no parking, no grades

The latest announcement telling us they're planning on cutting off a few parking spaces got me thinking. See, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get to the law school early, park in the lot, go work out at the gym, then leave to go downtown to work. So what that means is that at about 8:30 a.m., when the parking lot is completely full, I vacate my space. Every Tuesday and Thursday without fail, someone is following me as I walk down the row to get to my car. Hey, I don't blame them -- the lot is full so if there's a chance of getting a spot, they're all over it. I do it too, but just not early in the mornings. (And let me tell you - no sarcasm here at all - it's cool when you're driving through the lot in the middle of the day, you know there's no chance you'll get a spot and it looks full, so your suspicions are confirmed, but suddenly someone comes slowly walking up the row toward your car and she stops somewhere in front of you and yes! You've scored! (yeah, the little things get me excited, I know, I know, my life isn't that thrilling)). So I was thinking that I should find a way to auction the spot off to the highest bidder. Hey, I got there early, right? So if you're not going to get there early, more than likely, you have to park in the garage and take the shuttle. Fine. But for one lucky stiff every Tuesday and Thursday, he or she gets a prime spot -- my spot. You're welcome

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Speaking of parking, why do the HurryCanes shuttle drivers talk on their cell phones while driving the shuttle? Surely there's a policy against talking on their cell phones while driving. Maybe the 15-minute breaks - taken only when large numbers of students are waiting for a spot - and the cushy job (how hard can it be to drive in a circle 20 times a day?) aren't stimulating enough...

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Still no sign of two grades, which means that more than five weeks after the last exam, I have only one grade. Awesome. What are these professors doing? I was talking to a friend of mine who goes to law school in Boston and he said that two weeks after his last exam, he had all six grades. Six! Two weeks! I'm sure grading isn't fun and you probably have to be disciplined by blocking off several hours a day until you get it done, but this is ridiculous.

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We talked the other day in my ADR Law & Policy class about disputes between professors and students in trying to get grades changed. Apparently at other schools, it's not an uncommon practice. I can sort of understand why it's not commonly done here. I mean, I get it. There has to be some standard. I could also live with it if it was the other way, too. But this discussion reminded me of my one fun experience when I asked a prof about a grade -- didn't even really want him to change it, either, although obviously I wouldn't have minded. Professor Property was so condescending, rude and nasty in his response that you'd have thought I'd insulted his children or his grandma. I had the audacity to disagree with him, so he let me have it. If I remember correctly, he also took almost two months to turn in his grade. Cool.