The Cutthroats at Cal Western

Before school even started, I was warned about the cutthroats in law school.  Stories abound about how some students will sabotage their classmates so that the better grade will go to the saboteur.  Supposedly, students will rip pages out of books so that other students will not benefit from them or even checkout the entire book and keep it.  I'm sure there are other stories to be told in this area; however, I have yet to hear them.

One of the reasons for not hearing the stories (besides the doubt one might have to the truthfulness behind the stories) is that Cal Western touts the school as a place these stories do not occur.  I can see why there might be truth in the Cal Western stance. 

Everyone here wants to help.  The staff, the professors, the 2Ls and the 3Ls, and even fellow class students are all helpful to get the job done.  The biggest fear among my students is the curve.  I understand the curve is something most law schools do, so I'm not concerned about it.  I might discuss the curve in another blog.

Cutthroats may not exist within the school; however, the cutthroats exist outside the school!  California Western is three buildings on the out skirts of San Diego.  Needless to say, there are few free parking spots to go around.  Located to the north of the school is "Banker's Hill."  This is a residential area where most of the students park.  (Note:  Not sure who would live in "Banker's Hill" as the neighborhood is in the flight path of airplanes landing at Lindbergh Field.)  The key is that the number of students exceed the number of available spots close to the school.

The school does not open until 7 am.  Specifically, the 350 building (the building which houses the classrooms) does not open the doors to students.  The library does, even though it is not staffed until 7.  The parking spots along the bridges over the I-5 which are the closest spots to the school are taken before 6:15.

Every day students are observed driving around attempting to find spots.  It's like Christmas time at the mall!  I'm not one to be a parking spot shark - you know who they are, the ones who drive around slowly waiting for someone to approach a car to leave, and they block the lane so that the shark gets the spot as soon as it opens.  Every time I see a parking spot shark, I hear the "Jaws" music playing.

I have a few parking locations where I attempt to park.  If there aren't any parking spots, I immediately go to Balboa Park.  The park has parking available which is five blocks from the school - about a 10 minute walk.  I, however, do not park east of Fourth Avenue on Thursdays because of street cleaning (Balboa Park is east of Sixth Avenue).  Thursdays I attempt to limit my parking spot sharking.

I do have a back up location.  The problem is that it is located around 15 blocks from the school.  That distance is a little far.  It is always good to have a back up plan though!

So if you hear that Cal Western isn't like other law schools in that cutthroat academics does not occur, realize, cutthroat parking does!