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Life & Times Transcript
01/19/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- There's work to be done and they're anxious to do it, but should cities be providing a place to hire them? Don Silva>> If you so much as suspect someone is an illegal alien, you have no business facilitating their employment at all. Val Zavala>> And then, he's looking for humor in the Muslim world and our FilmWeek critics tell us if he found it. These stories and more next 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>> Does the city of Burbank encourage illegal immigration? Some people say yes and they point to a new day labor site that was built as part of a Home Depot project. Are these centers welcome mats for undocumented workers or a service? Hena Cuevas takes a look at both sides of the controversy. Hena Cuevas>> Every morning, dozens of men gather at this day labor center in downtown Los Angeles hoping to hear their names. [Film Clip] Hena Cuevas>> Those fortunate enough to have their names called will be working today. According to Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, this is only one of three centers in Los Angeles located on store property, in this case, home improvement retailer Home Depot. Pablo Alvarado>> It's a very natural relationship because employers come, they buy their materials and their tools and they pick the workers up for their projects. So it's very convenient. Hena Cuevas>> Convenient, but also controversial. An estimated fifty to eighty-five percent of day workers are illegal immigrants and aren't allowed to work in the United States. So when the city of Burbank announced it would open and run a day labor center in its newest Home Depot store, tempers flared. >> "Is there going to be an INS agent there? An ICE agent? This is insane." Hena Cuevas>> For Jef Vander Borght, the mayor of Burbank, the city's decision was based on the type of business that was coming in. Jef Vander Borght>> Home Depot, as a do-it-yourself center, always attracts people who are looking for temporary work, day work. Hena Cuevas>> Three years ago, the retailer approached the city with an attractive proposal for a vacant lot just off the 5 Freeway. Jef Vander Borght>> This site was polluted substantially and it was kind of a heaven-sent opportunity to have a business interested in the site and take advantage of the opportunity to clean it up and remediate the problem. Hena Cuevas>> But the city was worried about the day workers Home Depot would attract. Jef Vander Borght>> If we did nothing, we would find ourselves in the same conditions other centers find themselves in, overrun with people who mill about and hang around streets and really loiter around without a place to be more controlled. Hena Cuevas>> So it placed a condition on the project. Home Depot would have to build a hiring hall on its property, and Home Depot agreed. The new day labor center at the end of the parking lot has a bathroom and a drive-through area to pick up workers. But Home Depot doesn't own the center. The city of Burbank does. However, Home Depot must pay Burbank about a hundred thousand dollars a year to cover the cost of any additional services involved in the operation of the store. Burbank has decided to use that money to run the day labor center and has contracted with Catholic Charities to do so. On the day the council approved the contract with Catholic Charities, the meeting at City Hall was packed and there was no shortage of strong opinions. >> "I think you made a terrible, terrible mistake when you coerced Home Depot into building this center and you coerced them basically into aiding and abetting the hiring of illegals." Hena Cuevas>> Among those speaking was Don Silva of the group, Save Our State, an anti-illegal immigration group. Don Silva>> "All it's doing is sweeping the problem under the rug. Sweep it under the rug." I'd rather be at home with my children, you know, than be out on the streets doing this, but I feel the problem is so great that I have to take action as a concerned citizen. I'm obliged to do something, whether it's give my money or time. Hena Cuevas>> His grassroots organization has staged protests at various Home Depots. They hand out flyers alerting people that it's against the law to hire someone who's in the United States illegally. Don Silva>> It's very clear. If you so much as suspect someone is an illegal alien, you have no business facilitating their employment at all. The penalties are actually quite large. They're federal crimes. Hena Cuevas>> For Burbank's mayor, the city had no other alternative. Jef Vander Borght>> If we simply say, "Okay, you're right. Let's not have a day labor center", that's the alternative. We still have day laborers coming. They're still going to mill about. We have no way of controlling them. Don Silva>> That's just an excuse. It's going to happen anyway? No. If you have people in front of your business that will impact your business negatively, you make sure they weren't there. But because they impact their business positively, they want them there. Hena Cuevas>> He says Home Depot likes the center because it offers customers one-stop shopping for materials and labor, giving the store an edge over their competitors. The issue that you guys have, is it with the city of Burbank or is it with Home Depot? Don Silva>> Well, it's with both of them. Originally, it starts off with Home Depot because they're our main target. Then when we find out that the city of Burbank and other cities are just so complicit in this and really just justifying for the sake of they want Home Depot in their city to have a tax revenue from, then they become a target also. Jef Vander Borght>> "Good evening and welcome to Burbank." Hena Cuevas>> The new store opened on January 11. According to spokeswoman, Kathryn Gallagher, this concludes a long application process. Kathryn Gallagher>> This store that we've been trying to open in the city for about three years now, Los Angeles is a very thriving, booming market. Hena Cuevas>> Gallagher would not comment on the day labor center controversy. Instead, the company put out this carefully worded statement: "The Home Depot maintains a policy of non-solicitation at its stores by individuals and organizations not affiliated with our company. The Home Depot will continue to cooperate with local government as they lead in the development of policies to address issues related to day labor." But it hasn't always been easy to get Home Depot to cooperate, according to worker advocate, Alvarado. Only two Home Depots have allowed centers on their property. Pablo Alvarado>> It hasn't been pleasant many times, but I think we've reached a point in which Home Depot knows that the most dramatic way of addressing the issue is by creating the worker centers. Hena Cuevas>> But Save Our State Silva argues that, if Home Depot really wanted to get rid of the day laborers, it could. Don Silva>> This is their baby. They want it this way. The day they stop wanting it that way, they'll put pressure on the city and law enforcement and those guys will not be in front of Home Depot. Period, end of story. Hena Cuevas>> Burbank's mayor points out the issue of illegal immigration is a national one and what happens in Burbank won't make a difference. Jef Vander Borght>> This isn't something that we're going to resolve here in Burbank. Our impact for the whole national immigration is insignificant. It's absolutely not a significant issue. Hena Cuevas>> But according to Silva, significant enough and the line should be drawn at Burbank. Don Silva>> We're not going to ignore it because the problem has just become too big and too dramatic and too impactful on too many lives for us to just sit back and say "whatever" anymore. Hena Cuevas>> And it might be getting harder because now the city of Los Angeles is also considering requiring home improvement stores to provide day labor sites near their stores as well. I'm Hena Cuevas 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, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Remember Proposition 71? That was the stem cell initiative that promised to put California on the cutting edge of this promising new technology. It allocated three billion dollars toward stem cell research, so here we are two years later and not a dollar has been spent. How did that happen? We came to City of Hope in Duarte, a premier cancer research and treatment center. We talked with its President, Dr. Michael Friedman. City of Hope has been doing stem cell research for decades and Dr. Friedman is on the Citizens Committee that oversees stem cell funding. Now Proposition 71 was passed back in 2004. Three billion dollars worth of funding for stem cell research and yet not a dollar has been spent yet. What's going on? What's happened? Dr. Michael Friedman>> Well, it's not exactly true to say that not a dollar has been spent, but the project has been really much slower than we would have liked. There have been legal challenges which have really slowed and made it impossible for the bonds to be issued. So all the money that was going to be set aside for the research, this three billion dollars over ten years, that's all been delayed. Val Zavala>> The lawsuits from conservative groups don't challenge stem cell research per se. Instead, they object to the way the money is being channeled. They say it's state money and should only be handled by state officials, not a Citizens Committee. Proposition 71 supporters expect the lawsuits will eventually fail. Now Proposition 71 sort of promised to put California on the avant-garde, right on the cutting edge of this research. With all these delays and whatnot, have those hopes kind of dwindled? Dr. Michael Friedman>> Well, the frustration that's grown from not having the funding available is certainly increasing. I think that there's much good research going on in the state of California because there are many fine research institutions that are doing this work today, but it's not progressing at the pace that we would have liked and I think there are other states that are thinking about how they can do something like what we've done. Although in scale, California is still far and away the biggest and the most dramatic, but there are other nations around the world. Singapore, the United Kingdom, Israel, other countries where stem cell research is really being promoted and supported by the government to a much greater extent and great progress is being made there. However, there's another set of activities that's really required a lot of attention. Coming up with processes, how to review the applications, conflict of interest, patient protection and safety, data integrity. All of these are very important features because this is a great trust placed in us by the state of California, by the citizens, and we want to get it right. Val Zavala>> Now those guidelines and standards are specially important in light of the South Korean stem cell scandal. Tell us how that might impact California and perhaps tell people exactly what happened there. Dr. Michael Friedman>> Well, a very prominent researcher in South Korea, someone who made extravagant claims about the value of his research, turned out to be a liar, a fraud. Tremendously disappointing, tremendously frustrating, but not really getting to the integrity of the research that goes on here. I think what's important for the public to understand is that mistakes, whether they're innocent mistakes because of, let's say, sloppiness or random statistical variation or purposeful mistakes -- fraud, lying, cheating -- both of those things are unacceptable. Both of those things need to be eliminated. So we need a system that is as accurate and as transparent and as trustworthy as possible. Val Zavala>> So do you think that the scandal in South Korea has actually hurt the cause of stem cell research here in the United States? Dr. Michael Friedman>> I think what it's done is to blemish the awe of science. It has been a bit of a blemish for those