"Good Morning America" didn't seem to understand why Harvard Law School (HLS) assistant professor Heather K. Gerken, who had established herself as an expert on the Presidential election controversy, refused to appear on their show last December.

They offered her a car and promised to get her to her civil procedure class only five or ten minutes late.

But Gerken refused.

"I had promised [my students] donuts that morning," Gerken says.

While "Good Morning America" was surprised by Gerken's refusal, the 31 year old rising star in the legal field says the decision not to appear on one of the nation's most watched television programs was not a difficult one.

It was a decision she had to face often during the month-long Florida election controversy when Gerken, an election law specialist, became one of the most sought after political commentators in the country.

Gerken says she was determined not to let media demands pull her away from teaching.

"My primary job here is to teach and write--that's why they hired me, and that's what I enjoy," she says. "I never missed a class, and I was never unprepared or late."