The Faculty Lounge

Emory Law Seeks Two New Faculty Members: (1) AI, Machine Learning, Data Science; (2) Bankruptcy/Commercial Corporate Law

Emory University School of Law is seeking applications for two newly posted faculty positions. Additional information about both positions can be found below:

 

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science

Emory University School of Law seeks applications from legal scholars whose work engages issues related to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science. Candidates should have exceptional records in research, teaching, and service and have attained a J.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree.   

Over the next several years, across its departments, Emory University “will hire 50 to 60 faculty members with a focus on, but not limited to, four topical areas: AI and Health; AI and Social Justice/Law; AI and Business/Economics and Entrepreneurship/Law; and AI and the Humanities and Arts.” Additional information about this initiative can be found here. 

Candidates for the position must complete the online application, which requires creating an account, uploading a resume or CV, and providing basic personal information. In addition, applicants should submit a cover letter, a current CV, a published or unpublished academic article, a brief research agenda, and an indication of teaching interests (if not listed on the CV) to the chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee at law.faculty.appointments@emory.edu. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis over the next several academic terms.  

 

Bankruptcy/Commercial/Corporate Law Professor (Open Rank)

Emory University School of Law seeks to fill positions in bankruptcy, commercial and/or corporate law. The positions are open to entry-level candidates and lateral candidates of all levels of experience.  Candidates must have a J.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree, and a distinguished academic record. Candidates should have a strong track record and/or show outstanding promise in research in bankruptcy,  commercial law, corporate law or related fields, and the ability to teach one or more courses in these areas. 

Entry-level candidates are strongly encouraged to participate in the AALS Faculty Appointments Register when the portal is opened for the 2022-23 hiring cycle. Lateral candidates must complete the online application which requires creating an account, uploading a resume or CV, and providing basic personal information. In addition, applicants should submit a cover letter, a current CV, a published or unpublished academic article, a brief research agenda, and an indication of teaching interests (if not listed on the CV) to the chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee at law.faculty.appointments@emory.edu. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis over the next several terms for positions beginning in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years.

Dorothy A. Brown to Join Faculty at Georgetown

Dorothy A. Brown, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University, has accepted a tenured appointment as a member of the faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center, effective next academic year. 

Professor Brown is a leading critical tax scholar and the author, most recently, of The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans–and How We Can Fix It (Penguin Random House, 2021).

Congratulations to Professor Brown and to Georgetown!

A Misleading Review of "Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art" [UPDATED]

A copy of Rebecca Sykes’s Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art was prominently displayed at my local independent bookstore, so I picked it up because I'd read Yuval Noah Harari’s glowing review in the NYTimes:

She has done a remarkable job synthesizing thousands of academic studies into a single accessible narrative. From her pages emerge new Neanderthals that are very different from the cartoon figures of old. “Kindred” is important reading not just for anyone interested in these ancient cousins of ours, but also for anyone interested in humanity.

You will seldom see a more positive review than that, nor by a more renowned reviewer.

It turns out that the book is almost unreadable. Here is a sample passage about flint knapping, chosen almost at random:

One enduring legacy of Bordes’s typology is that the different assemblage types seem to show a chronological pattern when compared stratigraphically between numerous sites. Across South-west France Neanderthals were making a lot of Levallois-rich assemblages during MIS 5, but far less so as time went on. Instead, in MIS 4 the Quina techno-complex appears, but is then itself succeeded by growing amounts of discoid technology as well as some assemblages with numerous bifaces.

I get the point that Neanderthal culture was not static. It evolved over time and different geographic communities made use of different technologies. But Sykes goes on like this for page after page, throwing around terms that no general reader could ever remember.

I can see that a specialist might recognize the distinctions among Levallois, Quina, and discoid lithics, but it was impossible for me to keep them straight, much less care about them. I count myself as someone interested in both our ancient cousins and humanity, but reading Kindred is like wading through molasses. 

Kindred no doubt has many virtues, but I think a responsible reviewer ought at least to alert potential purchasers to its dense complexity.

[Note: I order my books from Evanston's Bookends and Beginnings over the internet. Picking them up in person requires that I go very briefly to the front desk, located a few steps from the entrance. Kindred was on a table about an arms-length away, so I grabbed it while waiting for my pickup, Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle (which I highly recommend). As much as I love local bookstores, I regret that do not feel like I can recommend  browsing  browse these days, for personal health reasons, even though I am for those triple jabbed like me. YMMV]

UPDATE: I have amended the above paragraph after receiving this note from an old friend: "I am saddened by your final paragraph as I fear your view, which I understand, will harm bookselling and the fine art of browsing. Saddened does not mean I do not understand."

Read Ann Lipton’s Canceled Paper

Professor Ann Lipton, of Tulane Law School, wrote a paper, Capital Discrimination, which was accepted for publication in the Houston Law Review and posted to SSRN. As Ann explains over at the Business Law Prof Blog:

[T]he paper explores the problem of gender discrimination against women as business owners and capital providers, and proposes changes to both statutory law and common law fiduciary duties in order to address gender-based oppression in business.

The paper itself describes several business law cases from different jurisdictions, including Shawe v. Elting, a matter very familiar to business lawyers, and which involved an acrimonious dispute in the Delaware courts.  Just before Christmas, an attorney representing Philip Shawe sent this cease and desist letter to SSRN, demanding that the paper be removed from that site as defamatory. 

On New Year’s Day, SSRN removed the paper in response to Shawe’s letter.  After that, Houston Law Review could no longer assure me that the article would run in its journal, and stated that they would not preclude me from submitting the paper for publication elsewhere.   

Tulane has sent a response letter to SSRN noting that the article’s factual assertions are drawn from publicly available court opinions and filings and the author’s conclusions are nondefamatory statements of personal opinion.

 The full paper is available at this link. 

Update: 

 

And would be great if @SSRN laid out some guidance on their standards and how they plan to review such claims going forward https://t.co/tSEwgMWQFi

— Kim Krawiec (@KimKrawiec) February 14, 2022

Update 2: This is good news!

Shine on, Harvest Moon

"Shine on, Harvest Moon" was written in 1908 by Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, a married composing team that predated Goffin and King and Weil and Mann by half a century. It premiered in the Ziegfeld Follies and quickly became a vaudeville favorite. It has endured as a standard for over 100 years, perhaps having originated the euphemism "spoon" for not quite you-know-what (a year before "Silvery Moon;" see bottom of the post).

A "harvest moon" is simply a full moon in September or October, presumably allowing work in the fields at night, a reference that would have been immediately recognized in more agricultural times.

Wayne State Law Seeks Teaching Faculty

This just in:

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL is seeking to hire an Assistant Professor of Teaching.   We encourage applications from candidates who will enhance the diversity of our faculty and whose scholarship engages with questions of social justice.

The Assistant Professor (Teaching) would serve as instructor in courses in the Masters of Law program, taught to mid-career professionals, as well as the Minor in Law, taught to Wayne undergraduates.   Other teaching opportunities may arise in the regular Law School curriculum as needed.  This is a contractual position.

Applicants must hold a JD from an accredited American law school and have practice experience across a range of legal fields.  Prior teaching experience is also a plus.  

Wayne State University is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity, and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities and prepares students for success in a diverse, global society. WSU encourages applications from women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups. WSU is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

Candidates should send a cover letter, CV, and any other relevant materials to Professor Gregory Fox, Faculty Appointments Committee Chair, at gfox@wayne.edu.  The University posting is available here, https://jobs.wayne.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=577981, if one clicks on the “search postings” link and uses posting number 046220.

The deadline for applications is Monday, February 21, 2022.

Did LSA Admit that the "Value" of a Virtual Conference is Not the Same as an In-Person Conference?

In 2020, I was a vocal critic of the Law & Society's decision to charge virtual conference attendees the same fee that would have been charged for the in-person conference. That led to a scolding by Penny Andrews, Kim Lane Scheppele, Jonathan Klaaren, and Anna-Maria Marshall who wrote (here) that:

Professor Crawford complained about the cost of a virtual meeting, because LSA Board decided not to offer everyone a partial refund. In fact, a virtual meeting is not free. The largest cost that goes into the meeting is the staff time that it takes to put the program together, which often involves multiple interactions with thousands of people. This year, the program will have been put together twice. One program had almost been completed for an in-person meeting that won’t happen. Now we need to see who will continue into the virtual meeting because that will require that the program be redone a second time to put newly orphaned papers onto new panels, to fill in gaps of chairs and discussants, and to work with the CRNs to ensure that their programs remain coherent. All that involves staff time. Plus there will be adjustments to the app, working out when people can attend the online sessions, updates to conference attendees and to the CRNs about how the program is coming along, and of course close support of conference attendees in the run-up to the meeting.

Um, I never said that the conference should be free. 

I am pleased to see that the cost to attend the 2022 Law & Society Annual Meeting virtually is substantially less than the in-person conference fee:

Virtual attendance is not the same "value" as in-person attendance; the 2022 registration fee reflects that.

Virtual or not, Law & Society remains my favorite conference of the year.

Hamann, "K is for Contract—Why is it, Though?

Hanjo Hamann (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Germany) has posted to SSRN K is for Contract—Why is it, Though? 106 Minn. L. Rev. Headnotes (2022). Here is the abstract:

Just like Supreme Court justices, law students in the United States almost unanimously abbreviate the word “contract” using the capital letter K. Despite this consensus, no writer has ever explained why a word that starts with “c” should be abbreviated to “K” instead. The present paper investigates this question, following threads of legal discourse into various interconnected societal contexts―including Boston high society, 19th century baseball, German intellectual property law, the neuroscience of sleep, and Civil War contract management. I show that the K-for-Contract convention probably originated between 1900 and 1949, and may have come, of all places, from satirical military lingo. In arriving at this finding, the present essay offers an intriguing case study of legal narratology and the propagation of lawyerly conventions. By empirically surveying contract law professors to trace the origins of K-for-Contract, the study also shows that even seasoned instructors who use and teach this legal shorthand can no longer justify its usage. This proves to be an instructive illustration of boilerplate effects, or what one Contracts professor called the “arcane underpinnings of the rules we all follow."

The full essay is available here.

I've always wondered about that K! 

Justice Gorsuch's Secret Speech

The Hill has my new essay this morning, about Justice Gorsuch's closed-door speech to the Florida Federalist Society convention, and why SCOTUS needs a code of conduct to cover similar situations. Here is the gist:

It is impossible to know what U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch was thinking when he decided to bar the press from his recent speech to the Florida chapters of the conservative Federalist Society, but it is safe to say that the appearance of political neutrality was not his main objective. The agenda for the convention, held last Friday and Saturday in Orlando, included speeches by former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as well a session titled “The End of Roe v. Wade,” an issue that is currently before the Court, and another called “Redistricting in Florida.” Gorsuch has his critics and defenders, but there is no conclusive answer to whether he crossed an ethics line because the Supreme Court has never adopted a code of ethics. 

For that reason, I recently joined two dozen other legal ethics scholars in an open letter to Roberts, urging him to move forward with the adoption of a code of conduct for the Court.

A lower federal court judge would have been required to ascertain whether the registration fee, plus any sponsors’ contributions, amounted to fundraising beyond the costs of holding the conference. Supreme Court justices currently have no such obligation. I asked the Supreme Court’s public information office if Gorsuch had determined whether the Florida conference was a fundraising event, and whether he was aware of any sponsorship contributions beyond the cost of attendance, but received no reply. 

The specific provisions of a Supreme Court ethics code would be up to the justices, whose public approval has been plummeting in recent years. As my colleagues and I wrote in our open letter, “even if primarily aspirational [a code] would have a broad salutary impact, assisting current and future members of the Court to transparently address potential conflicts and other issues in a way that builds public trust in the institution.” Supreme Court ethics should not be a black box.

You can read the entire essay here.

National Bagel Day, 2022

In honor of National Bagel Day, I am re-posting my 1998 Chicago Tribune column, which has appeared three times previosly on The Faculty Lounge.

You can see the original here.  Remember, it was 1998.

__________

As a child I understood very well that bagels set me apart from other kids in the neighborhood. Oh, we all played the same games and went to the same schools, but their grandparents spoke English, they went to church on Sunday, and they didn't eat bagels. We, on the other hand, ate the things all the time: as snacks, as sandwiches, as breakfast. My mother made them herself--rolling, boiling, brushing and then baking the little rings to precisely the right resilience. They came in exactly two varieties--plain and rye. The rye ones were my mother's innovation, which she considered avant garde. They were small, dense, unadorned, and ours.

These days you can find bagel stores almost everywhere. In fact, right down the block from my house you can find bagel shops three corners, selling bagels of every conceivable stripe and description. None of the places even faintly resembles a deli, but nonetheless, each has its own personality, in large part derived from the character of its workforce--though judging from appearances, most of them probably think that He-brew is an especially masculine cup of coffee. There are the prim, pleasant, middle-aged women who proudly serve Dutch apple bagels on one corner. Or you can visit the energetic teenagers who dole out chocolate chip bagels next door. If you're in the mood for some herb, you can score a few oregano-parmesan bagels from the hippies across the street.

 

I've long since made my peace with the inauthentic bagel outlets, and have even come to appreciate the modest virtues of shopping in a corporate-owned "bagel cafe." If nothing else, I've learned the importance of clear articulation, since terms I take for granted are too easily confused by novice bagel clerks. For example, one day I rushed into my favorite local joint and ordered "two pumpernickel." Easy enough, I thought as they shoved my bagels into a cute bakery bag. True, the bagels looked almost orange, lacking the rich, dark hue of true pumpernickel. But what did I expect from a bagel chain? And then there was that unexpected spicy smell. It was pleasant and strangely familiar, but not at all bagel-like. I dismissed it as having rubbed off, so to speak, from an adjacent bin.

 

It was only when I bit into the first one that I realized I was munching on, so help me, a pumpkin bagel. Pumpkin, pumpernickel--I guess it's a natural mistake.

 

I'm not really complaining. In America, no ethnic group can ever expect to maintain a monopoly on its cuisine. I'm sure that native Italians wince at some of the things that Americans dump on pizza, and I know Chinese restaurants here serve dishes that would be unrecognizable from Guangzhau to Beijing. Nobody even thinks to associate wieners with Vienna--and it's a good thing, too, since the Viennese would never tolerate ketchup and pickle relish.

 

But if the mainstreaming of bagels is not entirely an occasion for bitter lamentation, it still has to evoke at least a twinge of regret, as one more bit of ethnic flair is deracinated, homogenized and prepackaged for mass consumption.

 

Interestingly, it appears there is a crisis in the bagel industry. Stock prices have plunged by as much as 80 percent and one national chain has entered bankruptcy. Profits are falling and outlets are closing.

 

If you ask me, their problems all stem from hubris. I've got nothing against making big bucks on bagels, but there has to be a sense of proportion. They should never have started calling it the bagel "industry." Bagels should be sold in "a nice little business" where you can "make a comfortable living." And you shouldn't have national chains. Maybe a few "convenient locations" or even a "branch" or two, but that's it. Go any further and you're asking for trouble.

 

The bagel industry can probably recover from its spate of overexpansion, but somewhere along the line it is going to pay for fiddling with tradition. Bagel-meddlers can load almost anything into a bagel and still have it taste good, but they ought to give credit where credit is due. Bake what you must, but let's put an end to the precious preening. Stop touting "old-fashioned" blueberry and "classic" cranberry-orange!

 

It's not the flavors I object to, it's the adjectives. Bagels weren't invented by a bunch of MBAs, and there's never gong to be anything traditional about filling them with fruit. So if they have to overstuff somebody's heritage, all I can say is let `em eat crepes.

In honor of National Bagel Day, I am re-posting my 1998 Chicago Tribune column, which has appeared three times previosly on The Faculty Lounge.

You can see the original here.  Remember, it was 1998.

