Helen Thomas, currently a political columnist and former White House chief for UPI, is profiled in a piece by Jack Lessenberry, lecturer in Wayne State's journalism department. Thomas covered the White House since the Kennedy administration, mostly as a straight reporter. Earlier this month she came back to her native Detroit to speak to journalism students at her alma mater, Wayne State University. She said, "Democracy dies behind closed doors," and it is important to fight against the tendency governments at every level have toward secrecy.