Work Sample #9: "Stouffer Apartments experience technical difficulties"

Residents of Stouffer Place Apartments have been without phone or data service for about three weeks.

Bill Myers, director of information services, said that a cable that was underground for a while and was damaged several times because of construction was responsible for the outage.

Work Sample #8: "Lions burn Blazers"

This was an audition piece for the Leavenworth Times.
The first rain in weeks came Monday morning during an otherwise unusually warm October. The field at Lansing Middle School was soggy and muddy for the varsity soccer game against the Gardner-Edgerton Blazers, but the slippery conditions did little to stop an accurate Lion offense, which carried them to a 6-2 victory.

Photo Sample #4: Tennis Match

All photos taken for the University Daily Kansan in 2009.

Work Sample #7: "Professor to appear on The Daily Show tonight"

A journalism professor will be on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart tonight.
David Perlmutter, the associate dean for graduate studies and research in the journalism school, will be on the show tonight at 10 p.m. to talk about his book, “Blogwars: The New Political Battleground.”
Perlmutter said he didn’t know exactly what his appearance on The Daily Show will entail, or if he’ll get to talk to host Jon Stewart. He may be interviewed by Stewart or another correspondent.
“I’m happy to do either one,” Perlmutter said.
He only knows that he’ll be interviewed about his book, which was published in February.
“I hope I’m not important enough for them to make a fool out of me,” Perlmutter said. “I’m just a professor.”
The Daily Show called him last week and confirmed his appearance on the show.
Perlmutter has also appreared on CNN, MSNBC and other networks to talk about public affairs, so he isn’t too nervous about being on the show.
Perlmutter said he enjoyed watching the Daily Show, even though it doesn’t necessarily take everything it reports on seriously.
“I think it’s hilarious,” he said.
He said it was a good source of information for people who didn’t necessarily read “five print papers a day” or pay attention to political news.
“I do think it serves as a quasi-educational function,” Perlmutter said. He also said The Daily Show made political news readily available in an accessible manner.
He began writing “Blogwars” after he noticed the effect interactive media, like blogging, had on the 2004 presidential race and the attempt to get people involved in caucuses, especially among supporters of former candidate Howard Dean.

During this year’s election, interactive media will play an important role, especially for young people, Perlmutter said.
He said the University had some connections to The Daily Show. One of the show’s correspondents, Rob Riggle, graduated from the University with a bachelor’s degree in theater and film. Another University student, Nathan Rodriguez, is writing his master’s thesis about his time as an intern on the show.
Perlmutter said he took a lot of Final Four and NCAA Championship hats and t-shirts for the crew. He said he would try to give one to Jon Stewart.

Work Sample #6: "Nurse organizes lung cancer benefit"

There are some names nurses never expect to see on their list of patients.

Nurse Rebekah Tobin said she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her best friend’s name on the list.

Doctors diagnosed Tobin’s friend Annabelle Buckner with lung cancer in January. Tobin said she and her best friend were shocked because Buckner had never smoked a day in her life.

Photo Sample #3: School Of Fine Arts

Photo Sample #2-Retro Video Game Controllers

Work Sample #5: "Fans don't have to head to San Antonio for the game"

This article was written in 10-15 minutes right after KU won the 2008 NCAA Championship.
San Antonio may have been a little too far away for some Kansas enthusiasts.
Fans filed into Allen Fieldhouse for a free watch party to watch Kansas beat Memphis 75-68.Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. and the rush to find seats was reminiscent of a home game. Fans took their seats and waited an hour for tipoff.
Lenexa residents Cody Fothergill and Boyd Bauman said they wanted to be one step closer than they were during the 1988 championship game.

Work Sample #4: "Summer renovations slated for Jayhawker Towers"

Jayhawker Tower A will be renovated, starting this summer. It will be closed for the 2008-2009 school year.
The renovation, which was scheduled to happen after GSP Hall, was moved up a year.

Work Sample #3: "Women calls hospital, saves husbands life"

Barbara Bornstein noticed something about her husband Jack Bornstein one morning while she made their bed.
She said his right arm seemed funny, and he continued to blink his right eye. And then he fell onto the bed.
Jack has Parkinson’s disease, so Barbara thought it might be something related to that. Jack told her not to worry about him, but just to be safe, she called 911.
And that call saved his life.

Photo Sample #1-Mini Operas at the University of Kansas

I took these for a photo essay on a series of short operas written and performed by KU students.

Katie Bieber, right, as the character Kate, plots against her sister Bianca as Michael Austin as Baptista looks on. Bieber and Austin are in the operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," composed by Andrew Trites.

Anna Hoard, left, sings to a spirit puppet created and operated by Spencer Lott. Hoard is in the opera "Bamboo Cutter," composed by Juseph Eidson.

Ben Cleveland, left, listens to an explanation from Josh Lawler during a strange carriage ride in the wilderness in the opera "Deukino Road," composed by Dan Musselman.

Work Sample #2- "Downtown celebration results in hours of cleanup"

It was the morning after.
The smell of beer wafted, and a loud roar echoed up and down Massachusetts Street after the Jayhawks beat the Tarheels 84-66 in Saturday’s Final Four game. But the smell came from beer that was spilled all over the street and the loud roar came from a street sweeper.

Work Sample #1-"Dewd, where's my house?"

I'll be featuring some of my work (photo and writing) here from time to time.
Dewd, where’s my house?
Group of 10 friends formed ‘Mountain Dewds’ and bought house together after a 2003 roadtrip
By Caleb Sommerville
Monday, March 31, 2008

Kieran McBride, Lawrence senior, knew it was destiny when he found an 11th Street sign post in his backyard. He was considering moving into the Mountain Dewd house and knew after he found the sign that he was meant to live there. Four years later, he has one more year at the University and can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Job Hunt Stats

Yes, I've been at this for a year now, so the numbers have started piling up. I've done most of my applying online, through Careerbuilder.com and "cold-emailing" media companies, so here are the stats on that.

Introductions

Hi, my name is Caleb Sommerville, and I'm a journalist looking for work in the Kansas City area. Here's the facts: