It's that time in the semester when stress begins to escalate to new levels of intensity.  However, now is also the time when you need to use your best stress resilience skills.  Stress that is out of control can lead to illness, anxiety, lessened concentration, lack of sleep, and many other problems.  Below are a few more tips on managing your stress for the remainder of the semester.

• Remember to look at the pieces and not the whole.  Focus on one small task at a time.  List all of the topics that you need to review for each exam course.  List all of the research, writing, and editing tasks that you need to complete for a paper.  Then focus on one small task at a time until that small task is complete.  Cross it off the list and move on to the next small task.  Step by step you can do it all. 
• Ask for help if you are feeling overwhelmed.  Talk to your professors about areas of the course that are confusing you.  Talk to a counselor at the Student Counseling Center.  Talk to a physician if you are having physical problems.  Talk to your family.  
• Sleep at least 8 hours a night.  You will be more productive when you study.  You will be able to focus on the essentials.  You will be able to make wiser decisions about your priorities for studying.  You will feel less helpless and hopeless.  You will be less likely to burst into tears or yell at everyone around you.  You will go into exams well-rested and alert. 
• Add exercise to your schedule if you have let it go.  Exercise is one of the best stress busters you can use.  Try to get a minimum of three 30-minute workouts a week.  Consider where a study break can include an exercise break.  Even walking around the building or the campus can be a boon to your brain cells for memory and your body for sleeping better.

One of the law library's most prized collections is the Papers of Louis Dembitz Brandeis. It is divided into ten topical series and includes drafts of speeches, legal documents, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and family portraits and letters dating as early as 1810. Series VII, Miscellaneous contains family correspondence, including birthday cards, telegrams, and a few letters written in German that remain untranslated.

Scott Campbell is the curator of the Louis D. Brandeis Special Collection, which has been visited by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and biographer Melvin Urofsky. The law library hopes to digitize the microfilm and printed materials some day to add to its digital collection.

The law library also contains several books about Justice Brandeis, including the recently published biography Louis D. Brandeis: A Life (KF8745.B67 U749 2009) and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court: The Lives and Legal Philosophies of the Justices (KF 8744 .B56 2006), both by Melvin I. Urofsky. Copies of Brandeis at 150: the Louisville Perspective (KF8745 .B67 B671 2006) are available for purchase in the Resource Center across from room 275. These are just a few of the many items that can be found by searching our online catalog, Minerva.

The U.S. Postal Service and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law will honor the city’s native son, Louis D. Brandeis, on what would have been his 153rd birthday.

Brandeis is featured on a new set of commemorative stamps, which also includes U.S. Supreme Court associate justices Joseph Story, Felix Frankfurter and William J. Brennan Jr. Nationally-known graphic designer Ethel Kessler worked with Lisa Catalone-Castro and Rodolfo Castro on the inspired design of the souvenir sheet that incorporates images of the Supreme Court building and a detail from the first page of the United States Constitution.

The presentation will be held at 10 AM on Friday, November 13. Prior to the event, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar Laura Rothstein will be giving an overview of Brandeis with an emphasis on property issues, his distinguished career and his connection to Louisville. The lecture begins at 9 AM and the public is welcome.  In addition to Rothstein, Congressman John Yarmuth, Louisville Postmaster Richard Curtsinger, and Dean Chen will present.

• Birthday Party Photo Gallery

“It is an honor to remember such a prominent member of the Louisville community and to celebrate the many contributions he made for our nation,” said Curtsinger.

Louis Brandeis was the associate justice most responsible for helping the Supreme Court shape the tools it needed to interpret the Constitution in light of the sociological and economic conditions of the 20th century. “If we would guide by the light of reason,” he once exhorted his colleagues, “we must let our minds be bold.” A progressive, and champion of reform, Brandeis devoted his life to social justice.

“Louisville can be proud that Justice Brandeis is so connected to our community and that the values he is known for had their roots here,” said Rothstein.
 
“The principles and philosophies Brandeis is known for – including rights to privacy, free speech, curtailing big government and big business, balancing regulation with free enterprise – are timely today,” she added. “It is appropriate that his enormous contributions are recognized on this set of commemorative stamps.”

To mark the event, 153 commemorative envelopes with a special postmark — both designed by artist Leslie Friesen — will be available for sale. The envelope features a photo of the Brandeis School of Law as well as one of Brandeis’ famous quotes, “Knowledge is essential to understanding & understanding should precede judging.” The cancellation features a Corinthian capital and the numerals 153 to mark his 153rd birthday. It also features the Louis D. Brandeis commemorative stamp. Each envelope is numbered by the artist. The artist will also be on hand to sign the limited edition artwork. The envelopes are $5.

It's that time in the semester when stress begins to escalate to new levels of intensity.  However, now is also the time when you need to use your best stress resilience skills.  Stress that is out of control can lead to illness, anxiety, lessened concentration, lack of sleep, and many other problems.  Attached are a few tips on managing your stress for the remainder of the semester.

Professor Laura Rothstein's review of the latest Brandeis biography, Louis D. Brandeis: A Life, by Melvin I. Urofsky was featured in the Courier-Journal this past Sunday. Urofksy is a Brandeis scholar and a professor of law and public policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Urofsky's Brandeis biography was listed among the New York Times "100 Notable Books of 2009".

"Urofsky's rich and detailed biography often includes a specific reference to a current issue and analyzes it from a Brandeis perspective. He emphasizes how Brandeis dissents have almost all become the prevailing view of the law today, a testament to his prophetic abilities and his enduring values. Even without the author's highlighting, the reader is frequently reminded in reading the book of how much of Brandeis' life work is relevant today." ~Laura Rothstein

The CJ featured a story by Melvin I. Urofsky himself, Louis Brandeis' Louisville: Justice was always a son of Kentucky that includes a brief overview of Brandeis' life and accomplishments and several photos from the law library's collection.

Sunday's paper also includes an editorial by Sam Upshaw, Jr. that draws comparisons to Brandeis' and Obama's career paths and portrays them both as change agents.

The law school will celebrate Brandeis' birthday and commemorative stamp unveiling on Friday, Nov. 13 at 10 AM. The public is welcome to attend.

News features: 

• New biography pictures Brandeis as teacher (Courier-Journal, November 8, 2009)
• Louis Brandeis' Louisville (Courier-Journal, November 8, 2009)
• Brandeis and Obama: Similar paths to fame (Courier-Journal, November 8, 2009)

 

Practice; practice; and then practice.  Doing several practice questions for each of your classes is essential to exam success.  Make sure that you practice all questions given to you by your professors.  Practice questions are also available from study aids such as Examples & Explanations.  You can also look at CALI and bar prep materials for questions.  Make time this week to find practice questions for each of your classes that you can do over the break.   This extra effort will save you time in the end. 

The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund will be selling coffee and doughnuts during the Brandeis Birthday Celebration on Friday, Nov. 13 from 9am - 11am. Doughnuts - $1, Coffee - $1.50. We hope you will join the Law School in celebrating Louis D. Brandeis' 153rd birthday! 

Take a close look at your study schedule.  Are you utilizing your free time effectively, especially the time that was once reserved for classes that have now ended, including Basic Legal Skills and Professional Responsibility?  Put this additional free time to good use - review your class notes, finalize your outlines, meet with your professors.  Whatever tasks you need to accomplish in preparation for finals, be sure to take advantage of the time you now have available.