How did YOU choose a major?

Anyone with a pulse knows that U.S. immigration coverage has increased in the media and gained weight as a political issue. Now, the policies and rules have become so complex that many law students have decided on Immigration Law as a discipline. Likewise, many law professors and experts have declared Immigration Law a burgeoning career field.

Even savvy, educated individuals might have difficulty deciphering the official website from fee-based "assistance" when it comes to immigration facts and forms. So, while the media and politicians perpetuated the immigration frenzy, the law and legal education run to capitali...eh, argue...I mean advocate for those affected -- not unlike environmental law (a necessary headache, but that's another blog).

What media phenomenon will inspire a flood of "application to change major" forms, stirring up U.S. academia next?

Law without ethics begets injustice; but so does one-sided media.

My last blog ranted about the need for positive news coverage on law school and the legal profession. The Baltimore Sun heard my cry this week.

According to Karen Rothenberg -- the exiting dean at the University of Maryland's law school -- the problem lies in the media's attention to rankings and financial gain related to legal education. So, in her article from the Baltimore Sun, she praises the efforts of a program that highlights professional training DURING legal education and a focus on ethics.

It's nice to know that leading administrators in legal education recognize the lack of coverage this great program has received. As I quipped in my last blog, there's no void of media coverage on the greedy, self-gratifying and (dare I say...yes I'll say it...) UNSCRUPULOUS issues in legal education and the legal profession. When insiders take action to correct the stereotypes, misconceptions and sometimes genuine faults of the field the media needs to it too.

Now, I'm a budding journalist, and I realize good news is often hard to sell. (Count the number of positive stories on the front pages of the top media websites). But...if we thoroughly publicize the good, bad and ugly...the stories will sell themselves.

So, I say, kudos to Dean Rothenberg for acknowledging the ills in legal education and offering support to programs that remedy them.