We remember the amazing life and career of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Plus, in an enlightening new investigative report by Bloomberg finds that public employees in California are way over paid, how gay marriage supporters won over voters in four states, why people dislike the UC logo and brand changes in general, and much more.
Bloomberg Report: CA state workers highest paid out of 12 most-populous states
An in-depth report out this week by Bloomberg News shows that California has not done a good job of containing public employee costs.
Bloomberg reporters spent nearly a year combing through the payrolls of the 12 most-populous states, where they found that California workers made far more than their counterparts in terms of wages and overtime pay.
"Our idea going into the project was to see what kinds of comparisons we could make…No matter how you look at the data — by job category, by type of pay — California far exceeds other states in terms of compensation for public employees at the state level," said Bloomberg's Mark Niquette on Take Two.
California's cost of living far exceeds that of most other states, and though one would expect state workers here to be paid more compared to elsewhere, it does not explain some of the most glaring examples of overpayment.
For example, according to the data, a prison psychiatrist made $822,000 a year, which is more than five times the salary of California Governor Jerry Brown. In another instance, a worker was given a $609,000 lump sum upon retirement for unused vacation and leave time. Such a large payment is derisively termed a "boat check," by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Niquette says his team traced some of the problems back when governor Gray Davis introduced legislation that allowed for the inflation of state worker pay. Davis served from 1999-2003 and was the first governor in California to be recalled, and the second in American history, after North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921.
"Starting with Senate Bill 400, which was passed, that gave retroactive increases to tens of thousands of retirees, and changed benefit structures for folks like in the Highway Patrol, and other decisions that were made that essentially locked in a benefit and cost structure that the state maybe could afford at the time, when the economy was better, but over the course of time could no longer afford," said Niquette.
Bloomberg reporters also interviewed union members for comment about the large payments, to which they argued that pay decisions were made based on market cost. Some state departments have been understaffed, leading to increased overtime pay for some workers. Also, in California, private sector workers are paid more than in other states, leading to an uptick in pay for public sector workers as well.
"What we found was…essentially there was a bidding war going on between psychiatrists who work for mental health and psychiatrists who work for the prison system...it sort of led to this bidding war where it drove up salaries for both mental health and prison," said Niquette. "That got exported into other states where that became the standard, where you saw the same kind of affect or influences on pay in places like Ohio or Michigan or other states where in the data we found that state psychiatrists rank toward the top of the pay scale."
State worker furloughs were put in place to deal with some of the short-term budget problems. While these saved money on the front end, they actually increased the amount of unused time that employees could cash out when they retired, saddling the state with payments it can no longer afford.
"It sort of was a ticking time bomb that the state's eventually going to have to deal with, and is driving up costs in the lump sum payoffs that the state is paying out now and will be paying out in years to come," said Niquette.
Standard of care in children's insurance plan questioned
More than a million California children who lack health insurance will qualify for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. When so-called "Obamacare" takes effect in 2014, more children from poor families will qualify for Medi-Cal,
Others will get subsidies for private, low-cost insurance through a new state exchange. But as Elaine Korry reports, childrens' advocates are concerned some kids won't get the best coverage.
How activists in four states won over voters on the issue of gay marriage
While we were all focused on the presidential race, poring over polls and tweeting each debate, there was another major campaign underway. One designed to change the nation's position on same-sex marriage.
On election day, voters in four states approved measures granting same-sex couples the right to marry, marking a major political shift.
Atlantic reporter Molly Ball has written an extensive piece on the campaign to change voter opinion, that led to victories in Maine, Maryland, Washington and Minnesota.
Why people hate the UC logo and brand changes in general
For more than a century, the main University of California system logo was represented by a circle containing a picture of a book with the phrase"Let There Be Light."
Yesterday, the system unveiled a new logo, showing the letter "U" painted blue with a swirling yellow "C" at the bottom. The goal of the redesign was to project a "forward-looking spirit," but reaction so far has been less-than positive; One person described it as a "bright-yellow worm drowning in a swimming pool.
The original seal logo will remain on official UC documents like diplomas, university correspondance and elsewhere, but the new, simpler version will be adhered to marketing materials, on the web and on official merchandise.
To help us understand what can make or break a redesign is brand developer Cindy Gallop, former chairman of the ad agency BBH.
Remembering sitar legend Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar, the much-loved sitarist famous for bringing Indian music to the west, has died at 92 years old.
Shankar died Tuesday at a hospital near his long-time home in Encinitas, California.
Joining us now to talk about Shankar's life and career is Kartik Sheshadri, a world-renowned sitar player who worked under Shankar for decades.
Jeopardy star Ken Jennings dispels parental myths in 'Because I Said So'
We've all heard warning like, "Don't go swimming for an hour after you eat!" "Never run with scissors," and "Chew on your pencil and you'll get lead poisoning," from our parents and teachers.
Chances are if you're a parent, you've said some of those things yourself, but are they true?
Ken Jennings, the man known for his record-breaking appearance on Jeopardy, wanted to fact check these parental gems.
Jennings joins the show to talk about his new book, "Because I Said So: The Truth Behind The Myths, Tales and Warnings Every Generation Ppasses Down To Its Kids."
Will budget cuts threaten the future of the pricey F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet?
As the country edges closer to the fiscal cliff, the pentagon is facing some particularly deep cuts. But there's one program that not only seems invulnerable to cuts; Its costs actually keep ballooning.
We're talking about America's newest jet fighter, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Here in California, building the plane involves 300 manufacturers and tens of thousands of jobs. To build and maintain the aircraft, the government estimates it will have to spend over $1 trillion, making it the most expensive weapons program ever.
To put it in perspective, $1 trillion dollars is roughly the size of the Australian gross domestic product.
Winslow Wheeler, director at the Project on Government Oversight in Washington DC, is here to explain.
'Fiscal cliff' could put some Southern California businesses over the edge
Republicans say the President's plan to cut spending and forestall automatic tax hikes is lacking in specifics, but Democrats say the Republican's counter proposal is lacking in specifics. Today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Congress will stay in session, and postpone their normal holiday break.
If there is no deal, and Congress fails to act, across-the-board cuts to the federal budget are set to take effect on January 2nd. The cuts, known as "sequestration," would hit the military hard if there's no agreement on deficit reduction.
Some smaller Southern California businesses say those cuts to the Defense budget could put them out of business. KPCC's Brian Watt reports.
If there’s no deal soon on the so-called "fiscal cliff" in Washington, automatic across the board cuts to the federal budget are set to take effect on January 2.
The cuts are known as “sequestration.” They were designed to be so painful that they would motivate Congress and the White House to reach a deal on reducing the national debt. The potential cuts to the Defense budget are a big worry for a lot of businesses in Southern California that depend on military contracts.
Sequestration would chop $500 billion out of the defense budget over the next 10 years. The first $50 billion would come out next year. That's cause for anxiety in the Antelope Valley city of Lancaster, where the defense and aerospace industries are big drivers of the economy.
"If it doesn’t happen, my shop might be double the size next year," Lancaster entrepreneur Velma Searcy says about the looming cuts. "But if it happens, I might not be here next year. So it’s just a scary thing right now."
Searcy founded Aerowire Technical Services in 2010 after she'd worked for 30 years as an aerospace engineer. The company employs 12 people. Aerowire builds the complex wire harnesses that run everything electronic on an airplane – the cockpit, the black box.
"Some of the harnesses range from 10 to 80 feet depending on if they’re for the wings," Searcy says at a long table in Aerowire's shop.
Aerowire has done work for Lockheed on its C-130 Hercules military transport plane, the Sierra Nevada Corporation, and NASA. It’s working on a project now Searcy isn’t allowed to talk about. She’s expanded her workforce twice this year. She could hire even more people, but there’s a big contract on hold.
"I got told it’s gonna have to wait until after the first of the year," she explains. "I talked to a friend of mine, and they said it was because they’re not sure how sequestration is gonna go and whether they’re gonna be able to fund it or not."
So for Searcy, next year could be feast or famine. She’s worried about losing so much work that she’d have to lay off employees, most of whom she trained herself. Then, if the work comes back, she worries that those employees might not be available because they might have left the region for other jobs.
Less than a mile from the Aerowire shop in Lancaster, the non-profit Desert Haven Enterprises has been finding jobs for people with developmental disabilities for almost 60 years. It serves 600 people in the Antelope Valley, offering them vocational training and placing them in businesses and agencies in the area. Those businesses have included defense contractors like Lockheed Martin.
One of Desert Haven's largest contracts is at nearby Edwards Air Force Base, where as many as 50 people affiliated with the non-profit have worked on the grounds maintenance and janitorial staff. Recent cuts have reduced that number to 25 workers. Desert Haven Executive Director Jennie Moran worries that even deeper cuts would eliminate the contract.
"The contract that we have with Edwards Air Force Base right now is close to 20 percent of our operating revenue as a company so it’s a very sizable contract," Moran says, adding that Desert Haven's overall budget is $7 million. Moran says the jobs on the base pay prevailing wages. "So for our individuals who work out there, it’s excellent living for them. They're able to provide for themselves, pay their bills, and live on their own."
In Sylmar, 160 people work at the Quallian factory. The company was founded 14 years ago to develop lithium ion batteries for implantable medical devices like pacemakers, but its batteries are also used in airplanes.
The company already produces batteries for the U.S. military, but Quallion President Paul Beach says it could be making a lot more.
“If the military were to replace the entire fleet of aviation vehicles' [batteries] with lithium ion today, over a five year period, the U.S. military would achieve a savings of $1.7 billion,” Beach says.
He adds that his company’s prospects of getting more military contracts – and potentially doubling his staff – dim with sequestration. He says steep cuts to the defense budget would delay, if not derail, any expansion plans.
“It has a very percolating effect down to us here in little Sylmar with our 160 people where I’m not able to turn on certain programs or projects where I even might be hiring more people," Beach says. "I’m not able to do that until this issue gets resolved.”
Beach isn’t as worried about having to lay people off as Aerowire’s Velma Searcy, but he doesn’t rule it out. Searcy says defense and aerospace are a huge part of the Antelope Valley economy, and she’s heard other firms in the Lancaster area are considering layoffs.
"It’s a small town, but if that happens, we’re going to be more like a ghost town," Searcy says. "There’s not going to be that many retail shops able to survive either.”
It’s all a big “IF” right now as leaders work toward backing away from the "fiscal cliff." But, for some small businesses in Southern California that rely on defense spending, sequestration could push them over the edge.
Journalist Celia Walden's new book chronicles her stint 'Babysitting George' Best
In 2003 Celia Walden was a 25-year-old journalist in England and given one of her first assignments: To make sure one of her paper's star columnists didn't talk to any rival newspapers.
But this wasn't just your average columnist. This columnist was George Best, an alcoholic writer who also happened to be one of the greatest soccer players ever.
In her new book, Walden "Babysitting George".
Babysitting George by Celia Walden
Talking to toddlers about race and tolerance
Heather Juergensen was raised in an all-black neighborhood in Brooklyn. Growing up her first boyfriend was black, her best friend was black. When her 4-year-old daughter, Sophie, declared one day that she didn’t like a TV character because he was “brown,” she was horrified.
Juergensen had never talked about issues of race or difference with Sophie. Her first reaction was that Sophie was making a “purely aesthetic” statement because she was surely too young to understand the complexities of race. “She likes pink better than blue” says Juergensen in her Studio City home, “and she’s white,” so Juergensen assumed Sophie was just displaying an in-group preference.
