Maud Rozee (1L) and Amani Rauff (1L)
January 25, 2000 – “Faculty Proposal for Increased Salaries Draws Mixed Support” by Richard Meloff and Jeff Torkin
Ultra Vires confirmed that faculty had brought a proposal to the administration to increase salaries dramatically. First year fees had already skyrocketed from $3,500 to $8,000 in four years due to the deregulation of tuition at professional faculties in Ontario. An anonymous professor worried that, if salaries increased, “the tuition would go even higher, perhaps as high as $15,000.” The professor also wondered “how many potential students fail to apply to the Faculty because they find the tuition so exorbitant.”
September 12 2000 – “Law Society Changes Fall Student Recruiting Procedures” by Jeff Torkin
OCIs were introduced to U of T for the first time, as an “attempt to level the playing field between recruiters at Toronto law firms and their counterparts in the United States.” The Assistant Dean of Career services warned that OCIs might be stressful: “With interviews lasting only 20 minutes, students could potentially be rushing between twenty firms in one day in a ballroom full of ‘pipes and drapes.’”
October 17, 2000 – “U of T to get JD Degree: Opinions divided over whether new degree is forward thinking or a sign of Americanization” by Joseph AG Berkovits
U of T introduced the JD degree to emphasize the fact that students are earning a second-entry degree. Not everyone was convinced of the benefits: Professor Réaume maintained that “no matter what, Canadians will have to prove they’re as good as Americans and a change of degrees won’t make that any easier.” Students, however, predicted that an LLB “might appear to be ‘dated’ in the future.”
November 21, 2000 – “A Law Student’s Guide to the New Grad Residence” by Simon J Proulx
A forward-looking review predicted that “in 20 years, when the building is nothing but a leaky pile of rust with dirty, unwashable windows, the university will be able to turn around and sue the architect in negligence for not thinking that experiments with materials do not withstand Toronto’s climate as well as they do California’s. Even pedestrians who get whacked by icicles raining down from the “O” can join the fun and bring a tort action.”
February 13, 2001 – “News in Brief: Laptop committee to continue work this term” by Andrey Anishchenko, Colin Grey, and Stephen Parks
The laptop committee was formed “in response to a letter by the Law Union to the dean […] There were concerns about equity because of the fear that exams written on laptops may receive better grades than those written by hand and about noise in the classroom.” The committee received “what [committee member] Shinewald described as “tremendous” response from the student body, split virtually down the middle.”
March 21, 2001 – “Professor Survey Fails Miserably for Lack of Response” by Laurie Jessome
An intrepid Ultra Viresian tried to survey professors on their youthful ambitions. Most of her respondents are still on the faculty:
- “I wanted to be a Mountie and worried that I would not be tall enough. This may explain more of my life than I want people to know.” – Kent Roach
- “In no particular order: significantly taller, a lawyer (really), prime minister, and a navigator.” – Colleen Flood
- “I wanted to play rugby for England. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.” – Jim Phillips
- “A nun (6 yrs) and then a pilot (8 yrs)” – Catherine Valcke
