The latest and greatest podcast, with my good friend David "Sparky" Mortimer!
CougarCast: BYU vs. Utah
The sound wasn't too great on this one, because I was using different equipment to record Sparky on the phone, which meant using a different sound booth and different microphone. But, I think I'm still comprehendible.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
We've got ourselves a Bill Shakespeare over here!
This semester I'm taking ENGL 232, which is all about Shakespeare. One of our assignments is to start a personal Shakespeare blog. It's been a lot of fun so far, more than I thought it would be.
If you want to check it out, and follow it, go here:
Refudiatin'
(If you don't know where the 'Refudiatin'' title comes from, click here.)
If you want to check it out, and follow it, go here:
Refudiatin'
(If you don't know where the 'Refudiatin'' title comes from, click here.)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Prep Rally
Today was my first day of my BYU LSAT prep class. I already think it's going to be super helpful. They gave me a ton of practice material: three binders of old LSAT tests, two notebooks of practice problems, and not just one LSAT prep manual but three. It's a whole library full.
All we did in today's class was take a practice test. I got a 159! And that's not after taking out the questions I skipped, like I've done with my other practice tests. So, I guess I'm making progress.
I think having the obligation of a class that I signed up for and paid for will really help me get the practice I need. I really want to practice, and I even enjoy it (hence all the dorky charts and blog posts about it). But, when I'm also taking 14 credits, working 20+ hours at The Daily Universe, raising a one-year-old and helping my wife so that she can get her homework done...it's hard to find the free time to escape to the library.
Speaking of dorky charts:
All we did in today's class was take a practice test. I got a 159! And that's not after taking out the questions I skipped, like I've done with my other practice tests. So, I guess I'm making progress.
I think having the obligation of a class that I signed up for and paid for will really help me get the practice I need. I really want to practice, and I even enjoy it (hence all the dorky charts and blog posts about it). But, when I'm also taking 14 credits, working 20+ hours at The Daily Universe, raising a one-year-old and helping my wife so that she can get her homework done...it's hard to find the free time to escape to the library.
Speaking of dorky charts:
Friday, September 9, 2011
CougarCast: BYU vs. Texas
Three podcasts in two weeks!
CougarCast: BYU vs. Texas
Preview podcasts are tough, because everything we talk about is intangible and imaginary. It's a lot easier to have an actual game to talk about! But, here it is anyway.
CougarCast: BYU vs. Texas
Preview podcasts are tough, because everything we talk about is intangible and imaginary. It's a lot easier to have an actual game to talk about! But, here it is anyway.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Podcast Numero Dos
I did another BYU football podcast, this time with copy editor Dallin Turner. This one was a lot faster to put together! For one thing, we didn't talk for more than 30 minutes like we did last time. I didn't have to fit in quotes from coach Mendenhall and the players like I did for last week's.
So, here it is!
CougarCast: BYU 14, Ole Miss 13
So, here it is!
CougarCast: BYU 14, Ole Miss 13
Saturday, September 3, 2011
More LSAT practice, plus charts!
This morning, while Utah State was playing Auburn, I went to the library to take another practice LSAT test. It had been a while since my last one, and right now I'm less than a month away from the real LSAT (October 1).
In general, I did better. I didn't leave quite so many questions blank when time ran out on the analytical reasoning section, like I did last time. Last time, I only answered 56.3% of the questions, this time it was 73.9% of the questions. But, as far as the questions I actually answered correctly, out of all the questions, it was only a little improvement: 43.4% correct as opposed to 41.7%. And when you take out the questions I left blank, then I did much worse: 58.8% correct as opposed to 74.1% correct before. So, overall, leaving fewer questions blank is helping me. But maybe picking up the speed means more errors.
The reading comprehension and logical reasoning questions seemed a lot harder this time! Even with that, I did better in some places and worse in others. Last time I averaged 78.5% correct on the logical reasoning sections, today I averaged 82%. I got 77.8% correct in the reading comprehension section, and last time I had 82.8%.
Even though I did worse in many ways, the bottom line is my score today was approximately 156, and when I practiced in July it was approximately 151. So that's an improvement. But, if you take away the questions I left blank for both tests, I got 160 in July and 159 today. Interesting. The fewer questions I skip, the better I will do. But my accuracy is going down.
Anyway, here are some charts that might explain these numbers better:
So, in other words ... I have a long way to go.
In general, I did better. I didn't leave quite so many questions blank when time ran out on the analytical reasoning section, like I did last time. Last time, I only answered 56.3% of the questions, this time it was 73.9% of the questions. But, as far as the questions I actually answered correctly, out of all the questions, it was only a little improvement: 43.4% correct as opposed to 41.7%. And when you take out the questions I left blank, then I did much worse: 58.8% correct as opposed to 74.1% correct before. So, overall, leaving fewer questions blank is helping me. But maybe picking up the speed means more errors.
The reading comprehension and logical reasoning questions seemed a lot harder this time! Even with that, I did better in some places and worse in others. Last time I averaged 78.5% correct on the logical reasoning sections, today I averaged 82%. I got 77.8% correct in the reading comprehension section, and last time I had 82.8%.
Even though I did worse in many ways, the bottom line is my score today was approximately 156, and when I practiced in July it was approximately 151. So that's an improvement. But, if you take away the questions I left blank for both tests, I got 160 in July and 159 today. Interesting. The fewer questions I skip, the better I will do. But my accuracy is going down.
Anyway, here are some charts that might explain these numbers better:
So, in other words ... I have a long way to go.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
A Happy Ending
I'll give you an update of my first week at work, but first:
A happy ending - Honor and forgiveness go together
I wrote an editorial about my thoughts on Brandon Davies returning to BYU after his famous Honor Code suspension in March. My immediate reaction to the news was that I hope people notice that even though BYU and the LDS Church might hold people accountable for breaking rules that aren't recognized by the rest of the world, we can still give second chances.
One thing that was unique about the writing process on this was that the current opinion editor, Allie McCoy, actually wanted me to make it longer! That doesn't happen to me very often.
The rest of my week has been filled with running the website. Since Sunday night, a lot of the stories you see and the photos that go with them were put on the website by me! It's been busy, but pretty easy and fun.
One of the coolest things I got to do was a Cougar football podcast. I'm finishing up with editing that, and we'll post it on The Daily Universe website soon.
A happy ending - Honor and forgiveness go together
I wrote an editorial about my thoughts on Brandon Davies returning to BYU after his famous Honor Code suspension in March. My immediate reaction to the news was that I hope people notice that even though BYU and the LDS Church might hold people accountable for breaking rules that aren't recognized by the rest of the world, we can still give second chances.
 |
| Courtesy of The Daily Universe |
The rest of my week has been filled with running the website. Since Sunday night, a lot of the stories you see and the photos that go with them were put on the website by me! It's been busy, but pretty easy and fun.
One of the coolest things I got to do was a Cougar football podcast. I'm finishing up with editing that, and we'll post it on The Daily Universe website soon.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Gainfully Employed!
Besides preparing for law school, the other urgent need to attend to this summer was finding a job. When I left for New York, I also left behind my job at The Daily Universe, with no guarantee of getting it back. A place like The Daily Universe has a lot of turnover every semester, because most of the BYU journalism students like to work there if they can. And I had been there for a year, so it made sense to give someone else a turn. But I also would have loved to come back, even if I wasn't a sports editor again.
Just in case, I submitted applications and resumes to a bunch of other on-campus jobs. But only half-heartedly, until I heard back from the Universe. And I did!
I got a call on Monday from R.J., the multimedia editor, who sounded really excited to recruit me for the web desk. I'm coming back as a web editor! It will be great, because I get to come back to the Universe but it will still be something new. The web editor works on the website's multimedia, like photos, slide shows and videos. The curriculum for the journalism program is changing this semester so that the lines between print and broadcast are blurred, and the reporters will be doing more multimedia projects and I get to help them with that. I have some experience (the sports desk was the guinea pig for trying out the new Wordpress system last spring, plus I've done some video editing), but I'll also be learning a lot. R.J. also mentioned that I'll be able to do the Daily Universe football podcast! I'm really excited for college football to start, and this podcast will be a good way to stay connected to sports journalism. It will be like having a sports radio show, it will be awesome. And having more skills with computers, web design and multimedia never hurts nowadays.
So I'm excited to be back!
...and...is it football season yet?
Just in case, I submitted applications and resumes to a bunch of other on-campus jobs. But only half-heartedly, until I heard back from the Universe. And I did!
I got a call on Monday from R.J., the multimedia editor, who sounded really excited to recruit me for the web desk. I'm coming back as a web editor! It will be great, because I get to come back to the Universe but it will still be something new. The web editor works on the website's multimedia, like photos, slide shows and videos. The curriculum for the journalism program is changing this semester so that the lines between print and broadcast are blurred, and the reporters will be doing more multimedia projects and I get to help them with that. I have some experience (the sports desk was the guinea pig for trying out the new Wordpress system last spring, plus I've done some video editing), but I'll also be learning a lot. R.J. also mentioned that I'll be able to do the Daily Universe football podcast! I'm really excited for college football to start, and this podcast will be a good way to stay connected to sports journalism. It will be like having a sports radio show, it will be awesome. And having more skills with computers, web design and multimedia never hurts nowadays.
So I'm excited to be back!
...and...is it football season yet?
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| http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=16764546 |
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