South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 4, Ed. 1, February, 2001 Page: 3 of 12
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February2001
Amicus Brief
Page3
Student Bar President Outlines Semester Events
J!
Erica Hakimi
Welcome back! I hope
the holidays went well for
everyone. As you settle in
this semester, I encourage
you to remember a few
things. This will be the
last semester at South
Texas for some of us and
the first one for a whole
new group. There have
also been some exciting
changes taking place in
the school. Here is a
quick guide to some of
the programs and events
taking place this semester.
Habitat For Humanity -
STCL will be helping out
by building houses for
Houston families. Keep an
eye out for more informa-
tion, the details will be
coming soon.
SBA Elections - SBA
Elections will be held
March 7 and 8. A formal
notice of requirements and
deadlines will be in student
mailboxes by the end of
January. This is your
chance to get involved and
do something positive for
the student body and the
whole South Texas com-
munity. I encourage all
students to participate and
exercise their vote for the
future SBA officers.
Spring Banquet - The
Spring Banquet will be
March 24 at the Westin
Oaks Hotel. Join us for a
great evening of dinner and
dancing and come to find
out who the SBA Officers
will be for the 2001-2002
school year. This year there
will also be a Silent Auc-
tion with the proceeds to
benefit the Melissa Moon
Scholarship Fund.
Intramural Sports -
Plans are underway for the
basketball season and the
Charity Softball Tourna-
ment.
Yearbook - The STCL
Yearbook is being brought
back this year! We would
love to include any candid
pictures that you may have
of any school event this
year or the study abroad
programs from this past
summer. Please submit
photos to the Student Af-
fairs Office, room 236.
There have been quite a
few building improve-
ments over the break. The
construction of the library
is almost finished. The 4th
and 5 th floors of the new
library are now open for
students to study in. It is a
beautiful new building and
a really great place to study.
We have also received new
couches in the student
lounge. The school has
even purchased a parking
lot for the students exclu-
sive use!
Congratulations to all of
you who have made it this
far. Whether you are a 1L,
2L, or 3L you should be
proud of your accomplish-
ments. For those who are
graduating, keep an eye out
for graduation notices in
your mailboxes. For all
new and returning stu-
dents, information about
new programs and events
will still be found at the
bulletin boards near the el-
evators, on posters in the
entrance hall, via e-mail,
and in student mailboxes.
For additional questions,
suggestions, or to get in-
volved by serving on a
committee for any of the
upcoming events please e-
mail me at hakeri®
students.stcl.edu.
I hope your studies go
well this semester. As al-
ways, the SBA maintains
an outline bank for student
use and for stress relief we
hold regular atrium socials
where we supply free food
and drinks.
Thanks to each of you who
made the Fall semester a
great one. Best of luck in
the Spring!
RULING,frompg.l
that because the agree-
ment only called for an
affiliation, and not a legal
merging of the schools,
TAMU's administration
was within its rights un-
der Texas law to sign the
agreement. So far the
courts have sided with the
Board.
A judicial dissent is in
the latest ruling and could
be the explanation of why
the appeals court took
over a year to deliberate
the case before handing
down a decision.
"Historically, the Third
Court has had very few
dissents as compared to
other courts. Our sense
was that they were strug-
gling with Yeakel's dis-
sent," offered Thorn.
Justice Yeakel's dissent
criticized the grant of
sweeping power to the
Higher Education Board
and for the denial of
A&M's right to contract.
Thorn too expressed con-
cern for what the appeals
court's ruling could mean
to Texas higher education
if it is allowed to stand
as law.
"The ruling seems to
give the Board [of Higher
Education] greater power
and authority than anyone
ever thought they had . .
. maybe more than even
the Board itself thought
it had. It was a broad
brushstroke. And the im-
plication of what it could
mean is what is troubling
to A&M, and should be
troubling to all public
schools of higher educa-
tion in Texas," Thorn
said.
The governing board
members of South Texas
and TAMU reacted to the
appeals court's ruling by
voting to have the legal
team motion for a re-
hearing.
"Briefs were filed last
week for a rehearing,"
said Thorn, "We are do-
ing this as a matter of
Jerry Thorn
WHEN YOU NEED A
LEGAL NOTICE PUBLISHED
YOU NEED IT FAST!
Qrompt and dependable service is what you
expect from a daily newspaper that publishes
legal notices. EM that is what we deliver,
every business day.
MjGoartMero
- SERVING YOU SINCE 1889
MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 1889, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77251-1889
EXECUTIVE OFFICES: 6807 WYNNWOOD, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77008
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' v; ■ .■
AáPpf
mKB^M
comity. We want to make
sure that we are covering
all bases and leaving no
legal stone unturned. By
asking for a rehearing in-
stead of immediately ap-
pealing, it puts us in a
better light with the court.
It lets them know we have
done all we could before
going to the Texas Su-
preme Court and asking
them to do something. It
will also be a roadmap for
the Supreme Court and
will get the lawyers'
minds ready for the ap-
peal," he said.
Thorn was not prepared
to say whether the two
schools would definitely
appeal to the Texas Su-
preme Court if the rehear-
ing is not successful.
"That is a decision that
has not been made yet. It
is up to the Boards of
A&M and South Texas,"
he said.
The Board of Directors
for South Texas would
have to decided whether
the chances of winning
beyond the appeals level
are worth the additional
legal costs. If they quit
now, the Board will have
a hard time recouping
money already spent on
affiliation costs. Ac-
cording to court testi-
mony last year, costs as-
sociated with adding the
Texas A&M name to
STCL have cost the law
school between 1.5 and
2.2 million dollars. The
law school currently can
show little from this ex-
penditure because of an
injunction barring it from
using the A&M name in
any form.
Thorn offered a cautious
outlook towards South
Texas' chances of success
at the state Supreme Court
level.
"We have about a 10%
chance of being granted a
writ. Once you clear that
hurdle, then the chances
that the court will modify
or reverse are much bet-
ter. We believe that we
are on the right side. Still,
it's an uphill battle," ad-
mitted Thorn.
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Palmer, Sean. South Texas College of Law Annotations (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 4, Ed. 1, February, 2001, newspaper, February 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144545/m1/3/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.