University of Chicago Law Student Hates Nintendo
It happens every year. After first semester some 1Ls belatedly realize they need to “step it up” for second semester. Law school isn’t like college: there’s a curve, there are jobs to be wrested from the clutching hands of fellow students, and just because a professor starts babbling about Floridian Burger Kings doesn’t mean you can zone out.
Some people look inward for strength and resolve. Some people blame others. Those outward looking folks are the ones liable to send out emails like this one, which popped up on the University of Chicago Law listserve yesterday:
A friendly warning to fellow 1L’s: if you intend to play video games in class — especially graphics-intensive video games — please remember to sit in the back row so the rest of us don’t have to watch. Super Penguin Mario or Donkey Kong Country may, from your perspective, be a good way to while away a long class; to those sitting behind you, it is a distraction we’d rather not have to deal with.Sorry to be That Jerk; for what it’s worth I know I’m not alone in strongly preferring this.
Yours from behind an absolutely mirthless smile,
[Redacted]
Let’s broaden the discussion after the jump.
You know, instead of asking others to sit in the back row, this student could just sit in the front row. But whatever. I guess it’s a lot easier to demand that other people change their behavior than it is to concern yourself with your own.
But is there really a silent majority of people who spend their time peering over shoulders at personal computer screens and then fuming about what they see? I mean, we’re not talking about graphic pornographic scenes involving goat play are we?
Maybe the gamers at UofC should keep an open tab that — from a glance— appears to be detailed and exquisite notes on the subject matter. That will really bother the hell out of students with nothing better to do than whine about what somebody else has on their computer.
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First to wish he had donkey kong in law school
Hey, I play Dr. Mario! If you can't focus, you move!
slow news day on ATL
First first First first FIRST!
Oh, did I remember to say FIRST?
Maybe not. .F.I.R.S.T.
Oops, not first. Sorry. Return to complaining about Elie. My bad.
First.
Maybe ChicagoLaw is so full of super-gunners that prime first-row seats are the first to go. That's gotta be rough. I suggest suicide.
If you're worried about what is on someone else's computer screen, then you have larger problems
This morning Jews just bombed a United Nations run Gaza school. Keep in mind these are the people blaming Hamas for "not building schools."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/israeli-bombs-hit-un-scho_n_155497.html
I know that my playing Warcraft III in the front row of our legal writing class helped a lot of bored students while away the time watching. It would have been rude to move to the back and deny them the entertainment value.
Everyone should put up pictures of giant balls so people on the back seats learn not to peek on your screen.
7 strikes again, the propaganda machine!
7 strikes again, the propaganda machine!
Ok 7, we saw you post that in another thread. We get it, so what? Its not like ATL can do anything about it.
we're already seeing professors ban laptops from class because some are misusing them, and these bans are not targeted only to these students. so an individual's actions do hurt others in more ways than the issue of distracting in them in class.
The one with the Nintendo game should have a Goatse screen saver. That ought to permanently fix the problem of nosy neighbors in the class.
What a tool. I used to give people like this wedgies during class breaks, and full-on swirlies between classes.
For bored law students: go to www.kongregate.com. Lots of free games. Hopefully all of you at UofC can "distract" Mr. Redacted and make him withdraw.
If you can't listen to a prof while someone is playing a miniscule pixel-based game in front of you, maybe a field as stressful as law might not be the best fit.
7, the more frequently you equate Israeli actions with "Jews", the less credible are the liberal pro-Hamas apologists who argue that those who are anti-Israel are not anti-Semitic.
Thanks for the help!
A non-Israeli Jew
Goatse is good for making nosy neighbors gouge out their eyeballs with a spork.
I was of three minds....
This person is the reason I hated law school and everything that went along with it.
Guys in my high school used to distract classmates by playing video games in class all the time. It was no big deal.
Even more entertaining when you forget to turn off the sound on your laptop and the all-too-distinctive opening 8-bit theme song to Mario Bros. plays as you open your NES emulator.
Although that got more "How do you do that?" questions than complaints, guess ours was a class of slackers. ;)
I graduated in '02. To surf the internet in class, you had to buy a wireless card and plug it in -- so not everyone had one - and so they often looked over the shoulders of people who did.
I would check my email, surf cnn and shop in class. One day I typed the name of a store, but I accidentally misspelled it and got a euphemism for ladyparts. On my screen popped flashing fluourescent text offering pictures of Britney Spears (but thankfully, no actual pictures!). The guys beside me and in the row behind me busted out in stifled laughter, and I turned beet red, tried to stifle my giggles and slammed my screen down. I took the rest of my notes by hand that day, because I didn't want to reopen the computer and burst out laughing.
How is this a friendly "warning"? What is he going to do if they don't stop?
To call this guy a tool is an insult to tools.
I sat behind a girl in BarBri class who brought her laptop and played Solitaire most days. While that was slightly distracting in a high-stress setting, I always really enjoyed sitting behind/next to people like this during law school lectures. It always made me feel better about myself knowing that there was someone slacking off even more than me.
Israel bombed my cubicle because I was NAILING SHEEP which I assume is not Kosher.
This person is the reason I hated law school and everything that went along with it.
13, I'm currently a 2L (at a T14), and I've never run in to a class where there was so much information that laptop note taking was necessary... I trying to remember how you coped in high school without your precious laptop.
Hey #7, check your facts. There was morter fire coming from those "schools." Don't you get it!?? Hamas hides in schools, in hospitals, in mosques, while they bomb Israel. When Israel fights back civilians get killed because Hamas PURPOSEFULLY embeds themselves amongst the population.
I was in Israel earlier this year and every single day those bastards shot rockets into Israel and they REFUSE TO STOP even now while their people die around them. Hamas is the enemy, Israel is just the only country with balls to stop them.
Elie -- by graphic pornographic scenes involving goat play, don't you mean NAILING SHEEP? (And yes, I also recognize this might be an oblique Koz reference.)
I'm sorry, why is it my problem if others can't keep their eyes from roaming? Granted I sought out seats in the back row, but if those were taken already, I sure as hell wasn't going to actually pay attention (fully) in class because of it!
28 here again. Before someone else says it, I also SUGGEST not omitting random words from sentences.
I'm sorry, why is it my problem if others can't keep their eyes from roaming? Granted I sought out seats in the back row, but if those were taken already, I sure as hell wasn't going to actually pay attention (fully) in class because of it!I'm sorry, why is it my problem if others can't keep their eyes from roaming? Granted I sought out seats in the back row, but if those were taken already, I sure as hell wasn't going to actually pay attention (fully) in class because of it!
A guy in my con law class used to play Super Penguin Mario all the time; it was no big deal.
This person is the reason I hated law school and everything that went along with it.
7:
"But an Israeli official said "hostile fire" was directed at the soldiers from within the school. He said soldiers returned fire and multiple explosions went off, presumably emanating from munitions stored there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal army announcement."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/israeli-bombs-hit-un-scho_n_155497.html
Hamas has been hiding munitions in mosques all through the war. Why would they treat schools any differently. They're barbarians. Maybe the palestinians will realize that and vote them out of office next elections. Or maybe they won't and Israel will roll over them in response to rocket attacks for years to come. Either way, it doesn't seem like anything ATL can solve.
7 = an Al Qaeda terrorist
IHey 7, bet you can't wait until the Israelis are finished clearing away and then paving over that rat hole called Gaza.
These are the jerks that help make law school almost unbearable sometimes. Don't F*ing look at other people's computer. Next semester I am putting porn as my screensaver just to see who bitches about it
What a fag.
I never paid attention in class and still finished in the top 10 people in my class.
Hey 7, bet you can't wait until the Israelis are finished clearing away and then paving over that rat hole called Gaza.
7:
"But an Israeli official said "hostile fire" was directed at the soldiers from within the school. He said soldiers returned fire and multiple explosions went off, presumably emanating from munitions stored there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal army announcement."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/israeli-bombs-hit-un-scho_n_155497.html
Hamas has been hiding munitions in mosques all through the war. Why would they treat schools any differently. They're barbarians. Maybe the palestinians will realize that and vote them out of office next elections. Or maybe they won't and Israel will roll over them in response to rocket attacks for years to come. Either way, it doesn't seem like anything ATL can solve.
Can you all take your argument about Israel elsewhere? Many here don't care, and the vast majority of us that do care are mature enough to find a more suitable outlet for our discussion.
These are the jerks that help make law school almost unbearable sometimes. Don't F*ing look at other people's computer. Next semester I am putting porn as my screensaver just to see who bitches about it
tool law student who'll become a tool lawyer. i need to leave this profession.
Damn, Israel. First children, now SHEEP?
WHY?
7:
"At least thirty people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops.
The infantrymen returned mortar shell fire into the school grounds, the army said. Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site."
Hamas stages attacks from schools all the time. The Israelis have even filmed them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmXXUOs27lI
These are the jerks that help make law school almost unbearable sometimes. Don't F*ing look at other people's computer. Next semester I am putting porn as my screensaver just to see who bitches about it
The insertion of a baseball bat by a female was always a popular wallpaper in my class.
Is there really a Super Penguin Mario??? Anyway, I'm on this kid's side, I hated when people played video games in class.
Is there really a Super Penguin Mario??? Anyway, I'm on this kid's side, I hated when people played video games in class.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU GET A USB CONTROLLER, YOU CAN PASS THAT UNDER THE TABLE AND PLAY 2 PLAYER TECMO BOWL, RBI BASEBALL, RC PRO AM--ALL THE CLASSICS. MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE, ESPECIALLY DURING CIV. PRO.
While I think it's ridiculous to spend the money for law school, drag your ass out of bed, and then spend the entire class screwing around online, I was never really distracted by other people's internet use. Insanely loud and compulsive typing? That's another story entirely.
50-
Go cry about it some more.
U of C, home of the most miserable human beings alive.
I much prefer photo-shopping pictures of classmates onto animals and pictures of queens and then IM'ing them to everyone in class so we can all point and laugh.
26: Was it to a cross?
I went to a law school that blocked WiFi connections in classrooms and always thought it was kind of sad that 95% of people playing games on their laptop in class (which was about half the people in the class, usually) would always just play Solitaire. I mean come on, how bored do you have to be to play Solitaire for hours every school day for THREE YEARS? Don't you have any better games that that?
I am in the guy's section, and I have played poker several times with him. (He is an avid player.) He is a nice, genuine human being who comes across as frank but harsh sometimes. The e-mail was written with self-consciousness about the request, and I don't think that it's an unreasonable one. While we were discussing recurring misses and cost avoiders in Torts, many were people playing hi-res game, and I don't think it's silly to ask them, politely, to stop.
I wish that more students at our school would speak up like he did. His e-mail showed courage, I think, though the "absolutely mirthless smile" line may have been unnecessary.
I have to go stake a seat in Contracts, so I'll refrain from discussing the matter further, but I would like to defend him.
Sincerely,
Fellow Chicago 1L
59 = sucks
57 -- Yes, an uncircumcised one.
15 - you probably couldn't even give YOURSELF a swirlie.
Having to watch some DBAG play warcraft in class is just as distracting and unpleasant as having to listen to some toddler wailing in the Metro on the way to class or having to smell someone's SBD in crim law. It's just a question of which sense is being invaded. They should all be stopped whenever possible.
The investment most people actually want to be cheated out of is their education. Never made much sense to me. I figure that the people playing games instead of trying to pick up something useful at what is essentially a vocational school may just be the ones who aren't actually paying the tuition bills. Get a life people. Nothing on Perez Hilton that important enough, and yes, it really is that hard to ignore the flashy pink screen and drawings over pictures of Brittany and Paris.
I look forward to facing you in court one day.
Everyone wanted to have sex with me when I first pulled out my Macbook Air.
Schoolwide listserv = potential for embarassment.
My grades were positively correlated to the amount of Nintendo I played in class. The more I played, the better my grades became. (Admittedly, they also correlated to the general 1L/2L learning curve, since I didn't get the NES emulator until spring of 1L; but I credit Nintendo.)
In contrast, my grades were negatively correlated to the amount of internet surfing I did. Fortunately, I didn't get WiFi until spring of 3L, so it didn't really matter to me.
I bring my Nintendo Wii to class, hook it up to the projector screen and establish dominance by displaying my WiiFit skills.
suck it
a new year and same old shit writing by elie
why didn't you make it your resolution to be a better blogger, mysTTTal?
67 -- Maybe you should show Mystal some of your Wii fit skills and help him shed a couple hundy lbs....
You're right, #59. It is time more of us speak out against this tyranny....
When the Chicago IT guy came for my WiFi,
I remained silent;
I was not an IMer.
When Saul Levmore came for my in-class websurfing ability,
I remained silent;
I was not an online shopper.
When the Dean and the University of Chicago came to block ALL access to the internet in EVERY classroom,
I remained silent;
I was just a 1L.
When they came for my Donkey Kong,
there was no one left to speak out, and it caused me to lose my save.
It's pathetic that jerks at UC play Nintendo in class all day and get all the job offers and clerkships when other, hard working students at other schools are passed over. This is pathetic.
I would rather have a douche playing video games than an avid farter in class. Those with silent stinker abilities well mastered are especially heinous.
I call bullshit on #67.
59 - OK, so lo-res games are OK?
Seriously, if your attention is this compromised, I think you need to start building focusing skills early. In law firms, you will constantly be bombarded with calls, emails, people outside your door, deadlines for different matters, and 20 new BS items that keep you from the work you have to get done each day. If your frail psyche can't tune out some dude's Mario Bros., you have bigger problems.
One of the smartest guys I knew in law school did the crossword in most classes and could shoot his hand up at any minute to answer a question. Another guy would always come late to class and often pop in a DVD (no BS) and watch in class - he did not do so well. Take comfort that a lot of the slackers won't do so well, and take the bump from them on the curve. It's in your best interests that they don't learn.
#74 is right. What benefit do people gain from forcing everyone to pay attention during class?
My custom ColecoVision hooked up to my TV watch is all I need in property class.
1: Old Partner d00d?
49, come on, the baseball bat is just as good when inserted into a male.
I wouldn't have emailed about it, but give the guy a break - anyone who claims to actually be able to avoid looking, at least from time to time, at high-res graphics on a screen within view is either legally blind or lying.
That said, he's probably going to need to come to terms with working in a highly distracting environment sooner or later. Modern life and all. I'm on my 6th successive day of writing a brief with pro-Palestinian protestors screaming in the background, and I'm talking about in real life, not on this thread.
Not having been to law school, I find this funny. Don't you see. #7's post is a complete and stupid distraction (intentional or not) that took in a number of you.
