Patt Morrison for Monday, June 18, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, June 18, 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 – 1:39: OPEN

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Dambisa Moyo on “Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What it Means for the World”

China has so far dominated the mining of rare earth minerals – elements necessary for all those high tech gadgets we can’t live without – and it’s making moves to acquire more global commodities. As China and its middle class grow, so too will their demand for consumer goods and energy. Commodity prices have increased by nearly 150 percent since 2000 and the world’s finite resources will not be able to satisfy future demand. That will undoubtedly lead to conflict. China’s demand for resources is already outstripping its own significant resources and so far the country has supplemented its own supply by buying or trading for the resources it needs, but what about the future? Economist Dambisa Moyo looks at the demand and China’s race for resources.

 

Guest:

Dambisa Moyo, economist and author of "Dead Aid, an Influential Critique of Western Aid for Africa." Her new book is is "Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What it Means for the World”

 

2:06 – 2:19

LAUSD’s incredible shrinking school year
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled last week that the current method for LAUSD teacher performance evaluations is inadequate, and that the teachers union will have to come up with a more reasonable method of gauging student achievement. Another aspect of this new deal between LAUSD and the teachers union means that the 2012-13 school year may be shortened as many as five additional days. If these new cuts are approved, the number of days cut from the academic year over the last four years could wind up being18 days. The move may save some teacher’s jobs, as well as art classes, but would put extra pressure on parents to juggle childcare and supervision for the days their kids aren’t in school. And how would academic achievement suffer as a result of a shorter school year? Can teachers condense all the necessary lessons into a shorter year? Where can the district turn for cuts in the already-austere budget?

 

Guests:
UNCONFIRMED:
Nancy Weems, an LAUSD charter school teacher
Scott Folsom, president of the Los Angeles 10th District Parent Teacher Student Association

 

2:30 – 2:39

Motorcycle fatalities increase nationwide as helmet laws grow less strict

Highway fatalities have decreases dramatically over the last decade, except for one group: motorcyclists. Despite the fact that helmets have been proven by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to decrease fatalities for motorcycle drivers by thirty-seven percent and passengers by forty-one percent, the American Motorcyclist Association, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation and the American Bikers Aiming Toward Education (ABATE) have spent millions lobbying congress against passing new helmet laws. In some cases lobbyists have even tried and succeeded in repealing current laws. Many of the groups argue that government money should be spent training motorcyclists instead of on things like checkpoints for helmet safety. According to Fairwarning.org, “if the biker groups’ lobbyists and congressional allies have their way…the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)…would be blocked from providing any more grants to states to conduct highway stops of motorcyclists to check for safety violations.” The number of states requiring that all motorcyclists wear helmets continues to drop; with Michigan’s April repeal of its fifty-year-old helmet law, only nineteen states now have such regulations, down from the total of forty-seven in 1970. Current California law requires all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, but will that continue to be the case? And do you think that helmets should be required?

 

Guests:

UNCONFIRMED

Rick Schmitt, who wrote a recent article on motorcycle helmet laws and fatalities for Fairwarning.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison