Analogizing:Classwork::Potter:

Today in class we had a second guest speaker come in. The speaker was a close friend (roommate in fact) of Professor Porwancher's. She had a PowerPoint presentation prepared about "analogizing." The speaker had just finished law school and was studying for the BAR. She talked to us about all the necessary qualifications of a good lawyer - especially the important of knowing that there isn't always a "right answer." We put that theory to practice when she showed us a slide of two paintings - similar in style and subject. We were shown two more paintings and asked to decide which of the two would make a more similar fit to the first two. Neither was an obvious match so we had a good time arguing about what features made each painting more similar to the others. 

At the end of class, the guest speaker explained a court case to us in which a white girl sued the University of Texas because she believed the reason she was denied was based on her race. The UT schools have a policy that automatically accepts all students ranking in the top 10% of their classes, but obviously still allows for others to be considered based on other talents. We broke off into two teams of 7, one side arguing that the University's policy was constitutional and one side arguing that it was not. We were to compare the policies to those of other schools; at UC Davis, 15% of all of the seats in the medical program were specifically reserved for minorities. This policy was ruled unconstitutional. At the University of Michigan law school, applicants were required to write an essay about how they would enhance the school's diversity. The prosecutor in this case was not ruled in favor of, and the school'sibrary application policy remained in place. Each side put forth a very convincing few arguments. My side argued that UT Austin's policy was constitutional - because 1) just because the top 10% of all Texas' high schools were accepted doesn't mean they were required to attend and 2) the system was not a quota as seen at UC Davis, because it cannot be explicitly said that the top 10% are of certain ethnic backgrounds. 

After class, I went to see a play called Potted Potter with Simon, Claire, Emily, Valerie, and Simon's roommate Raul. We were all very excited - as we were Harry Potter fans. However, I didn't like the show as much as I'd hoped I would. The whole show was about 70 minutes long - and it crammed in all 7 books. I didn't find it that funny (most of the jokes were goofy and the whole show seemed targeted at younger audiences) but it had its moments and I did laugh here and there. We all generally agreed afterward that it was not the greatest show out there - but the little singing bit at the very end did spark in me a desire to see an actual broadway show - and I hope to do so in the coming week.