preLaw - Back to School 2007 - (Page 10) news LAW SCHOOL action to take. In the meantime, Hastings is biding its time and will consider alternatives once they learn the outcome, Newton said. “I am waiting to learn what the outcome will be in the hope that justice will be served in that process,” Newton said. “Given the proximity of the Virginia Tech murders, many of our students experienced great fear and anxiety.” — Michelle Weyenberg Law school causes emotional stress, study finds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HASTINGS SCHOOL OF THE LAW immediately evacuated and shut down April 18 after a threat was posted by a Berkeley law student. UC Berkeley student’s hoax shuts down Hastings Law A law student’s hoax, just days after the Virginia Tech shootings in April, backfired and could lead to his expulsion. The anonymous student at UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law left a message on the popular Internet discussion board www. autoadmit.com, directed towards Boalt rival University of California Hastings School of the Law. “Just decided not to do a murder-suicide copycat at Hastings Law,” the message read, supposedly written by a person called Trustafarian. “I went to bed all set for ‘Bloody Wednesday,’ but when I woke – to sun, to flowers in bloom – I just couldn’t bring myself to suit up. Maybe tomorrow; I hear rain’s in the forecast.” Hastings, located in downtown San Francisco, immediately evacuated and shut down on April 18 after the founder of autoadmit.com discovered the threat. Hastings Dean Nell Newton said given the 10 preLaw proximity of the Virginia Tech murders, she felt she had no other choice. Though authorities found the threat to be a hoax, UC Berkeley Dean Christopher Edley sent an apology letter to Newton. “I write to express my deep regret and sympathy to you and the Hastings community over the anxiety and upset created by the web posting allegedly authored by a Boalt student,” Edley wrote. “Coming on the heels of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the posting was in my judgment at the very best an astounding instance of immaturity, terrible judgment, and reckless disregard for the welfare of others.” The student is currently awaiting his fate, which is before the Committee on Students. Edley recommended expulsion for the student. Susan Gluss, director of media relations for Berkeley, said the student conduct committee was still deciding which disciplinary Law school is an exceptionally stressful experience — more so than medical school, said two professors in a recent study. Research suggests that informing law students on the realities of depression, disengagement and a shift of values is key to their success, said Lawrence Krieger, a law professor at Florida State University. Krieger and Kennon Sheldon, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri at Columbia, completed a three-year study of two different, unidentified law schools. The study, “Understanding the Negative Effects of Legal Education on Law Students,” confirmed earlier findings of emotional distress among law students and delved deeper to address their motivation and values. Law students experience precipitous declines in their mental health during their first year, the study showed. Krieger and Sheldon concluded that those declines are primarily due to the tenets of legal education, which encourage students to focus on strict interpretation of law instead of previously held moral and practical values. Further findings suggested that law schools would likely benefit from reevaluating faculty hiring practices by carefully considering the effects of their teaching methods. Teachers with more experience in both the classroom and the real world of practicing law might be more attuned with the conflicts affecting law students. “Changes toward employing faculty with more teaching and lawyering experience…might ultimately enhance students’ sense of autonomy and engagement,” www.preLawInsider.com http://autoadmit.com http://www.preLawInsider.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.