Patt Morrison for Monday, August 1, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, August 1, 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 – 1:58:30

OPEN

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Job search dilemma… are you unemployable just because you’re unemployed?

Are you out of a job but want to be working? Been looking for that new position for several months or longer without any luck? Unfortunately, the news isn’t good; as shown on job sites such as Monster.com, Craigslist and CareerBuilder, a trend is emerging among employers to only consider applicants who have recently become unemployed or who still have jobs elsewhere. With a plethora of job seekers for almost every vacancy at all skills levels – restaurant managers, teachers, I.T. specialists, technicians, business analysts, you name it – anyone whose skills may have faded from lack use goes to the back of the interview line. The average length of unemployment today is nine months, which is a record high, and when recruitment is limited to the “recently unemployed” millions can be eliminated from consideration. Some states are taking a look at this practice of barring unemployed workers from applying, and New Jersey is the first to pass a law to ban it. But in such a buyer’s market, what can be done to close this unemployment trap? Many go back to school to update their skills or learn new ones, volunteer to stay active and connected in society, and network, network, network, but it’s not clear how much these efforts help in finding a new job. Without job growth throughout the economy, is your job search a lost cause?

 

Guests:

Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director, National Employment Law Project

CALL HIM:

 

UNCONFIRMED

Claudia Shah, recruiter for financial institutions; HR consultant with EE Connections LLC

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Brain on Trial: researcher reevaluates how guilty criminals are based on their brains

David Eagleman recounts the crime case: On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a well-liked family man, stabbed his wife and mother to death and then went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 13 people and wounding 32. The night before, he wrote a suicide note, “I don’t really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts. I decided to kill my wife, Kathy, tonight. I love her dearly, and she has been as fine a wife to me as any man could ever hope to have. I cannot rationa[l]ly pinpoint any specific reason for doing this.”  Explanation? Whitman had a brain tumor, as an autopsy determined. Eagleman recounts another: a married man suddenly develops an obsession with child pornography and gets a prison sentence after making advances towards his stepdaughter. The night before he goes to prison, he goes to the ER for an excruciating headache—doctors find a massive tumor, remove it, and the pedophilia goes away. As a third example, Eagleman writes, there’s Parkinson’s patients who take pramipexole and become pathological gamblers—the drug mimics dopamine and thereby, in some, throws off the reward system, which draws one to food, drink, sex, etc.

 

What do these cases tell us? That the biology of our brains often dictates our actions, without our control. That the concepts of free will and personal responsibility are not as black-and-white as we used to think. Eagleman writes, “The legal system… [assumes] that we are ‘practical reasonsers’” but if free will does not exist, blameworthiness needs to be reevaluated, as does our legal system.” He argues that a “forward-thinking legal system informed by scientific insights into the brain will enable us to stop treating prison as a one-size-fits-all solution.” In response, Eagleman and his colleagues have developed a rehabilitation method they call a “prefrontal lobe workout” to help people squelch their short-term desires to allow a reflection period before action. David Eagleman joins Patt to discuss this research that could transform our legal system and notions of guilt and put the “brain on trial.”

 

Guest:

David Eagleman, neuroscientist; director, Laboratory for Perception and Action and Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, Baylor College of Medicine; author of bestselling book SUM and, most recently, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

CALL HIM:

 

 

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

 

Patt Morrison for Friday, July 29, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, July 29, 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

“Hobbits...foolish...deceiving…radical Republicans who don’t represent mainstream America”:  nevermind the names, Tea Party is in control

It’s been blasted by the likes of Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, to Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee for president in 2008.  They’ve been called “hobbits,” “foolish,” “deceiving, even bizarre” and un-American.  Call them all of the names that you want but the reality is clear—the Tea Party is firmly in control of the debt ceiling debate.  Using their numbers and influence in Congress to stop any kind of compromise on tax increases and challenging the very notion that the country will collapse without an increase in the debt limit by next week, the Tea Party has dictated the rules of this game.  It could be argued that the Tea Party’s influence has reached all the way up to the commander in chief as President Barack Obama, even while insisting that new revenues must be generated in a balanced approach to reduce the deficit, was ready to inflict deep spending cuts on liberal sacred cow entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.  As the country creeps closer to the August 2^nd deadline to raise the debt ceiling without going into default and Tea Party members of Congress dig in their heels to resist any kind of compromise on their belief of a smaller government, the cries for compromise and negotiation are increasing.  Tea Party members seem immune to the demands, unconcerned with the political implications of a possible government shutdown and default, determined to follow through on what they see as a mandate from the 2010 election to stop runaway spending and radically reduce the role of government in modern America.

