I took a part time job in the Walgreens photo lab this year, a job I used to work during the summers in college. I must say, it’s been quite the humbling experience. If there are no photos to develop, I have to stock shelves, empty trash, sometimes clean a bathroom and even (shudder) interact with customers. But a girl needs dinero to live this life and until I pass that stupid exam at the end of July, all I really have to offer society is my slightly-higher-than-minimum-wage mildly skilled labor. To be perfectly honest, I’ve really liked working there and will miss it this summer when I’m stressing over the bar. Passing the time stocking shelves turns out to be one of the more relaxing activities I’ve enjoyed this year. Interacting with non-lawyers has also been very therapeutic. A few words of advice from my experiences, however…and not just for law students or lawyers, but for people in general: sometimes, you all tend to really fail at life:  Continue Reading »

This blog for sale by owner.

The annual domain registration on First Floor is about to expire!  Since I am a third-year law student, and I plan on graduating (crossed fingers), if this blog is to survive as the venerable Iowa College of Law institution that it is, someone needs to take the reins. 

There are no real qualifications for the job of First Floor Iowa slumlord.  Literacy, tact, and cultural exposure are plusses but not required.  Upkeep on this place isn’t that bad either.  All you need to do is periodically kick out the transients who hang around and pay roughly $30 per year for the domain-name registration.  In any event, e-mail me at steven-wieland@uiowa.edu if you are interested in becoming the new honcho.

Ever since I belatedly took the MPRE last weekend, I’ve been wondering what, exactly, my score will mean.  The MPRE website unhelpfully says that the score is scaled between 50 and 150, with the mean (the average) at 100.  What exactly does this mean for someone who needs an 85 for their bar-exam state?  What percentile do I need to attain in order to pass?  More importantly, where on the bell curve will my score put me compared to other test-takers around the country?

I did some digging and found out how to compute an MPRE score percentile in comparison to test-takers nationwide.  According to the Legal Profession Blog, the mean score on the MPRE is actually a bit lower than what ACT, the company that produces the MPRE for the National Council of Bar Examiners, tells us it is.  In reality, the mean is approximately 98.33.  Their other published data shows that the standard deviation for test-takers is 19.72.  Thus, if you know what your MPRE score is, you can compute your percentile position using this information.  I spelled it out for those of us who don’t remember taking college statistics:

1. Compute Your Z-Score.  Use this formula to compute your z-score, where “X” is your individual MPRE score:

   Z = (X - 98.33) / 19.72

 

2. Use Your Z-Score to Compute Your Percentile.  Instead of dealing with more algebra to determine how your z-score translates into your position on the bell curve, you can go to the Measuring Usability website and use the Z-Score to Percentile Calculator.  Select the ”One-Sided” button and input your z-score into the text box.  Don’t forget to use a negative sign if your z-score was negative.  The calculator will produce two numbers for you, with the “Percent of Area” number being your percentile score.

That’s all there is to it!  After playing with this for a while, you will notice that many states require very little from the people taking the MPRE.  Even states that are on the high end of the country and require bar applicants to get an 85 or better on the MPRE are really only asking you to land somewhere in the 24th percentile or better.  In other words, you only need to do better than about 1 out of 4 people who took the test.  This means that for those of you who got around a 130, you are in the top 5 or 10 percent of the country.  Sorta makes you wonder why you studied so hard, huh?  Anyway, check out this quick Wikipedia entry on standardized scoring for more information on how this works.

Now why can’t ACT simply give us a chart so we don’t have to go through this hassle?  Nobody seems to know for sure, but it may have something to do with licensing issues.

Most people in Illinois thought US Attorney Pat Fitzgerald was going to bring the hammer down on Gov. Rod “the God” Blagojevich eventually, but no one saw the events of this morning coming. Blago, who was swept into office six years ago after promising to eliminate corruption from Illinois state government, just experienced the end of his once promising political career. It is currently unclear whether he will resign as governor or stay on to fight to clear his name (which seems almost impossible given some of the juicy comments he made on the FBI’s wiretap), but his resignation could create a huge political headache for rising star Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Blagojevich (and his single-digit approval rating) was in all likelihood going to lose the 2010 Democratic nomination for governor to Ms. Madigan, daughter of Blago’s arch nemesis, Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan. Lisa Madigan would have then gone on to win the gubernatorial race handily against any token Republican candidate. If Blagojevich decides to resign, however, Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn will succeed him to office. Mr. Quinn is well-liked throughout the State and certainly has high political ambitions. To that extent, it is quite possible that Ms. Madigan would decide not to challenge Mr. Quinn in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Having announced she was not interested in filling Pres.-Elect Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate, Lisa Madigan put all of her eggs in the gubernatorial basket. If Blagojevich resigns, Madigan must either challenge Pat Quinn in a primary or begin pushing her name for appointment to the U.S. Senate. Further complicating matters, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced his support today for a special election in light of Blagogate. If there is such an election, it is at least possible that Illinois voters would send a Republican to Washington, D.C., in light of the gridlock in both Democratic-controlled houses of state government and the Blagojevich scandal.

Overall, Illinois voters have been generally pleased with Lisa Madigan’s work as Attorney General, and most would be happy to see her as governor or senator. Thanks to Rod the God, however, Ms. Madigan and her political ambitions will now face a much rockier path.

Radley, Portrait of a Puppy

Meet Radley.  He’s our 10-week-old Beagle-Mix puppy we just adopted from Pet Central Station, aka Mix-N-Match, in downtown Iowa City.  Isn’t he freaking awesome?  With a little face like that, I now understand why there are so many middle-age women out there on the internet posting narratives about their dogs too.

As I mentioned in a comment to Emily’s post about puppy mills, Jaren (my fiancée) and I had gone to a puppy convention down in Kalona a couple weekends ago and we were dismayed at what we encountered.  It was a Christian-school gym full of puppymill dealers.  Some were more reputable than others, but many of the puppies were in horrifically small cages, crawling over their own waste, and trying to cope with life without affectionate human or dog contact.  Some of the dealers were area farmers who simply treated dog breeding as a source of income.  One guy slammed his hand down on the table as we walked by, startling two overflowing cages full of puppies into waking up.  None of them seemed interested in screening possible owners to ensure the best placement for their dogs—one breeder even asked us what it would take to sell us a puppy before they packed their things up, as if an addition to your family is like buying a used Mazda.

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Christmas is right around the corner and thousands of children across the country will ask their parents for just one thing—a PUPPY!  Each year, hundreds of thousands of puppies are bred by commercial breeders, and then shipped to pet stores around the country.  These “puppy-mills” routinely engage in animal abuse  by overbreeding, housing animals in inadequate shelters, and failing to provide sufficient nutrition.   

Iowa is home to the third largest number of commercial breeders.  Not surprising, these breeding facilities hide behind cute kennel names and naive images of puppies running free in the miles and miles of endless Iowa farmland.  These images could not be farther from the truth.    

 Meanwhile, there are thousands of wonderful, smart, loving, (house-trained!) young dogs waiting at shelters hoping that someone will decide to give them a “forever home.”  Some of them will get their wish–but too many of them never will.  Each year, 3-4 million (yes, MILLION) cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters.  Not vicious  mail-man-chasing dogs, but loving, sweet, doe-eyed animals that have been thrown away because their owner found them “inconvenient.”  

Next weekend (Sat Nov 22), commercial breeders from around the state will gather for a “puppy sale” at the Pathway Christian School in Kalona, IA.  Purchasing pets from pet stores and puppy shows supports the business of selling dogs for money which, in turn, increases the number of animals in shelters.  Educate your friends and family about the dangers of purchasing pets from pet stores or “puppy shows.”  Check out : www.stoppuppymills.org for more information.

One thing that puzzles me about some politicians is how unrepentant they can be.  Even after a jury handed down a seven-count felony guilty verdict (2008 WL 4711056) the other day, Ted Stevens is still defiant.  Seriously?

The senator seems to have no respect for the law.  He lied on six Senate Financial Disclosure Forms spanning as many years.  Among the $250,000 in goodies he got from oil executive, William Allen, are a $2,700 massage chair, a $29,000 bronze fish statue on his front porch, guns, and a boxing bag.  The defense also wrongfully disclosed investigative documents during the trial (2008 WL 4656368), and even attempted to argue that the government should not be able to tell the jury that the public has an interest in the senator’s finance disclosure (2008 WL 4656353).

Yet, despite this behavior, Ted Stevens has the temerity to stay in the race.  When asked if he will drop out, he said, “Put this down: That will never happen — ever, OK?”  Ironically, this senator who unabashedly opposes civil liberties for criminal defendants declared in a press release that he will “fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy,” and that he hopes Alaskans will stand with him as he pursues his rights.

Fortunately, this is a case where justice will likely prevail.  Stevens is nine points down in the polls versus Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.  Stevens won his last election with 78% of the vote, so, more importantly, he shows us that Americans can still abandon party lines when their leaders turn out to be crooks no matter how heated our red-state-blue-state culture war gets.