School Budget Cuts
In Other Words wants to hear how budget cuts are affecting your school. Leave us a comment or send us your pictures and videos.
Our email address is inotherwords@kqed.org.
Gang Injunctions in Oakland
Both Youth Radio and Forum recently covered The City of Oakland’s call for an injunction against North Side Oakland, a gang the police identify as one of the most violent in the city. Youth Radio producer Denise Tejada interviewed a resident who opposes the injunction and wants to see resources allocated to other programs. Read the interview at YouthRadio.org.
Several weeks ago Forum discussed the injunction with representatives from the Oakland city attorney’s office, the Oakland Police Department, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Youth UpRising, a youth development organization. Listen to an archive of the show below.
A Look at First Generation College Students
Both of today’s episodes of Forum examined the challenges facing first generation college students and successful strategies for helping them. The show was actually broadcast from the Downtown College Prep High School campus in San Jose and students participated in each hours’ discussion. Both shows are embedded below.
Tell us, what kind of support do you need to help you get into college or to finish your degree? If you’ve already graduated, what kind of support served you well?
Youth Radio Video: Cal Students Rally on Day of Action
Statewide Rallies to Protect Education
Rallies, marches, political theater and teach-ins are taking place at schools across the state today. Protesters are hoping to send the message to Sacramento that cuts to public education need to be restored. According to one KQED story, California currently places 47 in per pupil spending in the country. Here are a few sources to get you up to speed on today’s activities:
- Today’s Forum discussed the rallies with education reporters Lisa Kreiger and Jill Tucker as well as a few students and PTA members.
- Youth Radio has been posting updates about every half hour.
- Chronicle reporter Justin Berton has been tweeting about the protests.
For a bit of background on the protests, listen to KQED Tara Siler’s report from Tuesday:
And KQED Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers look at Prop. 98:
Teens Talk About Their Health
Last night’s Health Dialogues focused on teen health. The on-air pieces included a round table discussion with students from Burton High School in San Francisco, a look at an anti-bullying program in Lake County, and a visit to a group in Fresno that focuses on healthy decision making. Personally, I’m thrilled to see a show about teenagers that actually included teens themselves. And you can be part of the conversation too. Visit the Health Dialogues site, listen to what other teens had to say, and then tell us what you have to say. Come on. You know you want a chance to vent.
Waiting for the Thick Envelope: Part Two
The California Report continued their look at the current admissions squeeze at the University of California. Today’s story features a senior at Miramonte High School in Orinda, who had this to say about applying to colleges: “I don’t know what else they want me to be. I’m trying my best.”
The series will also air as part of Health Dialogue’s Coming of Age: Teen Health episode, which airs tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. The Health Dialogues website will feature an online discussion about the stress of college admissions– so tune in, logon, and tell us what’s hard about waiting.
Waiting for the Thick Envelope
The California Report aired the first in its two-part series looking at high school seniors waiting to hear whether or not they were accepted into the University of California system. The system received a record number of applications this year despite a tuition increase of about 30% and cutting the number of spots available in the incoming class. Officials say cutting those spots will make maintaining diversity at UC even harder.
From Youth Radio: Couple Offers Marriage Advice via Twitter
There are lots of Valentine’s Day related stories out there. There’s Salon’s What to Click, an exhaustive list of all things Valentine’s on the web, Leah Garchick’s annual column featuring overhead comments about love and a piece by the New York Times on the dangerous health problems caused by the Ecuadorean rose industry.
But it was a Youth Radio piece that alerted me to news that a couple that has been married for 85 years will be offering relationship advice via Twitter on Valentine’s Day. Read the full piece at Youth Radio.org and submit your questions to @longestmarried.
Are You Willing To Pay for News?
Yesterday, NPR’s Talk of the Nation examined the future of news. Guests included Ken Doctor, author of Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape The News You Get and David Cohn, director and founder of Spot.us.
Trying to predict the future of news is certainly not new, but Doctor did bring up some interesting facts–like his assertion that since 2007 one million stories went uncovered because of a decline in the number of working journalists.
Doctor talked about newspapers’ struggle during this “hybrid period,” where news lives partly in the print world and partly in the digital world. He quickly pointed out that the future is purely digital and mentioned several new models and partnerships that are proving successful. One such model is California Watch, an investigative news organization that occasionally shares content with KQED. Their blog post about a partnership between community colleges and Kaplan is a must read for any advocate of affordable higher education.
Listen to the full discussion at npr.org.
Teens and the Internet
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project released their latest findings today. The report compares internet, social media and mobile phone use for three groups: teens ages 12-17, young adults ages 18-29, and adults 30 and over.
Here are the highlights:
Teens seem to be replacing blogging (only 14 percent of online teens maintain a blog) with updating their status on social networking sites. 73 percent of teens use social networking sites, an increase from 55 percent in 2004. And what about MySpace– does anyone still use it? Well, sort of. 66 percent of young adults surveyed had a MySpace profile, while only 36 percent of adults over 30 did. Unfortunately, the survey didn’t specify how many online teens have MySpace profiles. One thing is clear though–teens don’t tweet. Only 8% of online teens had a Twitter account.
Click here to read the full report online at Pew Internet.org.
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