From: Eben Moglen <moglen@columbia.edu>
  To  : <perspectives@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 07:22:19 -0400

Note on Final Grades

I released final grades overnight.  In general, the quality of your
third papers was very high: not surprisingly, a little practice in the
genre has improved almost everybody's ability to write short, focused
essays.  This will help in many other law school settings.  I regret
that you were not able to read and think about others' meditations on
the first year of law school, which was the most frequent type of
essay submitted.

The final grades were generated by numerically ranking each student's
"raw score," the weighted sum of the three paper grades, and applying
the curve.  In two cases out of 122, upward adjustment for class
participation altered a grade by one "tick."  I have given as many
B+'s, and as few B-'s, as the curve will permit, and in fact slightly
exceeded the guidelines in both directions.  The mandatory curve
remains a machine invented by students for making students unhappy.
From my point of view, the natural divisions in the class do not fall
where the curve requires them to be placed.

When we are all back in New York this September, I would be happy to
discuss individual papers, or the course overall, with anyone who
wants to drop in.  Grades, on the other hand, are worthy of no
further discussion.

It was a pleasure working with each of you.  I wish you a productive
summer, an EIP-less August, and time for reflection.

Best to all,
Eben


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Perspectives in Modern Legal Thought mailing list.