April 25, 2005: Rustbelt Radio

Airs at 6pm on WRCT Pittsburgh, 88.3FM, and webcast.

Intro

Welcome to this week's edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots, news overlooked by the corporate media. The show airs every Monday from 6-7pm on WRCT 88.3FM in Pittsburgh, PA and every Saturday from 5-6pm on WVJW Benwood, 94.1 FM in the Wheeling, West Virginia area. And we're also available on the internet, both on W-R-C-T's live webstream at W-R-C-T dot ORG and archived at radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot org.

On today's show...

• This week's local grassroots organization, the Fight for Lifers, will speak about their efforts to advocate for prisoners serving life sentences.
• We will hear from last Monday's Pittsburgh Public School Board meeting, as concerned parents spoke out about military recruiting at schools, unhealthy school meals and other issues impacting students.
• And Sunday was the 90th anniversary of the start of the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman empire. We'll hear from a survivor.

But first, these local, regional, and global news headlines.

Headlines

[15:00] Local News

[1:00] Hybrid buses

The Port Authority Transit System for Allegheny County chose Earth Day as the day to announce their acquisition of 6 new hybrid gas-electric buses. The first of the new, more fuel-efficient buses went into operation Sunday on the 71D line that services Pittsburgh's East End. All six buses will be in operation by July.

According to the Post-Gazette, the hybrid buses produce 90 percent less poisonous emissions than standard buses. They are also quieter and faster.

The buses are much more expensive than traditional buses, but the cash-strapped Port Authority payed for them using a combination of State and Federal grants. The Port Authority experimented with hybrid buses in the early nineties, but ended that project when cleaner fuels became available for standard buses, reducing the relative advantage of the hybrids. The new generation of hybrids is 40% more fuel efficient than the buses that the Port Authority currently operates.

In related news, the Port Authority will be holding a forum on rapid bus transit in Oakland this Tuesday, April 26th at 6:30 PM at Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave.

[2:30] Racism at midwestern colleges

In the past week, African-American students at colleges in the midwest have faced public harassment and even threats from some of their white classmates.

At the University of Cincinnati, a group of white students called the National Alliance posted flyers that target African-American students. The flyer read (quote) "Don't Have Sex With Blacks - Avoid AIDS". The message was posted all over campus and was also featured in the school newspaper as an advertisement. The National Alliance is an on-campus group of white students that attend the University of Cincinnati, and are known for their racist beliefs. African American student activists are organizing to take a stand at the university, and have noted that these racial tensions are not a first for the city of Cincinnati, which also has a record of police brutality against Blacks.

Erika Guice, a Black student at the University of Cincinnati said (quote) "We need change. Change has to come from somewhere and I believe that if one person can't stand for what they believe in, then no one ever will."

Also, this past Friday at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, authorities at the Christian university moved dozens of Black and Hispanic students to a hotel for their own safety and police stepped up patrols on the campus. The action came after three people received violent racist letters in which the author threatened to shoot black students. Trinity parent Darby Love said her son, a sophomore football player, told her the letters were sent to white women dating black athletes. On Friday she told the Chicago Sun-Times, (quote) "My understanding is that they're supposed to start shooting the black kids."

And late last year, Black professional football players and high school athletes in Cleveland also received threatening letters. Those letters, postmarked from cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, directed recipients to break off their interracial relationships or (quote) "they're going to be castrated, shot or set on fire." (end quote) Most were signed "angry white woman" or "angry Caucasian woman."

Stay tuned to Rustbelt Radio for a report later in the show about student organizing on college campuses, including a story about students organizing against racism and homophobia at Kent State University.

[1:30] TMC Healthcare campaign goes to cleveland

On Wednesday, April 20th, a dozen supporters and members of the Thomas Merton Center's healthcare campaign travelled to Cleveland, Ohio for the annual shareholders meeting of Sky Bank. The campaign has targeted Sky Bank for its role in the firing of the nine janitors at Centre City Towers a year and a half ago. As Rust Belt has frequently reported, Sky Bank holds the mortgage on Centre City Towers, are one of the most visible tenets in the building, and have made at least $80,000 loans to the owner of PF Enterpirses, the company that replaced Centre City's union contractor that led to the firings.

Three of the group went inside, thanks to shareholders who gave them proxies. Two were able to offer public remarks, including Thomas Merton Center Executive Director Tim Vining and board member Mary Ruth Ault. Skybank officials read a prepared statement claiming that while they view the firings as unfortunate, there is nothing they can legally do about it. The Health Care campaign nonetheless maintains that Sky Bank shoulders a large part of the responsibility for the tragedy and they must come clean about their ties to this incident and take concrete action.

