HLS in Focus

1L and Co-Chair of the Public Interest Auction Sarah Jelsema recently sat down for a Q & A with us after this yearly highlight of the HLS calendar.

What is the public interest auction?
The public interest auction is a fundraiser run entirely by the 1L class that raises money to support students who do public interest work over the summer. We solicit donations from faculty, staff, alumni, parents, students, firms, and local businesses. Some donate money and some donate things to auction off. We receive all sorts of donations – things like Red Sox tickets, gift certificates to restaurants and salons, lunches and fishing trips with professors, cookies and brownies made by the librarians, and a tour of the Northwest Corner Construction project. The auction is one of the biggest social events of the year. Every year the auction has a theme, and we decorate Austin Hall accordingly. This year the theme was “Bright Lights: Bid City” and so the different rooms were decorated as different big cities – London, Paris, and New York.

What has gone into preparing for this event and what have you gotten out of the experience as a co-chair?
Almost all of the 1L class helps out with the auction. We divide the students up by committees and committees mostly help out either by asking for donations, calling alumni and asking them to donate, emailing firms, going door to door in Cambridge, or by helping process the donations and get them ready to sell, or by helping out on the night of the auction. As one of the auction co-chairs, I had the opportunity to work with a group of amazing people to try to plan and coordinate this huge event – it was definitely a  challenging experience for all of us. From coordinating hundreds of student volunteers to keeping track of hundreds of donations, to making sure everything comes together on the night of the auction, being a co-chair was a lot of work, but it was extremely rewarding. It was also a good opportunity to meet new students.

The event is always a lot of fun for students, faculty and staff. What was your favorite part of the evening? Did anything surprise you?
The event was a huge success. My favorite part of the evening was the live auction. Our auctioneers – this year Professors Elizabeth Warren and Jonathan Zittrain – were auctioning off the “right to be – or not be – in the 2010 parody.” The first bidder was the Dean of Students because they gave her a hard time this year in the parody, but then Professor Mann, who bought this item last year, got in a bidding war with Professor Warren and everyone was laughing so hard!

Why should admitted and prospective students seeking a strong public interest community choose Harvard? Why did you?
I think that students looking for a strong public interest community should choose Harvard because they can go anywhere and do anything with a degree from Harvard Law. We are a bigger law school, but as a result, we have so many more options to pick from than other law schools. Good public interest law jobs are really competitive – and since I want one, I’m glad I chose Harvard. I know that the connections and friends that I will make here, with professors and fellow students, will be of benefit for the rest of my life.

Starting April 15, HLS will begin accepting transfer applications for the fall. Over the last couple of years, there have been increased opportunities for Harvard Law students to study off-campus through joint degree and foreign study programs which make it possible for us to admit more transfer students than ever before.

The question of whether to apply as a transfer student is the right move is up to you, but we think that a little research will show you the vast benefits of transferring to HLS. With 102 full-time professors and more than 300 courses, HLS is home to the most intellectually stimulating legal community in the world. Outside the classroom, there are 14 journals, over100 student organizations, clinical placements in approximately 30 areas of the law, and more than enough opportunities for you to experience the incredible diversity of the HLS community during your second- and third- year. For example, the Harvard Law Review encourages transfer applicants to apply for membership and several past transfer students have been successful in that endeavor.

Bottom line? Whether you are interested in constitutional law or environmental law or human rights advocacy or any number of other areas, the breadth and depth of our offerings is incredible. Whether you want to clerk at the circuit court level, follow the path to academia, or pursue a career in public service, the opportunities presented to our graduates are unsurpassed.

For more details on the transfer application process including eligibility guidelines, deadlines, and application requirements, please visit: http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/j…

Also, stay tuned in the coming days and weeks for blog entries of a few students talking about their experience transferring into Harvard Law School!

If someone told you that the solution to save the planet was building more skyscrapers, you probably wouldn’t believe it. Yet, as explained by Harvard economics professor, Ed Glaeser, in a recent discussion with the HLS Real Estate Association, if you want to be good to the environment, you should stay away from it. In fact, suburbanite Americans are guilty of leaving some of the deepest carbon footprints on the national landscape. Professor Glaeser’s most recent work looks at “the greenness of cities,” with a particular focus on carbon dioxide emissions and urban development. “When environmentalists resist new construction in dense cities,” he said, “they inadvertently ensure that it will take place somewhere else with higher carbon emissions.”

In his study with Professor Matthew Kahn of UCLA, Professor Glaeser began by estimating the amount of carbon dioxide an average household (measured by family size and income) would emit if it settled in a variety of major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and then measured comparative data between projected central city versus suburban emissions within new or recently built homes. “We calculate carbon emissions from four different sources,” said Glaeser, “including home heating, electricity, driving, and public transportation, which make up approximately 40% of America’s carbon footprint.”

When examining the results, it may not come as a surprise that the five metropolitan areas with the lowest levels of carbon emissions are all in California. Naturally temperate climates and dedicated environmentalists battling for the use of energy efficient appliances and hydroelectric power are two factors that make colder or warmer cities like Rochester (with more heating emissions) or Houston (more electricity use) appear ‘browner.’ And New York, in spite of low electricity usage and impressively low transportation-related CO2 emissions, tends to use dirtier sources of power such as coal. Sunbelt cities, like Atlanta and Memphis, ranked worst not by heating their homes but rather by electricity (dirtier sources of energy and hot summers) and the geographic sprawl that demands driving. “The data suggests that households in dense urban areas have significantly lower carbon emissions than households in the suburbs,” said Glaeser.

The question of environmental damage associated with carbon emissions nationwide remains. Even by the most conservative estimates, new homes in Memphis do more than $600 worth of environmental harm per year than homes in San Francisco, which are associated with fewer tons of carbon. “Before carbon taxes,” said Glaeser, “the country should rethink its land-use policies which currently push people towards high emissions areas and away from greener ones.” Specifically, Glaeser referred to California’s strict land use regulations that inhibit the growth both upward and outward of cities. “By restricting local development, California regulators just make that construction occur elsewhere… [more] building in the state would reduce average commute lengths and improve per-capita emissions. Higher densities could also justify more investment in new, low-emissions energy plants.”

Professor Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard, where he also serves as Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

If you thought counting sheep was insomniac’s play, think again. Berkman Center cofounder and cyberlaw whiz Professor Jonathan Zittrain is expanding upon his research with the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) by exploring internet censorship with Herdict Web (herd + verdict), a tool that uses crowdsourcing to learn about and present a real time view of the experiences of users around the globe with regard to web accessibility.

As Zittrain explained, “we’re trying to get ourselves out of a mode where the internet just happens to us and we become, rather, participants in it.” One of the issues with the net is that users by and large don’t know what’s going on. “We’re eager to help create an emergent sense of what’s going on in this network especially at a time when network blockages and filtering are on the rise,” he said. “When you can’t get somewhere the number of problems between you and the destination are legion and there’s an easy way to figure out what’s wrong… our aim is to help answer those questions in a prosaic way by trying to enlist people at large to answer them.”

So what’s with the sheep (Herdict’s icon), you ask? As the website explains, “sheep tend not to follow the herd when no natural predator is present. While considering web inaccessibility and censorship a predator might be far-fetched, when faced with it, it makes sense to join the herd.” While OpenNet Initiative seeks to identify filtering on the web and to probe public consciousness about the practice through academic means, Herdict Web shifts the power to the masses. Herdict is a toolbar that changes color based on a particular URL’s accessibility. If you find yourself unable to access a site, you can click on the ‘sheep’ and report your problem. “The act of asking this question is what helps seed the round of data in order to answer [why a site is blocked],” said Zittrain. As more people respond with errors, the Herdict team is able to interpolate the data and point to a cause. For those interested, the website includes the sort-able ‘herdometer’ that displays reports as they come in. “Once someone makes a report,” explained Zittrain, “it’s helpful to know if others are experiencing the same issue. You very quickly figure out who is also experiencing what and why.”

Stay tuned for more information on Herdict Web!

We did a bunch more interviews of students and faculty members to add to the HLS Speaks page off the JD Admissions home page.  New categories of interview clips include: (1) Clinical & Pro Bono Programs; (2) Criminal Law & Justice; (3) Law, Business & Economics; (4) Negotiation & Conflict Resolution; (5) Constitutional Law & Policy; (6) Why Law School; (7) Law, Science & Technology; (8) Reading Groups & Small Seminars; (9) National Security & Terrorism; (10) Social & Gender Justice, Civil Rights; (11) Career Plans; and (12) Joint Degrees.

