Patt Morrison for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 OPEN

 

1:30 – 1:58:30

Berkeley’s diversity bake sale: cheaper cookies for students of color

Protest an affirmative action bill…with brownies? College Republicans at UC Berkeley are taking heat for a stunt they called a “diversity bake sale.” The students—who oppose a bill (SB185) on the Governor’s desk that would let California’s public universities take race and gender into consideration in college admissions—are planning to sell baked goods on a sliding scale. White students will pay the most for the sweet treats, $2, with Asian, Latino, black and Native American students each paying less. Women of all races will also be given a discount on cookies and brownies. Student leaders are condemning the bake sale, though the Berkeley College Republicans say they plan to move forward despite the resistance. Is this an acceptable form of protest? Affirmative action has been prohibited in the Cal State and UC systems since a Supreme Court decision in 1978. Is it time to bring it back? Or should Governor Brown veto the measure? 

 

Guests:

OPPOSED TO THE BAKE SALE:

Joey Freeman, external affairs vice president, Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC)

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Senator Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), authored SB185, which would allow the University of California and California State University to consider race, ethnicity and gender in student admissions; it’s sitting on Governor Brown’s desk

Shawn Lewis, president, Berkeley College Republicans, they are hosting the “Increase Diversity Bake Sale”

 

2:06 – 2:40

The cost of raising a kid may make you want to cry

Ever wonder how much you have to shell out to raise a kid these days?  The answer is a lot more than it did a decade ago.  The cost of raising a child has gone up 40%  or $60,000 in ten years.  It now costs just under $227,000 for a middle-income, two-parent family to raise a child to the age of 18 in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And in case you were wondering, that doesn't include college, or one dime of related expenses after the child turns 18.  One number that provides a stark comparison, median household income has fallen 7 percent in the last decade. The increase in food, gas and health care costs have contributed to the expense associated with raising a child as well as the high cost of child care. Some financial advisors suggest putting the college savings account on hold until a new parent has gotten a handle on the day-to-day expenses that can creep up especially in the first year. Is it possible for an average family in today's economy to have a child, own a house and a start a college fund without massive debt like it was the previous generation? Will these numbers make you rethink having a child?

 

Guests:

Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder, Families and Work Institute in New York

 

UNCONFIRMED

Mark Lino, a senior economist at the USDA

Ginger Ewing, a financial adviser with Ameriprise Financial

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Scientists see what’s in your mind and reproduce it on screen

Have you ever wondered what’s in someone else’s mind? Researchers at U.C. Berkeley have developed a technology that allows them to reproduce the moving images in a person’s brain. While a subject is watching an image of a hummingbird flutter around a flower, for example, researchers are monitoring their brain’s activity and actually recreating a blurry image on a monitor.  The implications of this technology could mean eventually being able to use a computer to read the minds of people who are unable to communicate their thoughts, such as stroke victims, coma patients and people with neurodegenerative diseases. Even further, there’s hope that it could lead to enabling people with cerebral palsy or paralysis to guide a computer with their minds. If visually producing memories and dreams becomes a reality, could there be practical implications in the field of psychology, or criminology. 

 

Guest:

Jack Gallant, neuroscientist and professor of psychology, UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco Graduate Group in Bioengineering; co-author of brain imaging study