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Life & Times Transcript
06/14/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- They may look cute, but how long could you put up with this? [Film Clip] Bob Gunderson>> And they've sunk a couple of boats in this harbor. They've gotten to not fear us whatsoever and now we're on the defensive. Val Zavala>> And then, his handiwork is a familiar landmark, but there's a lot you don't know about the man behind the Watts Towers. 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>> Newport Beach has been hit by a crime wave of sorts and the slippery culprits have been known to attack swimmers, damage property and even raid fishing boats. And on top of it all, they're protected by federal law. Who are they? Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, has the story. Roger Cooper>> Newport Beach. It's one of the largest small-boat harbors in the world and one of the most beautiful. It's no wonder it attracts visitors from all over, including these recent arrivals. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> They're big, they're back and they bark, scores of sea lions. Like humans, they enjoy a sun-drenched deck and, like humans, they enjoy climbing aboard boats, and that's where the problems begin. Bob Gunderson>> And they've sunk a couple of boats in this harbor. They've gotten to not fear us whatsoever and now we're on the defensive. Roger Cooper>> This is the second year in a row that a large contingent of sea lions has shown up in Newport Harbor. Chris Miller>> Well, this year started around late April. Roger Cooper>> Chris miller is the harbor resources supervisor. Chris Miller>> We had a problem last year from about May until almost October. The sea lions disappeared and now they're back and we are doing our best to try and deter them in the harbor here. Roger Cooper>> They're always big, they're sometimes angry and you never know where they're going to pop up. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Don't be deceived by these limpid big brown eyes looking up at you out of the water. To get what they want, they're perfectly willing to throw their considerable weight around, as much as six hundred, even eight hundred, pounds of it. From a sea lion's point of view, they just need to get out of the water from time to time. Sunning keeps their body temperature regulated and, to them, any boat or dock they happen upon works just fine. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Watch as Cris Deck tries to convince two pesky sea lions not to take up residence on her friend's dock. Who are your friends there? Cris Deck>> They aren't friends at all, actually. [Film Clip] Roger Cooper>> Well done, huh? What do you think of sea lions? Cris Deck>> I think they're a nuisance. I thought they were really great until I learned about them. Roger Cooper>> Well, you seem not to be too afraid of them. Cris Deck>> Well, I didn't realize how scary they were until I just did that, to be perfectly honest. Roger Cooper>> Permission to come aboard is not in the sea lion's vocabulary and, once on board, they do more than just lounge. Chris Miller>> They also creating some damage for the vessels themselves. They'll board the vessels and move around on them, breaking windows and port holes. Roger Cooper>> Boat captain and yacht sails man, Bob Gunderson, has been dealing with these slippery creatures up close and now it's personal. If I mentioned sea lions, what would you say? Bob Gunderson>> Not good. Roger Cooper>> Why? Bob Gunderson>> Well, only because of -- I mean, they're here for a purpose and I do appreciate that, but they've been allowed to roam free. They're protected and now they're creating damage, as you can see right here. Roger Cooper>> Damage in the form of discoloration wherever their big bodies have been. Chris Miller>> The oils on their fur actually leach out on the fiberglass of the boats and it's really hard to get off and they are doing damage to the vessels. Bob Gunderson>> And it's just barely starting to cut it. Now if I have to go get Comet and all that, that's takes the gel coat. You know, it's like sandpaper. Roger Cooper>> And then there's the incessant barking. What's it like in the middle of the night down here? Bob Gunderson>> A barking fiasco. I mean, they're barking back and forth. [Film Clip] Chris Miller>> They're very territorial. Once they find a place that they like to haul out on, they bark continuously fighting for that territory, so that disturbs the waterfront residents because it keeps them up at night. Bob Gunderson>> They're such a deep-throated, you know, high def that it's very annoying. Roger Cooper>> What does it sound like? Bob Gunderson>> (Bark) Best I can do and that's not even close (laughter). Roger Cooper>> Meanwhile, back at the dock, mere minutes after being shooed away by Cris, the persistent sea lion returned and hopped right back on the dock. Newport's residents are limited in what they can do because these sea lions are protected by federal law. Chris Miller>> Which means that we can't harm them in any way and we have to be respectful of them and learn how to deter them without harming them. Roger Cooper>> So what can be done to co-exist with sea lions? Lots of things have been tried. Many boats now sport plastic snow fences to act as barriers to boarding. Chairs are strategically placed to block swim ladders. And Newport Beach has passed a law against dumping fish parts that sea lions like to eat into the harbor. The owner of this boat has even put up a scarecrow for sea lions. Chris Miller>> One person did actually put a real live scarecrow on their vessel and hung it from their mast. I don't know if that worked or not. Roger Cooper>> Which begs the question, if a scarecrow only had a brain, could it defeat a not so cowardly lion? The best bets are on this gadget, a new device called the Scarecrow. It was invented by a former radio announcer in Canada. Announcer>> "It's the Scarecrow motion activated sprinkler." Roger Cooper>> Eric Djukastein develops devices to shoo all kinds of critters away from gardens, including deer, dogs and raccoons. When this scarecrow's electronic brain detects motion, say a sea lion boarding a boat for a nap, it sets off a sprinkler head throwing out water. Sea lions don't like being sprayed when they're trying to warm up. Eric Djukastein>> If you're a self-respecting sea lion and you activate this device, you're going to get startled by the sound of this instant activated sprinkler that activates instantly and it will make this sound right beside you and you're going to go, just like that. Roger Cooper>> Harbor officials asked Eric's company to come down from Canada and tackle their sea lion problem, so Eric set up a modified version of the Scarecrow on a test boat fitted with solar panels and a seawater pump. Eric Djukastein>> For three weeks while the unit had battery power, we were successful at keeping sea lions off one particular boat that they had occupied. Roger Cooper>> But we wanted a demonstration, so we asked the president of the company if he wouldn't mind sneaking up on the Scarecrow as if he were a sea lion. But everyone knows sea lions are cunning and can learn to outsmart devices. Eric Djukastein>> And if the sea lion is angry about it, he can blame it on Canada. You can certainly say that. We're happy to take the blame. Roger Cooper>> If the Scarecrow device works out, it will cost about eighty-nine dollars to install it on a dock, more than five hundred for a boat anchored in the harbor. Is it worth it? Think of the alternative. Bob Gunderson>> (Bark, bark) And that's half throttle (laughter). Roger Cooper>> In Newport Harbor, I'm Roger Cooper 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>> If you know your history, you know that President Bush's guest worker program is not a new idea. During World War II, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border legally as part of the Bracero program. And now the Smithsonian Institution wants to preserve this history before it's too late. As Hena Cuevas tells us, Los Angeles is a key collection point. Hena Cuevas>> Some walk in alone, signing their names, eager to share their stories. They're Braceros, men who more than sixty years ago came to the United States from Mexico to work. Guadalupe Garcia>> We need the history. You know, the story about . . . Hena Cuevas>> Seventy-five year old Guadalupe Garcia first came to California in 1954. Today he's sharing his story with researcher, Mireya Loza. Mireya Loza>> What did your mother say when you told her you wanted to come as a Bracero? Guadalupe Garcia>> My parents cried. I said, "Look, things are better there." And I said, "Mom, I'm leaving" and my parents started crying. In those days, you realize how difficult it was to leave your kids and parents behind. Mireya Loza>> Braceros are at a point in their lives where they want the story told and they want their story preserved. Many are in their eighties with deteriorating health and they realize that their story can be lost. Hena Cuevas>> And that's what the Bracero history project is trying to do through stories like Garcia's. Guadalupe Garcia>> We work hard over here, pretty hard, ten or twelve hours. No Sundays, nothing sometimes. When the work come up, you work day and night sometimes. I used to work at nighttime too. Hena Cuevas>> The project, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History, is traveling around the country collecting these men's stories. Researcher Loza and former Bracero Garcia meet for more than an hour in front of a tape recorder. Mireya Loza>> Tell me about your hometown. How was it? Guadalupe Garcia>> It was pretty before, but now it's not. Everybody has left. It's a ghost town. Hena Cuevas>> The Bracero guest worker program between Mexico and the United States ran for more than twenty years from 1942 to 1964. The workers were given temporary contracts, sometimes as short as six months or as long as a year and a half, most of them working in the fields. George Sanchez>> A lot of people debating the current projects don't realize that, in the past, United States history is full of guest worker programs. Hena Cuevas>> Professor George Sanchez teaches American History at the University of Southern California. He and his students are helping with the Bracero history project. George Sanchez>> Some of them have grandparents who were Braceros. A couple of students are researching Bracero history. So when this opportunity came, they really jumped at the chance. Hena Cuevas>> Knowing the exact number of Braceros still around is a challenge. Here at the Casa de la Americano in East Los Angeles, between two to three hundred of them including the widows of those who have passed away gather together once a month to talk about their past lives, but also to discuss one of the most pressing issues facing them today and that's figuring out how to make sure they get the money that they say is owed to them. That's one hard lesson learned from the Bracero program. Back wages are a frequent topic at these monthly meetings. When these men were in the Bracero program, ten percent of their pay was withheld by Mexico. When they returned, the money was supposed to be waiting for them, but there was a problem. Many did return to Mexico, but never saw the money. George Sanchez>> The money never got to them, so there are various lawsuits underway to try to obtain that money from the entities involved at this point. That tells you how problematic some of the previous efforts have been in kind of ensuring that Braceros abide by their contract, but also that they're paid fair wages. Hena Cuevas>> Sanchez says President George Bush's proposed guest worker program is very similar to the Bracero one as one solution for illegal immigration. George Sanchez>> So part of what we're trying to do is make sure that we know that history so that people are fully informed in terms of proposals that are on the table now for future guest worker programs. Hena Cuevas>> One of those attending the meetings and now sharing his story is seventy year old Jose Delgado. He arrived in the United States in 1955 when he was only twenty. Jose Delgado>> In Mexico, life was very difficult. You could make between four to five pesos working from dusk until dawn. Coming here and making seventy-two cents an hour, that was a big difference. George Sanchez>> It's incredibly important to make sure that they understand that their histories are part of American history, that they play a critical role. They played a critical role not only in World War II, but all the way up to the 1960s in providing critical labor for the United States. Hena Cuevas>> But it's not just their stories. The museum is also looking to collect any artifacts, anything the Braceros may be interested in donating for the exhibit. Mireya Loza>> The Braceros do not get any monetary compensation. All of this is on a donation basis, so we try to make it clear that part of the reason why is because we also want to make this accessible free of charge to everyone. Hena Cuevas>> How difficult is it, then, to convince somebody to part with something that they've had for so many years and that they're so attached to? Mireya Loza>> We do not pry. We do not push. We do say that, you know, if you are willing to and ready to let go of your object, we are willing to take it. We're willing to preserve it. We're willing to archive it and conserve it for you and willing to make sure that this object exists for generations to come. Hena Cuevas>> So far, Loza says the exhibit has gotten mostly photographs and letters which are scanned and preserved. But every once in a while -- Mireya Loza>> A son donated a hat that his father used in the field. He had kept it. His father had passed away a couple of years before he donated the hat, but we were happy to receive that. Hena Cuevas>> But the longer time passes, says Loza, the more of these objects will be lost forever like Delgado's photographs of his time working in the United States with his best friend. Jose Delgado>> In the photographs, we were always together. We were inseparable and he took them. He died, his wife died and I don't know if his kids have them. That's why I wouldn't know how to get them. Hena Cuevas>> That's why Loza always lets the Braceros know the Smithsonian is a place where their precious items will be kept safe. Mireya Loza>> You know, they might not feel comfortable donating today or tomorrow, but if ever they feel as if, you know, they are willing to let it go, they have contact with our curator. I give out the direct number to the curator at the Smithsonian who can talk them through the process. Hena Cuevas>> The collection process will continue for a year. So far, the researchers have visited California, Illinois and Texas. Once the collection is complete, the museum plans on turning it into a traveling exhibit. Guadalupe Garcia>> Because we worked like animals, we deserve to have a history, have a book or something or a movie or whatever. Hena Cuevas>> There's still no movie in the works, but at least for now they'll be getting a spot in the Smithsonian and the chance to have their contributions recognized as part of American history. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. 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>> He was the epitome of a creative eccentric and he left us a national landmark, the Watts Towers. Simon Rodia was also an enigmatic character, but now a new documentary tells his life in richer detail than ever before. The documentary, "I Build The Tower", reveals the life and work of one of Los Angeles's most fascinating residents, Simon Rodia, a poor immigrant from Italy who came to America, worked in construction, got married, became an alcoholic, abused his wife, got divorced, disappeared, then finally emerged on a small plot of land in Watts and proceeded to build these extraordinary structures, what is now a national landmark, the Watts Towers. Filmmaker, Ed Landler, worked with Rodia's great-nephew, Brad Byer, who gave him access to rare archival footage and audio recordings of his Uncle Sam, as he was called, who was always expounding on the state of the world. [Film Clip] Brad Byer>> My first memories were family reunions at my aunt's house and the family was arguing about Sam Rodia himself, arguing about Uncle Sam, whether he was a genius or a bum because the controversy where the Towers swirled around and sometimes raged constantly in our big Italian family. Sam Rodia>> "We got three classes of people all over the world, millionaire class, medium class and the poor class." Brad Byer>> He would hold court and most of the family thought he was crazy because he would just go on and on and on. Sam Rodia>> "You got to do what the boss wants. Wrong or no wrong, do what I tell you." Ed Landler>> Here was an old world peasant coming to an America that was becoming industrial and technological and his skills helped create that world. He was a builder. He worked in construction. [Film Clip] Ed Landler>> Coming to America, oh, go to America, oh, the great country. And what did he find in America? He got kicked around a lot. I mean, he was an immigrant with a thick accent and was the brunt of so many of the prejudices that are still part of our country and it's also part of his story. Brad Byer>> He developed a drinking habit and, by the time he settled with his wife and children in the San Francisco Bay area, he was a big drinker. In his own words, he was a falling down drunk and I believe that this caused the breakup of his family. Probably in 1911 or 1912, I think his wife had enough of it and she divorced him. The kids got taken into a charities home and Sam lit out. Val Zavala>> Then he surfaced about seven years later, the owner of a parcel of land on East 107th Street in Watts, and he was sober. Brad Byer>> He had probably suffered enough and gone through enough pain because of it. He lost everything and he just had enough. As a matter of fact, he says that that's the reason he started the Towers because he threw down the bottle and the glass broke and that was his root inspiration to build the Towers and decorate them with mosaic. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> Rodia worked on the Towers for about twenty years and then inexplicably left the property in 1954. He headed north to join relatives. Five years later, the city of Los Angeles deemed the Towers a safety hazard and wanted to demolish them. That set off a heated controversy and the famous Watts Towers stress test. If they could withstand the test, the Towers could stay. >> "Where we would simulate the force on the side of one of the Towers that the wind would cause or the earthquake would cause and, if the Towers were not pulled down, the city would let the Towers stand." Brad Byer>> Half of our family members felt that they should be pulled over (laughter) and the other half felt the opposite way and I remember the morning of the stress test, my mother was very nervous because she felt he was a great artist and a genius and she was on pins and needles, very anxious the whole day. Then she got a call I believe around two or three in the afternoon that they had stood and they had passed and I remember her being very happy about that. Val Zavala>> The success of the stress test on the Towers made Simon Rodia famous. Brad Byer>> He didn't want to be famous. He didn't want to put his achievement in those sort of terms and I think that's what I remember the most. Val Zavala>> It took twenty-two years to make the documentary. That's longer than it took Rodia to build the Towers. Ed Landler>> Part of it was, for years, there was scaffolding all over the Towers for the city's conservation efforts and we had to work around that. In the end, you know, some of the things we found that are in this film which are most fascinating only turned up, some footage we found of Rodia at the Towers from the early 1950s. Val Zavala>> Where he's crawling up the Towers? Ed Landler>> Where he is climbing up the Towers. We have the black and white footage of him at the Towers. That only came to our attention in the last year and a half before we finished out of nowhere. When I first saw that footage, I said, "Oh, my gosh. No wonder it took so long. We were waiting for this to show up." Sam Rodia>> "Some people they say what does he do. Some other people thinking I was crazy. And some people say that he's going to do something." Val Zavala>> Sam Rodia left the Towers to a neighbor who later sold the land and the Towers for a thousand dollars. But then in 1985, the Towers were made a national historic landmark and a state park. Simon Rodia died in 1965. He was eighty-six. So is it more concurrent now among the family that, yes, he was eccentric, but a genius? Brad Byer>> Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, of course. Val Zavala>> There's no more debates now? Brad Byer>> No, no. They're all one to the great master artist and architect and engineer. Sam Rodia>> "You got to do something they never got in the world." [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> "I Build The Tower" will be showing tomorrow night at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. For details, go to the website at americancinematheque.com. 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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