One year later, when Sophie was five, Juergensen says she pointed to a black person in a book and said “I don’t like this one, he’s too dark.” At this point Juergensen, mortified, sat her daughter down for a conversation about not judging others based on skin color.
“And that was the first I realized that children develop ideas about race beyond what you as a parent say about race or do about race,” she said.
What happened to Juergensen is common, said Ashley Merryman, who explored the phenomenon of why white parents don’t talk about race with their small children for the book Nurture Shock.
“What I hear from a bunch of parents is that they didn’t think it was an issue until suddenly their child burst out with what they thought was a completely socially inappropriate remark, and they hurt the other person’s feeling, and huge drama ensues,” she said.
Merryman posits that parents are “afraid of saying the wrong thing."
The trouble with that approach is that it leaves very young children to figure it out for themselves said veteran educator Louise Derman Sparks.
"The reality, which is backed up by many years of research, is that babies, even in their first year of life are noticing differences," she said. "That’s how children learn.”
Sparks, who is white and adopted black sons, said it's imperative for famlies to have conversations about race when children are very young. A retired college professor, she has written volumes of "anti-bias" curriculum for preschoolers. She said it's “normal and fine” for kids to notice difference but that adults must help them understand that differences don’t make some people better than others. Those teachings help children learn “say no to prejudice,” according to Sparks.
She said children pick up on messages, such as Thanksgiving greeting cards with stereotypes of Native Americans. They also notice when the race of those in positions of power, like a preschool director or pediatrician, is different from that of the school custodian. Children become sensitive to status as young as four, she said.
Infant Mental Health specialist Barbara Stroud says parents should be careful how they talk to their children about comments they make about race. When children are scolded by adults for saying something they might not know is wrong, “there is an emotional response of embarrassment or disappointment or sometimes shame,” she said. As a result, they will not have the capacity to understand what they said or did was wrong.
According to Sparks, a conversation or play-activity can help children use the moment of the hurtful comment or action to learn why it was wrong.
“We need to give honest answers in simple language," she said. "If it makes us uncomfortable to answer those questions we need to work out being uncomfortable becuse when we’re uncomfortable, even if we say the right words, we’re also communicating to our children that there’s something wrong.”
Sparks advises that parents have to seek out opportunities to teach kids about how we are the same and different and equal. She advises parents to counter stereotypes and cues given off by a segregated environment that subtly reinforces that “white-is-best.”
Trista Schroeder actively talks to her adopted Ethiopian daughter Luli about race. Luli is three and a half. Once in ballet class, two white girls refused to hold her hand because she's black. The mother of one of girls was mortified and told Schroeder she had never talked about race with her daughter. In the radio feature, Schroeder explains how she navigated this difficult situation.
Social science research has found that while white parents rarely talk about race with children, parents of color and mixed families often do. In a survey conducted by the Journal of Marriage and Family white parents of kindergartners reported overwhelmingly that they had never talked to their kids about race, while the vast majority the minorities had, according to Merryman.
A very unscientific poll of parents belonging to the popular L.A. listserv Booby Brigade confirmed the experts' point of view. White parents still feel uncomfortable talking about race while parents of color said they routinely talk about issues of race and have books with diverse characters and plenty of dolls of color. Families of mixed race said they also routinely talk about issues of race because they are constantly confronted with it.
Kansas City Star reporter's in-depth look at the US beef industry
Imagine you order a steak at a restaurant, you bite in and it's soft, flavorful and easy to chew. The meat could have been tenderized by the chef, beating and hammering it right there in the kitchen. Or that steak might have been softened hundreds of miles away at a factory, where machines hack away with blades and needles.
This process, known as mechanical tenderizing, is quite commonplace. It's used to soften and marinate beef that shows up everywhere from your local Applebee's to schools and banquet halls. Mechanical tenderizing is also being linked to the spread of E. Coli and other food-borne illnesses that can prove lethal.
Reporter Mike McGraw has been looking into the beef industry for a series of reports featured in the Kansas City Star.