Access Utah

Mark Lynas, author of “The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans” joined us for the hour on Wednesday. He says we need to embrace Nuclear Power and Genetically Modified Organisms as parts of any successful portfolio of solutions to Climate Change. Many fellow environmentalists disagree.

Mark Lynas is the author of a number of books, including The God Species, and is Tom Williams guest for the hour. We discuss Lynas' idea that we must master human technology, like nuclear power, to save the world from ourselves.

When USA Today invited their readers to send in questions about fracking for Duke University professor Robert Jackson, readers responded with such questions as: “What happens to the chemicals that are left behind after the fracking process? What is the risk to well water? It’s my understanding that fracking uses massive amounts of water? Does fracking cause earthquakes?”

According to www.domesticviolencestatistics.org every 9 seconds in the U. S. a woman is assaulted or beaten; domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined; and nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a breakup.

What should government’s role be in promoting our health? New York City’s mandated downsizing of sodas was recently blocked by judge. In Utah, HCR2, which urges the state to address obesity, overwhelmingly passed the 2013 legislature. Some governments are adding fatty foods and violent video games to the traditional list of goods, like tobacco and alcohol, subject to “sin taxes.”

Governor Gary Herbert will join us on Thursday’s Access Utah. We’ll ask him about Medicaid expansion, guns, the possible prison move, air quality, the economy, and anything else you’d like us to talk about. We’ll also ask the governor if there are any bills he may veto. Later in the program Sen. Todd Weiler R-Woods Cross joins us to talk about his proposal that we look at changing Attorney General from an elected to an appointed office. Finally, we’ll get a Democratic reaction to the recently-concluded legislative session from Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck D-Salt Lake City.

The book by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein: “It’s Even Worse than It Looks--How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism” caused quite a stir when it was published last year. Mann and Ornstein said that the dysfunction in our government is the result of a mismatch between increasingly parliamentary-style parties and our constitutional separation of powers. They pinned more of the blame for increasing polarization on Republicans. Their proposed solutions were provocative as well, including mandatory attendance at the polls, changing the political culture through restoring public shame, and restoration of full disclosure to campaign financing.

Our guest for the hour today is Emil Kerenji, an applied research scholar at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

We’ve recently experienced a zombie renaissance and Southern Utah University Assistant Professor Kyle Bishop has a book out called: “American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture.” He says that zombie movies reflect our cultural anxieties. Indeed, such movies have addressed the violence of the Vietnam War, fears of mass annihilation during the Cold War, and anxieties related to 9/11.

On the next-to-last day of the 2013 Utah Legislature, we’ll ask you which issues you’re focused on: Liquor Laws? Guns? Medicaid Expansion? The Budget? Social Services? State’s Rights? Education? Is there a bill you hope passes? Maybe there’s a bill you hope dies in the home stretch?

BYU is out with a poll on Utahns’ attitudes toward guns and Utah Parents Against Gun Violence recently delivered a letter to Governor Herbert urging him to veto a bill which would loosen concealed carry restrictions.

Amit Peled was raised on an Israeli kibbutz listening to cassette tapes of the great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals. He went on to become a prominent cellist in his own right and was recently selected to play Pablo Casals’ cello.

During the first half of Access Utah, Sheri Quinn talks with author Christine Geery about her first book, "A Heart Full of Hope." In the book, she tells the stories of what she calls her "ordinary life." Each story reveals the extraordinary experiences many of us can relate to but oftentimes overlook.

How do we control health care costs, reduce the numbers of uninsured Utahns, ensure high quality health care, and provide for a sound economy? Governor Herbert and Utah legislators are grappling with those questions and deciding how to implement the Affordable Care Act and whether to expand Medicaid.

The U. S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments later this month on a challenge to California’s Proposition 8, narrowly approved by voters in 2008. The amendment to the state’s constitution states that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The Utah Pride Center and 26 other groups recently filed a brief with court urging the justices to declare that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry. Last month the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with other churches and groups filed a brief supporting traditional marriage.

The recent suicide of Utah junior high school student, David Phan, has focused attention on bullying. Other recent teen suicides have prompted action at the Utah legislature.

We’ll try to find a good balance among many competing uses of our limited water supply on Monday’s Access Utah. We’ll preview the Bear River Basin Forum, sponsored by the Bear River Watershed Council.

The federal budget sequester, which was supposed to be a poison pill that would motivate Democrats and Republicans to come up with a compromise, may go into effect on Friday. Thursday we’ll examine possible effects on Utah’s budget and economy.

Wednesday we’ll take a break from current affairs and politics for an Access Utah tradition: a program of great Bossa Nova and Samba music from the USU Performance Hall. We’ll preview the annual “Evening in Brazil” event, which happens on Friday at the Riverwoods Conference Center in Logan.

Many Utahns are getting frustrated with what they see as slow and ineffective progress toward solving our air pollution problem.