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2 Editorials
Virginia Law Weekly Friday, January 29, 1999
Super Saturday: It’s Fantastic
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that this weekend
is Super Bowl weekend.
You might not know that it’s also Super Saturday weekend.
Super Saturday, to the uninitiated, is the Law School’s day of service
— a day when law students fan out into the greater Charlottesville area
to give back to our host community.
A number of different projects are planned, including: recording
projects for the blind and dyslexic, meal cooking at the Ronald McDonald
House, and the traditional Habitat for Humanity event.
It’s one of the few times that law students get together to do
something for others, especially those outside of our close-knit grounds.
UVa has traditionally had one of the highest participation rates for
events of this kind among U.S. law schools, and judging by the sign-up
sheets in Hunton & Williams Hall, this year’s extravaganza promises to
be no exception.
The day is, justifiably, a source of pride for the Law School and one
of the more meaningful events on the annual calendar.
What’s disappointing, though, is that for too many law students, their
service to others begins and ends on Super Saturday.
Everyone already knows that we as law students tend to isolate
ourselves from the rest of the University.
We’re our own little world up here, and we don’t even see Darden
students all that much (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, of
course).
However, we also tend to ignore Charlottesville itself, unless it’s to
complain — about the traffic, the small size, the lack of social options,
etc.
It’s telling that an event like Super Saturday receives so much
attention every January. The reason that it does so is that we don’t really
do much the other 364 days of the year.
To be sure, there are some notable activities in which law students
are involved that strive to reach out to our neighbors, but these are few
and far between.
The overall level of true service to others is strikingly low.
This isn’t to knock Super Saturday. But it is a chance for all of us to
get more involved in this little town we call home for the better part of
three years.
At the risk of sounding too much like a cheesy holiday greeting card,
the spirit of Super Saturday should remain strong throughout the entire
academic year.
Everyone should feel encouraged to get involved tomorrow; there’s a
tremendous satisfaction that comes from helping others in need. There
are many worthy projects that could use our talents, creativity and
sheer manual labor. And it doesn’t even have to be for the entire day or
morning: several projects have very manageable time slots.
The point, however, is that the helping shouldn’t stop there. U.Va.
students should also use tomorrow as a springboard into other activities
and into getting involved with the “rest” of Charlottesville itself.
After all, if we want the town and county to think of us as a welcome
presence and a good neighbor, we really should do our part to earn their
admiration and respect.
Editorial Policy
The Virginia Law Weekly publishes letters and columns of interest to the Law School and the legal
community at large. Views expressed in such submissions are those of the author(s) and not necessarily
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Staff
Virginia Law Weekly
Editorial Board
Ben Fox
Executive Editor
Kristina Dell
News Editor
Marc Cohn
Photography Editor
Associate Editors
Ben Block
Associate News Editor
Amy Collins
Associate News Editor
Andy Lippstone
Associate Features Editor
Doug Mintz
Editor-in-Chief
Mandeep Dhillon
Managing Editor
Sarah Shalf
Production Editor
Leah Warnick
Associate Production Editor
Jennifer Leong
Features Editor
Erica Bachmann
Columns Editor
Ryan Farney
Copy Editor
Harrison Clay
Associate Columns Editor for Reviews
Ryan Coonerty
Associate Features Editor
Tina Sismanis
Associate Production Editor
CONTRIBUTORS: Don Cole
COLUMNISTS: Ryan Farney, Don Cole, Amy Todd (SBA Notebook), VANGUARD.
REVIWERS: Harrison Clay, Bart Epstein, David Stuckey, Doug Mintz, Priya Sopori, Kirk Susong,
Scott Matthews, Andrew Oliver, Billy Palmer, Jami Wyatt.
Published weekly on Friday except during holiday and examination periods and serving the Law School community
at the University of Virginia, the Virginia Law Weekly (ISSN 0042-661X) is not an official publication of the
University and does not necessarily express the views of the University.
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Printed on recycled paper by theVirginia Law Weekly and the University of Virginia Printing Office.
© 1999 Virginia Law Weekly
Save The Planet: Recycling in the Law School
I know you are busy — we
all are. But please, take two
minutes to read this article.
Recycling is an easy way to
protect the environment, and in
this article, I tell you just
how simple it is to do
your part. I am a 3L, and
this year I am the
recycling coordinator for
the Environmental Law
Forum (ELF). This letter
will describe some of the
recycling opportunities at
the Law School
Cans & Bottles: The
blue recycling bins around
the Law School collect
cans and bottles. You may
place aluminum, steel, or
tin cans in the cans bins,
as well as aluminum foil.
In the bottles bins, you may place
any color glass bottles or jars, but
no pyrex or plate glass. You may
also deposit numbers one or two
recyclable plastic — look for the
triangle on the plastic for the
number. Please remove all lids
before recycling plastic or glass
bottles.
Please don’t put garbage in
these bins — someone will
eventually have to fish out every
piece of trash you deposit. Finally,
please place only EMPTY cans
and bottles in these bins —
leftover soda makes a huge mess.
Paper: The easiest way to
recycle paper is to place it in one
of the four “mixed paper” bins
near the student mailboxes in
Hunton & Williams Hall. Note
that these bins are now “mixed
paper” and thus can accept almost
any kind of paper. However,
please don’t put paper ream
wrappers, paper towels, plastic, or
garbage in these bins.
The other big paper recycling
program is especially important
Welcome back to the New Year!
Your SBA hit the ground running
in 1999 with the following projects
Amy Todd, a thirdyear
law student, is
SBA President.
and initiatives:
Sixth Annual Super Saturday:
Pro Bono Chairs Mike Kalata
and Andy Wright have gone above
and beyond the call of duty working
to organize this event. Tomorrow,
January 30, known nationally
as the American Bar
Association’s “work-a-day” program,
is a day of service given by
the students of Virginia Law to the
Charlottesville community. Student
volunteers traditionally perform
projects for charitable and
community service organizations
on the Saturday of Super Bowl
weekend.
Some of this year’s projects include
pet therapy for residents of
Jefferson Eldercare, painting facilities
at Hilltop Child Care Center,
working with kids through
Charlottesville parks and recreation,
preparing a meal at the
Ronald McDonald house, working
on low income housing construction
with Habitat for Humanity,
and cleaning facilities and visiting
with residents of the Shelter for
Help in Emergency.
This is the Sixth Annual Super
Saturday, and for the past five
years, Virginia Law has had one of
Letter to the Editor
for law school staff and student
organizations. Certain rooms
around the Law School, like SL
126 and 263, have been
photo by Marc Cohn
Law students can help save the
environment by recycling.
designated recycling rooms.
These rooms have shelves with
small specially marked boxes on
them.
Please fill these boxes with
paper and put them on the shelves.
University Recycling empties
them weekly. There are two
boxes, one for revenue paper and
one for non-revenue paper. The
labels on the boxes explain what
may be recycled in each.
I highly recommend this
program to every student
organization at the Law School,
especially the journals. Keep
recycling boxes in your office and
put them in the recycling rooms
when they are full.
Books: When you have
books to recycle, like old text
books you can’t resell, use the
boxes in the recycling rooms
mentioned above. Place softcover
books in any of the boxes with
non-revenue paper labels. For a
hardcover book, rip the covers off
and throw them in the garbage,
then put the rest of the book in
any of the boxes with non-revenue
SBA Notebook
the highest participation rates in
the country. We hope to continue
the tradition this year, but to do so
we need YOUR help! We sincerely
encourage all of you to assist in
this tremendous effort to build
bridges between the Law School
and greater Charlottesville communities.
The event will occur tomorrow
and will likely span a significant
portion of the day, with various
projects beginning and ending at
different times. We will kick off the
day with bagels, doughnuts and
coffee at the Law School. After the
projects are finished, the SBA will
host a beer and pizza party for the
volunteers. If you are interested in
participating and did not sign up
on the posted lists, please call Andy
Wright or Mike Kalata at 979-6285.
We hope to see you out there! (Many
thanks to Andy Wright and Mike
Kalata for contributing this section
of the SBA Notebook this
week.)
SBA / BLSA Book Exchange:
The Black Law Students Association
provided the resources to run
the book exchange for students this
semester. Thanks to Dana Williams,
Carlos Brown, and Melanie
Hart, among many others, for your
long hours and hard work providing
a service that saves students a
substantial amount of money.
Barrister’s Ball: Co-Chairs
second-year Hillary Cherry and
third-year Carine Saddy are pulling
together yet another rip-roaring
law school prom, planned for
the night of February 6 at the Omni
labels.
Beyond these specific tips, be
conscious of what you use and
how you use it. Reduce the
amount of garbage you generate
by purchasing products with
minimal packaging. Also, please
avoid plastic or styrofoam
products that are neither reusable
nor recyclable.
Your efforts can make a
difference. In 1997, U.Va.
students recycled over 31 tons of
aluminum and steel, 2.6 tons of
plastic, 52 tons of glass, and
almost 1000 tons of paper. One
ton of recycled paper saves 3,700
pounds of lumber and 24,000
gallons of water. Recycling cuts
down on landfill, as well.
Lastly, I wish to make three
specific recommendations. First,
volunteer next year to help
monitor and empty the recycling
bins at the law school. One hour
for the entire year is all it takes.
Second, this spring ELF will
be looking for someone to be
recycling coordinator for next
year. This job is really pretty easy.
Call me at (804) 556-6628 or
email me at rwh7s@virginia.edu if
you are interested.
Third, if you have any
recycling questions or suggestions,
please call me or email me at the
number or address above, or
contact the University’s Office of
Recycling and Environmental
Information at 982-5033.
Finally, thank you to the
almost this 50 volunteers who
signed up this year to help monitor
and empty the blue recycling bins
around the law school.
Sincerely,
Bob Hughes
ELF Recycling Chair
Hotel. If you haven’t bought your
tickets yet, be on the look-out for
more ticket sales in Hunton-Williams
Hall today and this coming
Monday and Tuesday.
Yearbooks, Yearbooks, Yearbooks!
Yearbook Co-Chairs Ronit
“Can’t Beat Ronit” Gechter and
Jim “Woody” Woodward have been
distributing the 1998 Yearbooks
during the past week.
If you have pictures that you
would like to see in the 1999 Yearbook,
be sure to place them in the
cardboard box in Hunton-Williams
Hall! Ronit and Woody are also
looking for your suggestions on
making a new and improved,
memorable yearbook this year, so
if you have any ideas, be sure to let
them know.
Thanks to Cortland Kelly
and the Students Records Staff:
Returning to law school for the
semester can often be a traumatic
experience, especially in light of
the need to return our bright fluorescent
form to the Student Records
office before 5 P.M. or risk being
dropped from our classes.
Dean Gillette and the records
staff, along with the help of Good
Samaritan Cortland Kelly, made
every effort to get in touch with
students who were running close
to the deadline, including making
phone calls and circling the Law
School building in search of tardy
students. Due in large part to their
efforts, less than five students were
dropped from their classes this semester
– thanks for looking out for
us!