There's Weird, and Then There's Weird

Moving from a wet place in the middle of winter to a warm place in the middle of summer is a bit weird, but it sure beats going from Auckland to Chicago in January! After a week in Menlo Park, a mid-century suburban setting in the middle of Silicon Valley, I can attest that it is distinctly not weird. But it’s a nice enough place, and we’re just a few blocks from Ali's office, the downtown shops & restaurants, and the train to San Francisco – where you can get all the weird you want without even trying.

Some of it is delightfully weird, like the Pride Parade on Sunday. Then there’s sad weird, like seeing the shuttered remains of Cody’s on Telegraph Ave. (in Berkeley, but close enough). On Saturday we popped over to Ridge Winery, a place we haven’t been back to since we first met, fifteen years ago. Ali was a Visiting Scientist at SLAC and living in Palo Alto, and it’s been totally weird to catch glimpses of memory from the one and only time I visited then.

From Ridge we drove south through redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, then returned via the coastal highway, where we found a farmstand with fresh strawberries and white peaches – yum! That evening we caught up with Ashish, Anjali, and Mira the Monster (her mother’s nickname, not mine!), who is now so big I hardly recognized her.

Ali kept us so busy all weekend that I didn’t even notice the jet lag – until Monday. That morning I got up with him when the alarm went off, but shortly after he left for work I stumbled back to bed and was asleep instantly. That night, of course, I woke up around 3 am, so I wasn’t much use on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Fortunately by now I’m fully recovered, more or less.

Two nights ago Ali took me to the Empire Tap, his favorite local “pub.” Looks like it used to be a neighborhood tavern, once upon a time. Now it’s a fairly chic sort of restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, but the bar manages to feel like an upscale tavern (if that's possible). Ali hesitated to walk there because, he said, it’s kind of far. Huh? Menlo Park and Palo Alto are right next to each other!

Turns out that while I was in Auckland, Ali’s been hanging out with Saam, a good friend from Wharton who lives two blocks away. Saam grew up in San Diego so, needless to say, he doesn’t walk anywhere.

Tonight we’re going to see “Paprika,” which is playing in a theater around 3-1/2 miles away. I’m planning to walk. On the phone Ali worried again about it being "far," but I pointed out we used to walk farther to the Music Box in Chicago. And to the Havard Exit in Seattle. And that it’s the same distance as the trail at the Stanford Dish – where he took me last week right after I got off the plane. (Which is closed now because of a brush fire earlier this week, something that could never happen in Auckland.)

“But no one walks, this is California.” Talk about weird.

Cheers,
Sandie

That's All from NZ

I'm going for my last Burger Fuel for a while, then it's off to the airport. This morning's weather report is calling for a polar blast to arrive in Auckland this evening: gale force winds, torrents of rain, snow to south - they got 16 cm in Otago yesterday. I've been freezing for the past two weeks (there's no heat in my apartment, and not much at work), so it's obviously time to get out of Dodge.

My adventure in NZ is coming to a close; it's been a wonderful experience. Now, on to the next chapter.

Cheers,
Sandie

Basking in the Glow

On Friday the Commercial Law Department had a farewell party for me. They invited the Property Department, too, which I thought was especially nice – people from different departments here hardly ever interact. Both groups had signed cards and bought me gifts (a rimu serving board and two lovely NZ picture books), and when Mike made his speech (inviting me back any time), Janet presented me with a gorgeous bouquet of pink roses.

Then, on Sunday, Marnie (the course coordinator for COMLAW 101) had a dinner “for just the stage one people.” I had been feeling kind of bad because Ali was in Seattle without me, eating Aaliyah’s wonderful Indian cooking. (On top of that I've been missing dinner parties with Ashish & Anjali in SF, so am experiencing major curry deficit just now.) Marnie has been married to an Indian from Fiji for more than 20 years and made a wonderful Pacific Indian dinner complete with fresh rotis. Even though most of the people in the department have been working together for years, turns out it was the first time they’d all gotten together for dinner at someone’s house. I was glad to be the excuse, and we all had a great evening.

Even after all that celebrating, last night I managed to finish marking all 737 exams – hallelujah!!! (I would have finished on Sunday, but someone had taken the final box I needed home over the weekend.) I’ve estimated the grading itself only took about 30 hours, but the process takes much longer because your brain just turns to mush after a while. By the third day I was getting punchy and started giggling like a crazy person whenever I looked at the box of scribbles waiting for me, so I started taking longer breaks.

Students pass if they get 50% correct, and it was made clear that I should be “generous,” so I was. Even so, 36% of the class failed, while 37% got Cs, 21% got Bs, and 6% got As (they don’t give Ds here). At first I thought this was pretty bad, but when I checked the “expected” grade distribution, it was only off by a few points - not quite as many As & Bs as there should have been, but exactly the right amount of Cs. Plus, I counted the 17 students who even didn’t attempt the question as “failing,” but I think the department actually has a different category for them. If so, my grades are almost exactly in line with expectations. Talk about soft bigotry.

Lots of students wrote crap answers because they didn’t read the problem carefully and, of course, some of them were so laughably wrong they were actually good entertainment. (My favourite said J, the character in the problem, broke the law because he was both the owner and the seller of a piece of property.) However, considering how difficult the course is (some of which is quite unnecessary and due to certain ego clashes at the faculty level, but I digress), and the fact that a huge portion of the class are not native English speakers, many students did remarkably well.

In the meantime, I’ve been fielding heaps of questions from Company Law students – their exam is tomorrow. That’s actually been quite rewarding, too, in part because the students are so grateful. A couple of young women even gave me a scarf yesterday!

I thought helping them learn was just part of the job, but not everyone sees it that way. John, the Company Law coordinator, complains that answering students' emails takes too much time. I think John's a good guy, and we've worked together very well on this course. But he comes in well past 9, is often gone by 3, and in between he's outside smoking almost as much as he's in his office. And the other person teaching Company Law is the worst. Yesterday he posted the following announcement:

SPECIAL RESOLUTION VERSUS S 122 RESOLUTION
I have had many questions regarding this. Either you did not attend the lecture where I discussed this or were not taking notes! it is really simple:

1.The two are different things. Either you have a meeting which means people turn up or DONT have one and INSTEAD circulate a written resolution.
2.For a special res. need 75% of votes of shareholders (1 share= 1 vote so depends how many shares those present hold) PRESENT AND VOTING ONLY. That is shares held by those not present don't count (unless they have appointed proxy). As long as there's a quorum meeting can vote even if a small number of shareholders turn up. Note the 75% can be increased in the constitution but not reduced.
3. For a s 122 written resolution instead of a meeting you need 75% as above AND 75% of the actual shareholders to sign as well. This effectively limits it to small companies (imagine getting 75% of telecom's shareholders to approve something hundreds of thousands of signatures will be needed).
4. you can use s 122 to pass either a special or ordinary resolution but becuase of the above requirement any such resolution will automatically meet the special resolution one anyway.

Hope this helps expalin it. if you are STILL confused then I am sorry there is nothing more i can do
G****

It's that last line that really gets me. While I agree the issue is not particularly difficult, it is quite technical and therefore tricky for anyone who is new to the rules, i.e., students. I don't think G's explanation is especially clear - perhaps why he's getting so many questions? - or well written. But it's his petulance I find inexcusable. I would never dream of writing like this to a single student, much less to the entire class. And so it dawns on me why the students have been so . . . appreciative.

Cheers,
Sandie

What Goes Around . . .

COMLAW 101 had their exam yesterday afternoon. When it became clear that the administrators were not willing to stay past 5 pm to count the exam papers so we could begin marking them, I joined a bunch of my colleagues for drinks. It never ceases to amaze me how an obviously well-educated bunch of people can be so comfortable with casual racisim and bigotry (aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at the Chinese). They justified kiwis' resentment by the sheer number of Chinese who've moved here in the last 10 years. And they justified their openness about their feelings by citing academic freedom, saying this university is a "PC-free zone." Despite the different circumstances, it reminded me of talk I'd hear growing up on Chicago's southwest side.

We finally got the exams early this afternoon: there are 737 papers to mark! Three problem questions, three essay questions, and 11 multiple choice. I’m marking a problem question that has two parts on fiduciary duties and trusts. It’s a tough course and a tough exam, and the second part of “my” question is particularly difficult. I was expecting the worst – that we’d have to make up an alternative basis for grading it – but several students have managed to ace it, so I’m off and running, er, marking. (I'm currently 50 down, 687 to go.)

A few weeks ago I had to write a couple exam questions for the Company Law class I’ve been teaching. I find writing exam questions weirdly fun: it’s a creative writing exercise that’s also a legal puzzle and a chance to indulge one’s taste for sadism. What’s not to like?

I was expecting to mark the questions I wrote, but the university scheduled the Company Law exam for June 20 – two days before I’m leaving. Since there are over 400 students in the class, I couldn’t possibly get it done in time. My ticket doesn’t allow changes so I couldn’t stay longer, but I was able to swap marking jobs with someone else who also teaches in both courses. (The other alternative, skipping out without doing my share of marking, would leave me in the same category as several former staff members who are not remembered fondly.)

I've been doing more than my share of office hours since my last tutorial on May 31st, but I like helping the students who are really trying to learn. I had the last Company Law tutorial of the week, Thursday at 4 pm, and it was always a big group. Students who’d missed their regular class earlier in the week tended to show up then, plus it seems I’d picked up some “fans” – students who came to my "tut" even though they were assigned to a different group. At the end of class a young Asian woman thanked me profusely for “acting like you care whether we get it or not.” Silly me, I thought that was the job.

My other “job” lately has been trying to get our documents in order for immigration. We recently became eligible for the kiwi equivalent of a permanent green card, but I’ve been getting a total run-around and conflicting stories about what’s required. Living here has definitely given me a whole new perspective on the immigrant debate in the U.S., and on immigration generally. It’s a terrible thing to be totally at the mercy of a bureaucrat - especially one with a taste for sadism.

Cheers,
Sandie