History 110e: your midterm study guide is posted

October 25th, 2011

You can find it here.

Here’s a commentary on the “Tobin tax.” Does this remind you of the ideas of any nineteenth century economist?

Beware of ‘bait and switch’ law school tuition scholarships

May 1st, 2011

I’ve already written about the soberingly bad job market for new lawyers on this blog. Since my last post on the subject, the situation has gotten even worse. Here’s The New York Times on the subject in January:

a generation of J.D.’s face the grimmest job market in decades. Since 2008, some 15,000 attorney and legal-staff jobs at large firms have vanished, according to a Northwestern Law study. Associates have been laid off, partners nudged out the door and recruitment programs have been scaled back or eliminated.

But wait, it gets even worse, the NYTimes has just released a disturbing expose on law schools that give students first year tuition scholarships, tell them that they can keep the scholarship as long as they keep their grades at a B level or so, but don’t tell them that many of those recipients lose their grant right quick.

At Golden Gate and other law schools nationwide, students are graded on a curve, which carefully rations the number of A’s and B’s, as well as C’s and D’s, awarded each semester. That all but ensures that a certain number of students — at Golden Gate, it could be in the realm of 70 students this year — will lose their scholarships and wind up paying full tuition in their second and third years.

Think law school is a sure bet to a great career? Read on.

Study guide for History 110G mid-term exam is up!

April 24th, 2011

Check it out here!

History 110G syllabus is up!

March 22nd, 2011

Here you go!

The Tyger, by William Blake

February 11th, 2011

Tyger

“The multiplication of values that buying on margin made possible in a rising market worked with impartial and fearful symmetry when values were on the way down.” David Kennedy, Freedom From Fear, page 38, paragraph two.

Job market for new lawyers worse than ever

October 31st, 2010

From The Wall Street Journal.

“The situation is so bleak that some students and industry experts are rethinking the value of a law degree, long considered a ticket to financial security. If students performed well, particularly at top-tier law schools, they could count on jobs at corporate firms where annual pay starts as high as $160,000 and can top out well north of $1 million. While plenty of graduates are still set to embark on that career path, many others have had their dreams upended.”

More

Henry the Cat becomes Youtube/Droid X camcorder star

October 14th, 2010

My cat Henry is obviously a little skittish about the smart phone exposure, but she gets back to her nap soon enough (yes; Henry is a she. It’s a long story).

Wired Nation

September 7th, 2010

New Politics 117 “Wired Nation” site is up! Check it out here.

Facebook privacy

April 8th, 2010

As UCSC students know, I’m very concerned that they use Facebook and other social networking sites in ways that don’t jeopardize their safety or employment prospects. Jacqui Cheng over at Ars Technica has an excellent guide to best Facebook privacy practices here. Please read it ASAP.

On a more amusing note, here’s a video about the iPad that I found very salubrious.

Hello Spring quarter at UCSC

March 29th, 2010


Welcome back everyone to the Spring quarter here at UCSC! Apropos of nothing, I think this cat is being very patient with the bird attacking it. My office hours are 11 am to 1 pm on Thursdays at Stevenson 280.