“strange but true”

I have quite a number of books from the library, all about the Olympics, that I intend to read during the holiday. While I was skimming through one of them (GIFFORD, C. (2004) Olympics – The Definitive Guide to the Greatest Sports Celebration in the World, London, Kingfisher) I found this:  

 ”Australian Henry Pearce was so dominant in the 1928 single sculls rowing event that he stopped to let a line of ducks pass, before continuing his rowing to win gold” (p. 76) 

and

“Officials at the 1932 games lost count of the laps in the 3,000m steelplechase and forced the athletes to run a 3,400m-long race as a result” (p. 77)

 Which proves once again what a unique experience the Olympic Games are!  

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same university, new name

At the end of November, the University of Paisley changed name, identity and therefore logo and image. I am now a student of the University of the West of Scotland. I for one am happier with the new name and logo since it looks more professional, serious and important. Nevertheless, there are people (mainly Paisley inhabitants and fans) that do not agree with the change arguing that there’s a hundred or so years of history that will be forgotten. While I understand their worries, I have to disagree. The University grew due to the merger earlier this year (i think!) with Bell College down in Hamilton, as a consequence the new name had to mark this expansion and the evolution of this institution. 

a clearer image of my PhD

It took quite a lot of reading (and still not enough) to decide which way to go with my PhD. Just few days ago I have submitted my outline to the school. I have stated that my dissertation will use as theoretical framework the agenda setting. This means that my methodology will consist mainly of content analyses (both qualitative and quantitative) comparing pr press releases (this is new!) with online articles published my non-accredited journalists present at the Olympic Games (they are usually accredited by the Games organizing municipality) and with personal blogs picked up by Google Alerts. This is roughly what I will do. Next, I need to polish up my methodology but at least I made some progress.