Class Bias in Higher Education: Law School

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Law School

Class Bias in Higher Education

Discussion of class bias in higher education, particularly legal education.
By Jeffrey Harrison

Post Frequency: 0.6/day

Last Entry: July 19, 2010 at 14:40:00

White v. Black

Posted on July 19, 2010
Thanks to one of my facebook friends, I came across this dead on NYT op-ed piece today. The theme is familiar -- whites and minorities pitted against each other for the benefit of the privileged.

Democrats and the Working Class

Posted on July 18, 2010
I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that read:?A working man who votes Republican is like a chicken who likes Colonel Sanders.?I personally think this is true but, if you live in the South and many other places as well, you know it is not a slogan that most people pay attention to...

Strategy and Volunteers: Summer Rerun

Posted on July 12, 2010
A few days ago, I wrote a blog about volunteers. It was inspired by an incident at my school that involved a person in charge of a cushy assignment ?volunteering? to do the assignment himself. Here are some other examples. At my school, because we do not hire people to teach what the students need, 5 people are now teaching two large first year sections...

Bait and Switch?

Posted on July 07, 2010
If there is a theme among the many student and professor posts about law schools it is that they are involved in a bait and switch. Students are attracted by the promise of employment in high paying and exciting jobs. They then discover there are not that many jobs, they do not all pay well and they can be boring...

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The Game

Posted on June 25, 2010
In response to my blog on networking, anonymous comments as follows:"Little and big cliques arise that tend to retard rather than advance the scholarship in that area."One of the oddest pieces of advice I received from a law professor on trying to break into the academy was to approvingly cite influential scholars and follow up with them to create a "citation ion orgy...

Summer Rerun in Honor of Futbol: Juice

Posted on June 22, 2010
One of my favorite things in Rio is the juice bars. This photo is of my personal favorite. They are on virtually every corner. Most have not just juice but what I would call diner food. Actually, I am not sure I ever ate in a diner but it is what I imagine diner food to be...

Marti Gras in Your Mouth

Posted on June 09, 2010
Here is a dessert treat I think I invented. You'll need some angel food cake, that really good greek stype yoghurt, and sugar. Maybe some colored sprinkles.Put a slice of angel food cake in a bowl and chop it up. Add the yogurt and mix thoroughly untill there are only chucks of the cake...

Behave for success: Part 2

Posted on June 08, 2010
[A recent commentator responded to the post below with the question of whether I do any of these things. I am pretty sure that I do not. I am not as outspoken as I once was but it has nothing to do with strategic behavior designed to advance my own interests...

Obama, Look behind you!

Posted on June 07, 2010
Yes, Obama has now announced he is trying to figure whose "ass to kick." Duh, welcome to the party dude but you are about 6 weeks too late. Doesn't the USA have a few thousand boats at least some of which could be used in the clean up. Or a few thousand national guards people who can use a shovel...

Oil Spill Chesapeake Bay

Posted on June 06, 2010
I'll just throw this out there. Suppose the BP catastrophe that is affecting mainly working class people in Southern Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were in the Chesapeake Bay. Do you suppose there would have been more national attention, more pressure brought to bear on BP and Obama may have become "furious" sooner? Which group has more clout? Red neck shrimpers on the Gulf Coast or well-heeled North Easterners with vacation home on the Bay...

Furious

Posted on June 04, 2010
I read in the paper today that Obama is furious about the oil spill. That really helps!! Right?

Comment on Networking

Posted on May 31, 2010
[I have elevated this comment on my last post to a post so that readers will see it.]Yes, The issue here is not networking perse but its place and use relative to other factors. Networking in a useful sense is collaborating with people to gain insight share resources and do anything that results in a more productive outcome...

Networking or Substance?

Posted on May 29, 2010
A comment, which I urge you to read, to my last post inspired this one.I am not sure how to create a Venn diagram on this blog but I'll describe it. One is the universe of all law professors who are big on networking. They are at every conferences, give lots of talks (typically the same one), email and call others usually to make known what they have doneunder the guise of complimenting the person they are calling...

Watchin Obama Sink

Posted on May 26, 2010
[Posted this yesterday. Now watching Obama's press conference -- very weak, aloof, unresponsive.]Have you ever driven by an independently owned restaurant and estimated how long it would take for it to fold? It actually happens all the time. Having enough money to open a restaurant is apparently unrelated to good judgment and common sense...

