April 17 - 21, 2006
Monday, April 17
HOMELESS RULING QUASHES LAPD PLAN ON SKID ROW
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The LA police department and the Mayor’s office have big plans for downtown. But visions of a downtown Mecca of culture and nightlife conflicts with skid row and the concentration of homeless people. Now a ruling from a federal appeals court will make it impossible for the LAPD to clear the homeless from sleeping on the sidewalks. Guest-host Judy Muller talks with experts about the implications of this new ruling.
PREVIEW OF PARENT-TEACHER COALITION ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SHIFT IN POLICY FOR LAUSD
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At 2PM today, six community organizations and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) will offer their proposal for LAUSD reform. Their ideas include increasing funding for all schools and reducing class sizes for all students. The press conference occurs one day before Mayor Villaraigosa’s “State of the City” speech, which will also address school reform. Guest host Judy Muller speaks with UTLA president AJ Duffy to get the union’s perspective.
TAX TIME
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They’re due. And we’re paying, but what do we really think about them? Is Washington using the money wisely? Are they too high? Too low? Or just right? Guest-host Judy Muller talks about a study from the American Enterprise Institute about what Americans think about the taxes they pay. Then she’ll talk to John Irons of the Centers for American Progress and Phillip Swagel, also of AEI, about why we feel how we do about our taxes--and how things could change for the better.
EARTHQUAKE HISTORY AND NEW SPACE-AGED TECHNOLOGY
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One hundred years ago San Francisco was hit by a devastating earthquake that touched off fires that destroyed the city. Guest-host Judy Muller talks to historian and author Simon Winchester about the quake. She’ll also talk to Andrea Donnellan, a geophysicist from NASA whose work could have far-reaching implications for our ability to deal with future quakes.
RIDING WITH STRANGERS
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Hitchhiking, often thought of as a vestige from an earlier era, is alive and well on America’s highways, according to writer Elijah Wald. Guest host, Judy Muller, talks with Wald about his latest book, Riding With Strangers which details his hitchhiking journey from Boston to Seattle and celebrates the spirit of the open road.
Tuesday, April 18
HOLY GAS PRICES
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It'd be hard to miss it…gas prices are breaking three dollars and crude oil is passing $70 a barrel. We know the reasons: increased demand from China. Running out of easy sources. And a war in Iraq and the volatile situation in Iran are causing instability in the markets. Oil companies, meanwhile, are making record profits. Will prices come down? And if so, when, and how much? And how long can the economy handle this? Guest-host Judy Muller talks to experts about this expensive trend.
STATE OF THE CITY PREVIEW
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Tonight at 5:30, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will deliver his first annual State of the City address. The Mayor is sure to talk about some of his key programs, including reform of the Los Angeles Unified School District. We'll also hear from community activists: what is the state of the City? Guest-host Judy Muller talks with city watchers about the upcoming speech and the state of LA.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DNA IS?
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Did you know that once tissue or blood is removed from your body, you no longer own it, and doctors and researchers are free to study it and profit from it? AirTalk guest host Judy Muller talks with experts about the legal and moral issues surrounding the afterlife of tissue.
ET PHONE HERE?
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It's the age-old question: are we alone in the universe? For decades, scientists have searched for radio signals from alien races…so far, no signs of ET. But this month the Oak Ridge Observatory in Harvard, Massachusetts turned on a brand new telescope that looks for life in a completely new way: it scans for light signals. The theory is that lonely aliens may be using signal lights to announce their existence. The telescope was funded by Pasadena's Planetary Society, and is part of the SETI project, or search for extraterrestrial life. Guest-host Judy Muller talks to Dr. Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary Society and former JPL scientist, about this new telescope and the search for intelligent life.
Wednesday, April 19
STATE OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivers his first State of the City address at the Accelerated School in South Los Angeles. He's expected to propose plans to whittle down the city budget deficit, to increase the ranks of the LAPD and to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District, a move that will require the approval of California's legislature. Guest host Judy Muller examines the speech with experts on city politics, Roy Romer, Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, Marlene Canter, President of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, Bill Ring, Chair of the LAUSD Parent Collaborative, and Raphe Sonenshein, Professor of Political Science, Cal State University Fullerton.
CALIFORNIA BOARD OF EDUCATION ADOPTS NEW GUIDELINES
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Earlier this week, in a 6- 4 decision, the California Board of Education approved new guidelines for English language arts textbooks for elementary and middle school classrooms through 2014. It rejected pleas from bilingual-education advocates who wanted to include textbooks that are better suited to the needs of English learners. The critics call it a one-size-fits-all approach that ignores the needs of English-language learners. Supporters say the new curriculum will provide high standards of language competency for all children. The new guidelines specify criteria for oral and written vocabulary development. Guest Host Judy Muller talks with guests Judy Chu, California Assemblywoman from the 49th Assembly District, Shelley Spiegel-Coleman, member of the group Californians Together, and Roger Magyar, Executive Director of the State Board of Education about the controversy over California textbooks guidelines.
RETIRED GENERALS CALL FOR RUMSFELD'S RESIGNATION
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A widening circle of retired generals and high-ranking military officers have come out and said what they were just thinking during the invasion of Iraq: Donald Rumsfeld is arrogant, incompetent, and needs to resign as Secretary of Defense. The White House hit back yesterday, and President Bush dismissed the accusations, complemented Rumsfeld's performance, and vowed to keep him on board. Is the President showing blind loyalty, or are the generals simply frustrated by the Secretary's transformative military doctrines? Guest-host Judy Muller talks with Christian Science Monitor reporter Brad Knickerbocker, General Bernard Trainor, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general. He co-authored Cobra II, The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, Max Boot, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Professor Denis Showalter, Military Historian at Colorado College on this controversy.
INVOLUNTARY TREATMENT FOR THE MENTALLY ILL
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California's treatment threshold for imposing non-volitional psychiatric care on a person suffering from a mental illness states that he or she must be either "a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled." Today in Pasadena, a group of mental health advocates stands in support of involuntary treatment for the mentally ill. Guest host Judy Muller speaks with Randall Hager, Director of Government Affairs for the California Psychiatric Association, Sally Zinman, Executive Director of the California Network of Mental Health Clients.
Thursday, April 20
HELLO, I MUST BE GOING
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Acting secretary of the prison system, Jeanne Woodford, has resigned just two months after taking the post. Her resignation is another blow to the beleaguered prison system. A federal judge stripped control of the department's health care system and prisons across the state are overflowing with inmates. Ted Chen talks to State Senator Gloria Romero and Lance Corcoran, Chief of Government Affairs for the Correction Peace Officer Association, about this latest development in the prison system.
TO BOYCOTT OR NOT
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Organizers of immigration protests are split over whether to go ahead with the next big demonstration, a May first national work stoppage and student boycott. Protest supporters want to show how important immigrants are to the US economy by leaving construction sites and restaurants under-staffed, crops untended and hotel rooms uncleaned. They hope empty classrooms will demonstrate that immigration reform is a major issue for future voters. But others are afraid such protests will make immigrants look anti-American, annoy the public and alienate lawmakers who are still undecided about how to reshape immigration policy. Guest host, Ted Chen talks with immigrant's rights organizers about whether to boycott or not.
ICE TO CRACKDOWN ON EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS
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This morning the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced plans to step up immigration enforcement by cracking down on employers of illegal immigrants. Ted talks with Jack Kyser, Chief Economist from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation about how this might impact business in our region. Additionally, Ted will talk about the legal and social implications with local activists.
LOVING AND LOATHING OUR INNER HOUSEWIFE
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In her book To Hell With All That, New Yorker staff writer, author and provocateur Caitlin Flanagan postulates that all women have an inner housewife, a domestic alter ego who is obsessed with keeping house, folding linens and cooking meals. The problem, as Flanagan sees it, is that women don't know whether to embrace or strangle this inner housewife and also don't know who to cope with the inherent contradictions of being a modern mother, wife and wage earner. Guest host Ted Chen talks with Caitlin Flanagan about the tough issues facing women trying to find balance and satisfaction in the demanding worlds of work and family.
Friday, April 21
T-SHIRT SLOGANS AND THE 9th CIRCUIT
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A San Diego teenager who was barred from wearing a T-shirt with anti-gay rhetoric to class has lost a bid to have his high school's dress code suspended. In a ruling today by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, the court said the Poway Unified School District could restrict what students wear to school in order to prevent disruptions. A majority of judges said that Tyler Harper was unlikely to prevail on claims that the school district violated his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion for keeping him out of class. Harper filed suit against the district in San Diego federal court after the principal at Poway High School refused to let him attend class wearing the shirt that read "homosexuality is shameful."
MOVING GOODS WITH LESS SMOG
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The booming economy of trucks, trains and ships that bring consumer goods from LA's ports to the rest of the country are costing the region in smog and premature deaths from pollution. That's why the California Air Resources board is targeting cargo ships, tractor trailers trucks and freight trains with plans to require emissions reductions to 2001 levels by 2010. But critics say there's no funding for the plan, which will cost as much as $10 billion and there's no means for enforcement. Guest-host Ted Chen discusses the controversial new proposals with experts.
FILMWEEK
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Guest host Ted Chen and critics Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor, Andy Klein, film editor and chief critic for both CityBeat and ValleyBeat, and Scott Foundas, film editor for the L.A. Weekly discuss this week's new releases, including American Dreamz, The Sentinel, Standing Still, Drawing Restraint 9, Abominable, Erosion, Somersault, The Almost Guys, Iron Island, and The Syrian Bride.