People distracted by what others do in class and stupid time wasting arguments need to learn how focus. It is called self-control people. A valuable skill.
What is so distracting about using my Wii Fit in class? Mind your own business, philistine.
74 - and don't forget being distracted by the b00bies.
It shouldn't be that big of a deal, true. And those of us that are bothered do try and sit in the front row. However, sometimes you don't make it to a front row seat on the day the professors create seat assignments, so you may be stuck beside/behind someone playing video games all semester long, which can make actually following some of the more difficult material challenging, regardless of your attention span.
I do agree that you should just say something. If the person refuses to take the issue into account, then call them to task on the listserve.
My professor hates when I play duck hunt and sit in the front row.
Dear Email Douchetard,
I am sorry that you are not intelligent enough to succeed in law school without paying extremely close attention at all times in class. I pity you and your tiny brain. Perhaps if you were less of a mongoloid, you could excel in school and play video games during class. I was able to accomplish that, and but for your inferior mental genes, you could too.
7,
I bought a Koran earlier today after reading your post. I intend to rip its pages out one by one to use as toilet paper while Israel flattens your heathen "country." As I wipe my ass with the words of your satanic "prophet," I will be certain to curse Allah as well.
#82, if you're learning difficult material in class you're already behind the curve. You learn it when you read it, and class is for filling in the finer points.
If you are having trouble following classroom discussions, there is a good chance it's not your "attenion span" that's the problem.
If you're a 1L, please give it a few more months. You'll start to figure out how much of class time is bullshit, and how you can easily pick out the main points from each lecture.
I think it is funny that the URL says, "university_of_chicago_law_stud"
If that were the case, they could focus a little better while a fellow student whiles away their time.
63,
If you are referring to "Brittany" Spears, it's spelled B-r-i-t-n-e-y. Idiot.
all of my prejudices about the University of Chicago have just been validated.
84 = Ellen Degeneres
59 - you're just as much of a tool as he is. This is why I was so happy to graduate from that hellhole
63,
If you are referring to "Brittany" Spears, it's spelled B-r-i-t-n-e-y. Idiot.
82 - You're a fool. If you're honestly that stupid that you actually have to "pay attention" in class in order to do well in law school, you don't deserve to be a lawyer. You have the text books. Read them. If there's something you don't understand, read it again. Nothing useful is gained from class. The fact that you're even there is a bonus; if you honestly need to concentrate 100% of the time with 100% effort to understand what's going on, you picked the wrong profession.
Idiots.
Is it OK to wheel an antique Whack-A-Mole Game into class as long as I play it in back?
I spent most of law school class time focused on improving my skill at SNES Tecmo Bowl. By the end of it, I could get a sack about once every 2 or 3 plays, and threw over 100 TDs in a season. To maximize points, I would also onsides kick evey kickoff, and go for it on every fourth down. I also found a play that, even when the defense called it, would still net 5-15 yards every time. And I believe my time was significantly better spent than this whiney tool's. Someone should tell him that law school doesn't do anything to prepare you for the actual practice of law. Where's Douche Patrol when you need him?
Also, I never saw any of my classmates object, but I did get requests for me to start playing in some particularly boring classes.
93 - I love that game! Gator Whack is a lot of fun too. The way the Gators say "OW" every time you bash them is classic.
I played Oregon Trail, Burgertime, or Lemonade Stand nearly every single day in Evidence class and still got an A.
Caulk the wagon and float it through a god-awful boring class.
at least some people at the UofC have a sense of humor... this was an email sent as a response:
Please also refrain from wearing rings or wrist watches, because the shiny flashes they make when you type quickly are very distracting.
Ogre says: NERDS!
Whack a Mole, Whack a Mole, Whack a Mole!
U of Chicago should ban laptops in class like Penn State did.
I have received a number of appreciative comments from fellow students who enjoy my comical antics of engaging in the Socratic method while tearing up a video game. We're not vilified by all.
100, is that at the State College campus or on the Philly Campus?
I wear a burka in class so all I can see is the professor, my notes, and god.
i played games and read blogs in every single class i took, and i still managed to take impeccable notes, graduated at the top of my class and make a crap load of money at a big law firm. it's called multi-tasking, and learning it is worth more than a civ pro lecture. whiner.
i played games and read blogs in every single class i took, and i still managed to take impeccable notes, graduated at the top of my class and make a crap load of money at a big law firm. it's called multi-tasking, and learning it is worth more than a civ pro lecture. whiner.
@102
The Philly Campus
- 100
I couldn't afford a laptop so I just propped my notebook up, drew dirty pictures, and then whacked off on the girl next to me. Not as good as a laptop, but it passed the time.
When I went to lawschool, laptops didn't really exist yet, so we had to use actual pornographic magazines for that in class.
Ellie just sat in class and tore through 6 foot party hoagies, never sharing a morsel with anyone.
100--
It's U. Penn State.
63,
If you are referring to "Brittany" Spears, it's spelled B-r-i-t-n-e-y. Idiot.
- I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.
- You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?
100,
Employers and judges should ban UC grads from applying for positions.
I bet nailing sheep guy was fucking awful in class.
Glad to know U of C is still full of dbags. God I hate that place.
63,
If you are referring to "Brittany" Spears, it's spelled B-r-i-t-n-e-y. Idiot.
I spent a good chunk of my second and third year of law schools on e-harmony.
I spent a good chunk of my second and third year of law school on e-harmony.
Actually, 114, the entire class cheered whilst I nailed sheep guy in class. Doing so was quite pleasant--not fucking awful at all, thank you.
During Con Law I would look porn, it helped put the first amendment into context.
Whack a Sheep
Whack a Sheep
Whack a Sheep
Dear 1L Douchebag,
If you are that easily distracted then you are clearly too f%&*ing stupid to be at UChicago! Maybe the slow moving classes at Kent would be more to your liking. Oh look a shiny object...hope it doesn't distract you and make you fail torts. Idiot.
Sometimes I bring my fishing pole to class and use a shiny spinner lure to mess with all the dumb kids. Thats it....stupid kid....take the bait .....
I was in a full-year 1L class where the prof banned laptops 1/2 way through the year. I just stopped going to class because I couldn't sit through the damn lecture without my computer.
Chicago Law: where fun goes . . . to die.
123 -- You could have used bologna or olive loaf as an enticing bait for Mystal. That's big game fishin thar.
17 - your statment is ridiculous. No matter how much people equate Jews and Israel you can still be anti-Israel without being anti-Semetic.
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
Demented Roy "Lost Pants" Pearson just refuses to go away. If we want to eliminate waste in the legal system, start here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010601075.html
115 -- Amen.
125 - It's not just the law school, it's the entire institution: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=where%20fun%20goes%20to%20die
You're all idiots. The class filled with gamers is taught by a famous Torts professor who requires total attention to do well on the exams, rather than reading. If you had some idea of the context, you wouldn't abrasively tell this "gunner" what to do.
Our Torts professor does NOT test what's in the casebook. AT ALL. He makes up his own Torts terms like "recurring misses," "moral hazard," and "single owner principle" and tests those on the finals. Look up one of his exams on the D'Angelo Law Library website and you'll see that you could not possibly read Cardozo for his McPherson question, barring a PhD. in Econ followed by ten years of studious Law and Econ scholarship.
Sincerely,
Number 59
P.S. And I sincerely doubt that many of you did well in law school, judging by your poor grammar, spelling, and prose styles.
71: how is this pathetic? The lazy U of C student is probably still more qualified than the hard-working Tier II gunner. Would I personally hire the former? Perhaps not. But, if I were a hiring partner at a big firm, it would be far easier to sell the U of C student to the clients.
Yes, Levmore invented "moral hazard"
133,
You fucking beat me to it. Brilliant!!!
My primary moral hazards involve hookers and drugs, fwiw.
Just to be clear, 59/131 does not speak for the entire Chicago Law student body. Personally, even though I think the original listserv author is a good guy and plenty smart, this was the wrong forum and wrong method to address the concern. Hopefully he'll learn how to screen out distractions soon. As for 59/131... well, *sigh* classmates are like family, we don't get to pick them.
-A different Chicago 1L
131/59 - You are the TYPICAL U of C douchebag.
Please get over yourself. More importantly, get over Dean Levmore.
$100 says 59/131 will be a public defender whose clients will hate him or a TTT professor whose students will hate him.
136,
I think 59/131 should actually get off of Dean Levmore.
Please identify the name of the student. He signed an email. We have a right to know his name. And I have a right to make sure my firm doesn't hire him next fall. 82 you suck. Thank god I went to UVA. We all fought over the back row so we could watch porn privately.
Also
130- I went to the U of C for college. It's were fun goes to LIVE. Trust me.
132- At a good firm, the clients pay for your associates because the firm stand behind them; the firm's stamp of approval is sufficient to sell the associates. At a TTT firm, yes, pimping out associates based on the name of their schools is an accepted strategy.
BigLaw Partner
At least this post is sort of framed like an invitation to discuss whether video games do in fact distract other law students, rather than yet another "Check out what law students are e-mailing each other NOW" post.
Could Elie finally be realizing that no one cares about the latest insignificant e-mails that law students send to their fellow law students every day? We can only hope.
Poor form in sending the e-mail the way he did, but it is a valid point. All of the people yakking about multi-tasking are really missing the point. I'm sure you'd all be pretty pissed off if your office "multi-tasking" included flashing video games 2 feet from you for the entire day.
For what I pay for law school, I shouldn't have the 9-year-old-esque ADD of someone else forced upon me. That's not being a gunner, that's just asking for classmates to show me the same respect I show them.
MysTTTal,
The Burger King was in Michigan. Perhaps you were so excited to learn about Whopper College, you failed to retain anything else from the opinion.
142- give me a break, you don't pay to go to lawschool for the classroom experience, you pay for a brand name that will get you a BigLaw job. Don't be an asshat.
144- Not sure if you're a student or a lawyer, but you are the reason people hate this profession. Some of us actually enjoy what we do and that includes the process.
I've grown up around enough lawyers to know that there are much easier ways to make money than practicing law. I pay for a brand name so I can choose what I want to do after law school. Sorry if you never had that opportunity.
-142
144
You think somebody who thinks law school is worthless is the reason why people hate the profession? People hate the profession because lawyers make a lot of money screwing people over - pretty easy target to hate, don't you think?
You pay for a fist up your gaping asshole, DOUCHE HAT!!!
144:
NEVER. BEEN. LAID. EVER.
145 - You're an idiot. Nobody goes to law school for the "process." Nobody who goes to law school goes for the intellectual curiosity of it, or the enjoyment of it -- if people were going to school for the pleasure of learning, they'd be grad students in English Lit or Philosophy departments. You go to law school to get paid to be an asshole for a living.
The fact that you "grew up around lawyers" is your problem. Mommy and daddy were wealthy and taught you that lawyers are actually very nice people who do very nice things. Sorry -- they lied.
As someone who recently had the pleasure of experiencing Dean Levmore's torts class, I can attest to the fast-paced nature of the dynamic prawf and challenging subject matter. However, while I sympathize with the individual who was blindsided by the ATL publication of his email, I do chafe at the paternalistic method suggested and agree with posts suggesting that a blinders-on approach is not a realistic way to go through law school. If you're adult enough to attend law school, you should be adult enough to take responsibility for your own classroom focus.
But more offensive than the nature of the email is the willingness of U of C students to humiliate their classmates in a national forum with the publication of listserve emails. Though this guy clearly expresses an unpopular opinion, I think the kid who forwarded the email to ATL should get a portion of the negative response.
Law school is hard enough without classmates airing dirty laundry...
145-
trust me, in 2009, there is no easier way to make money than to study hard for a test, crank out some applications, spend three years jerking off on borrowed money and then have a BigLaw job handed to you because you nailed a sheep on the Midway for three years. Seriously. Get real. YOU are the reason people hate the profession. Now get back to Contracts homework
149-
You can't be serious. You obviously haven't been through the OCI process, let alone actually worked at a firm yet. Because what you'll find is that firms (read: your potential colleagues) care about PERSONALITY and SOCIABILITY just as much as they care about your precious University of Chicago pedigree. Somebody who behaves with such ass-hattedness as the subject of this post deserves the slap-down he's getting, if for no other reason than that it will make him and people like him recognize the fact that nobody likes a holier-than-thou smartass. You'd better learn this lesson now, or be prepared to be dinged by SONNENSCHEIN
"I can attest to the fast-paced nature of the dynamic prawf and challenging subject matter"
Of a torts class. . . .
Thank you 149, the unintentional humor of that comment made my day.
"I can attest to the fast-paced nature of the dynamic prawf and challenging subject matter"
Of a torts class. . . .
Thank you 149, the unintentional humor of that comment made my day.
And now we see what happens in a society that tells every child he's special, we forbid kids from chanting "Hey batter" during little league baseball games, and everyone gets a trophy.
Bull.
Jeez, Class of '05 here. Chicago is terrific when it comes to jobs, clerkships and the like, but man this kid needs to chill the fuck out.
Buy Epstein's law & econ torts horn book. The reason why Levmore sucks is that he tries to package L&E/torts as being this insanely complicated thing. It's not. I skipped most of his classes and landed a 181.
Here's your first lesson about L&E, the value people put on things drives its marginal utility. If law schools really wanted to make the classroom experience important, they would make classroom participation a part of your final grade. They don't, however. That's why the whole "no internet policy" is so fucking stupid.
Get t a grasp of the freaking concepts, learn the black letter law, and shut up.
Levmore and this guy is everything that's horrible about Chicago. It's not a PhD program and this whole gunner/intense crap drives applicants away and makes alums like me want to never, ever donate a red cent to that crap pile. They both need to be voted off the island.
I played Civilization II through an entire semester of Crim Pro and ended up with "A" in the class. . . UC is being unfair to those who truly understand the value of law school classes.
I nominate #155 for U of C dean!
"These are the jerks that help make law school almost unbearable sometimes. Don't F*ing look at other people's computer."
That reading other people's computer screens is considered, "normal," was just one of the many surprises law school held for me.
The Negroes at my school often used their laptops for purposes involving BET.com, listening to the HIP HOP music or checking with their brokers to see how fried chicken was doing as a commodities exchange. I say, let the babies have their bottle.
155, here.
I would take it in a heartbeat, but am slowly slogging my way at a different law school, trying to get tenure.
For the record, Chicago is a fantastic law school, but this whole super gunner crap that the dean loves to egg on completely undermines the good things about the law school. I wouldn't have gotten my teaching job, clerkship and previous firm job absent the school's terrific reputation. I just wish they would fucking chill out a bit.
