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Life & Times Transcript
05/31/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Recognize this scene? Believe it or not, it's the Los Angeles River, eau natural. But can we reverse its course? Ed Reyes>> This is not a sewer. This is not just an encased glorified water hole. It really is a river that used to have life and it's up to us to bring it back. Val>> And then, need help eating healthy? A new guide gives us the skinny on dozens of local restaurants. 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>> Some people don't believe we have one. Others have heard of it, but have never seen it. I'm talking about the Los Angeles River and there are grand plans for this river, everything from a greenbelt to riverfront housing. So what will the future course of the Los Angeles River be? Toni Guinyard takes a look at some competing proposals. Ed Reyes>> We need to wake up. We need to understand that we have a very real river here. Melanie Winter>> This is the river and this is where our water comes from and water is life. Toni Guinyard>> Fifty-one miles long, the Los Angeles River twists and turns, snaking its way through city after city. Those who celebrate the river see it as much more than how it's viewed by some critics, a drainage ditch, an ugly cement reinforced flood control channel. Ed Reyes>> Why did we chain the river the way we do? Why did we encase it? Why did we keep it? Why did we bridle it to the point where we almost destroyed it? This is not a sewer. This is not just an encased glorified water hole. It really is a river that used to have life and it's up to us to bring it back. Toni Guinyard>> Los Angeles City Council member, Ed Reyes, is among those who talk about the waterway as if it's a person complete with mood swings and attitude. At times angry, demanding attention, more often than not, largely ignored, quiet and calm. Ed Reyes>> We encased it in cement. We killed it. Now it's fighting for its own life. You can see here now the trees, the shrubbery, the flora and fauna bursting through the cement. You see ducks, you see egrets, you see natural wildlife. We're not going to beat nature. Nature is going to beat us. Toni Guinyard>> Reyes says it's time to work with nature and time to stop debating over whether the river is really a river and start working on revitalization projects. He chairs the city's Los Angeles River ad hoc committee and now, nearly a decade after the original river master plan was developed, the city is ready to move forward. Tom Labonge>> We are starting to see a change taken, instead of putting our backs to the river, to face the river. Shelly Backlar>> It's all coming together in some really exciting ways. Toni Guinyard>> Shelly Backlar is Executive Director of the advocacy group, Friends of the Los Angeles River. Its members have long served as the river's voice. Shelly Backlar>> Our broadest goal has always been to bring people to the river, but also to create parkland from the headwaters in the San Fernando Valley all the way down to Long Beach at the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Toni Guinyard>> For so many years, a lot of different ideas have been presented about how best to bring life back to the river and how to bring the river back to life. But one thing that all sides may agree on is that the Los Angeles River has been severely neglected for way too long and it's time to do something about it. Melanie Winter>> This river gave birth to Los Angeles. The river is the reason Los Angeles is and turning our backs to it and treating it like a sewer and ignoring it is like treating your momma that way. Toni Guinyard>> One of the most outspoken supporters of this fifty-one mile long waterway is Melanie Winter, founder and Director of The River Project. Melanie Winter>> This river connects us all and to be able to go from neighborhood to neighborhood walking or biking is something that we lack in Los Angeles. And to do that along a green corridor, along a living body of water, is something that's vital and missing here. If we can remove the concrete from the river while maintaining flood protection, because that's possible, in the areas that we can do that, this should be a priority. Toni Guinyard>> The challenge is reaching a consensus on river revitalization. The city's river ad hoc committee is working to ensure the people living in communities the river winds through will be represented in decisions made. Joe Turner>> As I was a youngster sixty-five years ago, we had green spaces. We had free-running water through the river. Now it's all cement. And I'm looking at a possibility one day of seeing a gondola going down the river. I'm going down to the river and going to enjoy myself. That's a heck of an impact, I know, but that's what I look forward to seeing. Ed Reyes>> Why not make these under-used lands viable? Why not create a mix that talks about natural habitats, natural environments, while creating new opportunities for housing, for commercial development? Melanie Winter>> You don't say, but we need housing, so we need it there. No, there are other places to put housing and there are ways to accommodate people other than the sprawl that we're accustomed to here. And, yes, certainly when you've got a revitalized river, you're going to want housing nearby that or people are going to want to live near that because that becomes attractive, but people don't want to live near a concrete ditch. Toni Guinyard>> There is clear conflict over how to proceed, but there is also renewed enthusiasm. Shelly Backlar>> I think the thing is -- and it's hard to articulate -- but it's just that feeling that you get when you walk along the river and you see the power lines and you see the industrialization and you know that there are freeways there, but then you see a heron or, you know, some mallards fly over and you see the life and you see that they can coexist. Toni Guinyard>> Using the Los Feliz Riverwalk as a backdrop, the city has launched a campaign to educate the public about the river and the proposed revitalization projects. Ed Reyes>> There's going to be a lot of tension, granted, but I'm not afraid of trying to generate this level of excitement and controversy that's going to result in an environment that's going to clean our natural elements, set up a future for our grandchildren and also cause relief from the pressures of these very dense areas along the river corridor. Toni Guinyard>> Do you have that same expectation that this is going to be a tough process? Melanie Winter>> Expectation? I have going on a decade of experience. It is a tough process. There are a lot of different opinions about the river. Toni Guinyard>> The effort to understand the river and its role in Southern California led us to artist, Lane Barden, and his aerial photography exhibit, the Los Angeles River Fifty-Two Miles Downstream. Lane Barden>> My approach to this project was to look at what I was seeing and simply be amazed by it. Toni Guinyard>> The Southern California Institute of Architecture teacher captured fifty images of the river from beginning to end. Each photograph was shot downstream from an altitude of five hundred feet. Lane Barden>> The convergence of lines, the way the river undulates through the landscape, to me there's beauty there. Toni Guinyard>> Barden was able to capture from the air what can only be seen in bits and pieces from the ground. Lane Barden>> This is where the concrete in the bottom of the channel ends and it continues like that with no concrete in the bottom, with a natural stream bed, all the way around this curve. Toni Guinyard>> And he has his own idea of what can be done to bring life back to the river. Lane Barden>> I would like to see first a large project downtown that would temporarily dam the river with an inflatable dam to create a public space that would be a kind of performance space, a waterway. Ed Reyes>> I think there's room for everyone along the fifty-one miles. There is. Yes, you'll have purists at both ends. You'll have those that are just total natural settings and those who want commercialized everything. There has to be a balance. Toni Guinyard>> Where are you? Ed Reyes>> I'm in the balancing point. Melanie Winter>> This is a partnership effort and it's going to take us all working together. But if we're working at cross-purposes, it's just going to be such a waste of resources. Toni Guinyard>> Despite the difference in opinions, the effort is fueled by a sense of need to give the public an opportunity that was lost long ago. Melanie Winter>> Just coming down and sticking your toes in the river or sitting by the river bank, having a place to sit and reflect and enjoy and watch and learn. Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Val>> And now for this Life and Times story update. Several years ago, we brought you a report on braceros, former migrant workers from Mexico who claimed they were owed millions of dollars in back pay. The controversy dates back to World War II when millions of Americans were sent overseas to fight. To fill the worker shortage, the United States government started the bracero program, importing thousands of Mexican workers to work the fields and railroads. Part of the program was a forced savings plan. The United States was required to withhold ten percent of the braceros' pay and deposit it into a savings account. The braceros were told they would get the money after their jobs were over and they returned home to Mexico, but scores of braceros have long claimed they never got their money. The money was somehow lost between American and Mexican banks and neither has claimed responsibility. But now, after decades of delay, Mexico's congress has agreed to set aside twenty-seven million dollars to repay the workers, although many workers say that's not nearly enough in today's dollars. Still, it's a partial victory for thousands of Mexican workers who have been waiting for past wages for more than fifty years. 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>> What is it like to be HIV-positive? What is it like to be HIV-positive and the mother of two children? And what is it like for the children? The woman you're about to meet has had to answer all those questions and the biggest question remains unanswered. Sheryl Kahn has her story. Sheryl Kahn>> There are moments in peoples' lives that can change them forever. For Elizabeth Marte, the most life-changing moment by far was when she got the news that she thought she'd never hear. Elizabeth Marte>> They said, well, your HIV results came back positive. I felt like my belly just dropped. Sheryl Kahn>> At age forty-two, Elizabeth has been HIV-positive for eleven years. Elizabeth Marte>> I used to really think that only men that were homosexuals got infected. I didn't know that women could get infected at that time back in the early nineties. Sheryl Kahn>> Back then, Elizabeth had been trying to clean up her act after a life lived on the edge, sexually abused by a neighbor as a child. Elizabeth Marte>> We were very poor in the Dominican Republic, so he would often offer me a plate of food in exchange to let him fondle me. Sheryl Kahn>> Kicked out by her parents in New York at seventeen, Elizabeth wound up living with drug dealers, eventually becoming addicted to crack. Elizabeth Marte>> It was glamorous at that time, yeah, for a seventeen year old. A lot of money, a lot of good clubs and, you know, just luxury. Then what happened was, I ended up getting hooked on cocaine. Little did I know that, years later, I would be having sex for a hit of crack on the streets and I was getting maybe three or four bucks for sex just in order to get a hit of crack. Sheryl Kahn>> She had three children by three different men. Settled in with a new boyfriend, Elizabeth's doctor gave her an HIV test. It came back positive. Elizabeth says her boyfriend never admitted he was infected. Elizabeth Marte>> I was very resentful. I used to fantasize just getting a gun and shooting him. Yeah, he knew he had it. He died of AIDS like less than a year later after I met him, after he infected me. Sheryl Kahn>> Bitter and devastated, Elizabeth fell into a deep depression, spiraling further into drug and alcohol abuse. After a sympathetic doctor took her into his home, Elizabeth struggled to become sober and deal with her HIV. It's been a long road back and a bumpy one. Elizabeth suffered relapses in her recovery and dangerous lapses in judgment. Elizabeth Marte>> When I relapsed on drugs and on crack cocaine, I was having unprotected sex for a long time while I was high. Even after I was diagnosed with the HIV virus during my crack relapse. So I prostituted again after I found out I was HIV-positive. I slept with many men, many men. I don't know, hundreds of guys. It was not my intention to want to infect people, but when you're under the influence, all you're thinking about is how you're going to get the next hit. All you're thinking about is doing whatever you can do in order so that you can get some crack cocaine and smoke it. Sheryl Kahn>> But now Elizabeth has turned her life around. Clean and sober with one child already grown, she's focusing on making a happy healthy home for her two younger kids, including the daughter she gave birth to while still abusing drugs and alcohol. Elizabeth Marte>> She was two pounds, ten ounces at birth. I was on the streets during the whole pregnancy smoking crack, drinking alcohol and prostituting and sleeping in different places and still hitchhiking to different cities. [Film Clip] Sheryl Kahn>> This is Elizabeth's daughter now, fourteen years old, healthy and beautiful, and worried about her mom. Hazell Marte>> Just like her sleeping or something, just dying in her sleep, and me not be able to be there, like I might be over at my friend's house or something. Sheryl Kahn>> Like most teenagers, she and her mom have many disagreements. Hazell Marte>> It gets me frustrated because like I'm trying to help her. Why's she not taking that advice? Because she knows I'm right. She just doesn't want to listen. Sheryl Kahn>> Unlike most, their biggest arguments are about Elizabeth's decision to stop taking her HIV medication. Hazell Marte>> "She doesn't tell her doctor. She doesn't even tell her sponsor. Because she knows her sponsor will be like you'd better take it and she says, oh, I'll take it. I told her. I'm sure she's not listening. I guess I'm not important." Elizabeth Marte>> "You know what it is? My hair is falling out." Hazell Marte>> "So what? It's better to be alive than your hair being falling out." Elizabeth Marte>> "I know, but my hair is falling out." Hazell Marte>> "So?" Elizabeth Marte>> "I'm concerned about, you know --" Hazell Marte>> -- "your looks." Elizabeth Marte>> "What's wrong with being concerned about my looks? I mean, you know, I don't want to be bald-headed a year from now." Hazell Marte>> "What about if a year doesn't pass?" Elizabeth Marte>> "You mean, if I don't make it through a year without taking my meds? I'll make it. I'll be all right. It's just temporary. You know, this is just for a little while, that's all." Hazell Marte>> "A little while? A little while could make --" Elizabeth Marte>> -- "just for a few months." Hazell Marte>> "A few months?" Sheryl Kahn>> In this close-knit family, there are few secrets. Hazell and her twelve year old brother have known the facts about HIV for years even though they didn't always understand them. Hazell Marte>> It's just, oh, I have some disease called HIV and they can't cure it. Then I didn't know what she was talking about because I didn't get it. Then when I grew up like around ten or something, then I started to get it more. Sheryl Kahn>> Elizabeth feels the only way to keep her kids safe is to teach them early about using condoms for protection, although she hopes her two youngest don't become sexually active for a while. According to Hazell, so far, so good. Hazell Marte>> Because then I'll break their hands if they do anything. Sheryl Kahn>> Hazell knows two other kids whose moms are also HIV-positive. Despite that, some of her friends don't seem concerned about the spread of AIDS and might not be willing to wait to have sex or insist on condoms when they do. Hazell Marte>> Sometimes they might be just like, oh, if I don't do this, then he's not going to think that I like him or something. I just tell him, no, if he thinks that that's the only way, then show him other ways instead of doing any sexual thing with him. Sheryl Kahn>> It's a lot to think about at such a young age. Elizabeth doesn't want her kids to have to carry the burden alone and that sometimes keeps her up nights. Elizabeth Marte>> When you're HIV-positive, you're on a time budget because there's no telling what's going to happen. I mean, I've seen people look as good as I look and suddenly they get pneumonia and they die. I'm hoping that I can stretch out to maybe another fifteen years and I calculate their ages by that time and hopefully by then they'll be prepared. Sheryl Kahn>> For now, she just wants her kids to have fun like anyone else. Elizabeth Marte>> "I remember one time I went to this restaurant and I got you guys sandwiches made out of --" Hazell Marte>> -- "fish." Elizabeth Marte>> "No, it was brains, cow brains." Sheryl Kahn>> Like most of her friends who are living with HIV, Elizabeth tries to focus on the positive instead of dwelling on what could go wrong. She doesn't think there will be a cure in time to help her, but if there is -- Elizabeth Marte>> -- oh, if there was a cure, I would be so [blank] happy (laughter). Sheryl Kahn>> I'm Sheryl Kahn for Life and Times. Val>> Elizabeth was helped by an organization called Women Alive. Women Alive provides AIDS testing, counseling and referrals. To contact them, you can go to their website at women-alive.org or call them at (323) 965-1564. For additional information on AIDS and HIV testing, you can also go to lacityaids.org. 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>> So you're on a diet or just trying to eat more healthy foods, but then friends come along and say, hey, join us for dinner. Your diet is blown, right? Well, not necessarily. A program called "Healthy Dining" can help out and more than seventy-five restaurants are part of it. One of the restaurants is Kabuki in Hollywood. Their chef has created some low-fat, low-cal, low-carb meals that will make eating out and eating healthy compatible. Anita Jones is on the team of nutritionists who have been persuading restaurants to join the Healthy Dining program. She says chefs respond when customers request healthier dishes. Anita Jones, you are a nutritionist who is doing a lot of us a favor by telling us how we can eat healthfully even though we go out. So how did this come about, Healthy Dining in Los Angeles? Anita Jones>> Well, we are a team of nutrition professionals who really saw a need for healthier menu items at restaurants. So we go out to restaurants and invite them to participate in the program and, by participating in Healthy Dining, the restaurants agreed to offer a selection of healthier menu items. So it's items that are not loaded with calories and fat, but instead, lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins. We actually do a nutrition analysis on the items so that we come up with calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, protein, carbohydrates and fiber so that the restaurants have that information for their customers. Then that information is also published in the Healthy Dining book. Val>> Now a lot of times we go into a restaurant and we say, oh, I'm going to be really good. I'm going to order the fish or the salad, but lo and behold, these things can sometimes be very defeating and actually not be nearly as healthy as they sound. Anita Jones>> Yes. Well, we've analyzed over ten thousand menu items from Southern California