i turned the camera on and the screen was black. i tried to take a picture then the screen turned white. the batteries are brand new. HELP!

First thing I would do is reset the camera. This is a fairly easy procedure which involves either going into your setup menu and choosing "reset" (or intialize), holding down the menu key for 5 seconds, or, removing the batteries for a few minutes. It may be that the firmware loading got corrupted and the camera just needs to be "rebooted," which is something that turning it on/off won't accomplish. But after which, you should have the camera reset to factory default settings.

Another tip is to go to Kodak's website and look for firmware updates. Download and install them.

Also, make sure you have fresh high capacity (mAh) batteries in it. Often undercharged or depleted batteries can easily affect camera performance. And if you have dirty contacts, that could also inhibit performance. That's easily cleaned with a pencil eraser.