155/160: What else do you recommend for Levmore? I had Gersen for the first quarter of Torts, and he was fairly straightforward, but Levmore strikes fear into me as a very complicated guy. The idea of recurring misses where the POE for but for causation will never be more than 51% makes sense, but he riffed on it so quickly and furiously, I'm worried I missed out.
Also, his old exams are almost exclusively policy.
Would you mind sending me your old outline? wallacestevens31@yahoo.com. Thanks a lot, if you're able, and any other tips about Levmore would be appreciated.
Finally, I'm in the guy's section (the OP), and I am arguably a bigger striver than he is, as well as a few others in that section. Don't judge us.
OMG 161, funniest post EVER. I'm praying to the god of skinny punks that that was a joke. Praying.
162: Huh? It wasn't a joke. He did well in Levmore's class, and it would be very kind of him to send me his outline.
161/163:
You're honestly telling me you admit to 1) not understanding what's going on in class and 2) being a gunner, and out yourself in the process of begging a stranger for an outline, all in the plain sight of a vast audience of your peers and potential colleagues?
Quick, somebody send 161 a pic of some hairy nuts before he realizes what a jackass he is and changes his e-mail address
164: how would anyone know my e-mail, you dullard? That's a private e-mail, not my U of C e-mail. You would have to know me extremely well in order to know my private e-mail; Wallace Stevens was an early 20th century poet who wrote "Sunday Morning" and my favorite poetry book, Harmonium.
I understand class, but I could always understand it better with a good upperclassman/graduate outline. And you wouldn't understand the extreme complications of Levmore's Torts, so back off. This isn't your usual duty/breach/causation/damages Torts class, with a few intentional torts sprinkled on for the final exam.
70 - Post of the year.
166-
Utterly unbelievable. You wouldn't understand Torts! It's hard! It's at the U of C!!! It's sooooo hard!!! You don't even know who Wallace Stevens is - you would have to know me really well to know how to spam my fake e-mail account with pictures of your hairy nuts!!!
I know enough that you're a gunner in douche-bag's section, you have Gerson and Levmore, and you like Wallace Stevens. Believe me, someone in your section will out you on ATL very very soon. They will start by giving your initials. And then it will spread like wildfire.
* I forgot about strict liability and vicarious liability/respondent superior. I assume that most typical Torts courses include these topics.
I think that you folks are immature and that you underestimate the critical importance of grades for stellar employment prospects. Even at a school like U of C, nobody hands us jobs as if they're candy. In order to overtake others on the curve, I have to invest many hours nailing the BLL, taking practice exams, and thinking about what my professor expects. Then I have to contend with people like the OP, who are clearly more intelligent than I am, or at least more capable of understanding heady economic concepts.
169-
Oh my god, this keeps getting better and better. Come on, stop pulling my chain already. Seriously, I'm no CleMarsh 1L, you don't have to try to get my goat with your little hoax here
No, I will not send my old outlines. Mostly because they are completely useless.
Yes, Levmore's final is wonky and there's some math on it (at least when I took it).
Sure he likes to make up terms that sometimes differ from the L&E literature, but it's not rocket science. Figure out the system works globally, learn the basic rules, and figure out the L&E tricks he is so fond of hoisting on students. There are like ten or fifteen global concepts. Everything else really is black letter law.
Also? Calm down and quit gunning. Getting that 174 or heaven forbid a C will not result in you ending up homeless and unemployed.
171: Thanks a lot. That was very helpful. I'm going to get a beer at Jimmy's or Ida Noyes now, or something. It's important to enjoy the beginning of the quarter.
I'll try to watch for his few tricks. Beyond moral hazard, best information producer/problem solver, recurring miss, least cost avoider, incremental risk, and a few other terms, I get the sense that there's not much more to the class.
And, yeah, I'm definitely calm. I'm a very calm person. On the exams, I was like ice. No, more than ice. I was like super-ice.
172-
Only U of C undergrads and PhD students deserve to drink at Jimmy's, and law students who are aren't complete ASSHATS like you.
Damn! West Coast = Straight Gay. Ha, that's an oxymoron. No wonder these overweight California heifers keep chasing us bad ass NYC boyzzzz
142 & 145 Here:
To the collection of posters who seemed to think I'm some sort of moron, just read the things you wrote. Either you're immature students who know even less than I do or you're miserable lawyers who can't think of a better way to make a living than spending 18 hours a day at the office. Are there a lot of you out there? Sure, but don't pretend to speak the gospel when you represent a small, albeit important, piece of the legal pie.
You're barely an attorney, you resemble a lawyer, and you're title belies the fact that you are merely an employee. So, yeah, mock me for actually enjoying school and trying to do something other than mock a law student on winter break while waiting on my client to PDF me some documents to review at 10 on a Wednesday night.
Why is no one on here actually supporting the point the kid was making, although in probably the wrong forum? Because the ones who do have real jobs and real lives...
175:
You're a 1L with a client?
Nobody is supporting the kid, or you, because you're both DOUCHEBAGS!
Wait, 175, you think the fact that you are a gunner in a U of C torts class will exempt you from doc review? Wow.
175- are you black by any chance? Just wondering
Hey 175, read 151 and cross-apply it to yourself, smegmanator
-not 151
175 - Nobody was supporting the kid in the OP because he -- and you, apparently -- falls in the class of "utter douchebag." If you can't handle a frigging TORTS class because somebody next to you is jerking off to Donkey Porn (or "pocket Donkey Kong," as I like to call it), that's so unbelievably YOUR problem.
I'm a litigator. Sometimes, when I'm in the middle of something and I need extreme focus -- if I have an appellate brief going out in the morning, or something -- I close my door and send all my calls to voicemail, and just work with no distractions. This happens... oh, maybe once a month. The rest of the time, I put up with distractions. And that's with having an actual, you know, legal practice -- not learning about Paalsgraf or whatever the hell it is you do in law school.
Lighten up, get drunk, enjoy life, and stop being such a stuck up prude. Tell you what: Have a have dozen glasses of whiskey before class, and I guarantee you won't worry so much about who's playing what on their computer. I used to do it all the time (actually had a flask I brought with me to class... this was pre-internet days, so we had to make our own fun).
I nominate 161/163/166/169/172 for commenter of the year for 2009. It doesn't really matter whether it was meant to be a joke or not - it was great stuff either way :)
181- you just gave yourself a way - YOU'RE 161/163/166/169/172, aren't you! Damn, I shouldn't have been taken in by that hoax.
180- credit your flask idea
131 - I know exactly who you're talking about. My in-tui-tions are that I feel your pain!
Guys, I know who 161/163/166/169/172 is. He is in my section at the U of C. His initials are D.B.
175,
Great to have your unreal douchebaggery back here, it helped me through my own finals back in December...
I sincerely hope that your worst fears are realized. You suck.
59/131 -
Check your facts before posting. If you're going to say that "moral hazard" is an original Levmore term, then you've already lost the game.
Non UofC folks should ignore the rest of this post, as it is full of crap. You have been warned.
---
Here's some Levmore style analysis that will help you on your exam - The best evidence we have that you care about being distracted is that you decide to show up early and expend the minimal, one-time-only effort to come to class the first day and get a seat near the front. This effort gives a vastly better educational experience (by your estimation).
The Law School shouldn't be that paternalistic - they are not as good as "the market" at telling people where to sit. Sometimes, people need distractions to get through the day - they should sit at the back, and often do. Others (like yourself) should be sitting at the front. The best sorting mechanism available is to let everyone pick their seats and activities.
Your paternalistic notion decreases utility by forcing people with heterogeneous preferences to act in a homogeneous way. While the current system results in some utility being wasted by encouraging people to show up early to class, this lasts only a single day. Your system requires that a large amount of the class have their preferences disregarded for the entire year.
Now stop wasting more utility via posting and go talk to someone who sits closer to the front and ask to switch seats.
And next quarter, get to class early on the first day.
Everyone needs to get trained on how to ignore petty distractions and focus. Personally I think that the world needs fewer laptops and more girls in short skirts so that I can get better at ignoring the distractions.
We used to play Duke Nukem against each other in class on the school's network. The freeware version supports something like 4 players in the same game. God damn that was fun.
172-
Face it, you'll never calm down. You'd be lucky to find anyone in our class who thinks you'll be any different by the end of 3L year (that is, if you don't transfer first or drop out if you fail to get on Law Review... through the topic access program). And yes, you have that universal reputation. Some people like you, but you've alienated many others... for example, by never talking in person about anything, ever, ever, ever, besides law school. I really wonder sometimes how you'll come across to interviewers in OCI.
Protip: asking strangers (who are possibly BSing) on an internet thread for their outlines is not something that normal people do. I understand your reasons for doing so, but there are other things you should think about. "Social norms" come to mind. It's unkosher, probably partially because people feel possessive about their outlines.
Besides, you don't need someone else's outline. Law and economics may be right, it may be wrong; it may be difficult to pick up the lingo at first, but ultimately, we're talking about relatively simple concepts and maybe some fourth-grade arithmetic, not advanced cryptography. Just because you majored in poetry rather than economics in college doesn't mean that L&E is now, magically, beyond your intellectual grasp. You can learn it, so long as you spend more time studying and less time complaining about Levmore's class -- on, what, the Second Day!! -- on ATL. As with all things, put in the time and stop expecting other people to do your work for you. On the plus side, if you do all that, you'll know that your success is your own and you're not a free rider.
Oh man, did I just use a L&E term? See how easy that is?!?
Yeah CK everybody knows who you are.
Well Chen, I think you may have taken the cake for Most Annoying Student at UChicago Law with your antics on this thread. It's a good thing for your sake that law school doesn't have the same rules as "Survivor".