In the midst of schoolwork and regular classes, I found a class that tested me in new ways — Computer-Assisted Reporting.

From day one, my professor was upfront in telling my fellow students and me that we would have to fight for the information that we wanted. My professor also went into detail explaining that there were laws put in place —not just for journalists, but citizens across the country. I sighed with relief, not knowing that soon I would be sighing in disbelief, exasperation and all-around annoyance.

There is nothing as frustrating as asking for public information and someone acting as though it is private. Eastern is a public institution, funded by public monies — not a lot of documents should be private.

We weren’t asking for war strategies.

Still, we found ourselves in a stalemate with the university I have called home for almost four years now.

I.

Was.

In.

Shock.

In my Communication Law class, a required journalism course, I was taught to weigh decisions by judging how a reasonable person would see these requests as reasonable.

The information being requested was not damning or dangerous to the general public in any way, in fact it would provide nothing but educational value.

For four years, Eastern has been the love of my life — my friends at Big 10 schools can attest to that — but within the last few weeks, I have found myself getting increasingly unhappy with the current state and action being taken by the university.

I have exhausted multiple avenues from contacting Illinois’ Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, to requesting help from the Student Press Law Center, to meeting with the president of Eastern.

I am waiting with bated breath to know the real reason why I cannot have access to scholarship amounts when my mandated students fees make up a portion of the grant-in-aid scholarships. I want to know why I can’t have copies of drinking and alcohol violations that occur on campus.

I want to be educated, but not patronized.

I want the law to be followed, but not to be hidden behind.

I don’t know how you can hide behind the law when the law is not on your side.

The semester is drawing to a close, but our quest for the information will continued until we get what we want.

We won’t give up.

Nike Ogunbodede is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].