11/12/03

LC031112

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

He's barely old enough to vote, but he's already an elected
official with a say in running our schools.

Rafael Ramirez>> My experience as a student at Hawthorne High
School will give the Board a new view of the problems and why
our test results are low, why grades aren't high and how come
we're not producing as a district.

Val>> And then, a new spot in Los Angeles that's for the birds.
We'll see how the Audubon Society is trying to bring nature to
the city.

It's all coming up next on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> Hello, I'm Val Zavala. I'm here in a lovely spot, Los
Angeles's newest nature center and, later in the program, we'll
take you inside.

But first, he's probably southern California's youngest elected
official. His name is Rafael Ramirez and he's only eighteen
years old, but he already knows what it's like to be a real
candidate. He not only ran for a spot on his local school
board, he won. Toni Guinyard has the story about how this young
man who's barely old enough to vote jumped on the political
bandwagon and rode it to victory.

>> "Think about the simplicity of this idea."

Toni Guinyard>> Not so long ago in a classroom not unlike this
one, a Hawthorne High School student was inspired to do
something few of his classmates would ever be willing to
consider. At age eighteen shortly after graduation, Rafael
Ramirez decided to run for public office and vie for a seat on
the Centinela Valley Union High School District Board of
Trustees.

Rafael Ramirez>> I found out that all you had to be was
eligible to vote, so I registered and I decided to go all the
way.

Toni Guinyard>> Armed with no political experience, he ran and
he won.

Rafael Ramirez>> I know it's going to be difficult. I know
it's a challenge and I'm willing to put all my time and effort
to make that challenge the best I can or fight it the best way I
can.

Toni Guinyard>> He's already proving to be a fighter, albeit a
quiet one. He won the race by defeating an educator and former
Board Trustee. It's a victory that stunned veteran Board
member, Angelina Gomez Moller.

Angelina Gomez Moller>> And I was definitely shocked. I was
very surprised that the voters went along with an eighteen year
old. I foresee that we have a lot of work in front of us. He's
never been to any of the Centinela Valley Union High School
Board meetings and I've never seen him or met him, so I have
never been introduced to him. I have been on the Board as a
Trustee for over six years and, you know, I would expect that at
least someone that wanted to be on the Board, that wanted to
make a difference in our high school, to come to at least one of
the meetings before he ran just to get an idea of what he's in
for.

Rafael Ramirez>> What more experience can you ask about.
Experiencing the problems yourself, I think that my experience
as a student at Hawthorne High School will give the Board a new
view of the problems and why our test scores are so low, why
grades aren't high and how come we're not producing as a
district.

Toni Guinyard>> Ramirez believes he knows what he's in for.
After living in this working class neighborhood for most of his
life and spending four years attending Hawthorne High, he brings
a different perspective to the decision-making team. Do you
think you'll be welcomed?

Rafael Ramirez>> Probably. I mean, I go in there not
experienced as every new Board member is. I think I have a lot
to learn and I want to prove everybody that doubted me wrong.

Ana Maria Ramirez>> These negative critics are giving him even
more strength to deal with the issues.

Toni Guinyard>> Anna Ramirez is Rafael's older sister and his
own personal cheerleader. She also attended Hawthorne High and
predicts her daughter, Gabriella, may attend the school one day
too. She has faith that her brother will succeed, yet feels the
need to convince others to have faith in him too.

Ana Maria Ramirez>> I understand a lot of people are a little
bit surprised that how can an eighteen year old be so
responsible at this age? But, believe me, I live with him.
He's my brother. I know he's really responsible. Maybe more
responsible and more mature than people older than him.

Toni Guinyard>> Ramirez must now follow through with promises
made prior to the election. The issues that made up the heart
of his campaign? Overcrowded classrooms, too few campus
restrooms, retaining skilled teachers and construction projects
that benefit students are now his problems.

Rafael Ramirez>> I think we need to have the input of
everybody, the community, parents, teachers, students. I think
that, by talking to students, they'll be more inspired and more
willing to put their part in to make the district better.

Toni Guinyard>> Hawthorne High's Social Studies teacher, Shane
Ellis, needs no convincing that Ramirez is the right man for the
school Trustee job. He taught Ramirez in a Model United Nations
class.

Shane Ellis>> I really saw a flowering of creativity and
maturity coming out of Rafael where literally I had moments when
I looked at him and I thought this guy will probably be in
higher office someday.

Toni Guinyard>> Ellis is also President of the district's
teachers union, the Centinela Valley Secondary Teachers
Association. It endorsed Ramirez.

Shane Ellis>> I mean, it's not just the teachers that supported
Rafael Ramirez. It's fifty-five percent of the voters in this
community.

Toni Guinyard>> But Ellis's ties to the union and his
relationship with Ramirez has Board Trustee Moller very
concerned.

Angelina Gomez Moller>> There's a little bit of fear there for
me because he has a hold on this student already and most
eighteen year olds are very easy to lead.

Shane Ellis>> I know Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Ramirez is no one to
be trifled with. If other Board members believe that they're
going to be able to run roughshod over him, intimidate him or
get him to do things that he doesn't support or he doesn't
believe in in his own heart, I don't think they're going to get
very far.

Toni Guinyard>> Despite his enthusiasm, the political neophyte
is learning a lesson about the politics of education. Ramirez
has been labeled by some critics as a puppet of the teachers
union.

Shane Ellis>> It's patently unfair and it's patently untrue.
The fact is that Mr. Ramirez chose to run on his own. Now most
of the current school board in our district, there's only one
place they go when they want information and that is to the
superintendent. But I don't hear people saying that the other
school board members are puppets of the superintendent.

Toni Guinyard>> Our repeated request for an interview with
Superintendent Julian Lopez went unanswered. We simply wanted
to give him a chance to answer his critics. We also wanted to
find out what he thought about this youthful voice on the school
board, but we'll have to wait and see. And so will Ramirez.

Rafael Ramirez>> Well, I only received a packet from the
superintendent about, you know, some rules and congratulations,
but I've never received any phone calls from any of the Board
members or the superintendent.

Toni Guinyard>> Will he be welcomed on this Board of Trustees?

Angelina Gomez Moller>> Oh, definitely. He represents a
community and he comes in to us with open arms. We are very
anxious to show him and tell him what's coming and give him a
clue as to some of the challenges that he'll be meeting. Many
of our high school students come to us at a third grade reading
level from the feeder schools.

Ana Maria Ramirez>> Give him a chance. We all deserve a
chance, so instead of pointing fingers, just give him a chance.
People voted for him for a reason. Those votes counted for a
reason. They believe in him and they know that he's going to do
the right thing.

Val>> Rafael Ramirez may be getting a head start in politics,
but his career goal is to get back into the classroom. He tells
us he wants to be a history teacher.

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Val>> It is one of the longest and most gruesome crime sprees
and the killers have yet to be found. We're talking about the
murders of more than three hundred women over ten years in
Juarez, Mexico, just south of El Paso. In a moment, we'll see
what one El Monte congresswoman is doing to help, but first a
look at an excerpt from a documentary about the killings. A
warning that this description is quite graphic.

[Film Clip]

Val>> I spoke with Congresswoman Hilda Solis who recently made
a trip with several other members of Congress to Juarez, Mexico.
So when you went down to Mexico, what did you see or what did
you hear from the victims' families?

Hilda Solis>> Well, we heard a lot of, I think, outcry and
outrage from the families wanting to know why no one has done a
thorough investigation of their particular daughter. If their
daughter was lost or kidnapped or if they found the remains, in
many cases they were not told that there were any witnesses, if
there were any alleged witnesses that could be involved. Were
they called in? Was the investigation held appropriately? In
some cases, the DNA material and, say, the scene of the crime
was so disrupted and materials were discarded that you couldn't
figure out what was going on.

Suly Ponce>> "In 1996 in response to peoples' outrage, a
special unit was formed to investigate the crimes against
women."

[Film Clip]

Val>> The families at times are afraid to talk to authorities
or afraid to give information. Why is that?

Hilda Solis>> Come forward, yes. Because some indicated that
they were also being harassed and threatened and told that, if
they were to say anything, they too would be in danger.

Val>> Threatened and harassed by whom?

Hilda Solis>> By authorities, by authorities.

Val>> So what can the United States do? Because you have all
these three levels. Mexican politics and law enforcement, as we
all know, is full of corruption and a lot of secrecy. How can
the U.S. put pressure on Mexico to solve these terrible murders?

Hilda Solis>> Well, I think one of the things that we've
already started is by us just going down there as members of the
Congress. I think we have created that environment of scrutiny
where now the federal government of President Fox in Mexico is
bringing down investigators at the federal level to try to clamp
down on what is going on. Secondly, there is going to be a
meeting that the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, will have on
a bi-national basis with Mexico coming up in a couple of days.
We've asked him to raise this level and to put some serious
effort into resolving this because this has been ongoing.

Val>> So just the spotlight itself helps?

Hilda Solis>> That, and also we're looking at possible
recommendations for any sources of funding to help with an
outside group, say, like the Organization of American States to
come in and do the investigation and possible DNA testing that
the families really want. They want an objective, transparent
group that will do that. Right now they have very little faith
in the government of Mexico in conducting those investigations.