Virgin Summer Snack

Posted on May 25, 2010
I've never understood what virgin olive oil means. But on top of that you have extra virgin olive oil. Virginity is a yes or no thing, isn't it?Nevertheless here is a wonder summer snack that will put a smile on your face.First get some french bread of a 2 inch diameter and slice it in about 1/2 inch slices...

Quick Power Breakfast

Posted on May 23, 2010
Here you go. To get you started in the morning.Take one or two slices of bread. I personally like one thick slice.Toast it or not, it's up to you.Spread it with butter, margarine or one of the low cholesterol spreads.Now sprinkle all over it dry roasted sunflower seed kernels...

Efficient Pasta

Posted on May 18, 2010
Here is a fool proof way to make great pasta with the minimum time and mess.First, put your pasta on to boil.While waiting for it to boil find a bowl and sprinkle the bottom with parmasean cheese.On top of the cheese pour your favorite sauce.When the pasta is al dente, take it off the heat, drain it and dump it into the bowl...

No Place for the Working Class

Posted on May 10, 2010
The nomination of the Elena Kegan reminds me once again that there is no political party that is comfortable for working class people although they are often fooled into thinking otherwise. Clearly working class people are the new Invisible Men and Women...

Lucky Jim: Summer Sequel

Posted on May 07, 2010
I generally prefer Martin Amis to his father Kingsley but no book captures class bias more accurately that Kingsley's 1953 book, Lucky Jim. It is a humorous book and brilliant book. I think brilliant because even those who do not occupy either side in the world of academic class warfare can enjoy it...

No More BP

Posted on May 03, 2010
Maybe it is irrational but I have not bought Exxon since the Valdez. Now I am adding BP to my list. It's unfortunate since it is closest to my house and I usually drive around on empty but if the market works at all I will do what I can to signal my anger.

Getting What You Pay For

Posted on April 20, 2010
I think I have seen version of this story before but the condensed very was in the NYT yesterday. Its the basic grade inflation story -- from a 2.5 to over and 3.1 -- and as far as I know no one got smarter. The study reported on establishes that the inflation leaders have been private schools...

Covenants not to Compete for Law Professors

Posted on April 17, 2010
Everyone reading this knows that most employment contracts are terminable at will. For the most part this favors employers who can fire someone for any reason or no reason. It is true that employees also can quit for any or no reason but the rule in practice benefits employers far more...

Dip, Law, Economics and Greed

Posted on April 14, 2010
Photo by Ryan SuffernOne of the things I teach is law and economics and for 8 years I was a economics professor. The last three of those I went to law school and eventually landed a law teaching job because law and economics was an up and coming field...

Adam Smith on Moneylaw

Posted on April 10, 2010
Some of Adam Smith's views of higher education and professors are quite similar to those found over on Moneylaw and on this blog. All are found in the Wealth of Nations:". . . [T]hey are likely to make a common cause, to be all very indulgent to one another, and every man to consent that is neighbor may neglect his duty, provided he himself is allowed to neglect his own...

Dogs and Cats

Posted on April 07, 2010
I know this is not the usual topic of this blog but I spend a fair amount of time with my dog an cats. It's pretty clear to me that cats have no sense of humor, none at all. But they have a powerful sense of irony.

West Virginia

Posted on April 06, 2010
Watching the news about coal miners in West Virginia is hard. My grandfather arrived at Ellis Island from Italy as a 16 year old and went directly to West Virginia to mine coal until the day he died putting on his work boots. My dad and uncles all spent time in the mines before the family escaped to Massachusetts and eventually Florida...

Letter From Reader

Posted on March 30, 2010
With permission I am posting this letter from a reader both because it is interesting and he would like comments from others. "Dr. Harrison;I came across your blog while doing some research on the relationship between SES and higher ed. I am Phd candidate...

No Comment

Posted on March 15, 2010
Please watch:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLC7Q3DTzi4

Rules or No Rules: Maybe Rawls Really Was Wrong

Posted on March 01, 2010
Recently at my school a proposal was made to alter the sabbatical policy in a minor way. A faculty member would qualify for the alternation by meeting failure specific conditions. I liked the proposal and the conditions because it seemed to create some level of certainty...

Tiger, Amy and Entitlement

Posted on February 20, 2010
There have been two entitlement stories in the news lately. Tiger Woods explained his behavior as a consequence of money and fame that meant he did not have to follow the usual rules.And in the case of Amy Bishop, according to a news story and her attorney:"...

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