The latest UCLA murder-suicide information with an LAPD spokesman, students engineered doors to stay safe during campus lockdown, tech and real estate in SoCal.
UCLA murder-suicide investigation update
Both the gunman and the victim in the UCLA murder-suicide have now been identified.
The victim was William Klug, a UCLA mechanical engineering professor. The gunman has been identified as Mainak Sarkar, a Ph.D. student who had worked with Klug's research group.
LAPD spokesman Captain Andy Neiman spoke to Take Two Thursday morning.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Inside a classroom during the UCLA murder-suicide
Yesterday, between the time shots were fired and students were given the all clear, panic set in across the UCLA campus.
Although it was later determined that the shooting occurred on south campus, on north campus, students reacted as they though they thought a shooter was marching towards them.
"I think all of us on the inside were really scared and nervous," said Daphne Ying, a Senior at UCLA. "You could definitely tell, because we're sitting in the dark, keeping as close to the shadowed areas of the room as possible. Anybody who raised their voice, even to a moderate whisper... immediately got shushed."
Feeling they were under threat, students, including Daphne, made the decision to block doors so that a potential shooter couldn't get in. The problem was that the classroom doors opened outwards into the hall, which meant that they couldn't place heavy objects in front of them to keep them shut.
So, the students got inventive.
Ying spoke with Take Two's A Martinez about the incident and how they solved their door problem.
To hear the entire conversation click on the link embedded at the top of this post.
Oil money increasing supporting black and Latino Democrats
During any campaign season, money flows in all different directions.
It's probably no surprise that big oil companies look for politicians to support who might be friendly toward protecting their interests.
But the environmental watch dog group, the California Environmental Justice Alliance, says more of the oil cash is increasingly flowing to black and Latino Democrats. Laurel Rosenhall has been writing about this for CALmatters.
"There are a lot of Democrats in the state legislature, particularly African Americans and Latino Democrats who represent economically depressed regions, but are voting in a way that is very sympathetic with major industries, including the oil industry," says Rosenhall.
Republicans are now a small sliver of the state's electorate party in California. The party has shrunk and business interests have shifted their spending.
"Traditionally, the oil industry and the big businesses they really put their money into electing Republicans, says Rosenhall.
"Business has shifted its financial support for Democrats, so the game for them is about getting the right kind of Democrats."
The Ride: Drugged driving suit simulates the effects of marijuana, other drugs
We’ve all heard the slogan: drunk driving kills. And it does, to the tune of about 10,000 Americans each year.
But what about drugged driving — when people smoke a little weed, take opioids or otherwise alter their minds and bodies before sitting behind the wheel of a moving car? Another 6,000 people die from that each year, and many of them are teens.
Drugs impact driving in a multitude of ways — slowing reaction times, making vision all googly and just generally making it difficult to steer that two-ton Tessie of a vehicle in a straight line. So Ford Motor Company has come up with a plan that just might give a teen pause before smoking out and firing up the ignition.
"With the drugged driving suit, it mimics the effects of drugs," said Stephanie Dunham, a coordinator with Ford's Driving Skills For Life program, which teaches advanced driving skills to teenagers, including some time inside the new drugged driving suit.
"It takes different effects from marijuana, heroin, and it gives them a simulation of what it’s like so you can see why you shouldn’t drive under the influence."
In other words, it involves ankle and wrist weights to throw off balance, and bandages to limit a driver's range of motion.
Behind the wheel of a car, drugs can actually restrict mobility. They can force movements to become exaggerated. They could even inspire the shakes. If you’ve ever watched a drunk weave, rather than walk, down the sidewalk, you get the idea.
The suit also involved a hand tremor generator to simulate the effects of drugs. Goggles with psychedelic lights. And headphones with distracting, unsettling music.
This year, Ford’s new drugged driving suit will be making the rounds at driving schools in 15 states, including Arizona, California, Michigan and New York. It’s part of a curriculum that teaches teens the skills they don’t learn in driver’s ed — like how to recognize, and react to, hazards and how behaviors, like drinking and taking drugs, impact driving.
State of Affairs: Campaign heats up in final days before CA primary
On this week's State of Affairs, California's primary is just days away, the presidential candidates are campaigning across the state, and it's do or die time for hundreds of bills at the State Capitol.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Ben Bradford, state government reporter at Capital Public Radio
- Carla Marinucci, POLITICO's California Playbook reporter
Many Dream Act scholarships are not reaching students
The California Dream Act provides some undocumented students with state-based financial aid, but much of that going is going unspent.
After passing the California Dream Act, much of the aid is still not reaching the students it originally intended to help. The law allows students to attend community colleges, California State Universities, University of California and even some private schools.
To find out why, we're joined by Lupita Cortez Alcala, she's the executive director of the California Student Aid Commission.
Immigrant children seeking asylum may have better luck applying in some regions than others
Data obtained by the Associated Press shows that more than 10,000 unaccompanied children - mostly from Central America - who arrived in the U.S. since 2014 have applied for asylum.
But a year-long investigation shows that where they apply can make a big difference in whether they get it.
For more, AP reporter Amy Taxin, who wrote about this in the Associated Press, joined the show.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.