![handle is hein.journals/hlrec105 and id is 1 raw text is: Harvard Law RECORD
America's Oldest
Law School
Newspaper
35 CENTS
Volume 105, No. 1 Cambridge 02138 Friday, September 12, 1997
West Bar Review Folds
Bar/Bri Triumphs in Review Course War
By Rob Friedman
Professor Charles Ogletree
'78 nearly became the dean of
Howard University School of
Law this summer before with-
drawing his name after the
School's interim dean, Alice
Gresham Bullock, unexpectedly
announced her interest in the
position.
Serving as the dean of
Howard Law School ... is one of
the most rewarding and chal-
lenging positions any lawyer
could achieve, Ogletree said on
Tuesday.
I have always admired
Howard Law as an institution
that was really a laboratory for
the civil rights movement,
Ogletree said, emphasizing
Howard's historic role in estab-
lishing opportunities for minori-
By David Liu
RECORD Photo/Ben Lehrer
The New and Improved Langdell Library
Langdell Reopens
With New Lounge,
Lights, Lavatories
By Ben Lehrer
After a year of displacement
and cramped, temporary quar-
ters in Pound, the HLS library
takes up permanent residence
in a dramatically renovated
Langdell. The monolith of a li-
brary requires only some land-
scaping and a few final touch-
ups before the re-dedication
ceremony in late October.
The new Langdell features
a number of overdue improve-
ments.
A modern climate control
system promises more uniform
comfort throughout the struc-
ture. The old Langdell often
suffered from wild extremes in
temperature. In winters past,
steam pipes running along the
basement would heat the sec-
ond floor to 80-plus degrees
while frigid outdoor climes in-
vaded the fourth floor reading
room unimpeded.
The upgraded electrical sys-
tem can now handle heavy com-
puter use without the threat of
overloads and shutdowns that
plagued previous years.
Whereas plugging in a
laptop was once out of the ques-
tion, practically every seat in
the new Langdell is now within
stretching distance of an elec-
tric outlet and ethernet jack.
Ninety-nine computer ter-
minals have been installed as
well as two new copy machines.
The number of male and female
restrooms has respectively in-
creased from one to four.
The reading room is no
longer an aviary for pigeons,
starlings, and the occasional
screeching owl - no more rude
awakenings for students sleep-
ing below.
Langdell has been decked
Please see LANGDELL, p. 3
Students who registered for
West Bar Review may soon be
calling their Bar/Bri represen-
tatives; the West Group an-
nounced in August that all
West Bar Review operations
(with the exception of Sum and
Substance) will cease opera-
tions.
In a statement released on
August 21, 1997, the West
Group said that While profes-
sional development services re-
main part of West Group's ca-
reer-long partnership with law
professionals, West Bar
Review's national 'live session'
model is inconsistent with West
Group's future technological/
strategic plans.
According to the announce-
ment, the West Group had con-
sidered divesting West Bar Re-
view to a qualified company.
However, the West Group con-
cluded that closing down the
West Bar Review's 'live session'
business is our only viable op-
tion.
The announcement follows
last year's $3.425 billion pur-
chase of West by Thomson
Corp., a Canadian publisher of
newspapers and legal and pro-
fessional publications. The
West Group reached its decision
to exit the bar review business
in the course of its ongoing self-
evaluation in the wake of the
merger, said West spokesperson
Jennifer Moire.
Students had mixed reac-
tions to the news of West's de-
parture.
It doesn't surprise me, said
Jim Filippatos '98. They
seemed to have a small market
ties to directly im-
pact civil rights
law.
A number of
lawyers who have
been trained [at
Howard Law
School] have had a
tremendous im-
pact on law and so-
ciety, Ogletree
said, noting that
while many top
schools can claim to have distin-
guished alumni, Howard
people have an impact on civil
rights, criminal justice, and
public interest law.
With the right combination
of circumstances and the right
timing, it would be a wonderful
challenge to serve as dean at one
of the premier law schools as we
enter the 21st century, Ogletree
said.
share.
Chris Isaac '98, however, said
his reaction was shock and ut-
ter disbelief. Nevertheless, he
said he was sure that [West
will] do something to make
people whole.
The real io'ers, said Isaac,
were the West Bar representa-
tives. Oi;e of my best friends
was a West Bar rep, and he had
invested a lot of time and energy
into [promoting West Bar].
The romance
between Ogletree
and Washington,
D. C. can be
traced back to his
eight-year stint
at the D.C. Public
Defender Office,
an experience
Ogletree referred
to as the most re-
warding in my le-
gal career.
Ogletree said he was especially
drawn to the nation's capital
because of the unique opportu-
nities there to influence
change.
Washington is a wonderful
city with great people and a lot
of challenges, Ogletree said.
Among the immediate chal-
lenges facing Howard Law's
Please see OGLETREE, p. 7
Phuong Tran '98 voiced simi-
lar opinions. [West's depar-
ture] doesn't bother me because
there are other options out
there. But maybe I'd feel dif-
ferently if I had been a rep.
Moire said that West had set
up two 800 numbers that stu-
dents with questions could call
and would be releasing a letter
explaining the situation to reg-
Please see WEST, p. 5
The Class of
2000 Moves In
By Dusan Stojkovic -
Last Thursday, 556 freshly
branded 1Ls had their first
classes at Harvard Law School.
At least descriptively, this
year's entering class is mark-
edly diverse. Of the new stu-
dents, 43 percent are women
and roughly a quarter are mem-
bers of ethnic minority groups,
according to information re-
leased by the Admissions Office.
Eleven percent are Asian, nine
percent are African-American,
and 4.5 percent are Latino.
Less than one percent are indig-
enous Americans.
The 1Ls hail from 45 states,
Washington, D.C. and Puerto
Rico, with the most coming from
New York (84), California (77),
Texas (33), New Jersey (29),
Pennsylvania (27), and Massa-
chusetts (26).
Also among the entering
class are citizens of eight foreign
countries: Bulgaria, Canada,
China, Ghana, Haiti, Korea,
Pakistan, and Russia.
The average age is around
24. The youngest is 19 and the
eldest 37. Nearly half of the
students earned their bachelor's
degrees last spring.
They come from 165 colleges
and universities. The most
graduated from Harvard (52),
Princeton (32), and Stanford
(27), followed by Yale (24) and
Duke (23). Among the top 10
are also three public schools: the
University of Michigan (19),
University of California at Ber-
keley (14), and University of
Texas (13).
The class has a stand-up
comic, a fashion designer, a
rabbi, and a Native American
tribal prosecutor.
Like the class of 1999, there
are two sets of twins.
One student raised cattle on
Please see IL, p. 14
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
Faculty Hires ....... 3
Kaufman Fellows
Announced...... 5
Kennedy and Bellow
Speak Out ........9
Harvard and
Hollywood....15
Also:
Movie Review,
Comics, the 2L
Experience, and, of
course, Fenno.
Ogletree Withdraws Candidacy
for Howard Law School Dean
Was One of Three Finalists Before Unexpected Turn](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hlrec105&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most