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New Season of Community Cinema Kicks Off with Half the Sky
KCPT’s Community Cinema kicked off its 2012-2013 Season on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 11am with Half the Sky. Nearly 100 people came to the Tivoli Cinemas to see segments from the upcoming documentary series and connect with local organizations.
Half the Sky profiles women across the globe that are combating oppression and issues like gender-based violence, sex-trafficking, maternal mortality and forced prostitution with education, healthcare and economic empowerment. At the screening attendees viewed segments dealing with sex-trafficking in Cambodia and gender-based violence in Sierra Leone. Afterwards community partners from The Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA), Veronica’s Voice, Hope House, AAUW-KC and the UMKC Women’s Center shared insights about the kinds of violence and discrimination women in our community face.
From left to right representatives from the UMKC Women’s Center, AAUW-KC, Hope House, Veronica’s Voice and MOCSA share their insights on violence and sexual assault against women.
For example, Hope House is Missouri’s largest domestic violence shelter and has 128 spaces for victims of domestic violence. However, they are always full and turn away more women than they can serve each year.
The founder of Veronica’s Voice, shared how she herself had been sex-trafficked from a young age and how her organization works to stop sexual exploitation.
KCPT’s Community Cinema organizer Lindsey Foat introduces the panelists and discussion for Half the Sky.
Attendees shared the following questions and comments during the discussion:
- A female teenager asked the panel if they thought mass media has made gender inequality worse and increased domestic violence. All panelists agreed that it has and that the objectification of women in the media has gotten worse.
- “As an African American woman, it concerns me that in communities of color there is a degree of normalcy to rape. How do we get women of color to go outside of their community to report rape?”
- ”The film infuriated me! Where are all the men?”
- It’s easier for us to look at what is going on in Africa and Asia and make a judgement about those cultures, than to look at our own culture and see the hyper-sexualization and objectification.
- To make a difference, it is really important to educate men, women the media and put more women in positions of authority.
- A teacher at a local Catholic High School started using the Half the Sky book as part of her curriculum for her debate students last year. Those students have since started a social justice club. She felt that the celebrity personalities detracted in some ways from the segments and was shocked by the fact that it was two men (one of which was Kristof) who sort of concerned the young woman in Sierra Leone, after she decided not to pursue prosecution against the man who raped her.
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November-December 2012 Letter from Kliff Kuehl, President and CEO
KCPT, and our great producers, were nominated for nine Regional Emmys®. We are proud to report that we came away with two wins –
- Little Green Steps – A spot teaching kids how taking “Little Green Steps” can help keep waste out of landfills.
- Celebration at the Station – Every year we receive hundreds of calls praising Celebration at the Station. We are very proud of this tradition that celebrates our community and brings the KC Symphony, culture, and beautiful fireworks into the homes of thousands of people, many of whom are not able to get out to see it live.
We have had some fantastic opportunities to put Kansas City on the national stage this year. These events give our viewers a rare opportunity to interact with celebrities and performers, giving them a “behind the scenes” experience.
- Homecoming, The KC Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato aired to 96% of the United States. I know we’ve been touting this accomplishment for some time but it was one of those opportunities that doesn’t come along often. We are so proud to put Kansas City on the national stage and this was very special because it featured our hometown symphony, our hometown girl, and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
- P. Allen Smith – We had great events surrounding Allen’s visit and tapings at some of Kansas City’s most beautiful gardens. Watch for those episodes featuring our hometown gardens on P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home.
- Lidia Bastianich– Lidia is such a great friend to KCPT. She lends her time and talents to host groups of KCPT supporters when she comes to Kansas City.
- Coming to Kansas City on November 13, for a special screening of The Dust Bowl, is writer/producer Dayton Duncan. The two-part documentary airs November 18 and 19 on KCPT.
KCPT’s PerformARTS series is a mixed-media campaign that helps bring community awareness of local arts and culture to the next level. Last year we successfully promoted six local arts organizations and are queuing up for another six this year. The organizations will be featured on The Local Show and in the KC Studio magazine. Our city has a thriving arts scene and we want our community to know what’s out there and to support our local artists.
Be sure and tune into our winter fundraising drive beginning Thanksgiving night. You’ll find great programs and concerts that support KCPT.
Thank you for your support.
Click here to join Kliff as a proud member of KCPT.
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Patients Prescribe Best Practices for KC Health Care Providers
Before nationally renowned public health and health literacy researcher Ruth M. Parker, M.D. began her keynote presentation at the Health Literacy Conference, co-hosted by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, Health Literacy Missouri and the Center for Health Policy at the University of Missouri, on Feb. 12, 2013, she thanked the “expert” panel that preceded her.
These experts were five Kansas Citians, who have spent a lot of time navigating the health care system because of complex medical situations. From a father advocating for his 13 year-old daughter, who is unable to speak because of a rare genetic disorder, to a woman trying to juggle treatment for herself as well as care for her husband and aging father, the panel featured a diverse range of experiences.
The panel, moderated by KCPT’s Nick Haines, shared what has and hasn’t worked, when it comes to engaging with health care providers and becoming more health literate.
“I think it was excellent having the perspective initially of the panel of patients and clients to see and to hear from their perspective exactly what they think is needed to make things more understandable for them,” said Teresa Tunstill, a nurse and health educator at Clay County Public Health Center. ”Most clients want to be engaged in their health care. If not, they wouldn’t come and seek health care. They made it easy to understand that we’re not engaging them in the correct ways.”
Health literacy, or how well a patient can receive and understand basic health information and services, has become a central focus for many health care providers after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
“The ACA stresses the importance of patient engagement and in some instances requires providers to document how they educate and equip patients for better self-management of their conditions,” said Rhonda Holman, Vice President of HCFGKC. ”New penalties for excessive hospital readmissions are an example of the way that the new law demands better outcomes from our health care system. Getting better results will require providers to do a better job of actively engaging us in our health care, which in some instances will mean making it easier for us to navigate the health care system and to understand what we’re to do for ourselves once we leave the doctor’s office or hospital.”
Essentially, a patient who doesn’t understand his medical condition or treatment has higher health care costs and higher health risks. According to Health Literacy Missouri’s website, “Almost 9 in 10 adults struggle to understand and use health information.”
A 2009 study from the Center for Health Policy at the University of Missouri, estimated the costs of poor health literacy in Missouri to be $3.3 billion to $7.5 billion each year.
National health literacy expert Dr. Ruth Parker was the keynote speaker at the Health Literacy Conference at the Kauffman Foundation Feb. 12, 2013.
“Most people in our country cannot understand the health information that they need in order to take care of their health,” Dr. Parker said during her keynote address.
But Parker doesn’t put the onus solely on patients to master the intricacies of the health care system.
“We all support making people’s skills and abilities better, support education and trying to help people understand and teach them,” Parker said. “But what can we do to make what it is you need to know, more understandable, more navigable, more doable, more health literate? The work now is more for those of us who work in health and medical care to say how health literate are we?”
According to the statistics and individual stories, Parker cited in her presentation the answer to that question seems to be: not very.
Parker, however, applauds the efforts toward health literacy that are being made in Kansas City.
“[The HCFGKC] is partnering with patient experts from the beginning and what looks like a broad and comprehensive coalition to figure out what they can do, where,” Parker said. “We all look forward to seeing where it goes.”
The Health Literacy Conference served as the launch of HCFGKC’s Health Literacy Initiative, which includes grant opportunities for health care providers.
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September-October 2012 Letter from Kliff Kuehl, President & CEO
I hope you are recuperating from the hot summer. I know I’m looking forward to fall and all that it brings. One thing you can count on is a great fall line-up of new programming from KCPT.
Please tune-in for the new PBS British hit, Call the Midwife. It’s a six-part drama that depicts midwifery and family life in London during the 1950s. The program airs on Sunday, September 30th.
Also coming this fall, The Dust Bowl, by Ken Burns and writer/producer, Dayton Duncan. The film chronicles the environmental catastrophe in the 1930s that destroyed farms, turned prairies into deserts, and unleashed massive, deadly dust storms. The two-part documentary airs on November 18 and 19. We are especially pleased to be bringing Dayton Duncan to Kansas City for a special screening of The Dust Bowl on November 13. Look for more information on the screening this fall.
Also please plan to watch election coverage with us. PBS is the most trusted source for unbiased election coverage through programs like FRONTLINE with its airing of “The Choice,” the centerpiece of PBS election 2012’s coverage of the presidential campaign.
Immigration in America, aired as part of PBS’ election coverage and was narrated by Ray Suarez of the NewsHour. The documentary was produced by Nine Network of St. Louis and our Executive Producer, Randy Mason, worked very closely on the project. The story focused on immigrants in Missouri and how, even though not a border state, the same challenges exist right here in the heartland.
A few statistical facts about how PBS compares to commercial channels –
- PBS’ primetime audience is significantly larger than many commercial channels, including Bravo, TLC, Discovery Channel, HGTV, HBO, A&E, and the History Channel.
- PBS’ primetime rating for news and public affairs programming is 60% higher than that of CNN
- PBS ranked second in “brand of the year” ranking.
For you gardeners, P. Allen Smith is coming to Kansas City to tape at Powell Gardens, Kauffman Memorial Gardens, and DST Gardens the first week in September. There will be two member events with P. Allen on September 8th – One at Suburban Lawn and Garden and then lunch at the Webster House. Please call 816-398-4259 for more information.
Homecoming – The Kansas City Symphony Presents Joyce DiDonato, was aired over 1,000 times across the United States and on 95% of stations. It was extraordinary to be part of this great show and an honor to bring it not only to viewers of Kansas City but all over the country. Kansas City looked amazing on the national stage!
As always, thank you for watching!
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Study Finds Proposed Startup Visa Could Create Half Million Jobs
A new report issued by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation suggests that passing legislation to offer Startup Visas has the potential to add between 500,000 and 1.6 million new jobs over the next 10 years.
The visas, included in the Startup Act 3.0 bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate, would be available to a fixed pool of 75,000 foreign-born individuals who already hold H-1B visas or F-1 student visas and who start companies in the United States.
In the first year of business, these entrepreneurs would be required to employ at least two full-time, non-family workers and to invest or raise an investment of $100,000 or more.
By meeting the first-year requirements, recipients would be granted a three-year visa extension. If, over that three-year period, the business owner has hired, on average, one additional employee each year, he or she may apply for permanent status.
“There’s hope that 2013 finally may be the year the United States implements comprehensive immigration reform,” said Dane Stangler, director of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. “However, that legislation would fall short if it fails to create a new visa for the thousands of potential foreign-born entrepreneurs who are already in the country, particularly those who are likely to start technology and engineering firms. Increasing their numbers would accelerate U.S. economic and job growth and help offset the steadily declining numbers of native entrepreneurs.”
Previous research has shown that immigrant-founded technology and engineering startups employ an average of 21.37 people per firm.
A National Foundation for American Policy analysis of the top 50 venture capital¬backed companies in 2011 revealed that 24 were founded or co-founded by immigrants.
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Watch this:In May 2010, KCPT’s Senior Producer/Writer Pam James went to Cairo with the Horus Study team to document their second attempt to CT scan fifty mummies in one week. (Approx. 10 minutes into The Local Show.)
“Heart Disease is a serial killer that has stalked humans for 4000 years”
CT Scan of a “bundled” Peruvian mummy
(Kansas City, MO – Sunday, March 10, 2013)
Don’t stop exercising or dieting just because a recent study reveals that atherosclerosis – a hardening and narrowing of the arteries – may have been much more common among ancient peoples than previously thought.
This is according to Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute cardiologist Randall Thompson, M.D. and his team of international researchers who published their findings in the prestigious journal The Lancet, and presented them at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session conference in San Francisco.
Atherosclerosis – the disease that causes heart attacks and strokes – is usually considered to be a disease of modern human beings, related to contemporary risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise. Dr. Thompson’s research suggests, however, that heart disease may be mankind’s oldest health nemesis.
“In a previous study, we discovered heart disease in mummies as old as Moses. Now we can say we have found heart disease as old as Abraham,” said Dr. Thompson.
His team’s most recent findings also discovered that heart disease may have been more common across cultures and across disparate global regions.
An international group of researchers, including a paleopathologist, Egyptologists and an expert on aging, used CT scans to look for the characteristic signs of atherosclerosis in 137 mummies from ancient Egypt, Peru, Southwest America, and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. In mummies where arterial structure had survived, the researchers were able to attribute a definite case of atherosclerosis where they found signs of vascular calcification. In other cases, though the arteries had not survived the mummification process, calcified plaque could still be seen, which the researchers attributed to a probable case of atherosclerosis.
“The fact that we found similar levels of atherosclerosis in all of the different cultures we studied, all of whom had very different lifestyles and diets, suggests that atherosclerosis may have been far more common in the ancient world than previously thought, and not unique to an elite group of people selected for mummification in ancient Egypt,” Dr. Thompson said.
Egyptian Mummy on CT Scanner
In 2010, Thompson’s Horus Study released initial findings of atherosclerosis after performing CT scans on mummies found in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo, Egypt. Some of the mummies used in their research dated back 3500 years and had been found in tombs and pyramids.
“Looking at their scans, you could see calcium deposits on artery walls and along the course where the arteries should be,” Thompson said. “When you see calcium build up, it’s a sign of heart disease, the same red flags we see in our patients today.”
Their study caused quite a stir among the medical community and even caught the attention of the main stream press, including David Letterman. However, the team also had its detractors.
“After the release of our first paper, we had critiques stating that the research was skewed because mummified Egyptians represented the wealthier class. They ate fattier, richer foods than the working class,” said Dr. Thompson.
Since 2010, Thompson’s international team expanded their research to include thousand year-old Peruvian mummies, Ancient Puebloan mummies (a.d. 400-700) and Aleutians mummified as recently as the 1860s.
“We widened the net and still found heart disease – even in the hunter-gatherer societies,” Dr. Thompson said.
Dr. Thompson also says his research is beginning to cast doubt that atherosclerosis is life-style related and questions the common assumption that humans must emulate pre-industrial or even pre-agricultural lifestyles in order to avoid heart disease.
“Our understanding of the causes of atherosclerosis is incomplete, and instead may be somehow inherent to the process of human aging,” admits Dr. Thompson.
KCPT Senior Producer/Writer Pam James on Mummy Duty
