Life & Times - Transcript

About Us \| Contact Us

Life & Times Transcript

08/03/05

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

They are determined to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods, but will anyone listen to young people?

Dr. Cristina Jose>> They were very cute because they like children coming to talk about the future. It's like a cute thing, but we also get people that slam the door and that's also important for the kids to learn, you know, that not everybody is willing to hear the message.

Val>> Plus, fifty-eight years, twenty thousand stories. We profile Stan Chambers, the reporter who has helped define television news in Southern California.

Stan Chambers>> Being a part of early television, I became kind of a symbol because people just looked at television to see things move. They didn't care what was moving. They watched it as things moved.

Val>> These stories and more 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>> They go door-to-door with a message that they hope will save lives. No, we're not talking about religious missionaries. We're talking about young people in poor neighborhoods trying to get their neighbors to take better care of themselves. So do adults really listen to young people? As Hena Cuevas tells us, sometimes they do and sometimes they slam the door.

Hena Cuevas>> A drive through zip code 92701 in Santa Ana takes you through Orange County's most densely populated neighborhood. Here live some of the poorest families in the area. And that's a challenge for people like Dr. Cristina Jose. She's one of the Directors of Latino Health Access, a group that's working on improving the well-being of the community and they're doing it one child at a time. This is Children's Initiative and they're promontories, or child activists. It's an extension of the idea that it's easier for children to get the message across to adults.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> Because it's very important that the kids have seen leaders, that the kids have seen people that have this knowledge that can help other people.

Hena Cuevas>> In this case, sharing what they've learned about nutrition. They tell people about the importance of fruits and vegetables and which ones will help fight against diseases such as cancer. It's basically an after-school program where the kids discuss the usual: nutrition, safety, how to distinguish between medicine and candy. The difference here is that no subject is off-limits. According to Jose, many of these children deal with problems such as domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> It is like a tunnel and there are so many holes in there for these kids to fall that, unless you do something more radical, doing one thing to help them is not going to do it.

Hena Cuevas>> Today they've split up into groups to talk about anger management.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> So the four year olds are learning about how to control anger as well as the older ones are learning how to control anger in a very different way.

Hena Cuevas>> They're asked to put together a play that includes everything they've learned so far.

Angie Otiniano>> "Okay, the first thing is going to be, okay, the confrontation between the father and the son and, as the narrator, I can explain, you know, the father is abusing alcohol and the son is always on drugs and that's causing a big conflict."

Hena Cuevas>> Angie Otiniano is a volunteer at Children's Initiative.

Angie Otiniano>> I think the hardest topic is when we start talking especially with the older kids about maybe, you know, peer pressure, things such as drugs or alcohol. It's always hard to talk about those things openly, you know, without feeling that somebody's judging you. So I think it's kind of hard to face that barrier. You know, it's okay if you just open up.

Hena Cuevas>> During this session, she's helping the kids develop characters that best reflect what they've experienced in their lives.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> Dr. Jose says they want what the children are learning in here to make its way into the homes, hoping the message will reach the parents via the kids.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> Just imagine that you can close the door on me as a psychologist, but you cannot close it on your own kids. So the kids are inside with the information and especially with nutrition and with safety, the kids talk to the parents about those things and the parents become more and more conscious.

Hena Cuevas>> But the program is also hoping to go beyond just their homes. The eighty students meet four times a week from Monday through Thursday for about two hours every evening, but it isn't until Friday that they get the opportunity to go out into the community and not only practice, but also preach everything they've learned. This is their outreach program where kids go door-to-door in their predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood. What is the reaction from the people in the buildings or the house when the children knock on the door?

Dr. Cristina Jose>> It is very cute because they like children coming to talk about the future. It's like a cute thing, but we also get people that slam the doors and that's also important for the kids to learn, you know, that not everybody is willing to hear the message.

Hena Cuevas>> And what is the reaction of the children when people slam the door in their faces?

Dr. Cristina Jose>> Well, some kids really get upset and cry and other kids say, well, why did she slam the door? That's a very good point, you know. Those are teaching moments and that's why it's so important that the kids really go out and do it because teaching moments happen when these things happen.

Hena Cuevas>> Eleven year old Sonia Ceja has been doing this for two years now. She says she enjoys talking to people, but is sometimes frustrated when they don't pay attention.

Sonia Ceja>> Sometimes I say can you give me a little bit of your time and they say, no, I'm busy.

Hena Cuevas>> But they are persistent. To beg people for their time and get them on their way to eating healthier, they hand out paper bags filled with fruit and yogurt. Otiniano has seen the change in these kids.

Angie Otiniano>> It also gives the children, you know, their own sense of being promontories, or promoters, within themselves, so they feel their own responsibility, you know, to themselves and to their community and I really think that's an idea I haven't seen anywhere else.

Hena Cuevas>> What do you like the most about being a promontore?

Sonia Ceja>> Informing my community about stuff that they don't know and giving them healthy things to eat.

Hena Cuevas>> It costs about $150,000 a year to run the three year old program and most of the money comes from public and private sources.

Angie Otiniano>> You know, having a program like this that emphasizes the positive of how people can change, how children in their own community, not adults, but children on their own, you know, are promoting health and promoting good habits, I think that's very important, you know, in any community, but especially one that they're always focusing on the negative aspects.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> And, of course, for the kids, you wish there could be more people, but underneath there's a big need for especially the older kids, you know. It's quite a lot of violence and you really need to do an intervention there. But you just have to focus someplace while we are able to get more resources.

Hena Cuevas>> But it's not all serious. After working on the mental, it's time to work on the physical.

[Film Clip]

Hena Cuevas>> Most of these kids have never had gym class, so this is probably the only exercise they will get. For Dr. Jose, the key to their success is the multiplying effect each one of these kids has.

Dr. Cristina Jose>> I think the neighborhood could change completely. If these kids continue doing what they are doing, in about five years there will be a complete change. But really it's a lot of kids changing and parents changing their attitudes.

Hena Cuevas>> And she calls it their opening the door for these kids so they can help bring the rest of the community with them. 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".

Sam Louie>> Small businesses make up the economic engine in America. The Census Bureau estimates at least seventy-five percent of all businesses are small mom and pop shops and it appears that trend is growing. I spoke with James Christy, the Regional Director of the United States Census Bureau in Los Angeles, about the most recent survey of business owners. James, thanks for joining us on Life and Times. First off, tell me a little bit more about the small business survey.

James Christy>> Okay. Well, this survey is part of an economic census program that the Census Bureau does every five years. This data is for the year 2002. It's the 2002 survey of business ownership and the data collected from the survey was done during the calendar year 2003 for the year 2002. It takes us a couple of years to put it together, so now we're in 2005 and we're releasing this data. It went out to every firm in the United States and we got about seventy-five percent of them to answer this questionnaire and send it back to us.

Sam Louie>> How many businesses are we talking about?

James Christy>> Well, roughly about twenty-three million businesses in the United States were part of the survey, so it's pretty remarkable.

Sam Louie>> What are some of the results that you found with the survey?

James Christy>> Well, obviously business ownership is growing in the United States and it's particularly interesting that minority and women-owned businesses are growing at a much faster rate in the United States than business overall, so we're seeing some pretty significant gains not only in the number of businesses, but also in terms of sales and receipts from those businesses. I think that shows that we have a very healthy and vibrant economy for the minority and business community.

Sam Louie>> How much faster are we talking about?

James Christy>> Minority business has grown, I think, it was twenty-two percent from 1997 to 2002, in terms of receipts and that compares with the non-minority community of about eight percent. So it's well out-pacing the growth for the nation overall for minority business.

Sam Louie>> How encouraging is this to see the growth?

James Christy>> I think it's encouraging to a lot of people. I mean, obviously we are changing as a nation in terms of our racial and ethnic makeup and it clearly indicates that the way the nation is changing in population, business is also changing that way, so I think it's very encouraging.

Sam Louie>> What can be attributed for this growth?

James Christy>> I think there's a number of things. Obviously, there are some policy decisions that are in place. Several people referenced the tax cuts and some legislative changes that have been made to make business more attractive to minorities. Obviously, there are more minorities in our nation, so as you increase the population, you increase the opportunities for people to expand into business. I think that, as the population changes, the business climate will continue to change.

Sam Louie>> When you talk about the changes, what are the biggest changes that you've seen at least with the economy? Are businesses getting smaller and smaller these days?

James Christy>> Yes. We've seen a real expansion in the number of firms that have no employees. That's been where a lot of the growth in the economy has been in terms of businesses. So that's encouraging. It's a lot of the real traditional American entrepreneurial spirit that's showing up in these numbers.

Sam Louie>> James, you're the Regional Director for the Census Bureau in Los Angeles. What's the impact to Los Angeles and to the state?

James Christy>> It's phenomenal. I'd love to look at national statistics and then figure how California factors into the statistics. Every time you look at something like that, it's remarkable. Removed from this survey, one of my favorite trivia questions that I like to ask people is the population of Los Angeles County. The actual answer is that it's bigger than forty-two states, the population of Los Angeles County alone.

So the influence of California on the national picture is remarkable and we see that clearly in these statistics that we have. One out of every eight businesses in the United States is in California and then, when we look at some of the minority detail on those businesses, one out of every four Hispanic-owned businesses is in California, one out of every three Asian-owned businesses is in California and the economic impact is remarkable too.

Sam Louie>> Do you feel that female-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses are realizing there is a niche for them especially with their bilingual skills and/or cultural understanding?

James Christy>> Sure. I mean, again, as the population grows, there are businesses that develop to serve those populations. But I also think that we've seen that, as people assimilate into our culture and into our society, they see opportunities for themselves in the economic community just like they do in the demographic or the education community.

Sam Louie>> Is there also more of an educational component now where the Census Bureau or other organizations are reaching out to minorities to encourage them to open up a small business?

James Christy>> Well, obviously there are a number of organizations that have traditionally been in place for some time, the Small Business Administration. The Department of Commerce has something called a Minority Business Development Agency. State and local agencies have really tried to push minorities and women into business. Most contracts that you have with the government have some measure of you need either women-owned or minority-owned businesses as part of our contract.

So I think that there have been some policy changes that have sort of brought the number of women and minority-owned businesses up, but I still think that it's been in large part due to the interest and the involvement and the avenues that have been available to people to start businesses that have really created this growth.

Sam Louie>> With this growth, where do you see the future of America's economy?

James Christy>> Well, everything we look at shows that it's not going to slow. I mean, in terms of the growth in businesses, we expect that the minority business community will still continue to thrive and continue to grow. Obviously, there are some things that we still need to deal with as a country in terms of how they succeed, but we expect the number of firms, the sales and receipts to continue to grow both for minorities and women and we expect the overall business climate, as our population grows, to grow as well.

Sam Louie>> James Christy, thank you very much for your analysis.

James Christy>> You're welcome. Thank you.

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>> It's hard to imagine local TV news in Los Angeles without thinking of this man: Stan Chambers. He has been on the street covering stories since 1947 and now, after fifty-eight years, Stan Chambers has decided to keep on working. Toni Guinyard talked with the reporter who helped define TV news.

Stan Chambers>> I was a part of a lot of peoples' memories because I was there just when television was starting. "Hello, Susan."

Toni Guinyard>> For more than a half century, television news reporter Stan Chambers has been a mainstay on the air in Los Angeles and, yes, he was here at the beginning. He started his career in 1947 where he will more than likely end his career one day on KTLA Channel 5.

Stan Chamber>> It is so much a part of the city. It really is. We were a part of it from the very beginning and a lot of people look at it that way.

Toni Guinyard>> As broadcast news has evolved, Chambers has evolved with it, embracing rather than fighting change.

Stan Chambers>> "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four." Change is constant. Change goes on all the time and, when there's a change, you have to be ready to change and someone else comes in and you show them that you can do a good job and that you want to do a good job and that you're a member of the team, and go ahead and do it.

Toni Guinyard>> You get the sense that he sees himself as a witness not only to the city's history, but also to the history of TV news.

Stan Chambers>> In the early years, there were so few of us that I thought this was the way it would always be. You had a desk and you had a cameraman and you had a semi-teleprompter and you just sat there and read the news. When the cameraman came along, that was a whole new ballgame. Now you had film from real live places from around the country. It might have been two days late, but at least it was real live film.

Toni Guinyard>> Listening to Chambers talk is like listening to a story from a history book being read by someone who helped write each chapter and, in many ways, he did.

[Film Clip]

Toni Guinyard>> From the assassination of Robert Kennedy to the destruction of the Bel Aire fires, from testing the atomic bomb to the Baldwin Hills Dam break, Chambers was there either covering the story or supporting his colleagues. What are the stories you see as the milestones in your career?

Stan Chambers>> The stories that you really remember, I think for me would have to be the visit of Pope John Paul.

[Film Clip]

Stan Chambers>> I was sent to Poland and Rome to do a life story on him. It's got to be the number one story that I remember.

Toni Guinyard>> But it's the story of little Kathy Fiscus that most long-time viewers remember.

Stan Chambers>> She had fallen in this well. She was in there for days literally. And when we got there, we went on the air -- it never happened before -- we were on the air for twenty-seven straight hours. Bill Welch and I interviewing, talking, showing, and it was just twenty-seven hours straight. People had their first television sets. The people were glued to see this rescue attempt of this beautiful little girl and they stayed up all night and watched it and, twenty-seven hours later after we were on, they said that she was dead. The emotional blow to the city was just overwhelming because people had not experienced this. Here they were in their homes when, in reality, they were there on the rescue line all the time. That changed television forever.

Toni Guinyard>> You remember every second of that, don't you?

Stan Chambers>> Quite a bit, quite a bit.

Toni Guinyard>> It was an unforgettable moment, bringing together an entire city through the lens of KTLA's cameras and the presence of Chambers and his colleague, Bill Welch. It was also a moment that defined live reporting. Before this, it had never been done like this: reporters and cameras on the scene, around the clock coverage.

Stan Chambers>> And because it was so new, they were as cooperative as could be. The main concern to everybody was how little Kathy was doing.

Toni Guinyard>> Chambers was one of two men, reporters making decisions on the fly of who to talk to and who not to talk to.

Stan Chambers>> Both Bill and I decided we wouldn't talk to the parents because that is kind of bad taste. Their little girl was in the well and who knows what? So they were there, but we never talked to them. That was just our decision at the moment. I would say that it probably was the wrong decision.

Toni Guinyard>> Really?

Stan Chambers>> Yeah.

Toni Guinyard>> Looking back on it.

Stan Chambers>> Looking back. Because this was my subjective decision.

Toni Guinyard>> A subjective decision from a man who went on to build his career on a foundation of impartiality. His trademark trustworthiness wasn't just a professional asset. It also helped win over his second wife, Gege.

Gege Chambers>> We met on a blind date. His wife and my husband died the same month in the same year. My niece and nephew-in-law knew Stan and Beverly from way, way far back and they decided that we should meet.

Toni Guinyard>> They married in 1990. Did you watch Stan on television before you met Stan in person?

Gege Chambers>> I had never heard of Stan Chambers.

Toni Guinyard>> Oh, you've got to be kidding.

Gege Chambers>> I had never watched Channel 5.

Toni Guinyard>> Wait a minute, Gege.

Gege Chambers>> Absolutely true, absolutely true, because I was always in bed by nine.

Toni Guinyard>> It didn't take her long to realize there was something special about Stan Chambers. It didn't take her long to see what most viewers had seen for so many years.

Gege Chambers>> Stan is exceedingly fair.

Stan Chambers>> You want just the facts. Who, what, why, when, where? And that's what you want. You're not trying to paint it either way. You're being very objective. This is what happened.

Gege Chambers>> He never editorializes. He makes sure that whatever he says can be backed by facts.

Stan Chambers>> Here's the way it happened, and I think that is still the formula that is most successful in a general news broadcast.

Toni Guinyard>> In March 1991, Chambers relied on that basic journalistic principle when he was given the Rodney King beating videotape by an amateur photographer. Did you realize that this was going to potentially stir up the city?

Stan Chambers>> Yes.

Toni Guinyard>> What thoughts went through your head?

Stan Chambers>> My first thought was why don't I put it in the trash can (laughter), which wouldn't have been right. It's one of those big things and there is no way you could not have used it. It was a very damning piece of film footage.

Toni Guinyard>> How do you characterize that part of the city's history?

Stan Chambers>> We've been through a lot. This city has been through so much and somehow we get through it. This was a little firecracker that started the whole city. Then when those riots started, it just spread out. But here's your television showing what's going on.

Toni Guinyard>> Television, the media he loved so much, once again giving viewers a front row seat, this time to an event dividing rather than uniting the city.

[Film Clip]

Stan Chambers>> All the cities you go, you remember all of the stories that you covered in that particular location. That's where the action is. That's where history is being made. That's where lives are being lived and, by being a reporter, you become a participant. You're part of that process.

Toni Guinyard>> It's estimated that Chambers has covered twenty thousand stories in his career, and his career is not over yet. When are you going to say that it's time to call it quits?

Stan Chambers>> News goes on forever and being there is a great honor and being part of a news operation like KTLA has just been incredible. They're good to their people. They've been so good to me and, where I'm not now right in the middle of the street chasing stories that I did for so many years, my grandson Jamie Chambers has that place.

Toni Guinyard>> So the Chambers legacy begins, but the Stan Chambers era continues.

Stan Chambers>> "That's my report. Stan Chambers, KTLA Channel 5".

Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times.

Val>> And, by the way, Stan Chambers is working on an audio book about his career. 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 --

Are they mansions or monstrosities? That depends on whether you're a homebuilder or a neighbor.

>> It's just a huge boxy house which looks like it was designed in about five minutes. It's like fast food houses. They just go up incredibly fast. They're incredibly generic. They're incredibly out of scale with the neighborhood.

Val>> Should "McMansions" be restricted? That's tomorrow on Life and Times.

Sponsored in part by:


Home \| Features \| Arts \| Health/Science \| OC Edition \| L&T Blog \| Archives \| About Us \| Contact Us \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use © 2007 COMMUNITY TELEVISION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA