When I decided in the spring of 2006 that I wanted to become a Sun columnist after I determined that I was sticking around for law school, I did so with the best of intentions.

I figured that since I had spent so much time following (and sometimes editing) each and every thing that happened on The Hill (and because I was never able to give my opinion on anything) that it would be a fun, exciting and enriching experience.

And it has.

Only, I’m not really sure that I’ve actually accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

So, let’s look back at my first column, entitled “Reboot,” which was printed Aug. 20, 2006. In that column, I wrote:

I saw An Inconvenient Truth.

It was boring.

I might have even fallen asleep during a portion of it. But that’s not really surprising because I saw it late at night downtown at Cinemapolis, and well, who could really be enthused about watching a slideshow on a Friday or Saturday night? It was sort of like going to class.

Unless you are in law school, are planning to go to law school or are from Southern California, you probably don’t know or care about the controversy that erupted last week at the University of California, Irvine.

But you should know and care about it because it concerns academic freedom. And, you should know and care about it because of its similarity to a certain controversy that occurred on The Hill just a few short years ago.

Deckhead:

Saturdays Excepted

Body:

When it comes to its outwardly-expressed views on the Greek system, Cornell has recently been broken into two groups (which I exaggerate a bit for effect):

Group 1: “Fraternities and sororities are the spawn of Satan and should be destroyed. Their members deserve to be expelled immediately and marooned on a deserted island never to be heard from again.”

Body:

In September, after Harvard ceremoniously decided to eliminate its early action program, I wrote a column that disparaged the idea of Cornell abolishing its early decision program. Among the reasons for my position was the fact that eliminating early decision would harm Cornell’s U.S. News and World Report ranking and that the ranking system “is an extremely important factor in attracting the … best and brightest.”

Deckhead:

Saturdays Excepted

Body:

A search for a university president is truly an exciting task for an institution to undertake, but a trying one nonetheless. This is especially true when the former president left amid controversy.

Deckhead:

Saturdays Excepted

Body:

While Cornell is not the only university to invite students to sit on its Board of Trustees — not all universities do — it is one of the features that makes Cornell, well, Cornell.

That said, last year, it became clear that there is a problem with the long-established system of two generally elected student trustees with one seat coming up for election each year: A second graduate student was elected, leaving undergraduates without a voice on the Board.

Deckhead:

Saturdays Excepted

Body:

During my four-and-a-half years at Cornell, I have been informed many a time — in person, in Sun columns, etc. — that the faculty seem to have a liberal bias and that conservative students tend to be offended when particular professors allow their political preferences to affect class discussions.

Deckhead:

Saturdays Excepted

Body:

With Thanksgiving this past weekend and finals on the horizon, a 1L’s time is precious. I had just enough time this weekend to pull my head out of the books and peruse some Ivy newspaper websites. Here’s a sampling of what I found: