Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?
[Illustrious Co-Blogger Disco Stu is having problems with Blogger. He asked me to post this in his stead. -- Armen]
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Alumni, specifically Boalties who were there in 2003. Surely you've seen the news that you're getting a refund. It could be over $10,000 for some of you. I've got an idea. A wonderful awful idea. For those of you getting a refund and those of you able to afford it, give it back to Boalt. I'm not suggesting those of you in public service making $60K / year return this refund, although that would be great. I am suggesting those of you that took your summer job at 125K, then were at 135K by the time you started and are now making above 170K, give this money back to the school and state that has given so much to you. The state can't afford to hand out an extra $40+ million. Boalt surely can't afford to get reduced funds from the state.
Sure, this is easy for me to say, as I'm not getting a refund. And maybe I wouldn't be advocating giving back such a high lump-sum that could reduce my debts further. But I honestly think that if I got this money back from the state, I would return it to Boalt. And I think this for the same reason I don't mind that the democratic president I vote for will almost surely raise my taxes: I can afford it, others less fortunate than myself, cannot. Our state and Boalt needs money badly. And you're all in a position to give it to them.
Let's see this big hit for the state turn into a big win for Boalt.
Who's coming with me?
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Alumni, specifically Boalties who were there in 2003. Surely you've seen the news that you're getting a refund. It could be over $10,000 for some of you. I've got an idea. A wonderful awful idea. For those of you getting a refund and those of you able to afford it, give it back to Boalt. I'm not suggesting those of you in public service making $60K / year return this refund, although that would be great. I am suggesting those of you that took your summer job at 125K, then were at 135K by the time you started and are now making above 170K, give this money back to the school and state that has given so much to you. The state can't afford to hand out an extra $40+ million. Boalt surely can't afford to get reduced funds from the state.
Sure, this is easy for me to say, as I'm not getting a refund. And maybe I wouldn't be advocating giving back such a high lump-sum that could reduce my debts further. But I honestly think that if I got this money back from the state, I would return it to Boalt. And I think this for the same reason I don't mind that the democratic president I vote for will almost surely raise my taxes: I can afford it, others less fortunate than myself, cannot. Our state and Boalt needs money badly. And you're all in a position to give it to them.
Let's see this big hit for the state turn into a big win for Boalt.
Who's coming with me?
Labels: Kashmiri, Legal Education Costs
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 10:23 PM
7 Comments:
I've always thought that the lawsuit was based on greed and naked self-interest and that the lead plaintiff was a fucking idiot. Those students should've been grateful that they were admitted to Boalt rather than shamelessly try to take money from it and the other students on a wacked out reliance theory with little basis in actual reality. This whole thing is utterly ridiculous (on the part of the students).
Even better would be if you opted out of the class years ago so that Altshuler Berzon doesn't dock 33% (or whatever their fee is) of your round-trip transaction.
I'm amazed the school invites the attorneys involved back to interview on campus. If I ran the school, my instinct would be: "oh, that's lovely. Thanks for suing us for tens of millions of dollars. You are never welcome at OCIP again." But I'm somewhat vindictive that way.
Which reminds me of a fun presentation we got in Securities Litigation from an inside counsel at a large local firm. Her message: if you represent someone and sue us, you will never get work from our company. So -- if someone approaches you offering you the chance to represent them against XYZ Firm, think about whether their business now is worth never working for XYZ Firm.
It's interesting that "boalt alum" raised the reliance issue. I have no public comment on class-wide reliance.
I will probably give some or all of my refund back. If it's a few hundred dollars, I really don't need the money and it won't make a dent in my student loans, so I may as well just kick it straight back (I already donate to the school every year). If it's in the thousands, I'll put some toward my loans and give a big chunk to Boalt.
The lawsuit is really a Phyrric victory for the political interests behind it. The suit was never about a breach of contract, it was about fighting fee increases. Now, the UC system will have to raise fees even more to cover this $40 million payoff. The lawsuit just screws future generations of students who aren't bound by the specific contract at issue in the case.
So, to conclude, bad for the UC system, bad for anyone who enrolled or will enroll in the UC system after the classmembers, and somewhat good for the few thousand classmembers.
My initial response to your suggestions: That's crazy talk.
I, for one, will be donating my entire refund.
My initial response to your suggestions: That's crazy talk
He's in charge of marketing.
Great idea. If I had a refund coming, I would definitely give a large chunk (maybe not all, to be honest).
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