Patt Morrison for Friday, July 22, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, July 22, 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

 

 

KPCC REPORTER FRANK STOLTZE SITS IN FOR PATT MORRISON

 

1:06 – 1:19

OPEN

 

 

 

1:21:30 – 1:39

NFL lockout is over: are you ready for a downtown L.A. football stadium?

Now that the NFL lockout is over, with a new collective bargaining agreement in place and players ready to take the field for training camps almost immediately, all eyes in Los Angeles will turn toward…downtown.  In a city without a football team the end of the lockout means the resumption of hope, that a major deal to build a stadium in downtown L.A. (as well as a competing proposal to put a stadium in the City of Industry) is back on track.  In fact, the succession of events on AEG’s proposal to build Farmers Field downtown, right next to the Staples Center, will move at an accelerated pace over the next week and the L.A. City Council could be voting on a stadium deal by next Friday.  An AEG-sponsored report out on Wednesday estimated that a $1-billion stadium and a new wing of the Convention Center would generate $22 million annually for the city.  Meanwhile both AEG and the City Council are repeating promises and demands, respectively, that no taxpayer money goes into the construction of the stadium, although the details of any potential deal are largely unknown.  A debate in front of the full City Council is scheduled for July 29 and Farmers Field itself, if all goes according to plan, would open in 2016.  Could the end of the NFL lockout mark the beginning of the return of football in L.A.?

 

Guests:

Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Councilman representing the 2^nd District

CALL HIM:

 

UNCONFIRMED

Representative from AEG

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

New York City leaves a lump of coal in the coal industry’s stocking—is L.A. next?

When your city launches an effort to implement a major and complicated policy change, it helps when your mayor is a billionaire.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been moving the Big Apple away from fossil fuel-generated energy and toward alternative energy sources, made a donation yesterday of $50 million to the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign.  The goal is to shut down coal-fired power plants across the country and cut energy production from coal by 30% by 2020.  Mayor Bloomberg’s donation of $50 million was called a “game changer” by the Sierra Club in the fight against coal.  Right here in Los Angeles there is a long-range goal to end the city’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, also by 2020, but just like in the rest of the country it will be an uphill battle.  Coal provides nearly half of the nation’s electricity and accounts for roughly a third of its output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.  At the same time electricity from alternative sources, from solar to wind to biofuels is soaring, providing almost 12% of the nation’s production, representing a big jump from just a few years ago.  The coal industry calls the Beyond Coal campaign “beyond jobs” and says that warnings about the health risks of coal are overblown.  Is there life beyond fossil fuels and can $50 million really change the game?

 

Guests:

Molly Peterson, KPCC environment reporter

IN STUDIO

 

UNCONFIRMED

Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

Representative of America’s Power

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:39

Ask the Chief – with LAPD’s top cop, Charlie Beck

Why did violent crime in the city decrease by 10% in the first six months of 2011, while attacks on officers increased by more than 40%? What does he think of L.A. County Sheriff Baca’s proposal to oversee criminals on probation? These are just two of the issues facing LAPD Chief Charlie Beck since we last talked with him. He answers your questions…and a few of guest host Frank Stoltze… like why do we need tighter regulations of toy guns. Join us for another sit-down conversation in our ongoing series with one of L.A.’s finest.

 

Guest:

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck

IN STUDIO

 

 

 

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 21, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, July 21, 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

 

 

KPCC REPORTER FRANK STOLTZE SITS IN FOR PATT MORRISON

 

1:06 – 1:19

OPEN

 

 

1:21:30 – 1:39

Crowded, expensive jails & low crime rates vs. budget cuts & annual deficits: are California’s priorities changing?

It’s been a bit of a public safety renaissance in California over the past 20 years—crime rates across the state have been at consistently historic low levels and here in Los Angeles the streets are as safe as they’ve been since the 1960’s.  That kind of public safety comes with a high price tag and Californians have certainly been paying it, in the form of an increasingly crowded and expensive prison system that has played at least a small part in contributing to the state’s perpetual budget deficits.  After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order that California’s prison system must find immediate relief for its packed facilities, in the form of releasing over 33,000 inmates, a poll asking about opinions on the “three strikes” law and other tough-on-crime measures showed shifting priorities.  The economy is clearly the chief concern of Californians, according to a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and USC, and as a result we are starting to second guess the tough sentencing laws passed in recent decades.  60% of respondents, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and “decline to state” voters, said they would support reducing life sentences for third strike offenders convicting of property crimes.  Nearly 70% said they would approve of the early release of some low-level offenders whose crimes did not involve violence.

 

Is a safer California worth the high costs of incarceration or is time to reconsider our public safety priorities in the wake of a lousy economy and deficit-plagued budgets?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Alzheimer’s study suggests new link to lifestyle

Is there anything you can do to prevent getting Alzheimer’s, the complex degenerative brain disorder predicted to affect 1 in 85 people globally by 2050? Researchers didn’t used to think there was much of a link between lifestyle and developing the disease, but a new study presented at this week’s Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris and published in the journal Lancet Neurology, suggests that “modifiable risk factors”—like exercise, diet and mental activity—might actually make huge differences. According to the analysis, more than half of all cases are potentially preventable through simple lifestyle changes like exercising, quitting smoking and losing weight. That said, doctors caution that there are plenty of people who, regardless of doing everything “right,” will still develop the disease, but even a 10% reduction in risk factors could prevent 1.1 million cases worldwide. It’s just not yet clear which risk factors should be targeted first. Tune in to find out whether you should spend a free hour walking or doing Sudoku.

 

Guests:

NOT CONFIRMED:

ON THE STUDY:

Deborah Barnes, lead author on the study presented at this week’s Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Paris and published in the journal Lancet Neurology; she is also an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco

CALL HER @

 

ON WAYS TO MAKE LIFESTYLE CHANGES:

Debra Cherry, executive vice president of the Alzheimer’s Association’s California-Southland Chapter

CALL HER @

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:39

Skynet controls your traffic now: how a smart, integrated, real-time traffic system in NYC might help out L.A.

Since the mid-1980s, Los Angeles has been on the cutting edge of traffic monitoring (is that news to you, there, on the 405?) but this week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg rolled out a new weapon to fight midtown traffic. The massive $1.6 million program, paid in part by the federal government, connects traffic engineers in the Long Island City traffic command center to E-ZPass readers at 23 intersections across 110 Midtown blocks through wireless technology. The city hopes the new system will allow them to know when traffic jams erupt and give them the ability to immediately react and manipulate the length of traffic signals to ease those logjams. Ultimately, they plan to make that data available to drivers in the form of iPad and iPhone apps. Frank checks in for details on how New York is battling its traffic, what it’s learned from LA’s battles, and where Los Angeles stands now. Have we fallen off the cutting edge? Or is it just a whole different ballgame here?

 

Guests:

Rachel Weinberger, assistant professor of City & Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania; she served as the senior policy advisor for transportation to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in the development of PlaNYC, the city's 2030 sustainability plan

CALL HER @

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Stephen Ritchie, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Irvine

CALL HIM @

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Woody Guthrie: This segment kills fascists

Famed for such ubiquitous folk ballads as “This land is your land” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” -- Woody Guthrie has left an indelible mark on American folk music that has served as an inspiration for generations. Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen are among those that claim Guthrie as a role model in both form and message. But with history carrying on without his guitar strumming charm: how are we left to remember Guthrie in all his soft-spoken but folky-anger? Will Kaufman is here to talk about the “Dust Bowl Troubadour” himself in his new biography Woody Guthrie, American Rebel.

 

Guest:

Will Kaufman, professor of American literature and culture at the University of Central Lancashire, England. He is the author of three previous books, most recently American Culture in the 1970s

IN STUDIO

 

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 20, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, July 20, 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

 

LA TIMES COLUMNIST DAVID LAZARUS IS GUEST HOST

 

 

1:06 – 1:39

From all ends of the political spectrum, reasons to love & hate the debt ceiling / deficit reduction plan

Any good political debate has three sides:  left, right and center.  The ongoing fight over the negotiations to raise the federal debt ceiling while cutting into the $14 trillion budget deficit is no different and it seems like politicians from all ends of the spectrum have found reasons to love or hate—sometimes simultaneously—the proposed plans circulating on Capitol Hill.  First up on the right is the Republican “Cut, Cap and Balance” Act that would make immediate spending cuts of $111 billion to next year’s budget, cap federal spending to under 20% of GDP and pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Democrats deplore the idea of cutting government spending during a recession, they find a constitutional amendment too time consuming and unnecessary, and they stridently oppose a spending cap that would handcuff future budget processes.  The bipartisan “Gang of Six” in the Senate checks in from the middle, proposing a plan to trim $3.7 trillion from the deficit over 10 years, through a mix of spending cuts and reforms to the tax code, that would ostensibly be tied to an increase in the debt ceiling.  Tea Party Republicans will most likely vote against boosting the debt ceiling no matter what and Democrats want more tax revenues included.  On the left there are straight forward plans to let the Bush tax cuts on the rich expire and dramatically reduce defense and military spending, including ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  That plan has zero chance of making it out of the Republican controlled House of Representatives.

 

And there you have it, the three main options to getting us out of our debt crisis—which, mind you, will still be quite severe no matter which deal ultimately prevails.  Where do you come down in the midst of this old-fashioned three-sided political debate?

 

Guests:

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana’s 6^th District; former chairman of the House Republican Conference and a candidate for the governor of Indiana

Via ISDN

• Rep. Pence is a strong proponent of the “Cap, Cut & Balance” deficit reduction package and has previously stated that his vote to increase the debt ceiling is contingent upon passing a balanced budget amendment to the constitution.

 

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California’s 29^th District; member of the House Appropriations Committee

HE CALLS US:

• Rep. Schiff is opposed to the “Cap, Cut & Balance” act; he has called for an agreement on a “Grand Deficit Bargain” that makes tough but fair choices in putting us back on a path towards fiscal responsibility, and which includes both revenues and spending cuts.

 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont; member of the Senate Budget Committee

HE CALLS US:

• Sen. Sanders will not support the “Gang of Six” compromise and has stated he’ll vote against any proposal that includes cuts to Social Security and Medicare, without increasing taxes on the richest Americans.

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

FCC tells phone companies to cram their cramming practices:  will mystery charges soon be history?

Phone companies are never high on any lists of the most popular companies, with some justification.  One of the most frustrating practices of phone companies is called “cramming,” when a dishonest company puts charges on your phone bill (landline or wireless) for services that were not wanted or authorized.  The charges can range from 1-900 numbers that you never called or charges from third-party service providers that you never used.  The problem is obvious if you’ve ever stared closely at your phone bill:  with lousy descriptions about the charges and shady identification about the charging party, it’s easy to overlook these often tiny charges.  The FCC estimates that 20 million phone customers are crammed each year and that only 1 in 20 cramming victims realizes they’ve been scammed.  Both the FCC and Congress are attempting to do something about phone bill cramming in the hopes that consumers will have enough tools at their disposal to know when they’re being crammed and to know what to do about it.  From clearly highlighting third party charges to getting the FCC more directly involved in going after fraudulent companies, in theory there are now more consumer protections in place.  Will consumers tell phone companies to cram it?

 

Guests:

Joel Gurin, Bureau Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission
CALL HIM @

 

MORE GUESTS TBD

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:39

Big Man on Campus – LAUSD Supt. Deasy doesn’t have it easy…

Teacher layoffs and relocations, campus closures, fights with UTLA and charter school organizations, cuts in academic programs, low student test scores…all are part of a typical day in the life of LAUSD Superintendant John Deasy. Having joined what some would call a sinking ship in January, Deasy has played an active role in reorganizing LAUSD schools and staff, mostly recently overseeing the Board of Education’s decision to meet a $408 million shortfall in funds with cuts and employment terminations. But other changes with big implications for LAUSD have occurred too, like the school district’s drop of two charter schools, a new homework policy, and Jerry Brown’s signature on the law that requires textbooks to include LGBT history. Clearly, it ain’t easy being Deasy. Join Patt for a discussion with the Superintendent of the second-largest school district in America, and weigh in with your education questions and comments.

 

Guest:

Superintendent John Deasy, Los Angeles Unified School District

IN STUDIO

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Health care panel recommends full coverage of contraception

The new health care law bars insurers from charging for “preventive health services,” which the nonpartisan, nongovernmental Institute of Medicine yesterday defined to include the full list of FDA-approved contraceptives. Supporters of the recommendations—including obstetricians, gynecologists, pediatricians, public health experts and Democratic women in Congress—hailed the recommendations as the first-ever federal guidelines for women’s health; opponents—including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Family Research Council and Americans United for Life—argued that birth control is not a preventive service like vaccinations or chemotherapy are and that people who have moral or ethical objections to contraceptives shouldn’t be forced to pay premiums for health plans that cover them. Most private insurance includes contraceptive coverage, but co-payments have increased in recent years. The panel argued that even small charges could deter their use and that greater use of contraception would reduce the rates of unintended pregnancy. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended and about 40% of unintended pregnancies end in abortion. In addition to birth control, the panel also recommended that all health plans cover screening for H.I.V.; counseling to promote breastfeeding and to cover the cost of rental fees for breast pumps; screening to detect domestic violence; as well as sterilization procedures, education and counseling for all women. How will this revolutionary change in coverage impact American women and the health care industry?

 

Guests:

Dr. Linda Rosenstock, panel chairwoman and dean of public health at the University of California, Los Angeles

 

Anna Franzonello, staff counsel, Americans United for Life, the first national pro-life organization in the United States

CALL HER @

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Deborah Nucatola, senior director for medical services for Planned Parenthood Federation of America

 

 

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 Tuesday, July 19, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tues, 7/19/, 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

 

MICHAEL JACKSON SUBSTITUTES FOR PATT MORRISON

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Do parents who decline vaccinations for their kids pose a public health threat?

Fears of a link between vaccinations and autism have fueled reluctance among parents over the last decade to vaccinate their children. Though the link was disproven in January, populations across the U.S. and around the world persist in rejecting vaccines on religious or philosophical grounds. The impact of this movement, argues Harvard professor and risk perception consultant David Ropeik in an LA Times op-ed this week, is becoming all too clear: last year, California saw its biggest whooping cough outbreak in a long while, with 9,000 cases; France has documented 7,000 cases of measles so far this year. Ironically, preventable diseases have been on the rise in wealthy, educated areas, and according to a 2008 study from the state of Michigan, the risk of disease in such “exemption clusters” can be three times higher than the average risk in other areas. It’s clear that disease spreads quickly, especially in high density areas such as schools and hospitals, and those epidemics can be costly to contain and clean up. Should it be more difficult for parents to opt-out of vaccination? And could financial disincentives or stricter regulations increase public safety?

 

Guests:

David Ropeik (ro-PEAK) is an instructor at Harvard University and the author of an op-ed in this week’s Los Angeles Times; his latest book is "How Risky Is It, Really? Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts"

CALL HIM @

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:30

Study shows the internet is changing the way we remember

Is the internet changing the way our brains remember things? That’s the sneaking suspicion from a new series of studies conducted by a Columbia University psychologist and published this week in the journal Science.  One experiment showed people are more likely to remember data they’re typing into a computer if they think it will be erased from the computer’s memory, and more likely to forget it if they think the information will be saved. (Being told to remember the information made no difference in whether people remembered it, suggesting there’s no conscious “deciding” about whether to remember something.) Another experiment found that when presented with information we think will be easily accessible in the future, we’re more likely to remember where to find it rather than the details of the information itself. Similar to the way we rely on friends, family and colleagues to remember things for us, the internet may be training us to unconsciously outsource some memory functions to its collective intelligence. The findings don’t show the internet is causing the brain to lose its ability to remember facts, just that we don’t use it the way we used to. Is that necessarily a bad thing, or could there be any benefits to these changes in our memory function?

 

Guests:

Betsy Sparrow, professor of psychology at Columbia University and lead author on the study “Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips,” published this week in the journal Science

CALL HER @

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

Raising a chimp as a human: the wild story & monkey business of Project Nim
Imagine if we could free a chimpanzee’s mind through a communicative vehicle. This was the goal that Columbia university researchers set out to achieve in the mid-1970’s. How? By raising a 2-week-old chimp like a human child, by a human mother, in a house of seven children. Because chimpanzees lack the vocal apparatus to speak, the communicative vehicle was American Sign Language—even though no one in the large family knew sign language. The project was the brain child of behavioral psychologist Herbert Terrace, and the human mother to raise the chimp was one of his graduate students, Stephanie LaFarge. The two back-handedly named the chimp Nim, after Noam Chomsky, the linguist who insisted that language is exclusively a human trait.

The story of Nim is the subject of James Marsh’s, who won the 2009 Best Documentary Academy Award for Man on Wire, newest documentary. In theatres now, Project Nim has received raving reviews, won the best directing award for world documentary at Sundance, and been heralded already as a likely candidate for an Academy Award. But the story told within the film is a less happy one. LaFarge was not prepared for the “wild animal in Nim;’ and neither was her husband, who quickly realized the chimp’s hard-wired nature to compete with other males. As tension began to arise between Terrace and LaFarge, who had once been lovers, and because Terrace claimed LaFarge’s house lacked order and methodology, Nim was handed off to Laura-Ann Petitto, an attractive 18-year-old student who was highly motivated and organized. Further complicating matters, Petitto, who also had a romantic relationship with Terrace, and LaFarge did not get along—in fact, they still don’t to this day.

What happens next is a shocking and amazing story that involves both tragedy and joy—much as a human life does. The results of this experiment and film reveal as much about human behavior as they do about chimp behavior. Alongside heart-warming and tear-jerking moments of love and long-lasting chimp-human relationships, the film exposes arrogant and self-serving actions that are quite unsettling. At the heart of this film is the question of why humans feel so compelled to bring the “human” out of animals. Is the means of communication the missing link between humans and animals or is there simply not more going on in the minds of animals to be communicated? Was it wrong to bring an animal out of its natural habitat or is it important to test the scientific question that this experiment asked? And ultimately, was the experiment a failure or success?

Guest:

Dr. Laura-Ann Petitto, science director, National Science Foundation's Science of Learning Center; professor of Psychology at Gallaudet University and Georgetown University
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 18, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, 7/18, 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

 

 

MICHAEL JACKSON SUBSTITUTES FOR PATT MORRISON

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Have a heart, surgeons:  prominent transplant surgeon implores his colleagues to be “barbarians of civility”

Surgeons are a notoriously unfriendly bunch:  widely recognized as brilliant artists of the body, able to cut out cancerous tumors or repair broken heart valves, their skills are unmatched and almost always appreciated; but their bed side manners often leave something to be desired.  Patient relations is a big, and growing, part of medical training, with med students taking courses geared toward making them more empathetic with the pain and concerns of their patients and their families.  But surgeons are usually a different group, not having to interact much with the patients that they’re cutting into.  Surgeons are even known to be rude and unnecessarily demanding to the nurses that help them in the operating room.  Can surgeons become a little friendlier, and will a more amiable attitude help their craft?  One doctor argues yes—the chief of transplant surgery at Cedars-Sinai, in a new essay published in the Archives of Surgery, says that evidence supports a direct link between civil behavior and both clinical outcomes for patients as well as health and quality of life measures for medical professionals.  If surgeons can bring themselves to play nice, with both patients and colleagues alike, everyone could win.  Are the days of Dr. House in the OR about to be numbered?

 

Guests:

Dr. Andrew Klein, director of the Comprehensive Transplant Center at Cedars-Sinai hospital & chair in surgery and transplantation medicine; author of the essay “Barbers of Civility” published in the Archives of Surgery

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:39

Media monopolies hit a wall:  court overturns rule allowing multi-station ownership in one market

Imagine a town in which the daily newspaper, all of its television and radio stations, and even the local cable provider were owned by one company uniformly broadcasting information with the same spin every day….That’s the dystopian result that Philadelphia’s 3^rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wanted to avoid in its decision on Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC, which reinstated a ban on media companies owning both a newspaper and a television station in the same local market. The Court berated the FCC for its 2007 lifting of the ban, accusing the agency of failing to give the public substantial opportunities to voice its opposition. The FCC was also criticized for its lack of success in promoting minority ownership of broadcast radio and television stations on the basis of 2007 free press research. “Cross-ownership” bans of the type the Court reinstated have been around since 1975, an era in which newspapers still thrived, but former FCC chairman Kevin Martin decided to relax media ownership regulations on the grounds that the ban was no longer meaningful in an Internet-dominated environment.  Public interest groups applauded the Court’s ruling, saying that the ban is critical to the protection of a diverse media, while owners of big media corporations are dismayed. Would the absence of a ban really have prompted big mergers and homogenous news? Or is the news diverse enough in your community?

 

Guest:

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice-president, Media Access Project. They led the legal challenge.

CALL:

·        Media Access Project is a non-profit, public interest law firm and advocacy organization working in communications policy. For over 38 years, MAP has promoted the public interest before the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Courts, fighting for an open and diverse communications system that protects freedom of expression, promotes universal and equitable access to media outlets and telecommunications services, and encourages vibrant public discourse on critical issues facing our society.

UNCONFIRMED

FCC

Tribune Co.

 

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama’s Father

Since Barack Obama took the presidency in 2008, there have been countless books written about his life, speeches, and religious values, but few have thoroughly examined one of the former senator’s closest family members: Barack Hussein Obama, his father. Now Boston Globe reporter Sally H. Jacobs has shed new light on this brilliant and yet deeply flawed man in her new book, The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama’s Father. Following Barack I from his humble job as a cook for British colonists in Kenya, to his relationship in the states with Ann Dunham and failure at Harvard, and later to his alcoholism, unemployment and mysterious death in a car crash, Jacobs analyzes the influences that shaped the veering and memorable life course of “the other Barack.” His Muslim faith, polygamy and near-attempt to give the future president up for adoption are treated with great attention, as are his intellectual promise and commitment to an independent Kenya. Join Patt for a discussion of Barack Obama Sr. and weigh in with your questions and comments.

 

Guest:

Sally H. Jacobs, reporter at the Boston Globe 

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 Friday, July 15, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, July 15, 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

Medicine or therapy? Medical schools consider whether key to addiction is more will power or medical intervention

For over a decade, the medical community has debated whether addiction is more of a mental problem that can be treated with talk therapy, spirituality and 12-step programs, or more of a physical problem, like diabetes, that requires continuing medical treatment and perhaps even medication. The 90’s were the “decade of the brain,” until the success of medications like Suboxone—used to treat heroin addicts—made treating addiction look less like a matter for willpower and more like a matter for medical intervention. There’s no silver bullet, but increasingly, medical schools are carving out curriculum space to look at the many variations of addiction in the first accredited residency programs. Physicians describe it as a sea-change in attitude from the nineties, but say the medical profession is at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recognizing the potential it can play in recovery. There’s also pushback from those who run or successfully completed twelve-step and other rehab programs without medical treatment. If you or someone you know has struggled with addiction, what worked for you?

 

Guests:

Steven Shoptaw, vice chair for academic affairs and professor in the UCLA Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry; UCLA hopes to accredit a residency program dedicated to addiction medicine in the next year

CALL HIM @

 

• Of the roughly $300 million LA County currently spends on addiction treatment, the vast majority of that goes to rehab programs and not medical relief

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Dr. Daniel Alford, oversees the addiction residency program at Boston University Medical Center

 

PRO 12-step program:

Jerry Fisher, psychologist with Authentic Recovery Centers

 

TBA, representative from Alcoholics Anonymous

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

Will the American World Cup women’s soccer team party like it’s 2011?

