Law School Transfer Admissions - Sometimes an Applicant's Current School Holds the Applicant Hostage

This blog post talks about some subtle and not-so-subtle ways that law schools try to prevent students from transferring.  An example of a subtle way: the dean writing the no-disciplinary letter might delay performing the task.  An example of a less-subtle way: the dean tries to dissuade the student from transferring.  An even less-subtle way: students requesting to transfer are asked to waive their right to participate on law review to get information released.  And, if it's true, a pretty outrageous method: a school will not release a student's transcript until the student pays the next semester's tuition bill.  I wonder if the last two methods are even legal under FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), which provides a right of access to records.  
There are other techniques in the blog entry which I do not post here.  
I have a tag for Penn State Dickinson which I sometimes use on my blog entries, but I'm not going to here.  I hope they don't engage in any of these practices

Two Articles on the Census -- One Serious, One Funny

The police in Hawaii arrested a census worker for trespassing on someone's property to give a census form.  Admittedly, when asked to leave, he did not, but I think that he could remain on the property for at least a short while to explain about the Census.  He had the right -- under federal law -- to be there. Now, the Assistant United States Attorney is defending him -- as they should.

The other article is funny, it talks about a reporter who did the follow-up survey with people who did not return their forms for the Census and talked about some of the responses he got.

I liked reading both these articles.  In some ways, both people's experiences were not unlike my time working for the Census (well, except the getting arrested for trespassing part).  But what I like the most about working for the Census last year is that whenever I go running/walking around Silver Spring, practically no matter which direction I leave my apartment, I know that I helped to count the people that live around me.  And that, I think, is pretty cool.

Summer Reading from the University of Texas at Austin

Here's a list of suggested summer reading from the University of Texas at Austin.