Originally broadcast 10/29/2014
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We covered the “Back from the Dead” walk at the Story County Conservation Center, “Spirits of the Garden” from Reiman Gardens, “The Pumpkin Train” on the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad, and the Nevada High School Play, “Murder in the Knife Room”.
Originally broadcast 10/27/2014
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Our first story was about Halloween costumes – in particular about costumes that people wear that are offensive and perpetuate stereotypes about certain racial, ethnic, gender or other social identities. We spoke by phone with Joshlyn Smith, an undergraduate student at Ohio University. Joshlyn is a member of an organization called STARS, Students Teaching About Racism in Society, which is tackling the issue of offensive costumes head on. She talked about the campaign called “We’re a culture, not a costume” that was developed to raise awareness and educate students about their costume choices. We were joined in this conversation by two Iowa State University students, Jazmin Murguia and Itzel Padron Zuniga, who talked about the issue of offensive costumes on the ISU campus here in Ames. There are no efforts at ISU comparable to the campaign at Ohio University, so we also discussed ways to get something like this started.
In our second story we learned about Mix-it-Up at Lunch Day, which is an initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to address the fact that school lunch rooms can be very clique-ish and segregated places. Monita Bell, the Mix-It-Up Coordinator at the SPLC in Montgomery, Alabama, spoke about the many schools across the United States that participate in this program that encourages K-12 students to interact with others that they usually don’t talk with. We also heard from Katy Swalwell, an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Iowa State and author of several articles in the Teaching Tolerance magazine. Katy addressed the fact that kids might naturally want to sit with their friends at lunch and the importance of young people getting out of their comfort zone.
Originally broadcast 10/24/2014
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Maria Darlene Pearson, or Hai-Mecha Eunka "Running Moccasins", (July 12, 1932 – May 23, 2003) was a Yankton Dakota activist who successfully challenged the legal treatment of Native American human remains. She was one of the primary catalysts for the creation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Her actions led to her being called "the Founding Mother of the modern Indian repatriation movement" and "the Rosa Parks of NAGPRA".
The program features a discussion of Maria’s work and her life by friends and compatriots: David Gradwohl, anthropology emeritus professor at ISU; Jerome Thompson, State curator of historic sites and Director of the Iowa Historical Museum; Irma White of the Winnebago of Nebraska Nation, and Chris Adkins, Naturalist with the Dallas County Conservation board and member of the Beemis Moraine Tribe.
Originally broadcast 10/23/2014
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Vermont musicians Patti Casey and Tom McKenzie, a group known as Shady Rill, are passing through Iowa on their way to a tour of the western states. They performed a private concert for KHOI which you can hear right here. They play a variety of instruments--banjo, guitar, flute, whistle and others and sing a variety of songs and ballads, many of them their own compositions.
Host: Kay Puttock
Originally broadcast 10/22/2014
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County Reporters Paul Wierson and Susan Franzen devoted this program to happenings along the Lincoln Highway. We started in the KHOI studio with our guest Artie Sanghi, from RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) talking with Paul about his experiences in the Speak Up program which in which 5th graders in various Story County schools learn speaking and writing skills in a six week course with a volunteer. In an interview Paul and Susan had recorded on their road trip to Colo the day before, Vicky Wilson, 5th grade teacher at Colo-Nesco, described the advantages of bringing a volunteer like Paul into her classroom. After leaving the school, they had lunch at Niland’s Café at the Reed Nyland Corner, founded as a gas station in 1923 at the intersection of the Lincoln and Jefferson Highways. Owner-Manager Sandra Huemann-Kelley gave them a tour of this lively historical site. Down the road in Boone, we heard from Boone County Historical Society director Pam Schwartz about their current exhibit and contest called “Secrets: the mysteries behind unidentified photography” in which people are invited to write stories about the possible events shows in the pictures. See the website for details.
Originally broadcast 10/20/2014
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Host Kay Puttock and moderator Linda Murken provide a forum for the four candidates vying for two seats on the Story County Board of Supervisors. Responding to requests from our listeners, we allow time for the candidates to respond and contest their opponents claims. Questions about the county budget, infrastructure (bridges), transparency, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and taxes are covered.