Val>> Now you went down there and saw for yourself some of the
scenes of the crimes and the gravesites. What did you see that
really made just a huge impact on you? Not just talking to the
families, but what did you actually see?

Hilda Solis>> Well, we saw one of the gravesites where eight
bodies were found right across from what they call the Maquila
Association, the Maquiladora Association, where many of these
young women were have found to have worked at or were
disappearing right after work or before work. We heard that
some of the women's bodies that were found there were kept
somewhere else for almost a year. It was as though they were
trying to make a statement that, here we are, showing you what
we can do.

>> "We hear the terrible news that a woman was found burned and
drained of blood and a semi-circle had been carved on her back."

[Film Clip]

Hilda Solis>> These are the victims. There's a profile of the
young Latina or Mexican woman who goes out, ventures out, to
work, has to leave very early or comes home very, very late at
night, maybe at three or six in the morning, and there's no
lighting, no protection, no law enforcement. They have these
buses that are commissioned by the Maquilas who pick and bring
these women up.

>> "For young women arriving alone each day from Mexico's
poorest regions, Juarez is a place to find work. Here they earn
four to five dollars a day and the hope of their economic
independence."

[Film Clip]

Hilda Solis>> I think it's a cultural thing too. There's this
gender inequity about women working outside and having a more
predominant role now because they're liberated when they have
their own paycheck and that's not easily accepted.

Val>> What responsibility, if any, do U.S. companies have?
Because of the Maquiladoras are owned by U.S. companies, the
victims come from the Maquiladoras. Is there any responsibility
there on the part of the U.S. corporations?

Hilda Solis>> Well, under our treaties that we sign under
NAFTA, there is some criteria where we believe that the
corporations should be responsible for the, you know, safety and
protection of the workers, so we do think there is something
there. We still have to delve more into that and that is a
concern on the part of a lot of members of Congress right now
because that so many NAFTA Maquilas went down to that part of
Mexico and we're finding that they are trying to make some
changes in terms of safety, but not far enough where they are
actually pressuring the Mexican government. That's what we are
kind of waiting to see if perhaps they can have some involvement
in that arena.

Lourdes Portillo>> During the eighteen months it took to make
this documentary, over fifty young women were killed. Some were
students, some were mothers, some were children and some were
Maquiladora workers.

Victoria Caraveo>> They are the ones who make beautiful
televisions and parts for cars and parts for clothes and shoes.
They are part of the fortune of a lot of people. Let's give
them back one thing. Security for those ones who are alive and
satisfaction for the parents who have lost their girls.

[Film Clip]

Val>> If you'd like to find out more about the women of Juarez
and what you can do to help, you can go to the website on your
screen.

www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/senoritaextraviada

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
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Life and Times
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Val>> Bird-watching isn't exactly a pastime that conjures up
scenes of the city, but that's exactly where the Audubon Society
is headed. They built this brand new nature center in the heart
of Los Angeles where city kids are being taught the finer points
of a hobby that for years has mostly belonged to older white
males. As Vicki Curry tells us, there's a lot more at stake
than just a few feathers.

Vicki Curry>> Just minutes from downtown Los Angeles and yet a
tranquil refuge that seems miles away, 282 acres of open space
known as the Ernest E. Debs Park.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> Unlike most of the residents here in the
neighborhood, you really don't know that it is a park. Wherever
you are in the neighborhood, you only see one side of it because
it's a hillside, so you never really put it together that it is
a great big parcel with coyotes and raccoons, possums and
woodpeckers.

Elsa Lopez>> They thought it was private property, especially
from this side of the park.

Vicki Curry>> That's going to change. The Audubon Society has
opened a nature center on the west side of Debs Park in the
Highland Park neighborhood alongside the Pasadena Freeway.

Elsa Lopez>> We're here to bring nature to the community of the
northeast part of Los Angeles and it's open to everyone to come
here and experience nature firsthand.

Vicki Curry>> The nature center is part of the Audubon
Society's new mission. Founded in 1905 to protect wildlife and
their habitats, the society's membership has been traditionally
older white males. Now, to keep itself from going extinct,
Audubon is moving into urban areas.

Elsa Lopez>> They're going to be addressing a new audience and
they feel that, coming into an urban area, where more could you
get a bigger audience than here? We have over fifty thousand
school-age children just within a two-mile radius from the park,
so for them, doing that and doing that not only here, but their
plan is to build a thousand by the year 2020 and get into areas
that they've never been in. You know, bringing nature to its
fullest. You know, you have nature in your own back yard.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> Here in northeast Los Angeles, there
aren't very many open vacant lots to kids to play in. Everybody
knows that kids do the most and best exploring on their own and
having fun in open spaces. We're making a big open lot for kids
to play in, mix dirt and water together to make mud pies, search
for caterpillars, roll down hillsides, climb on tops of rocks
and trees.

Vicki Curry>> It starts with a new entrance on the west side of
the park making access visible and easy for residents of the
neighborhood. Once at the center, there is a range of education
programs designed to get kids playing outside.

Elsa Lopez>> We have a backpack family program where the family
will come in, check out a backpack and go into the park and
explore it.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> So if they want to learn about insects in
spring, they can borrow our insect nature packs. If they want
to take out our bird-watching backpacks, it comes with
binoculars and bird guides and, again, sketch books or
watercolors.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> "Wow, it's soaring over here. See that?
Look at that. Look how graceful they are."

Darryl Ramos-Young>> We're really trying to blend the
literature, the math, the science, the social aspects and make
it a very holistic experience out here in the outdoors.

Vicki Curry>> There are after-school programs and organized
activities on the weekends. This discovery cart can be set up
at the beginning of a trail to help families learn about the
park.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> There will always be a host, a volunteer,
to show them what is so wonderful about the cart and give them a
little briefing about what they can expect to find on the
trails. Many people in the neighborhood don't know how to use
scientific tools like binoculars, so this is really a way to
just introduce the idea of watching birds, getting closer looks
at those ground squirrels and seeing the butterfly that's, you
know, five feet away.

Vicki Curry>> Kids learn how to spot birds by first practicing
with stuffed birds placed throughout the center.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> It's a lot easier this way it's done
because if it's a live bird, of course, it moves around so fast
that they'll miss it altogether. So we start off slowly with a
mounted specimen, then they can take the next step and actually
feel more comfortable with the binoculars out on the trail.

Vicki Curry>> Sort of training future bird-watchers.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> That's right, exactly. We want to make
the opportunity of going out on the trail as hands-on as
possible. They can be prepared to take a closer look at
everything that they find on the ground, growing on the plants.
Really to reach out and touch, listen, look more, smell more.

Vicki Curry>> The nature center is focused on the outdoors, but
its building is also an example of conservation.

Elsa Lopez>> Our building is one hundred percent solar. We are
one hundred percent off the grid. We're one hundred percent off
the sewer line, so we do our own wastewater treatment onsite.
We have a water catch where seventy percent of the water will be
caught and put back into a water table. That's one of the
things they really wanted to do is to bring the message to the
community. They'll come here and see what we've got here and
maybe do the same practices at home. You know, not to this
scale, but there is a lot that they could sample from here to do
it.

Vicki Curry>> This urban park is filled with a menagerie of
wildlife like Black Walnut trees, coastal sage scrubs and 136
species of birds. The center is working to restore the land to
its original state by removing the exotic plants that have
overrun the ones native to the area.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> Many of the plants that have overtaken the
park started off as ornamentals. They're from all over the
world and people brought them because they liked them so much in
their front yards and back yards. Well, they escaped into the
wild and they grow a lot faster and now compete with lots of the
other native plants that are more nutritious for the native
wildlife that call Debs Park home. The city, you know, they're
very short on staffing and funds and this park is the largest
parcel of open space on the Los Angeles side along the Arroyo
Seco. Audubon was real excited about coming into, you know, the
city park and helping mobilize volunteers to help take care of
the park and restore this open space.

Vicki Curry>> But Audubon is moving beyond conservation with
this nature center as it stakes its claim in a bustling
metropolitan neighborhood.

Darryl Ramos-Young>> We really want to provide the opportunity
for the children of our area to be immersed in the outdoors, to
experience the shifting seasons, to realize what kind of
wildlife is out here and plant life and take pride in their
local environment which is Debs Park, but also their local
neighborhood too.

Vicki Curry>> By building neighborhood pride, the Audubon
Society is also hoping to build future generations of nature
lovers.

Elsa Lopez>> One of my goals is to make it a household name.
So along with our pitas and beans, I guess you could say
(laughter), Audubon will be the next word there and the children
are what Audubon is about and who they are. We had eight
hundred students here yesterday and it was interesting. As we
were taking them back to their school, the kids kept saying,
"Audubon, Audubon. Audubon means for us to take care of
nature." I thought that was really cute. It got the message
across.

Val>> The Audubon Society has also built a nature center on the
east coast in Brooklyn and they're going after the same
audience, mainly inner city kids who have never been exposed to
bird-watching. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For
all of us here at Life and Times, thanks for watching.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> Tomorrow on Life and Times, a television and film
landmark goes up in smoke. Now the operators of a famous movie
ranch are wondering if they'll ever recover.

>> Such a wonderful life. Other people were like family. It's
been very hard. Such a lot of good things happened, so good
that I don't want to let go. I don't want to go.

Val>> That's tomorrow on Life and Times.