April 2000

Perfect Dinner Party -- Commentator Reynolds Price whiles away a meal alone conjuring up the companions he'd most like to have dinner with and what they'd converse about.

Poetry Month -- Commentator Elizabeth Gold is a New York writer and teacher. She relates a recent classroom moment, when she caught the attention of her ninth grade students with the arresting poetry of John Keats.

Your Grandfather's Mustache Waxer -- Commentator Andrei Codrescu reflects on America's interest, or lack thereof, in history, and the value of old objects.

Columbine - Commentaries -- This week, on the anniversary of the shootings at Columbine, we've been asking people from the community to tell us their thoughts on the tragedy one year later. Today we hear from Beth Lagerborg and her son Drew. We heard from them on this program a year ago. Drew goes to Columbine, and hid in a small room in the chemistry lab for four hours after the shooting started. He writes that he is ready to graduate and move on, that the past year has been filled with worry and anxiety and he wants to go to college and put it all behind him. His mother Beth is concerned about her son and her family, and writes that the burden of "being Columbine", of constantly being reminded of the name and all that is associated with it, is often too heavy to bear. But she believes that good is stronger than evil, and she has hope she and her family.

Child Pornography -- Commentator Lis Wiehl says a recent federal court decision will make it tougher for prosecutors to win child pornography convictions. The court ruled prosecutors must prove that the pornographic images are photos of REAL children, not computerized images. She says advances in computer technology makes it possible to create life-like images on the screen, and that these images can be used to woo real children into posing for pornographers. Virtual kiddie porn makes the burden of proof nearly an impossible task.

The Ugliness of Spring -- Commentator Carol Wasserman says this is the time of year when the spring thaw in Massachusetts reveals a winter's worth of debris -- garbage tossed out of car windows last year that lay hidden under the snow. Wasserman and others go out with garbage bags to clean up and collect the trash. She says a bag full of empties can earn you enough for a full tank of gas.

Columbine -- Dr. Chris Colwell is an emergency physician at Denver Health Medical Center. He was on the scene last year at the shootings at Columbine High School, overseeing the triage efforts, getting the injured to local hospitals, and he was asked to enter the school that afternoon and confirm that all the injured were accounted for, and to confirm the dead inside the school. We asked him to write down his thoughts about the tragedy one year later. This is the second in our series of commentaries marking the first anniversary of the Colombine High School shooting tragedy.

Columbine -- This week we are marking the one year anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School with a series of commentaries from members of the Littleton, Colorado community. Reverend David Peters is Pastor at the Genesis Presbyterian Church in Littleton. He says one year after the tragedy, what stands out for him is the new connections that people in the community have made. He says it is as if residents have heard a calling to live differently, to break out of their isolation and come together. It was that "togetherness" that made it possible to begin the healing process.

Bay of Pigs -- On the 39th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr takes a look at the failed mission's consequences.

Pro-IMF -- Commentator Fred Bergsten argues the IMF is essential for international economic stability and U.S. interests. He says though the Fund is undergoing needed reforms, it has controlled economic crises in some countries, and kept them from spreading.

E-Mail Annoyance -- Commentator David Shenk has come to realize the downside of the computer age. As an author, he find the easy access his readers have to him via email, can be a source of frustration and annoyance. While he doesn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of his readers---he does wish they would ask smarter, more concise questions.

African Horse Lesson -- Commentator Bill Miles and ten year old son Sam have just returned from a delicate mission in Niger to try and find the horse Bill left with a Hausa village chief in 1986. We heard from him before they left.

Spring Peas -- Commentator Jay Weinstein says that now is the time to go out and buy Spring peas. They are particularly good with seafood.

Ads and Poets -- All the ads are borrowing from poets, and Commentator Andrei Codrescu thinks its time they got paid.

Tai Chi -- Commentator Elisa Ely talks about taking Tai Chi lessons, and what she expected to learn from the new experience and what she's actually learned.

Flinty - Flint -- Commentator Tom Huggler grew up in Flint Michigan, and he is elated about Michigan State University's win in last night's NCAA basketball championship. There are three team members from Flint, known as the "Flintstones", and their role in MSU's win is good news for a city that's had it's share of bad news.


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