 

Applaud or curse the Tea Party, their influence and power is undeniable.  Being blasted by Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle is just further proof that the Tea Party is now driving the national debate over the debt ceiling, deficit reduction and the size of the government.  Will the Tea Party ultimately be a positive or negative force?

 

Guests:

Mark Meckler, co-founder & national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

It’s a bird; it’s a plane; it’s a really loud helicopter: Congressman Berman proposes noise relief act

It turns out that most of the complaints about Carmageddon were about the helicopters hovering above the spectacle of the empty freeway. Near the Hollywood sign, someone has painted a message on the ground, aimed up at the helicopters, reading “Tourists go away.” Hollywood bowl patrons and operators frequently complain about the bowl’s concerts being drowned out by nearby flying aircraft and city officials say they’ve seen an uptick in fresh complaints from residents in recent weeks. Is it time for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make some rules to stop the chopper noise? A local congressman thinks so and he’s pushing for the FAA to establish rules on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operations in Los Angeles County residential areas.

The agency requires helicopters to operate "without hazard to persons or property" but does not set minimum altitudes over population areas, like it does for planes. But what about police chases and that audience for copter coverage of high-speed car chases? Is it worse than ever or are helicopter pilots getting an unfair rap?

 

Guests:

NOT FULLY CONFIRMED:

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village), introduced the Los Angeles Residential Helicopter Noise Relief Act, which would require the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish rules on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operations in Los Angeles County residential areas

• The House rejected an effort by Berman earlier this year to give Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport and Van Nuys Airport authority to impose nighttime curfews.
• Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) earlier this year won Senate approval for an amendment to an FAA bill requiring the agency to adopt rules to reduce helicopter noise above Long Island.
• The FAA declined comment

 

Esteban Jimenez, a pilot for Hollywood Helicopter Tours

CALL HIM @

 

• Doesn’t believe the Noise Relief Act will get anywhere

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Do you know where your old computer is? Chances are it’s probably in the trash or in India. The effort to clean-up e-waste

Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much these days, certainly not the budget, but one thing has gotten their attention: e-waste. Americans race to buy the next latest, newest, smartest thing, but often don’t pay much attention to where their old electronic equipment ends up or its impact on the environment. About 80 percent of e-waste winds up in the trash, which is a serious problem because most of it contains toxic chemicals that get released into the environment. The majority of what doesn’t end up in the trash is shipped overseas to developing countries like China, India and Thailand and is not always disposed of safely. E-waste is quickly becoming the largest “waste stream” in the U.S. So a bipartisan group of senators and House members has introduced The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, which aims to prevent e-waste from being exported to developing nations. The bill seeks to prevent not only environmental damage, but also intelligence risks.  Several years ago retrievable information from some hard drives belonging to the CIA were found in another country. In addition to their bill, others are pushing for strong federal standards, currently 25 states have laws prohibiting disposal of electronics in landfills, but they vary widely. How strict should the national standard be for e-waste disposal and what should consumers do with their old equipment? After all, if it’s easier to throw a keyboard or an old phone in the trash, how effective can any legislation be?

 

Guest:

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Intelligence Committee (He represents the 1^st District, which includes Napa, Humboldt and Mendocino County)

ON TAPE

 

Barbara Kyle, national coordinator and spokesperson, The Electronics TakeBack Coalition

CALL HER @

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Are you gluten intolerant? Probably not.

Walk down any isle at a health food store like Whole Foods and you’ll see “gluten free” written in big letters on a wide range of products from spaghetti to cookies.  The gluten free diet seems to have exploded, but only a relatively small percentage of the U.S. population (about 1 percent) actually has a gluten intolerance, or celiac (SEE-lee-ak) disease.  If you have it, you’ll experience abdominal pain and diarrhea after eating anything with wheat barley or rye such as bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust.  It can, if left untreated, decrease absorption of nutrients and result in serious vitamin deficiencies that could be lethal.  Then there is what one expert has deemed “celiac lite”, or a gluten sensitivity, which isn’t as severe and does affect more people (5 to 10 percent), but does include some of the symptoms of bloating, gas and abdominal pain. There isn’t a medically approved to test to determine sensitivity to gluten, but a patient can be tested for celiac disease. If you think you may be sensitive, the best test is to simply eliminate it from your diet and see if you condition improves. So with so few people diagnosed with the disease, why are we seeing such a huge marketing push and increase in interest in a gluten free life? Is this just the next diet fad or are more of us become gluten intolerant and insensitive and if so, why?

