Governor Brown may challenge affirmative action ban in UC system. Do smart-aleck phone apps need policing? FilmWeek: Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan and Andy Klein to review this week’s films including 50/50, What’s Your Number?, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and more. TGI-FilmWeek! Life, love and loss with a screen legend. Plus, the latest news.
Governor Brown may challenge affirmative action ban in UC system
Proposition 209, passed by California voters in 1996, bans preferential admissions for minority students at California’s public campuses. It’s no secret that Governor Brown is no fan of the law; earlier this year he filed papers in support of a 2009 challenge by civil rights groups. And as Attorney General, Brown cited a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed a modified form of affirmative action at University of Michigan law school in the interest of promoting diversity within their student body.
Now a bill on the Governor’s desk seeks to allow the University of California and California State University systems to consider race, gender and household income in admissions. The bill’s author, Democratic Senator Ed Hernandez of West Covina, says it’s designed to not interfere with the tenets of Proposition 9.
Here’s what the bill doesn’t do: it doesn’t undercut the ban on affirmative action, nor does it impose quotas or goals for minority admissions on the schools. It states that no preference should be given on the basis of race. But it does allow the consideration of an applicant’s gender, ethnicity household income and other factors among subjective evaluation criteria such as creativity, community service and leadership.
SB 185 has gained the support of the Associated Students of University of California, who contend that Prop. 9 has only served to reduce the number of minority students attending California’s public universities. But earlier this week, U.C. Berkeley students opposed to the bill held a “diversity bakesale,” with different prices for varying ethnic groups, to underscore what they say would be unfair advantage for minorities.
WEIGH IN:
Do you support the ban on affirmative action? Would you welcome a bill that promotes diversity on California campuses?
Guest:
Ward Connerly, Chairman, American Civil Rights Coalition; Chief architect of Prop 209
Do smart-aleck phone apps need policing?
Google's Android app store has added another inflammatory program to its list of wares. "Is My Son Gay?" by French developers "Emmene Moi" is an app that aims to deduce your son's sexual orientation through a series of 20 questions. Does he like to dress up nicely? Was he shy as a child? Are you divorced? Does he like football? What about diva singers? At the end, if your son is determined to be gay, the app counsels: "ACCEPT IT!" Still, critics call it offensively stereotypical and tired.
Android's Developer Program Policies forbid content that promotes hatred toward groups of people, including hatred based on sexual orientation. Does this app fall into that category? This isn’t the first time a provocative smartphone app has hit the market. Most recently, a dog-fighting game app disturbed lawmakers and upset some consumers. Before that was iPhone's Baby Shaker app. The objective of the game was to kill the baby in the vein of "Shaken Baby Syndrome." That app was banned – just before it hit one billion downloads.
One category of apps prompted attention from the US Senate. Senators said DUI-checkpoint-locator apps are harmful to public safety and should be pulled from the market. So far, BlackBerry is the only company that has acquiesced.
WEIGH IN:
What content do you think should be banned? What's the best way of policing this content? Or should it be a free-for-all with the market deciding?
FilmWeek: 50/50, What’s Your Number?, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and more
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan and Andy Klein to review this week’s films including 50/50, What’s Your Number?, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and henrysheehan.com
Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC
Life, love and loss with a screen legend
The multi-talented Dyan Cannon could write a book about her amazing life as a Hollywood icon. Discovered while lunching on the Sunset Strip, she hit the screen with small parts in 1960, went on to become the first woman to be nominated for Academy Awards both as actress and filmmaker, and remains a sought-after screen presence today. But early in her career, she was also “discovered” – then wooed and won -- by screen legend Cary Grant, charming, romantic -- and 33 years her senior. It’s their magical romance, stormy marriage and inspirational love story she chooses to chronicle in her book Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant. Grant was Hollywood royalty, and as first his love interest and then his wife, Cannon found herself within the glamorous inner circle that included Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn and many others. But there was a dark side to this sun-kissed, screen-worthy romance. In her book, Cannon shares her private memories of the Cary no one else knew – thoughtful, caring, loving, but troubled by family secrets and the knowledge that he was nearing the end of his amazing career just as his young wife was beginning hers. She opens up about the tragic twists and turns that befell their three-year marriage, and the faith and self-awareness that helped her survive its disappointing end.
Guest:
Dyan Cannon, actress, filmmaker and author of “Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant”