The Student Newspaper of the New York University School of Law

THE COMMENTATORVol. XL, No. 10 February 22, 2006

InfraWinter’s Shout-outs p. 3

All-ALSA Space Point-Counterpoint p. 4-5All University Games Wrap-up p. 8

Continued on page 2

Dean Revesz Criticizes “Despicable” Union;Is “Horrified” by Pentagon

BOBBIE ANDELSON ’08There were so many stu-

dents packed into Vanderbilt Hall’sRoom 214 on Valentine’s Day forDean Ricky Revesz’s Town HallMeeting that there were hardlyenough seats to go around.

The meeting, which wasonly supposed to last from 4 pmuntil 5 pm, went considerablylonger, and when Revesz had toleave at some point half way intothe second hour, there were stillplenty of student hands left waiv-ing, seeking to further the dialoguebetween the students and the ad-ministration.

Revesz was pleased with theturnout and the exchange with stu-dents, mentioning the steps hetakes to stay in tune with stu-dents, including meeting once amonth with the SBA, schedulingstudent drop-in hours once aweek, and personally respondingto all of his email each night. Start-ing with this semester, Town HallMeetings with Dean Revesz willoccur twice every semester.

The first issue Reveszchose to address was faculty hir-ing, which includes both entry-level hiring and lateral hiring. NYULaw recently extended six job of-fers of tenured professorships.Robert Sitkoff, Associate Profes-sor of Law at Northwestern Uni-versity, has already acceptedNYU’s offer and will be teachingTrusts and Estates here this Fall,before spending the two semes-ters of 2007 as a Visiting Professorat Harvard and Yale, respectively.

Offers of tenured professor-ship have also been extended toJeremy Waldron, a professor ofLaw and Politics at Columbia;Roderick (Rick) Hills, a constitu-tional law scholar from the Univer-sity of Michigan; Cynthia Estlund,a labor law scholar at Columbia andHeather Gerken, a Professor of Elec-tion law at Harvard, among oth-ers.

Revesz stated that NYU waslikely to make one or two more of-fers of tenured professorship thissemester. He also encouraged stu-dents interested in having moreinput in the faculty hiring processto consider involvement with theStudent Advisory Committee onfaculty hiring. Interested studentsmay contact SBA president OliverCarter for more information.

The second issue Reveszchoose to address was the Fall2005 experiment in teaching Pro-fessional Responsibility as a largeseminar, with an enrollment of 350students. Revesz stated that byall accounts, including those ofthe students and the professor,the experiment was a failure. “It

was well-intentioned. It just didnot work, and we will not be doingit again,” Revesz said.

Revesz also addressed ru-mors that the student group,OUTLaw, was being monitored bythe Pentagon. “We are horrifiedby these reports,” Revesz said.“We hope to proceed quickly infiling a report and we will go for-ward and litigate if necessary.”

When the floor was openedto student questions, the first stu-dent inquiry was why NYU, un-like some other institutions, doesnot offer any credit for intern-ships, including judicial intern-ships.

Revesz replied that NYUhas chosen not to offer creditstoward graduation for judicial in-ternships “because of the issue ofsupervision. We have an excel-lent clinical program where weknow that the right level of super-vision will take place. Eight-to-oneis the typical student-to-facultyratio in our clinic. If we did nothave the resources of our clinicalprogram, we might consider goingthe way of other schools and of-fering credit for internships, butthat is not an issue.”

The student respondedwith his belief that NYU students’representation among the ranks ofpost-graduation federal judicialclerks was suffering as a result ofthis policy because of lack of stu-dent experience working forjudges harming NYU students

during the application process forthese positions.

Revesz, who spent two yearschairing NYU’s Clerkship Commit-tee, disagreed with students whofelt that lack of credit resulting inlack of exposure to work in the ju-diciary was hurting NYU in theclerkship application process. Hestated that NYU was well-repre-sented with clerkships, citing thefact that last year Justice O’Connorhad two clerks from NYU, makingit the first time that any SupremeCourt Justice had more than oneNYU clerk in a single year. “Ulti-mately, our decision on credit is aneducational one, despite students’practical concerns.”

Revesz chose not to mentionthe elephant in the room: the con-troversial proposed all-ALSAspace, but it was not long before astudent asked Revesz to addressthe subject. Revesz said: “Thisissue has been going on formonths. There have probablybeen more meetings on this issuethan any other student issue thisyear.”

In response to the student-written all-ALSA proposal, Reveszsaid that he will be making his de-cision in the next few weeks. Hewill comply with student requeststo make his decision available inwriting. Revesz declared that thesubstance of the request and notlogistical considerations will be thedeciding factor in determining

Team Law School dominated the annual All-University Games. Brandon Chock’06 celebrated by raising the SLAP Football Goblet in victory. Conor French hasa full article on the night’s action in Sports on page 8.

Dean Revesz answered questions infront of a packed house at a V-DayTown Hall Meeting

Professor Sitkoff, who visited lastsemester at the Law School, has agreedto leave Northwestern for NYU Law

Where Do We Go FromHere? Middle East ScholarsDiscuss Stunning Election

CHRIS MOON ’06Quick, what is the Spanish

word for never? No, not nunca.That’s right, jamás! Pronounced,coincidentally, like the name of thegroup that won the recent Pales-tinian elections. If you speak Span-ish, or even if you don’t, it’s a fit-ting name: everybody jamás wouldthink that Hamas could actuallywin an election.

On February 7, 2006, threepreeminent scholars on the MiddleEast convened in Vanderbilt Hallbefore a standing-room onlycrowd of over 100 students to dis-cuss the startling Hamas victory.The three speakers included NoahFeldman, professor of law at NewYork University School of Law,whose scholarly work includes“After Jihad,” a study of Democ-racy in Muslim countries; SamiZubaida, an NYU Global VisitingProfessor of Law who currentlyteaches a seminar on Law andPower in the Islamic World; andZachary Lockman, a professor ofMiddle Eastern Studies at NewYork University.

Coming up to bat in leadoffspot was Professor Feldman, whobegan his remarks by discussingthe dichotomy of Islam and De-

mocracy. Within the past 15 years,most of the successful politicalparties in the Muslim world havebeen both “Islamic and Demo-cratic,” according to Feldman.These parties comes forward withthe message that, “Islam is theanswer.” Asking why Islamic par-ties have been so successful,Feldman posited that secular alter-natives are seen to have been triedand failed. Furthermore, with theprofound corruption of govern-

Continued on page 2

Hamas? Jamás.Si, they won. Andfor good reasons.

ments in the Middle East, Islamicparties are perceived to be lesscorrupt, even if that perceptionisn’t always reality.

Professor Feldman thenmoved on to the specific exampleof the recent Hamas victory. He feltthat, in his view, the vote for Hamaswas “perfectly rational under thecircumstances,” as a response tothe corrupt regime of the PA. Hop-ing for peace in the region,Feldman feels that Hamas will con-tinue to implement a two-tiered

Editor In ChiefChris Moon

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The CommentatorPage 2 February 22, 2006

The Commentator serves as a forum for news, opinions and ideas of mem-bers of the Law School community. Only editorials and policies developedby the Editorial Board reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board. All otheropinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of TheCommentator. The Commentator is issued on alternate Wednesdays duringthe academic year except during vacations and examination periods. Adver-tising rates are available on request. Subscriptions are also available at a rateof $15 per year. Letters to the Editor should be sent to the followingaddress, either on paper or via e-mail.

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Continued from page 1whether an all-ALSA space will beprovided.

Revesz also did not mentionanother divisive issue on campus:the GSOC strike. Law students arenot eligible for membership inGSOC Union. Recently, however,the Union has targeted Public In-terest Law Center speaker eventsand job fairs. The views of stu-dents on the propriety of target-ing law school public interest em-ployers and getting them to movetheir interviews from NYU’s cam-pus is mixed. Some students sup-port the striking GSOC studentswhile others do not and are upsetto have missed their interviews forsummer employment when the lo-cation of the interview was movedoff campus and they were not in-formed until the last minute.

When students finally askedRevesz for the Law School’s posi-tion on the strike, Revesz stated:“The union has actually acted, inmy view, in a reprehensible way.”

Revesz said that he worked to ar-range a memorial service at the lawschool for a former employee whorecently died leaving behindyoung children. The family of theemployee felt compelled to findanother location when they werecontacted by the Union and toldthat the memorial service would bepicketed.

The meeting closed with a

strategy of no violence now, butkeeping open violence as a lastresort alternative.

Professor Zubaida beganhis remarks by indicating that hewould look at the current electionsfrom the point of view of a soci-ologist. He felt that the victory ofHamas, when looked at from theday to day perspective, “hasn’treally altered much.” The majorproblem in Gaza remains. There isa large population on a very smallarea, poorly educated withoutenough jobs for its citizens. InZubaida’s estimation, this hugedemographic problem is why Is-rael jettisoned the Gaza Strip, grant-ing it a certain level of autonomy.

Zubaida indicated that cur-rent conditions are highly favor-able to the rise of religion. Indeed,Islamism at the social level hasthrived. Frequently, bad socialconditions leads to the rise of reli-gious social movements. Profes-sor Zubaida ended his remarks byasking, “where do we go fromhere.” And, like the old punch lineto the joke goes, Zubaida stated,“oh, I wouldn’t start from here.”

After the lawyer and the so-

ciologist came the historian, Pro-fessor Lockman. He views the vic-tory of Hamas as a failure of Oslo.First of all, the Oslo Treaty left dif-ficult issues on the table, such asfinal borders, the fate of Jewishsettlements, and the question ofwhat to do with Jerusalem, a holycity to three of the world’s majorreligions. Commenting on thebuild-up to the elections, Lockmancondemned the use of suicidebombers by Hamas, labeling them“morally repugnant and politicallystupid.”

Lockman, like the two menbefore him and most people in theworld, hope that the Middle Eastcan stabilize. He feels that the bestway to do this is to give Hamas areason to have hope by givingthem incentive to move towards anational movement. According toLockman, “brandishing the stickwon’t work.” The two sides must,“move forward or things fallapart.”

Hopefully, throughout theweeks and months to come, lead-ers of Israel and Palestine can fol-low the advice of all three of thepanelists, avoiding violence andturning the year-long ceasefireinto a lasting peace.

Stunning Hamas Victory

Hiring profs andfiring at GSOC &the government

Annual Public Service

JOHN INFRANCA ’07

The Annual Public ServiceAuction is just over a week away.This year’s auction will be held inVanderbilt Hall on Thursday,March 2nd at 6:00 pm.

The 2006 auction has ben-efited from unprecedented in-volvement by NYU Law alumni.Led by Jay and Arlene Neveloff,the Public Service Auction AlumniCommittee has motivated alumnito donate to the auction and toattend the event in what are ex-pected to be record numbers.

The donations acquired bythe Alumni Committee includeNight of Tournament Poker In-struction, Yankees Tickets, KnicksTickets, a vintage framed photo-graph of Babe Ruth and LouGehrig, a boat cruise of NY harbor,a round of golf at the Trump Na-tional Golf Club, Giants Tickets,and a weekend in Miami.

Alumni involvement, which

will hopefully allow the auction toraise even more money than in thepast, is increasingly importantgiven an expected decrease in theavailability of federal funding ofPIC grants next year.

In the future the auction mayplay an even greater role in guar-anteeing a PIC grant to any stu-

continued from page 1Town Hall Meeting

student comment about the lengthof NYU Law’s graduation cer-emony. Revesz agreed with stu-dents that the ceremony was toolong but feels it is important thatevery name is read. Revesz said:“We strongly feel that [the length]is a bad thing, but I’m not sure howwe would go about fixing it. If any-one has any ideas, I am open tosuggestions.”

This week’s Crossword Answers: try your skills out on page 6 withthe weekly Commie Crossword courtesy of Jessica Gonzalez

Auction Draws on Unprecedented Supportnearly twice as many professorshave donated an item to the auc-tion as did last year. Items donatedby professors include a weekendat Dean Ricky Revesz and Prof.Vicki Been’s Connecticut Home, asingle-track mountain biking tripin Montauk with Vice-Dean BarryAdler, a wine and cheese tastingwith Vice-Dean Clayton Gillette, ahomemade Cuban dinner with Prof.Cristina Rodriguez, poker withProfs. Samuel Issacharoff andCynthia Estlund, and a ChocolateTasting with Profs. Rachel Barkow,Jennifer Arlen, Cristina Rodriguezand Lily Batchelder.

Other items donated by pro-fessors include autographedbooks, dinners, walking tours, andBroadway tickets.

The auction has also ben-efited from the special platinumand gold sponsors. Platinumsponsors include BarBri and thelaw firm of Kramer Levin. Skaddenand LeBoeuf Lamb are supportingthe auction as gold sponsors.

This year’s auction featuresso many great items that the silentauction has been separated intotwo rooms. Featured items will bein Vanderbilt Hall Room 110 from6:00 to 7:50 and the general silentauction will be in Greenberg Hallfrom 6:00 to 10:00 pm.

The highlight of the night,the Live Auction, will run from 8:00to 9:30 pm in Tishman Auditorium.Rumor has it that a special celeb-rity guest auctioneer might be ap-pearing to help out with the liveauction. Sources cannot confirmthis.

The auction will featureitems suitable for every price rangeand promises to be a wonderfultime for all who attend. For moreinformation and a list of auctionitems visit the auction online atwww.law.nyu.edu/studentorgs/psa/.

Faculty reallystepped up: moun-tain bike withAdler, dine withC-Rod, or winback your tuitionat the poker table.

dent pursuing public interest workfor the summer.

Involvement by professorshas also increased this year, as

February 22, 2006 Page 3Commentator Opinions

The Republican War on LibertyCRAIG WINTERS, ‘07

Food for thought: “We arecommitted to the principles thatthe state exists to preserve free-dom, that the separation of gov-ernmental powers is central to ourConstitution, and that it is emphati-cally the province and duty of thejudiciary to say what the law is,not what it should be.” Here’sanother: “Every day, we strive tofulfill Lincoln’s vision: a countryunited and free, in which all peopleare guaranteed equal rights andthe opportunity to pursue theirdreams.”

Are these quotes from theACLU’s governing principles? Or,perhaps, from the campaign pledgeof an aspiring Democratic Con-gressional candidate? No, myfriends – not by a mile. The firstquote is the mission statement ofthe Federalist Society. The sec-ond is from the 2004 RepublicanParty national platform.

And herein lies the dilemma.How can two organizations (orone organization, since they over-lap and feed off each other) rhe-torically committed to broad “lib-erty” interests pursue an agendaexplicitly antithetical to those in-terests? How can intelligent folksmouth the above words and main-tain a straight face as they pulpthose very principles more effec-tively than an Arthur Andersonshredder?

Let’s take the separation ofpowers argument first. It’s in theConstitution; there’s no denyingit. Even Originalists will have aheard time ignoring that one. Butwhat has the Republico-Federal-ist Party done lately with regard toour cherished Separation? Twothings. First, Bush’s Federalistcronies (including now-JusticeAlito) are pushing a far-out theorycalled the “unitary Executive.”One implication is that indepen-dent federal agencies housed inthe executive branch (think of the

SEC, the FCC, and the NLRB)would have any independenceobliterated. The President couldorder those agencies to do theAdministration’s dirty work by fiat.

You may think that this ac-curately portrays the present stateof affairs; not so. These agenciesare run by Presidentially-ap-pointed commissioners. Congressmust consent on the appoint-

ments. If Bush desired to shutdown the SEC’s work on Enronas a favor to his Pioneer-classfundraiser Kenny-boy, for in-stance, he couldn’t order it – onlya majority of the SEC’s commis-sioners could. Hence, the SEC isan independent agency.

The unitary executive saysadios to independence. It’s notclear exactly how this would work,but that’s just a measure of howradical this idea is – it’s never beentried during our long experimentwith democracy. And there’smore. The President’s nasty habitof attaching “signing statements”to bills passed by Congress ismeant to constrain those dulypassed laws (a practice advo-cated by the younger, Reagan Ad-ministration-version of Alito).The signing statements are meantto rival the text of the bills and theauthority of legislative historywhen interpreted by courts. Ifyou thought that the President’sonly role in the legislative processwas adding his (or her, maybesoon) John Hancock, you’d be

BY CRAIG WINTERS, ‘07

To Vice-President “Shooter”Cheney:

Only sissies apologize whenthey shoot a friend in the face witha 28-gauge shotgun. And youdidn’t! Heck of a job!

After all, anyone can mistakea clearly marked, orange-clad sep-tuagenarian for a quail. It’s reallyquite easy. Let’s see: a quail is thesize of a human head, and you shotWhittington in the face. Thatmakes sense. If you had riddledhis lower torso with pellets, we’dcry fowl (ha!).

But seriously, Shooter, youamaze us. You are the most mys-terious public figure of the lasthundred years. You were too busyto serve in the Vietnam War, yetyou crave the opportunity to sendAmerica’s youth into harm’s way.You received two D.U.I.’s, yet youimpale your enemies on the lanceof moral turpitude. You ranHalliburton, and now you lead anAdministration that awards thatvery company truckloads of no-bid contracts. You cavort withScalia, and then you rely on him to

keep your energy task-force meet-ings secret.

You pack a shotgun-sizedblast of oomph that keeps every-one guessing. Gold star for you!

To Senator Pat Roberts:Many in my illustrious read-

ership may not know who you are.Let me introduce: you’re the guywho’s making sure that the U.S.Senate doesn’t investigate Bush’sdomestic spying program. Withfondest memories of our departedformer leader of the FBI, I’d like tobestow upon you the J. EdgarHoover Award for Complete Feck-lessness! Congratulations!

While J. Edgar may havebeen busy bugging Martin LutherKing, Jr., other civil rights activ-ists and the Democratic Party,you’re one-upping that ethicaloblivion by playing party stooge.You’ve successfully flushed anyremaining shred of CongressionalRepublican independence downthe political Porta-Potty. It’s noteveryday that Senators get achance to stand in favor of willfullaw-breaking (aside from everydaydealings with Jack Abramoff and

his ilk), but you’ve done it!Not even a single hearing,

Senator? Your Senate colleaguespassed a law in 1978 that said thePresident couldn’t spy on U.S. citi-zens on U.S. soil without a war-rant. But Bush did it! It takes gutsto stand up to your better self.Why ask questions when the an-swers might result in your politi-cal paymasters spending time injail? I’d award you a gold star, butShooter Cheney may classify it. Solet’s just extend hearty congratu-lations.

(Post-production note: Asthis article went to press, Robertsapparently partly balked and mayorder hearings. Stay tuned formore on Robert’s miraculousspine-growing surgery!)

To Bush’s Empty Promiseon Oil Independence:

Mr. President, this Shout-Out properly belongs to yourspeechwriters. Your team shame-lessly swiped a move from BillyFlynn’s playbook in the musicalChicago – “give ‘em the ol’ razzle-dazzle,” and keep ‘em guessing.You told the nation that we are

“addicted to oil,” then you pro-posed absolutely nothing to com-bat that addiction! Wow! If that’snot chutzpah, I don’t know whatis.

You even have me con-fused. On one hand, we haverecord-high oil prices, which is aregressive tax on those who canleast afford it. We’re in Iraq for ageneration, a war largely foughtby lower-income groups and mi-norities. You haven’t proposed asingle significant energy effi-ciency bill that wasn’t tied toANWAR or increased offshore oildrilling and subsidies for Big Oil(forcing Democrats to spike it).And on the other hand, youoffer…nothing! Tax cuts for therich and for investing profession-als! The end of the estate tax!You’ve actually cut the amountthe federal government is spend-ing on alternative energy re-search!

You win the razzle-dazzleaward for hypocrisy and half-truths. I’ll mail you a hard copy.Please place it near TeddyRoosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize.

With this budgetdeficit, you’d thinkBush would crackdown on uber-wealthy deadbeats.You’d be wrong.

Craig’s Weekly Shout-Outs

right, if you read the Constitution.But the Federalists don’t think so.

What’s this have to do withliberty? Liberty has a couple ofmeanings, and I won’t bore youwith Webster’s take. Simply, theseparation of powers is meant toprotect us (i.e., Americans) fromuntrammeled power, like thatswung about by George III. As aconceptual proposition, it’s noble.Multiple, parallel pillars of electedrepresentatives duke it out for po-litical supremacy. In the process,one hopes, little guys like you andme aren’t crushed.

But the Republico-Federal-ists now control both (some wouldsay all three) branches of govern-ment. With ideologues in controlof the White House and Congress,these wanna-be Machiavellis aretearing up our historic liberty pro-tections faster than a snowmobilein Yellowstone.

Witness Bush’s blatant re-fusal to adhere to the FISA, whichprotects Americans from domes-tic eavesdropping without a war-rant. Examine the President’s “en-emy combatant” rationale for de-taining American citizens arrestedon U.S. soil in military brigs, withor without a trial. Notice how thisAdministration classifies every-thing, even routine governmentdocuments explicitly made publicunder FOIA laws (can you say,“Hello, Nixon?”). Note how thePresident’s DOJ attempts to cur-tail the press’s freedom to reporton the historic blunders and epicmismanagement engineered, per-haps, by the least competent Ad-ministration since Grant.

Of course, that’s the obvi-ous stuff. Peel back another layerof the White House onion and yousee an even more cynical and in-vidious process that directly im-pacts on the fairness of our soci-ety. The IRS reported this weekthat tax evasion has hit recordhighs – over $350 billion dollars in

2001, themost recentyear forw h i c hrecords areavailable.T h a t ’ slarger thanthe GDPsof Sweden,Belg ium,Greece andC h i l e .A n a l y s t sproject thatmore up-to-date figuresw o u l dproject aneven largergap. Andwho’s not

paying? Take one guess. (An-swer: the rich.) That means thatwage-earning Americans are foot-ing a larger share of the bill forthe give-backs, tax-breaks andcorporate welfare spread nice andfat by the President. The right toa fair and equitable society is aliberty interest – the liberty towork and live in a society thatimposes fair burdens.

With the exploding budgetdeficit (telegram to fiscally-con-servative Republicans: wherehave you gone?), you’d thinkBush would want to crack-downon über-wealthy deadbeats. Un-fortunately, you’d be wrong. IRSenforcement was slashed underClinton, at the behest of the Re-publican Congress, and the Presi-dent hasn’t sought to plug thisobvious loophole. Ditto with theSEC: after a rise in funding imme-diately following Enron, KarlRove’s corporate contributorssucceeded in freezing the SEC’sbudget, even though all evidencesuggests that the markets con-tinue to be riddled with fraud anddeceit. Will the next Eliot Spitzer

The sad reality ofBush’s tenure isthat the principlesthat he purports tohold dear aren’tfreedom, opportu-nity, or seperationof powers

Another victim of the Right’s War on Liberty

please standup? Embar-rassing theSEC has be-come aDemocraticrite of pas-sage.

T h esame goeswith nearlyall the vari-ous enforce-ment agen-cies over-seen byBush’s inepthenchmen.O S H Adoesn’t pro-tect workers,

the FDA doesn’t test beef, the MineSafety agency is on an extendedholiday, and we can only pray thatsomeone at the Nuclear RegulatoryCommission knows what they’redoing. What about the liberty in-terests of the workers who die un-necessarily because Bush wouldn’tenforce our workplace safety laws?

While those agencieswhither on the vine, we do knowthat there’s money in the budget to

hire a 24 year-old, unqualified right-wing hack to staff the NASA pressoffice and muzzle career scientistson global warming. The press aidein question had one qualificationfor his job at NASA: he was anintern in the Bush-Cheney 2004campaign “war room.” I’m onlysurprised he wasn’t appointed tothe Federal Reserve. How aboutusing his salary to hire someone toactually enforce clean-drinking wa-ter requirements?

The ugly, and sad, reality ofBush’s tenure is that the principlesit purports to hold dear aren’t the“freedom,” “opportunity,” and“separation of powers” principles– in other words, liberty – but ratherthe antipode of those stated ideals.And with very few exceptions, theentire Republican Party has signedon to his festival of fear-monger-ing, secrecy and the retrograde ap-plication of our laws.

Good people can be fooledby well-crafted words. Here’s hop-ing that sensible Republicans cansee the light. Not collecting taxowed, spoiling our environment,violating the specific dictates ofCongress, chasing muckraking jour-nalists and inviting corruptpowerbrokers like Abramoff intoWhite House staff meetings isn’tgood for anyone, including honestmembers of the GOP.

Young conservatives, is thisthe legacy you’d like to inherit?

Commentator OpinionsFebruary 22, 2006Page 4

Getting Beyond the Myth: The Truth About the Proposed All-Alsa SpaceJOHNATHAN SMITH ’07

When the idea of an “All-ALSA Space” was first developedand circulated, its lead organizersand proponents did not think itwas a controversial idea. Sure, weexpected resistance from the ad-ministration (then again, what stu-dent organizer doesn’t expect re-sistance from the administration?).

What has been most shock-ing and unexpected is the resis-tance we have encountered fromour fellow students. We were un-der the assumption that a spacededicated to the unique needs,challenges, and history of peopleof color – spaces that no doubtexisted at most, if not all, of ourrespective undergraduate institu-tions – would be viewed as a wel-come addition to the NYU Lawcommunity by our classmates andpeers. And when a prominent, in-ternational law firm dedicated$25,000 to the ALSAs after severalracist episodes occurred within thefirm and were then leaked out tothe public, we thought this was theperfect way to use the funds thatwere earmarked for “diversity pro-gramming.”

And so, for one week lastOctober, each ALSA came togetherto put on “The Commons.” Thatname was chosen to signify that itwas a space that was open to ev-eryone – we hoped to hark back tothe image of the commons in themiddle of town where everyonegathered together. The week’sgoals were twofold: first, it wasmeant to demonstrate to the ad-ministration that students of colorwould use a space like The Com-mons. Second, it was an opportu-nity for students of color (andthose white students who alsowanted to join in) to come togetherand unite in our common sense ofpurpose. Throughout the week,

the ALSAs put on a plethora ofprogramming – there were moviescreenings, academic panels, exampreparation workshops, even aknitting circle. Throughout theweek, current students, alumni,professors, undergraduates, evena judge, came by to express theirsupport for the space.

I remember walking into theEdgar Allen Poe room during thatweek and just smiling – it was soamazing. Even though everyonehad different phenotypic complex-ions, we all could unite around ourcommitment to fighting racism anddiscrimination. And quite hon-estly, it was refreshing to walk intoa room packed with people ofcolor, all who, in the not-too-dis-tant future, will be lawyers. In lightof the anemically-low levels of di-versity within our “noble profes-sion,” it is not a sight I will see toofrequently during my professionalcareer. So, was The Commons/“All-ALSA Space” designed tohighlight and address the needsof students of color? Yes. Was itdesigned to be exclusive? No.

Like many of you, I wasdrawn to NYU for its commitmentto diversity. Unfortunately, as Ihave progressed throughout thisinstitution, I have found that com-mitment to not always be manifestin my day-to-day reality. As ablack male, I look around myclasses and see far too few peoplewho look like me. When the topicof race is discussed in class,people of color are much too of-ten reduced to caricatures and ste-reotypes. Instead of finding thelaw school classroom to be a placecommitted to diversity and pro-ductively dialogue, it has far toooften disintegrated into a mosh pitof ignorance and intolerance.

Unfortunately, many of myfellow students, far from sharing

my sense of outrage and distress,either explicitly agree or apatheti-cally support the status quo. Inrecounting this, I don’t claim tospeak for all black students, muchless all students of color – thereare many who may feel differently,and in no way is my experiencemore legitimate than theirs. How-ever, I also know there are manywho do share my sense of alien-ation; there are many people ofcolor who felt The Commons wasa welcomed reprieve from theirdaily experiences at NYU. As onestudent observed: “I didn’t knowI was homeless until I went intoThe Commons for the first time.After I took off my bag and myjacket, the rest of the weight I hadbeen carrying seemed to fold tothe floor. For several days, I stud-ied, chatted, joked, and respect-fully disagreed in a space that wasdesigned to make me feel safe.”

During the week of TheCommons, students, from all dif-ferent racial and ethnic back-grounds, came together andshared testimonials about thestruggles they have had to endurewhile at this school. But the beautyof The Commons was that thosegatherings were not just aboutanger and airing frustrations;rather they were about coming to-gether to develop concrete strate-gies to confront these challengesand develop creative solutions toaddress these problems that willunfortunately exist beyond lawschool.

Are we, as organizers andproponents of the All-ALSASpace, under the belief that oneroom could change everything? Ofcourse not. The long and painfulhistory of racism both in this coun-try and around the world revealthat the racial divide cannot be soeasily fixed. In fact, it is because

of that shared history of oppres-sion that it has been a collectionof students and ALSAs standingin solidarity, lobbying for the cre-ation of this space. While our cul-tural experiences are not identical,there is a sense of history thatunites us. As one student re-marked, there is “a unified culturethat bridges communities of color,that identifies and articulates ourcommon experience of colonizationand racial oppression…”

Again, while the creation ofthe All-ALSA Space would notsolve all the problems, it wouldaccomplish a few tangible goals.First, it would serve as an acknowl-edgment from the administrationthat while racism remains a prob-lem, our institution is committedto addressing it. The presence ofa physical space will send a clearmessage that NYU truly is a “pri-vate university in the public inter-est,” and it is endeavoring to en-sure that there are safe spaces onits campus for all students, regard-less of their racial/ethnic back-ground. Second, it would serveas a centralized location for ALSAactivism and organization. Manymay not know this, but theALSAs—APALSA, BALSA,LALSA, MELSA, and SALSA—are responsible for a significantamount of programming at thisschool, and this space could serveas a location where they couldcome and work together to pro-gram more efficiently and effec-tively. The ALSAs frequentlysponsor panels on a plethora ofissues, including the job applica-tion process, preparing for finals,dealing with incidents of bias andharassment in the workplace. Ad-ditionally, the ALSAs are calledupon by the administration to dosignificant outreach throughoutthe admissions cycle. A spacewhere the ALSAs can come to-gether will led to better program-ming and will make collaborationmuch simpler.

