Projects

Power Trips: Congress hits the road
Reporters from the Medill News Service used records kept by the House and Senate to create a database of all travel disclosure forms for privately funded trips filed by members of Congress from Jan. 1, 2000, through June 30, 2004. The database was created in order to analyze the trips taken to determine how much money was involved, who the sponsors were, which members of Congress accepted the trips and what the purposes of the trips were.

America: Taking a chance on gambling
A series of reports from the Medill News Service.

Medill Plays Role in 2003 IRE Convention
The Medill Washington program, Medill News Service, was a sponsor of the Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference in Washington June 5-8, 2003, with about a dozen Medill students leading off the reporting of the event for IRE’s first-ever Web convention publication.

Anxiety High: The growing fear in America's high schools
Schools are safe – some would say safer than ever. But even as schools grow safer every year, with more metal detectors, security guards and violence and drug prevention programs in place, the number of students who have missed school because they feel unsafe is growing. And experts say Sept. 11 has only made it worse.

Summer 2002 Projects: Government Mistakes, Nuclear Transportation, Dearth of School Pyschologists and Citizen Applications Up
Twenty reporters for Medill News Service formed teams this summer to analyze various government databases to create several in-depth reporting projects. An analysis of hazardous materials transport found most accidents were the result of handling error, not accidents on the road. In the wake of Sept. 11, reporters found, citizen applications are up. And an analysis of college programs to train school psychologists found that the number of programs in a state doesn't translate into more school psychologists for the state.

Views On The State Of Public Affairs Reporting
Tomorrow's reporters must endeavor to do a better job of explaining what goes on in Washington to readers despite new challenges, a group of veteran journalists said Monday.

Community Service: Are Colleges Making the Grade?
U.S. colleges and universities spend nearly 12 percent of their federal work-study money on community service programs, but a majority of the top universities fall below the national average. And Congress is considering proposals to up the current 7 percent minimum work-study spending on community service to 25 percent.

Life Inside a Hazardous Materials Suit
Donning a Marine hazardous materials combat suit is a little like taking a break from yourself and the rest of the world.