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:)

Midnite in the Law Libraby

It’s quiet but still dynamic.

The Westlaw printer is busy working, generating documents after documents.
You hear the sounds of typing. The sounds of quick page-turning surrounded.
It’s not crowded but you saw familiar faces. Focus and hard working.
The Memorandum is in the making. Future attorneys are in the making.

I experienced the midnight scene in the law library, thanks to Mr. Lanham.

Debut!

Due to the extreme laziness of this blogger, and too many external distractions, such as endless assignments and BDay parties, nothing has been posted in this blog. As you might agree, the first step is always the most difficult part. Once you started, it’s easier to follow up. Based on this theory (and excuse as well), I’d love to wrap up some general impressions of school in the first month in this diary rather than trying to write detail reports of everything happened. I wish it would be a good first step.

First Impression: Duke Blue? It’s GREEN everywhere!
After the crazy flight from France to Taipei and then to the east coast, banking tons of frquent flyer mileages (what? still not enough for a free ticket!), I arrived the school in the forest. I mean the FOREST literally. North Carolina is a great state with beautiful natural scenes, and the University is located in a quiet, comfortable, beautiful, small southern town, which is great for academic studies. Translation: kinda boring.

This is totally new for an urban guy like me. But you know, it will probably benefit my body and clean my minds. Yes, I will become a philosopher and THINK a lot. Thanks to the power of nature.

Special thanks to Hans, who picked me up in the airport in early morning:)

Roomie is the key to survive

First classmate I met here is my roommate. He really helps a lot to get me familiar with the school, especially in the situation that I arrived late. Having a wonderful roomie is probably one of the most important thing to survive here. A warm home is always the best place to go.

My roomie, who will share the great five-star resort (after the experience at Chapou in France, I am thinking about upgrading here to 7-star, that’s another story. i hope i can get to it later in this blog) with me this yr, is a great guy from Thai. Not only easy-going and friendly, he’s also a Michelin-TWO-star chef. You know what? This guy deserves a full post, so i will stop here for now.

The DLS

Duke Law is without any doubt one of the most prestige law school in the States. I rushed to the orientatin shortly after my arrival to school. The International Dean is very nice, every one is willing to help you. Great faculties, and great students here.

The size of the school is medium compares to other leading law schools. It’s a great fit for me since I don’t really want to go to huge schools andnot able to know people well. We integrate with American students well,that’s another plus.

Gothics

This campus is famous of its Gothic buildings. The landmark in the campus is the Duke Chapel. The statue of Mr. Jame Duke stands in front of it. Wanna get married here? Better get in line fast:)

Walking in the Forest

In a lovely sunny morning, it’s just perfect to walk through the Sarah Duke Garden to the Law School. However, you want to make sure that you have plenty of time ahead. The campus is BIG. We are already used to a high density of population in Asian cities. Here it’s totally a different story.

Living at Duke without a car is just like handicapped. You can’t go to the supermarket, you can’t go to the baseball games, you can’t go to the restaurants off campus. You will live in your warm cottage happily ever after for GOOD.

I wish I will start another post with “driving in the forest” very soon!

Still so many happen this month, but I think it’s good enough for the debut. I hope I will write again soon.

Coming soon!