Third, the space will serveas a safe space for students whofeel alienated or marginalized dur-ing the course of their interactionswith professors, administrators, orother students – it will be a spacewhere they can talk about theirexperiences without fear of beingfurther ostracized. Several stu-dents noted that being in TheCommons was the most comfort-

able they had felt since coming toNYU.

I cannot begin to do TheCommons/All-ALSA Space justicewithin the confines of a few hun-dred words. If you have questions,stop one of the proponents in thehall and ask – I always welcome e-mail if it is meant to be truly hon-est and productive. During theweek of The Commons, I appreci-ated my friends who, having ques-tions about the space, stopped meand asked me to explain, ratherthan those who just made assump-tions about what the space wassupposed to be.

During my time here at NYU,I have had the privilege of beinginvolved with the student group,the Coalition for Legal Recruiting(CoLR). CoLR is a collection ofstudents, from all racial and ethnicbackgrounds who come togetherto lobby for more diversity withinour school and legal community –and diversity in all its many forms,including along lines of race, class,gender, and sexual orientation.What CoLR has realized is that wedo not end discrimination by ig-noring it and pretending that itdoes not exist. We can only end itby acknowledging it and thenworking together to find creativeand long-lasting solutions. Thatis what The Commons/All-ALSASpace is about – addressing thepresence of racism within our pro-fession, and within our law school,and trying to find creative solu-tions to confronting it. We hopeyou will join us in our efforts. Atthe very least, please do nothinder us.

If you have any questions orcomments about the proposed All-ALSA Space, you can email theauthor Johnathan Smith atJohnathan@nyu.edu.

Other organizers of the All-Alsa Space also welcome com-ments and questions. Includedare their email addresses:

Tricia Bushnell: Tricia@nyu.eduRachel Germany: Rrg234@nyu.eduAhmed Ghappour: Aghappour@nyu.eduNavneet Grewal: Navneet@nyu.eduTammy Kim: Tammy@nyu.eduAnnie Lai: Annie.Lai@nyu.eduKumar Rao: Krao@nyu.eduDiana Reddy: Diana.Reddy@nyu.eduJason Williamson: Jdw273@nyu.edu

Commentator OpinionsPage 5February 22, 2006

DINO LAVERGHETTA ’06

Roughly half a centuryago, the leaders of the Civil Rightsmovement began a fight to realizethe foundational ideals of our na-tion. They urged the Americanpeople to recognize that classifi-cations based upon race andethnicity had no place in a freesociety. So long as the color of ourskin was allowed to divide us andobscure our common humanity,the American dream was to remainjust that.

America was slow to reachthis understanding, but once it did,the abhorrence for segregationbecame an inexorable part of thenational fabric. It is thus shock-ing that certain students in theLaw School have proposed thecreation of a segregated lounge.Unlike in the past, the segregationhas been called for by minoritiesthemselves; nevertheless, the ra-tionale for opposing segregationremains as compelling and urgentas ever.

Everyday during my un-dergraduate years at Boston Uni-versity, I would pass by a memo-rial to B.U.’s greatest alumnus, Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. Written onthe memorial were several quota-tions from Dr. King. Perhaps myfavorite was one that read, “Wemust come to see that the end weseek is a society at peace with it-self, a society that can live with itsconscience. And that will be a daynot of the white man, not of theblack man. That will be the day ofman as man.”

He urged us to create a so-ciety in which we would no longersee one another as different racialbeings, but as human beings, oneand all. Dr. King, however, knewthat the realization of this dreamwould be impossible where thecolor of our skin was allowed todetermine where we lived, wherewe ate, and where we congregated.It would still be impossible today.Interracial harmony and under-standing cannot coexist with seg-

The Proposed All-Alsa Space. Deferring the Dream Once More

regation. The creation of the All-ALSA space would only lend cre-dence to those who believe thatrace and ethnicity matter—that ourdifferences are what should gov-ern our interactions rather than ourcommon humanity.

Many of us came to NYULaw, in part, because of its reputa-tion for fostering a diverse andtolerant academic community inwhich students of all creeds, col-ors, and backgrounds could freelyinteract and learn from one an-other. We came here for that com-munity envisioned by Dr. Kingwhere true understanding and har-mony could be developed.

It is a community that is stillsadly rare in modern America, butone that should be cherished andapplauded, not abandoned. And,make no mistake, the proposed All-ALSA Space in an abandonmentof that ideal.

Now, achieving understand-ing and tolerance is not an easytask. It entails discussion and de-bate, both of which may often elicitpassion, animus, and emotionalstrain. It can be a painful process,one that may make many peoplevery uncomfortable, but it is a nec-essary one should we wish to everachieve a truly integrated and har-monious society.

It is necessary that we talkwith one another; it is vital that weteach one another; and, yes, it isnecessary that we sometimes col-lide with one another. But, this in-teraction cannot just take place inthe classroom. How can we ex-pect to understand one anotherwhen after our lectures end weescape to our respective loungesand live our social lives in seclu-sion? This is, after all, the inevi-table result once we begin the pro-cess of segregation. There aremany groups who may feel uncom-fortable in the surroundings of anelite law school such as NYU.Why not a Jewish lounge, or alounge for people from low-socio-economic backgrounds, or awomen’s lounge, or even a lounge

for disenfranchised conserva-tives? It is this destructivebalkanization of the student bodyfor which the proposed All-ALSASpace will stand as a precedent.Self-imposed balkanization cer-tainly may provide us with greatercomfort, but it entails a cost toohigh for any of us to pay.

In response to the argu-ments I have made thus far, myopponents have responded thatmy concern for maintaining thebenefits of diversity and interra-cial understanding are misguided.They argue that the only reasonany of us are here is to train tobecome attorneys and that thequality of this preparation shouldbe our only concern.

While I must disagree thatthis is the sole reason for attend-ing a school such ours, I do admitthat it is the primary functionalgoal. Unfortunately, however, thecreation of the All-ALSA spacewould undoubtedly undermine ourpreparation for entering the legalprofession. We are entering a pro-fession in which most of us willnot have the luxury of choosingour clients or the causes which weadvocate. Sometimes these clientsand causes may implicate racialpositions with which we stronglydisagree.

If one does not learn to con-front the discomfort in law school,they will not be prepared to con-front the inevitable discomfort ofpractice. This is applicable as wellto those who decide to advocateon behalf of racial causes withwhich they wholeheartedly agree,for, after all, their opponents willcertainly be equally passionateand devoted to their cause. Whentheir adversaries telephone orstand up in court and vocalize po-sitions that the attorney wouldspend a lifetime opposing, he orshe will not have the luxury of gain-ing a respite in a racially-favorablelounge.

When we graduate, we willenter a world in which we will faceracially-charged hostilities, dis-

comforts, and dilemmas far greaterthan those we must face here atNYU, and segregating ourselvesduring our law school years wouldonly be a disservice to us and ourprofession.

Having outlined my rea-sons for opposing the creation ofthe All-ALSA Space, I now turn toaddressing the proponents’ argu-ments. First, I must confront theargument made by those who in-sist that the lounge would not con-stitute segregation

These individuals argue thatwhite students would not be offi-cially excluded from the lounge andthat the lounge is therefore notsegregative. This logic, however,is wholly disingenuous. Propo-nents have openly advocated forthe creation of a space where, forlack of a better phrasing, racial mi-norities would be in the majority.This lounge, they insist, would al-low students of color to interactwith one another without the pres-sures and burdens associated withattending a predominantly whiteinstitution.

In essence, the proponentshave called for the establishmentof a lounge with the very purposeof creating an artificial racial im-balance that excludes the vastmajority of students attending theLaw School. To be blunt, anyonewho insists that the All-ALSASpace does not constitute racialsegregation is either a fool or a liar.If we are going to have a fruitfuldebate on the issue, let’s at leastbe honest. Call the All-ALSASpace movement what it truly is:an attempt to take away publicspace paid for by all students anddevote it to the use of exclusiveracial conglomerate.

Next, I must briefly addressthe (absurd) argument that whitestudents do not have cause tocomplain about the proposed All-ALSA Space, because minoritystudents are forced to face an un-favorable racial balance each dayat school. While disproportion-ate under-representation of minori-ties at the Law School is unfortu-nate, it is not the result of inten-tional gerrymandering. Intentionalsegregation is far more invidious,both practically and historically,and is much easier to prevent thanunintentional racial imbalance.Furthermore, it is clearly neitherresponsible nor effective tocounter one form of racial imbal-ance by purposefully creating an-other.

Undoubtedly, the All-ALSAproponents only have pure andnoble motivations in pursuing thecreation of the lounge. They ar-gue that the proposed All-ALSASpace is necessary to provide asafe-harbor to minorities in thesometimes hostile environment ofa predominantly white and elite lawschool. They argue that discrimi-nation, subtle as it may be, stillexists in our halls and classrooms.They discuss the fact that minor-ity students are forced to bear thegreat pressure of representing theirraces and cultures in class discus-sions and debates. Indeed, since

I first annunciated my oppositionto the lounge, I have heard manypersonal anecdotes from dearfriends in which they have detailedthe pressures and hardships thatstudents face at the Law Schooleveryday. I have listened to theirstories and pleas for a respite witha heavy heart.

However, my opposition tothe proposed All-ALSA spacedoes not spring from a failure toacknowledge the existence of aproblem. I do not deny the exist-ence of a problem nor the need fora solution, but I firmly believe thatsegregation in any form is not aneffective or responsible remedy.The proposed medicine, if youwill, would be more destructivethan the disease itself.

Segregation would only fur-ther racial tensions and misunder-standing. That is not to say, how-ever, that there are not other lessdestructive and invidious rem-edies. For example, the creation ofa race-relations center under theauspices of Student Affairs maybe helpful in relieving racial hos-tilities and pressures without theodious side-effects that accom-pany segregation.

Additionally, it is much moresuitable to address the complaintthat the various ALSA group of-fices are in disrepair by renovat-ing these offices. Those in the ra-cial minority at NYU certainly havea myriad of legitimate grievances.No one challenges the fact thatthese gripes are matters of press-ing concern that deserve expedi-tious attention. I am certain thateveryone at the Law School is pre-pared to work together to minimizethe hardships faced by minoritystudents. There are many effec-tive and responsible means of do-ing this, but segregation is simplynot one of them.

In concluding my re-marks, I would like to address theopinion of some students who Ihave spoken with over the courseof the last week. Many peoplehave informed me that while theyoppose the creation of the All-ALSA Space, the issue is not worthactive opposition. Some are afraidof being labeled a racist, someworry about creating tensionswith their peers, and others sim-ply believe that the implications oflimited segregation are too smallto deserve their full attention.

As you may have gatheredby my preceding commentary, Icould not disagree more. How westructure our community and gov-ern our interactions defines whowe are. A community which di-vides itself based upon racial orethnic classifications is one thathas given up on Dr. King’s dream.It is a community that has allowedthe burdens of racial interaction tocause it to give up on the benefitsof diversity and integration. It is aplace where a desire for comforthas forced it to give up on travel-ing the difficult road towardprogress and maturity. I, for one,am not prepared to allow NYU Lawgive up just yet. I hope not manyof you are either.

Commentator ArtsPage 6 February 22, 2006

NICHOLAS KANT ‘06“No woman really loves

Bob Dylan. His music is some-thing that women pretend to en-joy to please men, like camping orgolf,” said Alessandra Stanley, thetv critic for the New York Times.She said this in a review the nowcanceled CBS tv show “LoveMonkey but it came across moreas a bitter diatribe on the New Yorkdating scene for women.

Ms. Stanley’s assessment ofDylan is dead wrong, and morebitter than anything else. So inhonor of her, here are some of theDylan landmarks that are right herein the Village, steps from the lawschool buildings.

· MacDougal Street – Thiswas apparently a major thorough-fare for the folk music scene backin the early 1960s.

· Café Wha? – 115MacDougal Street – This club ispossibly where Dylan played hisfirst New York show, back in Janu-

ary 1961, depending on which bi-ography you read. It still featureslive music.

· Fat Black Pussycat – Thecurrent location of this bar is 130West 3rd Street. But it actuallyused to be located wherePanchito’s Mexican Restaurant isnow, at 103 MacDougal. If you goaround to the back side ofPanchitos, on Minetta Street, youcan see “FAT BLACKPUSSYCAT” in black paint on thebuilding, above the Panchito’ssigns. This is where Dylan wrotethe song “Blowin’ in the Wind,”according to the article “Positively4th Street” from the May 1995 is-sue of “Q Magazine.” Before itwas Fat Black Pussycat, it wascalled “The Commons,” and Dylanplayed there.

· The Gaslight – 116MacDougal – There are two en-trances to the basement, one isboarded up, the other leads to“Alibi” night club. Back in theday, Dylan and a lot of other folkmusicians used to play here.

· Jones Street – About twoblocks on the other side of 6th Av-enue from the law school, JonesStreet runs between Bleecker and4th Street. This is where the coverof “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”was shot. In the photo, Bob Dylan

is walking with his then-girlfriendSuze Rotolo down Jones in the di-rection of 4th Street and away fromBleecker. This album cover alsoplayed a role in the Tom Cruisemovie “Vanilla Sky.”

· The Bitter End – 147Bleecker Street – Dylan alsoplayed here.

A couple of my other favor-ites:

· John’s Pizzeria – 278Bleecker – This pizzeria, on theother side of 6th Avenue, doesn’tsell any slices, just whole pies. Inmy opinion, it is some of the bestpizza you can get. This is whereTracy (Mariel Hemingway) toldIsaac (Woody Allen) that she wasplanning to study abroad in Lon-don in the Woody Allen movie“Manhattan.”

· Riverview Terrace onSutton Square - Just beneath the59th Street/Queensboro Bridge onthe east side of Manhattan iswhere the famous scene withWoody Allen and Diane Keatonsitting on the bench looking to-ward the bridge was shot for themovie “Manhattan.”

· Minetta Tavern – 113MacDougal – Expensive Italianrestaurant where Jack Kerouac,William Burroughs and other beats

used to eat.· Café Reggio – 121

MacDougal – Coffeeshop wherethe beats used to go. John F.Kennedy gave a speech out front.Parts of “Godfather II” and theoriginal “Shaft” were filmed here.

The information in this ar-ticle was culled from various

Bob Dylan was Here (and by here, we mean the village.)

