Every year, the law school at which I teach holds an auction to raise funds for students who want to do public service work over the summer. The auction is a social highlight of the school year, and it raises a lot of money for the cause. Most of the money spent at the auction comes from the students themselves, which is a bit ironic, but lots of outside parties donate most of the valuable items sold, so it's a net increase in "wealth" for the students who opt for public service. The faculty and staff of the school also donate items, including dinners, bowling parties, and raft trips.

I'll never forget the year we had a bottle of Vietnamese "snake liquor" in the silent auction. This was a large bottle of some sort of clear alcoholic beverage in which was suspended, and I am not making this up, a sizeable dead snake. I bid a lot on that one, but somebody else wanted it even more than I did.

The most expensive and sought-after item of them all, however, is "Dean for a Day," in which the high bidder gets to take over the school for a single 24-hour period. Usually a group of first-year students pools their funds to buy this one, and one never knows what one is going to find upon pulling onto campus on the designated day.

I try to lay low -- very low -- on "Dean for a Day" Day.

It's today.