SADDAM HUSSEIN ON TRIAL; PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT; UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL; THE TRIUMPH OF SAM COOKE
SADDAM HUSSEIN ON TRIAL
Ever since the former Iraqi dictator was flushed from his spider hole in December of 2003, international lawyers and other experts on war crimes have debated exactly how and where his trial should take place. Now the trail has started in Baghdad. The first charges stem from the deaths of more than 140 men from the mostly Shi'ite village of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt against him there in 1982. He will also be charged in the 1988 gassing of Kurdish villagers and the brutal suppression of a Shi'ite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War. Hussein’s lawyers, meanwhile, argue that they were not given enough time to prepare and that he cannot get a fair trial with an American-backed court. Hussein himself has refused to recognize the court and even refused to give his name. Now the trial has been adjourned until Nov. 28. Larry talks to Basam Al-Hussaini, an advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, and Dan Murphy of the Christian Science Monitor. Both were at the first day of the trial.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Research shows parent involvement in schools improves student performance, but why, how and what kind? Larry Mantle talks with researcher Karen Mapp of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Charlotte Castagnola of LAUSD’s District 2 in North Hollywood, Martha Powell, principal of Aldama Elementary School in Highland Park, and Tracy Mikuriya, PTA President of Don Benito Fundamental School in Pasadena.
UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL
Signatures are being gathered for a 2006 ballot initiative that would provide publicly-funded preschool to every 4 year old in California. The idea of “universal preschool” is supported almost universally. Most research shows that children who attend preschool do better academically later on, and that investing in 4-year-olds makes good economic sense. But questions about how to fund, standardize, and implement such a massive program remain.
THE TRIUMPH OF SAM COOKE
Awarding winning music biographer Peter Guralnick joins Larry Mantle to talk about Sam Cooke, the subject of his new book Dream Boogie. Based on intimate interviews with Cooke’s family and friends, Guralnick has written a comprehensive chronicle of the legendary singer/songwriter’s rise to fame and tragic death, with special attention to Cooke’s involvement in the civil rights movement and his tremendous impact on American music.