Meanwhile, the rest of activists who remained outside paraded around the building with giant signs and drums under the watchful eye of Skybank security and Cleveland police. At the conclusion of the meeting, the activists were followed by officers who then wrote a $25 dollar ticket for an expired parking meter.

The group will continue their protest at another Skybank location this Friday.

[2:45] Mayoral candidates forum hosted by Pittsburgh Civic Design Coaltion

(a little long perhaps...cut as necessary. See sentence two for weird name-pronuciation issue)

The Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition hosted a forum for candidates in the upcoming Pittsburgh mayoral election entitled “Design, Community, and Quality of Life.” Five candidates participated in the forum – Michael Lamb, Les Ludwig, Bob O’Connor, Bill Peduto, and Michael (pronounce “re-POSE”) Repovs.

The candidates detailed their approaches to urban blight. Michael Lamb favored establishing a fund to eliminate blight, streamlining the cumbersome treasurer’s sale process to speed reinvestment in abandoned properties, and encouraging residential development downtown for revitalization. Les Ludwig wanted to establish a park district, direct Tax-Increment-Financing to homeowners rather than large corporations, and encourage innovations to reduce expenses. Bob O’Connor said (quote) We have to be able to partner. That’s my strongest asset (endquote). O’Connor proposed (quote) professionalizing the authorities, and sharing services with the County, and (quote) working together for jobs (endquote). Bill Peduto said that to alleviate blight, the city’s emphasis should be on neighborhood revitalization. He proposed that the resources of the planning offices and of the Urban Redevelopment Authority should be jointly re-directed towards this revitalization and that the efforts should be informed by citizen-based community plans. And Michael Repose said that a part of the solution to blight would be (quote) a larger culture of accountability within our neighborhoods (end quote).

To resolve the city’s financial crisis, Ludwig suggested looking for alternative funding sources. He said that (quote) everything should be looked at in terms of “can we get it for free?” and if not, then we’ll spend money (endquote). Peduto favored modernizing city services and (quote) merging around commonalities (endquote) between city, county, and regional government. He also proposed a strategy of working with surrounding cities facing similar problems to gain response from the state government to the problems of sprawl and urban decay, since Republican lawmakers are not responsive to the concerns of the largely Democratic city of Pittsburgh, but many do have smaller cities within their jurisdictions.

When the candidates were asked how, aside from creating more jobs, to keep young people in Pittsburgh, they all emphasized the need for attractive job opportunities. Michael Lamb said that one problem was that the gender wage gap is very significant here and proposed incentives for women-owned businesses as a solution.

In the last question of the forum candidates were asked to name the city’s best physical asset. Lamb said that (quote) Pittsburgh has the greatest urban vista in America (endquote) Ludwig, O’Connor, and Repose all picked the city’s people as its best asset; Ludwig said (quote) 60% more old people means 60% more wisdom (endquote) and stressed the need to eliminate racism, while O’Connor said that (quote) as mayor I’m going to surround myself with the best people. (endquote) Repose said that (quote) this city believes in progressive and conservative values-- collective bargaining, healthcare, but also a good return on our investment. (endquote) Peduto picked the city’s neighborhoods as its best asset and said the city’s future lay in neighborhood revitalization.

[2:00] Youngstown Super-max Prison

Mahoning County Prison in Youngstown is Ohio's super-maximum security prison. It was meant to house the "worst of the worst" inmates. Courts have ruled that inmates may not be sent there unless they pose a security risk. But Ohio state prison officials now plan to move all 191 inmates of Ohio's Death Row there anyway.

In papers filed this past Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Akron, the ACLU of Ohio said moving death row inmates would be a violation of their constitutional rights. They also said it was in direct defiance of the Judge's order affording all super-max inmates a due-process hearing.

Staughton Lynd, a lawyer with the ACLU, said (quote) "It would be hard to imagine an action that would be more contemptuous." Lynd called the conditions at super-max, "cruel and unusual punishment" and pointed out that the move would greatly cut the already tiny amount of time inmates can spend in outdoor recreation, and would move them into isolated cells the size of a bathroom. He also said that the lack of human interaction at the super-max causes inmates' mental conditions to deteriorate.

Helen Treesh, mother of an Ohio death row inmate, said (quote) "The death penalty was the court's punishment. I don't think they should be allowed to torture him by not allowing him to be around other human beings." (end quote)

ACLU attorney Michael Benza of Cleveland says the state is trying to rescue the super-max prison from financial ruin. Currrently there are 264 inmates and the prison was designed to hold 504. Benza says that only about 50 of those inmates actually meet the security risk standards required, and the state is fabricating additional risks to keep the prison in business. The Ohio ACLU has been battling the state for years to stop transfers of other non-death-row prisoners to the super-max prison without cause.

The state claims the move is to save money, but ACLU lawyers point out that the cost of holding death-row inmates in super-max security Mahoning County Prison is about three times as much as keeping them where they are now.

[2:00] Mayoral candidates debate Citizen's Police Review Board

Bob O'Connor's opponents in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh mayor went after him on Thursday, April 21st about police oversight. At a forum hosted by the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania, the candidates were asked if they would compel police officers to testify before Pittsburgh's Citizen Police Review Board about alleged police misconduct. Mayor Tom Murphy does not require officers to testify. The board was created by citywide referendum in 1997 after cases of police brutality in Pittsburgh brought the department under federal scrutiny. The review board has been largely powerless since.

O'Connor said, after repeated questioning, that he would not have police oficers testify before the review board because he thought it was illegal.

The review board sued Mayor Murphy in 2000 to force him to compel police testimony at the hearings, by granting officers immunity. An Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judge rejected the board's lawsuit. Review board officials, however, contend the mayor has the authority to direct police to cooperate.

Candidate Louis "Hop" Kendrick, former Allegheny County disadvantaged business coordinator and the only black candidate for Mayor, said (quote) "If you have a mayor who coddles the police, they're going to continue to run amok. Bob O'Connor's in bed with the [Fraternal Order of Police] -- he's not going to challenge the F-O-P."

Candidate William Peduto, a city councilman, noted that O'Connor, a former councilman, voted against creating the seven-member review board in 1996. Peduto said he would compel officers to testify as mayor.

Candidate Les Ludwig from Squirrel Hill also promised to (quote) "stand up to police" if elected.

[1:30] PAAR's funding possibly being cut

Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (or PAAR) has been serving Allegheny county as a rape crisis resource center for over 30 years, but may be facing a serious funding crisis. Most of PAAR's funding comes from the Victims of Crime Act (or VOCA) fund. Fines and court fees are pooled into this fund, and tax dollars are not.

Other organizations in Pittsburgh receiving this type of funding are The Center for Victims of Violence and Crime, Crisis Center North, Womansplace, and the Women's Center and Shelter. These organizations served over 50,000 victims of crime last year. Next year, that might not be possible.

President Bush has asked Congress to zero out the VOCA fund by the end of 2007. That means that the 1 and a quarter billion dollars paid by convicted offenders will not be spent on services for crime victims. If PAAR can continue to exist without money from the VOCA fund and government contracts, its services must be drastically reduced or provided for a fee, instead of for free as they are currently. PAAR will lose almost 20% of their budget in 2006 if the president's request to zero out the VOCA fund is approved.

Listeners who want to voice an opinion about the effects that the loss VOCA funds will have on community organizations like PAAR are can e-mail, write a letter or make a phone call to their senators and congressional representative. To learn more about PAAR and monitor the plight of VOCA funds visit www (dot) P-A-A-R (dot) net.

Wrapup

For more on all of our local news stories, visit pittsburgh dot I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot O-R-G.

[ optional music break ]

[16:00] Global News

Intro

You are listening to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news overlooked by the corporate media. We turn now to headlines from Independent Media Centers around the world.

[1:00] Michigan Workers picket mayor’s mansion

In Detroit, community members and city workers marched on the Mayor's Mansion on April 16, demanding an end to water shutoffs and protesting nearly 800 planned city layoffs.

Detroit City council candidate Maureen Taylor, of the Welfare Rights Organization, said (quote) “There’s somebody on this picket line who hasn’t had water in their home for over a year. There are 45,752 addresses that have had their water service interrupted, but they aren’t shutting off service to big businesses.”

