10/19/04

LC041019

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Should California share the profits from Indian casinos? And
who decides what's fair in a fair share?

James Fisfis>> What's at stake is how much and to what extent
tribes are going to pay for that new growth in gaming and
whether they will all pay or just a few will pay.

Val>> And then, his favorite pastime is kite-flying, but his
art laid the groundwork for a generation of film animators.
Meet artist Tyrus Wong.

It's all coming up next on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> One of the most complicated decisions facing voters this
November is between two competing propositions, both dealing
with Indian gaming. They are Propositions 68 and 70. Both
measures would make Indian tribes pay a fair share of casino
profits to the state government, but as Toni Guinyard explains,
they would go about it in very different ways.

Toni Guinyard>> Lady Luck has found a home in California on
Native-American land, reservations across the state where tribes
operate a total of fifty-three casinos. Tribal gaming is big
business with a huge economic impact.

David Lent>> Most of the tribal members are working in the
casino.

Toni Guinyard>> David Lent is a member of the Paiute tribe in
Bishop, California. He is also a supporter of Proposition 70,
one of two initiatives on the November 2 ballot that would
impact tribal gaming.

David Lent>> Tribes have been more or less on the bottom for
the last hundred or hundred and fifty years. We were pushed
into places that we really didn't want to be and we ended up
making a life there and we survived there. Now that we have
this opportunity and that we've created what we've created,
everybody wants a piece of the pie.

Toni Guinyard>> Everybody, meaning racetracks and card clubs,
non-tribal gaming establishments that are pushing for a stake in
the lucrative world of slots. California tribes have a monopoly
on slot machine play, but voters can change that.

I. Nelson Rose>> I was hired a couple of months ago as a legal
consultant for Proposition 68.

Toni Guinyard>> Whittier Law School Professor, I. Nelson Rose,
is an expert in gaming law. We asked him to decipher the two
Indian gaming related initiatives. First, Proposition 68. If
passed, it would force tribes to pay twenty-five percent of slot
machine revenue to the state. If even one tribe refuses, slot
machines will be permitted at racetracks and card clubs.

The other initiative, Proposition 70, would require tribes to
pay a percentage of their net gaming income into a state fund.
The amount would be equal to the corporate tax rate. In
exchange for this so-called fair share payment, tribes would be
able to have an unlimited number of slot machines and offer
Vegas-styled games like Roulette and Craps.

I. Nelson Rose>> During the recall election more than a year
ago, the tribes were depicted as some sort of evil special
interest.

Arianna Huffington>> "With Arnold Schwarzenegger raising over
eight million dollars from big business, and we have Cruz
Bustamante raising almost four million dollars from the Indian
gaming tribes."

I. Nelson Rose>> That, plus other factors, created kind of a
backlash that said, look, the tribes are making so much money
and they're not paying their fair share. That's the big
expression.

Toni Guinyard>> It's an expression and opinion expressed by
then gubernatorial candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many
analysts believe it helped him win the governor's seat. Now the
fair share issue has surfaced again and voters are being asked
to make some big money decisions.

Advertisement>> "And when did Indian casinos get our okay to
make eight billion dollars a year? Eight billion a year. And
pay no state taxes? No state taxes. Zero taxes. I didn't vote
for that."

I. Nelson Rose>> The card clubs and racetracks looked around
and they've been hit very hard by Indian casinos and they said,
okay, we will put together an initiative that says the tribes
have to pay twenty-five percent of their gross gaming revenue to
the state or they lose their monopoly.

Toni Guinyard>> If voters pass Proposition 68, the tribes must
unanimously agree to pay twenty-five percent of the money they
make on slots to the state. And remember, if even one tribe
refuses to pay, it opens the door to competition.

I. Nelson Rose>> In which case, eleven card clubs and five
racetracks will get thirty thousand slot machines.

Toni Guinyard>> Those racetracks and card clubs would then pay
thirty-three percent of net slot revenues to the state.
Supporters spent roughly twenty-eight million dollars to promote
and back the measure and then the unexpected. Less than one
month before the election, they dropped funding of the campaign.

Ted Green>> It's a step in the right direction, but we're not
going to declare a victory until eight p.m. on November 2.

Toni Guinyard>> Ted Green is the statewide coalition director
of No on Prop 68. While he welcomes the change in opposition,
his coalition will continue campaigning against what he calls
the deceptive gambling propositions.

Brandon Stevenson>> "My name is Brandon Stevenson. I'm with
the No on Proposition 68 campaign."

Ted Green>> Proposition 68 would put 5,700 slot machines at
Hollywood Park, nearly twice the size of the largest casino on
the Las Vegas strip. It's a matter of size and proportion.
This just is out of control.

Toni Guinyard>> Campaign ads have been scaled back, but are
still on the air.

Advertisement>> "Proposition 68 would expand commercial
gambling to non-tribal land, creating huge Las Vegas-sized
casinos."

Ted Green>> It's still on the ballots, the votes are going to
be tallied, and it's important that it's not only defeated, but
defeated overwhelmingly because that sends a message to the out-
of-state racetracks and card clubs including Larry Flynt who is
the person that really got this whole idea going.

Toni Guinyard>> Months ago, Life and Times spoke with Hustler
Casino's Larry Flynt as he spearheaded the effort to get
Proposition 68 on the ballot.

Larry Flynt>> You can't tag and give Indians Vegas-style
gambling and then tell the private card clubs throughout the
state of California that they can have the same thing. At some
period in time, greed don't make sense.

Toni Guinyard>> How do you address critics who say this is
about nothing but greed?

James Fisfis>> Well, we would ask in the original sense whether
or not the greed is on the part of the politicians who couldn't
balance their own books and now who are trying to balance their
books on the backs of Indian tribes.

Toni Guinyard>> James Fisfis is spokesman for the other gaming
measure on the ballot, Proposition 70.

James Fisfis>> What's at stake is not the growth of gaming in
California. Everyone is agreed that gaming is going to grow.
What's at stake is how much and to what extent tribes are going
to pay for that growth in gaming and whether they will all pay
or just a few will pay.

Toni Guinyard>> In exchange for paying the tax on slot revenue,
under Proposition 70, tribes would get to expand their casinos
and renegotiate their deals called compacts with the state.

James Fisfis>> This is the existing gaming compact that
California tribes are using right now in their deals with the
state, and this is Proposition 70. What Proposition 70 does is
amend the existing gaming compact so that the existing gaming
compact now contains a clause where the state is collecting a
fair share from the tribes.

Toni Guinyard>> The deals Governor Gray Davis negotiated in
1999 permitted each tribe to have two casinos and two thousand
slot machines. Those compacts cover a twenty-year period. That
will change if Proposition 70 passes.

I. Nelson Rose>> Proposition 70 says it's not twenty years,
it's ninety-nine years. It's not a limit of two thousand slot
machines. It's unlimited slot machines and unlimited table
games.

Toni Guinyard>> And it's not acceptable to California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger>> "It will give the tribes a ninety-nine
year monopoly and unlimited amount of slot machines. Talk about
a sweetheart deal."

Toni Guinyard>> Over the summer, the governor exercised his
right to renegotiate agreements with five tribes. Those tribes
will pay a much bigger piece of the slot revenue pie to the
state in exchange for operating an unlimited number of slot
machines. Governor Schwarzenegger believes Propositions 68 and
70 would halt the progress he's made.

I. Nelson Rose>> He made deals where the tribes are paying
fifteen percent. This one only purports to give the state 8.8
percent.

Toni Guinyard>> In the end, California voters will have the
final say in defining the term "fair share" as it's applied to
Native-American tribes and Las Vegas-style gambling.

Val>> And if you've missed our previous reports on the other
propositions, you have a second chance to see them. We're
bringing them all together in two Life and Times specials, one
on Friday, October 29 and the other on Monday, November 1.

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>> Turning eighteen can be a real shock, especially for
foster kids who have never realized their dream of being
adopted. Many wind up aging out of the foster care system since
the law regards them as adults. So where do they go and what
happens when no one is waiting to offer them a home? Philip
Bruce tells us some of the luckiest kids end up in Whittier
where second chances are offered along with a little kindness.

Philip Bruce>> Her name is Veronica and her story since she
left foster care a decade ago is all too typical. She's now
twenty-eight years old and works two minimum-wage jobs. But
even with that, Veronica still can't afford a house or apartment
for herself and her two children. And to make matters worse,
she's had serious drug problems.

Veronica>> I don't have no one to lean on. I got to do things
on my own. Yes, I know I took the wrong path, but I don't have
family. I mean, people that have family are special. They
should appreciate their family.

Philip Bruce>> But Veronica's luck may be changing. She's
connected now with a woman who is dedicated to providing a home
to girls who've aged out of foster care, providing the kind of
home that she says every eighteen year old deserves.

Carol Reza>> For us, they need to stay as long as they need to
stay. If they want to go to medical school and stay here, fine.
If they want to get married here, if they want to come back
every holiday, once they leave, they can always come back. If
they lose their job, if they have to have surgery, we want this
to be home for them.

Philip Bruce>> Carol Reza is a Whittier real estate agent,
pastor and volunteer. She created a program called Bridge of
Faith. Its first project was helping prisoners. Then she and
some fellow volunteers raised the money to buy and restore this
twenty-two room property as a home for young women who've been
in foster care. The first two girls have moved in.

Nicole>> I think it's better than being in jail. It's a good
opportunity, you know, to like go to a regular school, have my
job, like learn how to pay my bills.

Philip Bruce>> Nicole just turned eighteen and has her own room
for the first time in her life. Five years ago, she took to the
streets of Long Beach and lived on her own. That's when she was
arrested for burglary and sent to Juvenile Hall.

Nicole>> I guess it did kind of help me because I got to stay
clean for three months, you know, and I got to like get my head
straight because I wasn't on drugs anymore.

Philip Bruce>> Nicole wishes she were back with her family, but
she knows this place may be her best chance for a good life.
Living on the streets, she never went to high school. Now Reza
has helped her enroll in adult school. Nicole says she might
have gone there on her own, but probably wouldn't have stuck
with it.

Nicole>> After a while, I think I would have stopped doing that
because I would have wanted to hang with my friends or
something. But here, Carol keeps me focused on like what needs
to be done. You know, like keep going to school, keep like
working.

Carol Reza>> We want to interact with you. We want to nurture
you, and if you don't want to be nurtured, it's not a good thing
to be here because the love of people is evident when you walk
through this place.

Philip Bruce>> Scores of volunteers have helped get the house
ready. It was an enormous job with tons of trash to remove and
every sink and toilet clogged.

Gayrold Hutton>> The month before last, I worked 163 hours.
I'm sure it was more last month, but I don't know what the
figures are.

Philip Bruce>> Volunteer Gayrold Hutton is a retired Youth
Authority Parole Agent.

Gayrold Hutton>> This is something that will give the girls a
chance to get their lives together and do something with
themselves if they will. You can't make them do it, but if
they're interested in doing something with themselves, this is
an opportunity like they've probably never had before and will
never have again.

Philip Bruce>> Carol Reza says she knew she had to help girls
leaving the foster care system because of what she learned over
the years helping prisoners. Many of them had also been in
foster care and they had bad experiences when they went out on
their own.

Carol Reza>> Being that a lot of the women in prison, their
parents were in prison and they were in foster care, seeing that
same cycle continue in their lives, I thought something just has
to happen. There needs to be a tourniquet here. Our goal is to
stop the high rate of recidivism. What better place to stop it
is then with the next generation, that they wouldn't repeat the
cycle?

Philip Bruce>> Reza says that many kids think everything will
be fine when they leave foster care. They're actually eager to
be out on their own, but then reality hits.

Carol Reza>> Well, we have to walk them through everything.
It's just like being pushed out of the nest for them. They
don't know where to go, they don't know transportation, they
don't know how to negotiate things that they need.

Philip Bruce>> Nicole has a job at the thrift store run by
Bridge of Faith and Carol sees a lot of her there, but Nicole
has mixed feelings when Carol offers unsolicited advice on how
to succeed in life.

Nicole>> It is annoying, but it helps me out because obviously
I'm not back in jail and we still get along, but it's hard for
me for anybody to tell me what to do.

Carol Reza>> I understand it. It doesn't mean that -- if I let
everything they say -- you know, if I took it all personal, I'd
be crying every day (laughter).

Philip Bruce>> Carol Reza says she's hoping and expecting that
Nicole and all the other girls will be successful.

Carol Reza>> I expect them to embrace their future and the
possibility of who they can be. I'm a pastor. I know the
reality for myself and we don't expect anyone to be "converted".
We are not teaching a theology here, but we're teaching Life 101
and the truth of life.

Val>> The folks in Whittier discovered that there is a need for
special shelters different from the one you just saw. Those
shelters would be designed to accommodate ex-foster kids who
have children of their own. So far, only a handful of those
places now exist and experts tell us that means scores of needy
youngsters are left to fend for themselves and their kids.

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>> Every now and then, we encounter somebody who is so
engaging and uplifting that we have to share them with you.
Tyrus Wong is one of those people. He's ninety-three years old
and, once a month, you can see him out near the Santa Monica
Pier flying kites. They are kites that he himself designed and
built, though he knows nothing about aerodynamics. But he knows
a lot about art. In fact, his artistic career spans fifty years
of doing everything from painting to Christmas cards to working
for major movie studios. I had the pleasure of meeting Tyrus
Wong at his studio in Sunland.

He was born in Canton, China in 1910 and, if he'd stayed there,
chances are he would never have created this -- or this -- or
this. Instead, Tyrus Wong came to Los Angeles. He was nine.
His father was hoping his children would find a better future in
America, but he could never have foreseen that his son would
grow up to be one of the most influential Chinese-American
artists of his generation. He did, however, notice that the
young Tyrus had a knack for drawing.

Tyrus Wong>> You know that every night, he made me to paint
calligraphy with a brush and we can't afford ink. Then we used
huge paper and painted with water and, when that thing dry, use
it over and over again.

Val>> Tyrus's teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in
Pasadena also noticed his talent and suggested he apply for a
scholarship to the prestigious Otis Art Institute.

Tyrus Wong>> I said, what is a scholarship? He said, oh, that
means that if they like your work, that means you go there for
free.

Val>> You'd never heard of an art scholarship?

Tyrus Wong>> No, no. I heard the word scholarship, but I don't
know what the word means, you know.

Val>> And you were very young. You'd quit junior high?

Tyrus Wong>> Yeah, I was I think thirteen or fourteen,
somewhere around there.

Val>> And you never went back and finished junior high or high
school?

Tyrus Wong>> That's why my English is so bad. Yeah, I have a
good excuse.

Val>> Wong worked in the cafeteria for his meals and took on
small commercial jobs. He remembers interviewing with a garment
company that needed a drawing of a brassiere, something he had
never seen.

Tyrus Wong>> No, I never seen one. I asked the lady, a
heavyset lady, a secretary, why don't you put one on and show
this young man what one looks like? She came fully dressed and
put that on top of it, you know.

Val>> Oh, so she put the brassiere on top of her clothes?

Tyrus Wong>> Oh, yeah, yeah, on top. She was fully dressed.
She put that on top of it. I said, oh, yeah, yeah. I needed
the money, you know. So I went back to Otis and looked at a
real model, put a brassiere on it and painted it. Black on
white, white on black, that's what you want. They said, oh,
that's great. So it got painted on the side of a building on
Hollywood Boulevard. I remember I took my father there to look
at it. He said, son, that's a good job (laughter).

Val>> Lesson number one, just because you've never seen
something doesn't mean you can't draw it. After graduating from
Otis Art Institute, Wong began exhibiting his work and winning
awards. He was noticed by a small but growing animation
company, Walt Disney Studios. At age twenty-eight, Wong was
hired for a tedious and strenuous job called "in-betweening".

Tyrus Wong>> And I hated the job. I got home and I told my
wife, I said, boy, this job is terrible. I feel my eyeballs are
popping out of their sockets, you know.

Val>> But then, Wong heard the studio was working on a full-
length animated feature based on a book, "Bambi". So he read
the book and did some landscape backgrounds, drawing from his
Chinese traditions. They caught the eye of Walt Disney himself.

Tyrus Wong>> He said, gee, I kind of like this. This is
different from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" because
drawings were very ornate, you know. But this has kind of a
dreamy quality. I like that. So that's how I got to be doing
the three and a half years of "Bambi".

