Spectrum

By WOUB Public MediaNews

Spectrum episodes

December 21, 2016 Addiction and “The Holidays” Can be a Toxic Mix – But, Help is Available
Ron Luce, a board member of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences and President of Ohio Recovery Housing, says “the Holidays” can be a troubling time for those addicted to drugs or alcohol –even those already in recovery.

Addiction is often linked with depression, according to Luce, and “the Holidays” can exacerbate emotions in the addict of isolation, shame and feelings associated with causing nothing but problems for family and friends.

Those negative feelings can even happen when someone is in “recovery.”

Therefore, relapses often occur for those in treatment during this time of year. These relapses occur most often in the first five years of recovery, says Luce.

Giving the recovering addict a sense of “community and connection” during this time is especially important.

Groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have been historically instrumental in providing that sense of community and support. However, according to Luce, there are now multiple options for a recovering addict beyond AA.

No longer does the treatment community believe that only one type of program is advantageous for recovery. Instead, a buffet table of different types of programs is available and a recovering addict can pick the program(s) best suited for his or her successful rehabilitation.

One type of program available for the recovering alcoholic or addict is a “Recovery House.” People live together in a safe, sober, “home-like” environment to support each other as they attempt re-entry into sober life and activities.

These types of residences are now available in over 20 states and enhance a recovering addict’s chances for success, according to Luce. For the protection of the recovering addict, regulations are being put in place in many states to guarantee the legitimacy of houses offering these services.
49 min
December 14, 2016 Sexual Victimization: New Data Challenges Stereotypes
Lara Stemple and her colleagues are leading the charge to change perceptions of sexual victimization and more accurately account for the gender of sexual perpetrators.

Stemple is the director of Graduate Studies at the UCLA School of Law and is the director of the Health and Human Rights Law Project.

Two recent studies have blazed the way. The first was published in April of 2014. It was co-written by Stemple and Ilan Meyer. “The Sexual Victimization of Men in American: New Data Challenge Old Assumptions” was published in the American Journal of Public Health.

When assessing five different federal surveys from 2010 to 2012, the research team concluded that sexual victimization of men in America was about equal to the prevalence found with women.

This first research work also showed women are perpetrators at much higher rates than commonly believed. That finding was the foundation for a second research work for the peer reviewed journal Aggression and Violent Behavior.

“Sexual Victimization Perpetrated by Women: Federal Data Reveal a Surprising Prevalence” by Stemple, Meyer and Andrew Flores was just released.

It records a high degree of sexual abuse and sexual victimization perpetuated by women on both boys and men. This cuts against the stereotypes of women as being “nurturing, submissive helpmate to men.”

The researchers say: “The idea that women can be sexually manipulative, dominant, and even violent runs counter to these stereotypes. Yet, studies have documented female-perpetrated acts that span a wide spectrum of sexual abuse.”

Historically, female perpetration has been minimized even among mental health and social work professionals. However, evidence shows that young boys abused by women are more reluctant to disclose their victimization by women than by men.

Often sexual abuse by women is mischaracterized as a “rite of passage” for the male and benign when, to the contrary, it is actually sexual abuse and produces long-term damage in the male.

This is especially true if the female perpetrator is the mother of her victim.
34 min
December 07, 2016 “Epic Struggles” Face Media in Covering President Donald Trump
Andrew Alexander, former ombudsman for the Washington Post and former Washington bureau chief for Cox Newspapers, states that the media have epic struggles ahead in covering our new President Donald Trump.

However, he believes media should attack their jobs “fearlessly” and traverse this uncharted media landscape with impartiality and gusto.

Alexander notes that there has always been an adversarial relationship between the President and the media covering him. But, this time there are notable differences and the gulf appears wider.

Given President-elect Trump’s social media prowess, he can bypass traditional media and go directly to his 15 million followers with messages and comments. Past Presidents have not utilized social media in such a pervasive way. As a result, some people rely less on mainstream media and more on tweets and posts from the President himself.

Also, there are more media outlets today that ever in our history and fake news is threatening people’s ability to discern truth from fiction.

Alexander also notes that we seem to be in a “post-truth” period where fact-checking and noting the President-elect’s falsehoods has little impact on the general population’s perceptions.

He feels that despite set-backs during campaign coverage and general mistrust by many people of the press, that the media must play a vigilant watch-dog role during the Trump Administration and be even more vigilant than in the past.

Alexander also expressed grave concern that “press-baiting” by President Trump and the possible weakening our laws protecting a free and robust media will embolden repressive regimes around the world to take even more repressive actions against the international press corps.
41 min
November 30, 2016 Poverty Takes on Power: Linda Tirado’s Fight for Right
Linda Tirado, author and activist, has for the past three years written and spoken around the globe about what it’s like to be poor in America. She now talks truth to power and explains why many poor people voted for Donald Trump to tear down the Washington “Establishments” of both parties.

Linda started her journey from the depths of poverty three years ago in October 2013. It began with an angry response to a poster on Gawker.com. The posting turned into an online essay “Why I Make Terrible Decisions or Poverty Thoughts” and it has now been read by over 20 million people.

Tirado became a viral sensation and encountered the slings and arrows that go with instant fame. Many supported her and applauded her for her honest examination of poverty from the inside out and others criticized her both personally and for her views.

She emerged from the conflagration with a book contract. In October 2014, her book, Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America was published and has emerged as an extremely meritorious book about living in poverty in America.

According to a study done by the Center for Poverty Research at the University of California-Davis, the official poverty rate in the USA is 13.5 percent – based upon the Census Bureau’s 2015 estimates. That means that an estimated 43.1 million Americans live in poverty and some experts challenge that number as being too low.

Yet, poor people are routinely ignored by society and even chastised for not being able to work themselves out of poverty.

Tirado challenges current political thinking about the poor, fly-over reporting by news organizations, and our misunderstandings of what it is truly like to be poor in this country.

She is outspoken and, some might say, brash. But, she is unapologetic about her views and her reputation of speaking truth to power as an activist, author, and journalist.

Tirado talks to Spectrum this week about the current state of politics and how poor people strangely identify with President-elect Donald Trump and want to tear down the current system in Washington, D.C.
44 min
November 23, 2016 Uber-Like Service for Rural America Being Launched by Valerie Lefler
Valerie Lefler is a young entrepreneur and innovator. Nationally, she is launching an “Uber-like” service for rural American that works together with existing transportation services and supplements options for rural residents.

Lefler is the Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Mobility Now, Inc. – currently headquartered in Nebraska. The demand for her services has exploded over the past year.

She currently is crisscrossing the country. She recently visited Ohio to assess the viability of bringing her services to this region. She met with groups, non-profits and governmental units who are planning the future of public transportation in this area.

Lefler offers a service that can provide 24 hour vehicle service using independent contractor drivers who have passed rigorous security checks. Their vehicles also meet critical standards for safety.

While visiting, Lefler took time to talk with SPECTRUM’s Tom Hodson about her company and her service.

There is considerable interest in transportation in rural regions as it relates to health, work opportunities, child care and quality of life for seniors, according to Lefler. Her service does not replace existing public transportation but it supplements it, thereby giving people additional options.

Currently, about 30 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural area and small towns. And, 40 percent of that population currently has no access to public transportation.

Lefler’s company was recently featured in a major article in The Atlantic. It was noted for its innovation. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/rural-ridesharing-nebraska/491360/
30 min
November 16, 2016 Aftermath and Reaction: Election Analysis from Two Targeted Groups
The rhetoric being espoused by candidate Donald Trump and some of his surrogates during the campaign caused fear and trepidation within several groups of people in America: such as immigrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ community and African-Americans.

Now that Trump has won the election and has become President-Elect Trump how do some of these groups feel about his ability to lead? Will their group be targeted for Presidential scrutiny or for negative actions to be taken by Presidential appointees?

SPECTRUM endeavored to find some answers from members of two of these communities. We spoke with delfin bautista* -- the director of the LGBTQ Center at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and an African-American mother and judge – Judge Gayle Williams Byers from South Euclid, Ohio in the southeast corner of Cuyahoga County near Cleveland.

delfin claims the LGBTQ community is currently confused, dazed and in a state of frustration. Many, according to delfin, have a defeatist attitude and are girding themselves for regression and for fights to come.

delfin states that progress has been made in civil rights over the last 10 years for the LGBTQ community but there are fears that all of the progress will disappear under a Trump Administration. There are special concerns since Vice President-Elect Mike Pence has taken over Trump’s transition efforts.

delfin notes that Pence was a strong proponent of a religious freedom act in Indiana that was perceived as being discriminatory against gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals. Pence also is a believer in “conversion therapies” to revert gay people “back” to being heterosexual even though such efforts have been debunked by the psychological and medical professions.

Amidst the depression and despondency from the election, delfin has seen a new spark of spirit in many LGBTQ people and a sense of urgency to fight harder and stronger against prejudice and to avidly promote greater civil rights.

Judge Gayle Byers Williams said she will give people at the top of the Trump Administration a chance and she touts the benefits of having three equal branches of government -- each exercising checks and balances on the other.

She, however, expresses doubts that race relations will improve over the next four years. She said that she feels the real conversations about race and equality that had started in this country will cease and be replaced by heightened tensions, fear, and distrust.

She also noted, however, that her teenage son reacted even more strongly to the election results and started talking about fleeing to Canada because he fears African-Americans will be targeted for persecution and hatred.

He is a combination of angry, vocal and pensive all at once, according to Judge Gayle.

Judge Gayle is more optimistic. She feels that change will not come from Washington and cannot be mandated from the top down despite what the Trump Administration might do.

She feels that the new administration may breed a groundswell of grassroots/local counteractions that will build across the country. People will fight the perceived misuse or abuses of federal power at the local level with grassroots actions that will eventually negate any potential wrongdoing at upper levels.

Both delfin and Judge Gayle said there is a time for some people to mourn the election results but that there is a sense of urgency to regroup and refocus on the issues that need to be resolved in both the LGBTQ and the African-American communities.

*delfin bautista uses they/them pronouns and does not capitalize their name
1 hr 11 min
November 09, 2016 Women Slowly Crack Innovation Glass Ceiling
Many more men than women are likely to become innovators or entrepreneurs.

Why is that?

Some experts say that there are fewer women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics programs in colleges – commonly called STEM programs. And, there are fewer women in STEM professions overall. Therefore, there are fewer innovators in high tech industries.

Other experts argue that venture capital groups and other investors looking for startup companies are dominated by men and therefore, women innovators are often overlooked or passed over.

Some experts claim that there is a paucity of women entrepreneurial role-models and that discourages other women from pushing a new idea or concept.

Other women report that the entrepreneurial workspace is often a hostile work environment for women.

Spectrum talked with four women to get their perspectives. Three work directly with female innovators and entrepreneurs and one has lived a life of an entrepreneur by running her own corporation.

Jennifer Simon is the Executive Director of Regional Innovation at Ohio University and has spent the bulk of her professional career leading entrepreneurial efforts.

Carol Clark is one of the founders of X Squared Angels, a venture capital group that focuses on supporting diversity leadership in businesses across the Midwest.

Beverly E. Jones is an executive coach in Washington, D. C. and author of a new book Think Like and Entrepreneur Act Like a CEO.

Finally, we talked with Jane Grote Abell, the chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Donatos Pizza, Inc. She tells about her personal experience rising through the corporate ranks to now be the leader of and innovator within a major corporation with over 4,500 employees and over 165 locations in seven states. It had gross sales of $162 million last year.
55 min
November 02, 2016 Social Media Dominates Presidential Races
The Presidential campaigns of 2016 have been dominated by the use of social media to convey messages and to lambast opponents.

Social media usage has not only increased but in this campaign, more and different audiences are being targeted.

In 2012, social media primarily was aimed at Millennials. However, in 2016, social media, generated by candidates, is being directed to all supporters, opponents, and the media alike.

Three noted experts on campaigns and social media gathered this week to talk with Spectrum about this phenomenon and the explosion of political social media in 2016.

Dr. Jerry Miller, a professor the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, is an expert in candidate image creation. Dr. Karen Riggs is a professor in Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University and is the director of the Social Media Certificate Program. Dr. Laeeq Kahn teaches in the Media Arts and Studies Department but also heads The Social Media Analytics Research Team (SMART) Lab as part of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University.

All agree that the use of social media in 2016 has been integrated into the campaign strategies of both major party presidential candidates.

Its use has been more limited and controlled by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Fewer tweets have actually been generated by the candidate.

Donald Trump’s use of social media has been more personalized and more spontaneous by the candidate, according to our panel of experts. It also has been more targeted with attacks on opponents, critics and the news media.

The use of social media, especially by the Trump campaign, also has substituted for traditional television and print advertising. It has been a cheaper and more targeted way for him to communicate with supporters, according to our group of professors.

Although “best practices” on the use of social media in campaigning have not yet emerged, both candidates are openly experimenting with different approaches and with different targeted audiences.
1 hr 9 min
October 26, 2016 “DISPEL THE CURSE” – A History of Superstition and Legend in Baseball
Some are calling the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians the “Apocalypse World Series.”

Both teams are not used to being the post season spotlight and most assuredly they are unfamiliar with winning the World Series…WHY? – Well, both teams supposedly have been under curses for over 50 years.

Brian Corbin, the real-time correspondent at Wrigley Field for mlb.com, explains Chicago’s malady.

The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 and they have been under the “Curse of the Goat” since 1945.

In 1945, Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern owner Bill Sianis brought his pet goat Murphy to Wrigley Field for good luck. Because of Murphy’s stench, fans complained and Sianis and Murphy were banned from the ballpark. Sianis, in a fit of rage, proclaimed that the Cubs would win “no-more,” according to Corbin.

And, they haven’t. The Cubs have come close but something unforeseen always seems to happen to jinx Chicago quest. Corbin describes, in the podcast, some of the unusual circumstances thwarting the Cubs repeated efforts to win over the years.

Corbin also details some of the current player superstitions that are in play during this series to dispel the curse.

Matt LaWell is a native of Cleveland and a lifelong Indian fan. He has spent the bulk of his professional career writing about baseball and experiencing the game from multiple levels. His most memorable project was called “A Minor League Season” – which consisted of a five-month road trip with his wife Carolyn through 45 states and visiting 120 minor league baseball teams. Along the way, he wrote about the minor leagues and American. (He has a Facebook page – A Minor League Season https://www.facebook.com/AMinorLeagueSeason/ )

Cleveland has not won a world series since 1948 and in 1994, a Cleveland sports writer Terry Pluto traced the difficulty back to the untimely trading of Indian legend Rocky Colavito in 1960 to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn, according to LaWell. It was a hugely unpopular trade and turned fan wrath on the then General Manager.

Since that date, the Indians have suffered misfortune after misfortune.

But, according to LaWell, since the Cleveland Cavaliers had such a remarkable come-from-behind championship win in this year’s NBA Finals – Clevelanders think that luck is shining on the City on the Lake. This just might be the year to bury the Colavito curse for the Tribe.

It is clear that one of these two unlikely adversaries, during this Halloween season, will shed its curse forever and the other will stumble forward still under the burden of the prevailing spell put upon it decades ago.
38 min
October 19, 2016 Trump Bashes GOP Leaders to Consolidate His Base and Feed on Voter Anger
Veteran political observer and world renowned economist Dr. Richard Vedder analyzes Donald J. Trump’s unprecedented attacks on Republican high-ranking officials during a campaign and the intraparty fights led by the GOP’s presidential candidate.

Vedder, a long-time Republican and fiscal conservative, said this type of intraparty chaos is unprecedented. “It is unique,” Vedder says.

The only election close to this was when former President Theodore Roosevelt bolted from the GOP in 1912 to form the Bull Moose Party and challenge incumbent GOP President William Howard Taft, from Ohio. Both lost to the Democrat Woodrow Wilson.

Vedder claims that Trump sees himself more as a “populist” than a Republican. He is going after blue collar white voters regardless of party. His base crosses party lines. He, therefore, doesn’t care about the GOP “elite.”

Trump hopes to add to that base with GOP loyalists who also are angry with the Republican power elite, Vedder says.

Vedder says that this election is unique, not only because of Trump’s unprecedented campaign style but because both candidates (Republican and Democrat) are “morally despicable” to the average voter.

Despite the intraparty wrangling in the GOP, Vedder thinks pundits may have written Trump off too soon. Vedder is less trusting of polls in this election than in others and he feels there is a hidden Trump vote. He thinks people are afraid to admit that they will vote for Trump but they still may do so in the privacy of the voting booth.

He does feel, however, that the intraparty fighting could hurt down-ballot U. S. Senate and House of Representative races for the Republicans.

Kyle Kondik, a professional campaign and election expert with no political bias, believes, that Trump’s recent slide in the polls puts him too far behind in Electoral College votes to catch up by Election Day.

Kondik notes that Trump is falling further behind in most swing states, with the exception of Ohio. Kondik believes, however, that Ohio is still a toss-up state. He reminds us that no Republican has ever won the Presidency without carrying Ohio but Democrats have. He believes Trump must win Ohio to have a chance but Hillary Clinton need not take Ohio to win the Presidency.
53 min

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Spectrum features conversations with an eclectic group of fascinating people, some are famous and some are not, but they all have captivating stories.