Kimberlee Summerville

  The history of photography was of particular interest to me, especially because of the research I did on the history of television. Obviously, photography was instrumental in the creation of film and television. Photography was first used in the early 1800s. Kodak sold the very first commercial camera in 1888. This was a monumental event because it made it possible for people like you and me to capture everyday moments that previously could not be relieved in such a real way. Before this time, cameras and photography were exclusively available to the rich and powerful. The first commercial camera had only a single lens and a nonadjustable focus. With this camera, customers would take pictures and send the camera back to the factory to have the photos developed, much like disposable cameras today. At this time, most photographs taken were staged portraits. When World War II started, that changed. War had an impact on photography, and photography had an impact on the war. As I sta...

Today in the United States, heavily antiwar voices are few and far between, at least in the media, that is. Most mainstream media echoes many of the same messages, making it important for consumers to diversify the news media we ingest. These anti-war websites are a great place to start. Upon opening both the ANTIWAR and American Conservative websites, it becomes immediately clear that this is a form of alternative media and you can likely find stories on the website that you wouldn’t see covered by any other news outlet. In fact, the ANTIWAR website has specific sections dedicated to different geographical locations and significant happenings from those places. This is very different from mainstream outlets in our country, which focus only on things that happen within our borders. On the rare occasion that other countries do reach the spotlight of our news media, it could only be because the United States is affected in some way. If one spends any time wondering why these anti-war v...

  Today, television is one of the most common technologies in the US, and for many of us today it's hard to imagine a world where the TV didn't exist. It has changed the way we see our world, quite literally. Every event that is noteworthy is televised. TV gives us access to view everything from Super Bowls, World Cups, World Series, to Presidential debates and inaugurations, live breaking news coverage, and even high profile trial cases.  The History The television began changing the world in 1927 when it was first invented and mass-produced by Philo Farnsworth, John Logie Baird, Charles Francis Jenkins, and Kenjiro Takayanagi. It became much more popular after the end of World War II. At the start of their rise, televisions were not nearly as capable as the machines we know today. The picture would be in black and white and the quality of resolution was only 200-400 lines. To compare, TVs today use 8k resolution, meaning the picture is made up of 8,000 pixels on the screen. ...

  The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech, religion, press, the right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government. The rights protected under the First Amendment are what, for many of us, constructs the idea of America. The reason for this is that together, these freedoms make up our collective free expression, which brings many benefits to the American way of life. These benefits are illustrated by the Eight Values of Free Expression, which are as follows: Marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promoting tolerance, promoting innovation, protecting dissent. Of these values, a couple resonates with me most.  First, the value of stable change. In a society, there are bound to be individuals who feel angry about particular policies and alienated from the crowd. When these citizens are allowed to speak out and “vent” about their perceived issues in society, that communi...

  Until this point, I can’t say that I have ever made the effort to teach myself about the workings of the Supreme Court, and I can’t say any of my teachers did either. Like many other Americans I assume, what I knew is that the Supreme Court is responsible for upholding the Constitution and essentially ensuring American citizens equal justice under the law, however, what I lacked was the understanding of the intricacies of this process. After viewing this Supreme Court Video , detailing the process of how cases are brought to the court, as well as how decisions are reached and the individual responsibilities of the justices, I’m amazed at the procedures and operations that have been preserved for so long. One part of this process that I didn't know about was that each of the nine justices decides on each case individually before counseling and reaching a consensus. The video tells us that the court receives more than 100 cases per week, most of which are petitions for certiorari, ...

I don't often find myself carving out a lot of time to get updated on the news of the world each day. That said, I tend to favor news sources that can offer me a quick snapshot and keep me in the loop without requiring too much of my time for further investigation. My top five news sources, therefore, in no particular order are the CNN mobile app, an Instagram page called shityoushouldcareabout , Apple News, Twitter, and the CNN channel.  My phone sees no shortage of CNN notifications on a daily basis. The CNN mobile app is one of my favorite news sources; it sends me notifications of breaking news stories and developments in popular news subjects. I like getting these notifications because it gives me a subject line that I can read and decide whether or not the story is something I’m interested in learning more about. The notification may give me one or two lines of information that explain the subject and give a very brief synopsis of the story. If I am interested in looking furt...