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05/23/05
Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --
What can be learned from setting fire to an old school? It could be a matter of life and death.
Pat Askren>> One of the major problems with structure fires is firefighters falling through the roofs and, of course, when they fall into the burn, it's not very good on the firefighters. Sometimes it's a fatality.
Val>> And then, what can you learn from a plate of tamales? Cris Franco gives us a short course on his favorite food.
It's all 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>> How many firefighters' lives could have been saved on September 11 if they had known when the building was about to collapse? That's the question that one professor is asking because burning buildings send out signals. But the question is, can we detect them and detect them in time? As Kevin Smith tells us, the answers can only be found in fire itself.
Kevin Smith>> It's an abandoned school building in the small town of Fillmore in Ventura County, but it has one more lesson to teach, one that could save lives.
[Film Clip]
Kevin Smith>> These engineering students are the ones coming here to learn on this day. They are from Harvey Mudd College, one of the Claremont colleges. Their mission? To gather crucial information as the old high school building burns to the ground.
Ziyad Duron>> This is one of the original sensors that we developed early in the project. The sensor is actually that little bulge you see out there. The rest of this blanketing is simply to protect it from the heat.
Kevin Smith>> Engineering Professor, Ziyad Duron, known as "Z", is the guiding force behind the project. His aim is to help firefighters get out of a burning building in time. The key? These sensors that measure vibrations. Rapid changes in vibrations can mean a part of the building is about to collapse.
Ziyad Duron>> What this technology we hope ultimately does for the firefighter is that it helps the incident commander outside the fire who's controlling how the resources are allocated. It would help him in understanding where to place his personnel in the safest possible manner. So if we tell him, or if the sensors tell him, that the northeast corner of the building is weakening, he should be able to see that.
Kevin Smith>> Duron began working on fire safety seven years ago. His first hint came from firefighters' own experiences.
Ziyad Duron>> If you talk to firefighters, they'll tell you that when they're inside a burning building, they can hear creaking and moaning and they interpret all of those noises to be signs of weakening. So my original thought was that, if they can hear that, I should be able to measure it.
Kevin Smith>> But he was wrong. There were too many sounds from too many sources. Then Duron noticed that the fires created strong vibrations and he began measuring those instead. Shortly after Duron's initial tests came the attacks of September 11, 2001. Hundreds of firefighters and rescue personnel died as the towers collapsed. Suddenly Duron's project took on new urgency and he received a big infusion of federal funding. Professor, I guess this overhang will play a big part in the proceedings today. Tell us what significance this has.
Ziyad Duron>> This overhang actually hinges along this side right here. You can see the vents right here. This is where the hinge will develop and this entire overhang will just close like a door and just collapse up against the wall. When that happens, we consider that to be a major collapse event and the idea for us will be to see if our sensors could have seen or actually do they see this collapse emerging before anything even moves visually.
Kevin Smith>> Weighted trash cans were placed on the roof so those areas would also collapse during the fire.
Ziyad Duron>> What we try to do is try to simulate the presence of heating and air conditioning units that might be placed on the roof. Also we try to simulate the weight of a typical firefighter who may weigh with all his or her gear about two hundred twenty pounds. So that is a potential collapse event. The question is, when the building burns, can you detect the weakening in this area from any of the sensors on the buildings?
[Film Clip]
Kevin Smith>> On this day, the Fillmore Fire Department was conducting a training exercise on a second abandoned school building right next to Professor Duron's test site. Fire Chief Pat Askren has seen the danger his firefighters face.
Pat Askren>> Not knowing when there's going to be a collapse of roof. Some of the new roofs, trying to judge when they're going to come in on you, is very difficult. One of the major problems with structure fires is firefighters falling through the roofs and, of course, when they fall into the burn, it's not very good on the firefighter. Sometimes it's a fatality.
Kevin Smith>> So how do firefighters decide when to get out of a burning building?
Pat Askren>> We do it now by time. You know, we can only have a certain amount of time in there and we start hearing noises and stuff. Then we back out of the fire.
Kevin Smith>> The reason for putting sensors to monitor vibrations on the building behind me is to protect the firefighters when they get into real life situations like this. The idea is to identify in advance which parts of the building might collapse first so the firefighters can protect themselves and others more quickly.
[Film Clip]
Kevin Smith>> About four in the afternoon after two days of preparation and the end of the training session, it was time to ignite the old school building.
>> "Okay, guys, that's it. Come out."
Kevin Smith>> It went up like a tinderbox.
>> "Sensor six died. The one on the fire side."
Kevin Smith>> The students watched as the data from the sensors came in, observing changes in vibrations from the fire, and what about the overhang that Professor Duron said would and should collapse? It came down just as predicted.
Eric Flynn>> "The overhang collapsed. You can see here this huge spike of the data."
Kevin Smith>> A computer program tracked the building as it weakened. Senior Eric Flynn helped develop the program.
Eric Flynn>> As this line goes down, it means the building is becoming more unhealthy. It's not as stable as it was originally, so you can start to see this downward trend about five minutes before the collapse and it reached the point before it finally collapses. That's the event right there, the base of that one.
Kevin Smith>> The sensors also picked up changing vibrations just before the weighted trash cans fell through the roof.
Ziyad Duron>> But if I'm telling you, hey, Chief, it looks like the back end of that is moving a lot more than the front end here, you may want to think about moving some guys out of there.
Kevin Smith>> For Professor Duron, the day's test was an unqualified success.
Ziyad Duron>> When we started this, we had hoped to get multiple collapses in the structure and, in fact, that's what happened. We actually got the loads that we put on the north end of the building to collapse at a certain time. We got the loads on the south side to collapse at a different time.
Kevin Smith>> This was the thirteenth burning building monitored by Professor Duron and his team. In a year or so, the system will be ready for testing by a fire department. But first, Duron must develop smaller, cheaper and wireless sensors that firefighters could carry on their belts and attach quickly to burning buildings.
Ziyad Duron>> It would almost be like kind of a heart rate monitor, if you will, on the patient which is the building helping the firefighters better understand how things are changing.
Eric Flynn>> We wouldn't give them something as complex as this. We'd give them much more simple like a red light, orange light, green light kind of thing that kind of tells them how healthy the building is.
Kevin Smith>> These firefighters were excited about the new technology.
Pat Askren>> We're steep in tradition. You know, it's hard for us to get into things new, but every time we can get some kind of a tool like this that might save a life, we're all in favor, especially if we can afford it. You know, an early warning system or whatever you want to call something like that would be a marvelous tool for us to have.
Kevin Smith>> And that could be a dream come true for firefighters in place of the nightmare they often face now. I'm Kevin Smith 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>> There's a disturbing trend in Southern California, a measurable increase in anti-Semitic incidents. Everything from anti-Jewish remarks on a playground to a swastika painted on a synagogue in Ontario. So what's behind this increase in anti-Semitism? Amanda Susskind is Director of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League. I talked with her about what their annual audit revealed. Amanda Susskind with the ADL, thanks for spending some time with us.
Amanda Susskind>> Thanks, Val. It's my pleasure.
Val>> Now your organization does a yearly audit of anti-Semitic incidents and the trends have gone up and down. What have you found in the latest audit?
Amanda Susskind>> The latest audit which we just released last week is showing an increase across the country of anti-Semitic incidents, about seventeen percent. In fact, in California, it's a little bit higher. It's over thirty percent.
Val>> So in California, an increase over thirty percent, and you're talking about those incidents of harassment as well as actual cases of, say, vandalism?
Amanda Susskind>> Yes. We get reports of people saying things to each other, bullying, name-calling, leaving messages, voicemail harassment even. We had death threats on voicemail. Then, of course, you have harassment by email. It's much easier to spread hate through the internet and be anonymous through the internet.
Val>> And can you give us a few examples of what kinds of incidents are happening and the venues in which they happen?
Amanda Susskind>> Sure. You know, you might think at first blush that harassment, well, it's just not that big a deal and especially kids will be kids and they call people names and things like that. But what we're really seeing is an increased casual use of anti-Semitic epithets, language that we might formerly have relegated to the fringe of society, the neo-nazis, the skinheads, creeping onto the playground, and that ties into your venue question.
We are seeing this real spike in schools, in classrooms. We still are very focused on the use of term "that's so gay" as a negative thing on a school yard. We at the Anti-Defamation League, of course, deal with bias of all kinds, but in this particular survey of anti-Semitic incidents, we're starting to see the use of the term "that's so Jewish" or "you're such a Jew" or, you know, "I'm going to Jew you down" or that kind of thing coming up. You might think it's a casual or almost funny kind of use, but when you see that kind of an increase, it has to make you sit up and take notice.
Val>> There was a case here in Ontario that was pretty graphic about some graffiti that was on a synagogue. Tell us about what that means.
Amanda Susskind>> Yeah. You know, by no means are we discounting the very real fact of ongoing vandalism in this, especially the swastika as a fairly obvious sign. What you have here is the numbers "14" and "88".
Val>> What does that mean? I didn't realize --
Amanda Susskind>> - it's kind of a code. The "88", 8 is the number that correlates to "H" in the alphabet, so "88" is "HH" which stands for "Heil Hitler". Many, many of the neo-nazi groups sign off "HH". It's a very well-known and widespread used moniker.
The "14" is also something that has become very widespread. "14" is simply the number of words in the racist credo "We must secure the existence of our people in a future for white children." Everyone in the white pride movement, as they like to call themselves, a thinly disguised, extremely hateful group, the neo-nazis, the white skinheads, the white supremacists, understand that credo as their lifeblood. That's what they are living for.
Val>> So why do you think it's increasing? What are the forces increasing it?
Amanda Susskind>> There's a couple of factors that we attribute this increase to. First of all, again, the internet has a proliferation of hate sites, making the availability of hate rhetoric so much more prevalent and, of course, that age range is very much on the internet all the time. We do offer, at the Anti-Defamation League, the kind of preventive measure as a parent might wish to download from our website, a monitor that simply blocks hate sites. The problem is, they're growing every day. They're proliferating every day, so you can't ever keep up with the proliferation of hate sites and even hate pages on existing web sites. So that kind of availability, just the sheer magnitude of it, sends a message of acceptability. It brings it into the mainstream.
Val>> There's also a poll about attitudes toward Jews in our society. What has this year's survey shown?
Amanda Susskind>> The poll that we do of sentiment is more a telephone poll that we call people and we ask them. We don't simply call people and say, hey, are you anti-Semitic? We actually have a very scientific way of telling. There are eleven questions that are asked.
Val>> Things like, do you think Jews have too much power?
Amanda Susskind>> Care more about the Jews than anybody else? Here's a good one. Are more loyal to Israel than America? So it's not just simply one question that we judge people. I just thought I would clarify that. These are polls that we do all over the world and let me start by saying that we look really good in comparison to the rest of the world. I mean, there's nothing like what's going on in Europe and, of course, Arab nations are off the charts in terms of anti-Semitism.
But in America, we have really, really low rates of anti-Semitism and that's still low. It's pretty close to where it was in the last survey. It's about fourteen percent across the board and I think the last survey was seventeen percent across the board, so it's very close. But then when you break it down, there's sort of some interesting stories in there. For an example, the number of people who believe that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus has gone up, something our late Pope did so much to counteract, you know. But now this year, it's up to thirty percent.
Val>> Really?
Amanda Susskind>> Kind of interesting. That was an interesting spike.
Val>> Your poll also had some interesting findings about the attitudes of Latinos and Jews, or Hispanics and Jews.
Amanda Susskind>> There's an interesting statistic in the Latino community for non-native born Latinos.
Val>> In other words, those who were born in Mexico or Latin America?
Amanda Susskind>> Right, or South America or Central America. We do see a much higher rate of people answering to those questions. Again, I want to preface that sometimes people may not even realize that it's a negative thing to say that Jews care more about Jews than they do about other people. Now here's the good news. The native-born which are the first generation or later generations of Hispanic Americans are pretty much at the same levels as the national average. It's about nineteen percent instead of fourteen percent. It's very close.
Val>> So you can say that anti-Semitism and those attitudes decrease as they spend more time here in the United States, as they live longer in the United States?
Amanda Susskind>> And maybe they've gone to an Anti-Defamation League education seminar (laughter) or maybe they've seen our literature or they've just, you know --
Val>> -- or just watched TV.
Amanda Susskind>> Or been on the playground or in the school yard with kids of all different types and their attitudes change. So that's actually really a good thing. We do look at these issues especially in Los Angeles because, as you know, it's the most diverse community in the history of the world. So we're especially interested at the Anti-Defamation League in finding ways to build those bridges and lead the world by example in learning how to respect each other and get along.
Val>> Well, keep up the good work. We need it.
Amanda Susskind>> Thank you.
Val>> Thank you so much, Amanda.
Amanda Susskind>> Well, thank you so much for being here.
Val>> The Anti-Defamation League has been around for a hundred years. They keep close track of neo-nazi and white supremacist groups. They also help victims, work closely with law enforcement and offer civil rights programs for schools. If you'd like more information, you can go to their website at www.adl.org.
[Film Clip]
Val>> It's hard to define, but you know it when you see it. No, I'm not talking about pornography. I'm talking about art. It can be anything from Campbell's Soup cans to the Mona Lisa and Patt Morrison went in search of her own definition of art in this piece from the Life and Times Vault.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> So they said to me, we want you to talk about art and I said, all right, how many hours do I get? There is pop art and op art, the faux and the cubists, surrealists and pointillists. Some art exists to exalt and console. Some art exists to shock the hell out of us. I like art that comes out of California, out of the soil and out of our heads. I like movie posters. We invented movie posters as an advertising gimmick and now they've become masterpieces of graphic arts in their own right.
The same goes for the art of the orange crate label. It's terrific. It's vivid commercial art and I don't think that's a contradiction in terms. All of it celebrates who we are as Californians.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> Defining what makes something art is almost as tricky as defining what makes us human. Art can be a machine like the exquisite and sensible Gamble House in Pasadena.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> Or it can be the serendipity of nature like vines fringing a freeway overpass off Riverside Drive. It can even be the stuff we just throw away like old Seven-Up bottles. Take a look at the Watts Towers.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> We're fond of celebrating art, but sometimes art can be a celebration in itself. Art can move. We call that kinetic. But to be art, it must move us.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> Just how does it move us and why should it matter? Trying to figure that out brings us here. How can art be both a manifestation of our utter individuality and something that brings us together to a single point of view? It's not a single viewpoint.
[Film Clip]
Patt Morrison>> Perhaps it's easier to comprehend how important art is in our lives by imagining Los Angeles without it. No music center, no MOCA, no mariachis, no Kent Twitchell murals, no Greene & Greene, no Frank Lloyd Wright. You know, we can build a million miles of freeways or get rid of them all. We can build a thousand hospitals or close them all. But this is what endures to take the story of us into the future. By our works shall they know us.
[Film Clip]
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Val>> You've heard of cultural anthropology. Well, how about culinary anthropology? Cris Franco, our comic commentator, unwraps the history of the tamale.
Cris Franco>> I'd like to shed some light on a subject that's near and dear to my heart and stomach: tamales. Don't they smell good? Oh, I might let you watch me eat one later, but first you have to pay close attention to what I'm about to teach you. Derived from the Aztec word for corn, Tlaxcalli, the popular singular form of tamales is tamale. These are tamales, this is a tamale.
There are meats, veggies or sweets in a corn dough wrapped in a corn husk, then steam-cooked. Oh, if you eat them hot, it's like a Turkish bath for your intestines. From a socio-cultural point of view, to we people of the Mexican persuasion, tamales means so much more. We've been eating them since way back before Olvera Street, before the missions, before people and Espanol. Meso-American women evolved this miracle morsel as a quick, delicious, sustaining foodstuff that traveled well. An original Happy Meal. It doesn't come with a toy, but you can turn the corn husks into a really neat bow tie.
In fact, it's been theorized that we've been eating tamales for over seven thousand years and you know what? It would take you about seven thousand years if you tried to make a batch alone. You see, making these babies is very labor-intensive. So when people get together to make a big batch, it's called a tamalada. Here's a small tamalada my family had shortly after arriving in the United States, but for this report, I went to Carrillo's Restaurant to see how the big boys -- girls -- do it.
Do not try making this many tamales at home. These women are trained professional tamaleras. Tony grinds fresh corn and adds Carrillo's secret ingredients. While the tamalada opens steamed corn husks, others prepare the fillings. Once everything is ready, assembly begins and it's all wrapped up into a neat little succulent sack.
Today we're eating more tamales than ever in a variety of designer flavors. "Father, I have something to confess. At this point, I was going to begin complaining about these crazy new tamale fillings like sushi, brie, cuscus, shark fin, tofu, herring?" But that rant flew out the window when I learned about the even crazier original indigenous flavors. How would you like to have a tamale filled with frog, tadpole, snake, bee, ox or gopher? Could you go for some gopher?
I'll just stick to eating my good old-fashioned caramel and mushroom and poi tamale. Um, shouldn't I be using a fork? Did we forget something?
Val>> And I'm waiting for the low-carb tamale. 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 --
Traffic in Orange County can be terrible, but should we pave paradise to make it better?
>> So the question becomes, is it possible to protect open space forever in Orange County? According to the TCA, no. When you set aside something to protect it, you're just setting it aside to wait to put a toll road down the middle of it.
>> If we do nothing, Interstate 5 will turn into a parking lot.
Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.
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