Dear Charlotte, Nice to See You!

Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina (18th in the United States). This winter break I visited Charlotte twice. She is a charming little girl, not as fashion as NYC, smaller than I thought, but nice and fit.

The City and its Skyline

US cities are actually quite different to Asian ones (except NYC). People live in suburb, and the downtown area isn’t usually quite large. Charlotte has beautiful skyline, but not as big as I thought. The high modern buildings are gathered in about 10 blocks, I would say probably even smaller than Xinyi District of Taipei City in Taiwan. However, as a financial center in southern US. We saw lots of fancy cars and well-dressed people here. Charlotte is not a wild girl but definitely very neat:)

Panthers and a Lovely Sunshine Football Afternoon

The first visit to dear Charlotte is for my first NFL game ever! Carolina Panthers lost badly to struggling defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact this game sort of cost the Panthers’ playoff hope. You felt like you were actually in Pittsburgh in the end of the game. But who cares (I am actually a Packer fan), I enjoyed the atmosphere of football game a lot. Lots Steelers fan traveled down from Pittsburgh, families gathered and BBQed before the game. Winning or losing, you enjoyed a lovely Sunday afternoon. That’s what it all about:)

Kobe scored 58 in a 3OT thriller

The second trip to Charlotte was for a NBA game (you can now tell i am a very big sports fan). My beloved great LA Lakers paid their annual visit to Charlotte, how can I miss the great Kobe Bryant in this sense.

Kobe did not let me down. He scored 58 points (third most in his career) with some super dunks and heroic shots. He’s really the best. However, the Charlotte Bobcats did not let local fans down as well. They fought hard and forced the game to the third overtime! (How lucky I was, I enjoyed 15 more mins^^) And the Bobcats eventually upset another strong team and gave Charlotte a joyful night.

See You Soon, Dear Charlotte

After both games, I enjoyed nice restaurants and bars in Charlotte. It’s comfortable to walk in the downtown there. Compares to where I live, the middle of nowhere or the center of the forest, it’s quite nice down in Charlotte. I think I will see her again pretty soon:)

DLS Found New Dean in New Year!

First of all, happy 2007 to everyone who is reading this not-really-updating-little blog! I wasn’t updating b/c I was trying to survive the final exams. After that, I had a lot of fun in my winter break so far, traveling from hot Florida to cold ski resort! Will have some report before the kickoff of the spring semester:)

Federal Judge David F. Levi is our New Dean

Today President Brodhead and Provost Lange announced Judge David Levi will succeed Dean Katharine Bartlett as the Dean of Duke Law School from July, 1, 2007. Dean Bartlett choose to return to teaching and scholarship after seven years as the Dean. We thank Dean Bartlett for her contribution and legacy toward the DLS, and look forward to the deanship of Judge Levi.

The Dean Hunting

Dean Bartlett is one of the three deans stepping down at Duke this year, joining Douglas Breeden, dean of the Fuqua School of Business; and William Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. The University and the three Schools quickly formed dean search committees to hunt for their successors nationwide.

This process impressed me a lot. Unlike the US, academic deanships in Taiwan are usually coming from the faculty members in the department/school. The general scenario is that faculty members elect the dean, usually from senior faculty members in this case. But I do think a dean search committee is necessary and healthy to the academic environment. I heard of some political collisions in Taiwanese academic society in dean election.

First, the dean should be deemed as a “manager” of the school, outside expertise could be as good as, if not better than, the in-house counterpart. They can bring in some fresh experience, and in this case in-house candidates are not ruled out of course. The point is to find the most capable and suitable person. Second, current faculty members do not need to “choose a side”, ie. no political pressure, especially for those junior faculty members. Third, becoming a dean should not really be seemed as a “promotion,” of course it is an important position, but the more important part of the deanship is the administrative leadership rather than academic recognition.

Finally, as a member of the Duke Law community, I welcome Judge Levi to our big family, and look forward to his leadership:)