PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE
Friday, February 3, 2012
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
Should there be a legal drinking age…for soda?
Is sugar as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco? Dr. Robert Lustig and his colleagues at UC San Francisco seem to think so. They’ve published an article in the journal “Nature” likening sugar to alcohol and tobacco in that it meets four criteria the government have used to warrant regulation: it’s unavoidable in society, it’s toxic, it can be abused, and it’s bad for society. Added sugars in processed foods and drinks, according to Lustig and his coauthors, are responsible for so many cases of chronic disease and premature deaths that their consumption should be regulated similarly to alcohol and tobacco. Some scientific evidence suggests that sugar, not obesity, can directly lead to, among other diseases, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The coauthors aren’t pushing to have all sugar outlawed or banned from our diet completely, but simply for the regulation of added sugars, which they define as “any sweetener containing the molecule fructose that is added to food in processing.” At a minimum, say Lustig and his team, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should remove fructose from its list of items “Generally Recognized as Safe.” How safe do you think “added sugars” are? How closely should the government regulate our diet? What are the most effective and appropriate methods for encouraging healthy eating habits among Americans?
Guests:
Laura A. Schmidt, associate professor, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies in the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Co-author of the commentary published Thursday in the journal “Nature.”
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania
2:06 – 2:30
Use it or lose it: President Obama threatens to reduce aid to colleges that don’t pass it on to students
Find a way to stop tuition from going up, or risk losing federal aid money. That was President Obama’s message last week when he “put colleges and universities on notice” during a speech at The University of Michigan. He went on to propose tying federal campus-based aid programs to tuition policies for the first time in history. If passed, the Obama Administration would shift financial aid away from institutions that fail to stave off tuition hikes and toward colleges that make an effort to keep tuition affordable. The Administration plans to do this by increasing funding work-study programs, Perkins loans and supplemental grants for low-income students from $3 to $10 billion in federal grants and loans annually. Tuition at the University of California has nearly doubled over the last several years, and this year the system will collect more money from student tuition than from state revenues. What does the president’s proposal mean for California? And while incentivizing colleges to keep tuition low sounds like a worthy cause, are their hidden costs or unintended consequences? Will the shift force colleges to trade quality for price?
Guests:
Mark Yudof, president, University of California system
Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com. Mark has testified before Congress about student aid on several occasions and is a member of the board of directors of the National Scholarship Providers Association
2:30-2:50
Who’s ready for the Puppy Bowl? Strategies for programming against the Super Bowl
Counterprogramming: technically, it means programming that occurs during the Super Bowl’s halftime period, but no station that engages in counterprogramming would mind if you forgot to return to NBC (the 2012 Super Bowl’s home network). Successful past examples of counterprogramming include “In Living Color,” with its special football-themed episode, and the “Lingerie Bowl,” which typically airs on Pay-Per-View. Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl” has been picking up viewers, as well. You might say that it’s counterintuitive to even think of programming against the Super Bowl; with over 40% of America’s television sets tuned in and multiple viewers in front of each set, some stations appear to just throw up their hands and embrace their lack of audience. ABC, for example, is going with episodes of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Wipeout.” All the same, the Super Bowl is not for everyone, so what strategies do other networks and cable channels use to compete with each other for the leftovers? What will you be watching Sunday?
Guest:
Robert Thompson, trustee professor of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, where he is also the founding director of the Bleier (BLY-er) Center for Television and Popular Culture
2:50 - 2:58:30
The Star Spangled bungle – flubbing the national anthem
When American Idol champion Kelly Clarkson steps in front of the microphone to sing The Star Spangled Banner for Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, she’ll be joining the ranks of myriad professional singers who have faced the honor and challenge of tackling America’s national anthem on the big stage. Most artists manage a rousing version and then it’s on to the game, but many performers before her have bungled it badly - most recently Steven Tyler of the rock band Aerosmith, whose highly stylized rendition at the New England Patriots’ and Baltimore Ravens’ AFC Championship game on January 22nd sent many viewers scrambling for the mute button on their remotes. But Tyler is far from alone… the list of celebrities who have butchered the song includes Roseanne Barr, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bolton, track star Carl Lewis and pop diva Christina Aguilera, who delivered a lyrically-challenged and widely-panned performance at last year’s Super Bowl. Just what is it about Francis Scott Key’s bit of patriotic zeal that prompts such musical abuse? Is it the one-and-a-half octave range of the melody? Is it the fact that it is usually sung solo, and a capella? Is it the millions watching and listening? Who would you like to hear sing the national anthem before a big game?
Guests:
D. Todd Felker, professional opera singer; has sung The Star Spangled Banner for five Chicago Bulls NBA games
Lauren Osen
Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC
626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278
losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison
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