This week at the ACS

Hi ACS members and friends!

See below for important announcements about events and programs this week. You can always click on the “calendar” link at the left margin of this site to check the date and location of our events—look for the dates that are highlighted on the month view of the calendar.

Upcoming in October: general membership meeting on October 3 (note: MONDAY) at lunch and Vanita Gupta talk and reception on October 6 at 6:00 pm.

As always, please write with your comments and suggestions. And good luck to all 1Ls on your Legal Methods exam!

See you soon,
Mary Kelly and the ACS Board
mp2331 or acs@law.columbia.edu

Moot Court Information Session

Interested in participating in the ACS National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law? Come to the information session on September 28, 12:15, in JG 101. Adam Nagorski, team coach, will fill you in on all the details, from the topic (felony disfranchisement) to the competition timeline and everything in between. LUNCH SERVED. Questions? Can’t make the meeting? Email Adam at aan51.


Practitioner mentors: sign up!

If you are interested in being set up with a Columbia Alum who has expressed a willingness to mentor a 1L, then please contact me at NSN2102@COLUMBIA.EDU. I have a number of practitioners in the city who are standing by. Feel free to e-mail me with questions about the program. Note that these mentors are not necessarily affiliated with the ACS (although we hope to implement such a program in the very near future).

Thank you,
nick napolitan


2L and 3L mentor program: sign up!

If you missed out on getting a 2L or 3L mentor, or if you are a 2L or 3L who would like to volunteer to mentor a 1L, please contact Whitney at war2102.


Apply to write for ACSBlog!

Student Editors & Writers Wanted for the ACSBlog

Since its inception in August 2004, ACSBlog - the official blog of the American Constitution Society - has received over 300,000 visits, been nominated for several awards and been linked to by leading blogs including the Volokh Conspiracy, AndrewSullivan.com, BoingBoing.net, DailyKos and Slashdot. ACSBlog is edited by law students. It includes daily legal news summaries and posts on various legal subjects by law students, academics, practitioners and others. Posts by student writers have been republished on various blogs, websites and journals.

As it enters its second year, ACSBlog is seeking to hire law student volunteers as Editors-at-Large to publish analytical columns and short news stories. New columnists will be selected based on a writing contest to be judged by the blog's current editorial team. Any current law student may enter; 1Ls are especially encouraged to apply. Students interested in submitting an entry will be required to write a short column, between 250-750 words in length, on a legal issue of national significance or interest. Additionally, entries should adhere to the following guidelines:

• ACS is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) educational organization. We do not lobby, litigate or take positions on specific legal or public policy initiatives, cases, legislation or nominations. Accordingly, entries should provide rigorous analysis rather than editorializing or presenting statements of opinion. In general, both sides of an issue should be fairly presented, although authors enjoy discretion as to which arguments are worthy of greatest emphasis. Opinions, including controversial and strongly stated opinions, voiced by reputable sources, may and should be quoted with full attribution provided.
• Entries should be professional in tone and avoid ad hominem attacks. We emphasize brevity, good writing and accessibility for a readership that includes lawyers, law students and general readers interested in law and public policy issues. Appropriate uses of humor are encouraged but must be genuinely funny.
• Quotations, third-party opinions, cases and statements of controversial legal or political theories should be cited. While Bluebooking is acceptable for materials unavailable online, the preferred method of citation is a hyperlink to the original source.

Submissions will be judged based on relevance, clarity and entertainment value. Please avoid editorializing and statements of personal opinion. For writing examples, previously published columns are available at www.acsblog.org.

Entries should be submitted to Jeffrey Jamison, Managing Editor, at jeff@acslaw.org by September 30th, 2005. In addition, please include your name, phone number, law school, expected date of graduation and resume. The top entries will be published on ACSBlog, and those entrants will be invited to join the blog staff as Editors-at-Large. By entering a submission, the entrant grants the American Constitution Society first North American publication rights to his or her submission in the event ACSBlog chooses to publish it.

American Constitution Society
email: info@acslaw.org
phone: 2023936181
web: http://www.acslaw.org