1: Read this week's assigned materials.

2: Write and submit on Brightspace ONE of the following: 1) pretending that you are Neil Sheehan at The New York Times, write a one-paragraph pitch for a story about the Pentagon Papers and what they reveal about the war in Vietnam; 2) pretending that you are Bryan Stevenson, write a one-paragraph pitch about systematic injustices in the US criminal justice system and how they developed over time; 3) pretending that you are Ignaz Semmelwais, write a one-paragraph pitch about "childbed fever," its effects, and what's causing it in Vienna General Hospital.

3: Choose ONE person or company from the choices below. Using the online tools at the bottom of this page, answer the three questions posed about that person or company (click "read" to see the questions).

Nexis/Lexis (via Xavier University Library)—A vast database of news articles, lawsuits, and other public information

XULA Library Databases—Lists all XULA library databases (accessible only to XULA students)

Bellingcat's Online Investigations Toolkit—A collection of search tools used by Bellingcat, a leading international investigative group

Google Datasets Search—Locates free online datasets

Google Images/Google Lens—Identifies photos and sound recordings and provides information about the stories behind them

The Data Center—Data and maps tracking social and economic patterns in Southeast Louisiana

US Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer—A national database of criminal justice activity including various kinds of crime, police use-of-force incidents, attacks on law enforcement officers, and law enforcement officer suicides

"Fatal Force"—Washington Post national database of fatal police shootings since 2015, with filters for time. place, department, age, race, gender, situation, and whether body camera footage is available

"The Hidden Billion-Dollar Cost of Repeated Police Misconduct"—Washington Post article with database showing litigation costs to taxpayers of police misconduct cases, with filters for city, payment, and officers' names

New Orleans Police Department—Crime map, demographics, analytics, police management information, and historical crime records made public by the New Orleans Police Department

FollowTheMoney—Tracks political money in both federal and state elections

Louisiana Ethics Administration—Personal financial disclosures of candidates, campaign finance information, lobbyist information

VoteSmart—Bios, ratings, financial information, voting records, and speeches of political candidates and officeholders

OpenSecrets—Tracks political donations, politicians’ and lobbyists’ personal financial information

Federal Election Commission—Tracks finances of federal political campaigns 

LittleSis—Maps out relationships of money, politics, and influence 

Ballotpedia—Information on government officials, policies, campaigns and elections

OpenCorporates—Database of companies and company officers around the world

CorporationWiki—Traces the connections between people and businesses

LA Secretary of State—Displays information that companies must file in order to do business in Louisiana 

CA Secretary of State—Displays information that companies must file in order to do business in California 

Coordinated Legal Tech—Page of links to all Secretary of State websites and related sites that include business filings

EDGAR—Securities and Exchange Commission information about publicly listed companies, including company filings and enforcement actions

GuideStar—Information about nonprofit and charitable organizations

US Environmental Protection Agency—Website of the US agency charged with protecting the country's environment, including air, land, water, and other resources affecting human health

Tulane Environmental Law Clinic—Includes reports and legal documents from cases brought by a group of environmental attorneys who bring cases concerning the endangerment and destruction of Louisiana's natural resources

Louisiana Environmental Action Network—Information and community resources from Louisiana's premier environmental activist group

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources—Website of the Louisiana agency concerning the state's natural resources, especially oil and gas

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality—Website of the Louisiana agency concerning the state's air, land, and water, particularly as it pertains to human health

Twitter Advanced Search—Tool for searching past tweets with a variety of filters including dates, likes, and word combinations

Crowdtangle—Tool for searching posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit with a variety of filters

Census Reporter—A website designed to facilitate searches of US census data

US Census/QuickFacts—Enter a county/parish in the search bar and then choose a category to browse

US Census/American Community Survey—Enter a county/parish in the search bar and then choose a category to browse

Google Earth Online: A satellite map of the Earth that lets you search, measure distances, and create online maps 

Google Maps: Includes detailed street and satellite views, as well as search, directions, traffic, and measuring tools