The side of the building facing the street is painted gray and has a big black door with no handle. What may have been a window or a larger entrance is now sealed with a brick wall. I can see the glow of the fluorescent lights from the crusty windows on the second floor. There is no sign. I’m looking for Legends MMA.

I soon find the entrance. The parking lot gate is severely dented from some unwelcome guests. A heavy iron panel slides open, revealing the light from this old shoe factory. My friend, Tom Gavin, greets me. I crawl through the dent and follow Tom inside. The gym’s main floor is partitioned into three parts. The smallest portion is the punching bags. Perhaps ten to twelve, of various sizes, squeak as they lightly swing back and forth. Training mats cover the largest section, where, during the day, students learn various fight styles. The third section is closed off for another type of training.

I had not seen Tom for some time. About a year ago, he decided to take a hiatus from law school to pursue a career in mixed martial arts fighting. This decision was not made in haste. He has his youth, his health, and a hunger for success that other young men only think they have. Moreover, unlike most fighters, his dedication goes one step further. He and two of his comrades keep residence in this modern day dojo.

They embrace the essence of an ancient tradition, where a student’s home and school are one. Tom, Eugene, and Ryan maintain the premises. Punching bags are kept in order, blood is removed from the mats, and the dojo is well guarded. In exchange, they receive top class training from the best fighters in the country. That day, the guys were arranging the training mats back on the main floor. On the third floor, they were reassembling the octagon. The night before, Legends held a grand fundraising party. The building was packed to the hilt and there was pole dancing aplenty.

But being an MMA fighter is not all fun and games. Every waking moment is devoted to the mind, body, and spirit of the martial arts. I asked Tom and his friends what it takes to be a fighter. Simply, one must be disciplined. There are no days off. If fighters are not preparing for competition, they train four to five hours a day. They learn various martial arts ranging from Jiu Jitsu to wrestling. If they’re not on the mats, the rest of the day is spent conditioning. The month before a competition is by far the most grueling. Days are spent conditioning, training, and sparing.

Training the body with physical exercise is supplemented with the proper foods. A fighter’s diet consists of protein (chicken), vegetables, fruits, and carbohydrates (brown rice). Nowhere in this food pyramid will you see alcohol, tobacco, or even sweets. To these fighters, sacrifice in the kitchen is a small price to pay for the glory they seek in the ring. Being a betting man, I’d be hard pressed to find a law student with as much devotion to his craft as any of the three men I met at Legends.

I finally asked Tom why he decided to become fighter. He said this was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity. A person can work in a physically strenuous career only when he is young. Therefore, he courageously changed his path in life. I agree with his sentiments. An opportunity that time gives only one chance to pursue, should be taken in an instance. So what does it truly take to be a fighter? Courage. The courage to choose your own life, rather than accepting what is indoctrinated to you, is the hardest characteristic to achieve.

I have nothing against law school. Law school is a stable road to take. So stable in fact, one can take it at any age. If your dream was to become a lawyer, then more power to you. But to the rest, if you had ambitions outside of the law, then just do them. The doors to Southwestern will always open, but some opportunities have only brief windows. Whether you succeed or fail at your dream, it is impossible to deny yourself the satisfaction of attempting what will once be unattainable. If you want to act, then strive to be an actor. If you want to be a cop, then strive to be a cop. If you want to be a fighter, then join Legends. A life dictated by the default approach soon creeps in the shadows to find ambition. Do not become one of those old people who look back on life and regret not living it.

Written by Dikran Sevlian, 3L Senior Staff Writer

This is the first year that SW has implemented a mandatory health insurance policy for all incoming first year students and 2009-2010 transfer students. SW chose the Kaiser Student Health Insurance Plan (the “Student Plan”). SW’s administration had a number of goals in mind when they were looking to providing health insurance to the student body, including: minimizing cost for students, insurance that accepted students with pre-existing health conditions, and availability of quality care. Three insurance companies made bids to the school. Kaiser Permanente won out.

So how do students pay for this program? It’s quite simple: financial aid. Every first-year student and every subsequent first-year student will have health insurance costs included in their tuition. All students under the mandatory health insurance process had the opportunity to waive out of the Kaiser plan. The final date to waive out of the plan for day, evening, PLEAS, LLM and transfer students was Aug. 12. The final date for SCALE I students to waive out of the plan was June 15. The cost of purchasing the Student Plan this year is $1,299. To reduce premium costs, SW formed a one-year consortium agreement with Golden Gate and Thomas Jefferson law schools, which increased the pool of insured applicants to approximately 3,000. But for this new consortium, this year’s Student Plan would have been $1450. However, keep in mind that insurance premiums are also based on the utilization of services. When students use Kaiser’s health services, Kaiser incurs costs. So when SW negotiates prices for the next year, Kaiser will adjust its premiums in relation to the costs students have burdened Kaiser. The more you use the plan, the higher the premiums will be the next year.

