than children not breast-fed. Children partially breast-fed also showed reductions.

Goofball. Get another theory.

Who gives a crap about Peanuts, more penis jokes.

We've already established that peanut girl is a outdated model under Darwinism. If she doesn't get sick at law school, she's going to get sick when I toss peanuts out of my jar of mixed nuts and accidentally hit her. God, it's such a pain to get peanuts out of those mixed nut jars.

The retards who made it look like I double-posted my anti-double-posting post can suck a peanut-buttery penis!

Dean Mark Sargent at Villanova University?

Shit, if I'd have known it was going to be this kind of comments thread, I'd have stuck my dick in the peanut butter.

Dean Sargent's email is: sargent@law.villanova.edu

I have a theory about which law school dean forwarded this to Lat: I wonder if it was Dean Dobranski of Ave Maria School of Law. Dobranski is trying to fire a tenured professor for BS reasons and denied tenure to two other very good, very popular profs. The dean at Villanova is one of many Catholic law profs who have criticized the administration of my crazy and now crappy alma mater. Dobranski seems to me to be the type who would do anything to settle a score or retaliate for a perceived slight. And, Dobranski knows Lat, because Lat interviewed him for this site.

My guess is Dobranski is the asshole who ratted.

9:48 - As others have said, the SBA did not throw a party. I suspect that Dean Mark may have been the primary "munchkin" "rejoicing" the "wicked witch's" departure.

I have come to the conclusion that Villanova blows. I should have transferred elsewhere. uch!

"Will her future law firm go peanut free as well?"

As they ponder that, is is discrimination if they decide to just not hire her instead?

No sympathies for realizing VULS blows late in game..most would realize it w/in the first semester.

Anyway, most of the comments here focus on peanut girl. Who the F cares about her, her reactions, her attitude, etc.? What if it was another person w/some other [more serious] condition which needed the law school's accomodation?

What's more important is how the Dean represented the situation to his peers. Making up crap about the students having a peanut party and basically saying peanut girl is a witch is wholly unprofessional and makes you wonder how he talks abt other students at the law schl to his peers.

As a recent alum of VLS, I can tell you that the students were effectively held hostage by the peanut policy. There was substantial signage and frequent e-mails. Also, I can tell you that Peanut Girl was exceedingly difficult to work with (both as it pertains to peanuts and otherwise). She did not have a particularly good attitude toward the school and the other students (a bit of a prima donna).

Dean Mark is completely out of touch with the students, so I find it miraculous that he had even heard the jokes (and they were jokes) about a "peanut party." Also, I personally find irony in his munchkin reference, as he is of fairly diminutive stature (about 5'4")...

prolific (signage + e-mails) => hostage situation

where is SLJ when we need him?

Held hostage? Really? By a restriction on peanut-including foods? Don't be ridiculous. Only a completel tank-ass could feel like a hostage because of a peanut prohibition.

Mom, foward more money from the trust fund! I need to hire someone to shop for food items that don't contain peanuts!

Peanut Parent . . . treenutgirl . . . laminated cartoonish figures with peanuts and a line through them . . . "depeanutize."

This goes into the "What's Going on at Emory Law School?" Hall of Shame.

I don't know about being "held hostage," but there was a lot of emphasis placed on the anti-peanut movement. A lot of that was because the "peanut girl" was very active about going to the administration anytime anything resembling a peanut product appeared. A lot has been said on this board about it, but I think it was more of an annoyance than anything else.

As for "Dean Mark," I concur with most of what has been said previously. He thinks of himself as a man of the students, but unless you are active in the Catholic student organizations, he couldn't be bothered. I think this incident reveals his lack of professionalism on many levels.

As for irony around Dean Mark calling students Munchkins, I do agree that he could very easily represent the Lollypop Guild...

omg..wtf!!!111..not the signsss..oh thos emails..they're burning my eyes! Talk about being hypersensitive! Ever heard of the 'delete' button? There are signs everywhere we go for everything, get a grip. If anyone felt like a hostage at VULS b/c of the peanut policy they must've been one of those ppl who lived inside the building and never understood the concept of opening a door and walking outside.

Peanut parent can eat a pe-nis.

My premise is not that overprotective parents cause peanut allergies, it is that twatwaffle parents cause peanut allergies. Look up the Twatwaffle-Treenut theorem in your local allergist's office brochures.

"if you had kids, if you had kids" blah blah fvcking blah. When did having kids become the acid test for being competent to decide when an unfair burden is imposed?

Before this thread, I didn't care about your kids. Now I actively dislike them. Your decision to breed little bubble boys is not my problem, nor should you have the right to impose your bubble on me. Teach your little bastard to steer clear of my when I enjoy peanut laden foods.

It's important to understand that the ban was not just on peanuts and foods containing peanuts. It was on any kind of nut at all, in any form, including nut flour, and on any food that may have been processed in a place that also processes nuts.

We were asked to find (often times more expensive) alternatives for the things we normally buy that MAY contain nuts, or nut by-products, if we MIGHT bring them to school.

