10/27/04

LC041027

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

It's called higher education, but does that mean the cost has to
keep rising?

Eligio Martinez>> It's ridiculous in the sense that the
University of California Los Angeles is a public institution
and, as such, it needs to be accessible to the public.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> You can have higher fees and higher aid
such that it doesn't reduce access at all.

Val>> And then, it's one of the oldest celebrations in Mexico.
We find out why the Day of the Dead is a festive occasion.

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.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> For the past couple of decades, students and their
parents have been watching as college tuition has gone up and up
and up, far outstripping the rate of inflation. There is some
solace in the fact that our public universities, our UC and
state college campuses, were a great bargain. But as Hena
Cuevas tells us, now even public college tuition is on the rise
and some predict that it could get into the tens of thousands of
dollars.

Hena Cuevas>> There's always a constant line of students at the
Financial Aid office at UCLA.

Brent Bushnell>> I don't make enough to pay for both school and
everything, so this way I get enough money to kind of make ends
meet.

Hena Cuevas>> Twenty-six year old Brent Bushnell is a senior
from California majoring in Computer Science. He transferred
from the University of Colorado to UCLA to save money. Compared
to the out of state tuition he was paying in Colorado, UCLA is
lot cheaper, but still expensive.

Brent Bushnell>> So this is a lot less. On the flip side, you
know, I've been paying for it all myself which is a lot of money
to try to balance especially since I'm working less in order to
go to school. It's made it a little complicated.

Hena Cuevas>> It's an all too familiar story. Like Bushnell,
more and more students say they're finding it increasingly
difficult to pay for college.

Portia Pedro>> When I found out how much it cost to live and go
to school and eat in the dorm, I started getting financial aid
to take care of it. But now financial aid isn't enough anymore.

Hena Cuevas>> Portia Pedro is studying International
Development. After she completed her first three years, she
took time off to earn some money to pay for her final year.

Portia Pedro>> Since I left, the fees have gone up by about
half, which is just huge.

Hena Cuevas>> Actually, since the year 2000, tuition and fees
at UCLA have increased nearly eighty percent. It now costs
$6,500 a year, not including room and board. One of the reasons
they've gone up is that, for the last four years, the state has
cut back the amount of money it's giving to the UC system.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> "But imagine if we doubled the fee.
Let's say we said add another $7,000, which would take us within
$3,000 of the privates."

Hena Cuevas>> On October 7, UCLA's Chancellor Albert Carnesale
speaking at Town Hall Los Angeles warned that, in the future,
the university would need additional funds to remain
competitive.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> I think the difficulty is that as soon
as you say higher fees, peoples' ears close and they don't hear
the rest (laughter).

Hena Cuevas>> He says those words calling for a tuition hike
obscured the second part of his message, that he would only
advocate it as long as it also came with an increase in
financial aid. The problem, as he sees it, is that the gap
between what the state provides and what the university needs to
maintain its current level of research is getting wider.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> It's becoming more and more difficult in
the University of California system to compete for the very best
people, faculty and students. We depend upon our public
universities being able to compete with the very finest
universities, public and private. We do do that. We have done
that.

Hena Cuevas>> This is not only one of the top research
universities in the nation. It's also first in the number of
low-income students who go to school here, something the
university says that it's very proud of. A recent study of
fifty universities showed that, at UCLA, more than thirty-five
percent of its undergraduates receive federal financial aid.
Carnesale says that higher tuition doesn't mean fewer students
will be able to get a college education.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> You can have higher fees and higher aid
such that it doesn't reduce access at all.

Eligio Martinez>> To me, it's ridiculous in the sense that the
University of California Los Angeles is a public institution
and, as such, it needs to be accessible to the public.

Hena Cuevas>> Eligio Martinez is a Chicano Studies major. He
says an increase like the one the Chancellor proposes would
affect those in the middle the most.

Eligio Martinez>> It's getting so that our upper working class,
lower middle class is a struggle for them from year to year to
figure out if they're going to receive financial aid or if
they're not going to receive financial aid. All these students
wouldn't be able to pay for the increased tuition.

Hena Cuevas>> Pedro agrees.

Portia Pedro>> It's basically saying that working class
students just don't even need to think about UC schools anymore
because it's going to cost too much for them.

Hena Cuevas>> Tuition at UC campuses is still relatively
affordable compared to a private university like USC where
tuition is four times as much as UCLA. But Carnesale says that
tuition is on the rise.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> I was talking about if you look ahead,
unless we do something to narrow this gap, we won't be able to
continue to do that and that would be bad news for the people of
California.

Portia Pedro>> I understand there is funding needed to get the
good professors and good programs, but the source of that
funding should be the state and the federal government and not
the students alone.

Hena Cuevas>> But not all students are opposed to the idea.

Brent Bushnell>> I would be willing to pay the extra money to
maintain the, you know, the excellence of the education. I
mean, I've really enjoyed the professors. I've really enjoyed
the education here. I've got a lot of friends who went to USC
and, you know, I feel like the things that are available to me
are equivalent to what was available to them.

Hena Cuevas>> And that's the appeal the Chancellor wants to
maintain.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> Certainly, lots of people that could
afford to pay $13,000 a year to send their son or daughter to a
university that's the equal of a place that would cost them
$30,000, if you increase the fees, you would also increase the
level of family income at which you provide aid. It is true
that those at the higher income levels would pay more than they
pay now, but not necessarily the full amount of the fee
increase.

Hena Cuevas>> But for Martinez, this is another example of the
university taking the easy way out.

Eligio Martinez>> It just seems that every time they cut back
on something, it's always on students' services and things that
benefit students. I remember when I asked once at a Town Hall a
few years ago, why not start cutting from the top? Why do you
always cut from the bottom and affect the students? And the
response the administration gave was that, well, that means
we've got to cut back on our vacation time or benefits. So
what?

Hena Cuevas>> Where the money comes from is part of the debate
Carnesale wants to get started.

Dr. Albert Carnesale>> If we cannot provide both excellence and
access, we will have failed the people of California and I want
to make sure we have discussions about how best to ensure that
we do not fail.

Hena Cuevas>> But students want to make sure that they're
included in those discussions.

Portia Pedro>> I think access really has to be the primary
purpose that we're working for here and not just limited access,
but it's a really great school. That's a private school.
That's what that is, and this is supposed to be a public
university.

Hena Cuevas>> Back in 1960, California's master plan for higher
education promised every qualified student a college degree at
no cost. That goal was clearly unrealistic. The challenge now
is to keep costs from skyrocketing and at least part of that
promise fulfilled. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times.

Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and
Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts
and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most
interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life
and Times".

Val>> This November's ballot is one of the longest in
California history. Besides the candidates, there are sixteen
propositions that you, a voter, will have to decide on and, if
you find them complicated and confusing, you're not alone.

>> I think basically just look at both sides of it and decide.
I think read the text first. I think that's going to be my main
deciding factor, but it's going to be tough.

>> There are very confusing ballot measures this time. There
are some that actually conflict with each other in voting yes on
one may be a vote that -- they're a mess.

>> I don't vote on all of them. Only the ones I've read about.

>> I ride the train every day, so I've got two hours and I was
able to read through most of the material and make my mind up in
a day just traveling back and forth to work.

>> Oh, not good. I actually planned. I was going to read like
this weekend, take the weekend to study all of the propositions.
I haven't done it yet. I did glance at it though.

Val>> So where can you go for help? Well, when it comes to the
healthcare initiatives like stem cell research and emergency
room funding, there's a website you can go to for neutral and
objective information.

Bob Stern>> HealthVote2004.org talks about all five of the
health-related measures on the ballot. It gives nonpartisan
analysis with pros and cons, very quick, easy questions and
answers. So if you just want a little bit of information, you
go there and get a little bit of information. If you want a lot
of information, you keep digging deeper. You'll see campaign
financing information, polling information. You can actually,
if you're crazy enough to want to do this, see all the TV ads
all together.

Advertisement>> "72 costs workers and employers over seven
billion dollars a year for a government-run healthcare plan.
150,000 workers could lose their jobs. California newspapers
call Proposition 72 an economic disaster."

Bob Stern>> Now they shouldn't just pay attention to the thirty
second spot because they do get a little misleading. They
really need to go to some non-partial information and, again,
look at who's supporting it, who's opposing it and see who they
agree with. There used to be an old program, Johnny Carson,
"Who Do You Trust?" and that is the question. Who do you trust
on either side?

Voters are overwhelmed by these propositions and, fortunately,
you can get on the internet now and get quick and easy
information in a nonpartisan way. This enables the voters to
get simple information or comprehensive information, whatever
they want, and that's a tremendous use of the internet. So
voters will get this information and will be much more informed
about the propositions.

HealthVote2004 describes five of the health-related measures of
the sixteen on the ballot in November. It gives the pros and
cons in a nonpartisan way. It gives money information,
contributions, expenditures. It gives poll information. It
gives links to the various sites. What we have here are the
five measures starting with Proposition 61 dealing with
children's hospitals; Proposition 63, mental health services;
Proposition 67, emergency services; Proposition 71, stem cell,
and the Proposition 72, the referendum on the SB2.

You go over here and click on "Health Insurance" and you see
then questions, facts and analysis for and against, Money Watch,
Ad Watch. You can see all the ads if you want to see them

Advertisement>> "What if we could help them all, children and
adults. We can with Proposition 63. It's paid for with a one
percent tax on personal income over a million dollars."

Bob Stern>> If we click the Money Watch for Proposition 72,
you'll see the contributions and expenditures summary
information and then, if you want to get more detail, you would
click the In State-Out of State and you get to see how much of
the contributions came from sources in the state versus out of
the state, how many were from individuals versus non-
individuals. What were the sizes of the contributions? You'd
see there's one at a million dollars and above. There are
several at $100,000. There's $900,999. Then you see
contributions by size in pie charts.

So there's a lot of information, but also the important thing
is, if you need just a quick source to go to, you can get quick
answers, yes and no analyses, of each proposition dealing with
healthcare. I do recommend they read the Legislative Analyst
analysis and the Pros and Cons and go to our website,
HealthVote2004.org, go to the newspapers, read their editorials,
go to the voter sites.

Now we have sixteen very, very controversial measures. About
twelve of these are very controversial. They're big issues.
Stem cell research, emergency care, mental health funding. So
voters, I hope, will pay attention to this, do a little bit of
homework, take a look at the ballot pamphlet, take a look at
HealthVote2004.org, and go in and be informed and I think that
they'll enjoy it.

Val>> And if you'd like information on the entire California
ballot, check out a great neutral source at Smart Voter.org.

Philip Bruce>> The music scene here in Los Angeles has produced
all kinds of landmarks down through the years. The Capital
Records Building here in Hollywood is just one of the most
famous. But not all of those landmarks are built with concrete
and steel. Some are made of flesh and blood. We found one of
them in a classroom at UCLA. His name is Kenny Burrell and,
when it comes to jazz, Kenny is truly one of the greats.

[Film Clip]

Philip Bruce>> He's played with just about every jazz legend
you ever heard of from Benny Goodman to Charlie Parker to Louis
Armstrong. And if you listen, it's easy to see why so many
people rank Kenny Burrell in that same lofty stratosphere. He's
comfortable among the many giants he's known so well, but the
one who stands out in Burrell's mind is the one who influenced
not only his music, but his philosophy of life, the late great
Duke Ellington.

[Film Clip]

Kenny Burrell>> He was very successful and he had become a role
model for me and many others in terms of how to do what you want
to do, what you really love, and make it work.

Philip Bruce>> Duke Ellington said you were his favorite guitar
player?

Kenny Burrell>> Well, he did (laughter). I've won many awards
through my career and I would say that's among the highest
accolade I've ever gotten.

Philip Bruce>> Not bad for a kid from Detroit who figured out
the guitar at a very early age not by taking lessons, but by
watching his eleven-year-old brother play.

Kenny Burrell>> Well, I looked at some simple chords and I
said, well, that doesn't look too difficult. You know, some
simple chords like the G chord and the C chord.

Philip Bruce>> It wasn't long before those simple chords
started getting more and more complex. As a young man, Kenny
Burrell developed his own unique sound. By the time he was in
college, he was already a hot property sitting in with one of
his idols, Dizzy Gillespie. Pretty dazzling stuff, even for a
talented young kid like Kenny.

[Film Clip]

Philip Bruce>> He's at an age when many performers are content
to reflect on old memories, but Kenny Burrell is too busy
creating new moments in the classroom and on stage. Unlike so
many of his jazz contemporaries, he never fell victim to the
drugs and other temptations that wrecked lives and careers.
That takes us back to Kenny's role model, Duke Ellington, who
also had a long successful career in spite of the times when
African-American musicians often couldn't eat or get a drink in
the clubs where they played. Burrell says Ellington survived by
never letting anything get in the way of the music.

Kenny Burrell>> He did it longer and better than anyone. I'll
give you a quote from Miles Davis. Miles Davis said, "On a
given day, all musicians should get on their knees and thank God
for Duke Ellington. He laid the groundwork for integrity in
American music."

[Film Clip]

Philip Bruce>> And while no one would argue that Kenny Burrell
has been lucky, it took a lot more than luck for him to become a
legend.

[Film Clip]

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>> I'm here at Mercado la Paloma, a charming indoor market
on Grand south of downtown. It offers all sorts of food and
goods from Mexico and Central America, but this time of year,
you will find altars celebrating the Day of the Dead, or Dia de
los Muertos. I came here myself to see them up close.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Yadira, you're with Mercado la Paloma?

Yadira Arevalo>> Yes, I am.

Val>> And this is just one of many altars that you have here on
display for Dia de los Muertos.

Yadira Arevalo>> Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, which is
celebrated through all Mexico and Central America. This is one
particular icon or shrine dedicated to loved ones who have
passed away. They have presented a beautiful ofrenda which
includes food, flowers, vegetables, the traditional corn which
is the food of our ancestors.

Val>> So the ofrenda is an offering?

Yadira Arevalo>> It's an offering to our loved ones who are
here to visit for this particular day.

Val>> So the Day of the Dead, they come back from heaven,
hopefully, they're in heaven (laughter). They come back from
the dead to visit their loved ones and you want to welcome them.

Yadira Arevalo>> To be reunited with the loved ones who are
still here on earth and we're welcoming them with their favorite
foods, their favorite dishes, their favorite drinks.

[Film Clip]

Val>> This one is stunning. It looks like a produce section or
a farmer's market all in one place. It's beautiful.

Yadira Arevalo>> It's beautiful. This is a very typical, very,
very traditional ofrenda from the region of Oaxaca in southern
Mexico. It is very typical to see in those ofrendas the
beautiful (inaudible). We have chocolata (inaudible),
enchiladas (inaudible).

Val>> And you said that, in Mexico or Oaxaca, they would
actually take this food to the gravesite and have a picnic or a
feast there?

Yadira Arevalo>> That's right. So you'll see in the cemetery
in Oaxaca are families eating with the dead ones on their tombs.
They clean them, they --

Val>> -- on the tombs?

Yadira Arevalo>> On the tombs, yes. They clean the tombs, they
decorate the tombs with lots of flowers and they eat there at
midnight.

Val>> At midnight? Oh, how fantastic.

Yadira Arevalo>> So it is very beautiful to go there in the
cemetery with candles and music. It is traditional.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Okay, Samantha. You and your brother, Russell -- Hi,
there, Russell -- are going to tell us about this beautiful
altar which pays homage both to your --

Samantha Ryckman>> -- my grandparents that died a long time ago
and this is representing an altar to represent their death so
they could awake. We have food, so when they awake, they can
start eating. We have flowers so they could feel like they're
at home, and we have all kinds of fruit. We have candles.

Val>> Do you also celebrate American Halloween?

Samantha Ryckman>> Yes.

Val>> You do trick-or-treating?

Samantha Ryckman>> Yeah, uh-huh.

Val>> Now what's the difference between, say American trick-or-
treating and Latino and Hispanic Day of the Dead?

Samantha Ryckman>> Well, to them, it's like representing the
people that died and for celebrating like pretending it's their
birthday. Each one that died, we celebrate a birthday for them
and we make a big whole present to make them feel at home again.

Val>> So when they die, it's like being born into heaven or in
a different place, so it's a different kind of birthday. Well,
that's very different because Halloween --

Samantha Ryckman>> -- Halloween is all candy and different
characters from movies sometimes.

Val>> (Laughter) So it's a very different kind of holiday.
Now what is this just above us here, Samantha? What is that?

Samantha Ryckman>> This is a kite. When it's the Day of the
Dead, we get these little cards and we write to our ancestors
who died and we say things that we wanted to say to them. Then
we put it to the kite and then we fly the kite.

Val>> Oh, so the kite takes the messages up to your ancestors?
Like what kind of messages? What kind of things do you write?

Samantha Ryckman>> Like to my grandpa, I would say that I love
you so much and I will never forget you, then write my name.

Val>> How lovely. That is beautiful.

Samantha Ryckman>> Yeah, and this whole kite is made out of
tissue.

Val>> Gilberto Cetina, you are with a restaurant and what
strikes me about this altar is the variety of food. Some of
these dishes look gorgeous. Did you make all these?

Gilberto Cetina>> Yes, we did.

Val>> And what do we have here?

Gilberto Cetina>> These are a typical Yucatan altar that has
the dishes that the individual who we are celebrating liked.
This one is dedicated to my grandpa.

Val>> Your grandfather from Yucatan, obviously.

Gilberto Cetina>> From Yucatan. He enjoyed his tamales, his
(inaudible) papaya.

Val>> Oh, what is that?

Gilberto Cetina>> That's candied papaya. We have some fruits.
Of course, we have to have some rum, Bacardi.

Val>> What is this here? This looks like some kind of citrus.

Gilberto Cetina>> That is called (inaudible). It's a fruit
salad made of mandarin orange, navel oranges, crispy
(inaudible), cilantro and crushed cayenne pepper. Now right
next to it, we have the most typical Yucatan Day of the Dead
dish. It's called --

Val>> -- it looks like a pie.

Gilberto Cetina>> It's a tamale pie.

Val>> It's a tamale pie.

Gilberto Cetina>> It's a tamale pie. It's stuffed with chicken
and pork, sauce and then it's wrapped in banana leaves and it's
baked until crispy.

Val>> I'll tell you, the dead really, really eat well in
Yucatan (laughter).

Gilberto Cetina>> Yes, they do.

Yadira Arevalo>> During the Day of the Dead celebration, we
will have an exhibit by one of the many talented young painters
from the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. His name is Cruz Alejandro
and this is just a sample of his art work. There will be eleven
paintings in exhibition by this very talented man that we hope
people will like.

Val>> Yadira, thank you so much for this lovely tour of Mercado
la Paloma. The altars are beautiful.

Yadira Arevalo>> Thank you for coming. This is your home and
we hope that you will come back again and that everybody will
accompany us on the Day of the Dead on November 1. Thank you so
much for coming.

Val>> Thank you. The alters at Mercado la Paloma will be on
display this year through November 5. And that's our program.
I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for
watching. We'll see you next time.

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.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times --

Should employers pay for medical insurance or would Proposition
72 drive companies out of business?

>> What the businesses of fifty employees or more are doing is
saying, "I'm not going to pay for health insurance for my
employees. I'm going to let the taxpayers pay for it."

>> Everybody wants everyone to have healthcare, but this isn't
the way to go about it.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.