August 29, 1997
To: LEM Class
From: Nicholas Johnson
Re: Administrative Matters; Assignments
1. Bios. To remind: Your bio is due soon (see the August 27th memo). We have a good group this semester, and I'm anxious to get the book of bios back to you quickly.
2. Ombudsperson. Be thinking about whom you want for your class ombudsperson or "shop steward." I want to give you every possible avenue for registering complaints, preferences or suggestions. You have my "coordinates" in the General Information memo. Feel free to walk in my office and chat about anything anytime the door is open (which is virtually all the time I'm there). Of course, you can also request an "appointment" directly, or through Ms. Jansen. The purpose of the class representative is simply to provide an additional (and anonymous) route of communication. Be prepared to vote September 3.
3. Schedules. Please give me your own seven-day-week schedule of day and evening times not available, indicating whether this is because of your (a) commitments or (b) preferences. We may have to schedule a makeup class. We may want a social event early in the semester.
4. Computers. (a) Please give me a memo indicating [1] your preferred e-mail address -- if you have one, and you check your messages at least a couple of times a week. (If so, you'll find it a convenient way for us to communicate.) [2] Whether you have access to "the Web." (b) Note that we now have our own class Web page: http://www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/lem (You will find additional useful information on my page: http://soli.inav.net/~njohnson)
5. Study Hint. I know that, by now, you have worked out your own study habits. Nonetheless, as your friend and "coach," I pass along the following. (a) Go over your reading notes and class notes as soon after class as possible, preferably immediately after class Wednesday nights. That is a better time to do "outlining," rather than half-way through the semester, or the week before the exam. (If you're ultimately going to put in the time anyway, this is nothing more than time shifting.) Studies indicate immediate review can increase your subsequent recall (in law practice, as well as on the exam) from something like 20% of the material to levels more like 80%. (b) If you're comfortable using a computer and word processing program, and if it has an outlining feature (it probably does), you can create a skeleton, full-course outline now from the full-length table of contents (pp. xiii-xxii), using the assigned material in the Reading Assignments memo. This will keep a full-course overview before you from the beginning, give you a place to put your notes each week, and provide the fun of watching your computer automatically reconstruct a perfect outline for you week-by-week
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