Funnier Than You Might Expect

By:  Ross Brennan

Columnist

            Garry Marshall, the man who brought you Pretty Woman and who I guarantee you would recognize even if you cannot picture him right off the bat, now brings you Valentine’s Day.  Marshall’s latest take on the RomCom is a funny piece that tells the romantic stories of numerous of people and couples, all of which are nicely intertwined.  Think Crash, but with a much lighter subject matter.

            There really is not a main character in the film, despite the previews that make it appear as if Julia Roberts is the focal point.  Thus, I will try to give you a quick rundown of what is going on and what to expect.  Ashton Kutcher is in love with Jessica Alba.  Jennifer Garner is best friends with Kutcher, but is in love with the very married McDreamy, who plays a doctor (what a stretch).  McSteamy, who plays a pro football player whose story is not-so-loosely based on Brett Favre, is in love with a mystery guest, as are Julia Roberts and Bradley Cooper.  Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel both hate Valentine’s Day, respectively.  Topher Grace is in love with Anne Hathaway.  Taylor Swift is in love with Taylor Lautner.  Hector Elizondo, another face you would recognize even though you do not know the name, is in love with Shirley MacLaine.  George Lopez is in love with his wife, although we do not get to know her.  And Queen Latifah and Kathy Bates are sprinkled in, but without objects of desire.

            If that was hard to follow, I apologize.  It was the best I could do.  While Valentine’s Day has some sappy moments that are cliché-ridden, there are some genuinely funny parts.  A particularly funny scene involves two high-schoolers who are planning to make this Valentine’s Day extremely special.  As expected, a parent comes home.  Obviously predictable, but still a fresh take on a funny scene.  Jamie Foxx has some good scenes, and Topher Grace shines as a native Hoosier who is now a L.A. transplant.  Viewer beware, there are some jokes that involve Indiana as a punch line.

            Overall I would recommend Valentine’s Day.  For the gentlemen out there, if you have the will power to walk past Edge of Darkness and actually have a seat in the Valentine’s Day theater, you will discover a few jokes you appreciate.  For the ladies, I do not have to tell you that the movie is geared towards your tastes.  Enjoy the 125 minutes of romance, and take it for what it is worth.

Ross is a 2L and can be reached at Ross.Brennan@valpo.edu.

NEWS FLASH:  1L, Adam Claudy is taking over as our Forum movie reviewer next month!!!

MMA Monthly Matchups: March Edition

By Dan D. Hallberg

February was a somewhat uneventful, but still entertaining month of fights, particularly if you enjoy geriatrics getting crushed by other geriatrics. But March has tons of interesting battles, so lets take a look.

5. Miguel Torres (37-2) vs. Joseph Benavidez, WEC 47, 3/4/2010

Miguel Torres is back, and it’s a good thing. It wasn’t too long ago that Torres was in the discussion for top pound for pound fighter in the world. Unfortunately that all faded away after his stunning knockout loss to Brian Bowles. Now he’s trying to get back in the saddle against a tough opponent and top bantamweight fighter in his own right, Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez is a scrambler, ala his teammate Urijah Faber, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with Torres’ jiu jitsu. However, I still think the Bowles loss was a fluke. Torres wins and with it gains a shot at his old title.

4. Champion Georges St. Pierre (19-2) vs. Dan Hardy (24-6), UFC 111, 3/27/2010

This is the lowest I’ve ever ranked a title fight on my list and there is a simple reason why: Dan Hardy has no business fighting GSP. He’s only getting the fight because GSP’s beaten everyone else. I mean, Hardy has a punchers chance, but ever since the Serra loss GSP has been on guard for that. Pretty much Hardy will be taken down again, and again, and again, until he gives up a choke or gets decisioned.

3. Jon Jones (9-1) vs. Brandon Vera (11-4), UFC on Versus, 3/21/2010

For all intensive purposes, Jon Jones DQ loss to Matt Hamill was not a loss, and the UFC is not treating it like one. He takes a serious step up in competition as he faces fellow young gun Brandon Vera. It seems like every time Vera gets close to cracking into title contention he drops the ball. If he doesn’t win this fight it’s going to be hard for him to convince anyone that they should care about him. The thing is, I don’t care about him now, and haven’t seen anything in him to justify the multiple chances that the UFC likes to give him. Jones on the other hand is a highlight reel in the making. Jones by knockout in a pretty spectacular fashion.

2. Frank Mir (13-4) vs. Shane Carwin (11-0), UFC 111, 3/27/2010

Mir shut my mouth a few months back by decimating his last opponent, lets see if he can do it again. The former champ added on an extra 40+ pounds of muscle in an attempt to prepare for the bigger stronger Brock Lesnar. Now we get to see if his methods will work in a test run against the equally big and strong Shane Carwin in a matchup for the Interim Heavyweight championship. Carwin is essentially Lesnar with less wrestling credentials and without the attitude, so this should make for an interesting fight. Despite being wrong last time, I’m going to go against Mir in favor of Carwin. Mir seems to be doomed to be stuck in the “not quite championship material”zone for the rest of his career; this fight will show that.

1. Champion Brian Bowles (8-0) vs. Dominick Cruz (14-1), WEC 47, 3/4/2010

This fight has almost every element one needs to make a great title fight. Both men can throw, both men have great stamina to go into late rounds, both men are lightning fast, and both men are deserve to be where they’re at. Bowles is undefeated and won his title from top pound for pound regular Miguel Torres and Cruz is undefeated at bantamweight, and his only loss came to then featherweight champion Urijah Faber. I’m actually torn on where to go for this one, and when that happens, I have to go with the champ. Bowles pulls out a decision, leading to his rematch against local boy Miguel Torres.

 Dan is a 1L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu

By:  Derrick Augustus Carter

Professor of Law

Twenty-four Valparaiso University Law students will accompany Professor Derrick Carter to the New Orleans Public Defenders’ Office during spring break. The students will conduct bond hearings, interviews, research, write briefs, and observe death penalty trials. 
Four students will work in the legal aid office with Professor Alan White and the legal aid attorneys.  Professor Geneva Brown will explore work in the Juvenile Defenders’ Office.

Professor Carter can be reached at Derrick.Carter@valpo.edu

By:  Joanna Lekkas and Erika Nelson

Moot Court Executive Board Members

Attention all 1L & 2L’s! Are you looking to become involved with a competitive team next year?  Are you looking to get more practical legal experience beyond the books?  Are you looking to shine and refine both your written and oral advocacy skills?  Then tryout for the Moot Court Society this Spring! Moot Court is a team comprised of second and third year law students who compete in both intraschool and national competitions.  It is an intense and competitive team that requires fine tuned oral argument skills as well as clear and concise writing at the appellate level.   A number of employers require or strongly recommend that potential applicants have this team or law review on their résumés.  

The highlight of the fall semester is the annual Swygert Competition where members receive a legal problem, write an appellate brief and then argue both on and off brief in front of panels of judges.  All members participate in the oral arguments, and judges advance competitors to subsequent rounds based on both their advocacy skills and written briefs.  The number of competitors then decreases for the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and Final Four rounds.  The final four competitors argue in the final round of competition.   The final round is judged by actual judges and justices.  In fact, two years ago Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia participated as a member of the panel for the final round!  

The second semester mostly involves preparation for national competitions. Team members travel to competitions across the country.  Teams write appellate briefs together, travel to their competition location, and compete against numerous other high profile law schools in the country.  This year, our team placed third in a Trademark competition in Chicago while outshining top law schools!

If you are interested in trying out and hopefully joining this team, please come to our informational meeting during Chapel Break on April 1, 2010 (date subject to change) to learn more and ask any additional questions.  Tryouts will take place April 19^th and April 21^st.  (times TBA). The first round of tryouts involves arguing for 10 minutes on brief.  There will be a cut after the first round of tryouts.  Those who make it to the second round of tryouts will argue 10 minutes off brief.  Those who are successful in the second round of tryouts will become members of the Moot Court Society.

Remember, all are encouraged to tryout and we look forward to seeing YOU at the informational meeting on April 1, 2010.  Please contact Joanna Lekkas (Joanna.Lekkas@valpo.edu) or Erika Nelson (Erika.Nelson@valpo.edu) with any further questions.

By: Danyel Robbins & Megan Flaherty, Advice from People who have Actually been in Relationships

We welcome any questions that anyone would like to submit.

1. My girlfriend and I have been together for over a year now but she lives back home which is a couple hours away. I love her to death but I also love this freedom I have here at school. I feel like I’m starting to doubt our relationship. What should I do? Can we really make it work while I’m in law school? From Loving from a Distance.

Of course you can make it work! And to be perfectly honest you should do everything in your power to make it work. The grass always seems greener on the other side and almost NEVER actually is. This freedom that you feel at school probably just means that you need to make sure you and your girlfriend still have your own “things.” Take time to go play basketball or hang out with the guys every once in a while and encourage her to do the same with her friends. If you and your girlfriend spend every waking moment together the walls will quickly close in on you. As for the hesitation you are having in your relationship right now, you can rest assured that you are probably making a mistake if you think you are going to find your soul mate in Valparaiso, Indiana. If you ever decided to date another law student it would probably only take a matter of weeks before you realized you wanted the person you really love back. It is absolutely possible to make things work long distance. You have to make sure you keep yourself focused on your school work during the week and keep yourself occupied in any down time with your good friends here. Make the extra effort to be with your girlfriend on the weekends and it will definitely be worth it in the end. That being said, only you know how you truly feel about your current girlfriend. If you do not see yourself being with her in the long run then there is no reason to drag things on and cause more heartache in the end. Good luck with this decision because it will affect the rest of your life!

2. I have been dating this guy for a few months but I am starting to become concerned about the fact that I feel like I am also dating his family. Does this guy have some sort of separation issue that he will get over or should I take this sign and head for the hills? From

The first thing you have to decide is if you are willing to date someone who is so close with their family. You have to remember that having a close family is probably all they know and it is not their fault. At the same time you are worried about how close your hunky new boyfriend is to his family, he is probably worried about how you are not. The door swings both ways. The main thing is that you both have to be willing to give and take. You have to understand that he is close to his family but he has to be understanding that at the end of the day he is dating you and may be marrying you, not his family. If this guy lives and dies by what his family says and always chooses them over you then that may be a sign that the relationship is not right for you guys. He has to realize that he will never be able to maintain a relationship if he doesn’t start putting the person he loves before everyone else. If you really care about this guy then sit him down and talk to him about it. All good things are worth waiting and fighting for. Be understanding, but be reasonable!

Xoxo
Aphrodite & Ares

Danyel and Megan are both 2Ls and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu

Professor Profile

This month I interviewed Professor Sy Moskowitz. Professor Moskowitz has been a Law Professor at Valparaiso University School of Law for over 30 years. Originally he never thought that he would be a Law Professor. His interest was in labor law and civil rights. It is these interests that drove him to become a lawyer. After graduating at Harvard Law, where one of his classmates was Justice David Souter, he started and was the first director of VUSL’s clinical program. During his time as director, he developed an interest in teaching law.
When asked about teaching, Professor Moskowitz said, “Some teachers changed my life and forced me to think about my own ideas. Teachers should make students think about their belief and make them challenge their own beliefs.” Moskowitz added that teaching is a sacred calling.
Moskowitz teaches administrative law, constitutional law, family law, and also teaches family law practicum with a sitting judge. Moskowitz stated that the most important thing students should learn in law school is how to become professional students. “This includes an increased demand upon students and obligations to serve clients with that sense of professionalism.” Moskowitz said. For those students looking for employment, Professor Moskowitz said the more a student is involved with lawyers and the practice of law, the better they know what it means to be a lawyer. His final advice was to 1L’s saying that they should aim at maintaining a balance in life between work and enjoyment in order not to be overwhelmed.
Besides teaching, Professor Moskowitz enjoys a variety of other interests. He enjoys hiking, rafting, camping, and yoga. He also loves listening to music, especially jazz and classical. He still involves himself with some law cases in Indiana.
Originally from New York, Moskowitz has four children of which three are married. He also has four grandchildren. His oldest daughter is a lawyer who works in IP law. His wife was an attorney and later became a nurse and midwife.
“Some of the things I enjoy most about being a teach is being with students and colleagues. I learn about things myself through research and writing and teach people how to learn. I think teaching people how to learn is the most important part of law school. Once students know how to learn, they can go out and learn anything about the law on their own.” Moskowitz said.

John Bayard is a 2L who can be reached at forum@valpo.edu