The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Learning From The Best – Professors’ Quotes 2009-2010

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    Ruth Carter

    I like professors who are engaging, who are entertaining, and whose lectures are dripping with sarcasm.  It actually facilitates the learning process because what they say is so striking that I can’t forget it.

    I have a document on my laptop dedicated to quotes from professors I’ve had for the last two years.  Since I’m starting finals this week, it seemed appropriate to share some of the best ones.

    Professors’ Take On How The Law Works:

    • The law has lots of ways to screw you over.
    • This entire statute is geared toward dumb people.
    • There are lots of statutes that cause the crazy.
    • Your job as lawyers is to be as clever and deceptive as possible.
    • Courts come up with sub-optimal interpretations all the time.
    • Agencies are federal beasties.
    • We want people to hit people in the mouth now and again.
    • Child molesters get sad when everyone is told they’re in town.
    • You can’t sue yourself unless you agree with yourself that you can sue yourself.
    • Magic words matter.
    • Compromise results in constant mediocrity.
    • Most of law is totally flawed.  Just go with it.

    Professors’ View On Teaching:

    • Did anyone read the case?  I didn’t.
    • Who else wants me to point at them and say “No?”
    • I wanted to prove I’m smarter.
    • The point is you’re all wrong.
    • I’m going to keep insulting everyone for no good reason.

    These Have Almost Nothing To Do With The Law But They’re Funny:

    • Does anyone know who Oscar Wilde is?  He was a drunk.
    • I think of myself as a playboy . . . a bit of a dandy you might say.

    Hypos I Will Never Forget:

    • If the potential harm is you’re dead, then we generally don’t wait until that happens to allow you to sue for damages.
    • What if I sell you one piece of bubblegum with a little bit of arsenic in it?  What’s the problem there?
    • If you get run over by the mailman, you have no recourse.  You have to just lie there with your broken leg.
    • Eating dead baby type stuff . . . you can always come up with a situation where that’s OK.
    • When someone cuts off your face, you don’t get your face back. You get money. It’s a substitute . . . I have to change the movies I watch.

    Thank you all for being effective teachers and making class entertaining.  The world needs more professors like you.  I wouldn’t know as much as I do if it weren’t for these verbal gems.

  • Summer School – Is it 65% better than regular school?

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    Ruth Carter

    Recently I learned about ASU law school’s Tech Ventures Clinic.  It’s an awesome program where law students get to work with entrepreneurs who don’t have the capital to hire a lawyer to get legal assistance with their start-up companies.  As soon as I heard what this clinic did, I wanted to participate in it.  This is definitely an area of law where I think I would be successful working after law school.  The clinic is 6 credits and requires 20 hours of work each week.

    Money Grab
    Image by Steve Wampler via Flickr

    I was planning on taking three classes during spring semester next year – Business Organizations, Tax, and Decedent’s Estates.  Ideally, I’d like to take no more than 12 credits total if I’m going to participate in a clinic.  I decided to look into taking one class over the summer to decrease my course load next year.

    It was hard to find the tuition rates for summer school.  I started digging around on the law school’s website and stumbled onto the 2007 summer tuition rates.  In 2007, a 3-credit class cost $2,164.   That seemed to be a reasonable price.  I figured the price might have gone up a bit with the state’s budget crisis and inflation.  I requested the 2010 summer rates from the law school’s financial aid office.  I was shocked when I saw that the cost for a 3-credit class this summer is $3,499!  That’s a 62% increase!

    I did the math.  Currently, I pay $705/credit.  If I went to summer school, I’d be paying $1166/credit.  That’s 65% higher.

    I took my concerns to the law school.  They said that the cost is the same whether you’re taking a class for credit or  auditing it.  One higher up in the school said the cost has risen so much that they encourage students not to take summer school because the cost is so high.  It has become cost-prohibitive to go to summer school.

    I want to give the school money this summer, but they’ve set the minimum so high that I can’t do it.  This is unfortunate because so many law firms and agencies don’t have the means to hire summer clerks.  For a lot of law students, going to summer school is one way to gain legal experience by doing an externship; however they have to pay for that experience.  I know multiple students who are looking for volunteer positions so they don’t have to pay to gain legal experience this summer.

    The law school said there’s basically nothing they can do to help me in this situation.  I sent an email to Michael Crow, President of ASU, informing him about the alarming tuition rates this summer and asking him what advice he can offer to students who want to take advantage of all ASU can offer without spending an atrocious amount of money or going horribly into debt.  I look forward to hearing what he has to say.

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  • Remembering Joel

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    Ruth Carter

    I miss my friend.

    I got a sad call this Saturday morning.  I got a call from a classmate saying my friend, Joel, was dead.

    It’s been a surreal couple of days.

    Joel and I had every class together during our first semester of law school.  We sat next to each other or near eachother in almost every class.  He was the friend I would high five at the beginning of Professor Noreuil’s legal writing class.  We agreed Professor Berch was insane, but only Joel thought that was a good thing.

    During finals week last fall, we both had the idea of wearing black under our eyes like football players because we were going to attack our exams.  After one test, we high fived and said, “Good game.”  I’m sure it looked strange to everyone around us, but to us, it made perfect sense.

    Joel was from Alabama.  He always made sure I knew how his football team performed every week and where they were ranked.  This year he invited me and a few others to watch Alabama face Texas in the BCS National Championship Game.  He was so mad when he caught me making the Longhorn symbol with my fingers.  It was almost sacrilegious to have someone rooting against his team in his home.

    Joel always got a twinkle in his eye when he talked about his beloved wife, Stephanie.  I remember the day I met her.  He was so proud to introduce me to the love of his life.  Joel also had two beautiful children.  His daughter was born during our first semester finals.  By then we had become good friends, so I crocheted a baby blanket for her.  Joel must have told me at least 15 times that she can’t sleep without it.  With Joel, if he considered you a friend, you were as good as family.

    It’s still settling in that my friend is gone.  I didn’t see him much this semester because we didn’t have any classes together and we were busy with internships and projects.  He wanted to go into family law and my heart is in intellectual property.  Every few hours, the grief hits me like a wave and I remember, “My friend is dead.”  I hope the school does some type of memorial or tribute to him.  I hope his wife and family have the support they need, for as long as they need it.  I know when the rest of us are back to our normal routines, they will still be feeling the stabbing pain of losing him.

    I’ve been thinking about the song “Seasons of Love” from “Rent:”

    525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
    525,600 minutes – how do you measure, measure a year?
    In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
    In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
    In 525,600 minutes – how do you measure a year in the life?

    Joel – I hope  you accomplished everything you came here to do.

    I miss my friend.

    Photo from ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law