You probably know about the prediction of Doomsday resulting from the end of the 5,125-year-long Mayan calendar on Dec. 21, 2012. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon)
The good news is, if the Mayans are right, you don't have to worry about grading exams, syllabi for next semester, or the "crisis" in legal education. (However, you still should plan on attending the Alumni Holiday Party on Dec. 6 and graduation on Dec. 14.)
If the Mayans are wrong, though, you might want to keep some of this information in mind:
1. We have another great semester of speakers ahead of us in the Spring. Big 10 Colloquia are on Feb. 22, April 4, and April 9. The Pound Lecture is March 7 and the Cline Williams Jurist-in-Residence is Feb. 14. Our own faculty members are giving STIR talks on Jan. 10 (von der Dunk), Feb. 7 (Ruser), March 14 (Shoemaker), and April 11 (Blankley). Mark your calendars!
A full set of dates can be found on the Law Faculty Wiki: http://lawfacwiki.unl.edu/
2. You can update your faculty page with "buttons" directing people to your ssrn page or to your Digital Commons page. Marcia has told me that if you Google your name, the first result for each one of us is our faculty page. If you have a button directing viewers to your scholarship, then it will increase your national profile and scholarly impact. You should also make sure your CV is updated and able to be downloaded from your web page.
3. I am looking for ideas for Brownbag Lunches next semester. Marcia will lead a discussion of academic uses for iPads in teaching and research on Thursday, Jan. 17. Please let me know if you think there are other topics that might be interesting for us to discuss over a casual lunch.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a relaxing break between grading exams and the beginning of next semester.
Kind regards,
Richard