Today on the show, a new study shows gender bias against female faculty. Then, A new study from USC suggests your name might be one of the reasons your local lawmaker isn't responding to your questions and requests. Plus, Kate Mulgrew talks "Orange Is The New Black," Shep Gordon on his fascinating career as a Hollywood talent manager, Magic Mountain's Colossus roller coaster is closing and more.
Allegations of gender bias at UCLA's business school
A report from one of the top-ranked business schools in the country has found that the school is "inhospitable to women faculty, according to an internal academic review of UCLA's Anderson School of Management.
The report also found that the school has created "gender ghettos" in certain academic departments and shows a "lack of confidence" in female faculty.
Melissa Korn writes about higher education for The Wall Street Journal, with a special focus on business schools. She reviewed the report and detailed the findings.
USC study suggests lawmakers more likely to ignore Latino constituents
A new USC study suggests that lawmakers are not as responsive to people with Spanish-sounding names compared to those with Anglo names.
In 2012, political science professors Christian Grose and Matthew Mendez randomly sent emails to more than 1,800 state lawmakers in 14 states.
The emails read:
Hello (Representative/Senator NAME),
My name is (voter NAME) and I have heard a lot in the news lately about identification being required at the polls. I do not have a driver’s license. Can I still vote in November? Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
(voter NAME)
Some emails had the voter's name "Jacob Smith," while others had the name, "Santiago Rodriguez. Grose and Mendez found that these legislators were far more likely to respond to the name "Jacob Smith."
"About 50 percent responded to the name 'Jacob,'" says Grose, "and about 40 percent responded to the Latino name, 'Santiago.'"
The conclusion they have is that there may be a subconscious racial bias by lawmakers, and that it leads to a poor quality of representation for Latinos.
"It's a little bit surprising because, for the Democratic Party in most of these states, Latino voters including Spanish-speaking voters are part of the base coalition," says Grose. "Then in these states the Republican Party has made serious efforts to reach out to Latinos, so presumably both parties have incentives to respond to somebody who speaks Spanish."
Friday Flashback: prisoner swaps, veterans healthcare, Slenderman and more
It's the end of another week and time for the Flashback, Take Two's look at the week in news. This morning we're joined by Robin Abcarian from the Los Angeles Times, and Jamelle Bouie from Slate.com.
We start with the biggest story this week: the Bowe Bergdahl saga. Bergdahl is the Army soldier that was captured by the Taliban in 2009. His release this week was made after key Taliban figures were released from Guantanamo Bay, but the controversy began after it was revealed that he could have deserted his post.
Another part of the controversy is because Congress wasn't told of the swap, which is a violation of federal law. Of course the administration said the rule was designed for normal detainee transfers, not an emergency situation, but what are people saying about this idea that Congress wasn't informed?
The blowback to the swap was pretty swift, the Washington Post has a really entertaining post that looked at the deleted tweets from high level politicians because of the intense scrutiny. Why don't politicians just explain a change of heart?
What kind of impact could this have on Obama and the Democrats? Might this have some effect on Obama's stated goal of closing Guantanamo Bay?
Yesterday, the Senate reached a deal on improving veteran healthcare. What was the deal that was reached and is it likely to calm critics of the VA?
Finally let's talk about the very disturbing story coming out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where two 12 year old girls allegedly tried to kill another young girl because of a horror meme known as the Slender Man. What is this meme about?
Prosecutors have announced that they will attempt to charge the suspects as adults, an awful crime, but the decision is garnering a lot of push-back, could it spark the conversations on trying young people as adults?
California Chrome carries SoCal horse racing history on his back
California Chrome will attempt to win horse-racing's much-prized Triple Crown at tomorrow's Belmont Stakes. He'd be first horse to do so since 1978 and the first one bred in California.
KPCC's Brian Watt tracks "The Chrome's" journey through racetracks here in Southern California.
'Orange Is The New Black' star Kate Mulgrew on the 'feisty' spirit of Red
The second season of Orange is the New Black kicks off on Netflix on June 6. The wildly popular show is based on Piper Kerman's memoir of the time she spent in federal prison on drug related charges.
When it first came out in 2013, few guessed that a show set in a drab prison would become such a critical hit, but indeed it has. "Orange is the New Black" became Netflix's most watched original series, beating out both "Arrested Development" and "House of Cards."
As one critic wrote, "there is an abiding feeling for character that helps elevate 'Orange Is the New Black' to a new definition of television excellence."
Kate Mulgrew, who plays a feisty Russian inmate named "Red," plays a big part in achieving that feeling of character. She joins Take Two to talk about how she connects with "Red" and what we can expect for her in the new season.
To hear the full interview, click on "Listen Now" in the upper left.
El Niño is likely, but scientists say it could be a weak one
Warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean mean that an El Niño year is likely on the way.
While that would typically mean a wet winter for California, and possibly some relief from the drought, climate scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that might not be the case this time.
The latest report from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center says that while the chances of an El Niño year have increased, it looks like a moderate one. Mike Halpert, acting director for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, joins Take Two with more.
How private companies want to track kids from birth to death
Across the country and the political spectrum, moms and dads are fighting against the data mining of their kids. Educators say tracking children is the best way to improve the school system, but parents are worried about a breach of privacy and future consequences.
Stephanie Simon has been writing about this for Politico and joins Take Two with more.
Man sentenced to jail for smuggling dinosaur bones from Mongolia
A fossil collector named Eric Prokopi was sentenced in federal court to three months in prison for smuggling dinosaur bones from Mongolia.
The case was called the United States of America vs. One Tyrannosaurus Bataar, and though it's unusual to see a dinosaur listed as a defendant in a federal court case, the practice that brought on this legal battle is all too common.
Brian Switek, who writes about dinosaurs for National Geographic, said there is a thriving black market for fossils, which can fetch upwards of a million dollars on the private market.
The divide between the commercial and academic worlds of paleontology has been highlighted in recent years as commercially collected specimens — like the Tyrannosaurus Sue, now at the Chicago Field Museum — have sold for increasing amounts of money. This puts them out of reach for most academic or scientific institutions that would use them for study, rather than decoration.
Many fossils end up in private collections of millionaires, never accessed by science or the public. What's worse, said Switek, many commercial collectors destroy or ignore important historical evidence at the dig site where the fossils are collected that would add to scientific understanding of the prehistoric past.
Frequently these profit-seeking fossil hunters make aggregate skeletons from various specimens, forge parts of fossils or illegally export them from countries with laws against it, like Mongolia.
Eric Prokopi bought parts of three different skeletons of Tyrannosaurus Bataar, a smaller Tyrannosaurus Rex-like predator that roamed parts of Mongolia and China 70 million years ago.
Mongolia has strict laws that prohibit the sale and export of fossil remains except those overseen by the government. When Prokopi put his T. Bataar skeleton up for auction in New York in 2012, it attracted the attention of several paleontologists and the Mongolian government, who were able to stop the auction from going through.
The bones were seized by the federal government and will be returned to Mongolia where they will be exhibited in a new museum.
More disabled students requesting help to finish final tests
In the past, students with disabilities were not encouraged to go to college and were gently guided toward jobs that didn't require degrees, but that's changed. Now, there are plenty of students diagnosed with Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder and physical disabilities who are taking finals.
KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez looks at how their presence is creating change.
Hollywood's VFX industry struggles without government support
The news that Sony Imageworks is headed to Vancouver, taking roughly 300 jobs north of the border, is just the latest in a string of depressing headlines for L.A's visual effects workers.
But at least the company is still operating. Nearly two dozen VFX firms have closed or gone bankrupt in the last decade. What can California do to keep the work here? For the California Report, Susan Valot has the story.
'Supermensch' documents Shep Gordon's unlikely career as a talent manager
Shep Gordon has had one of the most fascinating careers in Hollywood. He's a talent manager whose client roster includes Alice Cooper, Anne Murray, Blondie, Teddy Pendergrass and Groucho Marx.
He got his start managing musicians when he met Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in a chance encounter at an L.A. motel and sold them marijuana. Those and other exploits are chronicled in a new documentary directed by Mike Myers called "Supermensch."
The film opens at the Landmark theater in Los Angeles Friday, June 6.