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Life & Times Transcript
10/03/05 Toni Guinyard>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Is short-staffing of air traffic controllers putting airline passengers at risk? Hamid Ghaffari>> For the past several years, we've been advising the FAA that you're going to have a crisis on your hands of absolute proportions unimaginable. Donn Walker>> The union makes a lot of claims that are frankly not grounded in fact. Toni Guinyard>> And then, they sing, they dance, they do magic. We're on hand as some of Los Angeles County's talented seniors take the stage. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> 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 Zavala>> You're on a plane coming in for a landing. You've put your life in the hands of air traffic controllers who are miles away in a tower and your plane just a blip on their radar screen. So when they say they are under-staffed and over-worked, should you be concerned? Sam Louie takes a look at the conditions that could be putting some air passengers at risk. Sam Louie>> Each day, millions of passengers fly smoothly in and out of LAX and hundreds of other airports around the country. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> Much of the credit for keeping the system moving goes to the work of air traffic controllers. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> The controllers coordinate the flight plans, monitor the arrivals and departures and give vital flight information to the pilots like runway clearances and updates on weather systems. Bruce Bates has been a full-time air traffic controller for the past seventeen years. Bruce Bates>> To me, the most exciting part is just to be a controller at a sector and to be able to move aircraft where they want to go and to move them there as efficiently and quickly as possible while also keeping them safe. Sam Louie>> But Bates and other air traffic controllers feel safety is now being compromised. Bruce Bates>> The air traffic controllers in there are doing as safe a job as possible. However, is the level of safety what it should be? No. It would be better if we had more people. Sam Louie>> In the past several years, air traffic controllers have been retiring at a faster clip than those hired. As a result, some controllers feel an extra burden to make up for the difference. Bruce Bates>> Certainly the stress has gone up. It is more of a pressure cooker atmosphere in the building when you're working the sectors because you're just working harder. There is more and more to do and that feeling always nagging at you that there's something you're missing or there's something that you're not watching that you should be and that adds a tremendous level of stress to the job. Sam Louie>> Some controllers feel that stress contributed to situations where planes were allowed to come too close to each other. Hamid Ghaffari>> When you're talking about airplanes that travel about four hundred fifty miles an hour or close to eight miles a minute, a mile is not acceptable. It's just not acceptable. In one incident, had the controller not intervened when he discovered he had committed an error, there could have been tragic consequences. Sam Louie>> In the air. Hamid Ghaffari>> In the air. Sam Louie>> Hamid Ghaffari is with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Hamid Ghaffari>> Across the country, you have this baton race that goes between each en route air traffic facility until you get to your destination airport, so we have to put either everyone in line or two separate lines, depending on the number of runways there are, sequencing you, giving you the approach control. The approach control does some fine-tuning. They give it to the tower, the tower gets you on the ground, taxis you to the gate and we've basically guided you home safely. Sam Louie>> The job is demanding. It requires three to five years to pass the academy and become fully certified. The Federal Aviation Administration trains and hires the controllers. FAA spokesman, Donn Walker, cites the nation's safety record as proof that the system works. Donn Walker>> We have gone in this country almost four years since we've had a major commercial airline accident and that tells you that we've got the safest system in the world. This is the safest period in aviation history. Sam Louie>> Although technically true, the controllers say that there have been several close calls since. Still, Walker explained that the industry factors in staffing levels and human error when calculating risks. Donn Walker>> We like to keep planes five miles apart. That's more than enough. That is ample safety. We built a buffer zone in so, in some cases, an operational error may occur and the planes are four and a half miles apart or four or three and a half. That still is plenty of room to be safe because we've set the bar so high at five miles. So we've built buffer zones in there so that, when operational errors occur, the system can absorb it and still be safe and there's no chance of a collision. Sam Louie>> Currently, the Los Angeles Air Traffic Center in Palmdale is authorized for more than three hundred air traffic controllers. The facility is still about ninety short of that goal, but Walker emphasizes that the FAA has found other ways to work through the shortage without compromising safety. Donn Walker>> We have a lot of tools at our disposal that allow us to manage that facility and move air traffic safely. We use overtime. We have managers and supervisors when needed to come on and work shifts because they're certified air traffic controllers. We have positions in the facility called staff assistants which are certified controllers that are doing desk jobs. They can come on and work when we need them to. Sam Louie>> Walker also questions the timing of the controllers' complaints. Donn Walker>> We think that it's not a coincidence that right now we're in contract talk with the Air Traffic Controllers Union and some people have theorized that they're making all of this noise right now to get management's attention and the public's attention while we're negotiating our contract. Sam Louie>> But the Air Traffic Controllers Union showed us paperwork urging the FAA to hire more workers. Hamid Ghaffari>> For the past several years, we've been advising the FAA that you're going to have a crisis on your hands of absolute proportions unimaginable. Sam Louie>> In February of 1991, thirty-three people were killed here at LAX when a commercial jet landed and hit another plane preparing for takeoff. The investigation concluded that the crash occurred when an air traffic controller was distracted and gave both planes full use of the runway. Hamid Ghaffari>> It's an absolute nightmare for air traffic controllers to even begin to think about a crash like that and that's why we keep saying that not one incident is acceptable to us. Obviously, something has to happen quickly before we have a tragic incident. Sam Louie>> The FAA has now started hiring more air traffic controllers, planning to add one hundred at the Los Angeles center in a year. But in the meantime, Walker wants to reassure the public. Donn Walker>> The union makes a lot of claims that are frankly not grounded in fact and are not grounded in any kind of a reality that I'm aware of. Flying is the safest form of transportation, period. Nothing is safer and this, in the United States, is the safest air traffic control system in the entire world. Sam Louie>> The contract for the controllers union expires by the end of September. Until then, both sides agree that safety remains the number one priority. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Announcer>> 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 Zavala>> It bores most of us to tears: political redistricting or drawing those political boundaries. Right now, politicians draw their own boundaries which virtually assures their reelection, but all that could change if Proposition 77 is passed this November. Michael Alvarez is a political scientist at Caltech. He says Proposition 77 would bring reform to the political redistricting issue, but not without a nationwide battle. How did a California issue go national? I asked Alvarez to start from the beginning and explain what's at stake in the coming special election this November. Now starting from the beginning with this Proposition 77 because people have been catching little bits of the story, but it really began when Arnold Schwarzenegger got in office, yes? Michael Alvarez>> Well, it has deeper roots, okay? Right after the 2000 census when California went to draw new lines, our state legislature is in charge of that process. When they drew the current lines that we're using now, they essentially drew lines to protect incumbents throughout the state. As a result, in 2004 we saw legislative elections that had very little competition in California. Not a single one of the legislative seats at the state level or the congressional level changed partisan hands. Val Zavala>> Really? So all the incumbents got into office again. Michael Alvarez>> All the incumbents got reelected again and essentially this current plan that we have in place, that of the districts, really protected all those incumbents. So that's where we started. Val Zavala>> Because they can draw their own boundaries? Michael Alvarez>> They can draw their own boundaries and they had sort of a little inclusive deal that said we're going to draw a plan that protects all the incumbents, so that's where we started. But then, of course, when Schwarzenegger became governor, he was elected on a reform package and one of the reforms that he really wanted to push forward was making the electoral process in California more competitive, and redistricting is one element of that package. Val Zavala>> So Schwarzenegger got behind Proposition 77 which basically said we're going to let a nonpartisan objective group of retired judges draw these all-important political boundaries. Sounds great, right? Michael Alvarez>> Well, in principle, it is. I mean, the idea of moving this process out of the control of partisan elected officials, especially those who, when they draw these lines, it affects whether or not they're elected, it does sound like a very good idea. Now, of course, with Proposition 77 or like any other reform, the devil is in the details. Val Zavala>> So did you spot any devils in Proposition 77? Michael Alvarez>> Oh, there are lots of little pieces of it that I think are very tricky and very complicated. I think, in the end, the big question about Proposition 77, if it passes, is will it actually allow for a process that will draw more competitive districts or not? Val Zavala>> But that's the challenge that will occur if Proposition 77 passes. What's happened recently is the courts have gotten involved regarding funding for the battle over Proposition 77, right? Michael Alvarez>> Right. Well, you know, these days, just like anything else especially in California, courts get heavily involved and they get heavily involved now in a lot of political questions. Recently at the state level, the governor and the legislature were given the opportunity to raise and spend unlimited sums of money when they go to fight for or against initiatives. The same thing is true now at the federal level where the Federal Election Commission has recently ruled that congressmen sitting in Washington can also raise and spend unlimited sums of money in fighting or supporting ballot measure campaigns, which essentially to a lot of observers guts the soft money provisions in the McCain-Feingold Act. Val Zavala>> So the court basically said tons of federal money can now descend upon California and influence the election here over Proposition 77? Michael Alvarez>> Right. The idea is that congressmen in Washington now can raise and spend money on initiative campaigns, the argument being that, first off, it's "fair" because the governor is going to be able to go across the nation and raise that kind of money to spend on initiative campaigns, so why not allow congressmen who have easy access to that special interest money as well? And for congressmen in Washington, the idea is that they're going to raise this money not for their campaigns and their activities in Washington, but for a state political question. So based on those two rationales, the Federal Election Commission recently ruled, well, why don't we allow congressmen in Washington the ability to do this? Val Zavala>> But what it does is just raises the ante. I mean, the millions of dollars that are going to pour in over this proposition. I mean, it's just mushroomed, right? Michael Alvarez>> Well, it's incredible. There already have been, at least as far as we know in early August, something like a hundred twenty million dollars raised in general to fight the special election this fall. Now, yes, the spigot is open and it's going to be clear that the governor is going to be raising a lot more money and, yeah, these congressmen in Washington are going to raise a lot of money because this is a fight for their lives. If these districts are changed substantially, a lot of these congressmen could in fact lose their seats. So they're going to fight for their lives and raise as much money as necessary to fight this. Val Zavala>> How do think each side is going to cast their arguments? Michael Alvarez>> Well, I think that, you know, Schwarzenegger in some ways has the sort of high road to play which is we have a process that leads to uncompetitive districts and that is full of partisanship and that intuitively seems to make some sense. On the other hand, you know, voters like their incumbents. That's why they reelect them. So incumbents, I think, are going to remind voters, especially some congressional incumbents, of all the things they do and all the reasons why it's good to continue to be able to reelect incumbents in office. Val Zavala>> So do you expect that the battle over Proposition 77 and redistricting reform will be a big part of this special election in the media campaign? Michael Alvarez>> I think it's going to be a significant component. Right now, there's been about a hundred twenty million dollars raised. About half of that, though, is going to fight some other fights. Going to fight the prescription drug benefit. Val Zavala>> That's a big one. Michael Alvarez>> The two competing measures on that. So that's going to be a major focus. There are other pieces of legislation that are on the ballot including parental notification if minors want to have an abortion, and a measure that would ban unions from using their dues for political purposes. Those are going to be really tightly contested. Val Zavala>> So there might be some sexier propositions. Michael Alvarez>> Oh, yeah, they'll be there, but redistricting, I think, will be a big issue. It's an important piece of the governor's reform agenda. It's something that sitting incumbents, especially those congressmen who really want to desperately fight, so I think they're going to fight it very heavily. But it's a very arcane issue. It's something that's really hard to connect to voters, so I think we're going to see a lot of efforts on those fronts to try, on the governor's side, to pass this and, on the congressmen's side and the powers in Sacramento, to fight it. Val Zavala>> And the governor needs a victory, doesn't he? Michael Alvarez>> He needs it badly and, right now, Proposition 77 isn't faring well in the polls. History doesn't support him because we've seen three of these ballot measures in the last two decades like this in California and they've all failed. Val Zavala>> Great stuff for a political scientist to watch. Michael Alvarez, thank you so much. Michael Alvarez>> All right. Thank you. Announcer>> 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. Toni Guinyard>> Every year since 1999, Angelus Plaza here in downtown Los Angeles puts out a call for some talented folks to come take center stage. It's their annual Senior Talent Show. This time, we were invited and we learned you're never too old to have a lot of fun. Michael Sherman>> "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Ed Sullivan. This is a really big show here on a really big stage here for PBS." Toni Guinyard>> It's their moment to shine. Each contestant is given just three minutes in the spotlight, but in that time, something almost magical happens. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> The performers connect with the audience and suddenly they forget they're performing in a talent show at a housing complex for retirees. For those brief three minutes, this might as well be Broadway or Carnegie Hall. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> What does it feel like when everyone is watching you and you're at center stage? Bella Villeza>> Well, when I was a child, I loved it. I love it, you know, because you have everybody's attention. As you grow older, you develop fears and you're going, oh, did I play that note right? Oh, I just missed that. I bet everybody heard that false note (laughter). Your fears build up as you grow up. Toni Guinyard>> For thirty-seven years, Bella Villeza was a teacher. Now the teacher has become a piano student. The talent show is a practice run for her recital. Bella Villeza>> This is just a crowd that wants to have fun. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> With a few quick kicks, the Mary Ellen Dancers grab the audience's attention and ours, daring us to blink less we miss a dip or a turn. Two of the ladies are in their early eighties, the youngest in her late seventies. But if you focus on the ages of the performers rather than the singing and the dancing and the effort being made, then you miss the best part of the story. Their stories about their journeys to get to this stage and to this point in their lives. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> This is Leonard Bluett. He's an actor, a jazz pianist, an octogenarian with a story to tell. His mother worked for Humphrey Bogart. Leonard Bluett>> She was with Bogart for almost thirty years as his cook. Toni Guinyard>> And he had a long-standing gig to perform at Bogart's birthday parties. Leonard Bluett>> I worked with the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races" and "A Day at the Circus" which they show now on television, and I worked with Lena Horne in three or four films, dancing. I worked on "Cabin in the Sky", "Stormy Weather". I love performing, for one thing. That's just innate in me and I love being the center of attention (laughter). That keeps me young. As I say, if I leave here tomorrow, I haven't missed a thing except I'll have a U-Haul behind my hearse, you know, so I can take it with me (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> They say you can't take it with you. Leonard Bluett>> I know. I can prove them wrong (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> Bluett's laugh punctuates just about every sentence as he weaves a tale of how things used to be. Leonard Bluett>> I was a glorified extra on "Gone With the Wind" and I was one of the confederate soldiers coming back from the war and I had a bandage on my head. Vivien Leigh rushed up to me and she said, "I have to get back to Tara. Where do I find Big Sammy? Have you seen Big Sam?" Toni Guinyard>> Bluett recalls segregated restrooms on the set of "Gone With the Wind". Leonard Bluett>> Colored-white-colored-white, all down the line. I couldn't believe it. Toni Guinyard>> And talks about how he and a handful of the extras approached actor, Clark Gable, with their concerns. He says Gable ordered the signs be torn down. Leonard Bluett>> Gable, with his stature at one of the -- at that time, he was the biggest -- he was the Brad Pitt of that day. It taught me that even the lowest men on the totem pole like myself, if you had enough -- well, I didn't want to say it, but you could go up to the biggest man and tell him how you feel about the situation. Toni Guinyard>> On this day, Bluett is far from being low man on the totem pole. [Film Clip] Michael Sherman>> It's a great feeling for one hour or fifteen minutes of fame or three minutes of fame. You got the microphone and you're in control. You're in charge most of the time. Toni Guinyard>> Impressionist Michael Sherman understands the need to be in the spotlight. Over the years, he's made a name for himself doing impersonations: Jack Benny -- Michael Sherman>> "PBS, they're always asking for a pledge. Well, I'm pledging, I'm pledging." Toni Guinyard>> George Burns -- Michael Sherman>> "I'm so old that my social security card number is three." Toni Guinyard>> Ed Sullivan -- Michael Sherman>> "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the former President of the United States. Let's hear it for Richard Nixon." Michael Sherman>> "My fellow Americans." Michael Sherman>> I keep the ball rolling, you know, from the old school of comedy of the Jack Bennys and George Burns and Red Skelton, even Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. That's what I grew up watching and I enjoyed it and it's not just coming from -- it comes from here, my heart. It does come from here and I think people realize that when I perform. Toni Guinyard>> And even though Mr. Sherman, Mr. Bluett nor Ms. Villeze placed in the competition, their energy and outlook will perhaps inspire others to take center stage. Bella Villeza>> Many people are just starved for attention, for somebody to just listen to them and attend to them and just affirm them that they are alive and that they can still do things even if they're older. [Film Clip] Leonard Bluett>> Get out there and do something. Just don't sit and wish somebody to knock on your door and say, hey. It ain't going to happen. You got to get out and do it for yourself. Do it for yourself, yeah. [Film Clip] Michael Sherman>> You've got it in your heart and soul to be a performer. It's what you do and you just keep doing it until you can't do it anymore. Michael Sherman>> "Tonight, you ladies and gentlemen, you have been an audience." [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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