11/12/04

LC041112

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Visitors from around the globe flock to Southern California, but
what happens when those visitors are harmful plants and animals?

Rachel Woodfield>> Where we would normally expect to see the
forest of sea grass filled with fish and other small animals
moving about within the eel grass bed, we found none of that.
We saw this bright green plant that we'd never seen before.

Val>> And then, where do failed television pilots end up?
We'll show you how some of the best ones find a home on "The
Other Network".

All that and more straight ahead 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>> The war against foreign invaders. It sounds like the
latest thing from the Department of Homeland Security, but what
happens when the invaders are so small that they can elude even
the tightest security? That's the war California is already
fighting and losing and, as NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Kaye
reports, it may be happening in your backyard.

Jeffrey Kaye>> Hungry beetles from Asia that have destroyed
trees from New York to Chicago. Hyper-aggressive ants from
South America that have spread across southern and western
states. And a fast-growing weed from the Balkans that now
infests millions of acres of California. These are some of the
antagonists America faces in an ongoing struggle against
invasive species. They're the harmful plants and animals from
other parts of the world that arrive and thrive in the United
States doing enormous damage in the process.

Lori Williams>> There are invasive species all over the country
of all different types. They have enormous impact. They're
considered harmful either to the economy, the environment or, in
some places, animal and human health.

Jeffrey Kaye>> Lori Williams is Executive Director of the
National Invasive Species Council. Composed of twenty-three
federal agencies, the council develops policies, strategies and
tactics to fight dangerous invasives which, she notes, make up
only a small fraction of all the plants and animals transplanted
to the United States.

Lori Williams>> There are fifty thousand estimated alien or
non-native species in the country. Of those fifty thousand, a
very small percentage -- they estimate that very roughly around
one percent -- are considered invasive, but that's about five
hundred species right there.

Jeffrey Kaye>> Whether they swarm, slither or take root,
invasives are the second leading cause after habitat loss of
native species being listed as endangered or threatened.
Invasive species cost America over $138 billion dollars a year
in environmental and economic damage, according to a Cornell
University study. Take the harm done by just one species, the
Zebra Mussel, which is native to Europe. Transplanted to the
United States, it's bred and spread so rapidly that it's
crippled entire power plants in the Great Lakes and northeast by
blocking their water intake valves.

Lori Williams>> The rough estimate is that $400 million dollars
a year is spent in the Great Lakes area to control and manage
the affective invasive species, of just the Zebra Mussel itself.

Jeffrey Kaye>> How do invasive species get into the country?
Often as stowaways in the cargo of arriving planes and trucks or
in the ballast water of freighter ships which gets released when
vessels come into port. Once they arrive, invasive species
often face no natural predators so they can multiply wildly.
That's what makes them so difficult to fight or control.

Rachel Woodfield>> The ecosystem is [inaudible] without that
species, so unless there happens to be a predator that takes
care of it right away, they have a natural advantage.

Jeffrey Kaye>> One of the few places where people appear to be
winning the struggle against a particularly fiercesome invasive
species is the Aqua Hedionda Lagoon north of San Diego. While
diving here in the year 2000, marine biologist Rachel Woodfield
and her colleagues discovered an intruder that was quickly
turning the lagoon, home to five endangered species, into an
ecological wasteland.

Rachel Woodfield>> I couldn't imagine seeing something as bad.
It was so obvious, the devastation that was taking place. Where
we would normally expect to see the forest of sea grass filled
with fish and other small animals moving about within the eel
grass bed, we found none of that. We saw this bright green
plant that we'd never seen before that had spread over large
areas of the lagoon.

Jeffrey Kaye>> That plant was Caulerpa Taxifolio, a hearty
fast-growing seaweed native to the tropics. When introduced
into predator-free waters like this lagoon, Caulerpa runs amok.

Rachel Woodfield>> It just plows through everything in its
path. It pulls down the other plants that are there. It
smothers the bottom and it forms this dense carpet on the bottom
so that, when you're down there swimming around, all you see is
Caulerpa as far as you look.

Jeffrey Kaye>> Once the invader was identified as Caulerpa,
local and state authorities knew that it had to be fought
aggressively and quickly. They looked at what has happened in
the Mediterranean where the accidental release of a tiny amount
of Caulerpa had quite literally grown into an environmental
catastrophe. Thousands of acres of the Mediterranean Sea floor
are now carpeted in this super seaweed and the battle against it
seems lost.

Rachel Woodfield>> At this point, they have no hope of stopping
the spread of it. It's going to be part of their landscape now
and all they can do really is document what happened.

Jeffrey Kaye>> In California, authorities feared Caulerpa would
eventually escape from this lagoon and start destroying
fisheries and underwater habitat up and down the California
coast. To prevent that from happening, Woodfield and her
colleagues who work with a firm specializing in habitat
restoration were given a mission by local and state
environmental officials. Destroy every bit of Caulerpa in this
body of water without destroying the lagoon itself.

Rachel Woodfield>> Because it's so easy to spread, we decided
the best way to approach it would be to treat it right where it
is.

Jeffrey Kaye>> They first covered the Caulerpa fields in giant
plastic tarps, sealing the seaweed off from surrounding areas.
They then applied poison.

Rachel Woodfield>> We put liquid chlorine, we pumped it,
underneath the tarps. That will immediately kill everything in
the water, but the tarp is there to hold it on, so it only kills
everything under the tarp, not the lagoon water at large.

Jeffrey Kaye>> The scientists are now surveying every square
inch of the lagoon's floor to see whether their Caulerpa killing
strategy is working and whether native species are returning in
healthy numbers.

Robert Mooney>> Essentially what we'll do is we're doing
control sites that we've monitored before and after eradication.
So once the community in the area where we've removed the
Caulerpa looks like the control sites, then we know that, you
know, a normal native community has re-established and we've
been successful in both protecting the lagoon and in getting rid
of the Caulerpa.

Jeffrey Kaye>> Although the eradication effort here is going
well, Woodfield isn't letting her guard down.

Rachel Woodfield>> We believe we need to find every single
piece. If we leave a little piece behind by quitting early, we
run the risk of throwing away all this time and money that we
have spent so far.

Jeffrey Kaye>> The apparently successful campaign to wipe out
Caulerpa in this lagoon is a model of how to fight invasive
species generally, says Lori Williams.

Lori Williams>> You can eradicate, but you really have to have
a long-term effort to do it. You've got to have a follow-up or
the eradication is not going to be successful and the species
will re-establish.

Jeffrey Kaye>> As invasive species arrive in the United States
in an ever-faster rate, many scientists and environmentalists
are urging the Bush administration to take more aggressive
action. They want to see better screening of imported goods and
more federal funds to detect and respond to the problem.
They're also seeking passage of the National Aquatic Invasive
Species Act which would expand and tighten regulations
controlling the discharge of ballast water from cargo ships in
American ports. Williams acknowledges that tough economic
choices have to be made if the fight against invasive species is
to be effective.

Lori Williams>> We can't keep everything out and we're not
going to stop trade, but it's worth considering the impact of
these species, taking the time to evaluate them and making sure
that it's worth the risk to bring in some of these products or
just change the way we bring them in by addressing the pathway.

Jeffrey Kaye>> But as the world continues to shrink, thanks to
increased trade and travel, those involved in the struggle
against invasive species are fatalistic in knowing that the
arrival of new adversaries is inevitable.

Val>> Now because of foreign trade and international travel,
invasive species have plenty of ways to continue their trek
around the globe and Jeffrey Kaye tells us that most experts are
rather fatalistic that the war will never be won, but they say
the battle will go on.

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>> When Bill Clinton isn't busy selling his own book, he
likes to settle in with a good mystery novel and it's no mystery
who Clinton's favorite writer is. It's Walter Mosley. He's
famous for a long list of best sellers, but Mosley is best known
for his "Easy Rawlins" novels set in South Los Angeles.
Mosley's got a new one. It's called "Little Scarlet" and, as
the writer tells Philip Bruce, the book is based on some of his
own personal experiences in the wake of the Watts riots.

Walter Mosley>> This time I decided that there's always the
crime novel and the mystery and really that's why many people
read the books. But in order to have a good crime novel, you
have to have underneath another story, something that people can
sink their teeth into that's not merely plot. For this book, it
was a reaction that my father had had to the riots many years
ago, the Watts riots of the summer of 1965.

This novel happens in the five days directly after those riots.
What happened there, what went on, how did it impact Easy,
particularly, the crime that he's investigating? But also just
the rest of the country, maybe even the world, and to talk about
his very personal reaction. My father's reaction when I saw
him, I walked into a room in the middle of the riots and my
father was sitting there drinking and crying. I said, Dad,
what's wrong. He said, it's these riots. I said, are you
afraid? He said, no, I'm not afraid, Walter. I want to get out
there with them. I want to start shooting. I want to start
throwing Molotov cocktails. I know why those people are angry.
I said, are you going to go? I was worried that he might really
go. He said, no, I'm not going to go because it's wrong. It's
wrong to hurt people you don't know and it's also wrong to burn
down your own community, but I understand why people are doing
it.

That response of my father had the biggest impact on me from the
riots. I had been in Watts during the riots, but to hear him
say that really made me think. Then all these years later, I
said I want to deal with the impact of those riots on people
like my father and how people saw my father.

Philip Bruce>> Well, you clearly got the attention of President
Bill Clinton who long ago said you were his favorite writer.

Walter Mosley>> Yeah, that's true.

Philip Bruce>> Now you're both out there with books on the
market and he's selling his everywhere (laughter). Have you
bumped into him out on the book trail anywhere?

Walter Mosley>> Well, you know, a couple of times. Two weeks
before he went on tour, we were both given honorary PhDs at City
College of New York. He was very nice to me there and it was
really a lot of fun to talk to him and be there. Then a week or
so later, he had his book party at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art and I was invited, so I came and celebrated his new book. I
was very happy about that. He was talking a little bit about
writing fiction. He didn't say that he was going to write
fiction, but he was thinking about what it took to write
fiction, which led me to think that maybe he'd start writing
some novels. That would be kind of interesting.

Philip Bruce>> So what impact does it have on you when the
President says you are his favorite writer?

Walter Mosley>> Well, you know, first, I just love it that
somebody of that stature would say something so wonderful about
me. But on the other hand, it was really great because every
journalist in America and in much of the world all of a sudden
knew who I was. Most journalists don't know all the writers.
They know the writers they like and they know the big ones that
they learned in school and that's it.

When the President says that he reads your books, everybody
says, well, that's Walter Mosley. It's still true today. You
know, a decade later, and still people are saying what's this
thing about Clinton? So that's been very helpful to my career.
But if somebody comes up to you and says you're my favorite
writer, that's a great thing no matter who says it and, you
know, if it's the President, that's just an added dimension.

Philip Bruce>> It's great to have success when you're a writer,
but do you ever feel boxed in by some of your success because
you're so famous for the Easy Rawlins stories. People love
those. You've written many other things. You've gotten into
science fiction and other kinds of writing. Are people as
receptive to that or do they want you to keep on writing the
familiar, comfortable thing that they love so much?

Walter Mosley>> I'm not really sure. I think some people want
me to write the things they love so much, but they're not
necessarily the Easy Rawlins titles. Some people come up to me
and say I want you to write about Socrates Fortlow, you know, my
black Watts philosopher, and they start talking about other
characters that they want me to write about, that they want me
to do kinds of work that are non-fiction.

Certainly the Easy Rawlins novels are the most successful novels
and that's a wonderful thing, but in the long run, it doesn't
really matter because what's important for me to do is to do the
work that I'm doing. How people respond to it today, how they
respond to it in ten years or twenty years or a hundred or
whatever, I can't really think about that. I can only think
about what I'm doing and continue doing that work.

Philip Bruce>> When you were a kid growing up in Los Angeles,
did you ever conceive that there would be a Walter Mosley Day
proclaimed by the Los Angeles City Council?

Walter Mosley>> (Laughter) I didn't even know there were days
like that in Los Angeles before they told me they were going to
give it to me. It's a very wonderful thing. You know, the way
I think about it is that it has a kind of stunning impact on me
right now, so I'm a little numb about it. But I think, as time
goes by, it's really going to like dawn on me that this is like
this incredible honor from the city that I love and that I write
about so much.

Philip Bruce>> You've written about Los Angeles, warts and all.
Are you optimistic about this city?

Walter Mosley>> You know, yes, I am optimistic about this city.
I'm optimistic about America as a whole. I think that we're in
a really tough place right now. Our country, our city, our
economy, our sense of democracy and what it means and how it
works. But I think there's a lot of hope of us making something
out of ourselves. I think Los Angeles is a great example of
that. When I'm here, I see that so much has changed and so much
has gotten better really. A lot of the antipathy between people
has calmed down. A lot of people have recognized what we have
in common and that we have to work together, but we're in a very
difficult time in global history.

Philip Bruce>> I read somewhere, though, that you said in the
wake of 9/11 that black people in America weren't as likely to
be surprised when people attack us and when people don't like us
as white people are surprised.

Walter Mosley>> Well, that isn't exactly what I said. I said
that I had yet to speak to a black person who was surprised by
the attack on the World Trade Center. They didn't like it, they
were upset by it, they were afraid by it, they felt patriotic
because of it, but nobody was surprised. No black people I
talked to were surprised and I talked to hundreds.

Philip Bruce>> Why is that?

Walter Mosley>> Well, I think that black people in America have
a different relationship to America. We understand what it's
like to be under the yoke of, you know, so-called American
freedom, democracy and ideals. We were the property of America
for a long time. Because of that, we understand other peoples'
antipathy toward the country. Oh, those people are upset.
Don't you understand that, if we treat those people like this,
they're going to respond?

A lot of other people say, well, we saved freedom. We went to
Europe and saved Europe. We went to Africa with the World Bank
and we started giving them money and stuff. Not understanding
that giving money doesn't often buy something. Because of that,
I think that black people are in the best place to kind of work
and to think about a peace movement in America. We aren't doing
it, but I think that we should.

Philip Bruce>> Walter Mosley, as always, a great pleasure
talking to you. The new book is "Little Scarlet". Best of luck
to you on that.

Walter Mosley>> Thank you very much.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
4401 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, California 90027

You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or
contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Val>> In Hollywood, there's nothing quite as sad as a failed TV
pilot, but as it turns out, those shows don't just disappear
into the ozone. They are finding new life and a new audience.
As Vicki Curry tells us, these pilots that never found a home on
the major networks have now taken up residence on "The Other
Network".

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> It's a Friday evening in Hollywood and a club
called The Knitting Factory is opening up for another night of
shows, but tonight people aren't coming to see a performer.
They're coming to watch television.

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> This is The Other Network, a sort of festival for
television pilots that never made it on air.

Beth Lapides>> They're different, unusual. These are shows
that break the mold in some way. This is often why they're not
made.

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> Performer Beth Lapides and her partner, Greg
Miller, created The Other Network in 2002.

Beth Lapides>> And we got the idea because we had a pilot that
we wanted to show and so did a lot of our friends.

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> Those friends include some big names in show
business like Ben Stiller, Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk, and
they've all made TV shows that have never been seen.

[Film Clip]

Beth Lapides>> A lot of the writers and producers who present
their work are -- it's an emotional experience for them because
this thing has been sitting in their closet collecting dust.
Look, this is what TV could be. We love TV, you love TV.
Through group energy, perhaps TV can evolve.

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> Every year, the television networks made nearly
two hundred pilots, but only about a third of them get aired.

Beth Lapides>> The network doesn't have that much time. They
might have eight shows. They might like three of them the best.
They might not have a night for that show. There's a lot of
smart people in television, just a lot of the best stuff,
because of the system, is not getting on.

[Film Clip]

Vicki Curry>> The show creators agree. The business of
television isn't about putting on high-quality shows. David
Steinberg should know. He's an industry veteran. A long-time
comic, he's now a writer and director of sitcoms like "Friends"
and "Seinfeld". But even Steinberg has a failed pilot.

[Film Clip]

David Steinberg>> There's no category that you could put it in
and it's not easy for an executive to commit to. As much as
they say to bring us your new themes, give us the edge, show us,
the original themes are the hardest things to get on the air and
especially if you put them through focus groups. Every time you
try to do something original, you might get the pilot, but you
won't necessarily get on the air.

[Film Clip]

Beth Lapides>> You can't make a great television show without
risk-taking. One thing that makes these shows always
interesting, if not always totally a hundred percent successful,
is risk-taking.

Peter Mehlman>> You know, they're so averse to taking any kind
of risks and what is a risk?

Vicki Curry>> Peter Mehlman was a writer on "Seinfeld" and
later took a risk when he set a TV pilot in Mesopotamia.

Peter Mehlman>> There's an air of desperation in the networks
because there is so much competing media. It's a cancellation
minefield to put on a good show now and there are so many things
that could torpedo your show. If your show is really good and
it's a success, somehow it's like it just fell through the
cracks of destruction that are all around you. You know, there
are destructive forces everywhere around you and somehow they
miss.

[Film Clip]

Peter Mehlman>> The destructive forces against a show now are
overzealous network people who are, you know, much too involved
in the creative process.

[Film Clip]

Peter Mehlman>> There is too much influence of advertisers.
There is too much influence of various pressure groups, you
know, conservative pressure groups or whatever. There is too
much political correctness. It's very tough. That's another
thing that just destroys shows.

[Film Clip]

David Steinberg>> You get shows that are just flukes when
they're good because so many people micro-manage your show.

[Film Clip]

David Steinberg>> Network executives only need hits. They
don't care what level the hit is. You know, again, if it's a
department store and they're selling stuff in the basement and
selling more than the elegant stuff on top, it doesn't matter as
long as something is working.

Vicki Curry>> That's why The Other Network stepped in to show
viewers what they're missing.

Beth Lapides>> Well, I think audiences are hungry for something
different. We love TV. I know there are a lot of people who
love TV. I think that there is a hunger for different stories
and there's a hunger for different ways of doing television.

Vicki Curry>> And the show creators are just as hungry to share
their work with an audience.

Peter Mehlman>> You know, the great thing about The Other
Network is that it gives you a little bit of a forum for other
people to see your stuff and for you to be reassured that you're
not out of your mind.

David Steinberg>> It's incredible. There are so many great
pilots that no one has ever seen. The term "failed pilot" is no
longer a disparaging term.

Peter Mehlman>> Everyone says that success has a million
friends. In this town, failure has so many more friends.

[Film Clip]

Val>> 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 --

Caught on tape cheating in handicapped parking. We'll ride with
the taskforce that's handing out some stiff fines.

>> It's my dad's. I just drove him to court this morning and
it happened to be in his car.

>> Always have an excuse. They always have an excuse.

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