Across1. wise men5. Stefani’s line9. Somalian model13. very excited14. Russian range15. ____-toothed cat

17. invalid18. leave in a hurryDown1. friend for Rover or Spot2. water, in Oaxaca3. Sutter’s Mill find4. icy home

5. passionate6. circle portion7. New Zealand natives8. flower20. schnoz21. take as one’s own23. fish eggs

24. needless attention25. clod26. pass on28. “What, me worry?”

magazine31. toupee33. ___ Whitney34. MD neighbor36. Bugs’s most prominent

features38. target audience (non-

professional)42. mean44. flower ring45. Star Wars and The Lord

of the Rings46. level of skills necessary49. plane steerer50. vowel preceeder51. non-standard card game52. Mary ___54. Kinsey’s interest55. see 40 down58. shaft60. Deb Ellis’s dep’t62. on the ___ (escaped)63. sword fights66. The Beehive State67. a Nor’easter, e.g.69. Saag Panir partner71. baseball’s Yogi73. diva’s specialty74. “okay, yes”75. come together76. 3rd largest city in France77. correct

9. exists10. faithful attendant11. here and there12. Eliot or Loch16. thing, legally19. early tent22. average score (for Tiger)27. “unfortunately . . . .”28. Muslim prayer direction29. Copland or Burr30. tap (your fingers)32. strong wind34. male duck35. Eastern England county37. burial chamber39. desire40. Casablanca hero, with 55

across41. one of Freud’s concerns43. ___ Horne47. works long and hard48. lawnmower company53. not me55. play loudly56. relating to birth57. Carter Center partner59. thickheaded60. where one goes for a

pint61. dating couple64. praise65. Indian garment68. Brazillian beach town70. catch72. __ it (arguing again)

BY JESSICA GONZALES ‘06

Bob Dylan walking with his girlfirnd near NYU, He used to hangout here alot. Maybe had we gone to NYU law back then we wouldhave seen him.

This, an old Bob Dylan Hangout?

books, magazines, films,photographs and Internet

sources. If the informationdoesn’t relate to something in amovie or photo, I wasn’t there andI didn’t see it, so I can’t guaranteeit is correct. However, most of whatI said is pretty well accepted as trueif you look into some of the litera-ture on the topic.

write for the commie. we love you.

Commentator ArtsFebruary 22, 2006 Page 7

BRIGHAM BARNES, ’06

Maybe the thing that sur-prised me the most about the Wu-Tang Clan’s sold-out show at theHammerstein Ballroom last Tues-day (yes, Valentine’s Day) wasthat, when I entered the theater at9:40, the band was already onstage. I had not expected NewYork’s most notorious nine eightman (RIP ODB—but I’ll get moreinto that later) rap conglomerateof kung-fu mystics to be so punc-tual. My ticket said the doors ofthe theater would open at 6:30, andto find the band already on stagethree hours later strongly contra-dicted what I had expected of thisband, especially considering thatI knew the band’s show in NewHaven a week earlier had startedat 11:00.

According to a fellowconcertgoer also standing at theback of the floor, assessing themass before him as I was, planninghow to best penetrate this throngof people whose hands were heldhigh making W’s by clasping theirthumbs, they had only performeda couple of songs. The band wasstill taking to the stage one mem-ber at a time, and I had made it therein time to catch Method Man, ar-guably the group’s biggest star (orat least the only one to have donea Right Guard commercial) appearon stage for the first time, perform-ing (no surprise here) the song“Method Man” from the band’sfirst album, “Enter the Wu-Tang:36 Chambers.”

Knowing that good journal-ism would require me to give somebackground on the Wu-Tang Clanfor readers who might not knowanything about the band (not thatI’d call myself a Wu-Tang aficio-nado by any means) has probablybeen one of the harder parts in pre-senting my Wu-Tang Clan concertexperience, as the Wu-Tang Clansimultaneously defies and em-braces typical notions of what rapis or can be and what a rap groupis or can be. If Hunter S. Thomp-son were a rap group, he’d be theWu-Tang Clan. If Guns ‘n’ Roseswere a rap group, they’d be theWu-Tang Clan. If feudal Japanwere a rap group, it’d be the Wu-Tang Clan. If the Five Lions ofVoltron were a rap group, they’dbe the Wu-Tang Clan. And, mostimportantly, if the Wu-Tang Clanwere a rap group, they’d be theWu-Tang Clan.

More or less hailing fromStaten Island (or “Shaolin,” as it isknown in the Wu-Tang Lexicon)the Wu-Tang Clan is a collectiveof rappers who first graced the carstereos of suburban white teensin the early-mid 90s. In the agewhere gangsta was king, theClans’s raps were consistent withthe era in that they were mostlyabout how the band 1) was toughand 2) loved money but defied thetrends of the day by also beingabout how the band 1) were sortof all ninjas (or at least hadn’t real-ized that they weren’t ninjas). Sty-listically, the two things that mostdistinguished this band from theirWest Coast counterparts (not thatthe Wu was ever involved in any

East Coast/West Coast beef, theband has always transcended thatsort of trifling, and seriously, who’dpick a fight with a band of mysti-cal assassins?)

First, while the West Coastscene leaned on soulful g-funkbeats, the Wu’s sound trips alongover menacing and mysterioussoundscapes—music to snapnecks by, as opposed to Dr. Dre’scuts to bust caps to.

Second, the Wu-Tang Clanwas a super group right out of thegates, then numbering nine mem-bers strong (now just eight, RIPODB, as I said before, I’ll get moreinto that later) and it’s one thingto have Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggtrading verses on a track, another

for each song to require nineverses if each Wu-member is tohave his moment.

For anyone but the trulydevoted, naming all the membersof the Wu-Tang Clan is no easytask, like naming the SevenDwarves, if each of the SevenDwarves also went by a handfulof additional aliases. Just off thetop of my head I usually can onlyname six or seven members of theband—The RZA (a.k.a. BobbyDigital), the GZA (a.k.a. the Ge-nius), Method Man (a.k.a. JohnnyBlaze, Mr. Mef, the MZA, Big JohnStud, Iron Lung, etc.), Old DirtyBastard (a.k.a. the ODB, Osirus,Big Baby Jesus, Dirt McGirt, alsoRIP, but you know I’ll get to thatlater), Ghostface Killa (a.k.a. TonyStarks, Pretty Tony), InspectahDeck, Raekwon,—that’s as far I canget before I break down wonder-ing if U-God is really a member ofthe Clan, or just a buddy of theirs,and if the group could containsomeone that’s called “MasterChef,” or if I’m just making thatup. Naming the members of thegroup is hard enough for themildly-initiated, never mind match-ing voices to each name on theirrecords, let alone matching thevoice (quite a bit different whenbeing yelled live) to the face whenthe band is on stage.

The Wu-Tang Clan’s careerhas had it’s ups and downs, butprimarily just some Ups followedby a series of Downs, the band’sfirst two releases (“Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers” and “Wu-Tang Forever”) were fairly strong,but their next two studio albums(“The W” and “Iron Flag”) bothfell a short and most members ofthe band have spent most of theirtime since the band’s first releaseconcentrating on solo records andside projects (also a mixed bag, tosay the least), not that any of thishas diminished the group’s pres-ence or cache in the minds of itsfans. Prior to beginning their cur-rent tour the band hadn’t per-formed as a complete unit for

years, and the announcement thatthe complete band would be play-ing in one of the city’s largest non-arena venues brought out theirhardcore fans and the curious enmass. As Ghostface boasted fromthe stage halfway through theshow, “New York, your favoritesuper heroes are on stage tonight”and no statement could have beenmore correct that evening.

