Underpar

its a game which draws almost 12000 fans. why would we hold it at the SEFCU and deprive 8000 people the chance to attend? They should change the money issues to make it equal and both schools get a nice "pay day". on another note, my sense of things is that the fans are pretty evenly divided. The roars for each team seem to be equal.

It is a great game. I look forward to it all year. I especially like it when the Danes win. They need to adjust the ticket situation and the split of monies earned. Each school should get a small number of free tickets and everyone else, even season ticket holders, pay to get in. The net monies earned are devided between the schools. It's these types of rivalries we need to develope in basketball and football.

Let's stiffen our spines. This is not going to be a good year. We do not have a good team. Maybe 12 wins? We are a low mid-major team. We cannot expect to recruit great basketball players. We get some good ones and we get some good ones who gel and play well above their level but we need to accept we are going to have years like this. Let's hope we give Siena a good game but I'm doubtful about that.

My guess is that the powers to be at UAlbany and other similar institutions may be looking at forming a new all sports conference. A conference composed of schools who will make a substantial but reasonable similar commitment to its atheletic programs. The costs are contained and you could develope a new major conference. It's worth thinking about.

Capital.

Almost 1million people live in the Capitol Region. It's sad to think that we can't find 10,000 people to fill a football stadium 4 or 5 times a year.

I went to the Delaware game with some buddies. Two of them were "football" guys. They thought UA was still a D-3 program. It's going to take a lot of work to get the Capital Region to adopt UA as its team.

Let's give Mark Benson a fair chance. He is brand new and his is trying to tackle a problem which has existed forever. If there is anyone who is going to change student apathy and get the Capital Region behind UAlbany sports its Mark.

At the moment our diplomas read, "Albany Law School of Union University".

The name of any new entity is somewhat low on the list of issues to be discussed. There was some general talk and things like "Albany Law School a College of UAlbany" were mentioned.

The next several months will be spent trying to define the initial configuration. UA has some good fits for AL students, most obviously is the business school. One of AL's new core programs will be to train lawyers to work in/ with financial markets.

This is going to be a team that is fun to watch. Some really talented players. peters is going to get more time, he is smooth for a big man and Baker can score a bunch of points in no time. Sam Rowley seems a little out of sorts at the moment.

The AL board of trustees has voted to move ahead with a closer affiliation / merger with UAlbany. Lots of tough work ahead but something important will come out of this.

Today's meeting is important but in a limited way. If the trustees vote to move ahead then the nitty gritty details will have to be worked out. That will take some time and of couse could ultimately fail. If the trustees vote to not continue the discussions then the deal is off. I would expect a vote to move forward. A vote to move ahead would be a very positive signal.

I think it is accurate to say that some alums have concerns. Some of the concerns I have heard are what I would call emotional. Is Albany Law School going to disappear? Other objections are more substantive such as control of the law school. Currently every member of the Board of Trustees is an AL alum. Many of we AL alums do have an attachment and many of us have made significant gifts and bequests. These are just a few of the thorny issues which are being discussed. I think if the alliance/ merger can address these issues and some others the proposal will move ahead.

The meeting is still on. I think there is strong sentiment to move ahead. Most of the alums I am in touch with are very positive about it.

Following on the Penn St. blog. No quite in the Lady Danes. Lets hope they hang in.

Fabulous!

Very impressive. It is fabulous to see so many UA teams playing in a national championship series. Time to move up to a "bigger"conference or we are going to have our coaches recruited away from us.

I do have an agenda and I am sure you do also. I have a vested interest in Albany Law School. It has steadily slipped from being a very strong "regional" law school to a mediocre law school with aspirations of becoming a "national" law school. When I attended AL the professors were mostly AL alums. They had returned to the school after fabulous careers in private practice. Two examples who come quickly to mind are Frank Anderson and Frank Wallace. Anderson advised us on the first day of Criminal Law that he expected to fail 25% of the class and that he had given only one A in his years of teaching. We were given voluminous reading assignments. Then the fun began. Anderson and Wallace would randomly pick a student make them stand and grill them about the course material with many different facts added to the questioning. No one wanted to be embarrassed in front of their classmates and the tension was very real. This was the tried and true method of teaching people to become lawyers and it worked. At some point the leadership developed aspirations of becoming a national law school. This meant recruiting professors who were published. Many of the new professors were recent graduates from one of the Ivys. AL became, over time, a place where the professors were more interested in being recognized experts as opposed to unrecognized but real experts. Many of the younger faculty members who were undoubtedly brilliant never actually practiced law. A degree from AL was a virtual guarantee that you would go on to be a very good lawyer and in more than a few cases go on to be a brilliant lawyer. In the meantime AL lost its identity. I stand with a large group of alums who want to see the school return to its roots and the model which made it so successful. We want the school to produce graduates who will become very good lawyers. Our concern about the nature of the relationship with UA is that it will drag AL closer to the publish or perish model. For us it is about the quality of the graduate and not the "quality" of the faculty. With all of this being said I and many others are in favor of a close relationship with UA. We are insisting that AL remain true to the model which made most of us very successful.

I'm heading out and hope my index finger can find the billable hour button.

Actually I was right the first time there are 15. Some ties in the results. Anyway too many law schools.

Sorry, I'm having trouble pointing my finger this morning. Damned IPad. There are 14 law schools in New York.

And, there are 11 law schools in New York.

I looked at the results by school and 78% of Albany Law's grads passed the exam. Not a good showing but emblematic of what has occurred over recent years.