In This Legal Issue April Fools! page 1Murray Fraser Hall page 3Hockey Pool page 7 Bound to the Bar page 8Work/Life Balance page 11What the Scott Hall !? back cover

MOOT TIMESThe Law Student’s

Newspaper

VOL I APRIL 2009 No. 8

Rafferty takes leaveWeather, incomprehensibility of Scots law draw noted law professor back to U.K. BY Anjli Petel and Meghan Waters

Citing severe boredom from mocking students and Su-preme Court Justices “year after bloody year,” Professor Nicholas Rafferty announced Thursday he will take a well-deserved sab-batical in Scotland for the 2009-2010 academic year. Rafferty will leave Calgary following the completion of exams in late April. “I would really like to see all of my former students before I head off. Well, I can’t actually see any of you, of course, but you know what I mean,” he said. Other than bringing along his newly acquired Scottish Terrier – aptly named McRover – for company, he will be travel-ling alone. “Conrad Goodwin has graciously offered to purchase my Pinto for $10,000, saving me the trouble of foisting it upon him.” The money will be used to fund his sojourn abroad, he said. Rafferty has several ambitious plans for the upcoming year. His main focus will be studying the unique Scottish system of law. “As my current and former pupils may be aware, the Scottish system is absolute crap. Frankly, I will be shocked if a year is enough time to make any sense of it,” Rafferty said. In addition, he intends to write several new jokes to use in his lectures.

“How useful will Ms. Silverberg’s CANS be then?” he roared. Finally, Rafferty revealed a surprising willingness to in-dulge in traditional Scottish fare, including haggis, despite some minor reservations. “I have high hopes for the local cuisine, although in all likelihood it will be complete rubbish compared to the food I ate as a lad in England. Hopefully I will be able to find a decent shortbread biscuit to have with my afternoon tea, if nothing else.” One of Rafferty’s current students, William McGonagall, admitted he was surprised at Rafferty’s chosen destination. “To be honest, he didn’t really seem to like Scotland all that much – there seemed to be some genuine animosity there,” said McGonagall. Rafferty chose Scotland in part because he misses the constant, dreary rain of England, although the weather may inter-fere with his plan to don the customary dress. “Hopefully the weather isn’t so miserable that I won’t be able to wear a kilt everyday. Wind around one’s nether regions is good for one’s health,” Rafferty over-shared, which brought the interview to an abrupt end.

Congratulations to the entire Jessup moot team for a job well done in Washington!

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Publishers Business Managers Editors-in-Chief

Fiana Bakshan fbakshan@ucalgary.ca Vhari Storwick vstorwick@gmail.com

Esther Kim estakim@gmail.com Orlagh O’Kelly ojokelly@ucalgary.ca

ContributorsMeghan Waters Adam Oppenheim Marcus Sixta Kane AndewsAndrew Kowalchuk Tim Ross Anjli Patel Bergis MostaghimEsther Kim Drew Campbell Kate Andrews

Dear Readers,

We are thrilled to have seen Moot Times through one academic year. There are innumerable people to thank. To all those contribu-tors who would throw something together at the last minute and others who put a lot of time and effort into submissions (Williams, Petts, Foster, Wreschner, Morris,Thon to name a few): we could not have done it without you. To the ‘regulars’, Andrews, Kowal-chuk, Oppenheim and now Waters and Patel: thank you! To the faculty who put their weight behind us, Dean Lucas, Maryanne and especially Professor Koshan: our utmost gratitude. To our resident cartoonist, Kevin Madison: you will be dearly missed. To Drew our hockey pool guy: we have a hockey pool!! To our business manager- wizards, Esther and Fiana, who made this materially possi-ble: we only hope you will do the same next year. To Vhari, who became a layout maven and is constantly honing her skills: keep’er up. But most of all, we would like to thank the readers for making Moot Times an integral part of the student body and faculty.

The final hurray issue of Moot Times is not to be missed. If you didn’t get the April fools’ joke already, Waters and Patel displayed their comedic genius and were kidding about Rafferty (kudos to Professor Rafferty for being a good sport). More seriously, Tim Ross, Bergis Mostaghim and Marcus Sixta provided great wrap-ups from our beloved student associations. Finally, don’t miss our regulars going out with a bang!

That is all, Folks. Stay tuned. Next year can only be bigger and better.

Our sincerest appreciation,

The Moot CrewVhari, Orlagh, Esther and Fiana

It is our second to last issue and we are so happy with the first few months of our faculty’s nascent student newspaper. We hope you

Editorial Policy We are irreverent but not rude. We reserve the right to edit for content and length.

Submissions DeadlineWe accept articles between 300 and 700 words, depending on the content. Articles submitted by law students are given priority but we accept any submissions.

Disclaimer The views in this publication do not reflect those of the University, the Faculty, of the publishers. In fact, they may not reflect any honestly held views.

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End of the Year Address by Bergis Mostaghim President of the Society of Law Students

It was a year ago, that I was campaigning for the Presidency, telling anyone who would listen about my ACT platform: Ac-countability, Communication, and Transparency and now I am getting ready to hand over the Presidency to another capable individual. I guess time flies by when you are having fun and extremely busy! Before I step down into retirement, which I was hoping included lots of golf, a healthy retirement package, and summer homes (sadly that is not the case) I wanted to recap on all the positive changes that were made this year. Last year there was the issue about library space and the carrels. Even though I know every law student would love to have the library to themselves, we do have to share for the reasons that Kim Clarke expressed in her memo. However, Kim was also gra-cious enough to work with me on getting the law students our own space and the Mezzanine law level was born. Tables were added and signs were posted to let people know that the law students owned that level. I also worked with Maryanne and Tim from Pro Bono to expand the public interest opportunities for students interested in a public interest field. We also took the J.D. issue to the Faculty Council meeting after receiving the student mandate last year and successfully got it passed! There was also an open forum created in the fall semester for the alumni and first years. In a couple years, the University will be handing out Juris Doctors and alumni will get the opportunity to also change their degrees to the J.D. Communication is an important element, and we had meetings throughout the year with both the Dean and Associate Dean to improve communication between the faculty and the students. There have also been talks with the Graduate Student Association in terms of providing students with the same benefits as the GSA. I will be meeting with the President of the GSA shortly to discuss what benefits could be given to the law students (i.e. access to the grad lounge, year long bus passes, medical plan, etc). There were also some issues that our administration had to deal with this year, thankfully none of which had to do with me having to deny that I had an affair or that I started a war for oil. There was the issue of the projector being stolen by unsavoury char-acters and the complication of the levy fee. A new projector has already been bought and will hopefully be installed in the next few weeks. The levy issue has been brought to the attention of the Dean as well as Faculty Council. The levy will be part of our tuition next year and a part time assistant will be hired. The Dean will address the other issues in an email memo. I know this has been a contentious issue but the SLS has been working diligently to get the answers that everyone seeks. We also had a joint Law-Medicine Halloween Party with proceeds going to the Adopt a Family Charity; our first ever Casino Royale Law Formal; and a very entertaining Law Show. I was also lucky to have a talented executive that all assisted in creating a smooth running government. Gemma, Mike, Geoff, James, Dave, Doug, Nabeel, and Ryu were all rock stars so give them a pat on the back when you next see them. Also, a spe-

cial thanks to Alifeyah for being an excellent student unions rep. We don’t always get to see what people do behind the scenes, but be rest assured everyone worked tirelessly to make sure events were successful, issues were being addressed, and improvements were being made. Even though there were idle threats about a coup on my government, we survived and are leaving a stable and strong legacy to the next incoming executive. It`s been an absolute pleasure being your President and even though I am sure I have gained a few white hairs, I wouldn`t have traded this experience for anything. It`s been fun folks.

Murray Fraser Hall Law School News

SLA Wrap Up! BY Marcus Sixta

30 years ago Student Legal Assistance (SLA) was founded with the goalof providing legal services to those in need. Since then SLA has played a critical role in improving access to justice in the Calgary area, developing close ties with the legal community and building one of the most successful student-based legal assis-tance programs in the country. This year we proudly continued this tradition. 2008/2009 was an incredible year for SLA. The Drop-In Centre groups were successful in providing regular legal assistance to a highly marginalized population, SLA (represented by Gareth Williams) won on appeal at the Court of Queens Bench, and the annual fundraising dinner was honoured to have Omar Khadr’s lawyer, Denis Edney, as guest speaker. Thank you to everyone who spared what little time they had between readings, lectures and Den nights to give back to the community. The work that we do would not be possible without our members. SLA makes a positive impact on the lives of many people in the Calgary area and all of our members can be proud of their role in making this happen. Top ten reasons why SLA is more fun than going to class10. Negotiating with the Crown is easier than negotiating with professors.9. Convincing yourself that everyone on the C-Train respects you because of your suit.8. No one cares about obiter.7. Speaking to prostitutes in a context that doesn’t lead to criminal charges.6. Listening to first years moan about their course load while you plan your next ski trip.5. The people that work at SLA know how to use the computers.4. Hanging out with Maddy and Moe.3. Testing out the Socratic Method on clients.2. In SLA the sound of carrots, celery or apples being consumed doesn’t drive you mad.1. YouTube is so much better with sound.

