SCOTUS to examine the constitutionality of affirmative action in higher ed. Sexual abuse allegations against teachers increase in the wake of Miramonte scandal. Bird flu research – science for good or evil. The great debate: Eastside or Westside?
SCOTUS to examine the constitutionality of affirmative action in higher ed
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will affect the future of affirmative action at the nation’s colleges and universities. This case is an appeal from a white student in Texas who seeks an end to "racial preferences" in college admissions but since the court’s calendar is filled through the spring, the court will not hear arguments until October.
In 1978, by a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court ruled that universities can consider race as a factor in admitting new students. Then in 2004, the high court confirmed that view in another 5-4 ruling but Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired soon afterward and was replaced by Justice Samuel Alito. In 2007, Justice Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts joined together in a ruling that banned the use affirmative action in elementary or high schools to achieve racial balance.
The case to be heard before the Supreme Court in October, Fisher vs. University of Texas, will give the court present configuration the chance to rule on the constitutionality of affirmative action in higher education.
California already has a constitutional ban on affirmative action in higher education. In November of 1996, 54% of voters accepted Proposition 209 which amended the state constitution to prohibit state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting or public education. That ruling has been challenged but in August of 2010, the California Supreme Court found for the second time that Proposition 209 was constitutional. Five Supreme Court justices are thought to be opposed to “racial balancing” policies and Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself in the Fisher case.
Guest:
Joshua P. Thompson, Staff Attorney, National Litigation Center, Pacific Legal Foundation, described as a public interest legal organization that fights for limited government, property rights, individual rights and a balanced approach to environmental protection
George Washington, Attorney with the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (BAMN) and Scheff, Washington & Driver, a labor and civil rights law firm in Detroit
Sexual abuse allegations against teachers increase in the wake of Miramonte scandal
A new report reveals that, in the weeks leading up to the arrest of Miramonte Elementary school teacher Mark Berndt, the Los Angeles Unified School District received exactly zero complaints of teacher misconduct. The week after? Nine complaints.
The report was created by the assistant superintendent of school operations for LAUSD, Earl Perkins, who used a relatively new computerized reporting and tracking system to find the data. According to Perkins, the complaints range from teachers possessing pornography, to engaging in a sexual relationship with a student, to rape.
After a janitor at an elementary school in Chatsworth was arrested, police said the mother of the alleged victim came forward because of publicity surrounding the Miramonte case. As it turns out, an increase in reporting is a common occurrence in the wake of high-profile sexual abuse cases. After news broke that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had allegedly abused several boys over the course of many years, calls to a local child abuse hotline doubled.
Lindsey Combs-Ronto, director of research and training and Supervising Forensic Evaluator at the Harbor UCLA Child Crisis Center, said the influx of complaints that comes with a newsbreak is a double-edged sword.
“It is the case that more true victims do come forward, because it removes that stigma that often comes attached to being a victim of sexual abuse,” she said. “At the same time, other kids, other parents, other teachers – they become more hyper-vigilant about action from others and tend to report more and more things.”
Moreover, Combs-Ronto said attention-seeking kids themselves may come forward with allegations that are untrue.
“There’s still panic often, over child sex abuse, particularly when you have a really highly publicized case, like what’s going on in Miramonte,” said Debbie Nathan, author of “Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse And The Making Of A Modern American Witch Hunt,” a book about high-profile sexual abuse cases in the 80’s and the panic they set off.
According to Nathan, the case’s bizarreness makes it compelling to the media. She said that in New York, where she resides, everybody is talking about Miramonte. “The case becomes in parents’ minds a local problem, even in places 3,000 miles away, because they’re watching it on the media twice a day,” she added.
Forensic psychologist and expert witness in child sexual abuse cases Glenn Lipson described the mania, saying that “now you have plaintiff attorneys who are going out to Miramonte, [...] they’re likely to find any kid who ate a cookie. And when parents ask questions, they’re going to ask the sort of leading questions, and parents are going to be looking to find out if their child was abused, and they may end up with statements that are going to lead into the listing of more and more plaintiffs.”
Still, Lipson said he welcomes any allegations, even if they end up being false. Lipson went on to say that what’s important is training people to properly decipher fact from fiction. “You have to really train people in terms of policy, gut-checks. Reporting of suspicions is for that reason — it’s just to take away the smoke and find out there’s no fire,” he said.
Lindsey Combs-Ronto of the Harbor UCLA Child Crisis Center also encourages people to speak out. “I think what people often believe is when they report, they’re actually accusing someone of doing something but they’re really not. They’re saying that they have a question about a particular situation, and it’s not their capacity to investigate,” she said.
WEIGH IN:
What’s behind the outbreak in reporting? Is it because awareness is increasing among parents, students, teachers and administrators? Or do victims who were afraid to come forward now think their story will be believed? Could media furor over alleged abuse fuel panic and a heightened level of sensitivity? Is there a chance that people will make false accusations in an effort to be part of the story? What’s the cause of the increase in sexual abuse accusations at LAUSD? How does media coverage impact sexual abuse cases?
Guests:
Lindsey Combs-Ronto, PhD, Director of Research and Training and Supervising Forensic Evaluator, Harbor UCLA Child Crisis Center
Debbie Nathan, journalist, author of “Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse And The Making Of A Modern American Witch Hunt.” A book about high-profile sexual abuse cases in the 80’s and the panic they set off.
Glenn Lipson, PHD, forensic psychologist, expert witness in child sexual abuse cases, has developed a training to prevent sexual misconduct in schools.
Bird flu research – science for good or evil
This week, a federal agency on biosecurity likened new bird-flu research to nuclear-bomb experiments. The risky research was being conducted by academic teams at the University of Wisconsin and in the Netherlands.
The researchers wanted to learn how a deadly avian flu could mutate into a virus transmissible from mammal-to-mammal. Their success at mutagenizing the highly pathogenic avian H5N1 alarmed many in the scientific community. As a consequence, the researchers were pressured to halt their work last month.
In a statement published Tuesday in “Nature,” the National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity explained its worries in a statement. "[T]hese scientific results also represent a grave concern for global biosecurity, biosafety and public health." The NSABB characterizes the work as “dual-use research” – science that could be used for good or bad purposes. The experimenters were also about to publish their findings in "Science" and "Nature."
A plethora of experts in virology and public health asked that the study results be largely redacted. Their worry is the science could get into the wrong hands. Moreover, some experts believe this research was too dangerous in the first place. Dr. Tom Inglesby, a leading infectious-disease doctor, argued in “The New York Times:” “The potential benefits of this research do not justify the potential dangers, so the research should be discontinued. While in almost all circumstances basic research should be fully disseminated in the science community, in this case the results should not be published in a way that allows them to be replicated by others.”
But how easy would it be to use this science for evil? Some of the contrarians believe these fears are unfounded and science is being mixed up with politics. Could these studies really be used to harm the public effectively? Is there a point at which science should be reined in – even if it could benefit humanity? And who should have the power to rein it in? How dangerous were these experiments? Were the researchers taking all possible precautions? Will these influenza researchers be forced to stop their work?
Guests:
Dr. David A. Relman, MD, Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, Stanford University; Voting Member, National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity; Chief, Infectious Diseases Section, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System
Philip Alcabes, professor of public health at School of Public Health at Hunter College, City University of New York; author of "Dread: How Fear and Fantasy have fueled Epidemics from the Black Death to Avian Flu"
The great debate: Eastside or Westside?
If there's one thing that divides Angelenos it's La Cienega, or Fairfax, or maybe even Western. For many of us, where we live says a lot about how we live. We may not identify strongly with our neighborhood, but our side of town often defines us, whether we like it or not.
Westsiders are all about the beach, nice restaurants and the entertainment industry. Eastsiders are artsy hipsters who will turn a flea-market inside out to find just the right mid-century sideboard. The Westside is hire a decorator – the Eastside is DIY (do-it-yourself). The Westside is Jose Andre's latest restaurant; the Eastside is your weekly locavore club's tomato tasting.
The differences are too many to count, with both sides believing that their way of life is the better way of life. Many an Angeleno would even turn their nose up at the idea of crossing some arbitrary boundary line between east and west.
But where that line lies is unclear. Callers ranged from the extreme, like a man from Venice who claimed everything after the 405 freeway was considered Eastside, to those like Anthony in West Hollywood, who thought the boundary should be aligned with a landmark like the L.A. river. So when did the dichotomy start to trend? Anthony posited that it could have to do with telephone area codes.
“One of the big instigations for creating these very clean boundaries was back in the 90s, when they broke up the area codes for telephones. The original 213 for all of LA became 310, 323, and 213, and I think a lot of people in their minds think that everything that’s 310 is Westside, and all the rest is the east side,” he said.
Still, east versus west might be more a state of mind. While Anthony lives in a central area of LA, he said his friends regard him differently depending on where they’re from.
But Frank from Highland Park noted that the differences between east and west are stark in racial, financial and cultural composition. “With the consolidation of arts going to major museums, and the lack of economic investment in the eastside, it’s like almost a forgotten place,” he said. “People say ‘Yeah, I went to the eastside for a burrito.’ The reality is [the Eastside is] not what it used to be.”
WEIGH IN:
But the question is: Where is that line? Is it a street? A freeway? A part of town? An attitude? Where does the Eastside become the Westside, and vice versa? There's even debate over how far east you have to go to be considered a true Eastsider. Many who consider themselves such would say Silver Lake and Echo Park, clearly! But how about if they're west of downtown? And what do those boundaries mean to you? What does it mean to be an Eastsider versus a Westsider? Does the actual geography matter? Or is all about a state of mind?