people who are critical of stem cell research. It gives them a reason to be even further critical. But has it really affected the integrity of the stem cell science or the intention of what we hope to do with the money from Proposition 71? The answer to that is no. Val Zavala>> So you hope that soon the money, the three billion dollars, will be freed up and start to fund research projects. What kind of research projects can we expect to see? Dr. Michael Friedman>> Well, we certainly do look forward to when this major funding is available. I can say that many institutions in California, including the City of Hope, are already pursuing some of this research with funds that we're identifying on our own. But there's hardly an area of medicine that you can imagine that won't be touched by some of this research. Cardiology, bone disease, devastating neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury or Parkinson's Disease or Multiple Sclerosis and one of our own particular interests here, cancer, and how to better treat cancer patients, and diabetes and how to better treat those patients. Val Zavala>> Give us just one example of the kind of cancer research that's connected to stem cell that's happening here. Dr. Michael Friedman>> One of our investigators is doing very interesting work with a kind of stem cell. It's not an embryonic stem cell, but still it's a kind of stem cell in which we're able to show that those cells go to any part of the body where there may be a tumor hiding and can actually be used as a vehicle to bring treatment to that tumor. It's enormously exciting. I also wanted to mention that we've been doing a kind of stem cell research here for thirty years. Bone marrow transplantation is a kind of stem cell research. Hematologic adult stem cell research is not prohibited by any laws in the United States today. We've had much support for this, but more than eight thousand patients have benefited from this kind of technology. So there's a wonderful, rich tradition in the state of California, and here at the City of Hope, and on that, we're burnishing that tradition with the new research with embryonic and other kinds of stem cells. Val Zavala>> And just to remind people, we're talking about therapeutic stem cell research, not the cloning, correct? That's two very basic differences. Dr. Michael Friedman>> What an important distinction you're making. Cloning people is absolutely unacceptable. It's illegal and it's immoral. Val Zavala>> Or animals? Dr. Michael Friedman>> I wouldn't say animals because people are cloning animals and some of that research is continuing. But for people, this is absolutely prohibited and is not in any sense supported by Proposition 71. That would be illegal. However, there are many kinds of therapeutic uses of stem cells not just to help patients, but to understand diseases better and to try and identify treatments better. So there are so many areas that this is potentially promising. Val Zavala>> So how important is it that California be the first, in a sense, to make progress on stem cell research? Dr. Michael Friedman>> I think the important thing is the recognition, the daily recognition, of the patients that need these treatments and they need them now. It's going to take us years to develop it. The race is not a race for fame, for glory, for recognition or money. The race is for who's going to give something to patients that they desperately need right now. That, I think, is what's driving the vast majority of scientists not just in California, but in America. Val Zavala>> Of course, the question everyone asks is, when will we see the results? How quickly can we see some cures? That's always the question you get, yes? Dr. Michael Friedman>> It is absolutely the question. It's the question that drives everyone day after day. The true answer is, I don't know. I want to hope that there will be quick benefits for patients that we'll see in dramatic fashion. I don't know that that's going to occur. I am very confident that ultimately important therapies will come from this, but I can't tell you when and I can't tell you for which diseases. But I am absolutely, personally sure that this is going to happen. Val Zavala>> Well, Dr. Friedman, we'll come back in a few years and see what progress we've made. Thank you so much. Dr. Michael Friedman>> 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. Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week is from writer-director, Albert Brooks, as he stars in his comedy, "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Andy Klein of City Beat and Valley Beat, and Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor. Peter, what did you think of "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World"? Peter Rainer>> Well, I love Albert Brooks movies as a rule, though I think he hasn't really made a terrific one in some time. His first couple, including "Real Life" and "Modern Romance" were vastly first-rate, "Lost in America". This movie is kind of a throwback to his first film, "Real Life". He's playing himself or at least, you know, he's playing Albert Brooks, a kind of not terribly successful comic who goes up for an audition in the beginning for a remake of "Harvey" directed by Penny Marshall (laughter) and is rejected and is sort of, you know, down in his cups. Then he gets an offer out of the blue from the State Department to go to India and Pakistan and find out what makes Muslims laugh and then write a five hundred page report about it. So he decides, mainly because he's going to get a Medal of Honor thing to wear around his neck, that he'll do this and he goes to India where he has the accompaniment of two State Department lackeys, one guy who always has a bug in his ear, you know, to talk to someone. The problem with the movie is that it doesn't really live up to this terrific premise. India is really not the place to go if you're looking for humor in the Muslim world, so what you end up with is a lot of kind of second-tier Albert Brooks shtick. Larry Mantle>> Andy, what did you think? Andy Klein>> Yeah, I'm almost all down the line with Pete on this. I think it's quite a fun film, but it's not nearly as edgy and daring as the title made it sound. The title described what would be a really terrific and, like I say, very risky kind of film. This is pretty standard issue culture clash stuff that, because Albert, you know, is such a funny guy, it's funny stuff. But it's very mild by his standards. Larry Mantle>> Our next film tells the real-life story of a group of missionaries to the Ecuadorian jungle in the late 1950's. The film is titled "End of the Spear". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Andy, what did you think of "End of the Spear"? Andy Klein>> Well, this is a sort of interesting film and it's reasonably well made, but I'm kind of bothered by how it's being promoted. It's being sold as a jungle adventure and indeed there is some jungle adventure in it. It's about a group of people going into the Amazon during the 1950's to try and allegedly save this tribe called the Waodani. You only find out about a third of the way in, and not really clearly until two-thirds, that their idea of saving the Waodani is bringing them the good news about Jesus. Larry Mantle>> So they're missionaries? Andy Klein>> They're missionaries, and this film is clearly a missionary film which is fine and dandy except they're not really being very upfront about it. And by the end, it has become such a religious tract that people are having visions and, for some of us, that kind of leaves us out of the action. It's nicely shot. The lead performance, who's a guy named Louie Leonardo who's playing the main Waodani, believe it or not, is quite good. He's sort of angry and simmering the whole time. I enjoyed it, but by the end, I just felt, you know, this is not the film for me and I wish they had been a little more honest about that. Larry Mantle>> And this week's liberal documentary film is "Why We Fight". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Peter, your thoughts on the documentary, "Why We Fight"? Peter Rainer>> Well, if this title rings a bell, it's because Frank Capra did a series of patriotic documentaries during World War II and Eugene Jarecki, who's the director of this film, is attempting to show how the military industrial complex, a term that was coined by Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell presidential address, has really kind of taken over the country, that three-quarters of a trillion dollars a year is devoted to defense and that the government itself has become a kind of, you know, savings and loan for the people who really own the country, etc., etc. Gore Vidal, Richard Perle, Chalmers Johnson, John McCain and quite a few people are interviewed in this movie. The tone of the film overall is Michael Moorish. No one really gets a chance to analyze very much their own position, so there's a lot of smash and grab footage and, you know, sideways interviews and things that really don't lend itself to the kind of detailed political analysis that you would want for a film like this. Larry Mantle>> What did you think, Andy? Andy Klein>> Yeah, I basically really liked this. It's true that it's taken on such a big subject that it's almost impossible, I think, not to be jumping back and forth. The people who were interviewed, a lot of them -- I found it refreshing -- were fairly establishment types. I mean, sure, you get Gore Vidal, but Chalmers Johnson does not appear to be, you know, a raving socialist and Richard Perle certainly isn't, but then he's presenting the opposite side. But it does do a certain amount of analysis about what's happened to American culture because of the rise of the military industrial complex. It makes a very nice case that Eisenhower has kind of been under-rated, although somebody does take a shot at him later, a critical shot during one of the interviews. But it's very relevant to all kinds of stuff going on in the news right now and that may also be a problem because, of course, the news keeps really giving more and more material that the guy probably would have liked to have put in the film every day. Larry Mantle>> And finally, another documentary this week, "Boys of Baraka". [Film Clip] Larry Mantle>> Andy, what did you think of the documentary, "Boys of Baraka"? Andy Klein>> Well, it starts with an interesting real-world situation. There's a program in Baltimore where they take every year twenty kids from the most hopeless ghetto neighborhoods, you know, kids who really don't have any good options for them. For junior high, they send them to Africa to a school in the middle of nowhere in Kenya and they do two years there. One of the children, you follow them all along, but unfortunately -- and I hope this doesn't give something away -- but they don't get to spend the whole time because there are problems with the political situation in Kenya. So what starts out as "Isn't this a great program" and "Doesn't this really give you hope that things can be improved" and then suddenly that gets smashed against the ground when the program is essentially dismantled. It's a relatively insightful documentary. I didn't feel that it really -- you really have to distinguish yourself heavily in the kind of flood of well-meaning, nicely done liberal documentaries and this one for me didn't quite pull out of the pack. Larry Mantle>> Thanks for joining us for another FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor, and Andy Klein of city Beat and Valley Beat. Please join us again next week at this same time for the next FilmWeek on Life and Times. Val Zavala>> And remember, you can hear a full hour of FilmWeek Friday mornings at eleven a.m. on KPCC public radio. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala for Life and Times. Thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow. Announcer>> 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. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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