France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack has journalists around the world standing in solidarity. How should French and Islamic leaders respond? Also, critics are saying that current college graduation rates aren’t telling the whole story about how long it’s really taking students to graduate. Then, gang expert and journalist Sam Quinones explores the drastic reduction of gang activity over the past three decades.
Attack in Paris: Latest on murders of journalists, domestic tensions in France
By Jamey Keaten and Lori Hinnant
Associated Press PARIS (AP) - Masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a weekly newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, methodically killing 12 people Wednesday, including the editor, before escaping in a car. It was France's deadliest postwar terrorist attack.
Shouting "Allahu akbar!" as they fired, the men also spoke flawless, unaccented French in the military-style noon-time attack on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, located near Paris' Bastille monument. The publication's depictions of Islam have drawn condemnation and threats before - it was firebombed in 2011 - although it also satirized other religions and political figures. President Francois Hollande called the slayings "a terrorist attack without a doubt," and said several other attacks have been thwarted in France in recent weeks. Fears have been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis returning from conflicts in Syria and Iraq will stage attacks at home.
WEIGH IN
How should French leaders respond? What about Islamic leaders? Some have argued there should be no expectation on Muslims to join the dialogue. What would be the pros and cons of taking that tack?
Guests:
, correspondent in Paris today for Al-jazeera America, the U.S. cable news channel that covers both domestic and international news. Al Jazeera America can be seen in Los Angeles and Southern California on Time Warner Channel 445, AT&T U-Verse 1219, DirecTV 347 and Dish Channel 215.)
Emily Gottreich, interim chair of the center for Middle Eastern studies, Berkeley
Salam Al-Marayati, President, Muslim Public Affairs Council, established in 1988 with a mission toward integration of Muslims into American pluralism
Attack in Paris: Assessing the impact on satirical expression
An attack on satiric magazine Charlie Hebdo has left 12 dead in Paris, including four cartoonists. The publication not only didn’t shy away from sensitive subjects, it courted controversy. From republishing an offensive Danish cartoon that depicted the prophet Muhammad to original work that teased Muslims, Catholics, Jews, and just about everyone else, Charlie Hebdo had a vigorous take on free speech. The French government advised the magazine not to publish some of its content. Editorial director Stephane Charbonnier, better known as Charb, was incensed. He likewise condemned the government for its attempts to stop a planned protest by Muslims.
“Why should they prohibit these people from expressing themselves?” he asked. Charb was among those killed in the attack.
It’s not only writers and cartoonists who worry about extremist reaction to satire. To whatever extent North Korea was involved in declaiming Sony over The Interview, media companies are increasingly wary about the safety of employees who create potentially inflammatory art. Will this attack lead to additional self-censorship? How concerned are journalists, opinion writers, cartoonists and others about violent retribution from those who disagree with their views?
Guest:
Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director of PEN American Center, which defends the free expression of writers and artists
Michael Cavna, “Comic Riffs” blogger for the Washington Post and a cartoonist
Delayed graduation: Are students at four year colleges actually graduating in four years?
Major colleges and universities in the U.S. are often called four-year colleges because that has always been the amount of time it takes most students to accumulate enough credits to graduate. For community colleges, the accepted standard is two years. But can we still say that is the standard for higher education in 2015? Some critics are saying that current college graduation rates aren’t telling the whole story about how long it’s really taking students to graduate. They also say that the amount of attention paid to earning degrees on time isn’t realistic at schools like California State University, the largest public system in the U.S., where many students are going to school while also working and taking care of families.
It’s no secret that students who graduate in four years or less save money and free up space for more students to enroll. But some say that the graduation rates aren’t an accurate way to measure campus performance, and that using them to determine allocation for funding would be a bad idea. According to a recent study done by the non-profit Complete College America, only 19 percent of students nationally graduate in four years at most public universities, and those students are taking an average of 13.5 more credit hours than necessary to graduate. At highly-rated flagship research universities, only 36 percent of students graduate on time and they’re taking an average of 14.6 more credit hours than necessary to graduate.
Students at the public universities are taking, on average, 13.5 more credit hours than is required to graduate The report also says it costs students almost $23,000 extra for every extra year at a public four-year college, and that number increased to over $68,000 when you factor in wages that could have been earned if the student had graduated on time.
Do you think graduation rates are telling the whole story when it comes to campus performance? Are there other, more accurate methods of measuring how students are really performing at colleges and universities when the two-year or four-year model is no longer the norm?
Guests:
Timothy White, Chancellor of the California State University system
Tom Sugar, senior vice president of Complete College America, a national nonprofit that works with states to increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. The group authored a study called ‘The Four Year Myth,’ which examines why students at four year colleges are taking longer than four years to graduate and how it can be fixed.
The End of Gangs: Why LA gang membership continues to wane
For many newcomers to areas like Highland Park, Azusa or the Hawaiian Gardens, their community’s history of organized crime often seems like just that--history. Home values are up, the streets are quiet, and graffiti is scarce. It may be hard for newer residents to imagine, but these cities used to be home to some of the most dangerous street gangs in the country. The problem was so pervasive, in fact, that area police and press nicknamed 1988 “The Year of the Gang.” Nearly three decades later, gang membership now has reached a record low, and the reasons may surprise you.
In an article recently penned for Pacific Standard, gang expert and journalist Sam Quinones explores the policies, procedures and economic factors that have contributed to the drastic reduction of gang activity over the past three decades. With recent tensions heightening between police and communities of color, Quinones hypothesizes that one of the most important factors in gang reduction is community outreach and trust; law enforcement must behave as advocates for the people they also protect. Increased trust from the community has resulted in more crime tips leading to more arrests.
In addition, Quinones also credits gentrification, increased hiring in the LAPD, and the introduction of CompStat real-time statistical crime monitoring, which allowed the LAPD to better target high crime areas. Finally, better cooperation between the FBI, CIA and LAPD has led to a significant decline in gangs loyal to Mexican cartels.
Do you live in an area where gang populations used to be high? What have you observed over the past few decades? Do LA streets feel safer?
Guest:
Sam Quinones, writer and contributor to Pacific Standard where he penned “The End of Gangs” for Jan/Feb issue. He is the author of “Mexico: True Tales From Another Mexico” (University of New Mexico Press, 2001) and “Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration” (University of New Mexico Press, 2008)