Today on the show, we start with a look at how migrant children are being processed through immigration courts. Then, an update on the flooding and water main break at UCLA. Then, KPCC's Sanden Totten fills us in on the latest science research, we look at how was has changed in US history textbooks, the new VA secretary pledges action for veterans in first 90 days, Gene Ween returns with a deeply personal album and much more.
How immigration courts are processing migrant children
Many of the recent migrant children from Central America are now in Southern California awaiting their fate in immigration court. To deal with this crisis, the Justice Department says it will now fast-track cases.
So instead of these children waiting months to have a hearing, they might get processed in just three weeks. Here with more is Greg Chen, advocacy director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Should you talk to your kids about the child migrants coming to the US?
The influx of migrant children has dominated the airwaves for weeks now. For many adults, the thought of children traveling hundreds of miles on their own only to be detained in freezing cold holding cells is heartbreaking.
Now imagine how scary it is to think about when you are a kid yourself. So how should we be talking about current events with our own families?
Christine Ristaino is a senior lecturer in the Italian Studies Program at Emory University and also a mom. She's been giving this issue a lot of thought, and she joins Take Two to talk about how she broached the subject with her kids.
Israel Defense Forces and Hamas post GoPro-style POV videos of raids
There are a lot of different technologies in use in the fighting in the Gaza strip, Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, Hamas's long-range rockets, and even drones.
Now it looks like both sides are using GoPro-style cameras to post videos of military raids online. Elias Groll at Foreign Policy magazine points out a video posted by the Israel Defense Forces this week:
Earlier in the week Hamas posted a similar video with even more detailed footage of infantry tactics:
Bringing current events into the classroom in Middle Eastern studies
With classes set to resume in a few weeks at many colleges and universities, how will the current conflict in the Middle East affect how courses on the subject matter are taught?
Professor Laurie Brand, who teaches International Relations and Middle Eastern studies at University of Southern California, said the headlines from Gaza can make for interesting points of discussion in the classroom.
"For people who are studying international law, there are all sorts of issues about war crimes about the question of occupation," said Brand. "For people doing courses on war and peace there are questions of asymmetrical warfare and negotiations. You could use examples from the ongoing conflict to serve as examples of larger points."
Brand said she frequently opens up a time for questions at the beginning of classes to discuss current events that relate to the broader ideas under study in her classes.
How has war changed in US history textbooks?
Since the 1970s, depictions of World War II and the Vietnam War in U.S. history textbooks have changed.
A recent study finds that U.S. high school history textbooks now increasingly focus on the personal experiences of soldiers, rather than on impersonal accounts of battles. The number and type of references to death and casualties has changed too.
Richard Lachmann, sociology professor at The University at Albany-SUNY joins Take Two to discuss his study, "The Changing Face of War in Textbooks: Depictions of World War II and Vietnam, 1970-2009."
Lab Notes: Fearful babies, super octo-mom, wide faces and more
For the new moms out there, it's possible that your baby can smell your fear. For the cephalopods out there, there's an octopus who gives her life for her babies over the course of four years. And for the car salesmen out there, as it turns out broad-faced men are better at negotiating.
KPCC's Sanden Totten joins Take Two to explain the science behind these studies in this week's Lab Notes.
Babies smell mother’s fear
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers from University of Michigan
Scientists exposed female mice to peppermint smell and gave them mild electric shocks on their feet. Mother mice learned to fear peppermint, even when no shocks were involved. Normally, the mother calms baby rats, but when peppermint-fearing moms got that breath freshening smell, both mom and pup showed increase in cortisol, the hormone associated with fear.
Babies still feared peppermint even when mom wasn’t around, and would move away from it in mazes. Scientists tried this experiment again with the moms in a container so she could not be seen or heard by baby, only smelled. Both mom and pup were exposed to peppermint – again – baby picked up the fear.
Might be some hormonal cue to know what to fear. Good because often fear things babies should avoid. Could go haywire though if say, mom is afraid of clowns or dentists and baby picks that up too. PTSD could be trouble too since baby could pick up all sorts of fear cues.
It’s too early to know how this experiment applies to humans, because it’s still unclear to what extent humans use chemicals to communicate with each other. But scientists have suspected babies learn fear from parents early on – this might be partially how.
Super Octo-mom
PLOS one
Monetary Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Think nine months of pregnancy is bad? Try 53 months, or more than four years, to develop a baby.
That’s what deep water octopus Graneledone boreopacifica does with it’s clutch of eggs. Researchers found an octopus guarding a clutch of eggs with a remote control vehicle in deep water of Monterey Bay, nearly a mile down. They watched it for months and months and month, visiting it 18 times. It took 53 months until it’s 160 eggs hatched.
Octopuses never leave their eggs unattended, so it's a tough job for octo-mom. The specimen researchers followed became weak and thin waiting for babies to hatch. An octopus usually reproduces only once in a lifetime. This long brooding period gives them an advantage – since they are born more like tiny adults. This is crucial since the deep sea is a cold and dangerous place.
Quantum Cheshire Cat
Nature Communications
Vienna University of Technology
Let’s start with a chat about "Alice In Wonderland." The Cheshire Cat disappears, but leaves it’s grin hanging in the air. This prompts Alice to exclaim, "Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin, but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!"
Scientists seem to have done something similar to a very tiny particle – think a photon or neutron. They separated a particle form it’s magnetic spin, so that the particle was in one place and its spin in the other for a brief period of time. They divided a beam of neutrons by zapping it though a silicon crystal — Imagine sending water down a river with a big island in the middle of one part.
The water goes around the island, splitting into two, and then meets back up. That’s what they were doing with this beam of neutrons. The result in this sub-atomic world is that the neutrons could go down either path A or B before meeting back up.
These particles are sent down the path – scientists found that sometimes the particle would go down path A – but its spin would be detected in path B. Like the Cheshire Cat in one place and it’s grin in another.
This might be helpful for designing microscopic measuring devices where a magnetic spin could mess things up – you could separate out that spin but keep the neutron. It's important to understand this weird quantum world, and it could lead to super fast quantum computing or other cool things.
Wide-faced men are better negotiators
UC Riverside
Researchers had 60 men with different facial width-to-height ratios negotiate a signing bonus. They found that men with wider faces negotiated a signing bonus of nearly $2,200 more than men with a more narrow face.
Similarly, in another scenario, they had men selling a fake chemical plant. Men with wider faces they negotiated a higher sale price than men with a more narrow face. When those same wide-faced men were in the buyer role they negotiated a lower price than the narrow-faced men.
However, the researchers found that when a situation calls for compromise and creative solutions to a financial problem, wide-faced men did significantly worse than narrow faced men. So it’s a blessing and a curse.
This suggests that narrow faces do better in collaborative settings and wider faces do better in aggressive settings. Data supports past research where people associated wider faces with aggression and even selfish behavior, but also with business success.
But there's no evidence in this study as for why, so don’t start making assumptions. Might be people’s perception of wide or skinny faces that we project on others that gives them confidence or makes them shy away. But if you are about to negotiate, maybe measure a face first?
Aaron Freeman sheds his Gene Ween identity with his new LP 'FREEMAN'
For many years, musician Aaron Freeman went by the name Gene Ween. Along with a childhood buddy who took on the moniker Dean Ween, he formed the band Ween back in 1984.
Their songs were catchy and funny and their music really ran the gamut of genres, but two years ago, Aaron Freeman decided to break up the band, citing addiction issues and the fact that he felt like the band had run its course.
After a couple of stints in rehab, Freeman has been sober for a few years, and has released a new, deeply personal LP called "FREEMAN." Freeman describes his struggles, his relationship with his former bandmate and with his family in an interview with Take Two.
State of Affairs: LAPD officers call for raises and 10,000 apply for LAFD
It's time now for State of Affairs, our weekly look at California politics with Southern California Public Radio political reporters Frank Stoltze and Alice Walton.
Let's start with 20 million gallons of water — that's the latest estimate of how much water was lost on Tuesday afternoon when a water main burst, flooding the UCLA Campus. L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson at the site yesterday. Now the council wants DWP officials to appear at City Hall to answer a host of questions. What's the political fallout of the water main break?
Also on Tuesday, about 200 LAPD officers showed up at City Hall to call for raises. The move follows the police union's rejection of a one-year contract which did not include pay increases. How effective are demonstrations like this? Will it make a difference as City Hall and union officials return to the bargaining table?
Speaking of public safety, the L.A. Fire Department accepted resumes for the next Fire Academy class and they received 10 thousand applications. What do we know about these 10,000 Angelenos who want to be firefighters?
The Fire Department took a lot of heat for its last class of recruits. There were allegations of nepotism and unfair hiring practices. What's different this time around?
One of the more interesting political items this week: Carly Fiorina, the one-time U.S. Senate candidate from California may run for president. The former head of Hewlett Packard is said to be testing the waters with trips to New Hampshire. Remind us, how did Fiorina fare against incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer?
A strange but true state of affairs this week: California had four governors, including the state's first openly gay governor. How did this happen?
And on a lighter note, Mayor Eric Garcetti is on a family vacation. His office had initially declined to stay just where he was but then he got called out on Instagram and Twitter.
New VA secretary pledges action for veterans in first 90 days
As Congress wraps up its last week before heading to an August recess, lawmakers are leaving a lot of unfinished business on the table.
One area that has moved forward, though, is action on veterans issues.
The House approved a bill to revamp the troubled Veterans Affairs Department Wednesday and the Senate confirmed a new secretary for the troubled agency, Robert McDonald. He's the former CEO of Procter and Gamble and a West Point graduate.
"I pledge to the committee and to our nation's veterans to take a series of immediate actions over the first 90 days to deliver the needed reforms our veterans deserve," McDonald told Senators at his confirmation hearing last week. "I will put the veteran at the center of everything we do, consistent with our mission."
For more on McDonald and what he's outlined for the VA, we're joined by Ralph Ibson, he's the national policy director for the Wounded Warriors Project, a veterans advocacy group.
California's parks system in need of major revamp, commission finds
California's parks system is in need of a revamp. Years of struggling with budgets and poor administration has left the system in a crisis. That's according to the Parks Forward Commission which just released its preliminary findings. Among some of the major findings is the need to modernize the system and develop more stable funding — through new taxes or fees.
The commission's draft plan, released this week, lists a wide range of problems the state's parks face.
"Declining budgets have led to scaled‐back services, shorter hours, and higher fees. A long list of maintenance needs ranges from broken toilets and dilapidated structures to crumbling roads. Outdated administrative systems, technology, and processes impede park staff’s ability to effectively manage and protect parks’ natural and cultural resources," the commission states in the plan's introduction.
The plan was created by the Parks Forward Commission and was developed over the past year, coming out of the California State Parks Stewardship Act and Assembly Bill 1478. The plan says the commission reached two overall findings:
"First, today’s State Park System is debilitated by outdated organizational structures, technologies, and business tools, and by a culture that does not adequately reward excellence or innovation. Second, the system does not provide a park experience that serves all Californians or attracts other potential visitors."
A sign of that need for modernization, noted by Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler: "Paper time cards. That’s all you need to know about California’s state parks system: Employees still use paper time cards."
The plan includes changes to the California Department of Parks and Recreation's management, their administration and their technology in order to implement a new structure for the organization and a new business model. The commission says that changes need to be made in their hiring and promotion as well, such as allowing non-law enforcement to apply for leadership positions.
