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103 Harv. L. Rec. 1 (1996)

handle is hein.journals/hlrec103 and id is 1 raw text is: Harvard Law RECORD America's Oldest Law School Newspaper 35 CENTS Volume 103, No. 1 Cambridge 02138 Friday, September 13, 1996 Students Cope With Library Renovations RECORD Photo The only bathroom in the old Langdell Library falls victim to renovations. The newly constrructed library will accomodate many more facilities. Tougher Graduation Standards Greet ILs By Jaclyn Liu Just one week into the start of school, 1Ls seemed generally unconcerned that they will be working harder than previous classes to graduate with cum laude honors. Under a new, tougher system taking effect this year with the Class of 1999, students will be awarded cum laude or magna cum laude graduation honors according to their class rank, rather than grade point average. The change, approved last spring by faculty members, effectively cuts down the number of stu- dents graduating with cum laude honors by half. I think this is a good idea, said Ben Lehrer '99. Law school is supposed to challenge us - to give us a good education - not just to make us look good. With the new system, the top 10 percent of the graduating class will earn a magna cum laude and the next 30 percent will be awarded cum laude. The percentages exclude the number of students graduating with a summa cum laude, which will still be determined by a 7.2 GPA. Under the old system, which remains in effect until the Class of '98 graduates, cum laude hon- ors are given to students with a minimum 4.85 GPA and magna cum laude are given to students with a minimum of 5.80 GPA. Prof. Richard Parker '70, act- ing chair of the Legal Education Committee which proposed the changes, has said the new sys- tem is designed to make gradua- tion honors more meaningful as well as remove the stigma on the small minority who do not grad- uate with honors. Despite the dramatic new change, many 1L students seemed unaware of the tougher requirements. A few students please see iLs, page 13 A Profile of the Class of 1999 By Aaron Maurer After months of packing and moving, the Harvard Law School Class of'99 is finally here. The last class of this millennia, like all of the previous ones, brings with it the credentials of people who have been successful in academic pursuits in the past, and who have overcome a variety of challenges and trials. This class is special, not due to any group statistic that can generally be applied to its 555 members, but by virtue of the diversity of the indi- viduals that compose it. The class includes students straight from under- graduate careers, teachers, waiters and waitresses, entrepreneurs, doctors, and even rocket scientists. Carole Boelitz (Air Force Academy '89, MIT '91) developed research satellite systems and orbit dynamics for several satellites that are currently cir- cling the earth. There are bwo sets of twins and one set of sisters in the class of 1999. The twins are Shahram and Bahram Seyedin-Noor (Pomona College '96) and Levi and Leon Liu (both Stanford graduates). Sisters Courtney and Shauna Fitzgibbons attended Dartmouth together. Molly Hammerberg (Harvard '95) can ride a uni- cycle and put her leg behind her head but, unfortu- nately, not at the same time, she said. The class has seven Truman scholars, and numerous Watson, Fulbright, NSF, and various oth- er fellows. There are several former student body presidents and college newspaper editors-in-chief. Look around at the class of 1999 and try to guess who has played in a rock band for ten years (hint: ask Matt Freedman, Columbia '91), or served as a human rights worker, or volunteered in the Peace Corps. Members of the class of '99 come from homes in 46 states, and from 20 countries around the globe including Zambia, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, China, Iceland, and Poland. Canada has the most repre- sentatives with 14 students from four different provinces. The wide range of geographical roots in the class helps add to its racial and ethnic diversity. 'This is probably the most diverse class in the country due to [the] students' backgrounds as well as where they are from, said Joyce Curll, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. It will make classes very interesting, she said. Asian-Americans represent 12percent of the class; African-Americans make up lipercent; Latino-Americans comprise 6 percent; and 1percent please see 1999, page 3 By David Liu Stepping onto campus after summer break, students found former classrooms, lounges and study areas in Langdell Hall replaced by heavy machinery, building materials and scaffold- ing. For $33 million, the renovat- ed Langdell Library will feature modern air conditioning and heat- ing systems, improved lighting and workspace, and greater inte- gration of electronic tools when it opens next fall. In the meantime, students must deal with obstacles to research, limited study space and the hassles that accompany con- struction as Langdell sits closed this year. The major concern that students have with regard to the renovations involves the suitabili- ty of the temporary library in Pound Hall for research. I finished my third year paper last year because I knew [the renovations] would happen, said Anthony Tu '97. Most 3Ls, however, are not so fortunate, and- along with some graduate students and 2Ls - will be conducting extensive research projects this year. Administrators have taken steps to facilitate the completion of these projects. A review of registered third year research topics two years ago encountered only a few topics that presented potential problems, which, said associate librarian Paul George, were entirely man- ageable upon further examina- tion. The books that were in Langdell have been moved to Pound, the International Legal Studies library, dormitory storage spaces, the Harvard Depository Library and the Athenaeum House in East Cambridge. All of the Langdell collection is avail- able to students except for the portion of the rare book and legal history collection that has not been microfilmed, and, said George, this portion has an absolutely minimal effect on stu- dents. Third year projects will not be affected. Librarians are working hard Bahram Seydin-Noor is a twin in the class of 1999. to retrieve documents for studeats by the afternoon of the next week- day. We've assigned a tremen- dous number of staff to document retrieval, said George. If a stu- dent can't find it in Pound or ILS, we will find where it is. Marc Keepper, the circulation manager at Pound, counted 222 requests on Monday. When asked how well he thought the library staff was meeting the challenge of document retrieval, Keepper answered, We're doing okay but not everyone's researching yet. Some students, however, are not satisfied with merely request- ing documents. My preferred way to find books is to search the stacks, said Brian Dorini '97. But that possibility would be foreclosed. You really have to know what you're looking for. George suggested that these students express their concerns to the reference desk. The refer- ence desk is ready to go to what- ever extreme necessary to identi- fy resources. We can show students how to browse on-line on HOLLIS. He Doted that stu- dents could themselves initiate retrieval requests for documents in the Depository with the 'get' command of HOLLIS. And if the students want to browse a section, we'll bring all books back, he said. Mike Martin '97 seemed unworried by the construction and pleased by the librarians' efforts. Library renovation affects [my research] negligibly, if at all. Online resources are so great now that a significant number of pri- mary sources are available through Westlaw or the World Wide Web, he said. And the librarians are terrific - accom- modating, polite, pleasant, all around good folks. Their main focus is on helping us. Students may also soon be able to visit the 175,000 volumes housed at the Athenaeum. If people feel they have the need to go there, they should first come to the reference desk and talk with the librarians about please see LIBRARY, page 12 Shahram Seydin-Noor, is a twin in the class of 1999.

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