My first days in Oxford

I haven’t posted for a few days, but it’s really a good thing that I haven’t. My first day here I hated everything, for no better reason than that I was still jet-lagged, and incapable of finding anything pleasant.

I like it a lot better now, although nothing has changed except I’ve finally had a little bit more sleep. I’m doing this five-week program at St. Anne’s College. Oxford, like Hogwarts, is divided into smaller groups, colleges. You live with your college, eat with your college, and in my case, take classes entirely within the college. Upon arriving here, I was dismayed to discover that despite this closeness, they had placed the members of our program in two different buildings. I was separated from my friends. Furthermore, while the building my friends are in is architecturally modern and ugly, the rooms are also modern, which is a good thing. They have painted walls, balconies, and sinks. My building was built sometime before the signing of the declaration of independence, has no sinks in the rooms and is badly in need of a new interior paint job and some new furniture. The first night, I offered Ashley twenty pounds to change rooms with me. Now, a few days later, I'm really starting to like my room. The antiquity has become charming, the shower is modern, and I can live without a sink in my room. I moved the awful furniture and covered the chipping paint with some posters. My window looks out onto a quiet road, and there are a few giant trees across the way. I love the sound of the leaves swaying in the wind, and the weather has been hovering right in the range where I can keep my window open all day, if only a crack because it’s been raining on and off. 

My new decorations

My window, and my clutter. I feel more at home already ;-)

I’ve also discovered that I actually like my classes. I picked them for relatively good reasons. I’m taking Comparative Alternative Dispute Resolution because it’s taught by Professor Cole, who was one of my favorite professors my 1L year. I doubt I’ll ever directly practice in alternative dispute resolution, but I’ve had enough horrible professors that when I find a really good one, I’ll take almost any class she teaches. The second class I’m taking is Comparative Legal Professions. I chose this because it’s a graduation requirement to take Legal Professions, and I thought it would be a lot more interesting in Oxford, or at the very least, over in five weeks if it’s not interesting. Our professor let us know on the first day that Legal Professions was not a required course in the U.S. until the Watergate Scandal. I now have one more reason to dislike President Nixon and his cronies, but I think I may actually like the course. For the first two days we’ve been talking about, among other things, the stuck man hypothetical. I’ve found it very interesting, and I’m still not sure how I would answer some of the questions. There are no correct answers, but the goal of the course is to teach us how to think about the tragic choices such as the one presented in this hypothetical.

The stuck man hypothetical: (all facts are absolutely correct, because this is only a hypothetical)

There are twenty-nine people stuck in a cave. The only exit is through a small hole in which a thirtieth person is stuck. The person absolutely cannot be unstuck. The tide is coming in, and in ten minutes all thirty people, including the stuck man, will drown. One of the twenty-nine people has a stick of dynamite, and he asserts (correctly) that if the stuck man is blown up, he will die instantly and painlessly, but the other twenty-nine people will survive. One member of the group is willing to light and position the dynamite to kill the stuck man. Another member of the group calls you to ask for advice. He has no time to call anyone else. You must make the decision for the twenty-nine people. Should the stuck man be blown up to save the other twenty-nine?

Then, consider this. What if the stuck man were above the tide line? He will survive if he is not blown up, but the other twenty-nine will die if he is not removed from the exit by dynamite. Now what advice will you give?

The third question: What if you are a lawyer and you are actually on the scene? There is nothing you can physically do to change the situation. The stuck man calls out to you to advocate for him by speaking to the twenty-nine. Do you do it? How far would you go to save his life? Would you appeal to the twenty-nine on grounds of morality? Religion? Would you threaten them with the possible legal consequences of their actions? Would you lie? What if you knew that the dynamite would be useless once wet? Would you attempt to delay the twenty-nine until the water touches the dynamite? If you delay them, and they drown, are you responsible for their deaths? What if you don’t trick them, but instead actually convince them not to blow him up? Then are you responsible for their deaths?

We talked about this for quite a while, but I hope I’ve given you the gist, and given you something to think about. I must say that everything my professor says sounds just a bit more intelligent because of his British accent. 

I'm making all sorts of plans for the next few weeks. I don't want to waste a minute of my time here, but I also don't want to get so sleep-deprived that I can't enjoy it. I'll keep you updated as I do more fun things, and I'll try to take some photos soon.