Would you like to see my First Amendment pass?

Taken from archives.gov,

“Amendment I

     Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

     As a budding journalist in the spring of media transitions, it’s important to think about what rights I have. I have taken the dreaded History and Law of Journalism course at Wayne State, read and re-read the Michigan Media Law, been quizzed on and tested on current law and important trials, but that doesn’t mean it has fully sunk in.

     From a young age, you learn what your basic rights are as a United States citizen. Freedom of religion, press, speech, etc. are pounded into your head in elementary school. A seven-year-old doesn’t comprehend what those things mean; she regurgitates it in hopes she wins the prized Hersey Kiss given to the students who can recite them all. This is what it boils down to: We all are allowed the freedom to pray to whomever, ask questions to whomever, and project our opinions to whomever.

     What does this mean for me? Am I chopped liver because I want to make a career out of what everyone is allowed to do, as written in our Bill of Rights?

     I think the main difference is in our code of ethics and need for truth. Any person can ask a mayor if they are having an affair with the treasurer and will most likely be served denial, but it's a different story when a journalist asks the right people the right questions to find the right evidence before publicizing the truth. We’re not out to libel the mayor, but rather to make it known he’s having an affair with a staff member during working hours. We seek the truth rather than the juicy gossip because knowledge is power and the more we can inform the audience, the more the audience will look to us when things begin to go south.

     For me, the First Amendment has come to be more of a spiritual press pass. We all have it, we don’t carry it on a lanyard around our necks and we all know it's there. 

Frustrating feature photography is ruining my Friday

A student pass by the bulletin board without a glance.

Students design and create cell towers out of pasta and marshmallows.

Katie Ulrich, a mechanical engineer, demonstrates how to make lip balm.     

     The Danto Engineering Development Center was overcome on Saturday with young girls wanting to learn more about science and engineering. The eighth annual Girls' Engineering Exploration is the Detroit Professional Section of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 
     The event, known as GEE, had been in the works for four months, and was made possible by donations from Toyota, DTE Energy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Autoliv and General Motors.

     Ann Dancy, vice president of outreach and part of the Chrysler Institute of Engineering, says that the GEE is held at Wayne State University because the target group is young intercity girls, and  “(it) makes no sense to bus them out to Auburn Hills,” where the Chrysler Group LLC is based.

     The free event for Detroit Public Schools girls grades fourth through sixth featured activities such as a fashion show geared toward learning about proper safety gear while working in the field, making lip balm, and creating cell towers out of pasta and marshmallows.

     A hundred-and-thirty-six girls were registered for the event, but Dancy says many trickled in throughout the day. This was clear during the fashion show in the auditorium as students finished lunch while DTE Energy volunteers demonstrated proper safety attire while working in the field.

     The GEE proved to be a fun and hands-on approach to teach young girls about safety, science and engineering. All girls left with a backpack full of school supplies and different science experiment ideas.

     This assignment was fun at first, then became incredibly frustrating. I anticipated taking around 75 photos while at the GEE event but walked away with close to 200. Most of the photos were from me trying to get the lighting correct. The in vogue phrase "the struggle is real" was on repeat in my head as I struggled to find the correct setting for the different lighting situations. 

     What was even more aggravating was trying to get the unplanned feature photo. I go into chaos mode when I don't have a plan. I am limited to one day a week when I am able to wander around but with midterms and finishing projects before spring break I had a hard time finding the time to go out and get photos.
     I was walking through State Hall and saw how many people were passing by the board without even looking at it and I know if it was the same scene 15 years ago people would be stopping to check what events were happening around campus. 
     In my New Media Theory class, we've discussed the dying forms of media, and watching the old stare longing at people with the new "it" media passing them by. I purposefully was trying to make that discussion come alive when I took the picture in front of the bulletin board because I wanted you to see the light from the cell phone screen and the clear motion of someone passing by the stationary board. 
     This whole assignment made me realize taking quality feature photos is so much more difficult than I even imagined.