The attacks in Belgium, our look at SoCal education options continues with Magnet schools, Johns Hopkins university team managed to hack Apple's encrypted iMessage.
Why Belgium?
Tuesday’s attacks in Belgium have law enforcement around the world on alert.
Two explosions in Brussels — one at an airport, the other on a train — have left more than 30 people dead.
The attacks come just four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, and authorities think there may be a connection: at least one of the attackers is believed to have been wearing a suicide vest.
Later Tuesday, a website operated by the Islamic State claimed responsibility.
It's hardly the first time the words “Belgium” and “terror” have shared a headline.
Among the thousands of foreign nationals who have left their countries to join the Islamic State, Belgium has yielded the most.
For more on Belgium and its unique relationship with extremism, Take Two spoke to Bruce Hoffman, director of Georgetown University’s security studies program and author of the new book, “Anonymous Soldiers.”
Bruce, what makes Belgium a petri dish for global terrorism?
Talk to me about Belgium and its relationship with the immigrant population. Have they faced difficulties in the past?
From a law enforcement standpoint, what are the challenges when it comes to preventing these attacks and stopping ISIS from recruiting remotely like this?
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
President Obama speaks from Havana after Brussels attacks
President Obama was spoke as scheduled from Havana,Cuba. It was planned to discuss his desire to continue the improved relations with the country after his visit.
But following news of this morning's Brussels terrorist attacks, the president also voiced his intention to bring the attackers to justice.
The attacks left at least 28 dead and dozens more injured as bombs exploded in at the local airport and one of the city's metro stations.
Take Two's Alex Cohen spoke with Gary O'Donoghue, Washington correspondent for the BBC.
To hear the full conversation click the blue player above
10 things to know about magnet schools in LA
Magnet schools in Los Angeles have been around since 1977. The program was created as part of a court-ordered desegregation program designed to increase racial balance in schools.
Today, there are 210 magnet programs within LAUSD, each with its own particular theme— from STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) to visual and performing arts. Some magnet programs are centers located on another school's campus and some make up a school on their own.
So how to figure out if a magnet school is right for your child? And how to get in?
Amy Walia-Fazio, Executive Director of the Parents Education League of Los Angeles (PEL), joined Take Two to answer parents' most frequently asked questions.
1. What is a magnet school?
Magnet schools in LAUSD were established in the 1970s as a response to the disparities between public schools in wealthy neighborhoods and in poor neighborhoods. The goal was to empower parents to choose a school in a different neighborhood that might best serve their child.
Magnet schools fall under the jurisdiction of Student Integration Services at LAUSD and admissions are determined by a need to maintain racially balanced populations as well as available space.
2. What kinds of magnet schools are there?
There are currently 210 magnet programs throughout the district. They vary from highly gifted/gifted, to environmental science magnet program, to public service magnets. The choices are a little bit endless when it comes to magnet schools.
The way to get information about magnet schools is through the office of Student Integration Services. Their website is echoices.lausd.net and they produce a very thorough brochure every year that outlines every single magnet school that's available, along with information on how to apply.
3. How and when do you apply?
Magnet schools are early in the application process for the public sector. They go live October 1 of the year prior to your entry. And the way that you apply, you go online, you fill out the paper work, you put in your choice of magnet program and you submit.
4. Can you apply to more than one program?
You can list up to three magnet programs to apply for, but you can only choose only one. The way that the admissions process works for magnet schools is point-based. It's also lottery-based because the points then generate priority within each category of points. It's like a weighted lottery.
5. How do points work?
You can get points from matriculating within the magnet system, having a sibling that's already within the magnet system, having a school that's designated overcrowded as your homeschool, and then there's the PHABAO designation. That's an acronym that stands for "Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other Non-Anglo." If your school is a designated PHABAO school, you get extra points just for that designation.
The most points you can get any one year are 12 points and that's for matriculation, so for folks who are already in the magnet system. If you're not in the system, but you have a sibling who's already in a magnet school with the same home address, you get three points for that. If you're in a school that's designated overcrowded, you get points for that. You can call LAUSD to find out if your school is designated overcrowded. They do that on a year to year basis.
6. I've heard there's a strategy to getting points. What's that all about?
The waiting list is where the choice comes into play and where some families use a little bit of strategy. But when you talk to LAUSD's office of Student Integration Services, they really do believe the mission of the magnet school system is to help integrate schools. The idea of playing a game with magnet schools is not really in good conscience, but people do it.
So let's say a family wants to apply to a magnet program that really starts in 3rd grade, but it's a really popular magnet program and you don't have any points yet. What families can do in that case is aim for that program for 4th grade or 5th grade. They start in 2nd grade and apply for 3rd grade knowing that they'll likely be wait-listed and then they accrue wait list points. Applying again the next year means you can accrue a little more wait list points.
7. How long do points last?
Points expire after three years, and if you're offered a spot you have to take it or lose those points.
8. How does race factor into the application process?
It's actually about the school experience rather than about each individual child. Part of the point system involves PHABAO designated schools. If your school is predominantly one of these designations (Predominantly Hispanic, Black, Asian, or other Non-Anglo) then you have automatically four points. That's an attempt to level the playing field so that folks who are in those designated schools can then move to other magnet schools so that they can provide some racially diverse experiences in those magnet programs.
9. How do I get my child into a gifted/talented magnet program?
There are criteria that you have to meet. Eligibility involves some IQ testing and some verification that you are actually qualified to be in the highly gifted/gifted/high achieving magnet schools. So parents have to get their children tested and that happens through LAUSD's school psychologists.
10. How do I know if a magnet school or program is right for me?
It may be good option for a family looking for a specific type of program and experience for their child. If their child is gifted or shows some remarkable talent in arts or if their child shows some acumen in the business sector, a magnet program might be a really good option.
Series: Good Schools
As part of its Good Schools series, Take Two looks at the education landscape in the Los Angeles area. That includes its public schools, magnets, charters, private institutions and dual-language programs. You’ll hear from parents, academics, teachers, kids and even a couple of TV show producers.
Read more in this series and let us know your thoughts on Facebook, or tweet us
and
with the hashtag #goodschools.
How making a video game about a child's cancer diagnosis helped a father grieve
Discovering that your young child is seriously ill is a scenario that fills every parent with dread. For some families, it's a reality that they're forced to deal with.
In 2010, Joel Evan Green was diagnosed with brain cancer. He was just one year old at the time.
His parents, Ryan and Amy, did what many parents would do in that situation— they ached, they cried, they prayed. But then they did something different. They built a video game about their experience.
A new documentary titled "Thank You For Playing" recounts the development of the game, called "That Dragon, Cancer."
from
on Vimeo.
Ryan Green joined Take Two to talk about how he came up with the idea to create a computer game about his family's experience and how it helped him get some distance from and then process his grief.
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.
Students figure out how to hack Apple's messaging system
Tuesday, Apple and the FBI were set to have their dramatic showdown, in a Riverside courtroom, over encryption, but a judge decided to postpone the hearing.
That happened after the the Justice Department revealed that it might no longer need Apple's help opening the iPhone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino shooting.
Whether that particular iPhone will be cracked remains to be seen, but meanwhile, a group of students at Johns Hopkins University recently discovered another way to hack into Apple's message service.
Gabriel Kaptchuk is one of those students and he told Alex Cohen how they managed to do it.
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio link embedded at the top of this post.
10 years of tweeting: Measuring the social impact of Twitter
Ten years and two days ago, tweeting was an action best left to our feathered friends. That all changed ten years and one day ago, however.
That’s when Twitter founder Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet ever — a tweet heard ‘round the world if you will.
But Despite Dorsey’s high hopes, Twitter remains a bit of a dark horse in the digital arena: a 140-character redheaded stepchild of sorts.
And yet, in a media market saturated with social, Twitter continues to prove fertile ground for ideas, stories, gossip and even political revolution.
For more on the societal impact of Twitter, Take Two spoke to Mike Ananny, assistant professor of communication and journalism at USC.
Press the blue play button above to hear the interview.
Santa Clarita foster parents face an uphill battle to keep part-Choctaw child
Rusty and Summer Page continue a campaign to reunify with their six year-old foster child Lexi, taken Monday from their home in Santa Clarita by Child Protective Services.
Lexi is part-Choctaw and has been under the Page's care since she was a baby.
Now she's at the center of a legal debate involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal mandate originally put in place to keep Native American children from being separated from their parents.
The Pages plan to appeal the court's decision to take Lexi to her extended family in Utah, but face an uphill battle.
Take Two's A. Martinez speaks with lawyer Mark Fiddler, founder of the Indian Child Welfare Center, about the unique of nature of this case.
The Binge: the best political movies and TV show you can stream
With the Democratic & Republican primaries heating up, we thought we’d throw our hat in the ring as well!
On this installment of the Binge writer & film historian Mark Jordan Legan gives us his recommendations for the best movies and TV shows you can stream right now. Check out the links for information on how you can stream it.
Mark's picks
For binge worthy TV shows about the sharks and backstabbers in D.C. there is the hilarious Julia-Louis Dreyfus HBO comedy Veep – which shows the sometimes rough and vulgar behind the scenes world at the White House
Interestingly, the creator and show runner of Veep is the splendid writer Armando Iannucci, who had also created the popular 2005 U.K. political sitcom The Thick of It, and from this show he took some of the main characters and turned them loose in Mark's next pick, the hilarious feature film, In The Loop
Next up is the 1976 film, All the President's Men. The film told the story of the investigative reporting of the 1972 Watergate scandal.
Dustin Hoffman & Robert Redford shine as Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the journalists who would go on to prove that the Nixon White House had approved such covert actions as the Watergate break-in and subsequently tried to cover them up. Jason Robards won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his sterling work as the editor of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee.
To change the mood a bit, we went to Alexander Payne’s 1999 Election. The political satire focuses on a Nebraska high school’s election and reveals that even at this level, mud slinging and lies are just the tip of the iceberg. Matthew Broderick gives one of his best performances as a respected teacher who gets involved in the campaign and Reese Witherspoon is amazing as the intense ambitious Tracy Flick, who will stop at nothing to be elected Student Council President.
And the wrap up to this political binge is the 1993 Oscar winning documentary, The War Room, which first brought James Carville and George Stephanopolos into the national spotlight as two of the political consultants who helped Bill Clinton win the White House in 1992.
New music from Kendrick Lamar, J-Zone, Charles Bradley and Hawaii
We know that you don't have time to keep up with what's new in music, but don't worry, we've got you covered with Tuesday Reviewsday. Every week our music experts join us in studio with their favorite new tunes that you should be listening to. This week Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides joins A Martinez at KPCC.
Oliver's Picks
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Album: "untitled unmastered."
Song: "untitled 6," "untitled 3"
Artist: J-Zone
Album: 7" Release
Song: "Go Back to Selling Weed"
Artist: Charles Bradley
Album: "Changes"
Song: "Crazy for your Love"
Artist: Hawaii
Album: "Aloha Got Soul"
Song: "Lady of My Heart"
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio link embedded at the top of the post.