.ELECTION POLL
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DRUG POLL
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PAGE 8 CAWUBRARJ APR251972 ~
THE AWARD VOLUME
111, NUMBER 5
WINNING PUBLISHED
STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL JOINTLY BY THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION AND DWIGHT INN COPYRIGHT, EQUITAS, NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL, MAR. 1972
·
TUESDAY,
MARCH
21,
1972
/ Dean, Students Air Differences iAt SBA Sponsored Common-Hour by STEVEN ANDREW HARRIS
On Wednesday, March 1, 1972, Dean Walter Rafalko met with the students of New York Law School during the "common hour", sponsored by the S.B.A -, and chaired by Mike Weber, Vice President of the S.B.A. Most of the period was devoted to questioning the Dean on topics ranging from placement to graduation to the Board of TrusMichael Weber, Vice President of the SBA, ponders a response from tees. the Dean at the SBA sponsored question and answer period during Robert Wiggins, a second year the Common Hour, March 1, 1972. SBA representative, opened the questioning. Citing a statement made by Dean Rafalko a year ago regarding placement, he asked when "was the earliest date that there would be an assistant to the Dean to help in the placement of New York Law students?" In reply, the by RENEE SACHS Dean said "we have an obliJudge Tsoucalas is a native ing out over his audience. "If New Yorker, born here in 1926. you have a Legal Aid Lawyer, gation to do everything in our Graduate of Kent State Univer- he may be on another case. The power to obtain job opportunities for our students. We have sity; B.S. in business administra- policeman who's supposed totesalways had a placement service, tion, majoring in foreign trade tify may not be there. And, it's and diplomacy; L.L.B. from not completely unknown for the and we've had very good success with placement services .NYLS. Department of Correction to forin the past. However, we then United States Navy, 1944 to get to bring the prisoner.". had a smaller student body- 1946, and 1951 and 1952. In With some asperity, Judge about 400 then and about 780 private practice 1953 - 1955 and Tsoucalas compared the pronow, so it's twice as difficult 1959 - 1968. Judge Tsoucalas cedures of the Civil and Crimto place students as in the past. has represented numerous firms inal Courts. Unlike Civil Court Up until last year we placed as trial counsel. judges, Criminal Court judges 100% of those using the placeFormer Assistant United operate without the aid of secment service. Last year about States Attorney for the retaries and clerks. 60% were placed, which isn't a Southern District of New York "We do everything ourselves. good record; we're not proud 1955 to 1959; supervisor of As soon as money is involved, 1960 Census for 17th and 18th people get very excited," he said of it but it should be about the same this year as last. "The Congressional Districts; Chair- caustically. "But Criminal Dean went on to say that Miss man, Board of Commissioners . Court-who cares? It's just a Gravenhorst has been doing of Appraisal, Neversink Ripar- man's life at stake, that's all." most of the placements, along ian Rights, Sections 3, 4 and 5, Stenographers are another with Judge Difede, but a placeappointed by Supreme Court (Continued On Page 2) ment director was needed. He of the City of New York. Third Judicial Department. Presently Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York. Under the auspices of the S.B.A. Speaker's Program, Judge Nicholas Tsoucalas of the Queens by Byron C. Cotter, Jr. Criminal Court addressed the student body of N.Y.L.S. during There are eighty-five stuporation Counsel. One person the Common Hour on Wednesday, dents in the day senior class. has a job with the Internal ReFebruary 9, 1972. the Judge Tsoucalas, a tall, burly Thirty-three have jobs in the venue Service, one for legal field, and three have jobs Federal Justice Department. man with a serious demeanor, Lastly. one student received a spoke about efforts the Crim- in other fields. Forty nine stujob with a large corporate firm. inal Courts were making to clear dents do not have jobs. ThereDean Rafalko stated that the their dockets, but the impression fore, 38% of the seniors have school placed about sixty perhe left behind was that things law oriented jobs, while 42% Forty-eight cent of the students last year were going to get worse before have jobs in all. percent of the seniors have no and hopes to place that many they got better. jobs at all. this year. Among the many obstacles There are basically eight he cited were outmoded courttvpes of jobs obtained in New PLACEMENT houses. "Most courthouses are just York Citv. as well as throughnot equipped for speedy trials. out the state and other states. The school has placed four They ought to be condemned." The largest group. nineteen stustudents or about 4~ of the he asserted in the husky, un- dents. obtained jobs in small senior class. These jobs which mistakable accent of a native firms. ·A number of these stuwere included in the above New Yorker. "There is no place dents received jobs through refigures were: one job with a latives in these firms. The small upstate firm. one with to keep prisoners who are a waiting trial. .. second highest group (six stu- the Justice Department and two Another difficulty is that of dents) is legal aid. Three stuwith the Corporation Counsel of dents . have jobs clerking for New York City. bringing the whole cast together. The Corporjudges. Three people have non- ation Counsel positions were ob.. Just because it· s on the calendar doesn't mean it· s going to legal business oriented jobs. Two tained by scoring highly on a people have jobs with the Corhappen ." the judge rasped. star(Continued On Page 7)
Tsoucalas Discusses Obstacles To Justice
Third Yr. Day School Grads Obtain Jobs At 42% Rate
added that he had submitted names to the Board of Trustees but they had been rejected either for lack of experience, or as not being in the best interest of a particular applicant. Another student commented, "Unfortunately ,the school has in some way failed, I think, in its obligation to us, because they just haven't hired someone (for placement). Either the Dean or the Board of Trustees should do something immediately, be-
cause you have failed us." Dean Rafalko answered by asking the student: "Do you know of any school in the metropolitan area which has placed all its gradautes?" The student remarked that he was only asking for someone to work at New York Law School full time in placement. The Dean mentioned that Miss Gravenhorst was available, to which someone commented that "the placement service as it now stands is inadequate." (Continued
On
Page 3)
Advisor And E.l.C. Discuss Open Law Forum Question It seems that a N.Y.L.S. sturequires time for the joint staff dent who is not on the New to edit and prepare these articles York Law Forum and wishes for publication. He said that to publish an article therein, "if students were not trained in will find it difficult to do so. these matters, submitted artiAlthough some students would cles would take twice as much like to see Law Review accept time to do it." articles from the general stuMr. Ackerman also felt that dent body, both Law Forum the idea of an Intramural Law Editor-In-Chief Richard AckerReview would be ideal but doesn't man and Law Forum Faculty think the administration would Advisor, Professor Joel S. Lee, find definite obstacles to implementing such a plan. Professor Lee feels that if a third year student submits an article which "meets the standards of quality set by the editors of the Law Forum," it should be considered for publication. Professor Lee suggested that perhaps an Intramural Law Review could be established for the publication of articles by students not on the Law Forum. This type of law review which originated at New York University School of Law, could be of immense help to a student who wishes to publish an article to be shown to a .prosPROFESSOR JOEL LEE pective employer. An Intramural Law Review could be started as an inexpensive appropriate the funds necessary mimeographed publication. Profor its establishment. fessor Lee thought that the idea At other law schools, the of EQUIT AS devoting a section problem is handled in various to meritorious student writing ways. Solutions range from was an excellent one. the Intramural 'Law Review at Richard Ackerman said that N. Y. U. to basically the same he was not against the idea of situation at Brooklyn Law non-Law Review students subSchool as here at N.Y.L.S. to mitting articles, but it would the open law reviews at some be a total financial and physical Ivy League schools. impossibility. "There is not enough money to implement this In conjunction with this proband it would entail just too much lem. many schools require a work to correct and rewrite the writing of publishable quality as articles, greatly overburdening a requisite for graduation. NYLS the already overburdened staff," has no such requirement. Once Ackerman stated in a recent a writing of this nature is subinterview. He went on to exmitted it can be published with plain that "it takes time for greater ease either in Law Reour own permanent staff to view or separately. This would master the problems of the Uniprovide valuable writing experform System of Citation and for ience for the graduating student. each person to develop the Law Review style." Even when these - Carmen J. Cognetta, Jr. factors are mastered. it still