Patt Morrison for Wednesday, April 19, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

“Deep Impact,” but with an unhappy ending: Who will watch for Earth-bound asteroids in an era of budget cuts?

As Congress and the White House debate ways to slash spending and reduce the federal debt the first thing that comes to mind when considering diminished or lost government services is probably not asteroid hunting.  And yet with funding for NASA and other space exploration programs becoming scarce, the ability of government-funded astronomers and scientists to monitor deep space for approaching “near Earth objects,” or NEO’s as earth-bound comets and asteroids are known, becomes very limited.  Charlie Bolden, a former astronaut and current administrator of NASA, admitted as much when he said that NASA probably couldn’t afford to deflect a NEO—the annual federal budget for “planetary defense” is a mere $5.8 million.  The job of defending planet Earth from a malicious asteroid is officially up for grabs and nobody seems excited to grab the mantle.  Enter Dana Rohrabacher, a long-time Southern California Congressman who has made the detection and avoidance of NEO’s one of his pet projects.  Can Rep. Rohrabacher help to keep government attention focused on monitoring the skies for approaching asteroids of doom?

 

Guests:

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California’s 46^th District (Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach); Chairman of the Oversight & Investigation Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

HE CALLS US:

 

Michael J. Drake, director, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

Ask the Chief – update from LAPD’s top cop, Charlie Beck

Fans at Dodger Stadium are seeing more blue than usual in the last few days, and it’s not Dodger blue. LAPD has increased its presence at the stadium since a Giant’s fan was severely beaten in the parking lot after the game on opening day, but are they there to stay? And a “flash mob” on Venice boardwalk culminated in a shooting this weekend with the victim hospitalized and in serious condition. According to authorities, ticket quotas do not exist, but a jury recently awarded $2 million dollars to two officers complaining about penalties levied on them for not making their quota. What are we to think? LAPD Chief Charlie Beck joins Patt in the studio for our regular check-in on these and all issues blue.

 

Guest:

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun

Why is it that no matter how many madres are in a room, even if it’s thousands, when one padre enters, the collective noun for the group becomes padres?  Or that the phrase “Que padre!” means “What a great father,” and “Me vale madre” means “It’s worthless?”  Liza Bakewell asks these questions in her new book and examines sexism in the Spanish language and how it interacts with Mexican culture.  She makes convincing arguments that the gender of Spanish nouns influences mental perceptions of the objects—which is ironic with masculine nouns like childbirth and pregnancy and is weighty with masculine nouns like love and marriage. Patt sits down with Bakewell to explore the evolution of the Spanish language.

 

Guest:

Liza Bakewell, Research Professor at Brown University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies; author of Madre: Perilous Journeys with a Spanish Noun

IN STUDIO

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org