Under an executive order signed Wednesday, CSU schools will no longer require freshman who may need extra help to complete remedial courses. Will this lower the overall value of a CSU degree, or prevent students from spending time and money on classes that don't go toward their degree? We also ask doctors and patients to call in about their experiences with Medi-Cal; review this weekend's movie releases on FilmWeek; and more.
Cal State will drop remedial courses and placement tests by fall 2018
America’s largest public university system will overhaul its remedial education system under an executive order signed Wednesday.
California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White’s order mandates that Cal State schools discontinue math and English placement exams and the noncredit remedial courses that more than 25,000 freshmen have been required to take until now. The change will go into effect in fall 2018.
Cal State reasons that the system can more accurately assess placement based on application components, including high school grades and standardized test scores. Meanwhile, the lack of remedial courses could help students graduate faster, thereby increasing the system’s four-year graduation rate, a number Cal State hopes to double to 40% by 2025.
Can remedial education help students succeed or is it more likely to hold them back? Should placement tests be based on performance in high school or in college?
Guest:
James Minor, senior strategist for Academic Success and Inclusive Excellence for The California State University
Doctors and patients – what’s your experience with Medi-Cal?
If you’re on Medi-Cal, it’s likely more difficult for you to get health care access, including appointments and services like psychiatry, than for Medicaid recipients in others states.
On a related note, out of all the states in the U.S., California ranks 48th in how much it pays physicians who take on Medi-Cal recipients.
As charted by Matt Levin’s recent CalMatters piece “Paying Doctors More-Now Will They Treat More Poor Californians?” the idea being pushed by civil rights groups and labor unions is that doctors would be more likely to take on Medi-Cal patients if they got larger reimbursements for them. These groups have won a small victory in the new California budget, which allocates $325 million in reimbursement money to doctors who see more Medi-Cal patients. It’s a tiered system of bonuses that correlates to the complexity of the patient’s ailment, with the least complicated patients being worth an additional $10 per visit and patients with the most complex ailments checking out to an additional $50 per visit.
But is that enough of a raise to incentivize doctors to take on more patients? The administrative burdens of navigating Medi-Cal, as well as payment delays are additional factors that doctors have to contend with. Still, groups like the California Medical Association say increased reimbursements, no matter how small, are a step in the right direction.
We want to hear from you. If you’re a doctor, what’s your experience with Medi-Cal? Do you accept patients with Medi-Cal? Why or why not? And if you’re on Medi-Cal, how do you feel about your access to health care in California?
Guest:
Janet Coffman, associate professor of health policy at UCSF school of medicine
Is freedom of the press under fire more now than in the past?
Headlines about journalists in peril aren’t new.
From stories about assaulted reporters to journalists killed in the line of duty, being on the front lines of news gathering has never been easy. But with a changing political climate and what seems like growing public distrust of the media, the U.S. is still considered one of the safest places to report when it comes to global press freedom. And there hasn’t been a way to track hostile actions against journalists until this week.
Enter the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a site aiming to track and provide information about press violations in the U.S. As reported by WIRED, Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte, who made news when he body-slammed a Guardian reporter in May, was ordered to make a $50,000 donation to the Committee to Protect Journalists or CPJ. The organization used that money to fund the Freedom Tracker project, which is run by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Now, 20 press freedom groups are in support of the site’s goals to track incidents including equipment search and seizures, border stops and physical attacks against journalists in the U.S. The CPJ heads the site’s steering committee.
But is the press experiencing more scrutiny than before, and are reporter freedoms really under attack more now than in the past? Larry sits down with the managing editor of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to find out more.
Guest:
Peter Sterne, senior reporter at the Freedom of the Press Foundation and managing editor of U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a website that aims to track press freedom incidents within the U.S. including arrests, equipment seizures and border stops of journalists; he tweets
FilmWeek: ‘The Dark Tower,’ ‘Kidnap,’ ‘Step’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell, Lael Lowenstein and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases including:
- "The Dark Tower" in wide release
- "Kidnap" in wide release
- "Detroit" expanding in wide release
- "Step" at select theaters, including ArcLight Hollywood and Laemmle's Playhouse
- "Wind River" at ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark
- "The Girl Without Hands" at Laemmle's Music Hall
- "Icarus" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and on Netflix
- "It's Not Yet Dark" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center
- "Some Freaks" at Laemmle's Music Hall
- "Fun Mom Dinner" at Laemmle's Monica Film Center
Critics' Hits
- Lael: "Wind River," "It's Not Yet Dark" & "Step"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg7ZknrV7gM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA3YTvoZBQA
- Charles: "Step"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVN4aVYA2eA
- Tim: "Some Freaks"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVWRz-O_H9Q
Mixed Feelings
- Tim: "The Dark Tower"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwfqXTebIY
- Charles: "The Girl Without Hands"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANbYvxpqx8A
- Lael: "Some Freaks"
Misses!
- Lael: "Kidnap"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Ht8VRPRvU
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt-Film Guide; he tweets
Lael Loewenstein, KPCC film critic
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
FilmWeek remembers iconic actor/playwright Sam Shepard, French femme fatale Jeanne Moreau
Hollywood lost two more pioneers of their respective fields on Monday.
American playwright and actor Sam Shepard died at his home in Kentucky from complications of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Shepard was known best for his plays like ‘True West,’ Fool For Love,’ and ‘Buried Child,’ which earned him a Pulitzer Prize. iconic role on screen as the fearless fighter pilot Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. He was thought by many to be one of the greatest American playwrights of his generation, painting beautiful pictures of the American West through his use of surrealism and complex characters living on the fringes of society.
Also on Monday, news broke that French actress Jeanne Moreau was found dead at her Paris home. She was 89 years old. Moreau was one of the most notable French actresses of her generation, studying at the Conservatoire de Paris before beginning her career in theatre. She then moved to the silver screen, starring in Louis Malle’s ‘The Lovers’ and ‘Lift to the Scaffold’but is probably best known for her role in Francois Truffaut’s Jules et Jim. She won Best Actress at Cannes in 1960 for ‘Moderato Cantabile’ and also won a BAFTA for best foreign actress. Moreau was known for her gravelly voice, expressive features, and being the face of New Wave, France’s film movement in the mid 20th century. There are some who say that post-war French film cannot be imagined without her contributions.
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Alt-Film Guide; he tweets
Lael Loewenstein, KPCC film critic
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine