Understanding the Dark Side

Most of you probably know that I don't really consider Republicans, as a whole, evil people (I date one, I worked with them extensively, I am suspected to be one, etc). However I did find this LA Times editorial to be extremely entertaining and interesting: McCain goes over to the Dark Side. Any summary from me couldn't do it justice, just read. I mean politics and Star Wars analogies, what more could this nerd ask for?

Now as much as I can respect people are actually politically active, one group of people I will never understand is the Christian Right (McCain used to cite a bumper sticker that read "The Christian Right Is Neither.") I mean, I know how they wield so much influence in their party- they're organized and they vote. Nonetheless, it's still amazing how they use their force (Star Wars pun intended) to get politicians like McCain and Romney to shift their views to align with the beliefs of the Christian Right. When Democrats shift views, it's call flipflopping. When Republicans do this, it's apparently "conversion" or "seeing the light."

Though I understand their power, I will not understand their priorities. In another interesting article, Evangelicals battle over agenda, environment, the article pointed out that the new and old leaders of the evangelical movement were fighting over issues. While a new wave of evangelicals want to fight global warming, AIDS/HIV in Africa, and citizenship for illegal immigrants, "[Old] leaders of the religious right warned that. . . 'great moral issues of our time' [abortion, gay marriage] were being displaced by a "divisive and dangerous" alignment with the left on global warming."

Really? Are we really calling the environment a "divisive and dangerous" issue? How backwards does this seem? There's a reason why gay marriage initiatives are called "wedge issues." Especially after learning all the legal ramifications of banning gay marriage in law school, I just don't understand. But I guess that's why I don't vote for the dark side.

On a final nerdy Star Wars note, did you know that the ewoks spoke in Tagalog, the language spoken in the Phillipines? Yes, I am cool.

Delayed

On one episode of Hey Dude, one of my favorite Nickelodeon shows, Brad couldn’t think of a talent for the ranch pageant so she countered Melanie’s singing “Home on the Range” with a luggage packing routine. Not only do I think I could beat Brad in a pack-off, I also think I could beat most people at getting through airport security. I can take off my jacket and boots, take out my laptop, load my bags on the conveyor belt, and get through the metal detector in a flash.

Unfortunately my efficient system I’ve developed for getting through security is all for not because my planes are always delayed. Always. Since Thanksgiving I’ve flown on 5 different airlines (United, Cathay Pacific, Vietnam Airlines, United Express, and Northwest… too bad I can’t combine my frequent flier miles) and my 5 of my trips have experienced delays. Moral of the story: don’t get on a plane with me.

My friends might joke around with me and call me a fascist for different reasons, but I would consider it if I could do with planes what Mussolini did with the trains. Kidding, of course.

Spring Break?

On the one hand, it hardly feels like Spring Break. First, there's snow on the ground. This is not spring. Secondly, I'm staring at a 500 page packet that I will have to read, analyze, and write a 10 page "comment" on for the law journals' write on competition. Just another part of the 1L hazing process. *shakes fist at law school*

Yet, on the other hand, it's Spring Break. Today after class I plopped down on the couch and watched 'The Real Housewives of OC," because I wanted something mind-numbing to watch and mostly because I could. Even if Spring Break hasn't fully settled in yet, maybe it will tomorrow when I'm flying home (cuddling my 500 page packet) to sunny Southern California to see my parents. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my super comfy queen size bed, see the beach, be pampered by my parents. Plus, I'll be rounding out Spring Break with a trip to Syracuse. Though it's far from spring weather, I'm excited that Alex and I are going to Niagra Falls with his friend and his friend's girlfriend.

I guess in the end, having a change in scenery and being around my favorite people will hopefully make my work more bearable. I should get used to this anyway, I hear that lawyers work a lot. Oh, and you don't get Spring Breaks either.

Pizza and Stick

Back in the day, they called it the carrot and stick approach: holding an incentive out infront of someone to get them to do something. During my childhood, that carrot was replaced by pizza, a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut to be exact courtesy of the "Book It" program. I had almost compeltely forgotten about it until this headline caught my attention this week: Critics Denounce Pizza Hut Reading Program.

Now being a person who cares deeply about education issues and who wishes that she ate better in her formative years (and perhaps now too), I understand some of the concerns. But really people, is this the battle you want to pick? Is this actually the problem? Here are some of their arguments:

"It promotes junk food consumption to a captive audience": Yes, you're giving a kid one pan pizza, but have you seen everything else that kids eat? Kids gourge on sugary cereals for breakfast, eat chips and soda for lunch, babysit themselves with junkfood infront of the tv afterschool, and have fast food for dinner. "Book It" isn't providing the gateway drug into pizza and junkfood, kids are already there. You have it everyday in the school cafeteria and on the weekends at birthday parties.

And somehow, people concerned with childhood obesity and grownup weight loss seem to forget about the exercise component. Let's target the fact that schools are getting rid of recess so they can teach for the "No Child Left Behind" tests and that afterschool activities and gym are being cut because schools have no more money.

Although this program may not be helping fight childhood obesity, I severly doubt that this will have the domino effect that critics think it will. I know that this is a huge problem to fight, but targeting the program that also promotes reading shouldn't be on the first line of attack.

"Epitomizes everything that's wrong with corporate-sponsored programs in school": Eh. I don't like corporations taking over schools (I went to a pepsi high school and college), but once again I think people are just picking at an easy target. I don't think corporations are saints, but parents shouldn't act like they are either. Moreover, after going through the "Book It" program and going to pepsi schools, I don't regularly (or even occassionally) consume pizza or soda. So much for the brainwashing.

"The more kids see books as a way to get pizza or some other prize, the less interest they'll have in reading itself": Maybe it's just my pragmatic side but I'm all about incentives. It's all nice and idealistic to think that we all do everything for pure motives and we don't need rewards. But that's not realistic at all. I love to read, and I love learning, but even I need things to push myself (tonight I got to watch tv if I finished my paper by 10pm). That's me the book worm who voluntarily has committed herself to more years of schooling than most sane people, imagine kids who aren't like me? There's so much focus on kids who are obsese, but are we forgetting how many kids also can't read?

One personal pizza is not going to make a child obsese, but getting them to read a few books for a pizza can spark a love of reading. One critic said kids would just pick easy books to read but I don't think he's giving kids enough credit. From my own personal experience as a kid and tutoring a lot of kids with different backgrounds than me, kids pick books that look interesting. I don't even know how kids would pick books that are easy to get through, big font?

A lot of people say that you shouldn't reward people for doing what they're already supposed to do. But 1) a lot of people need a push to do what they're supposed to do (learn to read) and 2) a lot of people need a push to prioritize certain things. A lot of us view community service as a good thing, but sometimes we need a push. A few mandatory community service hours can foster a real love of service or passion for an issue. It might not sound plausible, but I've seen it happen.

Sure pizza isn't the best prize, but taking it away is at best like putting a band-aid on a much larger wound of child hood obsesity. And potentially making the even bigger wound of illiteracy worse.

How Do You Rock the Vote?

Although most people association voting time with November, election time for me is also in the Spring. As I see campaign posters plastering the walls and campaign emails flood my email box for the law student government elections, I fondly (and not so fondly) remember my days on "the trail." As just a voter and a spectator this time around, it's funny to watch people campaign. I keep asking myself "was I like this?"

There will always be the candidates who run on experience. There will be the candidates who run on change. There will be the candidates who run on being the outsiders. Whether at the national level or school level, there are candidates to fill all of these niches.

As interesting as it is to see how candidates position and market themselves, I find it even more fascinating to see how people vote. There are some people who vote because someone is their friend. Or because someone is a female like them. Or because someone is in a club that they're in. Or because someone has a prettier poster. Or because they're sick of the other candidates. Or because a candidate is cute.

Push comes to shove, all voting is completely arbitrary. Even by saying that you're voting for the "best candidate." What does that even mean? No one's perfect, so it's about what you prioritize what you want most out of a leader. To you the best candidate may be the person with the most experience. To another, the best candidate might be someone who's the most inspiring. To another, the best candidate might be someone who has the best ideas. And to another, the best candidate might be someone who's ideology most closely aligns with yours.

I'm guessing (or maybe hoping) that people vote on a combination of these characistics. But it's not always easy to find someone or pick amongst many choices. I know I don't even have "my '08" candidate yet.

The interesting part about the whole voting system is that at the end of the day, people don't need to explain for who they voted for or have to have a good reason. People are allowed to vote for someone because they like their name (this happens way more than people think). All I think people need to remember is that they have to accept the consequences of whatever happens. If you don't like who's in office now, did you contribute to that at the ballot booth...or by not going at all?

The Facist & The Sleazy Defense Attorney

My roommate and I sit on opposite sides of the kitchen table every night working on our assignments. Fittingly, we are now representing opposite sides in our final Legal Rhetoric brief (though we aren't paired to argue against each other because we're in different classes).

She is the sleazy defense attorney representing the Kirk "I am a cocaine-dealer with thirty outstanding violations" Neison. I am a facist representing the Commonwealth "We won't bother to get a warrant to do a search because we'll just bully the little people" Massachusetts.

Perhaps these are slight exaggerations of the two sides but sometimes that's how you feel as you're writing advocacy arguments. Sometimes it's hard to find that middle ground between zealously advocating for your client without demonizing the other side (or yourself). In class we call this walking the balance beam.

As much as I hate the fact patterns that they give us where there seems to be just as many cases against you as for you, if not more (and you always feel like the only cases you can find go against you), it's practice for life I guess.

In the same way that we usually read controversial cases in class, we don't get "slam dunk" cases to write about where one side is clearly guilty. Nor do we get cases where we find one previous court case clearly gives us an answer. If these were what we got in law school, there nothing to argue about and consequently nothing to grade us on.

Without the hard cases, there would be no learning. Without the hard cases, lawyers wouldn't make so much money.

5 Days & Counting

Top Signs that I Need Spring Break To Come Soon:

• I've been yelled at on two seperate occassions by women old enough to be my grandma.
• I'm taking a "break" from my brief by reading Constitutional Law.
  
• I get excited just thinking about the beach. (Picture is of San Clemente, where I'll be soon!)
• I waste time by looking at travel websites and airplane fare wishing I could be anywhere else.
• The Third Amendment is the most exciting thing in my life.
  
• I am weeks behind on the only two shows that I watch on tv.
  
• I was extremely jealous of the fun my family had celebrating my brother's birthday because I was stuck on the other side of the country reading cases.
• The highlight of my day is going down to my apartment's lobby to get coffee and check the mail.
• All I think about during church is what my arguments are for my brief.
  
• I thought my ears were going to fall off on the way to church because it was so windy.
  
• I'm not surprised if I spend more hours at the library in a day than I do sleeping.
  

Yes, I'm being melodramatic. My life isn't that horrible really. But I'm very excited to have a break and go home and to Syracuse. Just have to make it through this week. Funny how I want this week to move both slow (so I have time to finish the draft of my brief) and fast (so I can have freedom).