Who does the Student Plan cover? The Student Plan covers all students with pre-existing conditions or students without pre-existing conditions.

What does the Student Plan not cover? This article only covers some of the policy exclusions. The policy agreement alone is 80 pages of definitions, coverage limitations and a smorgasbord of fun facts as to who decides premium-payers’ fates. Every student under the Student Plan should obtain the Evidence of Coverage.

The Student Plan is an HMO. This means Kaiser only covers members’ medical costs when they use Kaiser’s doctors, or plan providers, and its own health care facilities. The Student Plan does cover most medical and emergency care services. There is a Kaiser Permanente center near the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Sunset Boulevard.

Kaiser also offers nationwide emergency coverage. So if you have an emergency in Delaware and you can’t get to a Kaiser medical center, then Kaiser will cover you if they consider that your emergency falls within their definition of “emergency.” Emergency care requires you to have an emergency medical condition. Kaiser defines an emergency medical condition “as medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in serious jeopardy to your health or body functions or organs.”

If a Kaiser insured receive emergency care from someone who is not a plan provider, the policy requires payment for the services unless the doctor bills the cost for services to Kaiser. The clause continues on by stating that for Kaiser to pay for the services, the insured must file a claim requesting indemnification. The clause is not clear as to whether the insured must file a claim only when they pay out of pocket or also when their doctors bill Kaiser. Kaiser will then decide if they want to pay for the services. If their decision is not to the insured’s liking - they don’t pay - a grievance can be filed.
Let’s say you haven’t gotten the medical services yet. You or your doctor can request Kaiser to cover medical services for a condition that “involves an imminent and serious threat to your health, such as severe pain or potential loss of life, limb, or major bodily function.” Kaiser will get back to you on that decision within three days.

Kaiser Permanente is not a dental care provider, therefore dental care is not included in the Plan. SW did have the opportunity to negotiate insurance premiums to include dental coverage, but dental care is apparently a highly utilized service, and SW decided that the use of dental services would negatively impact future insurance premiums. Fortunately, students can enroll in voluntary dental coverage separate from the Kaiser Plan by calling the Student Affairs Office.

The Student Plan also has very limited coverage on vision care. Funny enough, vision problems are an occupational hazard for a law student. Kaiser will provide vision exams to determine whether insurance holders need vision correction and provide a prescription for eyeglass lenses. All a student has to pay is $40 for each visit. However, Kaiser will not cover the actual eyeglasses or contact lenses. Interestingly enough, the HMO will not cover eye examinations for the purpose of obtaining or maintaining contact lenses. Moreover, Kaiser will not cover any services related to eye surgery. One can only infer that Kaiser does not find eye care a medical necessity.

The Student Plan runs from Aug. 1, 2009 through July 31, 2010. SW chose this period to cover graduating students that were preparing for the bar exam. Of course, once students graduate, they no longer belong in the Student Plan. So what is a new graduate to do? Kaiser offers an “Individual - Conversion Plan.” Essentially, a student has 63 days before July 31, 2010, to purchase Kaiser’s individual health insurance plan. The applicant is subject to underwriting. If you’re a student with a pre-existing condition, Kaiser offers a continuation plan without any underwriting and offers the same coverage as the Student Plan. The continuation and individual plans costs more than the Student Plan. Overall, the Student Plan provides the necessary coverage for students. Even with certain exceptions, this HMO is a good safety net for when the least expected happens.

Negotiations for next year’s insurance plan started a few weeks ago. The consortium agreement will be negotiated for the next school term. If the consortium survives, next year’s insurance plan must be unanimously decided by the three schools.
I offer students one piece of advice. READ YOUR CONTRACT.

Written by Dikran Sevlian, 3L Senior Staff Writer

By Dikran Sevlian, 3L

Immigration is an issue that fuels the fires of debate, argument, and just plain fighting. On the front lines of these issues are the ever dedicated, lowly paid soldiers of public interest. Litigating or providing amicus briefs for those who need representation.

All California public universities adhere to a particular statute in regards to in-state tuition. California Education Code § 68130.5 (commonly referred to as A.B. 540) provides in-state tuition for any individual who is not a permanent resident of California so long as such individual meets certain requirements. Made into law in 2001, A.B. 540 requires that an individual 1) has attended a California high school for three or more years 2) graduated from a California high school and 3) attends an accredited California college or university. A student who does not have lawful immigration status can still take advantage of this code if they file an affidavit with their college or university stating that they will legalize or plan to legalize their immigration status.

In 2005 out of state students brought an action against the U.C. Regents. They claimed that the statute discriminated against out of state students by offering cheaper tuition to undocumented immigrant students. Moreover, the state law violates federal statute 8 U.S.C §1623(a) which states that an undocumented immigrant is not eligible for postsecondary education benefits based on his residency in the state unless those benefits are equally available to all out of state citizens. Therefore under federal law, giving cheaper tuition to an undocumented student in California should not be allowed.

Proponents argue that the statute is not federally preempted by law because the statute does not expressly state that tuition benefits will be offered to student on the basis of residence. The statute applies to any prospective college student who merely meets the basic criteria set by the statute. Notwithstanding, the state of California has a legitimate purpose to offer cheaper education to its residence. The average income of a college graduate is significantly higher than a non college grad. Subsequently, a well educated cohort of California residents translates to long term benefits for the state.

Nonetheless, last year around this time (September 15, 2008), the state appellate court reversed and remanded a trial court’s dismissal of the suit challenging the legality of A.B. 540. The court found that the appellants (Martinez) had a claim of federal preemption, violation of equal protection, and violation of privilege and immunities clause. Presently the case is pending in trial court while the U.C. Regents requested the California Supreme Court to review the appellate court decision.

At the end of it all, if A.B. 540 is eliminated, undocumented immigrants will have to pay non-resident tuition but cannot be eligible for any federal or university financial aid. On the flip side, nothing will change for the out of state students who brought the action. They and other out of state students will have to pay the non-resident tuition that can be around $22,000 for public schools. In these trying economic times as well, undergraduate and graduate schools are opportunities to get out of the storm for a while. School becomes necessary to distinguish yourself from others once you get out into the job market.

Yet, you might ask, who is so hell bound are helping take these opportunities from students who by “function over form” are essentially residents of California? The counter to that would be who are those just as hell bound to protect these students? On one side of the ring are the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Lawyer’s Committee of Civil Rights. On the other side of the ring are the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), and the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF). Each group describes themselves as a public interest group devoted to giving a voice to the voiceless.

The Lawyer’s Committee of Civil Rights tries to “obtain equal opportunity for minorities by addressing factors that contribute to racial justice and economic opportunity.” Noble causes by any means; I can just see those hard working young attorneys spending hours writing amici. They’re trying to presenting things just right, prevailing, getting something for the small guy.

The Pacific Legal Foundation is “devoted to a vision of individual freedom, responsible government, and color-blind justice . . . to build a future of economic freedom and equal opportunity.” The Pacific Legal Foundation and the Committee of Civil Rights are dedicated to equal opportunity and the eradicating injustice.

Immigration Reform Law Institute is an organization narrowly tailored to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. More specifically, advocating for citizens harmed by illegal immigration. On the other hand, MALDEF “promotes equality and justice through litigation, advocacy, public policy, and community education in the areas of employment, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, education, and language rights.” MALDEF proudly calls itself “the law firm of the Latino community.” However, they still call themselves public interest groups.

It is obvious, and I do love to point out the obvious, that these groups advocate for particular groups within the public. So then I have to ask; what is the public? According to Merriam Webster, public means of, relating to, or affecting all the people or the whole area of a nation or state or relating to people in general. This definition just doesn’t seem to fit. If public meant all the people then wouldn’t the interest these groups focus on be related to all the people of a nation? According to Merriam-Webster, a nation or state does not specify citizenship, so people of a nation do not necessarily require the possession of documentation. Moreover, Black’s Law definition is: 1. relating or belonging to an entire community, state, or nation, 2. Open or available for all to use, share, or enjoy.

From the definition then, one who works for the public’s interest should work for all members of the community. Perhaps the term public interest is a misnomer. If a group represents only a subset of people within the public, should they not be called by some other name? Maybe the term public interest should not be used. Each group should just call themselves by the specific interest they represent. MALDEF has the right idea. But to narrowly categorize each group is inefficient, non-uniform, and too difficult to bother with.

There are different terms to use: specified cause interest, fractional interest, interest of the part, constituent interest. I like constituent interest. One of the definitions of constituent is: one part of something that makes up the whole. Yet Constituent Interest Law doesn’t have the same ring as Public Interest Law. The latter offers the hearer an image of dedication, sacrifice, self gratification of helping the people. The former just lets you know you can’t help everybody. Sometimes you might be hurting them.

Law school is difficult. Law school is very stressful. It takes up your weekdays and weekends. Many reading this may be first year students who did not do so well in the Fall, which means you now have to work harder to make up for it. Read the full story

My alarm rudely wakes me up at 7:30 in the morning. Dragging myself out of bed, I slug toward the shower. Once I come out of that steamy sanctuary, I have to make my way to school. But I don’t mind. I get dressed and walk out my door. My lungs fill with the cool morning air yet to be completely adulterated by the coughing exhaust from every car stuck in traffic. I decide to take Pico this morning. I see shops opening up and people going to work. The old lady is washing the sidewalk in front of her store and sweeping with an old straw broom. I see the restaurants I’d like to go to. Read the full story