The current U.S. national World Cup soccer team is probably sick of being compared to the iconic 1999 team that won it all, in a thrilling match against China at the Rose Bowl.  The ’99 team, with recognizable players like Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett and Brandi Chastain on the roster, not only showed that women’s soccer could be just as entertaining as the men’s games but brought prominence to all of women’s sports.  The 2011 version of the American World Cup team was more anonymous than their predecessors, even as they were heavily favored to win the tournament.  That all changed after a harrowing semifinals game against Brazil that saw several questionable officiating calls go against the Americans capped by a tying goal, literally in the final minute of play, and a win on penalty kicks.  This World Cup team might not change the world of women’s sports but they will go down as one of the toughest and most resilient sports squads ever, having already overcome a disappointing loss against Sweden.  As the Americans prepare to square off against Japan in the World Cup finals we preview the game and look at the character of a ’11 soccer club that might soon get out of the shadow of 1999.

 

Guest:

UNCONFIRMED

Julie Foudy, former team captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, World Cup champion & Olympic gold medal winner; currently a soccer analyst on ESPN

 

 

 

2:21:30 – 2:26

JetBlue Airways says “405 Freeway Closure? We’re So Over It!” (literally)

In an advertisement entitled “405 Freeway Closure? We’re So Over It!,” JetBlue Airways publicized an unusual deal: buy a seat on their “planepool” and fly above this weekend’s traffic gridlock between Long Beach and Burbank airports, all for only $4 or $5 each way. The deal might seem too good to be true, but wait—there’s more! The airline is also offering 40.5% off of their airfare on trips between Las Vegas and either of the afore-mentioned airports. The emergence of what some might call extreme travel options like this underscores the desperation Angelenos are feeling as the closure of the 10-mile stretch on the 405 looms. To what lengths would you go to get to your weekend engagement? What do you make of this flight offer, and will you ascend the heavens to avoid Car-maggedon?

 

Guest:

Mark Rogers, regional marketing manager for Los Angeles, JetBlue Airways

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2:26 – 2:50

The 405’s closing down tonight – AAACH! But never fear - Dr. Roadmap saves the day with a detour to your destination

Everybody’s heard about the 10-mile stretch of the 405 freeway closing for construction tonight between the I-10 and U.S. 101, but what if you live on the West Side or absolutely MUST drive in that area? For the pessimists, it’s just stay home and watch a two-day TV marathon; and for the determined, it’s try to figure out which detour to take for various city destinations. Which routes will get you where you want to go? Should you stick to your own car or take public transportation? And how will Caltrans and Metro be making your life easier during the shutdown? Ask Dr. Roadmap for your travel options as we countdown to CAR-MAGGEDON!!!

 

Guests:

David Rizzo, known as Dr. Roadmap; author, Survive the Drive! How to Beat Freeway Traffic in Southern California. In his book, he helps daily commuters, business travelers, visitors and tourists navigate Southern California's freeways, deal with road rage and help to plan commutes to save travel time.

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:50 – 2:58:30

Countdown to CAR-MAGGEDON begins!

‘Twas the night before the closure, and all through the streets, not a vehicle was stirring, not even a Jeep”…. This evening, freeway ramps on the 405 will gradually close as the 53-hour stint of construction on the Mulholland Bridge begins. Everyone is bracing for the surface street congestion and general frustration soon to ripple through the city, and many have resigned themselves to a weekend of local driving or self-imposed house arrest. But for the braver souls willing to risk the roads, we’ll be discussing exactly what to expect tonight, and for the next couple of days. There’s no harm in praying for as seamless a disruption to L.A. traffic as the 1984 Olympics proved to be, but just in case things don’t turn out that way, Patt is talking with Jeff Baugh, airborne reporter for KNX 1070 News Radio, who will be surveying the freeway construction from his plane throughout the weekend. Join us for the countdown to – CAR-MAGGEDON!!!

 

Guest:

Jeff Baugh, airborne reporter for KNX 1070 News Radio

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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