 This show is a Halloween treat. UC Davis instructor Sarah Juliet Lauro (pictured), who co-edited the new book "Better off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human," appears on Davisville this week to talk about the book, zombies, how she got interested in zombies, what our interest in zombies says about our culture – and why she came to UC Davis to get her PhD in English. The book’s essays range in tone from seriously scholarly to accessible for non-academics. The chapters discuss zombies in old radio shows, zombies in movies, public zombie walks, the evolution of zombies (there are nine types), the origin of zombies – unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, for instance, they did not originate in Europe.
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 We cover a lot of ground in Davisville this time out. That’s no surprise, considering how much territory guest Barry Melton has covered over the years, and how easily he talks about it on this week’s show.
In Davis, there are two main reasons you would have heard of Melton: he’s an attorney who spent 10 years as Yolo County public defender, and he’s an accomplished musician who, when he was still a teenager, co-founded Country Joe and the Fish as the lead guitarist. He continues to play, and on Oct. 20 he’ll perform at the Odd Fellows Hall in a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.
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A few weeks ago, Michael Bisch and Rosalie Paine wrote an article in the Enterprise that backs plans to build a parking garage and 12,000 square feet of new shopping space between E, F, 3rd and 4th streets. Today's show focuses on the idea. The basic question is why downtown needs another parking garage when it already has two; plus lots at the Amtrak station, behind the former Border’s, and next to the E Street Plaza; plus street parking; plus the tree-shaded lot that exists (see photo) where the new garage would be built. The answers lie in a discussion of where downtown is headed, in terms of growth (UC Davis’ plan to add 5,000 students in five years is a factor), civic policy, and other development ideas. Those other ideas include creating a new E Street promenade which, in one version, would close E to cars from 1st to the new garage. |
 This week we have a return visit with Andy Jones, who is not easily summarized. He is a lecturer and educational technologist at UC Davis, savvy about social media, one of Davis’ best-known poets, a bit of a showman, a trivia host … you get the point.
New technology is typically bewildering, but Jones makes good use of tech. On this program he discusses how he used Twitter to engage students in one of his UC Davis literature classes. (He wrote the experience into a chapter for “Teaching Arts and Science with the New Social Media,” a 2011 book edited by Charles Wankel of St. John’s University.)
In August, the Sacramento News and Review interviewed him for an article on “Facebook fatigue” (http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/facebook-fatigue/content?oid=3356429), and we discuss his views on Facebook too.
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Davis isn’t known for its military connections, but 4,500 U.S. military veterans live in town, as do 2,000 more who currently serve. What do veterans want from Davis? Do they get it? On this edition we discuss those questions, plus broader ones involving all U.S. veterans, with Ted Puntillo and Rich Dryden. Puntillo, a former Davis postmaster and City Council member, became veterans service officer for Solano County on Aug. 1. He held the same job in Yolo County from 2003 to 2008. Dryden is executive director of the California Disabled Veteran Business Alliance – a group with a growing constituency, due to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the advances in medicine that help combat veterans live through what would have once been fatal wounds. We cover a lot of ground in this interview. Among other points, Dryden explains why some vets are better employers than employees. Puntillo notes that he talks to every person he sees who holds a "homeless veteran" sign. |
The state’s budget problems continue to shape and degrade the education available to Davis students. The district is relatively OK for now, thanks to cuts and extra taxes repeatedly OK'd by Davis voters. But the schools face major financial decisions in the new instructional year that starts Aug. 23 – and a lot will depend on the state’s hopeful gamble that California’s economy is improving. On this Davisville, return guest Jeff Hudson – he writes about education for the Davis Enterprise -- discusses the budget and decisions facing the Davis school district in 2011-12. Two of the topics we covered had significant developments after KDRT recorded this interview. The federal government
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The regional job market is looking better, says employment market analyst Rick Reed on this edition of Davisville. Reed has surveyed area employers several times a year since 1992 for what is now a quarterly employment forecast, the Pacific Staffing Employment Trends Survey. Among other questions, he asks his contacts if they’re hiring, as well as why or why not. In our talk, Reed discussed trends, what he thinks employers want to see before they accelerate hiring, fields with the best job prospects, how agriculture helps the area job market, and more. Davis’ unemployment rate of 7.6 percent for May falls in the middle of regional cities, as measured by the state Employment Development Department. Davis’ rate is better than
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I was on vacation in early July, so we're re-airing this program from spring 2011 when Stan Forbes discussed the state citizens' redistricting commission. Forbes, former Davis City Council member, is the only member of the commission from our part of the state. If you've wondered what the commission does, and why it matters to the average Californian, tune in for an explanation.
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Basic civic infrastructure usually attracts scant popular interest, but the triple-your-rates impact has made the proposed city water project an exception this summer. The prospect of the average Davis household paying another $700 to $800 per year for water by 2016 has brought the issue front and center in Davis. On the current Davisville, Bob Clarke, interim Davis public works director and city engineer, and Diane Phillips, public works engineer and Davis’ project manager for the surface water project, discuss what’s behind the cost, some alternatives, city water quality, and why Davis concluded that it needs the project. Clarke and Phillips also discuss project details, prospects for savings, the possible ratepayers’ protest vote that would block the rate increase, and what comes next.
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John Oda has been pastor of the Davis United Methodist Church for two years. On the latest “Davisville” he talks about the role of a Christian church in Davis; Christianity and gay rights; different ways of interpreting Scripture; last month’s failed prediction of the Rapture by Harold Camping, which became a nationwide story; and Oda's impression of the town he is about to leave, among other subjects. Oda will depart Davis UMC for a church in Oakland at the end of June, the time each year when United Methodist pastors usually receive new assignments.
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