Bowties, a Holocaust Survivor, and Power Weekend

Today in Torts, our class took a short break from contributory & comparative negligence to show our appreciation to Professor Huffman by donning his signature look: the bowtie.  In our respective colors, I would like to introduce you to the purple and red pods.    

  

This was a much-needed laugh and pause from the daily grind of law school and looming final exams.  Wait… did I say final exams, already?  Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was hauling all of my personal belongings, my beautiful fiancé, and my massively fluffy dog (Dare) up to Portland from California?  I guess not. 

I can not believe that in a mere 17 days I will be attempting to pass my first law school exam.  Even more unbelievable is the proposition that in 26 days I will be finished with 1/6^th of my legal education here at Lewis & Clark.  Although the toughest part is still to come and the learning curve has been rough, it has been worth it.    

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In my last blog I mentioned several expectations I had of Lewis & Clark prior to starting, one being amazing guest speakers and events.  Again, Lewis & Clark has not disappointed.  A brief recap: in my short time here I have had the pleasure of attending speeches from three federal circuit court justices, one state Supreme Court Justice, two United States Supreme Court Justices, and now a Holocaust survivor.          

Last week, LC hosted an amazing speaking event: Alter Wiener: The Story of a Holocaust Survivor.  During my lunch break, between Torts and L/A/W, I sat captivated in a packed classroom listening to Mr. Wiener’s horrifying account of the Holocaust.  Mr. Wiener’s story was one of unimaginable loss and suffering, and somehow inspirational.  Here stood a man who had lost everything to the evils of Hitler, and yet had the courage to tell his story so that future generations could learn from and most importantly, never forget some of the darkest days in human history.   

A podcast of Mr. Wiener’s speech can be found at: http://lawlib.lclark.edu/podcast/?p=577

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A few weeks back, I joined the Lewis and Clark Animal Law Review (ALR) as a 1L source checker and participated in Power Weekend.  The ALR is “The Nation’s First Law Review Devoted Exclusively to Animal Issues” and twice a year, in the fall and spring, members of the ALR gather for Power Weekend.  The purpose of Power Weekend is to perform one final review of all the articles going to publication in the upcoming issue.  Power Weekend consists of two eight-hour sessions, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  During these sessions, members dive into their ALWD manuals and “creature books” to check every citation, every footnote, and pretty much every word of every article going to print.  Although it is a tedious job, it is a great way to contribute to an incredible legal publication and hopefully better my chances of becoming an associate editor or a board member during my second and third year.    

22 November 2008

• Alter Wiener
• Animal Law Review
• Power Weekend