Evan's Tax Tip of the Day (specifically for Duke Grads)

Usually, if you donate money to a charity or school then that money is tax deductible. However, if you receive a benefit out of that donation (some material one, like say a sweatshirt), then you normally must take the value of that sweatshirt out of the tax deduction. For example, if you donate $1,000 to say PBS, and you get a $20 sweatshirt for your donation, then the amount you can deduct from your taxable income is $980.

A special situation arises when you donate money to your school for the right to purchase tickets to say, basketball games. Duke University has the Iron Dukes, where if you contribute to a certain level then you can buy tickets to home basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Before 1988, you would not be able to deduct any of the money you donated for the "right" to purchase tickets. But, after considerable "whining" (this is the exact term my tax book uses) by universities and supporters of their athletics dept, you can deduct "80 percent of any amount paid to an 'institution of higher learning' if the deduction would be allowable 'but for the fact that the taxpayer receives (directly or indirectly) as a result of paying such amount the right to purchase tickets for seating at an athletic event in an athletic stadium of such institution.'"

Secton 170(l) of the United States Tax Code

This past weekend was "journal tryouts." Basically, you sit in your room and work continuously all weekend to crank out a bluebooking exercise and a writing component. I'd explain more, but I feel like I might run afoul of my honor code vow not to discuss the tryout at all until everyone has taken it.

Thus, my rant about journal tryouts will have to wait for another day, as people pick one of two weekends to do it. I chose to do it this past weekend, because I will be in Seattle this coming weekend and thus unable to do it then.

Journals are the way that law school academics get their work published. The odd thing is that law students run the journals. So a law professor will write an article, and students will edit the article and then publish it.

If your tryout is good and you are selected to join a journal, then your reward is that you get to cite check scholarly articles and maybe edit some of the submissions. So basically, your reward for making yourself completely miserable over one weekend is continued misery over the next two years. Why then, would anyone subject themselves to this?

For one little line on your resume that says something like, "Virginia Sports and Entertaiment Law Journal."

Yes, apparently this one little line can make or break you in the job market (so I'm told by the journal people). We're told that employers expect you to be on a journal, and its a supposed black mark if you're not on one.

Still, I have some anecdotal evidence at least that journals are not the end all - Alison, who graduated here last year, has a great job in NYC but was not on a journal. Stories like that only fuel the sentiment towards not doing the tryout, which is the path that many people have elected to take.

One of the supposed rationales for the tryout made me chuckle when I first read it. It was something to the effect that after going through the tryout you'll be amazed at how far you've come in only one and a half semesters here at law school. But after I got done last night, I realized that I've come a long way since August of last year. Even if the people don't grade my tryout very well, I'm happy with the work I did on it, and it certainly is exponentially better than anything I could have produced six months ago.

Its returned. It would come to me once a year at Duke. Usually during the winter. It would last for approximately a month.

The sinus infection.

The dry, non-productive cough. The hacking up of horrible stuff in the morning. The lack of energy during the day. The "just feeling well enough to do work" feeling. The looks from people near you who think you have the plague. The bags of cough drops consumed. And then the repetition of this cycle day after day after day.

Eventually I would go to student health and get some medicine. Eventually.

This time is different. I'm going on Monday to get something to nip this in the bud right now.

And the fact that this is going on during my journal tryout weekend (I'll blog about this at some point I'm sure) is making it even worse.

The situation:

You walk into a unisex, single stall bathroom (door locks behind you) to pee. Right when you are walking into the bathroom, a girl walks up behind you, apparently waiting to go after you. You walk into the bathroom to find an absolute mess - pee all over the toilet seat.

If there wasn't anyone waiting to go after you, the decision would be simple - pee and then get out of dodge. But now there is a girl waiting to use the toilet... and even though you are not responsible for the mess on the toilet seat, you will be held responsible by the person waiting for you to finish up. But of course, nobody wants to clean up someone else's pee.

Thoughts?

Why the lack of regular blogging lately?

I suppose its just because I've been run down from school / summer job stuff / health issues.

Anyway, me and Kim went out to dinner this past Friday at an Italian restaurant called Vivace. We sat down and around 3 minutes into our sitting, and old couple sitting near us started yelling at our waitress, saying how other couples who were seated after them got their food first. The waitress apologized profusely. Other workers joined in on the apologizing.

It was a sign of things to come.

We ordered our food and approximately an hour later we had no bread and no appetizer. I was getting pissy. Periodically our waitress would come out to say that the food was only a couple minutes away. The excuse was that the kitchen is really backed up. That excuse would make sense, except that a couple who sat down 40 minutes after us received their entrees at the same time as we did. That just pissed me off to no end. And another table, seated after us, got their entrees first. That dog won't hunt monsegnior.

