Professor Goes Back On His Word???

A lot of people were surprised when a few days after GMA issued proclamation 1017 Professor Florin Hilbay released a statement saying that he was cancelling his classes in order for his students to participate in the rallies. In lieu of exams, he declared to the entire law school (in a written statement that was posted all over the college) that he was going to ask his students to individually tell him what grade they thought they deserved.

The whole proclamation 1017 thing lasted for less than two weeks. Pretty soon, after GMA declared that there no longer was a state of national emergency, things at Malcolm Hall started returning to normal. Students went back to their studies, and with the final exams fast approaching, promptly forgot about the whole thing.

Just as GMA changed her mind and decided to lift the state of emergency, Professor Hilbay also changed his mind and, in what he called an act of discretion on his part, decided to give his Consti students a sit down final exam while his Legal Theory class was made to submit a final paper. I bet his students felt like declaring a state of academic emergency! Hehehe. Rule of law indeed.

Is that what teaching law in the grand manner means? Grant your students the privilege of passing a course without taking a final exam then later on arbitrarily revoking such privilege? Well, these students are going to get screwed over by somebody sooner or later while practicing law. Better get them used to it and have their professor screw them over during their first year :P

But wait. I mind another professor who promised his students (in class, without any sort of published statement) that he too would not be giving his students final exams. And this professor STOOD BY HIS WORD, even though his word was all he gave. Some people make jokes about his being half-Chinese, or half a Chinese, but this Professor is more a man than most. Kudos to Professor Theodore Te, who, to borrow a phrase from his blog, just pulled a class act.

To their respective students, there is much to learn from what happened to you. Take these lessons to heart.

P.S. I'm not sure if Professor Hilbay's class has already taken their Consti final exam. If not, refer to my previous post regarding common cheating methods practiced in Malcolm :D

Cheating in the Final Exams

Final exams started last week. Maybe because of the difficulty of the exams or the pressure to excel, a few people cheat. Here are a few of their usual methods:

1. Exams at the law school last for hours. The shortest is around 2 hours and I've heard about some people taking 5 hour exams. So professors and proctors usually allow students to go to the restroom. Some students leave a codal or a reviewer in the restroom so they can take a look at it during the exam.

2. This is a variation of number 1. Pretend you need to go to the restroom, once there pull out your cellphone and call somebody and ask him what the answers are. Your best bet is to call someone who practices in the field that your exam covers (i.e. call a criminal lawyer during your crim 2 exam), assuming that you know someone in the field. Or call someone who just took the bar, the doctrines will still be pretty fresh on their minds. Or call a trusted friend who's an upperclassman. Or if you have a fraternity, call your so called brothers.

3. Pay off whoever photocopies the exam. This is common practice in other law schools (but I haven't heard of this happening in UP Law, not recently anyway). I don't recommend actually trying it with the staff at the OCS or the Dean's office. In my opinion, your best chance would be to hope that the exam is photocopied somewhere else (i.e. Blessings or SC) and pay off the person manning the machine to make an extra copy. It's a long shot though.

4. Approach the staff or student assistant of your professor. I've heard talk that sometimes the professor has the student assistant write the exam (???).

Disclaimer: I don't cheat. But I don't think poorly of the people who do just because they cheat per se. I think poorly of those people who can't be more creative in how they cheat. If you're going to cheat do it in a way that shows off your skills. Otherwise, just study. The only reason I don't cheat is because I can't think of a way to do it that would make me proud to say I cheated.

Preliminaries...

Just a few things I'd like to clarify before I get this blog going:
1. Who am I?
I'm a UP College of Law student who sees and hears about a lot of things I don't like.
2. What's this blog about?
IT IS NOT ABOUT PORN. If that's what your looking for get a myfreepaysite account or something. Go away and take your dirty mind with you.
This blog is about the things that happen within the hollow halls of Malcolm. Some people have said that the college has produced far more than its share of corrupt and dishonest lawyers, many of whom hold top government positions and play a crucial role in the rape of our country. I do not mean to take away anything from the good and noble few who graduated from the college and are fighting the good fight to try to establish some semblance of social justice in our country. But maybe by exposing the dirty deeds that happen in the college of law, somebody will do something to stop these practices.
3. So essentially I'm a spineless coward who's willing to bitch about things but not willing to do anything to change things?
Yes. I am a spineless coward. No argument there. I'm too scared to even say who I am. I don't want to ruin my future legal career by saying things about people which could come back to haunt me. But you know what? Most UP law students are like that. Iskolar ng bayan indeed.
4. Am I so sure about the truth of what I say in my blog?
No. A few things may be things I personally know about, but most of the time what I'll be posting here is based on rumor and hearsay. So please, insult me and lecture me about integrity and journalistic responsibility. Go ahead. But if you know the truth regarding the matter I'm posting about, do correct me and I will make the appropriate changes in my blog.