By:  John Bayard

Staff Writer

This month I met with Professor Vandercoy and discussed many aspects of his law career and life.

John: So Professor Vandercoy why did you decide to give up your flourishing career as a folk singer and become a law professor?
Professor Vandercoy: I found it was easier to lip sync to a class of law students than to sing real music in front of a live audience. I also heard that you get higher admission prices with law students than concert attendees. It was a natural move since most of songs are about legal ethics anyway.

John: While you were here at Valparaiso University School of Law, you created a new sport involving Law Students. Can you tell our readers more about it?
Professor Vandercoy: While I actually created two sports. The first involves not placing enough seats in the law library and than watching as students struggle to find a place to sit. The second is actually a running bet between the faculty in which I place answers to exams in several of the tort books in the law library and see how long it takes for students to find them. As of this date, no students have even opened those books.

John: Can you describe the time you managed to take down a 500 lb Grizzly Bear using only the rules of evidence?
Professor Vandercoy: What a fun time that was. First I confined the bear with hearsay evidence rules and then smothered him with the new pocket part of Title 16 of the United States Code. However I realized that the statute I was smothering the bear with was a new subsection of 16 U.S.C. §1538 which prohibits smothering of Grizzly Bears with the United States Code. Fortunately enough for myself I was walking my man-eating shark at the time (I was a bio-engineer before becoming a great folk singing legend and had been able to engineer a shark that can breath out of water) and the shark fought off the bear for me. Congress is currently amending the statute to prohibit law professors from bio-engineering man-eating sharks. What’s next, prohibiting law students from bio-engineering man-eating sharks?

John: What do you feel is the best teaching method? Teaching students while scuba-diving or while sky-diving?
Professor Vandercoy: Personally, I prefer scuba-diving. The oxygen rich breathing suits really help the students focus more. Further, they are more incline to answer questions quickly when surrounded by my bio-engineered man-eating sharks.

I like to give my thanks again to Professor Vandercoy for agreeing to have this interview.

John Bayard is a 2L 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

As the song goes, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Is it really? Come to think about it, it is probably one of the least wonderful times of the year. With finals, travel arrangements, gifts to buy, dealing with cold and flu season,  bills, and hearing (or not hearing) back from job prospects, it can be one of the most stressful times of the year.
So the question is, “Should we be happy when faced with all these difficulties?” In my viewpoint, yes.
My mother would always tell me when facing difficulties that life is not fair. It is more than likely that at least once in your life, you will be mistreated, ignored, have you heart broken, and have a dream or two taken away from you.
Wait, I thought this is supposed to be an inspiring article!
Don’t worry, I’m getting to that part.
The struggles and pains of life are important. However, one should be mindful of what a struggle in life really means. Now, not to put down anyone’s accomplishments in law school, but it’s kind of funny when I hear students complaining about some of their “problems.” Comments like “I’m so worried about this reading assignment,” or “I’m having so much trouble writing this Law Review Article” are particularly hilarious. Why might you ask? Because in the end, we choose to come to law school, and we chose to take up this mantle. Above that, you might have also chosen to apply for Law Review, Moot Court, or even run for SBA, so fighting for the prize, and then complaining after you win the prize carries little weight in my mind. Now, this is not saying that awards can’t bring further problems, as in fact they often do. What I am saying is that in the face of everything, many of our so called “problems” are but grains of sand.
We have all achieved much, as evidenced by the fact that we are here in law school now. The fact that we often fail to see is that the big picture often hurts us more then it helps. We get lost in the small details and despite our achievements we seem less well off then when we started. Today’s fast pace and stressful society only increases that problem.
So is there an answer? Is it possible to keep the big picture in mind or keep our spirits up given all the difficulties we face everyday? Yes, but its not an easy one to understand. It requires us to remind ourselves everyday of why we are in law school or anywhere in life’s journey for that matter. We must take all of life’s small things and be able to fit it to our goals. This is not always an easy task, but the pursuit of such goals often define us more than reaching such goals. The real problem one faces in life is if you get to a point and can not fit those pieces into a bigger picture. For these people, they have no goals and the little things in life become truly pointless.

John Bayard
Chaplain, Christian Legal Society

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