If it were just peanut butter and peanuts themselves, that's one thing. But seriously, it got way out of hand. I think this comment thread has been cathartic for a lot of people, because no one could really say anything while she was at school. I have known people with peanut allergies before, and I have not had a problem accommodating them. This is was just way too intrusive.

what about almonds, which are technically a fruit?

almond joy has nuts, mounds don't. almond joy is joyfull, mounds suck peanut parent cack.

How's this for a plan, if you numbnut law students cannot handle abstaining from a product which may kill one of your classmates, then all food outside the cafetiera is banned. Grammer School attitudes require grammer school rules.

Grow up. You couldn't eat peanuts. BFD. Why would this even work its way up to the frickin Dean of the entire school?

I agree with the posters above: let the user bring his or her own food to school. If a reaction occurs, let the person use the epi-pen, as was prescribed.

I have a peanut allergy and a shellfish allergy. Do you see me walking around calling for restaurants to close because of it? Do see me suing my employer because it's not a peanut-free facility? Hell no.

C'mon people, it's time to take some responsibility for yourselves. If I have an allergy, then I'll deal with it. If you have an allergy then you deal with it. There's no need to cause society to cater to us.

hey, you recent VULS alumni,

does VULS still have those weird 1950's style microphones in the classrooms so everyone can hear your question over a loudspeaker?

I was at a seminar at VULS about 10 years ago and all the classrooms had them. It was the weirdest thing I've seen in a law school.

Did Peanut Girl have to stay away from the microphones? Did you have to wipe any peanut residue from the mikes before using them?

@ 12:53 PM:

"Grammer" school rules? If irony was made out of strawberries, we'd all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now.

1:00, Bit me.

I did not. (Prove me wrong, friend. Prove me wrong.)

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Or peanuts.

Fried turkey in peanut oil FTW!

At my law school, no one could wear perfume if you wanted to eat at the only eating service area in the building. The "law school cafe" employee (yes, there was only one) was allergic to fragrances. My own belief was that, while I fully support reasonable accommodations under the ADA, requiring customers to make those accommodations in the service industry is not reasonable.

Peanut-gate, day two. Stay tuned for all the earnest advice, half-baked theories, vitriol, potty jokes, and puns as this important story develops. Back to you, Peter. Thank you, Carl. We are live outside the Fordham Law Library where misersable law students are being forcibly stripped of their one reminaing pleasure in life, eating peanuts. Miss, could you tell us what happened? "[sniff] I was reading Tax, when armed librarians searched my bag and took my Snickers away. My mom gave me that candy bar. And she lives in Florida. And I'm so hungry." A disturbing scene, indeed. Back to you, Carl.

Hundreds of people forced to change because of one person... sounds logical.

When did this become okay?

We're not THIRD TIER, we're SECOND. Gosh you first tier kids are smart.

All of the posts conveying sympathy for this girl and disdain for the students and administration at Nova should realize what a total pain in the ass she was- not her condition, HER, as a whining snob who had a constant chip on her shoulder. If I were still at Nova I would've definitely attended the peanut party.

The administration worked tirelessly for years to accommodate this girl (including posting signs on every single room in the building, sending out reminder emails at least bi-weekly) and the student, although grudgingly, gave up our PB&Js, not just in the cafeteria and library, but, if you really needed a peanut buttery deliciousness fix, you had to leave the whole building and go eat your sandwich in the car in the parking lot like some sort of addict weirdo.

The truth is, the reaction of most students in the school was probably so negative because Peanut just wasn't that awesome of a person. Although the Dean's email wasn't exactly tactful, I imagine he was merely conveying the sentiment of the students, not ridiculing Peanut Girl or her condition. Nova Law has always seemed to go out of its way to assist people with disabilities.

Peanut-gate, day two. Stay tuned for all the earnest advice, half-baked theories, vitriol, potty jokes, and puns as this important story develops. Back to you, Peter. Thank you, Carl. We are live outside the Fordham Law Library where misersable law students are being forcibly stripped of their one reminaing pleasure in life, eating peanuts. Miss, could you tell us what happened? "[sniff] I was reading Tax, when armed librarians searched my bag and took my Snickers away. My mom gave me that candy bar. And she lives in Florida. And I'm so hungry." A disturbing scene, indeed. Back to you, Carl.

We're not THIRD TIER, we're SECOND. Gosh you first tier kids are smart.

We're not THIRD TIER, we're SECOND. Gosh you first tier kids are smart.

We're not THIRD TIER, we're SECOND. Gosh you first tier kids are smart.

That post is so nice, gonna post it twice.

Munchkin, are you having a hard time reaching the keyboard or something?

Wait until she gets to Philly Biglaw and gets PAID in PEANUTS.

1:00, did 12:53 taste like a peanut?

she made a friend of mine cry when she bought a pria bar (that did not have peanuts in it... but was made at the same facility... who knew?) to class.... peanut girl stood there and yelled at her... i am sorry but if the allergy was that bad wouldn't you leave the room rather than yelling and breathing heavier???

Also her father threatened to sue the school if it did not become peanut free, and the school only has top notch profs that could have defended it... but why even try?

i am just jealous that the peanut butter cookies can come back and i am not there, they were amazing!!

Creeping slowly towards 400 posts. Can it be done? I think it can.
I believe in this post.
I believe in ATL.
I beleive in you.
Let's do this.

Really, only ONE SLJ post?
bummer

Where is the mockery of the "hostage" students who received email after email, had to read sign after sign... Worse than a hardship...

they were HOSTAGES!

All of the posts conveying sympathy for this girl and disdain for the students and administration at Nova should realize what a total pain in the ass she was- not her condition, HER, as a whining snob who had a constant chip on her shoulder. If I were still at Nova I would've definitely attended the peanut party.

The administration worked tirelessly for years to accommodate this girl (including posting signs on every single room in the building, sending out reminder emails at least bi-weekly) and the student, although grudgingly, gave up our PB&Js, not just in the cafeteria and library, but, if you really needed a peanut buttery deliciousness fix, you had to leave the whole building and go eat your sandwich in the car in the parking lot like some sort of addict weirdo.

The truth is, the reaction of most students in the school was probably so negative because Peanut just wasn't that awesome of a person. Although the Dean's email wasn't exactly tactful, I imagine he was merely conveying the sentiment of the students, not ridiculing Peanut Girl or her condition. Nova Law has always seemed to go out of its way to assist people with disabilities.

It appears that this thread may be a lesson to Peanut Girl, if the things that so many others have expressed regarding her attitude, that she badly needed to learn--especially after someone outed her with full first and last name. The legal community, especially the higher you go, is very small. And all you really have is your reputation. Guard it carefully and think about how you treat others.

"It appears that this thread may be a lesson to Peanut Girl"

Correction: the name is Peanut (see 1:35).

I vote to out the Peanut B---h.

Anyone who might otherwise consider hiring this person deserves to know what they're getting into.

And if she really made someone cry yelling at the person for eating a candy bar (2:01), that person probably needs to grow a backbone, but the PB is clearly someone who needs to be smacked around a little. The next time someone with a peanut allergy asks you not to eat something, refuse - they have no right to impose. Period.

i'm sure her employer will figure out who she is soon enough -- especially when she starts yelling at people.

So I said, just WAIT until she starts working in PHILLY BIGLAW and gets PAID in PEANUTS.

Is this thing on?

370th!

Dean Mark Sargent commits "the oldest mistake in the history of email" - again:

http://abovethelaw.com/2009/04/email_impaired_villanova_dean.php

11 - you nailed it, I didn't bother reading any comments after yours (I did skim a few).

I have some problems with schools as peanut-free zones (at least for older students) - peanut butter for instance can be a very healthy and inexpensive food, let's say e.g. a teenager chooses to be vegetarian or something, you're eliminating an inexpensive source of protein, are you going to compensate for the added expense of other foods?

As for law school (or anything with adults except for e.g. peanut-free food or medical facilities), I totally agree it's ridiculous to go to this extent. Maybe for a friend or if someone asked (not demanded - asked very politely) I might agree, but I certainly wouldn't accept a demand/requirement to be peanut-free without a great deal of fighting/complaining.

Dean Sargent has stepped down:

http://abovethelaw.com/2009/06/dean_mark_sargent_resigns.php

After hearing about this !@#$%, I plan to sprinkle peanuts everywhere I go from now on.

How can non-direct contact with peanuts kill you (i.e. if someone across a room eats a snickers).

Is she dead yet?

As someone with gluten-intolerance, I found it damn near impossible to find gluten-free foods at my law school. Peanuts and other nuts were great sources of gluten-free food before classes and when studying in the library. Perhaps I should have sued, but I just brought safe food with me. However, gluten contamination in my food doesn't risk immediate death or hospitalization, but rather caused me to miss class due to intestional problems.

So, yes, eliminating peanuts and nuts from my diet would have caused a hardship. And this girl sounds like a drama queen.

"How can non-direct contact with peanuts kill you (i.e. if someone across a room eats a snickers)."

The Peanut Parents and their defective offspring claim that the Peanut Spawn can have a potentially fatal reaction to tiny airborne peanut particles. Also, peanut butter is sticky, and they claim that Peanut Spawn coming into contact with the residue someone else left behind can also cause a reaction.

The reality, of course, is that most people are just not that allergic. All they need to do is refrain from ingesting the offending product themselves, and they will be fine.

Keep this alive.

"The reality, of course, is that most people are just not that allergic. All they need to do is refrain from ingesting the offending product themselves, and they will be fine."

Do you have a peanut allergy? Or any food allergy? If so, then you are lucky to have never had a reaction. Because the reality is that people allergic to certain foods can come in contact with the offending protein, get it on their hands and then ingest it while eating their own food.

My son is six and allergic to peanuts, thankfully he has not had an anaphylactic reaction. However, it takes a lot of work to keep him safe. Did you know that a particular heart-healthy orange juice has peanut products in it? Something that I never would have even considered to be contaminated with peanuts could have sent my son into anaphylaxis.

Food companies are always changing. Sometimes they are changing in a way that helps us and sometimes they are changing in a way that causes us burden.

Until you have spent considerable time with someone who has a food allergy, you can't possibly know what it is like.