Val>> Wong's next job was with Warner Bros. He was a sketch
artist, drawing backgrounds for movies like "The Wild Bunch".

[Film Clip]

Val>> He was there for twenty years and worked on scores of
movie classics including "Camelot", "Gypsy" and "Rebel Without a
Cause".

[Film Clip]

Val>> Along the way, Wong explored other media. He painted
murals, lithographs and Christmas cards. In the mid-1940's, he
was asked to decorate vases and dinnerware for the Winfield
Pottery Company in Pasadena. The owner was a former classmate
and strong supporter of Wong, but other employees harassed him
with racist insults. He eventually quit. It was the fifties
and he had encountered anti-Chinese sentiment at Warner Bros. as
well.

Tyrus Wong>> We had about six sketch artists in the same room.
I was there for about a week. There was only one man by the
name of Fritz Willis. He was the only one. He said, Tyrus,
what did you have for lunch? Oh, I brown-bagged it. I'll tell
you what, tomorrow why don't you join us? He's the only one
that asked me to join them for lunch. I never forget him for
that reason.

Bill Stern>> "As you probably all know, I'm Bill Stern."

Val>> It's a Sunday afternoon in the mid-Wilshire District and
Wong is being honored at the home of Bill Stern, a ceramics
collector.

Bill Stern>> "As you have seen, his work today has every bit of
the spontaneity and liveliness and confidence that his work had
more than half a century ago."

Val>> Wong, who hardly does any painting anymore, agreed to
paint some ceramic pieces to support the Museum of California
Design.

Tyrus Wong>> "Do you ever see so many pottery in your life?
(Laughter). Every place. Pull out the drawer and see maybe
linen or something like that. Pottery."

Val>> When he's not charming audiences, you'll find him in his
studio just a few steps away from his house on a hill in
Sunland. He spends long quiet hours here working on his latest
endeavor, kites. Wong's wife of sixty years passed away about
ten years ago. She had had a stroke.

Tyrus Wong>> Finally, I had to put her in a convalescent home.
Oh, it was sad. I would like go in there, you know, bring
something in there. She look at me blank, you know. I say, you
know who I am? She just look at me and not say a word. She
won't talk, she won't say yes or no. Very, very sad.

Val>> Making kites is a meticulous, but meditative, process and
Wong admits he knows nothing about aerodynamics. Lesson number
two, just because you don't know how something works doesn't
mean you can't build it.

Tyrus Wong>> The first time I built a swallow, I take it way up
on the hill there, see nobody around and try it out. It didn't
fly. I tried three or four times. I finally get it airborne.
I finally get it painted with oil paint and it was off-balance,
so I tried over and over again. So finally, I can get twenty-
five of them up on one line.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Wong is ninety-three years old, but he still heads out to
Santa Monica Beach once a month to put his designs to the test.

Tyrus Wong>> "Keep your fingers crossed (laughter)."

>> "Oh, yeah, we will."

Val>> He and his kites have spawned an informal fan club.

Tyrus Wong>> "Did you cross your fingers?"

Val>> His youngest daughter, Kim, comes out to help. Kim works
for Bon Appetit Magazine. His middle daughter runs a bookstore
at a museum and his oldest is a second grade teacher. Of all
your paintings, do you have a favorite painting that you've
done?

Tyrus Wong>> No. I'm never satisfied with my own painting.
When I finish it, oh, it's okay, it's okay. My greatest
achievement is my three girls. They are my masterpiece.
They're wonderful girls, they're wonderful girls. I consider
myself very, very lucky now, very lucky, very lucky. A guys
says, gee, you consider yourself a great artist? I say, no way,
I'm a lucky artist.

[Film Clip]

Val>> If you'd like to see Tyrus Wong's work, it's on exhibit
at the Craft and Folk Art Museum on Wilshire. That's through
October 31. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For
everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you
next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times --

Everybody wants fully-staffed and well-equipped emergency rooms,
but are we willing to tax our phone bills to get them?

>> Proposition 67, unfortunately, gives the impression that
it's going to solve this problem and that's one of the things
that we have concerns about. We don't want people being misled
thinking that, if they vote for this, they've fixed the problem.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.