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