 

Guests:

Dr. Melina Jampolis, board certified physical, nutrition specialist (she is a medical doctor that specializes in nutrition)

CALL HER @

 

UNCONFIRMED

Dr. Josephy Murray, professor of medicine and consultant in gastroenterology and immunology at the Mayo Clinic

• He is researching why we are seeing an increase in Celiac disease.

 

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

 

Patt Morrison for Thursday, July 28, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 28, 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 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30
Diverse, to a fault? UC’s “diversity bureaucracy” questioned in critical paper
A provocative article by Heather MacDonald in the City Journal claims that the University of California system has a bloated and corrupt “diversity bureaucracy.” Her impetus for writing the article was the creation of a new full-time “vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion” at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She writes that this position is being adding to the school’s “already massive diversity apparatus, which includes the associate vice chancellor for faculty equity, the assistant vice chancellor for diversity, the faculty equity advisors, the graduate diversity coordinators, the staff diversity liaison, the undergraduate student diversity liaison, the graduate student diversity liaison, the chief diversity officer, and the director of development for diversity initiatives.” She uses UCSD (and UC Berkeley and UCLA) as examples of a phenomenon she sees going on in every university across the country.

MacDonald believes a diversity bureaucracy is unnecessary regardless of budget woes, but especially so when the UC system has lost a total of $1 billion in the past few years and campuses are cutting courses and degrees. She writes that while UCSD cut its master’s in electrical and computer engineering, it is mandating “a new campus-wide diversity requirement for graduation… the cultivation of ‘a student’s understanding of her or his identity.’” And the crux of the argument in her article (“More Academics, Less Narcissism”): “Training computer scientists to compete with the growing technical prowess of China and India, apparently, can wait. Why study Cervantes, Voltaire, or Goethe when you can contemplate your [own identity]? ‘Diversity,’ it turns out, is simply a code word for narcissism.” MacDonald and a guest defending the UC’s policies join Patt to ask: is “diversity bureaucracy” necessary to ensure that California’s underrepresented are represented at its universities—and should that representation be ensured?

Guests:
Heather MacDonald, contributing editor of City Journal, a quarterly magazine published by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative think tank based in New York City; John M. Olin fellow, Manhattan Institute
CALL HER:

UNCONFIRMED
Na'ilah Suad Nasir, Ph.D., associate professor, African American Studies, University of California, Berkeley

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Cocaine Inc.:  inside the Sinaloa cartel & the big business of drug smuggling

Given the amount of drugs that enters the United States every year it’s pretty clear that the smuggling operations bringing cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the country have to be enormous and elaborate.  But as the Drug Enforcement Administration carried out the expansive 2006 “Imperial Emperor” investigation that targeted Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel the true nature and reach of the smuggling business became apparent:  bigger and more resilient that anyone could have imagined, the distribution operation responsible for bringing cocaine and other drugs in from Mexico, up through Los Angeles and out across the U.S., was run like an efficient corporation.  Preferring smaller shipments, to minimize the damage of seizures, employing thousands of workers—from drivers to logisticians to look outs to enforcers and even psychics—and run from a corporate headquarters, a group of mansions in Sinaloa state, the cartel was a sprawling and largely successful business.  Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Marosi poured over hundreds of pages of DEA reports and records, interviewed many of the cartel operatives who are now locked up in American prisons and talked to the law enforcement personnel who carried out the investigation to paint a complete picture of drug smuggling into the U.S. 

 

From stories of aerial smugglers, using a patchwork of forgotten air fields and making cocaine pickups from desert landing strips, to the cartel’s penchant for using Chevrolet Avalanches and Volkswagen Jettas as smuggling cars, since they were manufactured in Mexico, Marosi exposes the Sinaloa operations.  The Times’ four-part series “Inside the Cartel” concludes on Friday, focusing on the kingpin of the Sinaloa cartel, but we tell all of the uncovered stories right here with L.A. Times colleagues Patt and Rich.