Dave Sole, president of United Auto Workers Local 2334, which represents water department chemists, said that instead of cutting bus service and privatizing city departments, the administration should look toward those responsible for the city’s crisis. He said that while Detroit faced a 300 million dollar budget deficit this year (quote) “Big companies get big city tax breaks, and the war in Iraq took over 400 million dollars in Detroit citizens’ tax dollars last year. We must build one big movement to demand change.” (end quote)

[2:00] Update on Ecuador Presdent and protests

Last week Rustbelt Radio reported on the protests in Ecuador against President Lucio Gutiérrez, who was elected President of Ecuador in 2002 with the support of social movements and the indigenous confederation. But Gutiérrez abandoned campaign promises of broad social reform for a neoliberal agenda when he increased the nation's debt with IMF, backed 'free trade' agreements with the US, and allowed an increased US military presence.

After months of pressure, massive street mobilizations began two weeks ago in the capital, Quito, then spread to Guayaquil and other cities across the country. Gutiérrez tried to institute a State of Emergency 10 days ago, which the people of Quito ignored in defiance. A huge march on the presidential palace where Gutiérrez was holed up was met by police repression. Then on Wednesday the congress voted 60-0 with two abstentions to remove the president, who fled to the Brasilian embassy and remained holed up there by protestors. Washington, which had supported Gutierrez up until the Congress decision, has refused to recognise the new government.

While the focus of media attention has been on the capital city of Quito, the southern city of Cuenca has been in open rebellion against its former president for the past week. The discontent had been simmering for some time but in the weeks and days before the ouster of Gutiérrez it reached a boiling point. Daily, students manned street blockades and fought pitched battles with police over control of the streets while across town the main park overflowed every night with a diverse array of people who had come to protest the president and government.

Many in Ecuador, including the indigenous movement, see the removal of Gutiérrez as the first step, not the end goal; they are urging the mobilizations to continue until the entire corrupt political class, neoliberalism, the Free Trade Agreement, Plan Colombia, and multinationals are all gone. They have taken up the cry of the Argentinean social movements, "Que se vayan todos!" (They all must go!).

[4:30] Academic Repression

Throughout this season Rustbelt Radio has reported on academic repression at universities around the country. In February we heard a speech from Professor and activist Ward Churchill. He stepped down as head of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Colorado after a controversy erupted over his essay on the September 11th attacks. Shortly after the media frenzy surrounding Churchill, the President of the University of Colorado, Betsy Hoffman, tendered her resignation. Hoffman also had been the focus of news coverage since she had defended Churchill and called the campaign against him “New McCarthyism^?”.

Today WBAI brings us a report about more Academic Repression, this time at Columbia University in New York City.

[ 4:10 Academic Repression segment from WBAI -- AcademicFreedomColumbiaU.mp3: 4:30]

Thanks to WBAI-FM, our pacifica afilliate in New York City for that report

[4:00] Armenian Genocide

April 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet and Allied troops of Hitler's concentration and death camps. But there is another, lesser known anniversary that is also being marked this month. Sunday, April 24th marked the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

In 1914, the Turkish-run Ottoman Empire allied itself with Germany in the First World War. In 1915, the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire decided to remove the Armenian population from its borders.

On April 24th, 1915, Armenian political and intellictual leaders were rounded up in several cities throughout the Ottoman Empire and killed. The remaining Armenians were told that they would be relocated for their own safety. Countless Armenians were killed during the force marches, either by Turkish guards, or by hunger, dehydration, starvation, and disease. All in all, one a half million Armenians are believed to have died.

We will now hear from a survivor of the Armenian genocide, Araxie (uhh-ROCK-see) Barsamian (BAR-sahm-yan), courtesy of Alternative Radio. Araxie spoke in 1986 to a group of history students at the University of Boulder. She was helped with her english by her son, David Barsamian, founder of Alternative Radio.

First, Araxie told how the men from her village were rounded up and killed.

[Araxie-1, 30 seconds]

Then, Araxie and David both discuss the forced marches in which countless Armenians were killed

[Araxie-3, 1:30]

Only the post-war Turkish government of Damad Pasha has recognized that a genocide against the Armenians occured. Every other Turkish government has denied that the Armenians were targetted for extermination. Several European nations, including Germany, have requested that Ankara recognize the genocide as a precondition of Turkey's admittance into the European Union.

Protests were scheduled for April 24th at Turkish embassies throughout the world. There were also reported counterdemonstrations from Turkish groups. Numerous European parliments have recognized that what happened in 1915 was in fact a genocide, but many governments, including the United States, have stifled many official statements regarding the genocide due to pressure from the Republic of Turkey.

Wrapup

You can read more about our global news stories by visting I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot O-R-G. We'll be back after a brief break.

[ Musical Break ]

[5:00] Media Minutes

This week we will also be featuring news focusing on recent developments on the payola punditry, a chat with Phil Donahue, and a Fast Fact: Fox's bias vs CNN's secrecy.

• mediaminutes.mp3: 5:00

Features

Intro

That was Media Minutes' weekly update. Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news overlooked by the corporate media.

[12:00] Fight for Lifers

And now for the Light at the End of the Fort Pitt Tunnel’s Rustbelt Radio’s highlight of a local grassroots organization. This week we will speak with the Fight for Lifers, a group that seeks "to educate the public about the realities of serving a life sentence in the Commonwealth of PA and the necessity for consideration of parole review for life-sentenced prisoners on a case-by-case basis; to support thruout the commutation process for individual lifers who have proven their merit; to provide information, support and guidance for their loved ones, and to advocate for their special needs and the quality of life."

Etta Cetera has the report

• LIFERS1.OGG: lifers group 5 min( i think)

Etta and other members of Fight for Lifers will talk about an upcoming conference and the severity of the situation for lifers and their families.

• LIFERS2.OGG: lifer conference story 4 min i think

If you would like to get involved with the Fight for Lifers you can attend their monthly meeting the third Saturday of every month at 10am at the Thomas Merton Center at 5125 Penn Ave in Garfield. You can call 412 261 3022 for more info or write to P.O. Box 4683, Pgh, PA 15206.

[ Musical Break ]

[8:30] School Board

On Monday April 18th The Pittsburgh public school board met and members of Consience, the American Friends Service committee, Acorn, Just Harvest and other concerned parents voiced their opinions. Deshauna Ponton From Just Harvest spoke about the lack of nutritious meals in the schools and the efforts fo the green party to improve these meals. Ponton also spoke about the lack of transparency in schools in regards to their requirement of a 24 hr notice before a parent is allowed to visit their child’s classroom. We will hear from Tim Vining the executive director of the Thomas Merton Center and Priscilla Wahrhaftig (war-hoff-tig) of the American Friends Service Comittee talk about their anti-recruiting efforts.

• schoolboard1.ogg: schoolboardantiwar 3:40

Celeste Taylor of Acorn spoke about the lack of African American Teachers in the Pittsburgh Public schools and the desire for communities to “grow” their own teachers who will address their needs. She also addressed issues of equity, adequacy and segregation in the schools.

• schoolboard2.ogg: schoolboardantiwar 3:40

For more information about Conscience you can go to www.consciencepgh.org or call (412) 231-1581

You're listening to Rust Belt Radio.

Ending

Calendar of events

And now we go to the Indymedia calendar of events:

• Earlier this season rustbelt reported on the arrest of Molly Rush and Father Jack O'Malley while protesting George Bush outside of a designated free-speech zone. Their hearing is scheduled for this week, Wednesday April 27th at 8:30 AM at the district court, 660 First Ave. (That's Downtown near the County Jail)
• Also this Wednesday, Moveon.org is organizing nationwide protests against the conservative effort to pack the courts with right-wing extremists. In Pittsburgh, protesters will rally in front of the Federal Building, which is downtown at 1000 Liberty Avenue.
• Workers Memorial Day will be held in downtown Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 28. The international day of remembrance is held to honor workers killed on the job and to focus on the struggle for improved workplace safety. That's noon on Thursday at Market Square, downtown.
• The documentary Kilowatt Ours will be screened on Thursday April 28 on the CMU campus. The film is the story of an 18 month journey across the southeast United States to document energy related problems and present viable solutions. That's at 6pm on Thursday, Porter Hall room 100 on the CMU campus, near flagstaff hill in Schenley Park.

Outro

Thanks for tuning in to Rust Belt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh and WVJW Benwood.

Our hosts this week are [ Danny P ] and [ Andalusia Knoll ] with contributions from [ Carlin , David Meieran, Jessica McPherson, Matt Toups, Jessie Buckner, Quinten Steenhuis, and Patrick and Ian of Cleveland Indymedia ]. This week's show was produced by [ Matt Toups ]. Special thanks to all of our hosts, producers, and contributors.

Rustbelt Radio would also like to thank another one of our generous supporters, Phyllis Sickerman, for her financial and in-kind donations to our program.

Your story submissions are welcome! To get involved with Rust Belt Radio, or to send us your comments, email RADIO at I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot ORG. All of our shows are available for download on our website at RADIO dot INDY-P-G-H dot ORG

Tune in next week at this time for another edition of Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news from the grassroots.