 |
HOME |  |
SCHEDULE | |
PROGRAMS | |
KIDS & FAMILY | |
LOCAL | |
SUPPORT KCET | |
ABOUT US | |
SHOP KCET |  |
| About Us | Contact Us | |
 |
|
 |
          |
|
|
 |
 |
||
|
|
Life & Times Transcript
7/30/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Should local police departments be enlisted to help enforce federal immigration laws? Chief William Bratton>> I think it would discourage victims of crime from coming forward, discourage witnesses from helping us convict those who are preying on residents of the city, whether legal or illegal. David Klehm>> Well, I only want them to follow the law just like everyone else has to. Val Zavala>> And then, it has elements of music, dance and sculpture, but it's much more. It's a mesmerizing performance inside a musical instrument. These stories and more 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>> Should local police be expected to enforce federal immigration laws? Well, that's a debate that's happening around the country, but where do Los Angeles and Orange County stand? Well, for some answers, NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Kaye took a trip to Arizona. [Film Clip] Jeffrey Kaye>> The Sheriff's Department in Arizona's Maricopa County, the fourth largest in the nation, has the most aggressive anti-illegal immigration policy of any local law enforcement agency in the country. The deputies are trained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Sheriff Joe Arpaio>> Now my deputies, when they patrol, can put the ICE hat on and arrest the illegals and we bring them to jail. Deputy Carlos Rengal>> Once we make the traffic stop, we'll determine if human smuggling is involved. Jeffrey Kaye>> Deputies routinely patrol back roads north of Phoenix looking for vehicles that appear to be weighed down and could be smuggling migrants. On this night, Deputy Sean Ross has pulled over a van loaded with eight passengers. [Film Clip] Deputy Sean Ross>> So as you can tell, the more people they pack in the vehicle, the more money they get. [Film Clip] Jeffrey Kaye>> Passengers tell Ross they entered the United States illegally and stayed for four days at a Phoenix drop house. These guys pretty much told you what you needed to know, right? Deputy Sean Ross>> Pretty much, pretty much, on both sides. They're building my case for the state side, the human smuggling side. I put my federal hat on if I want to and I can work the ICE side. Jeffrey Kaye>> The deputies booked the driver on a charge of violating Arizona state's anti-smuggling law. They accused the passengers of conspiring to smuggle themselves into the United States. If convicted, they could all serve state prison sentences of almost four years before being deported. Sheriff Joe Arpaio>> The smuggler and the smugglees, co-conspirators, all go directly to jail. We do not call ICE like everyone else does to turn those people over so they can get a free ride back to Mexico. They go directly to the jail that I run. Jeffrey Kaye>> Not only Arpaio's deputies look for smugglers and their passengers on patrol, they routinely ask crime suspects and witnesses about their immigration status. Their assertive approach is at one end of a range of immigration policies adopted by local law enforcement agencies. On the other end is the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD's policy is basically "don't ask, don't tell". The LAPD is bound by a regulation known as Special Order Forty. The order states that "officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person." Chief William Bratton supports the 1979 rule. He says that having police enforce immigration laws is a mistake. Chief William Bratton>> I think it would discourage victims of crime from coming forward, discourage witnesses from helping us to convict those who are preying on residents of the city, whether legal or illegal. Jeffrey Kaye>> Told that one LAPD gang officer interviewed for this story wants to use immigration law as a crime-fighting tool, Bratton was adamant. Chief William Bratton>> Well, he'd better go to another police department because, as long as I'm Chief of Police, that won't happen. Jeffrey Kaye>> Why not? Why is that? Chief William Bratton>> Because I don't believe it's necessary. I'm the Chief of Police. I implement the policies of the Police Commission and the policies of this city. Jeffrey Kaye>> But two lawsuits seek to overturn Special Order Forty. One was brought by Santa Ana attorney, David Klehm. He wants the LAPD to report all foreign-born drug suspects to ICE. He says that it's a state law that the LAPD should obey. David Klehm>> Well, I only want them to follow the law just like everyone else has to. It's not vague in any way and the only thing we're trying to do is get a court order ordering the police department to follow the law. Jeffrey Kaye>> Do you follow that state law? Chief William Bratton>> We're in court on that, so I can't comment on it. Jeffrey Kaye>> About whether you follow the law or not? Chief William Bratton>> We're in court, so I cannot comment on it. They're alleging and we're defending. Jeffrey Kaye>> Somewhere between the LAPD's minimalist approach and the forceful one in Arizona is a policy adopted by county jails in southern California. Orange County has fourteen deputies who have essentially been deputized by ICE. They've been trained and authorized to question and detain people suspected of breaking federal immigration laws. ICE-trained deputies interview foreign-born inmates as part of the booking process. [Film Clip] Jeffrey Kaye>> Deputy Arturo Alvarez tells an inmate facing drug charges that he represents the Immigration department. Asking questions about citizenship and residency, using fingerprints and databases, deputies can arrange for ICE to place a hold on suspected illegal immigrants. So he's going to be deported before there's a trial here on whatever his -- Deputy Arturo Alvarez>> -- Oh, no. His criminal matters have to be taken care of first. Jeffrey Kaye>> If convicted, illegal migrants serve United States jail sentences before they face deportation proceedings. In four months, the Orange County Jail placed immigration detainers on sixteen hundred inmates, or about seven percent of those booked. Orange County Sheriff, Michael Carona, says the program is effective. Sheriff Michael Carona>> These are career criminals. Many have been arrested two or three times. Now that we're capturing them through this program and the detainers are being placed on them, a deportation process is really having an effect on keeping them out of our communities. Jeffrey Kaye>> But immigrant rights activists say that recent incidents make them wary of increased cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement. One case involved Pedro Guzman who, according to his family, is a developmentally disabled United States citizen. He was doing time in Los Angeles County Jail for trespassing. In May, jail deputies trained by ICE identified Guzman as an illegal immigrant and ICE deported him to Mexico. His family believes he's somewhere in Tijuana, but can't find him and are suing the Sheriff's Department and ICE for his return. Trust in the LAPD was shaken on May Day when police beat and fired rubber bullets at immigrant rights demonstrators. The incident showed the chief's immigrant-friendly policy is not shared by many officers, according to protest organizer, Angelica Salas, the director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. Angelica Salas>> There is a disconnect between the chief's support, the mayor's support and the belief that everybody in the city should be protected and very vocal members of the rank and file who feel that their duty is to arrest and to punish the undocumented who are living in the city of Los Angeles. Jeffrey Kaye>> Chief Bratton describes police actions on May Day as an aberration. Chief William Bratton>> "We are a city of immigrants and this department with myself as chief are committed to working with those communities. We have made it quite clear that the Los Angeles Police Department is very desirous of working to secure the rights of the community and not abuse them." Jeffrey Kaye>> For their part, ICE officials say they're seeing increased demand for cross-training from state and local police agencies around the country. I'm Jeffrey Kaye for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> So what do you think? We'd love to know your response to that story and you can post it on our blog. Just go to kcet.org and click on the Life and Times Blog. 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>> Billions of dollars are given away every year to charities and nonprofits who are doing good works. The money comes from foundations whose job it is to give money away, but some critics contend that the money is not granted fairly, that too little money goes to minority groups helping minorities. For a provocative conversation, we brought Joe Hicks of CommUnity Advocates together with Orson Aguilar of the Greenlining Institute who's pushing for an accounting of foundation grants to minorities, and Manny Klausner, a member of The Federalist Society who says an accounting is not necessary. Our Kitchen Table is made possible by Ralph Tornberg. Joe Hicks>> Orson, I got a little gift over the transom. It was the Greenlining study on philanthropic giving. I'm trying to really figure out what it is you guys are actually arguing is the case here in terms of the giving of foundations. Why don't you tell us in a nutshell what that's all about? What do you guys want to happen here? Orson Aguilar>> Well, the Greenlining Institute is we're a multi-ethnic public policy and advocacy institute. A lot of what we do is hold large institutions accountable to the growing diversity in the state and the nation. In this case, we decided to look at the practices of foundations. These are large charitable giving institutions, multi-million and multi-billion dollar in size. We wanted to see basically how they were responding to the growing diversity and whether, one, their boards and staffs were reflective of the diversity and, two, whether their grant-making was going to minority communities. So we issued a study, found that just 3.6 percent of dollars go to minority organizations, so that's one indicator. Joe Hicks>> So what do you want to have happen here? What do you want them to do? Orson Aguilar>> Well, for us, this is an issue of civic participation. We think that foundations have a lot of power in society today. So what we want is to make sure that foundation dollars are reaching our communities so that we can be active decision-makers, discussion-makers, that we can be voters, that we can influence the democracy that we live in. So that's basically what we're asking for, equal opportunities, equal dollar amounts so that we can be better citizens in society. Joe Hicks>> Manny, Kellogg Foundation, Rockefeller, Bill and Melinda Gates. These are the most political liberal groups that I'm aware of. You know, why do you think they wouldn't be interested in furthering "interest" of urban inner city communities and does this premise even make sense at all to you? Manny Klausner>> Who's to say a grant to a foundation that has a lot of minorities on its board or on its staff is using the funds for efforts that are helping minority communities? So I think it's a total misplaced logic here in this whole quest that Greenlining is doing. You know, the story of America, the story of the abolition of slavery, for example, one of the greatest boons to help blacks who were incarcerated and enslaved against their will, didn't come from blacks. It came from largely whites in Britain and in America. The history of abolitionism is a history of participation and helping literally enslaved minority communities by people who were not of the same color. So the idea of the stereotypical view is really good if you want to encourage racial polarization. It is not good if you want to encourage good policy. Joe Hicks>> One of the things I did note in your report, the latest version I got, was that basically what you're focused on is philanthropic giving to minority-led nonprofits. Not nonprofits that are doing work in urban communities, but only those that are run by minorities. Defend that decision because a lot of these nonprofits are doing very good work in urban neighborhoods that may not be headed up by minorities. So why the decision just to focus on those? Orson Aguilar>> Well, first of all, there's no study out there that says foundations are adequately serving minority communities. There's been a slew of studies out there. Ours is just one. When we went out and did our study, we recognized that this was not an impact report. We were just going to look at one issue because we think it's an empowerment issue. It's about foundation effectiveness. It's about having people from those communities with those experiences adding to those solutions that need to be addressed in those communities. So for us, it's an empowerment issue. But what we really are interested in is looking at a bunch of different factors. When we look at foundations, we need to look at the board diversity. We requested this, but the majority of foundations refused to provide this to us. Staff diversity is important. If you look also at where they have their investments is really important. The Los Angeles Times just did an excellent piece looking at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and finding that, in fact, a lot of their investments were counter-productive to the mission. So there are a lot of issues that have to be raised looking at the sector. We're just starting to raise one, but little by little, we're going to start raising these other issues and we're starting to do so through our legislation. Joe Hicks>> Right. What do you want to achieve and what's the status, the bill and the whole process? Orson Aguilar>> So there's precedence in this country where institutions that receive public subsidies are required to provide equal opportunities. In this case, foundations are tax exempt, so in many ways, taxpayers are subsidizing the work of foundations. So we should expect them to provide equal opportunities. The problem is that foundations are not transparent. So the legislation would do simply that which would require the large foundations -- we don't want to bring the small foundations -- would require large foundations to simply divulge diversity data on an annual basis. This is similar to what corporate America does and, frankly, we think that if corporations are doing it, foundations which are held to a higher standard should be doing much more. It's a shame that foundations really fought this bill adamantly when, in fact, they should embrace diversity and really think of how they can be ahead of the curve and not behind the curve. Joe Hicks>> So, Manny, let's say we're able to force this information out of foundations where they all tally up -- Manny Klausner>> -- for the sake of discussion. Joe Hicks>> For the sake of discussion. Somehow we're able to force Kellogg to say how many blacks, Native Americans, whatever, is on the board and their staffs and whatnot. So what? What's the importance of this information? Manny Klausner>> Counterproductive. It's not only not important, but it's pernicious. It encourages invidious discriminations selecting board members and staff. Look, if Reason Foundation were to hire Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to be on our board or our staff, we'd get -- Joe Hicks>> -- not bargaining controversy here (laughter). Manny Klausner>> Well, I'm just trying to comply with the new standards here that Orson is advocating. We'd get brownie points or black points, however you count those up, because we have more blacks on the Reason staff. Is that good news for the minority communities? Maybe good news for Jesse and Al Sharpton. I don't think it's good for minority communities. I think it's totally unfocused and this whole notion that people of a certain color or a certain ethnic hue somehow are going to do good things is absurd. Some people do good things and some people don't and you can't judge it by the color of their skin. I don't think we want to start encouraging people to look at skin color as a first reaction of is this guy a good guy or a bad guy. Joe Hicks>> On that note, we got to stop. We're out of time. Thanks, guys, for coming in and talking about this. 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>> Most musicians on a gig bring their instruments with them, whether they be a rock band or a chamber group. But we found an unusual ensemble that actually builds the instrument at each location, creating a unique sound for each performance. They're called String Theory and, as Vicki Curry discovered, the results are captivating. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> This is String Theory. Luke Rothschild>> I call them harps. I call them long string harps. They are a certain kind of harp, but they're definitely not the normal kind of harp. Vicki Curry>> Not normal unless you're watching this extraordinary ensemble at work. The musicians, dancers and artists who make up String Theory create a unique site-specific version of their signature instrument at every performance. Luke Rothschild>> When String Theory is at its best, it's like a comprehensive performance environment that completely envelops the senses of the viewer. Vicki Curry>> On this night, it was Vibiana, the former cathedral turned performance venue. Strings stretched across the space transform it into a giant sculptural instrument. Joseph Harvey>> Virtually, it's such a unique sound and visually it's so interesting. It just makes it a little bit more special and I think that that's what the audiences take away from it too. It's such a unique experience. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> The long strings are complemented by traditional instruments like cello, violin and guitar on music ranging from classical to contemporary. The repertoire reflects the diverse backgrounds of String Theory's founders. Luke Rothschild, Holly Rothschild and Joseph Harvey first met in Chicago. Holly Rothschild>> Luke went to the Art Institute and Joey started classical cello and I come from a dance choreography background. Luke Rothschild>> Some friends and I, when we were in the sculpture department at the Art Institute of Chicago, learned about this woman named Ellen Fullman. Holly Rothschild>> Who is said to have come up with the concept of taking wire like this and stretching it great distances. Joseph Harvey>> And she's sort of a performance artist with new classical music and we really loved the sound of it. [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> We weren't tuned in a western scale or anything like that and what we wanted to do is play music that we really enjoyed like, you know, songs in a twelve-tone scale or like a normal tuning. So we were able to figure out a way to tune the strings in a way that we wanted to. Joseph Harvey>> We're learning more all the time. So right now, we have the things that we think the long strings can do well, so we make it do those things in the pieces that we write for. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Luke, how does this work? Tell me about the long strings. Luke Rothschild>> Okay. Here's the resonator and this is the body of the instrument that amplifies it. This is resin which is the same type of resin that one uses with a violin or a cello. What happens is, these brass wires are quite taut. They go the length of the space. When I go like this -- [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> I'm generating a compression wave and the molecules are vibrating out to the tuning block and back into the bridge and igniting the resonator with energy, with vibration and sound. Vicki Curry>> And so then the way you tune it or make each string have a different note is by the location of the tuning block. Luke Rothschild>> So if we come from here out to here, here is where the vibration ends. This oak block clamps the string and the vibration comes in, is blocked off and shoots back down to the resonator and ignites that with sound. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> I really like that sound. Luke Rothschild>> The end sounds really cool right at the finish. Vicki Curry>> Yeah. Luke Rothschild>> The closer to the bridge you are, the higher the pitch. So we use a C Chromatic Scale and our C note is about twenty-three or twenty-four feet from our resonator, our middle C. Then we go up chromatically and we have twelve notes per side. Vicki Curry>> Luke designs and builds all of String Theory's harps. Each one of the various shapes and sizes makes a slightly different sound. Luke Rothschild>> I kind of have an innate sense of what a resonator kind of does, you know, but by no means in a scientific way. I got my degree in painting and drawing, so what I wanted to do is create resonators that looked really beautiful, but also would enhance the attractive sounding elements of the instruments. Vicki Curry>> To install the harps, the resonator must be fixed in place and then each wire stretched and attached to another fixed point. The strings have to be at least twenty-three feet long, but can go up to a thousand. So it takes hours to set up and tune each harp. Holly Rothschild>> It always seems like it's down to the wire, no pun intended (laughter). Joseph Harvey>> The site-specific nature of the installations is different every time, you know, even in the same places sometimes. At first, it was daunting because you were kind of worried that, you know, it might not work out, but it always has. Holly Rothschild>> Now I feel like we've been doing it long enough that we're really highly adaptable and also I feel like it makes the work more interesting in a way. We like the idea of sort of the space or the environment forcing change upon what's happening. Vicki Curry>> The space is a big part of String Theory's work and brings an added visual element to their performances. They've played venues around the world, some outdoors and some in, including art museums, office buildings and the openings of Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Luke Rothschild>> I've never been so conscious of architecture until we started doing these installations because we're kind of integrating ourselves directly into it. I've heard people tell me this, too, like after the show. It makes them think about the space in a different way. Vicki Curry>> Once the installation is complete and the harps ready to play, String Theory adds one final visual element to the performance: dance. [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> It's much more interesting to watch a dancer play them than a musician necessarily, you know. There's a lot of physicality that goes with that and it was wonderful to see Holly kind of absorb and kind of take the lead as far as creating a language of movement that incorporates the actual playing of the harps. Holly Rothschild>> It was so natural because of the scale of the installations and the scale of the instruments that there was just so much movement available in playing the strings and the size and the landscape and everything, so it just seemed immediately available. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Music, dance and sculpture-like long string instruments. String Theory calls it transforming architecture into theater. But when they leave behind an old space, they also leave behind the performance that happened there. Luke Rothschild>> We have to like physically adapt ourselves to the space, so that will engender a different performance no matter what. You know, afterwards it feels like a bit of an achievement. I mean, we've definitely played our set, but also we've kind of created an environment that's never been created in that space and then it goes away. Val Zavala>> For more information about String Theory and future performances, you can go to their website at stringtheoryproductions.com. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. 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:  | |
|
Home | Features | Arts | Health/Science | OC Edition | L&T Blog | Archives | About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |