The Rogers News

Category: Our Experiences

Tales of my life as told by me.

  • A Few Things About Me

    A few things to note about this picture*:

    (1) It was taken in my one-bedroom apartment in Rosselyn, VA. I paid way too much for the apartment.

    (2) You can see golf clubs in the picture. I like to golf.

    (3) The University of Michigan hat you can see, I no longer have.

    (4) I’ve had that TV since my freshman year in college. I still use it.

    (5) It was difficult to glue eyes on the wooden man. In fact, they fell off shortly thereafter. Sad, I know.

    (6) The out-of-focus picture is of my hometown.
    *Update 2009: Picture of wooden artist doll.

  • Studying for Business Associations

    I’m studying for my Business Associations final next Tuesday. We’ve covered four general areas:

    1. Agency
    2. Partnership
    3. Corporations
    4. Securities

    My outline for 1 – 3 is 27 pages long; it’s 40 pages long for Securities, but I haven’t cut that down yet.

    Fun fun fun fun fun fun.

  • Last Day Of Class

    Today is my last day of class for this semester. I’m actually sitting in it right now. It’s Evidence and we’re talking about the admissibility of scientific evidence.

    I can’t wait for exams to be over in a week and a half. Studying for them will be fine, but I’m burnt out on reading for classes. In law school you rarely feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you’re required to do – at least after you get into a rhythm. What you don’t realize is that you’re constantly studying or thinking about studying. The reading assignments are relentless.

    I’ve been fortunate to not have writing assignments this semester. This is a polar opposite from how I felt about midterms and exams in undergrad (I majored in Economics). Back then I loved courses that required me to write papers instead of taking exams. I preferred to have time to think through the papers and felt that writing them gave me a deeper understanding of both the principles I was applying and the topic the paper was based on.

    Legal writing is different. It’s a chore. It’s mechanical. It’s dull. However, it is clear. If I had to write an term paper for an Econ class today, it would be better organized and make clearer points (I hope). At least, those would be goals of mine.

    All of my exams this semester are in-class and two or three hours long. Most are a mix of essay, short answer, and multiple choice. Professors do this because they want to provide a mock-Bar Exam experience.

    I don’t care much about the format. Multiple choice are easily my least favorite because they are the easiest to mess-up. Professors can dupe you easily, which is annoying. The pro for MC is that it requires the test taker to know exactly what they are looking for. Precision is good, however difficult to obtain under test-taking conditions. An essay on the other hand allows a little more leeway for the writer and places the burden of precision on the professor, who must grade precisely and consistently.

    Anyway, I can’t wait for the semester to be over. I’ll be halfway through law school. At times, it has seemed to pass slowly, but overall it has been a fast year-and-a-half.

  • Avoiding the Salvation Army

    I avoided a Salvation Army donation bell-ringer for the first time tonight. I passed the old man in his knit hat on the way in. He wasn’t ringing the bell. He didn’t say hello. But neither of those facts are why I didn’t give. I just didn’t have any change on me and I didn’t want to deal with saying, “Sorry, I don’t have any change,” so I went out the far exit.

  • Commerce Clause

    A Con Law based refresher for myself.

    Commerce Clause – express power to Congress to enact legislation that affects interstate commerce.

    Dormant Commerce Clause – prohibits states form enacting laws that impede interstate commerce.

  • Ban Laptops in the Classroom?

    We’re talking about whether laptops should be banned in class. We read this article.

    A few of the problems laptops (and their users) cause are that they are a distraction to other students, students watch porn, and professors don’t have students full attention.

    I’ve been reading news during this discussion.

    Update: I’ll be taking my Copyright final on my laptop. That will be the first time I’ve ever taken an exam on a computer and not in a blue book

  • Spousing Unit

    “Spousing unit” is the term consistently being used in Evidence class right now to refer to one’s spouse.

    I do not have a spousing unit.