A Washington, D.C. trip offers students the chance to visit the Newseum, different media outlets, the National Zoo and the Holocaust Museum the weekend of Oct. 17 for $200. 

The educational trip is for students in the School of Communication, Honors Program and history department on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We decided to take students to Washington, D.C. because we realized so many students had never gone down there at all,” Professor Helen Fallon, director of the Honors Program, said on Sept. 27 during a phone interview. The trip has been staged eight times so far.

 “We started it because D.C. is so close and it is such a neat experience for students to go down, not only to see D.C., but also to see how the media works in such a big city,” Professor Heather Starr Fiedler said in her office Sept. 26. 

The first stop for communications students is the Newseum, a museum about the history of news.

“To take journalism students to see a museum that is the history of news, it couldn’t be any more perfect,” Fiedler said.

The Newseum covers news history from the earliest days of radio up through internet news.  Students will be free to move around the museum as they want.  There will not be a tour guide because of the lack of time.  

The following day, students will split into two groups, with communications students going to the different media outlets, while the honors and history students go to the Holocaust Museum.  

“We try to look at the students who are going and then arrange media trips,” Fallon said.

This year, the communications students will be going on a series of various media trips depending on their major.

“Broadcast students are going to PBS news hour, photography student are going to go to National Geographic, advertising students are going to go to an advertising agency,” Fiedler said.

While the communications students are on these different media visits, the history and honors students will be visiting the Holocaust Museum.  This correlates with the curriculum for the history class.

“The museum is heavy, its very emotional,” Professor Jehnie Reis said on Sept. 25 in her office located in Lawrence Hall.

The students will also get to talk to a holocaust survivor, as well as a grad student who is a fellow at the Holocaust Studies Center.

“To get that personable story as opposed to reading it, I think makes a huge difference,” Reis said.

The trip to the National Zoo will be educational as well.

“We are meeting with the PR people at the zoo so they can talk to you about how they do their marketing of the zoo,” Fiedler said.

Students meet many people on the annual D.C. trip, including potential employers. 

“We had one student that made a contact at USA Today during one trip and then contacted them…and ended up getting an internship there,” Fiedler said. 

Large chunks of time have been set aside as free time for students.  

“We get a lot of free time so you can do your own thing while also learning,” Liz Palmer, a broadcast productions student, said.

 “[From] the government buildings… to the museums, to just the neighborhoods and the ambiance there, there’s just tons to do,” Fallon said, explaining the decision to give students free time.

All expenses have been included in the $200 price tag except for metro tickets and meals.  With student scholarships and working as a student journalist on the trip, the price can go to as low as $100.  There is a dinner with Point Park Alumni included in the price as well.  

“We do a dinner with alumni so that’s a great networking opportunity for students,” Fiedler said.

The cost is offset by a fund that Professor Helen Fallon and her late husband set up seven years ago.  

“We [Fallon and her late husband] set up a travel fund to help defray the expenses,” Fallon said.