Watching the Clan performlive was like going to someoneelse’s church, or celebrating a holi-day at someone else’s house—fa-miliar in many senses, but foreignin ways you hadn’t expected. I’mno stranger to stages crowdedwith performers, but the Wu-TangClan crowds a stage like no otherband with its eight primary play-ers, their DJ, an entire posse ofhangers-on lingering just behindthe DJ, two middle school agedboys who’d occasionally emergewith microphones and rap alongwith the group without any intro-duction or explanation, and agentleman in a baseball cap andworn out jacket who looked likehe was probably some member ofthe group’s grandfather (or thegrandfather to several, as I think afew of the Wu-Tang Clan are cous-ins) on stage throughout the show.The band’s attitude fluctuated be-tween serious and menacing (par-

Last Weeks Wu-Tang Concert: Totally Bananasticularly when the brooding RZAtook control of the performance)and jovial and energetic, withMethod Man repeatedly trying towalk on the crowd. And on thisValentine’s Day the band occa-sionally took the tone of a spurnedlover, frequently asking the crowdwhy New York didn’t love themanymore and why the city’s majorrap stations didn’t even announcethe show (this was all news to meand a little hard to believe as I’dnever been in a crowd so stronglycommitted to loving what was onstage before it). The show cameto a near complete halt whenGhostface Killa entered some-thing of a monologue over his dis-belief that New Yorkers wouldrather listen to songs like “this”(and when he said “this” the DJdropped the beat to D4L’s infec-tious but ridiculous hit, “LaffyTaffy,” which Ghostface deridedwith a mocking little imitation ofthe dance that goes to the song)instead of the Wu-Tang Clan.Moments like this left the audienceshrugging its shoulders like thekid in class that didn’t shoot thespit wad and wondering when theband would get back to their mu-sic.

But I don’t mean to dwell onthe negative or unusual. Whenthe band did perform at fullstrength, and this took up most ofthe group’s healthy 90+ minuteset, it was something likeMuhammad Ali fighting in hisprime, and, during especially dev-astating moments (like when “The4th Chamber” from GZA’s solomasterpiece, “Liquid Swords,” ex-ploded from the theather’s soundsystem), much more like MikeTyson scoring a knock-out in theopening seconds of a fight. Whenthe band performed “hits” likeC.R.E.A.M., they surrenderedmost of their vocal duties to theaudience, the majority of whomcould shout the words (and it’ssomething to hear a few thousandyell “I grew up on the crime side /the New York Times side / wherestaying alive was no jive” in uni-son) for them.

While no typical rap concertis without a lengthy homage toBiggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur,the Wu-Tang Clan sidestep thistradition as they have their ownfallen member, Russell Jones, a.k.a.Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who succumbedto a little bit of everything a yearand a half ago (as opposed to thebullets that claimed the poster

boys of the East/West feud nearlya decade ago) to honor. WhileODB’s absence was felt through-out the show in the form of versesmissing from each songs, the bandpaid official tribute to him halfwaythrough the show when theybrought Jones’ mother onto thestage and asked that all the lightsin the theater be turned off and thenhad the audience hold up theirlighters and cell phones. The au-dience was happy to oblige, brieflytransforming the HammersteinBallroom into a well-illuminated,multi-layered birthday cake beforethe band shook off the momentarytrappings of reverence andstumbled into ODB’s break outsolo hit “Shimmy, Shimmy Y’all.”

Another way that the Wu-Tang Clan spurns one’s typicalexpectations for popular rap is withtheir trademark ghetto intellectu-alism. Between songs the bandwould comment on current events,national, international, and local,the RZA drawing the biggestcheers of the night when hequipped (and I paraphrase, ofcourse) “You know you livin’ in amessed-up world when the Vice-President shoot somebody.” And,when it came time for the show toend, the band explained that theshow was over because “Youknow New York is a union town,and that means New York is a mafiatown, a Gambino town” (I think thatthe idea that they meant to getacross was that the Wu-Tang Clanwasn’t about to pay for overtimeunion services at the HammersteinBallroom—and as you may havelearned from the Wu-Tang Finan-cial Consulting sketch onChapelle’s Show, the Wu-TangClan is a fiscally responsiblebunch).

Although the band declaredtheir concert to be done, the bandwas slow to leave the stage, eachmember having a few additionalValentine’s thoughts to share withthe audience, or a street date fortheir next solo record to plug.

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Page 8 February 22, 2006

CONOR FRENCH ’06

The All-University Games consistof representative participantsfrom each school within NewYork University competing inevents ranging from rockclimbing to sumo wrestling torock-paper-scissors. As part of aDollar Wars Program, thevictorious school earns the rightto designate a charity to whichall proceeds of the Games aredonated.

So much for our intra-univer-sity image as bookish or aloof orhermitic or enervated. All of thesequips about the law school’s spirit,its dynamism and its vitality (notto mention its athleticism) wereanswered, and answered withvigor, on last Thursday night atthe Jerome S. Coles gymnasiumduring the 2006 All-UniversityGames. Bringing blissful deliriumand swelling pride to the austerecorridors of Vanderbilt andFurman Halls, this year’s NYU Lawentry took home the coveted ac-colade of All-University GamesChamps in a year when many be-lieved we just could not do it.

In many ways, Thursday’sGames seemed initially to mirrorprevious year’s disappointments.

All U, All The Time: Law School Reps Dominate All-University Games!We donned exultant t-shirts thatread “Making NYU Look GoodSince 1835” or “at least we’re noton strike.”

We crafted a boastful ban-ner that hung from the rafters dis-playing names of illustrious alumnisuch as former city mayors’ RudyGuiliani and Fiorello LaGuardia (aswell as well-placed fakes such asPerry Mason and Ally McBeal).

We stomped and cheered asour fabled three-on-three basket-ball once again surged to victoryin the night’s first feature event.But then, something jaw-droppingand wholly unprecedented oc-curred. For the first time ever, wejust kept winning.

Event after event, NYU Lawcompetitors out-balled, out-tugged, out-wrestled, out-climbed,out-dodged, and out-RoShamBo-ed the competition.

Remarkably, NYU Lawswept all four team events: bas-ketball, volleyball, dodgeball, andtug of war. In basketball, someearly scoring from Shauna Burgess(’06) and a furious rally engineeredby Justin Houghton (’06) fromdown 14-10 against the School ofMedicine in the finals ensured thatNYU Law once again prevailed onthe parquet. Drawing from thepool of Dean’s Cup basketball tal-ent including Paige Ammons, Matt

Jackson, and Steve Cephas (all’07), our much ballyhooed heroesof the hardwood set the early tone.

The first major surprise ofthe night, however, arrived withvolleyball. Building upon a plat-form of fall intramural success andequipped with a deep and ablebench, our volleyball team lead byAri Lustbader (’06), Joe Alonzo(’06), Vin Taurassi (’07), and MattBruckner (‘06) emerged from vir-tual bump-set-and-spike wilder-ness to notch NYU Law a spec-tacular and unexpected victory.

Another first followed in theturnout for the tug-of-war whereNYU Law’s elusive giants finallyjoined together for a decisive win.

The tug-of-war tie betweenStern Undergrad and our closestcompetition, the Dental School,

also became an occasion for brib-ery or, perhaps better put,incentivizing, as diplomatic lawstudents promised to purchasedelicious beverages for their moreentrepreneurial Stern brethren ifthey could just eke out a win overthe future dentists.

The greatest individualachievement of the night and likelyof this 2006 iteration of the All-University Games belonged toAndrew Butville (’07).

Other notable achievementsduring the Games included a dar-ing second-place finish by the flex-ible and fluid Steve Hong (’07) inthe limbo as well as a well-de-served second-place ranking in thecategory of team spirit. For this andmuch more, we tip our hats to thatdiligent two-headed dragon that

drives the Student Lawyer’s Ath-letic Program, Gillian Burgess (’06)and Jim Medek (’07).

On a night when the spoilsbelong to charity, but where thefreewheeling individuality of eachschool and student is allowed toflourish amidst a communal atmo-sphere of good-natured and good-hearted competition, NYU Law diditself emphatically proud.

As my roommate, DougHeitner (’06) said, “sometimes yougotta put away the casebooks andbring out the pompoms.” I wishhe said something a bit tougher,but the sentiment is still there.

Keep it lively and vibrantaround Washington Square Parkand especially come Dean’s Cuptime in April, remember that we allbleed violet.

After beating down the competition, victory in the tug-of-war sealed it for NYU Law students at the All-University Games.