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Life & Times Transcript
02/08/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Gambling has become more popular with Americans and, for one group, it's become more of a problem. Dr. Timothy Fong>> The Chinese equate, if you win a lot of money gambling, that you are blessed with a lot of luck, that the ancestors somehow look down on you with good fortune. Val Zavala>> And then, is it humor or blasphemy? Why has a series of political cartoons set off such violent protests? 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>> There are more opportunities to gamble in our society than ever before and that means there are more gambling addicts than ever before. But one community is especially susceptible to this addiction. Sam Louie has their story. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> Whether it's the thrill of winning, the dream of hitting a big jackpot or just the adrenalin rush of taking a risk, Americans love to gamble. Dr. Timothy Fong>> It was generating more money than sports, movies, amusement parks combined. Sam Louie>> And gambling revenues today are more than double what they were ten years ago. Dr. Timothy Fong is the co-director of the UCLA gambling studies program. Dr. Timothy Fong>> We're essentially a gambling nation kind of like the way we're a fast food nation. So, in a way, Americans' appetite for gambling is just growing and growing and, as demand grows and the supply grows, more and more folks are certainly participating in gambling. Sam Louie>> But no group loves to gamble more than Asian-Americans and that has led to a serious problem: gambling addiction. Dr. Timothy Fong>> In Chinatown, in San Francisco's Chinatown in the late 1990s, they did a prevalence study and found out about twenty percent of people who were living in San Francisco's Chinatown met the criteria for problem pathological gambling. In other study on the east coast in Connecticut, they found roughly a forty percent prevalence rate among Southeast Asian first generation immigrants. Sam Louie>> John Wang of Rowland Heights is a recovering gambling addict. He came to the United States in 1979 to study computer science at USC. Wang left Taiwan on his own, but he brought with him his love of cards and chance. John Wang>> First month, within a month, I cannot wait to visit Las Vegas. Sam Louie>> Wang did not bet much while he was in school, but after he graduated and got married, both he and his wife had good-paying jobs as software engineers. Wang could not resist the high-stakes action of Las Vegas. John Wang>> Every year, I always lose about an average ten thousand a year during that period of time from 1981 to 1987 and 1988. Sam Louie>> At this point, were you thinking you might have a gambling problem? John Wang>> No, at the time, I was thinking I really had a bad habit. Sam Louie>> Shortly afterwards, he decided to try and outsmart the system by learning how to count cards. It paid off handsomely. Wang won a total of eighty thousand dollars at Blackjack during two trips to Vegas. John Wang>> I feel like I'm not inside the airplane. I feel like I'm just on top of the airplane and floating back home. I think, wow! On the last flight, what I dreamed of was going to come true because two trips in a row I win so much money. At that time, I definitely feel like I'm a pro. Sam Louie>> But the good times didn't last long. Within six months, he lost that eighty thousand and was also one hundred thousand dollars in debt. John Wang>> I was easily going crazy. So mad with my wife, with my kids. I was yelling and sometimes throwing things. I could see myself losing control. Sam Louie>> His wife, Catherine, knew it was taking a toll on the marriage and their three young children. Catherine Wang>> The children were in fear because, when the parents' relationship is not good, we are arguing all the time and fighting over this problem, and they are just victims of the whole thing because our minds are on this problem. We don't have time for them. Later on, they told me that, when we are arguing and quarreling, they just ran upstairs and cried together. Sam Louie>> At UCLA, Dr. Timothy Fong is conducting a one-year study to better understand the relationship between Asians and gambling here in the Los Angeles region. Dr. Timothy Fong>> Every casino you go into here in Los Angeles, you see a high percentage of Asian gambling, much higher than the actual prevalence rates of Asians who are in California, which is around eleven or twelve percent. So you go in the casinos and it's like forty, fifty, sixty percent of the patrons are Asian. Sam Louie>> Casinos often target Asian communities with flyers, mailings, phone calls and cheap shuttle services to and from the casinos. Experts say Asians are one of the most vulnerable groups to develop a gambling addiction. That's because culturally gambling is often seen as an acceptable form of socialization. In addition, the themes of luck, chance and superstition play a major role in Asian tradition. Dr. Timothy Fong>> The Chinese equate, if you win a lot of money gambling, that you are blessed with a lot of luck, that the ancestors somehow look down on you with good fortune, and the Chinese equate those who win a lot of money with being good people from moral standpoints. Whereas, if they lost a lot of money, they're seen as not only losing financially, but somehow bankrupt morally too. Sam Louie>> These types of attitudes along with their pride in keeping the family name honorable makes it hard for many Asians to ask for help. Catherine Wang>> I think a lot of people, the gambler or especially in the Asian or Chinese communities, because of the face issue, we don't want to open our problems. In this way, it's very difficult to reach out and get help. Sam Louie>> By the time Catherine's husband admitted he was addicted to gambling, their marriage was in turmoil. John was depressed and even considered suicide. John Wang>> I think if I cannot bring the money back, I'd better die than suffer. Diane Ujiiye>> We're also seeing what we call ancillary problems, such as domestic violence, alcoholism, bankruptcy. Sam Louie>> Diane Ujiiye is the chair of the Asian-Pacific Islander Gambling Task Force. She wants the state to develop more outreach and prevention services specifically targeting Asians like a model program in San Francisco. Diane Ujiiye>> They've developed in-language materials that de-stigmatize problems in pathological gambling. They have a hotline, a help line, in Mandarin and Cantonese. They also have trained, certified in-language counselors. Sam Louie>> The state contributes three million dollars to fund brochures and a toll-free hotline for gambling addicts. Ujiiye would like the state to spend more on counselors to help Asian-Americans in particular, both the gambler and the families. Diane Ujiiye>> When the gambler goes home, the family often has a whole host of problems to contend with. So we want to be able to also educate the wife or the auntie or the children about what's going on with the gambler. Sam Louie>> After more than a decade of uncontrollable gambling, depression and a marriage teetering on divorce, John Wang broke his addiction to gambling. He gives much of the credit to a local Chinese church. [Film Clip] Sam Louie>> He credits God, prayer and family support for the biggest victory of his life. John Wang>> There's hope. If you admit you have this problem, then you can overcome just like I did. In thirty years, I never went back to gamble again. Sam Louie>> Wang admits that, for Asian-Americans, breaking through the cultural belief that winning at gambling is a blessing will make it harder for gamblers to quit, but he did it and wants others in his community to know that the only real losers are those who are afraid to get help for their addiction. I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> Now for this Life and Times story update. Last September, we told you about Crenshaw High School. At the time, it was a school in crisis. Curriculum did not meet state standards, absenteeism and tardiness were chronic, test scores were dismal. So the Western Association of Schools and Colleges stripped Crenshaw High of its accreditation, something that happens to only two percent of California high schools. But now the good news. On January 31, Crenshaw High was re-accredited for a year. The accreditation was restored after school administrators reduced class size and instituted stricter policies and procedures. The LAUSD allocated five million dollars for improvement. Two hundred laptop computers were brought in. Winning back their accreditation has boosted morale. Carol Hart>> Actually, I think this has almost been a blessing in disguise because there were a lot of apathetic parents and community members who just thought that it was business as usual. Now that they see that things aren't business as usual, they've risen to the occasion. Val Zavala>> The accreditation is for one year. Crenshaw's principal says a lot of work remains to be done and the association will be back to review the school's progress. 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". Anne McDermott>> Have you been wondering why the political reaction in the Mideast has been so very, very intense over some cartoons? Well, we got some answers here at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. That's where Dr. Dudley Woodbury is Professor of Islamic Studies when he isn't on one of his many visits to Islamic countries around the world. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> Dr. Woodbury is not surprised at the protests against political cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> Muslims' identity is tied up with Mohammed. There are a number of reasons for this. He is their role model. He's considered the ideal person. Even their confession of faith, "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God". The part "there is no God but God", that links them with Jews and Christians as monotheists. But it is "and Mohammed is the Apostle of God" that makes them unique. Then Islam is considered a total way of life. Politics, ethnicity, religion, nationality. So for Mohammed to be the model, that applies to every area of their life. When you look at blasphemy laws in that part of the world -- we lived in Pakistan, we lived in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, many parts of the Muslim world -- but in Pakistan, when they talk about the blasphemy law, it is usually applied to defaming Mohammed, not to defaming God. They will not even mention the name of Mohammed without a blessing after it, a blessing which says "Prayers and peace be upon him". Then they won't even make a picture of him, even a sacred picture of him. Now the Persians or Iranians do sometimes, but generally the orthodox Muslims will not even make a picture of him that is a holy picture. Anne McDermott>> Yet Western media have treated Western religious icons in ways that offend many Christians, depicting a rapper in a Christ-like pose, for example. Do Westerners care less about religion? Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> No, no. We do care about our religion. These are offensive and, again, we would say, if our liberties and where our neighbors begin, these are really crowding on the area of religious Christians, for example. Having said this, even people who feel very strongly about the Bible -- Christians -- will put a Bible sometimes down on the floor or will put a hymn book on the floor or put it on the seat beside them when they're sitting in a church pew. A Muslim would never do this. They have Koran holders to hold them high. So for them to be religious, they feel that they have to be much more observant of the symbols and the sacredness of the symbols and the caring of symbols. Anne McDermott>> As for the protests, well, Dr. Woodbury believes the fact that the protests are occurring now is understandable. Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> Lots of things have been building up for some time. A feeling of injustice over the Palestine-Israel situation, a feeling of being invaded by non-Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq no matter how well intentioned we were in all of this. Then the pressure on Iran not to develop nuclear capabilities right now. Now what we don't realize is that this is at a period of time -- it's called the Tenth of Maharram for Shiite Muslims and a majority of Iranians are Shiites -- this is when they have the greatest religious fervor of any time of the year. Way back during the Khomeini regime, it was at the Tenth of Muharram time that the American Embassy was taken over. So this is a time of great religious fervor, so for this type of thing to happen right now is like lancing a boil that lets out all of the frustrations that have been building up over a period of time. Anne McDermott>> It sounds as though ultimately this has very little to do with political cartoons. Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> I would say that there has been enough frustrations that have built up on both sides so that it doesn't take as much as we might think to lance the boil, you might say. What you've had is, for years, Muslims settling in the West. On the one hand, they have often not been sensitive to the feelings of the Westerners. On the other hand, many of them have gotten frustrated without jobs and being looked at as second class citizens in many cases. So frustrations have been building up on both sides and it sometimes takes that straw on the camel. But I would say that, when you're talking about Mohammed, it's much more than a straw on a camel. It's a whole bale of hay, you might say, on the camel. This is a very sensitive issue for them, but it's releasing frustrations that have built up for a much longer time. Anne McDermott>> Dr. Woodbury says that Westerners must be more sensitive to their neighbors just as Muslims must, and the current protests will end eventually. Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> The whole region will probably have their voice. There's a sense that each person, each area, has to protest in some way. I would hope that, once each region has had their opportunity to protest, then things can die down. I was happy to see that, for example, in Lebanon where what started out as a peaceful demonstration and then ended up as a violent demonstration, some of the Muslims went to local Christians and said, "We're sorry it went this far. We had no intention of this going this far." So we are getting some of that which makes me feel very good right now. Anne McDermott>> Thank you so much for being with us. Dr. Dudley Woodbury>> Thank you, Anne. I appreciate the opportunity. Anne McDermott>> You're welcome. 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. Val Zavala>> Valuable books can contain more than just words between the covers. Sometimes they have engravings, maps, even prints by renowned artists. Patt Morrison discovered that when she visited an antiquarian book store in Beverly Hills. Patt Morrison>> Most people think that collecting antiquarian books involves a great deal of money, but they also involve three different kinds of books. You don't have to be rich, but you have to know what you're looking for. You said the first thing is about the text, about the actual words themselves. Gordon Hollis>> That's right. Most book collectors collect texts. Perhaps they're college professors themselves in their school and doesn't have books on the subject, so -- Patt Morrison>> -- so it's the words that matter to them. Gordon Hollis>> Sure. They can get it in any form they want. Very often, they will go throughout their travels and find books in their subject matter and they'll build a whole collection where it didn't exist before. Patt Morrison>> But then, after that, there are books that, as you said, are about the object. You have some amazing objects here. Gordon Hollis>> Well, remember that a book travels through time. We've had printed books since the middle of the fifteenth century. It's estimated that, by the year 1500, there were between fifteen and twenty million physical volumes available in the world. Patt Morrison>> By the year -- Gordon Hollis>> 1500. Patt Morrison>> 1500. That many? Gordon Hollis>> That's right. For example, within a few years of Guttenberg, printing presses spread to Italy, then to Germany, then to Portugal, then to Spain, and everyone made more than one copy, so we were awash in books and they still do exist. One of the interesting points about book collecting is to see how it's traveled through time. Patt Morrison>> Well, one of the things you mentioned about text is that it doesn't matter whether it's a paperback or you've printed it out from the internet. It's the words, but it was the object, and you have some wonderful objects to show us. This one too. This is why I think books matter, not just the text, but the books because -- lay it in my hands. Tell us about this book. Gordon Hollis>> Well, it's a little ballet from 1756 -- Patt Morrison>> -- I guess it's that way, sorry. Gordon Hollis>> -- and the text is only forty pages. It's unadorned, but it was bound for the future of Louis the Sixteenth. Now he may not have read it, and his grandfather would dance in the ballets, but he presented it to patrons of the ballet or nobles of court. Patt Morrison>> So it's entirely -- although Louis was a locksmith rather than a great book reader, it's possible that the man who lost his head in the French Revolution held this book. Gordon Hollis>> That's right. Patt Morrison>> And the beauty of it is also -- Gordon Hollis>> -- well, it's a beautiful green goatskin called Morocco and it's all decorated and it's got the arms of Louis the Sixteenth. But what's also interesting is to find out who owned it over time. Very often, there are notes and, if perhaps a choreographer had owned this, he would have made his own notes as to the ballet, so it wouldn't do one much good to have any other text but this for that study. Patt Morrison>> And you also have -- talk about a book traveling through time -- you have a first edition of Jane Austen in which her name does not appear on it. Gordon Hollis>> Well, yes. This is a very valuable book. This set of three volumes is priced at sixty thousand dollars. Patt Morrison>> And this is "Pride & Prejudice". Gordon Hollis>> This is "Pride & Prejudice". Some say it's the greatest novel of its century and it's certainly been made into a movie. Patt Morrison>> Many times. Gordon Hollis>> It's rare for several reasons. Jane Austen is an icon. "Pride & Prejudice" was written without an author's name on the title page, so nobody knew it was that Jane Austen. Patt Morrison>> So before she knew everybody liked it (laughter), she wasn't going to put her name on it. Yes, I know the feeling. Gordon Hollis>> It was difficult for a woman to be a novelist. Patt Morrison>> Yes, of course, and they sometimes used men's names. Gordon Hollis>> Sure, as the Bronte's did. Patt Morrison>> Now the third one you talked about was the book is a symbol and a treasure and my eye is caught by "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Aldous Huxley, of course, lived and died in Los Angeles and he died on the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. But this is something that evokes not just a piece of literature and not just a novel, but the era of the time. Is that its value as this kind of symbol? Gordon Hollis>> Well, I think young people like the modern novels. "Brave New World" certainly had its great impact on people after the 1960s and that makes up the majority of collectors in the rare book world for the last twenty years. I think that this is the original as it appeared at the time and a collector wants to see something from the time rather than a paperback or something on eBooks. Patt Morrison>> Yes, when it was actually when the author was with us. Gordon Hollis>> That's right and, if it's signed, that's why people will -- Patt Morrison>> -- so much the better. Gordon Hollis>> So much the better. It brings them closer. Patt Morrison>> You know that he actually had his hands on that particular copy. Gordon Hollis>> Yes. That's the point. Patt Morrison>> That's a thrill. When we think of a rare book collection, we think of books, objects like this. But the collection that you have acquired, Isadora Duncan, it is so much more than books. Gordon Hollis>> Remember, she moved in time, so a book is not going to capture her. Patt Morrison>> So, in something like fifteen hundred objects in this collection, we have sculptures of her in motion. We have photographs, cabinet photographs. Tell us a little bit about what's in the Isadora Duncan collection. Gordon Hollis>> Well, it's vast. Howard Holtzman was a Los Angeles lawyer who devoted over thirty-three years to collecting Isadora. He collected books, programs. He was able to get all her business contracts from the family of Gordon Craig. Patt Morrison>> Who was her lover for a while. But you mentioned why people start collections. Why did Mr. Holtzman start his Duncan collection? What was his obsession? Gordon Hollis>> He read about Isadora Duncan when he was in college and he just got caught by the bug. He was a very good business attorney, but he started to collect and then he said, "I'm going to make an Isadora Duncan collection." Patt Morrison>> This is a scarf designed by her brother, Raymond? Gordon Hollis>> Who had an academy in Paris and he made his own silkscreen scarves. They're quite beautiful and they're rare. Patt Morrison>> And these are her poses, many of the dance moves that she made. Gordon Hollis>> Modern dance. Patt Morrison>> Now we can fairly say, I think, that this is her china? Gordon Hollis>> That's correct. Patt Morrison>> With her -- Gordon Hollis>> Monogram. Patt Morrison>> Monogram, and we can say that Isadora Duncan ate here. Gordon Hollis>> And it was designed by Gordon Craig, so she probably ate with him. Patt Morrison>> Can you show it to us and pick it up? I'm really afraid to. Gordon Craig was her lover and the set designer. Gordon Hollis>> He was a very important set designer. He actually did many of his set designs based on the simplicity of her dancing, so he designed her monogram for her letterhead and also for her plates. Patt Morrison>> And, of course, we have all of the historic Duncan drawings that Mr. Holtzman collected over the years. He really was quite taken with her. What goes into thinking of a collection? Gordon Hollis>> Well, first and foremost, you have to decide what you like. It's a very fascinating field for the collector, the librarian or the book dealer because you never know what you're going to see. Patt Morrison>> And for the amateur, as well as the professional? Gordon Hollis>> Amateur means "to love". That's the technical term for it. The lover of things. It is an experience of loving to put something together and then passing it on. Val Zavala>> You can see the Isadora Duncan collection yourself at the International Antiquarian Book Fair running February 17th through the 19th. For more information, go to their website at labookfair.com. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. 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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