Please visit the link to HLS Speaks off the JD Admissions home page if you’re interested in these subjects.

Recently, Louis Ballezzi, a member of the Harvard Journal of Law & Techonology, submitted a blog entry on an event held by the organization.

“‘Judge Timothy B. Dyk of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed packed a lecture hall of law students recently. In an event sponsored by the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Judge Dyk discussed his experiences on the Federal Circuit, which is the appellate court charged with jurisdiction over several areas of law including patent jurisprudence.’

‘Judge Dyk explained his view of the Federal Circuit’s role in the federal system, including its unique common law function of interpreting patent laws. Following his speech, students engaged in a lively question and answer session with the accomplished jurist, whose career has included service in the Department of Justice, private practice, adjunct professorships, and clerkships for Chief Justice Warren and Justices Reed and Burton of the United States Supreme Court.’”

Since its inception in 1988, the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology (JOLT) has published writings by academics, practitioners, and policymakers on a variety of topics, including intellectual property, biotechnology, e-commerce, space law, computer law, cybercrime, the Internet, and telecommunications. JOLT is the most cited legal technology journal in the world. During the academic year, the JOLT hosts lectures, panel discussions, and an annual Symposium dedicated to promoting knowledge of technology and the law. This year, JOLT is pioneering a radical new online initiative that will bring together, in one place, all developments in the field of law and technology.

Webcast: Judge Timothy Dyk (48:53)

Scott Neuman wrote to me about his experience with music and a different take on intellectual property south of the equator:

“A software engineer prior to law school, I have always been intensely interested in software development and adoption. In my first year at law school, I had the pleasure of taking a cyberlaw class with Jonathan Zittrain. To this day, I remain fascinated by the reading he assigned on South America’s transition to open-source software (for example: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/…). In researching further, it proved clear that the Center for Technology & Society is spearheading this movement (CTV is an affiliate of Brazil’s FGV law school in Rio de Janeiro, quite analogous to the Berkman Center at HLS).

“And my timing couldn’t have been better. The same week I arrived in Rio, my cubicle-mate (Ronaldo Lemos) was elected the new head of Creative Commons  creativecommons.org). I couldn’t believe I had the first opportunity to interview the new head of an organization I had so often discussed in law school classes. And to my delight, we share a real interest in using technology to facilitate free culture & fight media centralization. No doubt Brazil is predisposed to embracing free culture. Simple economics drive much of the switch to open source software. And in music, artists like Gilberto Gil (now the head of the ministry of culture) have pushed tropicalismo since the 1960s. This cannibalistic style of music relies heavily on sampling prior recordings. Heck, even Bossa Nova reflects a fusion of Jazz & Samba.

“But I really got interested in CTV’s research on Technobrega, a type of music prevalent in the relatively poor Northern regions of Brazil. Interestingly, no more than 10% of these artists have ever been contacted by major recording labels. And these artists actually encourage street vendors to sell pirated copies of their CDs & DVDs, equating it to advertising (much like radio play). The artists make money selling concert tickets and selling authentic CDs & DVDs at these concerts. To my astonishment, these artists make more money, and generate far more new music on average than their peers in the southern regions. And these artists voice no interest in signing with the major labels. And why should they? They’ve developed a complex & profitable industry where IP constraints are a non-factor.

“For a fan of media decentralization, this research proved fascinating. And while in Brazil, I was also introduced to the Nollywood revolution. It turns out that Nigeria is churning out tons of new movies, and within 15 years, likely will have more movies under its belt than Hollywood. And this same community recently launched a new television station, Africa Magic, which became the most watched channel in Africa within months. I’m already looking to travel there after graduation and continue my research. I can’t wait!”

The Berkman Center is hosting a conference here at HLS starting today at 9am to explore how traditional media can (and should) embrace new, participatory media. I checked out this webpage devoted to keeping people updated on the conference and found that I still have quite a bit of a learning curve in understanding new media. You can actually follow the whole conference via webcast and post your questions along the way! I don’t even have to walk next door to the Ames Courtroom…