Patt Morrison Weds, 10/29

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

1-3 p.m.

 

1:00 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

 

1:30 – 2:00

UC’s Homework Assignment: Surviving a Recession and a Broke Benefactor

The University of California system, operating in a rough environment, faces two huge challenges:  a tanking economy heading into recession and a busted state budget that is staring down substantial deficits for years to come.  How can UC continue to offer what is arguably the best public university education in the world, at affordable prices, while its student body will be in need of more financial assistance and its main benefactor is essentially broke?  Mark Yudof, president of the University of California, stares down these challenges and charts a course for survival.

 

Guests:

Mark Yudof, president of the University of California; former chancellor of the University of Texas system

ON TAPE

 

 

 

[NPR NEWS]

 

 

2:00 – 2:30

The Dow is Down But My Shotgun is Loaded: Gun Sales on the Rise
Here’s a bizarre economic indicator:  while consumer spending is rapidly declining, the sales of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year.  Several variables drive gun sales, but many dealers, buyers and experts attribute the increase in part to concerns about the stability of the economy and fears that if Barack Obama is elected he’ll move to enact new gun laws.  There is a widely held belief that when the economy is booming crime goes down across the board; and transversely, when the economy slumps crime picks up.  Does this conventional wisdom, combined with the general uncertainty of a time with rapidly failing banks and financial institutions, explain the dramatic upswing in gun sales?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

 

 

2:30 – 3:00

Cuba, Through the Rum Dynasty

Cigars, revolution and rum: Cuba is known for all three and it was the Bacardi family that helped to make Cuban rum a mainstay in liquor cabinets and bars across the world.  Patt speaks with veteran NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten, who takes a fresh look at Cuba through the lens of the famous Bacardi Rum Dynasty in his new book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba. Gjelten examines the intersection between business, politics and national identity to show how the Bacardis shaped Cuban identity, holding influence from the time of Cuba’s independence from Spain in the 1860s to the rise of Fidel Castro.

 

Guests:

Ton Gjelten: He covers intelligence and other national security issues for NPR. He is the author of Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: A Biography of a Cause

IN STUDIO