QUES: MALS was formed here more than 30 years ago. Today, 14 staff attorneys, 26 office workers and 21 University of Memphis third- year law students work out of rented offices in the old Claridge Hotel building at 109 N. Main. Offices are spartan. There are no lush rugs or stylish furniture. The large table in the conference room is simple varnished wood. Offices are small and mostly plain, except for the eclectic mix of pop art, African statuary and neon that adorns litigation director Webb Brewer's space. Brewer, who has been at the agency 20 years, said there is a need for lawyers of all stripes to help with the problems of the poor. "The private bar could meet more of the need through pro bono work, but there are still cases that involve the systemic problems for low-income people that we would need to do," said Brewer. "The legal system marketplace just doesn't serve low-income people too well, except in fee-generat-ing type cases," Brewer said. "If a poor person gets run over by a bus, an attorney might take that case because they might be able to recover part of the damage award as attorney fees. But so many of the cases we handle have to do with basic rights and a decent life. There is just no profit motive." Larry Pivnick, law professor at the University of Memphis Law School and director of political programs at MALS, said Legal Services is a great learning laboratory for law students. "There are thousands and thousands of people who have problems that never get an opportunity to appear in court," Pivnick said. "Some people may not be particularly articulate. Courts have rules that clients don't always understand." Brewer said a major focus of the agency's work involves housing. "Although a lot of our work is grant-driven, we find that the lack of safe and decent affordable housing and the prevalence of predatory lending are the biggest problems in our client population," Brewer said, referring to clients such as James.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: What is the economic demographic of MALS' clients?

QUES: The cute red ball rolled over to the blue ball and said hello. The blue ball was scared and went to cry to the green ball. The green ball laughed at the blue ball. Then the green ball told the orange ball that blue ball was stupid. Most felt this was not good to do and so they punished the green ball by taking away all his air. From that day on everyone saw the air-less green ball and knew that they could not do or say any bad things. This is how the trouble started. The purple ball used the fear of everyone to become the leader that they all feared. The purple ball was mean to everyone. Until one day the red ball spoke up and got all the other colored balls together and they took the air from the purple ball and put it in the green ball. Sadly, the green ball had been without air for too long and was dead.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Why did the green ball call the blue ball stupid?

QUES: The Glory of Melaka: In the early days, if you were not a pirate or a mosquito, Melaka was not much of a place to live. The land was infertile, just a swampy plain, the river small and sluggish. But it had a sheltered harbor, protected from the monsoons by neighboring Sumatra. Later, the strategic location and deep-water channel close to the coast brought in the bigger vessels of the trade-wind traffic crossing the Indian Ocean. The first to realize the larger commercial potential, as so often throughout the country's subsequent history, were the Chinese. In 1409, under a new directive from Emperor Chu Ti to pursue trade in the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, a Chinese fleet of 50 ships headed by Admiral Cheng Ho called in at Melaka. They made Parameswara an offer he could not refuse: port facilities and an annual financial tribute in exchange for Chinese protection against the marauding Thais. In 1411, Parameswara took the money to Beijing himself, and the emperor gratefully made him a vassal king. Twenty years later, the Chinese withdrew again from the South Seas trade. The new ruler of Melaka, Sri Maharajah, switched his allegiance to the Muslim trading fraternity by marrying into the Muslim faith, wedding the daughter of a sultan in Sumatra. Islam won its place in Malaya not by conquestas had been the case in North Africa and Europebut by trade, dynastic alliances, and peaceful preaching. Bengali peddlers had already brought the faith to the east coast. In Melaka and throughout the peninsula, Islam thrived as a strong, male-dominated religion of individuality, offering dynamic leadership and preaching brotherhood and self-relianceall qualities ideally suited to the coastal trade. At the same time, Sufi mystics synthesized Islamic teaching with local Malay traditions of animistic magic and charisma, though Islam did not become the state religion until Muzaffar Shah became sultan of Melaka (14461459). But the key figure in the sultanate was Tun Perak, bendahara (prime minister) and military commander. He expanded Melaka's power along the west coast and down to Singapore and the neighboring Bintan islands. He also had orang laut pirates patrolling the seas to extort tribute from passing ships. After Ailied district chiefs had repelled assaults from Thai-controlled armies from Pahang, Tun Perak personally led a famous victory over a Thai fleet off Batu Pahat in 1456.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Why was Melaka not an ideal place for most people to live in its early days?

QUES: Dr. Benjamin Stone is a hotshot young surgeon who longs to leave the drudgery of a Washington , D.C. emergency room and finally leaps at his chance at more money and less death as a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills . On his last day , Ben's relationship with his co-workers is presumed to be anything but a warm one . None of his colleagues will join him for a drink and a cake in his honor has an iced portion of the phrase '' Good riddance , asshole '' sliced out . Ben's cross-country drive in a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster is interrupted when he crashes in the rural hamlet of Grady , South Carolina . The crash damages the fence of local Judge Evans , who sentences him to community service at a nearby hospital . Ben offers to pay for the fence , but the stern judge increases his community service each time he talks back . Defeated , he reports to the hospital , where Nurse Packer humbles him by ordering him to clock in and out , as would a factory worker . Though upset , Ben quickly makes friends with Mayor Nick Nicholson , the town cafe's proprietor/head waitress , and Melvin , the local mechanic tasked with repairing Ben's car . Ben soon finds his clinic work to be much more laid-back than the emergency room . He has simple cases such as spots before the eyes , fishing hook impalings , and even reading mail for a young illiterate couple , whose baby he later delivers . The experience also humbles Ben when he mistreats a case of mitral valve regurgitation leading to late cyanosis in the child .
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Did Ben have a job?