90.3 at 9: August 2006

90.3 at 9 for Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Eminent Domain in Northeast Ohio Cities can not use eminent domain to take private property, when they have no reason aside from economic development to do so - the Ohio Supreme Court handed down that ruling last week. While the Court's decision settles a case in the Cincinnati area, its application in Cleveland, Lakewood, and other places remains uncertain. We'll talk about what the ruling could mean for Northeast Ohio on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Extreme Weather and You The effects of recent weather conditions have been immediate - with homes destroyed, infrastructure damaged, and people displaced or hurt. But the effects of extreme weather can also linger, or build over time, making permanent changes to the landscape and ecosystems, even establishing the environmental conditions that can lead to illness or disease. We'll talk about the effects of the current heatwave and recent flooding in the region on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Thursday, August 03, 2006
ID Implants for Workers; It's Not Science Fiction People strongly disagree about the ramifications of tagging products to track them. Debate over tagging people can be even more contentious. The implanting of small radio-transmitting chips in humans is relatively new in the U.S. and has been seen mainly in medical settings. But one Ohio security company is piloting use of the chips in employees - say that raises a host of concerns about privacy. We'll talk about what the chips can and can't do, and consider their pros and cons on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Friday, August 04, 2006
Violent Crime Last year, 109 people were murdered in Cleveland. That's more victims than any other city in Ohio. Across the country, violent crime is up - murder, assault, rape. The downward trend in violence that occurred through the 1990s appears to be over. It's dicey to draw too many conclusions from one year's statistics, but we can talk about what's being done to curtail violent crime around Northeast Ohio. And we will talk about it on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Monday, August 07, 2006
The Question of Racial Profiling A new report finds that police in Cleveland stop and search more cars driven by blacks than those driven by whites. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is calling the study nonconclusive, and even the report's author says the results don't necessarily point to racial profiling. No doubt research on the issue will continue, as will community conversations, such as the one we'll have on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Infection at the Hospital For 90,000 people every year, going to the hospital means contracting an infection serious enough to end their lives. Nationwide this year, 20 million people will get an infection while in the hospital. One of the more worrisome infections spreading in Ohio hospitals is a virulent intestinal bacterium called C diff. Some area hospitals have a higher-than-average incidence. We'll talk about that, other hospital-acquired infections, and what's being done to prevent them on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Separation of Church and State The latest volley in the ongoing battle over how much religion Ohioans can publicly express has come from an unlikely source. The Ohio Department of Taxation just informed its workers they may not attach religious messages to the end of work emails. Meanwhile, battles continue being waged over things like the use of state money to fund religious schools. Ohioans remain at odds about how much separation of church and state they want. We'll talk about it on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Thursday, August 10, 2006
Free Trade and Our Economy There's a great conceptual divide between those who see free trade as a wave to ride into the future, and those who think it's a deadly tsunami. In Northeast Ohio, which has taken severe hits to its economy, particularly in the manufacturing sector, this is a debate based on very real experiences of jobs lost, and not necessarily found. We'll speak about free trade - its upsides, its downsides, and its impact on our current and future economy on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Friday, August 11, 2006
Abortion Rights vs. Parental Rights Regina Brett's Debut as Regular Friday Host of 90.3 at 9 Does a parent's right to know take precedence over a young woman's right to have a legal abortion? The Senate made it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines for an abortion without parental consent. The FDA wants the contraceptive "Plan B" to be sold over the counter - except to teens. We'll talk about abortion rights and wrongs on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Monday, August 14, 2006
Blackout 3rd Anniversary It's been three years since the power went out around the Northeast - how likely are we to find ourselves in the same situation again? An investigation into the 2003 blackout uncovered inadequate preparation and a transmission grid that was far too vulnerable, that allowed a massive disruption to grow from a minor one. We'll revisit what took place three years ago and consider how well we've applied the lessons learned from the experience. We'll also take a look back at a more recent blackout that affected thousands of residents in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. That's coming up on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The Future of Higher Education A new federal report calls for a major shake-up of higher education in the United States. It says colleges have become complacent. The report by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education says colleges are not giving graduates the skills they need. It recommends standardized tests and sweeping changes in financial aid, among other things. The report is arousing fierce opposition from some university leaders. We'll talk with one of the members of the Commission, Ohio University economist Richard Vedder, and get reaction from Cleveland State University President Michael Schwartz on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Ohio Schools Report Cards The big news: no school district in the state is in Academic Emergency. And the number of Excellent districts has skyrocketed. But the new Report Cards from the Ohio Department of Education paint a complex picture. Schools are making strides in some areas, struggling in others. Cleveland met none of 25 state indicators and yet has moved up a notch in the ratings. We'll try to make sense of that with regional school officials on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Thursday, August 17, 2006
Population Drop in Cleveland A new report says that current city residents might not "Believe in Cleveland" but rather, they might be leaving Cleveland. The Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey suggests that by next July, the population might drop to below 400,000, a dismal number not seen since the early 1900s. A look at how to bring people back to the city and whether or not that's a good idea on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Friday, August 18, 2006
Poverty in Cleveland Cleveland has been among the top ten of the nation's poorest big cities four out of the last five years. When Cleveland hit number one in 2004, hundreds of local leaders met to explore solutions. But the mayor's Poverty Summits did little to change the landscape for the city's poor. We'll talk about poverty and what to do about it on 90.3 at 9. Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer joins us as our regular Friday guest host.

90.3 at 9 for Monday, August 21, 2006
Cleveland has made the short list of cities being considered by Republicans for their party's next National Convention. Members of the selection committee arrive Tuesday, and will spend several days being wooed by local leaders. Conventions are very big business, so Democrats and Republicans alike seem committed to landing the 2008 Republican National Convention. We'll talk about what it would mean to the city and region if they succeed on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Cleveland Mental Hospital At a time when the number of psychiatric beds in Ohio is down, state officials hope to build a new mental hospital. The proposed site is a 22-acre swath of former industrial land on Cleveland's east side. No money has been appropriated and environmental clean up could be an issue. If it's built, the new facility will replace an aging west side hospital. But it won't increase capacity. We'll talk about the plan and find out how east side residents feel about the proposed facility on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Wiretaps Continue, For Now One ACLU attorney described it as an important victory in the effort to protect privacy and safeguard the separation of powers. But after a federal judge ruled warrantless wiretapping unconstitutional last week, the Bush Administration requested and received a stay of that order. Officials say warrantless wiretapping is critical to the War on Terror. We'll hear local experts from both sides, consider what happens next, and get your thoughts about what it all means on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Thursday, August 24, 2006
The Future of Traffic and the ABJ Downtown Cleveland's highways one big snarl of traffic? A local expert says that's the likely outcome of plans for the inner belt. That critic of the Department of Transportation's intention to close two ramps in downtown Cleveland says doing so would have disastrous effects. We'll talk with him, and other local traffic gurus - and we'll look at what's going on at the Akron Beacon Journal these days on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Friday, August 25, 2006
Giving Up the Keys There's nothing better than getting your license to drive at 16, and nothing worse than giving it up when you hit 75. As the population ages, more and more adult children are faced with the unenviable task of taking away the car keys from their elderly parents. Seniors resist giving up their independence, even when the public's safety is at risk. We'll talk with safety experts about when and how to take the wheel and we'll find out about a growing public service network being pioneered in Cuyahoga County called the Senior Transportation Connection. Join us on 90.3 at 9.

90.3 at 9 for Monday, August 28, 2006
Radio Lab: Detective Stories Forensics, archeology, genealogy, and genetics are devoted to figuring out what really happened. In this hour, we hear surprising stories of playing detective, and find that what really happened in the past is not always what you'd expect. We start at a trash dump in Egypt, where we find Jesus, Satan, sissies, and porn. Next, the mystery of how hundreds of old letters written to the same woman were discovered on the side of Route 101. And lastly, a blood sampling tour of Asia reveals a prolific baby-maker and a potential world conqueror.

90.3 at 9 for Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Radio Lab: Musical Language What is music? How does it work? Why does it move us? Why are some people better at it than others? We examine the line between language and music, how the brain processes sound, and we meet a composer who uses computers to capture the musical DNA of dead composers in order to create new work. We also re-imagine the disastrous 1913 debut of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, through the lens of modern neurology.

90.3 at 9 for Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Radio Lab: Morality Where does our sense of right and wrong come from? We peer inside the brains of people contemplating moral dilemmas, watch chimps at a primate research center share blackberries, observe a playgroup of 3 year-olds fighting over toys, and tour the country's first penitentiary Eastern State Prison. Also: the story of land grabbing, indentured servitude and slum lording in the fourth grade.

90.3 at 9 for Thursday, August 31, 2006
Radio Lab: Where am I? Mind and body are in constant communication (neuroscientists call this the brain-body loop), but the loop can get out-of-sync - even broken. This hour: stories of people whose brains and bodies have lost each other. We begin with a century-old mystery: why do many amputees still feel their missing limbs? We speak with a neuroscientist who solved the problem with a magician's trick: an optical illusion. We continue with the story of a butcher who suddenly lost his entire sense of touch, and how, after many years, he managed to grow a new sense. And we hear from pilots who lose consciousness and suffer out-of-body experiences while flying fighter jets.