President Obama won’t be using the term ‘genocide’ to describe the 100th anniversary of the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Also, the L.A. City Council is attempting to rebrand South Los Angeles as “SOLA,” arguing that the nickname will reinvigorate the area south of downtown. Then, is there a culture of cheating in higher education? If so, how serious a problem is it?
Armenians in US double-take as Obama balks on using ‘genocide’ in commemoration
Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, but President Obama won’t be using the term ‘genocide’ to describe them.
The White House broke the news Tuesday in meetings with Armenian American groups, contradicting a promise then-Senator Obama made while campaigning for president in 2008 to “recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
Maybe nowhere in the U.S. does this news hit harder than right here in Los Angeles, which is home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia or Russia. The White House says the decision was made in order to keep relations with Turkey, a NATO ally, stable in the hopes of cooperation on Middle Eastern conflicts.
Did the White House make the right decision, politically, in not using the word ‘genocide?’ What would the impact be on U.S.-Turkish relations if he did? What does this decision mean for U.S. foreign policy?
Guest:
Thomas de Waal, senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His book “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide” came out in February.
Ben Affleck too sensitive about slave-owning ancestor?
In the aftermath of Wikileaks publishing all of Sony’s hacked emails, the latest casualty is celebrity Ben Affleck, who had asked a PBS series on genealogy to censor a slave-owning member of his family.
Yesterday, Affleck posted a response to the controversial emails on Facebook. He stated that “it’s important to remember that this isn’t a news program” and “I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story.”
But critics of his choice cite Derek Jeter, Anderson Cooper, and Ken Burns as other participants in the show who revealed that they had slave-owning ancestors. They say that the show is about creating context for family histories and that putting Affleck’s mother, who marched during the Civil Rights Movement, in the show is reflective of that process.
The emails also put the spotlight on the show’s host Henry Louis Gates Jr., who sought advice on Affleck’s censorship request from Sony USA Chief Michael Lynton. In those emails, Gates remarked, “to do this would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman” and that if the information gets out, “it would embarrass him and compromise our integrity.” PBS has published a statement by Gates.
How should the public and the media consider private communications on public broadcasting? Did PBS make the right call on censoring Affleck’s ancestor? What would you have done in Ben Affleck’s position?
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South L.A. looks to rebrand as SOLA
What was once South-Central LA is now known more commonly as south LA. In another effort to re-brand the area, a new name's proposed - SOLA, S-O-L-A.
Much chance it catches on? Should it?
The L.A. City Council is attempting to rebrand South Los Angeles as “SOLA”. Arguing that the nickname will reinvigorate the area south of downtown, Councilmember Bernard C. Parks, who represents the 8th district, introduced an amendment this month that would substitute the acronym on all city documents referring to South L.A. “They [the residents] see these other communities reinvigorated by these contemporary names. And they wonder, at times, why their community is lagging behind,” Parks told the L.A. Times.
Do you think this will improve things for the region? What’s in a name? Could SOLA become the next WeHo, NoHo or DTLA?
Read the full story here
Guest:
Herb Wesson, City Council President. He referred the motion Tuesday to a neighborhoods committee
What Actors Equity minimum wage means for the future of LA theater
A majority of L.A.-based theater actors aren't very happy with their union this morning.
Just a few days after L.A. theater actors took an advisory vote that went heavily against a minimum wage, their national union went the opposite way in the vote that counted. The union, Actors Equity, voted yesterday to require most small theater productions throughout Los Angeles County to pay actors the minimum wage, currently $9, for performances and rehearsals. That's expected to make it much harder for small non-profit theaters to mount shows.
Operators of those theater groups say they can't make enough from ticket sales to pay a minimum wage. The union's release touts a compromise that allows theaters of under 50-seats to avoid paying the minimum, under certain restrictions.
Will this allow for as many small theater productions as currently exist in Los Angeles County, or will the mandatory minimum leave many theaters vacant?
Guest:
Leo Marks, an actor who is very involved in the organization I Love 99
Maryland legal system under pressure to release Freddie Gray autopsy report
Today, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told reporters he's asked state health officials to expedite the autopsy report of Freddie Gray, a 25-year old black man who died after sustaining severe injuries while in custody of Baltimore police.
The deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, Jerry Rodriguez, has said Gray died Sunday of "a very tragic injury to his spinal cord." Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said investigators were searching for any evidence of abuse by officers or other trauma that might have occurred in a police van after Gray's arrest.
How long should it take to release the autopsy report? Will the medical examiners "expedite" the report?
Maryland's Forensic Medical Center is a storied organization in the world of forensic pathology. The late Dr. Russell Fisher was its long time chief medical examiner who is considered the dean of pathologists, according to Joseph Cassilly, the longest serving State's Attorney in Maryland. Cassilly says the pathologists are beholden to science and objectivity and should not be subjected to pressures from constituents demanding quick answers.
Guest:
Joseph Cassilly, past President of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA); current State's Attorney for Harford County, Maryland; the longest serving State’s Attorney in Maryland
Academic Integrity 101: How cheating is (still) plaguing higher education
During its recent winter quarter, Stanford University reported an abnormally high number of cheating allegations.
In a letter to faculty, Provost John Etchemendy said that one professor even reported as many as 20 percent of students in one large, introductory class might have been involved in cheating. Recent allegations at other prestigious institutions, including Ivies and even a military academy, along with the recent incident at Stanford has raised questions in the world of higher education about whether a culture of cheating is still pervasive throughout American colleges and universities.
Research from Clemson University’s International Center for Academic Integrity shows that nationwide, 68 percent of undergraduates and 43 percent of graduates admit to cheating on a test or written assignment.
Why cheat? Some believe it’s a habit that begins in high school, where Clemson’s research shows 64 percent of the over 70,000 students surveyed admitted to cheating on a test, and 95 percent admitted to participating in some form of cheating. Others believe it’s a result of a curriculum that puts too much emphasis on student performance and not enough on content mastery. And still others say it comes from seeing role models and public figures cheat, often without being punished.
Is there a culture of cheating in higher education? If so, how serious a problem is it? How are colleges and universities learning to cope with cheating in the digital world? What changes could be made to the higher education system to make it more difficult or less appealing to cheat?
Guest:
James M. Lang, Ph.D., director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and an associate professor of English at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. He’s also the author of “Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty” (2013, Harvard University Press)