restaurants. We see that, over and over again, things that are promoted as healthy or they sound like they'd be really healthy, once you do a nutrition analysis, they really don't meet up with any Healthy Dining guidelines. So even a grilled fish. We have an example of grilled swordfish in our book that comes out to be 885 calories and 71 grams of fat. That's just because the dish was marinated in a lot of olive oil and then a lot of olive oil used in the preparation of the dish and then olive oil drizzled over the top right before it goes out to the customer. Olive oil is a good fat, but that's too much fat for one restaurant meal. And we see salads. A lot of entrée type salads at restaurants are twelve hundred calories, fourteen hundred calories -- Val>> -- because of the dressing? Anita Jones>> A lot of it is the dressing and then the toppings, what else is on the salad. But definitely, dressings add a lot of calories and fat grams to salads, so you need to watch out for that. Val>> And you were saying that eight hundred calories is equal to how much? Anita Jones>> Well, one stick of butter, one stick, is eight hundred calories and about eighty grams of fat. Val>> So if you're eating an entrée with eight hundred calories, it's like eating an entire stick of butter. Anita Jones>> But with the Healthy Dining program, there are so many restaurants and so many chefs that are really rising to this challenge in creating beautiful, great tasting, filling dishes that you can just love. Val>> So you actually talk restaurants into joining this Healthy Dining program and, if they agree to join, what do they have to agree to do specifically? Anita Jones>> Well, they agree to let us do the computerized nutrition analysis to come up with the calorie and the fat information and, for some restaurants, that's kind of (laughter) -- they don't quite know if they want to do that or not, but then to offer a selection of healthier menu items. So we actually work with the restaurants and help them either develop or modify or promote menu items that are credibly healthy. Val>> Meaning low-fat, lower in calories -- Anita Jones>> -- lower in fat, healthier, just more nutritious. Val>> So give us an example. You've written a book. You have all these restaurants from high-end expensive restaurants all the way down to El Pollo Loco. Anita Jones>> Right, right. We try to get a wide variety of types of cuisines, so we're here today at Kabuki, a Japanese restaurant. We have Chinese restaurants and Thai restaurants and Mexican restaurants and American restaurants and there's pizza, a really wide variety. You can eat healthy at most restaurants. Val>> How can you eat healthy at El Pollo Loco (laughter)? Anita Jones>> They're actually really a leader in offering healthier choices. Val>> Really? Anita Jones>> They have their Pollo Bowl, which is a bowl of chicken breast and beans and salsa and rice, really good. They have nutrition information for every menu item that they have, that they offer. Val>> Now we're here at Kabuki, so if I were to come in, what kind of healthy dishes would I be able to order here. Anita Jones>> Look at the book and the book shows you all of the different items that meet the Healthy Dining guidelines. There's a tofu salad and that says "special request". The special request is noted here, request dressing on the side. Throughout the book, you'll see lots and lots of special requests. Those are things that you can order as a customer to really bring the calories and the fat grams down. Val>> That's easy for the restaurant to accommodate. Anita Jones>> Right, right. Val>> Who's the driving force behind this? Anita Jones>> It's restaurant customers. They have definitely been changing over time. We're hearing from restaurants that they're hearing a lot more from the customers. The customers want healthier choices. They want nutrition information. They're interested in what they're eating and they want to eat healthier. Use the Healthy Dining book because that really shows you the restaurants that have agreed to be part of this and it's really a community program. They are really doing this for their customers, doing this for the community. Val>> Anita Jones, thank you so much for a great guide. Anita Jones>> Thank you. Val>> We really appreciate your time. Anita Jones>> Thanks. Val>> For more information on the Healthy Dining program, you can go to their website or give them a call. Our thanks to the folks at Kabuki Restaurant in Hollywood for their help. 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 -- It's tough to eat healthy in a fast-paced, fast food world, so how do you get kids to love salad? >> So is it easy, they ask me? Absolutely it is not. Well, why do we need to do it? Shame on you if you don't because it exposes your kids to a nutritional access that they would otherwise not be able to have been exposed to. Val>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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