 

Guest:

Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times staff writer and lead reporter on the Times’ “Inside the Cartel” series

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Contraception on the other, er….foot: birth control pills for men?

It’s been talked about for years, at least since “the pill” was released and started the sexual revolution.  But a widely available and effective form of birth control for men has not yet materialized. The only option is to either have a vasectomy or use a condom, which may prove useful for a casual encounter but isn’t the most desirable option for a committed relationship. So for decades now, women have been empowered to have full control over their reproductive system, but have also had to bare the brunt of the fight against unwanted pregnancies alone, subjecting their bodies to uncomfortable and sometimes harmful side-effects. Men, on the other hand, haven’t had to face those consequences, but are also left feeling powerless to help, or expected to trust that they won’t end up becoming a dad before they are ready, willing or able. The good news is that a few viable options are coming down the pike, a pill, a drug (used to treat worm infections), a gel that is injected into the scrotum (Owwww!) and even heat (using high frequency sound waves to warm the testes).  None of these options are ready for consumption just yet, but at least one might be on the market within the next three years.  Ladies, do you want and/or trust your man to take birth control? Men will you subject your body to hormones or injections to ensure you don’t become a “baby daddy”?

 

Guests:

Elaine Lissner, director of the Male Contraception Information Project

CALL HER @

 

Tom Leykis, former host of the nationally syndicated “The Tom Leykis Show” heard on CBS radio up until 2009; current host of “The Tasting Room with Tom Leykis” & founder of the podcast network “The New Normal Network”

CALL HIM @

 

 

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

 

Patt Morrison for Wednesday, July 27, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, July 27, 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 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Political geography 101: among controversy & turmoil, citizens commission to issue final redistricting maps

Redistricting—it’s a complicated but hugely significant part of the democratic process, one that Californians voted last year to make more democratic by forming a Citizens Redistricting Commission to redraw Congressional district lines—a duty previously reserved for elected representatives. In theory, the goal was to bring the process closer to the people and incorporate citizens’ input. In practice, however, citizens’ interest groups are complaining they’re being left out of the process after the Commission cancelled plans for a second draft of the redrawn maps and postponed the release of the final map by a day. The final map is now scheduled to be released this Friday, which will kick off a two-week period of public comment. The interest groups, largely divided along racial and ethnic lines, have all publicly voiced concerns that the new lines will dilute their voting demographic, have threatened legal action if shortchanged.  Is there any way this “political blood sport” can end in a satisfactory way?

 

Guests:

Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies

CALL HIM @

 

Jeanne Raya, commissioner on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission

 

Eugene Lee, handles redistricting matters for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center

CALL HIM @

 

Marqueece Harris Dawson,

OR

Jackie Dupont-Walker

OR

Erica Teasley Linnick, representative with the African American Redistricting Collaborative

CALL @

 

Steven Ochoa, national redistricting coordinator for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)

Tony Quinn, co-editor of the California Target Book and long-time Republican advisor in past redistricting efforts

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

The anatomy of a default & shutdown: as clock ticks toward deadline, what would life look like under the debt ceiling?

 

Guest:

Joe Davidson, “Federal Diary” columnist at the Washington Post

CALL HIM:

Backup:

 

Jay Powell, visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center; former Under Secretary of the Treasury for Finance under President George H.W. Bush

CALL HIM:

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Computer-brain: biology inspires b-… computers

The most powerful computer on the planet would need 8 ½ minutes to simulate less than ten seconds of normal brain activity. That same computer will consume 1.4 million watts of energy, while the brain will consume about ten. These are the numbers researchers at Stanford were facing when they decided to design a nanoscale computational device that would attempt to emulate synapses of the brain. But what does a more “brain-like” computer mean for the future of technology? What implications could this have for artificial intelligence and where could we find ourselves in the future?

 

Guests:

Phillip Wong, professor at Stanford University and chief researcher of the study cited

 

Richard Korf, Professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. From 1983 to 1985, he served as Herbert M. Singer Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. His research is in the areas of problem-solving, heuristic search, and planning in artificial intelligence    

 

 

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

 

JACKSON CAMPAIGN RAISES OVER $230,000 FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Los Angeles, July 26^th – Today the Alan Jackson campaign released their fundraising totals showing approximately $230,000 collected from more than 350 donors. Jackson exceeded his fundraising goals even while successfully prosecuting a complex death penalty case. Jackson’s dedication to justice in the courtroom remains unwavering.

Deputy DA Alan Jackson said, “I am grateful to have earned such broad and deep support throughout the County. It is my intention to become the next DA and make sure that victims and their families have an advocate who fights tirelessly for justice.”

John S. Thomas, Jackson’s strategist noted, “By hitting our campaign goals we are very competitive in this race. Just like in the courtroom, Jackson is yet again surpassing expectations and proving that he is a force to be reckoned with. Clearly this contest is evolving into a two person race.”

Alan Jackson has been a prosecutor in the LA County District Attorney’s office for over 16 years where he has tried nearly 60 felony cases, more than half of which have been murder trials.  He spent five years prosecuting hardcore gang cases in Compton, after which he moved to the Major Crimes Division where he has led the prosecution in some of California’s highest profile cases. Prior to becoming a Deputy DA, Jackson served in the United States Air Force as a Jet mechanic. Currently, Jackson serves as the Assistant Head Deputy of the Major Crimes Division where he oversees the office’s most complex and high-profile cases.

Patt Morrison for Tuesday, July 26, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, July 26, 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

California DMV makes organ donor question mandatory on driver’s license application as state lags way behind national average

In an effort to increase organ donation in California, where only 28% of drivers choose to give up vital organs after death—compared with the national average of 40%—the state’s Department of Motor and Vehicles is taking a definitive stand. Starting this month, after years of being voluntary, answering that question on a California driver’s license application will become mandatory. Several donation advocacy groups support the move, which became law this year after State Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) pushed the bill through the legislature, unopposed. Still, some bio-ethicists are skeptical of the move; a similar change in Virginia law actually resulted in a decline in organ donors because being forced to answer the question drove more people to decline. Policy makers have proposed alternative plans—a default-to-donation policy that requires opponents opt-out; growing organs from stem cells; even paying for organs. All agree demand is greater than ever as Americans increasingly struggle with obesity-related illnesses and as deaths that leave organs in transplantable conditions, like car accidents, become more rare. Which method is most effective and why are donor rates so much lower in the golden state? Could it be that California’s transient population feels less connected to its neighbors or that cultural attitudes of the state’s diverse populations deter donors? Patt digs into some of the psychology behind the decision-making process. For example, why are people who register for a license online so much more likely to check the donor box than those who apply in-person at the DMV?

 

Guests:

Jaime Garza, spokesperson with the Department of Motor Vehicles in California

CALL HIM @

 

NOT CONFIRMED - ON WHY THEY’RE SUPPORTING THIS TACTIC:

Tom Mone, CEO OneLegacy, a Southern California based donor network that matches available organs to patients at 215 hospitals and 12 transplant centers across Southern California

CALL HIM @

 

ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, CULTURAL BARRIERS, ETC.:

Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania

CALL HIM:

 

• Drivers are far more likely to decide to donate their organs and tissues after death if they’re filling out the application online (41% said yes) than in-person (only 22% said yes at the DMV)
• More than 100,000 people are waiting for organs
• Approximately 100 million Americans are registered donors but very, very few deaths leave organs in transplantable conditions, less than 1% end up being eligible donors.
• In Virginia and Texas, driver’s license applications are required to record people’s decision to donate. Virginia includes the options to donate, not donate, or not decide at all. After 6 months, “45% percent registered as nondonors, 24% were undecided, and only 31% registered as donors”
• Evidence from a similar policy in Texas suggests that mandated choice is problematic: 80% refused to be donors

 

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Chore Wars: myth of the slacker dad debunked?

It’s an age-old domestic debate: who does more work, men or women? According to the latest research, it’s neither. Various surveys including statistics on professional duties, household chores and child-rearing responsibilities are turning up new evidence that men and women now have combined daily totals of paid and unpaid work that for the first time are almost exactly the same. According to the most recent data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are actually only putting in about 20 minutes more work (paid and unpaid) per day than their husbands. It's still true, however, that women with young children put in more hours around the house and with the kids, at the same time as their husbands are putting more time in at the office, where cutting back hours as a new dad is still stigmatized. Women may be working more, but it's not the extra 15 hours a week predicted by sociologist Arlie Hochschild in her 1990 book The Second Shift, which argued that women liberated by the feminist revolution to work one shift in the workplace suddenly found themselves working a second shift with the kids when they arrived home because their husbands had not made a parallel cultural change. TIME editor Ruth Konigsberg says, quantitatively speaking, working mothers “have no grounds to stand on. And it’s time that women—myself included—admit it and move on.” So what about the pay gap? And is the conventional belief that working mothers have it the worst simply a myth?

 

Guests:

Ruth Davis Konigsberg, senior editor, TIME and the author of “Chore Wars: Men are now pulling their weight—at work and at home. So why do women still think they’re slacking off?”

CALL HER @

 

John Robinson, professor of Sociology and director of the Americans' Use of Time Project at the Survey Research Center at the University of Maryland, which conducted research on couples’ use of time by having them keep a diary accounting for all 24 hours of their day 

CALL HIM @

 

Arlie Hochschild, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California at Berkley; author of the book “The Second Shift”

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

The NAACP mobilizes its members for jobs, educational opportunities, parity in health care

African Americans do not speak with one voice, but they do have an organization that for over 100 years has worked to have the many voices of blacks heard. This week that group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is meeting in Los Angeles, highlighting the challenges and promise facing its members. As the nation pulls itself out of recession, slow economic growth and a disproportionately high unemployment rate for blacks continues to keep some families at risk for losing their homes and struggling to keep food on the table. On the political side, states are in the process of redistricting, threatening traditional boundaries that have protected minority voting blocks. The Voting Rights Act is threatened in several states as new restrictions are being put on voters, such as having to show photo I.D. before casting a ballot. And as the country looks to the coming election in 2012, are African Americans disappointed in our first president of color? Historically Democrat in their leanings, will they now look to the Republicans for support?  The NAACP is fighting for parity in education and an equal voice in the nation’s policies, but what is the best way to accomplish this? And, as the organization reaches out to other people of color, can it really make a difference in these major areas of concern to all?

 

Guests:

Hilary Shelton (Mr.), senior vice president for policy and advocacy and director of the NAACP’s Washington D.C. bureau

WILL CALL IN:

 

Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP; member of the NAACP's national board

CALL HER:

 

 

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

 

Patt Morrison for Monday, July 25, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, July 25, 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 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Federal budget negotiations threaten social safety nets while need for food stamps rises in California

Many Americans have had to tighten their belts in the wake of the recession, but some have done so more painfully than others—especially people who are classified as “food insecure,” or are unable to reliably put healthy food on the table for themselves and their families. You might assume that the majority of this group relies on food stamps, but there you would be wrong—regarding California residents, at least. In fact, the Golden State has the 2^nd lowest food stamp rate in the nation after Wyoming, with about 10% of its population—that’s 3.7 million people—receiving federal food benefits. About 50% of recipients are children, 8% are seniors, and the average family participating in the program has only about $101 worth of savings or valuables. Furthermore, participating households’ incomes must be less than 130% of the poverty level. Though the rates of those suspected to be going hungry are on the rise, curiously only about 50% of those in California eligible for food stamps participated in the program as of 2008, the most recent year for which federal figures are available, a figure lower than the national average of 66%. In L.A. County alone, more than 1.7 million people were designated food insecure in 2009, leading to city initiatives aimed at raising awareness and addressing hunger in local communities. The California Department of Social Services has also renamed the food stamps program “CalFresh,” hoping to remove its old stigma. Though these efforts have had some impact on local participation, many of the needy remain wary of the food stamps program. The long lines and complex documentation required for registration at welfare offices are powerful enough deterrents, but social embarrassment for the newly unemployed and deportation worries for immigrants also may contribute to low involvement. Republicans in the House recently wrote a budget outline for 2012 in which they proposed cutting 1/5th of the food stamps program’s funding by 2015, adding to the worries of many California counties receiving millions of dollars less than what they need to adequately administer and staff their branches of the program. Will the iconic food stamps program take a beating once a debt ceiling deal is hammered out by Congress? And can L.A. do more to ensure that Angelenos are fed?

 

Guests:

Jean Ross, executive director, California Budget Project

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Philip Browning, director, Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services

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2:06 – 2:30

The history of American debt: when did we first borrow, how did it get so out of control?

It all started with $75 million in loans made to the new United States of America during the revolutionary war, and thus began the first American budget deficit.  We managed to pay it back rather quickly and enjoyed several years of budget surpluses but the War of 1812 forced borrowing and once again we were back in debt—big wars tied to big deficits would be a recurring theme over the next 200 years.  There’s a lot of blame thrown around these days, as Congressional leaders and President Obama struggle to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling, to enable more borrowing, and chip away at a annual budget deficit that is over $14.5 trillion.  But the tough truth is that deficits and debt are bipartisan phenomena to which almost every president, no matter their party or ideological affiliation, has contributed.  The Civil War pushed the national debt into the unheard of $3 billion range; after World War I public debt was up to $25.5 billion; the New Deal and World War II resulted in one of the first sizable explosions in debt, up to $260 billion by 1950.  Throw in LBJ’s Grand Society, the Vietnam War, the defense build up against the Soviet Union, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, sweeping tax cuts and a brutal recession, and we find ourselves mired in this current mess.

 

So break out the calculators and the history books as we trace the growth of American debt, which has its roots in the very birth of the country.  As Obama and Boehner, Democrats and Republicans level blame at each other for getting us into deep deficits and not doing enough to get us out, the truth is there’s 235 years worth of blame to pass around to everyone.

 

Guests:

NOT CONFIRMED – DO NOT PROMOTE:

David Walker, chief executive officer of the Comeback America Initiative; former Comptroller General of the U.S. & director of the Government Accountability Office in the George W. Bush administration

 

Robert Dallek, presidential historian and author of several presidential biographies, including a two-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson; his most recent book is "The Lost Peace: Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope, 1945-1953."

 

Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and fellow with the James Baker, III, Institute for Public Policy at Rice University; editor of “The Reagan Diaries” and most recently published a book on Theodore Roosevelt called “The Wilderness Warrior”

 

David Kennedy, professor of history, emeritus, at Stanford University; he is the author of "Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945," which won a Pulitzer prize.

 

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30
Too posh to push: Are increased C-sections and induced labors a problem or a right?
Changes are developing in the world of obstetrics and gynaecology (OBGYN)—and it’s not just within pregnant bellies. More and more pregnant women are looking for more convenience and less pain in their deliveries. Instead of having their baby when their baby is ready to come out, women are having their babies when they want the babies out. Studies have found that from 1990 to 2006, the rate of induced labors more than doubled—in large part due to “on-demand” induced labors. A full-term pregnancy lasts 40 weeks but induced labors are being done on-demand, meaning out of convenience rather than medical necessity, as early as 37 weeks. Sometimes it’s scheduling: the doctor the mother wants is only available when the baby is 38 weeks old, the mother’s mother can only be in town to help when the baby is 37 weeks, the father of the baby has a business trip when the baby is full-term. Other times, it’s a decision to opt out of the last couple weeks of a pregnancy because they are the most uncomfortable and debilitating. One consequence of increased on-demand induced labors has been overcrowded incubators in neonatal intensive care units. Before 40 weeks, babies are still in a critical phase of developing their brain, heart, lungs, and immune system, and these processes are jeopardized outside the womb—sometimes even resulting in infant death.

On top of increased induced labors, the rate of cesarean deliveries continues to rise. Statistics show that between 2002 and 2009, the number of C-sections rose from 27% to 34%. The practice of scheduling C-sections out of convenience has gained some popularity and acceptance as celebrities such as Kate Hudson, who had a C-section when doctors told her she would have a long labor, and Posh spice Victoria Beckham, who recently had her fourth scheduled C-section. Some doctors believe that C-sections should only be conducted when medically necessary. Many doctors believe that, at the very least, discretion should applied when granting C-sections. Further increasing the rate of C-sections is the fact that after having a C-section, a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) is risky (one of the risks is bursting the healed abdominal incision). In response to an increase in “convenient” pregnancies, several doctors, led by the nonprofit The March of Dimes, have joined in a national campaign called “Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait.” Should women be given full control to make their own decisions about their pregnancy? Or do hospitals need to put regulations in place so that women who are “too posh to push” don’t put their babies—and themselves—at risk?

Guests:
Robbie Davis-Floyd, PhD, senior research fellow, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Texas Austin; fellow, Society for Applied Anthropology; author of Birth as an American Rite of Passage
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UNCONFIRMED
Richard Waldman, OBGYN, prior president of American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
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Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
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