"The California Department of Parks and Recreation’s organizational structure creates barriers to hiring and promoting diverse staff with a broad range of expertise and makes it difficult for leadership to instill a culture of creativity and entrepreneurship," the commission states.
"Budgets, administration, training – all the things that a good dynamic organization has, that they have kind of been on hold at this department for the last 15 years," commission executive director Ken Wiseman tells Capital Public Radio. "That needs to be modernized."
The commission recommends that the plan implemented with a two-year plan giving a team the power to make changes. Another key aspect of the plan is creating what the commission sees as a more stable funding structure for the parks through taxes and increased efficiency and accountability within the Parks Department.
The plan also suggests expanding diversity outreach, including upgrading the parks to make them more friendly to more visitors, as well as building partnerships with other organizations to promote the parks.
A public meeting is being held to discuss the plan on Aug. 6 in San Diego, with the final plan scheduled to be released in November, ahead of the governor's January budget proposal.
Read the full draft report below:
Listen to "Take Two" for more with Parks Forward Commission executive director Ken Wiseman.
This story has been updated.
Tink's House fuses art with food for an immersive dinner-party experience
Foodies in Southern California are always looking for the next big thing, be it food trucks or pop up restaurants. Basically, we like eating really good food in really interesting locations.
Tink's House hopes to take that to a whole new level. The project is part-dinner party, part-art exhibit.
The not-quite-restaurant is situated in a nondescript apartment in downtown L.A., just west of the 110 freeway. It's so under the radar that KPCC's Leo Duran, who got an early preview, was hesitant to walk in because it seemed like people live there, not host a dining experience.
"I spent a good five minutes outside rechecking the address on my phone before I thought, 'There's no other place this could be,'" he says.
Once inside, it's like walking into a dinner party: guests are seated around a coffee table with their shoes off and sharing drinks. Then, people are placed in groups of eight to travel through the four rooms together.
Being ushered into the first room for appetizers, says Duran, is, "Like walking into a trippy dream by Brian Wilson."
The floor is covered by a half-foot of sand. The furniture is stripped of their upholstery leaving just foam. Dark blue lighting and ethereal music create a relaxing mood. When the dishes are served, they're brought out on ceramic plates that look like artist palettes crossed with sand dollars.
There were bite-sized pieces of lettuce cups with hazelnut butter — pronounced by the server "let-TUSS" and "but-TER" — along with lamb neck croquettes that were a crisp perfection.
Once people have had their fill, they're walked to the Dining Room, which doesn't look like a dining room. An 8-foot tall cactus is at the center of the room, circled by eight individual desk tables draped in a bright orange netting.
It's a fitting scene for the second course: pompano fish that's been dried out to a crisp. The texture resembled a chip so much that it was easy to eat the tail fin and head whole without hesitation (except for any qualms you might have for eating a fish head).
The next room isn't as so staid to keep diners sitting: in the Kitchen, you walk barefoot across astroturf and bar mats that have been dotted with balloons filled with plaster powder. The sensation is like walking across mushroom caps, while jaunty jazz music in the background encourages people to be playful.
Diners are given small ceramic bowls filled with rice "pucks" that they can dress at will. In shelves along the wall are choices like shrimp chips, sesame yogurt, soybean sprouts and pumpkin seeds.
In the last room are the final courses. The Bedroom has all its surfaces draped in a baby blue fabric, including the picnic table in the center with a soft, foamy surface. bEach dish served has a phallic theme, such as the glazed carrot with a tassel of fennel fronds at its base.
Following that is a bowl of andouille sausage and shishito peppers tossed directly onto the table and squirted with a seafood cream.
The experience of dining at Tink's House is definitely not your usual experience.
"I didn't know what to expect," says Duran, "but I walked away liking how each room was designed to make you consider a theme and mood as you ate."
"It definitely felt more like an art experience than a restaurant," he adds, "but it was still fun and engaging."