News & Public Affairs

THE UPCOMING CONSTRUCTION AT MALFUNCTION JUNCTION

John McShaffrey, public information officer for the local district of the Florida DOT, talked about the construction to improve the I-4 and I-275 interchange. The improvements will begin at the end of the month, take four years and cost 80 million dollars. The intent is to improve traffic flow through one of the worst bottlenecks in the Bay area.

BAY AREA COMMUTER CHOICES WEEK

BAY AREA COMMUTER CHOICES WEEK is October 7-10th. In an effort to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, Bay Area Commuter Services sponsors "commuter choices week." It's a way to publicize alternatives to single passenger automobile commuting. Those alternatives include car-pooling, van-pooling, bicycling, buses and walking. Dandi Moodi, the executive director of BACS stopped by to discuss the event.

THE TEACHINGS OF DON CARLOS

Our guest was Victor Sanchez, author of THE TEACHINGS OF DON CARLOS: Practical Applications of the Works of Carlos Casteneda (Bear and Company).

BUSH SPEECH

Open phones discussing President Bush's UN speech about Iraq.

ELECTION REFORM

BRINGING CLEAN ELECTIONS REFORMS TO FLORIDA? This weekend E.J. Ford, a PhD. candidate at USF, will present a workshop on the Clean Election reforms (publicly financed campaigns, limits on donations by corporations, the rich and special interest groups) which have been passed in Maine, Massachussetts, Arizona, and Vermont. The workshop will be given as part of the Earth Summit activities. On this segment Ford discussed how the reforms work and why they are necessary for improving participation...

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Interview with Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United For Separation of Church and State. Lynn will be making several appearances in the Tampa Bay area next week. During the segment he discussed school vouchers, the intent of the framers of the Constitution to put up a wall between the state and religion, the growing number of religious stations in the educational part of the band, and the importance of public schools.

PACIFICA'S COVERAGE OF 9/11

AMERICAN ELECTIONS

Steven Hill, author of FIXING ELECTIONS: THE FAILURE OF AMERICA'S WINNER TAKE ALL POLITICS (Routledge). Why are fewer Americans voting? Why do politicians conduct their campaigns without giving us much information about where they stand on the issues? Why do incumbents have so much power? Why is the country so divided politically? Who benefits when voter turnout is suppressed? Why does the U.S. continue to use the winner take all system, when other countries have modernized the process to inc...

PRAYER VIGIL FOR PEACE

Rev. Warren Clark and Muhammad Sultan, director and Imam at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area are part of a group planning a prayer vigil at the main gate to MacDill Air Force Base. They want the staff at MacDill to search their consciences over the prospects of going to war with Iraq.

FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR EDWARD WALKER

Walker served as ambassador to Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates during the late 1980's and 1998. Walker is the president of the Middle East Institute. He discussed the United State's policy toward Israel and the Palestinians and the discussion in Congress about whether the United States should try to depose Saddam Hussein.