So eventually (and I do mean eventually) we got the check. I tipped much less than I normally do and wrote a note on the back explaining why. As we got up, I saw the host and spoke with him. I told him that this is the first time I've ever said anything like this in a restaurant, but the service tonight was just unacceptable. He said that the kitchen was really backed up (apparently that was just the line for the night), to which I replied that the table he was clearing off (because the people had finished their meal and paid) came in forty minutes after us. He seemed a little stunned and said for me to wait there while he goes to inquire.

So I'm standing around waiting (and trying to avoid the waitress who sucked so bad) and he comes out and says that the only explanation he has is that we had a different server. Duh. And then he gave me a gift certificate for a dinner for two, which was a nice gesture I thought. And then he thanked me for saying something.

After much deliberation, Kim and I decided to give the place another shot before she returned to NJ. So we went back on Sunday night and everything was much smoother. It took us about half the time to get our meals and be out the door.

One annoying thing though - the good waiter from the first time (the one who served the people quickly) was around on Sunday and kept giving us dirty looks. I've never been a server, but is there some sort of "server's union" that goes on in the back? Where even the good servers have the backs of the bad ones? I don't know... maybe the girl got fired or something and the other servers liked her despite her crappiness at the profession...

A gift from Kim:





Have I mentioned that I have the greatest girlfriend in the world?

"I want to be honest with you. We're here looking for one student to work for us this summer. ONE." - Guy interviewing me (among 29 others) today.

There's a morale booster.

In other news, Barrister's Ball is this weekend. This is the "law school prom." The main differences from high school appear to be:

1) No tuxedo needed
2) No dinner served
3) Open bar at the event

I'm looking forward to it.

"I've gotten so many valentines that I've already checked my mailbox twice!" - 1L here that I do not know.

Man, that girl needs a good friendly punching in the face.

I got in my car to drive to Wal Mart today and I noticed a smell eminating from my jacket.

Stale beer.

My jacket absolutely reeked of it.

I tried to figure out when it could have happened. The most likely explanation is that on Friday night, when we were playing speed quarters and my jacket was on the ground, some beer spilled onto it. However, an equally plausible scenario is that Ryan poured beer on my jacket at the bar and I just don't remember.

The sad thing is, I didn't even go out last night. I stayed in to let my body heal from Thursday and Friday nights... which were nothing compared to the ultra bender I had from the week before, which was a Wed - Sat non-remembering boozethon. One potential cause for this boozing is that it is February... which for UVA Law students has a special meaning.

FebClub

FebClub is a themed party every night off February. There is a schedule and all, and quite honestly, a lot of the parties are lame, but its generally plentiful free booze and good times.

Well, not good times for my liver. Good thing I have two.

Evan's Tax Tip of the Day

If you are planning on being a mistress or pool boy (or having one of your own), you must realize there can be income tax consequences.

This can be seen in the great case of United States v. Harris. Harris was one of two twin sisters who were "friends" with a wealthy widower. The man gave the two sisters approximately half a million dollars each in gifts and checks over a five year span. The money and gifts were to be considered either as gifts (and thus subject to a gift tax) or as income to the twin sisters (and thus subject to an income tax). The IRS wished it to be considered as income, but ultimately lost its case. Why?

The court analogized the case to a similar case before it. In that case, a wealthy man went into a strip club and met a 21 year old stripper who caught his fancy. He took her and some of her stripper buddies out for dinner, and then offered each of them money to leave until it was just him and the 21 year old. He then told her he would write her a check for however much she wanted, and she replied $1,200, so she could buy herself and her sister a fur coat. He replied, and that started off a long relationship where she would see him regularly (at the club and outside of the club too, like say in his hotel room), and he would pay her rent, buy her things, etc. These things were ruled as gifts and thus she was not subject to an income tax.

Contrast this to another case, where a man had sex with a woman on a fairly regular basis, and also gave her a sum of cash after sex on a fairly regular basis. This was deemed to be prostitution, and thus she was subject to an income tax.

The lesson out of all this? If you're going to be a mistress or pool boy, make sure that your gifts are not given in such a manner to make it look like prostitution. Or else, you'll be subject to the wrath of the IRS.

The situation: Duke up by 3 late in the game, Sean Dockery fouled by a UNC player. Duke is in the double bonus and will go to the line for two FTs. Dockery is approximately a 64% foul shooter.

The realization: Evan figures Dockery will miss both FTs, so he calls up Al and wants odds on two misses. The call is taking a long time to get through, but luckily the Duke players are taking awhile to get to the line while Coach K instructs them what to do when Dockery inevitably misses the shots. Evan's call gets through, he demands an offer, and Al foolishly replies with "8 to 1", which Evan immediately puts five dollars on.

The shots: Dockery leaves the first FT badly short, so one would expect him to put a little more oomph behind the second one. Unfortunately for Duke (and Al), Dockery puts up the same exact wussy FT and then for good measure fouls the UNC player who rebounds his brick.

The taunt: Ben, watching the game with Al, informs him that his last phone call just cost him $40.

Hahahhahahhahahhaha.

Go Dockery!

One commercial really stood out to me during yesterday's Super Bowl:

A large man is shooting free throws in a gym. He makes one, and then turns to the camera. Its Shaquille O'Neal, and he has what appears to be tears in his eyes. He makes some comment about how he is sad that one of the Desperate Housewives lost her baby.

Now the question that you know is coming from my keyboard...

Why did he MAKE the free throw?

It doesn't make any sense. If his eyes are full of tears, how can he see the basket? I realize he normally is a terrible free throw shooter, so maybe the writer thought that watery eyes turn a bad shooter into a good one?

The commercial should have gone as follows: Shaquille is in a gym, dribbling a basketball. He goes up for a dunk, but inexpicably misses. He tries again, and misses yet again. Then, we get the close up and he's crying. Then he says the line about being sad from Desperate Housewives.

There... doesn't that make much more sense than him MAKING a free throw while crying?

And that’s where the opportunities are, as demonstrated two years ago by Ruiz Foods and the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. According to Ruiz, 7-Eleven officials were dissatisfied with sales of hot dogs and other items prepared on in-store roller grills. Consequently, the chain contemplated removing the grills altogether.

That’s when Ruiz Foods product developers accepted the challenge. Sixteen months later, 7-Eleven’s national TV campaign launched a 3-oz., lightly fried and batter-dipped flour taquito that performed well on the grill. Named “Go-Go Taquitos” by 7-Eleven, the product was an instant hit.

“A lot of Mexican items don’t lend themselves very well to on-the-go eating,” a 7-Eleven official soon told the Fresno Bee. “Tacos and chalupas crack and spill. Fillings can squeeze out burritos and into your lap, and enchiladas require forks.”

Around two years ago, I was on my way to The College of New Jersey for some work related activity. The annoying thing was that I was going around lunch time and had not eaten lunch yet, so I had to stop at 7-11 to get something to eat. I decided on 3 "Go-Go Tacquitos" and a gatorade, and then hustled over to TCNJ.

And so it began.

I found a quiet spot in a building, used my phone to hop onto a conference call, and then began to chow down on the tacquitos. They were tasty - sort of crunchy on the outside, filled with some sort of meat paste on the inside, and a little spicy. Not too spicy, but enough for me to notice. I inhaled all three of them in approximately 2 minutes and washed it down with some gatorade.

The conference call began, and so did the battle with my stomach. I eventually was forced to bring the phone into the bathroom with me.

And ever since then, the pattern is the same. I decide to get some Go-Go Tacquitos, usually when drunk, and then my stomach is jacked up for the entire next day. This past Friday there was a party at a house across the street from a 7-11, and I knew instantly what was going to happen. I was going to drink a lot and then drunkenly crave the tacquitos that would undoubtedly cause me gastrointestinal misery for the next 24 hours.

Yesterday, I sat on the toilet for more time than I care to remember.

Why do I do it? Can I stop? I've vowed to not eat another one of those in my life. I've asked Mark to stop me if he ever sees me even thinking about buying another one. But I don't know if I'll be able to, especially when alcohol is involved. I guess I'll need to find some sort of substitute - maybe a 7-11 hot dog? But some of those things look like they'll actually hurt me much worse than a taquito.



And in relation to this, I can't stop thinking of a line (from a song) by Hermes in Futurama.

When push comes to shove
You gotta do what you love
Even if its not a good idea

Criminal Law: B+
Torts: B+
Civil Procedure: B+
Contracts: A

Can you say, outlier?

I can say, "BOO YAH!" and my day is made.

*Today, for the first time in the two weeks I've had Constitutional Law, I would be able to talk rather intelligently about the topic at hand. Two weeks of me being utterly clueless, and today (topic: Judicial Supremacy) is the only time I know what we're doing. I feel pretty happy about this.

*I played three handed beeramid last night. I must say that it is not a good idea, not just because you end up drinking more, but because there is simply less variety to the game. Its easier to keep track of who has what, and your calling options are limited. On the other end of the spectrum, if you have too many people playing, you have some people who fall through the cracks and get assigned nothing. What is the optimal number of beeramid players? I propose 5. With 5, you don't have to go to a double deck, and everyone gets involved. It is so settled.

*I haven't played "triple threat" in awhile. In fact, I just haven't played beer pong in a long time. Sigh.

*This morning I crushed the foil wrapper around my bacon biscuit into a ball, and asked Mark for odds on my ability to throw it into the trash can against the wall, approximately 25 feet away. The trash can's opening is rectangular, approximately 1.5 feet by 1 foot. What are the proper odds on this shot? I was given 5-1. In any event, my shot was dead center, but hit the front rim, and bounced away.

*How much is law school like high school? I just got an email about this, and I can pick up my results for 3 dollars on VDay. Just like in high school where we had the compatability tests.