More elephants…Regarding rankings, I think Al Brophy’s insight is exactly spot on.  We care about rankings when there is nothing else to care about.  Sort of like the saying in politics — the reason the rhetoric is so high is because the stakes are so low.

Over at Legal Lacuna, Mai Linh has posted a followup to a paper she presented at a recent conference (Get your Ass-Phalt off my Ancestors) on Richmond’s historic Burial Ground for Negros controversy with Virginia Commonwealth University . Of course, coming to the decision to remove the asphalt from the burial ground and funding it appear to be two separate problems.

From the Volokh Conspiracy, Publication does not constitute Detrimental Reliance?  Amongst plaintiff’s complaints were:

• Published articles and engaged in scholarly activities at a voracious pace, id. at 65;

• Increased his scholarly production, writing a steady stream of top-flight articles, id. at 66;

• Intensified, concentrated his entire life on generating high-powered research in top-tier journals, id.;

• Did extraordinarily more work than he had ever done or will ever do, id. at 66-67;

• Worked extraordinary long overtime with no immediate remuneration, id. at 69;

• Lost precious time with his family, id.;

• Impaired his health, id.;

• Went with very little sleep for long periods of time, id. at 76;

• Suffered constant stress which resulted in increased medication and hypertension, id.;

• Refrained from applying for other chaired professorships at other universities, id. at 68;

• Did not encourage inquiries as to whether he was interested in changing positions or looking for other employment, id.; and

Bummer.

On my table…Last but not least, my table has been somewhat of a strange accumulation of materials lately.  There is Democracy and Poetry by Robert Penn Warren (which I need to post on soon); and Brothers Karamazov by Fydor Dotoesvsky; there is a gardening book on raised gardens since now is my yearly attempt to have a green thumb, but likely there will be no progress; there is my now completely defunct NCAA bracket (really, Xavier in the Elite 8 — what in the world was I thinking); and a recipe for Spaghetti Tacos, which we made last night while watching iCarly — my six year old daughter’s favorite show.