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Life & Times Transcript
10/13/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- A family's life is changed in one horrible second. Why are hit-and-run accidents on the rise? Diana McDonald>> I think the decent thing to do is to stop. I mean, I don't know how anyone can live with themselves if they take off like that. Val Zavala>> And then, it's a throwback to another era that can turn your world upside down. We visit Santa Monica's camera obscura. 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>> Life was happy, busy and normal for a Dana Point wife and mother, but it all changed in the blink of an eye. A hit-and-run accident turned this active mother into a quadriplegic. Hit-and-run accidents are on the rise and California leads the nation in hit-and-run fatalities. Sam Louie takes a look at the impact this terrible moment had on a family. Sam Louie>> This is the life Carol Daniel is used to, an active runner, a dedicated mother of three, a loving wife to her long-time husband. This is the life Carol must now adjust to, a forty-one year old quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. Carol agreed to an interview with us on the condition that we did not show her face. Carol Daniel>> Realistically, I think that I'll probably be in a wheelchair and my goal is to be able to move my upper body and my hands and my arms. Sam Louie>> Carol's vibrant lifestyle came to an abrupt end on a crisp Saturday morning back in April. That's when she and some friends were running along this stretch of PCH in Dana Point. During the middle of their run, she and one of her girlfriends were hit by a swerving car. Her friend became a paraplegic. For Carol, it would be even worse. She was in a medically induced coma for a month, an excruciating time for her husband, Craig Daniel. Craig Daniel>> You know, every day was minute by minute and, you know, there were so many scares in the SICU where they all jumped in there and started doing lifesaving stuff on a regular basis almost. They just kept her going. Sam Louie>> When she became conscious, she realized that her legs and arms would not move. Carol Daniel>> That's probably my biggest hurdle, I have to say, is not doing the things I used to do with the kids and I think there's some resentment there with the kids and it's hard. Sam Louie>> To this day, Carol cannot remember anything about the accident. Carol Daniel>> It was a typical run for us on Saturdays, the same route. Sam Louie>> And talk me through what you remember next. Carol Daniel>> Waking up in the ER room. Sam Louie>> Don't remember getting hit? Carol Daniel>> Nope. Sam Louie>> Don't remember hearing any screeching? Carol Daniel>> Nope. Sam Louie>> Diana McDonald was one of Carol's running partners that day. She remembers leading the pack and stopping after hearing the piercing screams and chaos echoing behind her. Diana McDonald>> I just heard this horrible sound. It just crashed and I look up and then I just see like Carol and Stacy's bodies just flying in the air like dolls and then they landed on the road. Then I just saw this car that just sped off. Sam Louie>> It was a hit-and-run. Police found the car abandoned a couple of miles away. The driver was caught a week later. Police arrested thirty-seven year old William Bradshaw on two counts of felony hit-and-run. Sergeant Fred Furey>> That person had recently just been discharged from parole. He had been in state prison for driving under the influence and alcohol and drug-related offenses. Sam Louie>> Sergeant Fred Furey is with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. He says that hit-and-run accidents are becoming more and more common in California. Government records show that the number of fatal hit-and-run accidents is up nearly twenty percent in this state with close to three hundred people dying annually. Hit-and-runs account for nearly eight percent of all fatal accidents in California, twice the national average and higher than any other state. In Orange County, Furey believes that population growth has a lot to do with it. Sergeant Fred Furey>> We have a good amount of hit-and-runs because primarily due to the population increase in south Orange County with a lot of newer cities and newer areas that are still being developed. Sam Louie>> Furey says that another reason for the increase is more drivers trying to avoid getting busted. Sergeant Fred Furey>> People may have outstanding warrants. They may have things in their system such as drugs or alcohol. Sam Louie>> Regardless of the reasons, the reality is that lives are shattered and victims are left wondering why those responsible did not stop. Diana McDonald>> I think the decent thing to do is to stop. I mean, I don't know how anyone can live with themselves if they take off like that. >> "What part of your foot?" Carol Daniel>> "I think one hand is underneath and one hand is on top." Sam Louie>> Carol Daniel currently gets regular visits from a massage therapist. Her husband, Craig, has also hired several people to help with twenty-four hour care. Health care expenses amount to several thousand dollars a month, which Craig pays out of his own pocket. To make ends meet, they may soon have to move out of their San Clemente home. Craig Daniel>> I don't think any of it that's going to happen is going to be good. You know, the money's going to run out. We'll have to sell this place and move somewhere else that's cheaper. Sam Louie>> And then, there's the emotional challenge of raising three children who are trying to understand what happened to their mom. Craig Daniel>> Each of them does it in their own way. Like I said, the eight year old probably has the roughest. She cried every morning that I had to walk her to school. Carol Daniel>> It's especially a hard time for me and for them. You know, all the busy sport activities. Soccer's starting, volleyball's going to be starting and we were real involved with that. We rely on other people to get the kids through that or I would be the one doing all of that. Craig Daniel>> We're victims. That's all there is to it. Sam Louie>> In the meantime, police are doing what they can, looking out for drunk drivers who make up a large percentage of the hit-and-run accidents. Law enforcement officials also say that they are noticing a new profile of the hit-and-run suspects: undocumented workers. Sergeant Fred Furey>> They just have a fear of any contact with the government, particularly law enforcement. They also have a fear of going to jail because, when you drive on a suspended license, at the time, primarily you're cited and released. But if you don't show up for court or you don't care of it or you don't get a license, then it can result in jail time. Sam Louie>> Without a license, police can impound a car. Furey believes that the fear of getting their car confiscated keeps many illegal immigrants from stopping. Sergeant Fred Furey>> If they don't have a license, they will never see that car again. Sam Louie>> In other cases, the drivers have not injured anyone or caused serious damage, but fleeing the scene only makes things worse. Sergeant Fred Furey>> Because when you flee, that's a whole different thing. Now you've turned it into a criminal area and it's looked upon absolutely differently than just a collision. Sam Louie>> Hit-and-run victims would like to see the sentences stiffened. Under state law, a person convicted of a felony hit-and-run that results in death or serious injury can get up to four years in prison. Carol Daniel>> Four to six years. That's not much of a punishment at all, I don't think, to those hit-and-run drivers. My life is going to be affected probably forever. I mean, I like to say I'm going to live to be eighty or ninety years old. Sam Louie>> As a result of Carol's accident, the bike and jogging path here in Dana Point is closed as the city works to build a concrete barrier. The barrier is intended to give runners and bikers a clear, safe path for exercising. Despite the enormous challenges that lay ahead, Carol remains optimistic and even upbeat at times. Carol Daniel>> I still don't know really what the big outcome is going to be, but I would like to think more positively than negatively because that's the kind of person I am. But I'm also a fighter and will fight to the end. Sam Louie>> I'm Sam Louie for Life and Times. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, 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>> She grew up in Cairo and was taught to hate Jews. Her father led raids into Israel and was eventually assassinated by Israeli police. But now Noni Darwish lives in Los Angeles and she's being honored by the American Jewish Congress. The Congress is headed by Gary Ratner. They're honoring Noni and four other Arabs with Profiles in Courage Awards. Noni has been an outspoken voice of moderation, encouraging other peace-minded Arabs to make their views known. She recalled how, during her upbringing in Egypt, Islam changed, becoming more radical and intolerant, aided by the influx of money from Saudi Arabia. Noni Darwish>> I come originally from Egypt. I was born in Egypt. In the 1950s and 1960s when I was a child and a teenager, Egypt was quite moderate. Then in the 1970s with the wealth from oil in Saudi Arabia, I started seeing a phenomena in Egypt of Saudi mosques being built, Prince this mosque, King that mosques. It was keyed to the radicals of Egypt and they grew in numbers, they grew in power and the Muslim brotherhood became more popular. It's no longer the Islam I grew up with. It was hijacked with the Wahhabi sect. It became very intolerant. It's not just the west who was afraid of radical Islam and Wahhabi Islam. It's moderate Muslims. Many people in Egypt are scared of the takeover by the Muslim brotherhood and turning Egypt into a country like Iran. The west needs to know that radical Islam is taking over and moderate Muslims should stand up. Val Zavala>> Now you've been to Israel lately. What did you find? Gary Ratner>> This hatred continues. There was this famous program on Egyptian television where they had the protocol to the elders of Zion, which is this rap against Jews that we control the world, etc. It's a total myth, but it was made into a mini-series in Egypt and it was the most popular show just last year. Noni Darwish>> And we believed it. As children, we are taught -- Gary Ratner>> -- despite the peace treaty when there is supposed to be peace. So if you're teaching your children and you're teaching your population that these are horrible people and that you should hate them, what chance is there for real peace other than, you know. Noni Darwish>> I was taught. Not just me, but all the children in the Arab world. We are fed propaganda that struck fear in our hearts against Jews. They first made us fear Jews before the hate came in and then they brought in the hate. It was easy to hate somebody you're afraid of. Then, when you are hateful and afraid of somebody, terrorism becomes acceptable. It becomes tolerated and even encouraged. Val Zavala>> So how do you encourage or find moderate Muslims? Gary Ratner>> I had heard Noni speak at various forums and our organization developed a relationship and she's spoken for us and we support other groups where she speaks. She's one of the few and she's known and is not afraid to speak out at all and she's got an organization, "Arabs for Israel". She supports Israel, which is something that we also admire her tremendously for. If we're going to honor anybody, this is one of the, you know, real true heroines that we wanted to honor. Val Zavala>> Are you criticized by your own Muslim community for being moderate? Noni Darwish>> Yes. Unfortunately, anybody who doesn't follow in lockstep with the Arab conventional wisdom and the politics of Arab countries, even in the United States, you're put aside as a Zionist puppet or you've betrayed your culture. They call you names. They call you shame on you. I get email sometimes -- I get emails of support, by the way, from Arabs -- but, of course, I get hate mail that tells me the same old anti-Semitic accusations. But my support to Israel does not mean that I'm anti-Arab. I also speak out of love for my culture because I truly believe that radical Islam and terrorism is destroying the moral fabric and the goodness that I know exists inside Arab culture. That's why I'm speaking out for everybody's welfare. Continuing this hatred and unforgiveness, constant revenge and vengeance that we are involved in against Israel and the outright lies that we hear is almost embarrassing. Gary Ratner>> It's so true. I just came back from Israel and I met a lot of Arabs and I have a lot of Arab friends in Israel who are afraid to speak out. But they want a decent life for their children. They don't want their children to be taught hatred. They want a decent government. They don't want a corrupt government that steals all the money so that they can't get the proper education and the proper social services. There's this great silent majority again inside both Israel and in the Palestinian Territories that is yearning for peace, but yet they're afraid to speak out because, when they do, they get killed. What you have now in Palestinian Territories with the victory of Hamas and the fighting between Hamas and Fata, you have so many armed groups. Noni Darwish>> The main reason I'm speaking out is, after 9/11, I feel that Arab Americans have to speak out against terrorism because this is our country now. America is our country. Gary Ratner>> Just as the Jewish community here influences Israel, I believe the Muslim community here, if they speak with a moderate voice, will have an influence in the Middle East and all over the Muslim world. Noni Darwish>> I lost my father in the Israeli conflict and I don't wish any child to lose their parents. It's enough. There are so many Egyptians who died trying to destroy Egypt, thousands and thousands, and the economy collapsed in the whole country under Nasser and from all the wars. We have to stop the hatred, the anger, and start forgiving. Val Zavala>> Noni Darwish and Gary Ratner, thank you very much for your thoughts and your hard work. Gary Ratner>> Thank you. Noni Darwish>> Thank you. Val Zavala>> The American Jewish Congress is honoring Noni Darwish tomorrow night. You can call the number on your screen for more information. They're also honoring other Muslims including author, Salman Rushti. 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>> Recently UCLA changed its admissions policy. It said it was taking a more holistic approach to sizing up candidates. The change came in the wake of criticism that so few African Americans were admitted to last year's class. UCLA hopes the holistic approach will increase the number of minorities on campus. At the same time, they can't consider race as a factor. Confused? You're not the only one. Cris Franco tries to explain Affirmative Action with help from a young audience. Cris Franco>> Affirmative Action was going to be the great equalizer, allowing more Americans access to the top colleges by leveling off a playing field which was tilted against you if you were of color, impoverished, physically handicapped or a woman. You know what I mean. When the playing field is tilted against you, it's much harder to get in the door. So how does this much-maligned program work? College admissions used to be an alphabet soup of GPAs and SATs. That's your grade point average and your standardized admission test scores. Student>> "We don't need no stinking test scores." Cris Franco>> Yes, you do. In fact, to get into one of the high-ranking institutes of higher learning, you need a high SAT score. Deciding college admissions based solely on SAT scores and GPAs would be simple, as simple as deciding who jumped the highest or who had run the farthest or who colors the quickest. [Film Clip] Cris Franco>> No controversy. The winner simply won. [Film Clip] Cris Franco>> But Affirmative Action treats college entrances like judging Olympic diving. It isn't just how well you do the dive. They also consider the difficulty of the dive attempted. [Film Clip] Cris Franco>> So if you had an SAT score slightly lower than this guy, but you achieved this score while working two jobs or attending a dilapidated school that doesn't have a lot of textbooks, you were allotted a few more points. Pretty soon, college admissions boards developed some very complicated formulas. Okay, you got twenty points if you were African American, Native American or Hispanic, ten points if you demonstrated leadership qualities, and six points for a history of overcoming adversity. I drive an Apache, which is sort of a Native American car. So we go from the sixty to the thirty here, add three, which is eleven from the sixty equals twenty points. I have some leadership qualities, but I don't really have a ten, so that is actually negative ten and negative ten. That's a negative twenty, so we're going to go back to forty-five to the three plus forty-four and that equals equality, right? Is this equality? Yes! No! Who knows? Critics of Affirmative Action don't think so. They worry that qualified students are being denied entrance into top universities simply because they're Caucasian, middle class, able-bodied or a man. California has replaced Affirmative Action with a plan that allows the top four percent of any graduating class from any high school to be admitted into most state colleges and universities, so students are competing with their own peers. Well, that should be a level playing field, right? Well, it's a lot more level than the Yale playing field when it allotted George W. Bush legacy points just because his father was an alumni and benefactor. Other students admitted to Yale that year scored an average 1386 on their SATs. Bush got 1196, which is like letting someone start the race ten feet ahead of everybody else just because their father helped build the stadium. I, like most Americans, agree that we need a color-blind educational system where everyone is judged by their academic excellence, but how can a college prepare students for the real world's global economy if its student body doesn't represent the real world? [Film Clip] Cris Franco>> So perhaps the real reason behind keeping Affirmative Action on campus is that Affirmative Action might keep your campus real. I'm sure of one thing. If the brain power and the dollars spent fighting Affirmative Action had been spent improving our nation's neediest schools, today there might not be a need for Affirmative Action. There. That's my report. Now do you all understand Affirmative Action? Students>> "Yes, Mr. Franco." Cris Franco>> Great. Now can one of you please explain to me SpongeBob SquarePants? Val Zavala>> It sits in a senior center in Santa Monica. It's forgotten and gathering dust. It's a camera obscura, a precursor to a modern camera. But how does it work and why is it so valuable? Writer Robert Grand explains. Hena Cuevas>> The only thing that announces that there's a -- Robert Grand>> -- there's the sign on the outside which says "Camera Obscura", but it doesn't tell you much. Hena Cuevas>> Once you're in here, there's really nothing that lets you know where the camera is. Robert Grand>> No. I mean, there's a sign that tells you how to get there back on the wall, but if you go up there, it's locked and you come down here and ask how do you get in and there's a key. May I get the key, please, to the camera upstairs? Hena Cuevas>> Together with the key, we were given a photocopied page with some information on the camera obscura. We then made our way to the other side of the room. Robert Grand>> There's a sign right here, "Camera Obscura", then you go through this door, past the men's room, and up the stairs. Hena Cuevas>> A short flight of steps led us to this nondescript door. Robert Grand>> That's the sign on the door here, and this is the room. Hena Cuevas>> Basically, this whole dark room works as the camera itself. Robert Grand>> Yes. When you close the door, you can see. We're looking at it upside down here, but you can see people on the sidewalk. This is looking, I guess, out towards the ocean. There's some of the trees that get in the way. The street is down there, although no cars are driving, of course. Hena Cuevas>> So how does the technology work? Robert Grand>> The technology is very simple. Just having a hole in the wall acts like a lens by itself. In this case, this comes from an image that bounced off a mirror and it's just basically shooting out horizontally, and the image that's outside is just reflected here. It can only be seen when it's dark. Hena Cuevas>> And this is something that, throughout the turn of the century, would have been called fascinating for the moving pictures. Robert Grand>> Yeah, although they had moving pictures, these are in color which movies weren't. Photography was, at that time, just about fifty years old. Hena Cuevas>> In 1907, the camera obscura was housed in a special building by the beach. People would pay a dime to go inside, twice as much as what they were paying to go see a movie. Robert Grand>> The ability to have images like this with this turret and rotating is probably in itself maybe four or five hundred years old. Hena Cuevas>> You'd think with all the new technology of the digital cameras, this is still interesting to see that you can see an image just by a hole. Robert Grand>> Right. All that anybody's done since this was invented is figure out a way to take this image and take it home. Hena Cuevas>> The camera was moved to the senior center in the 1930s. Today, even without signs, the room gets between thirty to forty visitors a day during the summer. Is it kind of ironic as you mentioned in your article that something like this ended up here in a recreation center? Robert Grand>> I think I said in the article that it really, in a sense, belongs here the way it's been treated. It's kind of like been sent off with the old people. Hena Cuevas>> For Grand, it's a shame that this piece of history has been relegated to this location. Robert Grand>> This is a real curiosity that I think, you know, deserves a little bit more prominence than it's gotten. Hena Cuevas>> I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> 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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