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It's Monday, October 24th.
And people are wondering why we're getting hammered
with one natural disaster after another … earthquakes,
tsunamis, and a pack of killer hurricanes. Are we nearing
the end times? Is this the wrath of God? Have humans
pushed the earth to the breaking point?
Currently, people
are looking for signs, prophecies or omens that predicted
these disasters and portend
more to come. Let's see… Nostradamus … not
really conclusive … moon is in Jupiter, nah I
don't believe that stuff … America at war in
the fertile crescent, maybe but … uh oh, Svend
Robinson plans to make a political comeback … that
doesn't look good.
This is the Current.
Hurricane Wilma Update
As Hurricane Wilma pulled away from Mexico's Yucatan
Peninsula yesterday, Floridians began bracing themselves
in earnest. Tens of thousands of residents of Florida
fled the islands and coastal areas. We reached Warren
Richey, who was hunkered down in his home north of
Miami. He was a correspondent with the Christian Science
Monitor.
After the Hurricane
In the destructive aftermath of so many massive hurricanes
in the 2005 season, it feels impossible, almost unseemly,
to speak about "silver linings." You won't
find them in the broken homes and shattered lives of
the people at the centre of Wilma's fury. But according
to Philip Berke you can find signs of hope and even
great opportunity in the days and months that follow
these kinds of disasters. He is the author of "After
the Hurricane: Linking Recovery to Sustainable Development
in the Caribbean." He is also a professor of Land
Use and Environmental Planning at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill. And that's where we reached
him.
Is God Mad at America?
From the brutal storms to the summer of record heat
to the autumn of catastrophic earthquakes ... for those
who believe that God's got something to do with these
environmental disasters, it certainly feels like apocalyptic
times. In fact, it seems like nature's havoc regularly
beats out human foibles for the top spot on the nightly
news. Even the venerable CBS News recently asked the
question: Is God Mad at Us? One of the esteemed panelists
was the Reverend Jerry Falwell, and he offered his
views on the wicked weather and why he thinks it's
happening.
Listen
to The Current:  Part
1
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be
edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 2
Tuition (Part One)
It must be nice to be an Alberta
cabinet minister these days.
Got a problem you'd like to solve? A need to fill?
An idea that requires a little financial attention?
No worries. Thanks to sky-high oil prices, the Alberta
treasury
is positively swimming in cash. And because of that, every so often a glassy-eyed
minister pops up with a grand vision for unloading some of the government's
embarrassment of riches.
In early October, Alberta's Advanced Education
Minister Dave Hancock floated an idea unthinkable
to any of his counterparts from other provinces
-- the
possibility of eliminating tuition for the first two years of university.
At the time, most
of the province was caught up in another little benefit of living in Wild
Rose country -- the 400-dollar cheques Premier
Ralph Klein had promised to cut them
by year's end. But across the University of Calgary the thought of two years
of free schooling has everyone chattering about the benefits of higher learning
during boom times. CBC Producer Michael O'Halloran visited the Calgary campus
to ask some of the professors and students about the possible tuition windfall.
Alberta Liberals on Tuition Proposal
While Premier Ralph Klein's conservatives are floating the trial balloon of free
university education over the heads of Albertans, the Liberal opposition says
the idea has long been on its agenda. Dave Taylor is Alberta's Liberal Advanced
Education Critic and we reached him in Calgary.
Alberta Tuition Debate
As you've heard, Alberta's minister of advanced education
says he's considering two very distinct options for
the future of post secondary education in his province
- either make it free ... or make it much more expensive
by deregulating tuition.
The question of what's the best way to fund university education isn't only stumping
Alberta. It's something that has every province scratching its head. The difference
is that Alberta has the cash to choose either option. Other provinces---not so
much.
For some free advice on which direction Alberta should take, we're joined by
Dave Cook, the former education minister in Ontario. And Claudia Hepburn is the
director of Education Policy at The Fraser Institute. They were both in our Toronto
studio.
Listen to The Current: Part
2
(Due to various rights issues some
segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 3
Urban Planning
If you've ever spent time
wandering the concrete jungles of any city in this
country --
or
if you've been lost in a soulless suburb -- you've
probably felt that certain sort of lifelessness---that
distinct lack of heartbeat inherent to the crabbier
corners of our urban oases.
Because let's face it, there are huge swaths of Winnipeg,
Fredericton, Windsor and certainly Greater Toronto,
that aren't very inviting---places you wouldn't
want to live in unless you had to.
Well, some exciting new solutions to bad city planning and urban design are being
discussed this week in Regina. It's called "Building Our Communities: A
National Conference on Community Sustainability." One of the speakers is
Fred Kent. His company, the New York-based Project
For Public Spaces, teaches
cities how to create a sense of place within their bleaker blocks. For instance
he's responsible for the redesign of Bryant Park in front of the New York Public
Library. It used to be a haven for drug dealers and thieves and now it's a hugely
popular public gathering spot.
Fred Kent has been participating in the Regina conference, but we caught
up to him after a speaking engagement in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Listen to The Current: Part
3
(Due to various rights issues some
segments may be edited for internet use)
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