__________

As a child I understood very well that bagels set me apart from other kids in the neighborhood. Oh, we all played the same games and went to the same schools, but their grandparents spoke English, they went to church on Sunday, and they didn't eat bagels. We, on the other hand, ate the things all the time: as snacks, as sandwiches, as breakfast. My mother made them herself--rolling, boiling, brushing and then baking the little rings to precisely the right resilience. They came in exactly two varieties--plain and rye. The rye ones were my mother's innovation, which she considered avant garde. They were small, dense, unadorned, and ours.

These days you can find bagel stores almost everywhere. In fact, right down the block from my house you can find bagel shops three corners, selling bagels of every conceivable stripe and description. None of the places even faintly resembles a deli, but nonetheless, each has its own personality, in large part derived from the character of its workforce--though judging from appearances, most of them probably think that He-brew is an especially masculine cup of coffee. There are the prim, pleasant, middle-aged women who proudly serve Dutch apple bagels on one corner. Or you can visit the energetic teenagers who dole out chocolate chip bagels next door. If you're in the mood for some herb, you can score a few oregano-parmesan bagels from the hippies across the street.

 

I've long since made my peace with the inauthentic bagel outlets, and have even come to appreciate the modest virtues of shopping in a corporate-owned "bagel cafe." If nothing else, I've learned the importance of clear articulation, since terms I take for granted are too easily confused by novice bagel clerks. For example, one day I rushed into my favorite local joint and ordered "two pumpernickel." Easy enough, I thought as they shoved my bagels into a cute bakery bag. True, the bagels looked almost orange, lacking the rich, dark hue of true pumpernickel. But what did I expect from a bagel chain? And then there was that unexpected spicy smell. It was pleasant and strangely familiar, but not at all bagel-like. I dismissed it as having rubbed off, so to speak, from an adjacent bin.

 

It was only when I bit into the first one that I realized I was munching on, so help me, a pumpkin bagel. Pumpkin, pumpernickel--I guess it's a natural mistake.

 

I'm not really complaining. In America, no ethnic group can ever expect to maintain a monopoly on its cuisine. I'm sure that native Italians wince at some of the things that Americans dump on pizza, and I know Chinese restaurants here serve dishes that would be unrecognizable from Guangzhau to Beijing. Nobody even thinks to associate wieners with Vienna--and it's a good thing, too, since the Viennese would never tolerate ketchup and pickle relish.

 

But if the mainstreaming of bagels is not entirely an occasion for bitter lamentation, it still has to evoke at least a twinge of regret, as one more bit of ethnic flair is deracinated, homogenized and prepackaged for mass consumption.

 

Interestingly, it appears there is a crisis in the bagel industry. Stock prices have plunged by as much as 80 percent and one national chain has entered bankruptcy. Profits are falling and outlets are closing.

 

If you ask me, their problems all stem from hubris. I've got nothing against making big bucks on bagels, but there has to be a sense of proportion. They should never have started calling it the bagel "industry." Bagels should be sold in "a nice little business" where you can "make a comfortable living." And you shouldn't have national chains. Maybe a few "convenient locations" or even a "branch" or two, but that's it. Go any further and you're asking for trouble.

 

The bagel industry can probably recover from its spate of overexpansion, but somewhere along the line it is going to pay for fiddling with tradition. Bagel-meddlers can load almost anything into a bagel and still have it taste good, but they ought to give credit where credit is due. Bake what you must, but let's put an end to the precious preening. Stop touting "old-fashioned" blueberry and "classic" cranberry-orange!

 

It's not the flavors I object to, it's the adjectives. Bagels weren't invented by a bunch of MBAs, and there's never gong to be anything traditional about filling them with fruit. So if they have to overstuff somebody's heritage, all I can say is let `em eat crepes.

Taboo Trades Podcast: Kidney To Share

Listen to a new episode of the Taboo Trades podcast: Kidney to Share with Martha Gershun and John Lantos, co-hosted by UVA Law 3Ls Kaitlyn O’Malley and Caitlyn Stollings. It’s an especially good episode. Appearances also from UVA Law students Nevah Jones, Alex Leseney, Thalia Stanberry, Samantha Spindler, and Tom DelRegno.

 

Oregon Law Seeks Legal Research & Writing Visitors for 2022-2023

 

The University of Oregon School of Law is seeking applications for a visiting Legal Research and Writing faculty member in academic year 2022-23. The position will run from August 16, 2022 to May 15, 2023.  A summer assignment starting July 16 until August 15 to prepare for orientation at 1.0 FTE is included with this position.    

 

Oregon Law’s top-ranked Legal Research and Writing (LRW) Program has been nationally recognized for decades. The program was established in 1978, making it one of the first in the nation to ensure fundamental lawyering skills were taught by full-time professionals. Through innovative programming and commitment to teaching excellence, the program continues to lead in the field, repeatedly ranking among the top legal writing programs in the country.

 

We invite applications from those currently teaching at a law school in legal writing or a closely related field. The visiting professor will teach two sections (approximately 20 students per section) of Legal Research and Writing in the fall and spring semesters. The fall semester course focuses on objective/predictive writing, and the spring semester course turns to persuasive writing. Students culminate their year-long course of study by writing a brief to an appellate court and presenting an oral argument before a panel of volunteer judges and attorneys.

 

The Oregon LRW team is a small but highly committed, collaborative, and productive group. The faculty benefit from reference librarian support and work closely with 2L/3L LRW tutors, who assist with classroom activities and help provide individualized academic support to 1Ls. The successful candidate will have the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, and students from a variety of backgrounds.

 

The University of Oregon is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is a major research university committed to combining high level research with strong undergraduate and graduate teaching. The School of Law is an ABA accredited law school and Oregon’s only public law school, made up of three graduate degree programs and an undergraduate legal studies program.

 

The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. University of Oregon students and employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or request an exemption. This public health measure at the University of Oregon is a critical step in reducing the potential for serious illness.

 

For full consideration, application materials should be submitted by March 1, 2022, although submissions will be accepted until the position is filled. Applicants should submit a letter of interest, a current resume, a statement addressing their potential contribution(s) to diversity, equity and inclusion, and references via MyTracks here.

Oregon Law Seeks Visitors for 2022-2023: Crim Law, Admin, Business Law

The University of Oregon School of Law seeks applications for visiting professors for academic year 2022-23.

 

We anticipate having several curricular needs, and have particular interest in potential visitors who teach in the areas of Criminal Law and Administrative Law. In addition, we may have a need for a visitor or visitors who can teach various Business Law courses at our Portland campus.

 

The University of Oregon is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is a major research university committed to combining high level research with strong undergraduate and graduate teaching. The School of Law is an ABA accredited law school and Oregon’s only public law school, made up of three graduate degree programs and an undergraduate legal studies program.

 

Applicants must have scholarship, teaching, and/or practice expertise in the subject areas of interest. Minimum qualifications include a record of academic excellence, demonstrated success or the potential for success in scholarship and teaching, and a JD from an accredited law school or its equivalent. Successful candidates must have strong interpersonal skills sufficient to inspire and work effectively with diverse groups of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and members of the bar.

 

The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. University of Oregon students and employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or request an exemption. This public health measure at the University of Oregon is a critical step in reducing the potential for serious illness.

 

For full consideration, application materials should be submitted by March 1, 2022, although submissions will be accepted until the positions are filled. Applicants should submit a letter of interest indicating their interest in a visiting position and teaching interests, a current resume, a statement addressing their potential contribution(s) to diversity, equity and inclusion, and references via MyTracks here.

Two Stories in the Sunday Chicago Tribune That Say Everything There Is to Know about Higher Education in Chicago

Draw your own conclusions:

Naperville native, Northwestern student in ‘Jeopardy! National College Championship’

University of Chicago student rescued from frozen Lake Michigan ‘had no idea he was on the ice,’ Fire Department official says

Yes, there are multiple possible explanations, which I will exploring with my students in the Narrative Structures class on Tuesday.

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

Written and recorded by Hank Williams in 1949, Elvis Presley called it the "the saddest song I've ever heard."