The Moot Notebook BY Orlagh O’Kelly

It’s April and everyone is wishing this fun was happening in January, those yonder days when it was easy to pretend you did not have major research papers to write and 500 pages to read. Boo Hoo. We are here, and there is much to be happy about. So, what’s hot?HOT This month the SLS put on the beloved law show, thanks to the immeasurable student enthusiasm of Geoff Boddy. Some acts were especially talked about: Asia v. Newfoundland (that is, Wilma v. Farrell), Professor’s Ko-shan’s stand-up, Mercer inspired gig and the Flukers, our very own blast from the past.NOT 2Ls- according to our anonymous law student for not law-showing-up. Last year best year?

Around TownHOT Louise Arbour, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice, Os-goode law professor, Supreme Court Justice, International Criminal Tribunal Prosecutor, UN Human Rights High Commissioner and now head of the International Crisis Group, accepting the “ Calgary Peace Award.” Arbour, a diminutive but fiery woman, thrilled the audience with her lecture on peace versus justice. The seasoned judicial intel-lectual explained the two principles as co-extensive and not as mutually exclusive. Her talk was especially timely, considering the dilemma the international community ostensibly faced in Darfur with Al Bashir’s arrest warrant

by the ICC. As law students, we can admire and aspire to her courage in confronting some of the world’s gravest problems.NOT : Leave it to Calgary to welcome George W. Bush for his victory lap. Rumour has it he dined at Medici in Kens-ington, while Calgarians collected shoes to take up an old Iraqi tradition.

And because we cannot get a enough HOT-ness during crunch time:HOT: Professor Brett Code, sessional lecturer , won the teaching award at the faculty of law. Professor Jassmine Girgis has been invited to join the Canadian Insolvency Foundation (CIF) Board of Directors. The Jessup Team made it to the Top 8 (in the WORLD- only a few more spots till they can sing Queen)! The Gale Team off to Hong Kong soon. Professor John Borrows, foremost aboriginal legal scholar, gave a talk that did not fit in the traditional cate-gory of legal lecture and offered hope for the way forward. The Women’s Court of Canada hit Calgary with a vigour. Many of the first years had the opportunity to participate in some work shops with the likes of Sharon McIvor, formerly of the Native Women’s Association. Now, we need more upper years to participate in these unique opportunities!

Finally, OUR BEST WISHES TO ALL THE GRADUANDS wherever your paths may take you, to the firms, to the gov-ernment, to the courts of Alberta and Canada, or, in some cases of the, World. We are proud of you!

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Exams

Refresh

Summer

www.bdplaw.com

See you soon.

2009 Summer Students 2009 / 2010 Articling Students 2010 / 2011 Articling Students Adrian Etchell Marika Strobl Craig Alcock Sylvie Welsh Ashley Weldon Fiana Bakshan Scott Tallman Esther Kim Kristen Dick Mark Henderson Mike Gilchrist Bronwyn Inkster Elizabeth Toews Megan Ross

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Pro Bono Students Canada Named Best Student Organization...in the World. BY Tim Ross

As another school year approaches it’s conclusion, it is important to recognize the contributions of our student volun-teers who chose to give up the one thing that we’re all in short supply of...their time. We were fortunate this year to have a close group of friends representing the PBSC student executive this year. As a result, our events were well-organized and well-attended throughout the year. The year began with an exec rafting trip that forced us to learn vital communication and teamwork skills - primarily when the raft dumped and we nearly died (shout out to Kane Richards, Lifeguard, for swimming Wilma and Maya to safe-ty!). Beating the battle with hypothermia proved that we could count on each other for the rest of the year, from the classroom to the curling rink. Our events were a great success this year, with Wilma Shim providing support (and MC skills) for our well-attended Public Interest Law Day in September as well as our Just Cause Career Fair in January. Students attending our events were given the opportunity to hear some candid stories on career paths and public interest law. This included

Anonymous Confessions of a 2L. Another school year has passed and what do I have to show for it? Going to events like the Law Formal and the Law Show have really put things into perspective for me; it has made this 2L realize that I have spent way too many hours pouring over the books and attending one too many law func-tions. Oh, and in case there is any confusion, when I say ‘law function’, I mean that in the strictest sense – yes, the meet and greets, the ‘what-do-you-have-that-impresses-me-enough-to-grant-you-a-job-at-my-prestigious-LLP”. Don’t get me wrong, I have had some good times studying at the library. I remember going home one Saturday night feeling pretty satisfied with my night because I was able to finish the last bit of my Contract CAN and was half way done with my Tort CAN. Talk about productive! And this one time, I even stayed overnight in the library to finish my ALR assignment. I know what you’re thinking, and its true, I can be pretty rebellious and crazy. But honestly, what do I have to show for it? Events like the Law Formal and Law Show and the law school newspaper, Moot Times, have really fostered a sense of unity and belonging for our law school. Way back when I was a 1L, I was somewhat disappointed that we didn’t have an annual law formal or a newspaper, because it’s the little things that can really build a sense of ‘community’ for a law school. I found that law school can be clique-ish, and having these events and reading and learning about our fellow classmates, really brings people together. Okay, I know I’m boarder-line cheesy right now, so I’ll spare you the rest of my ‘insights’. But know this, next year I will be out in full-force at all the law school events, and I’m talking about the NON-“what-do-you-have-that-impresses-me-enough-to-grant-you-a-job-at-my-prestigious-LLP” ones. I will definitely be at the Law Formal because it was such a great event. I will definitely be at the Law Show and will have one, if not two, acts lined up. I will write an article for Moot Times because I have something I want to say. I will get out more and focus on the relationships rather than focus all of my time with the text books. I mean, do you really want to be remembered by your classmates as the ‘person who was in the library all the time’ or the ‘person who knew how to have fun’ (but not at the expense of law school – there has to be a balance. Everyone is so concerned with ‘work-life-balance’, once they get out in the ‘real’ world, but in all honesty, now is the time to work on that balance because the relationships that you make in law school will follow you for the rest of your life. Make the most out of your time and get out there. This years Law Show was a lot of fun, but it was dominated by 3rd year acts. It was actually embarrassing that we only had Wilma, Erin, Dave and Tim represent. Even the first years had more people on stage than us! It definitely made this 2L very ashamed but at the same time, very inspired and I hope that everyone else will participate in more school related events. Fellow law school students, this is your ‘Call to Action’, because at the end of the day, what will you have to show for your three years in law school?

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Hockey Pool updates presented by BD&P

Phone: 403-260-0100 Fax: 403-260-0332

www.bdplaw.com

Common SenSe, UnCommon InnovatIon.

Hockey Pool updates presented by BD&P

Phone: 403-260-0100 Fax: 403-260-0332

www.bdplaw.com

Common SenSe, UnCommon InnovatIon.

Barry Robinson, and his journey from Forrester to Ecojustice law-yer; as well as stories from our own Jennifer Koshan, whose career has included experiences in remote Northern Canadian communi-ties, non-profit organizations, and teaching assignments to us. Our students have proven to be impressive ambassadors of our law school this year. We have received tremendous feedback from non-profit organizations in the community based on the work completed by our volunteers, building positive networks for future work. This includes a remarkable contribution by two students in particular this year - First-year students, Jane Marsden and Shannon Beckett. By contributing countless hours of their own time, the two students compiled a valuable training and educational resource for the MCC Centre for Newcomers, an organization that assists immi-grants to Calgary. “There is a very high demand for information about immigra-tion processes, especially among people trying to bring relatives to Canada,” says MCC Project Leader, Jason Klinck. “Jane and Shan-

non were able to present it in a way that was simple and very useful to help people choose the path which gives them the highest chances of success.” The project was a great success, providing information to between 60 and 70 clients at the MCC Centre. Jane and Shannon have been recognized for their efforts as this year’s *PBSC Outstanding Contribution Award*. Numerous other projects assisted in increasing access to justice in various ways. From risk assessments to re-search on health-care legislation - our students have made a significant contribution to the Calgary community, and for that, we thank them. If you are interested in signing up for next year’s student executive, please complete the application form avail-able on the bulliten board outside the PBSC Office (that’s right Mac Con, it’s the PBSC Office). We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Nabeel Peermohamed and Allison Cintosun, the new Program Coordinator and FLP Coordi-nator, respectively, forthis year! Thanks to everyone for a great year, and best of luck on exams.

Dear K + AYou ask, We answer, Everyone wins @ life.Submit your questions to answers_live_win@live.com (Madison got to say “MOTHER****ING”???)[The views in Moot Times do not represent those of K + A]

Q: The government just cut me a big tax cheque. What should I do with it? A: I very much doubt the government actually meant to give that money to you and not to those Wall Street Fat Cats, so you’ve basically got two options: give it back to the very people that got us into this mess, or use it to make a sacrifice to the Holy Economy itself for forgiveness. That way the Economy won’t be mad at you anymore, and you’ll be able to quit selling used con-doms in order to make your mortgage payments. As for an ap-propriate sacrifice, I say now’s as good a time as any to give up touching yourself. How will that help, you ask? And exactly how does this even relate to your tax rebate? I’m not really sure, but it’ll definitely save you money on electricity since you can leave your blinds open you sinner. K: I don’t want to judge you or anything, but your first problem is that you filed a tax return and now you are on the grid. Like my grandfather always says over the phone from prison, “Stay off the grid K, and don’t touch pennies. That’s how they get you, those goddamn pennies.” Anyways, staying off the grid is for another day. Let’s spend that cheque! In these uncertain times you have two options: 1) spend it on something fun, or 2) invest it in the future. Since I don’t believe in investing in anyone’s future, I say choose option 1. And what fun item, you ask, should I spend this cheque on? Well, you take that cheque down to Blockbuster and buy the Glitter two-disc special-edition collector’s set, full of special features and even sample glitter [actual glitter!]. What is more fun than watching a rags-to-riches semi-autobiographical movie that some (including me) argue changed modern film? I cannot think of anything...well maybe a Gigli marathon.

Q: What’s the best April Fool’s joke ever? A: For some good ol’ harmless fun, you could glue a quar-ter to the floor in a busy place and watch as people try to pick it up! Alternatively, you could soak a maxi pad with red food colouring and put it in your classmate’s coffee cup. Either or. K: Oh man, I got a doozey for you. So my girlfriend of three years had just said “yes” to my proposal two nights before I had to go away for the weekend to tell my parents the good news. I came back on April Fool’s day and she had spent the whole weekend moving all the stuff out of our apartment, and left me a note that said, “Don’t try and contact me anymore.” Oh man I

laughed and cried for days. And you know the best part? It has been two years and she still hasn’t broken character in the joke, not even a single letter or phone call. Man, she has such a good sense of humour...and all my credit cards. We are going to be so happy together.

Q: There are so many summer blockbusters coming out! Which ones are must-sees? K: I choose movies based on a very complex set of fac-tors. But in short, the main thing you want to ask yourself is, will going to this movie make it more or less likely that I will get lucky after? Take, for instance, crying. If the movie is going to make you cry, then it’s probably a bad idea to go to it, since then all you’re going to hear is, “Oh you cried, let’s talk about your emotions,” and that’s never a good thing – because, frankly, I just sat through The Notebook, and I am all emotioned out. Another thing to look for is the chance that it is going to be a teen date movie. There is noth-ing worse than you sitting in the theatre and realizing that Johnny Pimpleface has more game than you, unless your date realizes it too. But seriously, he wrote her every day for a year, so now is not the time to pull the old hole-in-the-popcorn trick; these two people are soul mates, and that’s worth more than third base. Finally, if you still can’t decide, just go to the one with the most nudity in it. Because if you aren’t going to get lucky later, at least you were lucky enough to see the most beautiful kiss in the rain ever. I mean, if you didn’t break down at that moment, you must be dead inside. A: According to one “friend,” and 5 painful minutes on Wikipedia, an extended version of the pilot for BSG (Battlestar Ga-lactica, if you haven’t figured that out by now) will have its world premiere exclusively on DVD on April 21, 2009. Now, I definitely don’t even care about this, but I would like point out that having a “world premiere exclusively on DVD” is just another way of saying it’ll be as good as Pikachu’s Winter Vacation, or Jesus Christ Vam-pire Hunter. I know that’s not the advice you wanted to hear, but it’s the advice you had to be told.

Q: I am worried about course selection. How do I make sure I pick courses that won’t pigeonhole me and my future career goals? A: No matter how much time you spend reading course descriptions or pouring over conflicting exam dates, when the reg-istration package is finally released a mere month and a half after the eleventh hour for this crap, it is probably going to have some newfangled graduation requirements in it that will totally blow a hole in your best laid plans anyways. So I suggest spending less than 10 minutes on picking your courses; it’s probably more time than was spent on the requirements anyways. K: Oh, I totally feel your pain and excitement. This is always a stressful time of year, waiting for the YMCA summer/fall course packet to come out! I sit at the door waiting for Mr. Mail-man to drop it off, and every day he doesn’t, I hurl unnecessary insults about him and his family in blind uncontrollable rage until he refuses to deliver my mail anymore. I mean, who can hold the excitement back? So many questions and possibilities. Like, will they finally offer Advanced Needlepoint, or is that old hag Mildred sill in the nursing home because of a supposedly broken hip? I have a semi-finished quilt, Mildred, that I don’t know how to final stitch. The class won’t teach itself, so man up and teach damn it! Or, will they finally lift my ban on participating in Handball? I mean, the kid was asking for it. If I got the rock and you step into my lane, it’s Thunder Time. I don’t care if the kid was eleven, if you get in my way I am going to take you down. So yah, I am stoked too; course selection is always a fun time!

“Mentoring was a crucial component of my articling year. Doors were never closed, and there was always someone from whom I could seek advice or guidance.”

CALGARY • TORONTO • EDMONTON • OT TAWAbennettjones.com/yourfuture

At Bennett Jones, we have a long tradition of recruiting the best and the brightest, ensuring that you have the opportunity to be mentored by dynamic lawyers who are leaders in their fi eld.

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David McKinnonBennett Jones Articling Student - 2007-08

2009BJ-UofCMootFullPage2.indd 1 11/03/2009 11:02:07 AM

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Work/Life Balance Law Student Abroad: Kate Anderws in Rwanda Saturday, October 25, 2008 Well, I’m on the road again. The drama at the university was getting to me (it wasn’t even my drama, I just kept getting caught in other people’s) so I took off. Literally. And it’s been one hell of an adventure so far.I booked a flight to Kigali, Rwanda, with the intention of going to see mountain gorillas, hanging out for a few days, bussing to Kampala, Uganda, chilling there, and then bussing back to Dar. All told, about 10 days - two weekends plus skipping a week of classes. Upon arrival in Kigali yesterday, I ditched my bag in my way-overpriced hotel room and headed out to find teh Rwan-dan tourism office. That’s where you book passes to see the gorillas. Only about 50 people can do this per day, so getting a pass can be challenging in itself. As I quickly found out. The woman in the tourism office told me that the only permit available for the rest of the month was for today. Normally, not a big deal, except that the Parc National des Volcanes is more than 2 hours from Kigali, and tracking starts at 7 am sharp. And it was 4:30 pm. I needed to get on a bus to Ruhengeri, the town closest to the park. And fast. Of course, I couldn’t cancel my over-priced hotel room, so I accepted that I’d have to pay for 2 rooms for the night and immediately went about getting ready to go. I did a pretty bad job of it, actually. I did get a bus ticket, but I didn’t take enough money out of the bank (can’t be done outside Kigali) and failed to buy food or water or anything else useful and nourishing. The bus to Ruhengeri took about two hours on crazy-bumpy roads, which, as I was sitting near the front, I could see the dangers of far too well. After paying for yet another overpriced hotel room, I went straight to bed. I didn’t sleep well, though. I found a beetle under the covers and engaged in some useless wondering about what else could be lurking in my room... a black mamba perhaps? giant cockroaches? Plus, I’d been up so early in the morning and hadn’t eaten properly, so my body was just plain confused. This morning I was up bright and early to attend the gorilla briefing at 7. I ended up in a group with an overland tour, so lots of nice people. The eight of us, plus two guides, one porter, and two armed soldiers (to keep us safe from rogue elephants, we were assured... right, elephants in dense bamboo jungle) would be visiting group number 13. It’s important to understand exactly how regimented this gorilla tracking program is. Trackers follow the gorillas all day and send in a GPS signal when they settle in for the night. In the morning, they pick up where they left off and keep in con-stant contact with the guided group, directing it toward the gorillas. Each group is visited daily by only eight people, and for exactly one hour. Oh, and the whole shebang costs about $500. This is not a zoo, not even a game reserve. This is the Virunga mountain home of the gorillas. We’re the visitors. Of course, since the gorillas have free range over their entire home territory, they’re not conveniently located. And it’s rainy season in Rwanda, a fact of which I was unaware. We hiked, mostly uphill, for more than three hours before stumbling across the group. And I gained about 10 lbs in mud. The fact that I am not naturally graceful meant that I was the dirtiest in the bunch. The fact that I was wearing elastic-topped shoes that kept getting sucked off in the mud-holes meant that my feet got good long mud treatment. That’s good for the skin, right? It was hard work, but so worth it. I can’t wait to put up my pictures, because they are absolutely incredible. Goril-las are herbivorous, so they just hang out eating bamboo all day long. Each group is headed by a silverback male (12-30 years old) and consists of his wives and babies, as well as a variety of young males. When we found them, the group was kicking back before lunch. The silverback was asleep with his feet in the air, the sub-adult males were tussling; practicing for becoming top gorilla one day, and the females were feeding their babies. We were maybe 2-3 meters away, you could practically reach out and touch them. Except that a Rwandan soldier would probably kill you for it. We followed them around as they ate and the young ones climbed in the bamboo and tumbled off, poking at one another, generally being annoying siblings. The hour went by so fast I could barely believe it. They barely even noticed us; they’re habituated to humans, but not familiar. For that reason, you have to stay quiet, no flashes, no pointing, no food, etc while you visit. We left everything but our cameras with one of the soldiers a little back from the group. I’ve been trying, but the experience was really indescribable. I’m sure the pictures make more sense. In the mean-time, I’m sore and tired, and my shoes and socks are not salvageable. Shame really... I like those sneakers. But I spent an hour trying to clean them in the hotel room bathtub, and it’s just not happening. I also haven’t eaten since yesterday around lunchtime, so I’m going to grab some dinner and head to bed. Tomorrow, I go back to Kigali for a day or two. The city’s super-expensive, and it’s difficult to do much there, so I think I’ll try and get to Kampala sooner rather than later. Hopefully I’ll be able to update you all from there. - Kate Andrews

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13

Calgary Alum Takes in the “Boom inside the Bust” BY Orlagh O’Kelly

Nary a couple years has passed since Robyn Gurofsky left the pre-renovated hallways of Murray Fraser Hall for greater prospects downtown. When Gurofsky began articling with Borden Ladner Gervais in 2007, Calgary’s boom cycle was in full force, legal work was in high demand and articling students were sought after. “We were the last year of the big hiring group,” Gurofsky said. “At least in the big firms, you were not really wor-ried about not getting hired back after articling because there was such a high demand for people.” Times they are a changing and so too is the nature of Gurofsky’s commercial litigation work. In fact, she was featured in a Globe and Mail articled entitled “The Boom inside the Bust,” which referred to the boom of legal work in the areas of insolvency and bankruptcy. “In litigation, it just so happens that there are a lot of insolvency files coming because of the market,” Gurofsky said, clarifying that she still does other work as well. Although the nature of the work is changing, the big question on most students’ minds these days is the avail-ability of the work. When some of us started law school that was the last question on our minds. Gurofsky cautiously commented on the situation. “I can only surmise that it will be more difficult than it was in previous years because of the markets,” she contin-ued. “We hear of companies and firms in the city letting people go. Things will turn around, but I only know what I read. What I read varies, some saying that in 6 months the hiring freeze will stop. At the same time, I see other reports that say five years.” Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s had rosy reports a few weeks ago that Canada would be the first to bounce back. Yet at the articling seminar, the firms were unclear as to whether or not the economy would affect their hiring. So what should students seeking sum-mer employment or articling positions do? Gurofsky offers some realistic advice, suggesting that “the best thing to do is to keep doing what you were doing. “ She adds that students would do well to gain broad experience while in law school, to really know where your interests lie. For Gurofsky, experience meant doing what she liked best- being involved with Student Legal Assistance. “I knew that I liked litigation, but didn’t know what area I wanted to practice in,” she said. So when bankruptcy and insolvency work landed on her desk, she admits that she came to “really enjoy it.” That’s all we can do in uncertain times: soldier on, while following our paths. In the meantime, we can enjoy learning, and, if we’re lucky enough, we can continue learning in Gurofsky’s favourite class- Rafferty’s firstyear Contracts.

Why I Miss Napster BY Adam Oppenheim

There’s a legendary story that Jim Morrison threw a TV through a recording booth win-dow when he saw a Ford commercial featuring Light my Fire. He couldn’t stomach his music, his art, being used to drive car sales. But that was the past. Nowadays it’s a-ok to put your music on an advertisement. Shit, the Ipod commercial is pretty much singularly responsible for breaking Feist. Even musical stalwarts like Wilco are giving their music up to the TV. So what changed? What made it all right for a band to whore out their music? Why aren’t music purists screaming bloody Mary when a band sells out, goes for that dirty advertising buck? What hap-pened? Well, we all stopped paying for music. Back in the day (like a couple of years ago) there were three primary streams for an art-ist to generate revenue- records, touring and merchandise. But then came Napster. Suddenly every Jr. high kid’s computer had ICQ (uh-oh), a hotmail account, and a pirate download site. Napster made it possible for a casual fan to have more music in their possession than the most

die-hard record collector. With the click of a button, and a pretty powerful modem, any listener could have an entire art-ist discography for the cost of a Shaw cable bill. Now, I reside in that small pool of people who buys the disc if they like the tracks they download. But I like hav-ing the CD in my hand. I’m into liner notes, album art, and all that other nerdy swag. Pre- Napster, my album purchases were largely based on tracks I heard on independent radio. Seeing as how singles on commercial radio are formulaic and bland, my record collection was chiefly devoid of mainstream music. But Napster changed all of that.I don’t think there’s anything particularly exciting about Kanye singles. I know people love the guy, but I found Gold Digger more obnoxious than danceable. What download sites let me do is get past that, hear the single in the context

Royby Gurofsky

14

www.mdstudents.ca

Where great lawyers go.

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of the entire disc, realize that there’s more there than the make money-money track. Now even music snobs like me own Kanye albums. So if Napster had the power to appease music fans and the mass populace all at once, why did the labels despise it so? Well, because they’re run by a bunch of corporate fat cat dickheads. Major entertainment distributors just love quash-ing the most effective marketing tools available to them since TVs tuned in everyone’s’ living room. Go on You-tube and try to find SNL skits. What’ll greet your search is a content removed message. Sure, SNL puts its skits on its website, but who goes there? Users always go where they’re familiar. Radiohead released In Rainbows with a pay-what-you-feel-its-worth for-mat on the band’s website. The fan could pay absolutely nothing and download the album, or pay $1,000.00 and download the album. I personally paid $10.00. Here’s the thing, anyone could have gone to radiohead.com and downloaded the album for free. And yet, even with the ability to go straight to the source and pay absolutely nothing, downloads from torrent databases outnumbered the downloads from the band’s site by almost 2:1. Listen-ers instinctively went to the pirate websites. So what confronts today’s entertainment industry is the ines-capable availability of free down-loads. The product is completely accessible without having to pay as much as a dime. Now the natural move for the labels would have been to say so long to the old model and manipulate the download sites to generate popularity for the bands. I mean the more people that know about the band, the more chance the label has to sell t-shirts to hipster music fans so that they can wear them under their plaid long-sleeves. Instead, they sued a 12-year-old girl for downloading Brittney songs, and forced her to write an apology letter to Miss/Mrs/Miss/Mrs/Miss Spears. Now what? If the labels are dying, and they most definitely are, what does an up-and-coming band do? Well who knows exactly, but certainly it resides in the Internet. The Internet made it possible for a talentless (and obnoxious) Tila Tequila to turn herself into a house-hold name (even my mom knows who TT is). The Internet is allowing

artists to direct their careers without the interference and dictatorial direction of the labels. There is a shortcoming to the artist driven, DIY, Internet marketing. It means that the music is over-saturated with tunes, good or bad, and it’s harder for the listener to sift through it all and find that new band that really turns them on. But a band will come along that’ll figure out how to standout in the Internet quagmire. They’ll do it all by themselves, labelless, and emerge as bonafide superstars. It’ll be the best underdog story to ever grace Rolling Stone’s cover. Right under the cover story headline titled “XXXXX: An Unlikely Tri-umph”, will undoubtedly be the sub-story tag-line “Labels: An Unfortunate Tragedy”.

15

Law Students Play Hockey Too The Ambulance Chasers won the Intramural B Di-vision championship this week. Officially, they represent-ed the Faculty of law, but the team was loaded, including former Dino, Drew Campbell, former Lake Forest Universi-ty hockey player, Cory Wilson, and good namesake, Jamie Kariya. The Championship win was no suprise, as the Ambulance Chasers accumulated a 8-1-1 record. But that did not take away from the glory of the 4-2 win. The oppos-ing team pulled their goalie, allowing Cory Wilson to score the final goal on an empty net. Team Captain, Campbell, was very proud of the team’s accomplishments and sad let some go. “The team would like to say goodbye and thank you to the third years who played, namely Kevin Kerr, Ken Ritson, Scott Tallman, Jamie Kariya,” Campbell said. Now the Ambulance Chasers are turning their at-tention to championship exam writing.

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