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tv   [untitled]    June 26, 2011 7:00pm-7:30pm PDT

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we are here and charged with this responsibility to turn off. >> there was a lot of agencies that offered up their employees to help us out for this duration in the north light court process. it's overwhelming how city government works. this is a time for san francisco city employees out shined >> it should have happened years and years ago, and that's why i am so proud to be a part of this. that's why the late nights didn't bother me. i would get exhausted. in terms of what i'm doing, i feel so good. i feel so good about san francisco and the impact we are making in the state. we changed the state.
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>> you had clerks in the state of california that didn't step up. they walked away. we are not only going to not do same sex marriages not a second time any. in contrast, in san francisco, this is what we can do, add up all these computers here. expand our capacity by x. we can open up early. stay open late and on weekends. it's unbelievable and we coordinate all the training and get all through the process and make sure everything is signed and certified. that's a model for others. what happens is, when people prove things can be done. it raises the bar for what's
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possible. >> i think a lot of people were here from 2004 and they knew what that was like and wanted to take part in 2008. i think people really again, you know, stepped up and really put out their best that anybody could do in very short amount of time and literally, i think we pulled this together in 2 weeks. we put in long hours to make this all happen.
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>> the san francisco cons tri of flowers in golden gate park is now showing a new exhibit that changes the way we see the plants around us. amy stewart's best-selling book, "wicked plants" is the inspiration behind the new exhibit that takes us to the dark side of the plant world. >> i am amy stewart. i am the arthur of "wicked plants," the weeds that killed lincoln's mother and other
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botanical atrocities. with the screens fly trap, that is kind of where everybody went initially, you mean like that? i kind of thought, well, all it does is eat up bugs. that is not very wicked. so what? by wicked, what i mean is that they are poisonous, dangerous, deadly or immoral or maybe illegal or offensive or awful in some way. i am in the profession of going around and interviewing botanists, horticulturalists and plant scientists. they all seem to have some little plant tucked away in the corner of a greenhouse that maybe they weren't supposed to have. i got interested in this idea that maybe there was a dark side to plants. >> the white snake root. people who consumed milk or meat from a cow that fed on white snake root faced severe
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pain. milk sickness, as it was culled, resulted in vomiting, tremors, delirium and death. one of the most famous victims of milk sickness was nancy hangs lincoln. she died at the age of 34, leaving behind 9-year-old abraham lincoln. he helped build his mother's casket by carving the woodallen petition douche the wooden petition himself. >> we transformed the gallery to and eerie victorian garden. my name is lowe hodges, and i am the director of operations and exhibitions at the conls tore of -- cons tore of
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flowers. we decided it needed context. so we needed a house or a building. the story behind the couple in the window, you can see his wife has just served him a glass of wine, and he is slumped over the table as the poison takes affect. a neat little factold dominion about that house is actually built out of three panels from old james bond movie. we wanted people to feel like i am not supposed to be in this room. this is the one that is supposed to be barred off and locked up. >> the ole andersonner -- oleander. this popular shrub is popular in warm climates. it has been implicated in a surprising number of murders and accidental deaths. children are at risk because it takes only a few leaves to kill them. a southern california woman tried to collect on her
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husband's life insurance by putting the leaves in his food. she is now one of 15 women on california's death rowan the only one who attempted to murder with a plant. >> people who may haven't been to their cons tore or been to -- do serve tore or their botanical garden, it gives them a reason to come back. you think let's go and look at the pretty flowers. these are pretty flowers, but they are flowers with weird and fascinating stories behind them. that is really fun and really not what people normally think of when they come to a horticultural institution. >> "wicked plants" is now showing at the san francisco conserve tore of flowers. unless next time, get out and play.
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>> welcome to "culture wire." on this episode, we explore what it means to the aged, in today's society -- what it means to be chicana in today's society. chica chic features an array of
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artwork by five leading chicana artists that addresses a range of issues such as integration, sustainability, and integration. using a distinct visual approach, each of the artist's response to the shifting needs of their communities in ways that offer unique perspectives and multiple points of entry. >> the exhibition is to bring together the voices of a new generation chicana artists, all of whom reference the works of the civil-rights movement in their works, but they are also responding to a new cultural concerns and new cultural circumstances. >> the works in the show include a large canvas depicting a woman washing the beach with her hair at the u.s./mexican border. the painting encourages the viewer to engage with the current debates over immigration and the politics of women and labor. influenced by the campaigns of
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the chicano civil rights movement, this oakland artist is a print maker whose work has helped and sustainability with the immigrant community as well as other current sociopolitical issues. this print-based work draws on appropriated agricultural worker manuals and high fashion labels to satirically address class issues, cultural identities, and consumerism. >> angelica -- her father was an agricultural worker, so she has drawn a lot from the materials the agricultural department sends to agricultural workers, referencing the depiction of farm workers and some of the information about pesticide application. >> mitzi combines a variety of media, including embroidery, to
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create artifacts of mexican, chicano, pop culture. she greets immensely detailed drawings of celebrities on the same platform of her friends and families. her work combines elements of chicano portraiture and low writer art, rendered in upon new art style, or intricate drawings on handkerchiefs, also -- often associated with prison art. her portrait of three girls is among several of original posters by the exhibition artists, which are on view at various bart stations as part of a public campaign funded by the national endowment of the arts. from the outset, the curator felt it was important for the exhibition to have a public art components of the work could reach the widest possible audience. more than just a promotion, the posters connect the work of these powerful artists with new audiences, including the vital chicano and latino community. images can be found in bart stations located in san for
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cisco and oakland. >> it is enormously exciting for me personally and for the institution. the poster with up right after new year's, and i remember very vividly -- i am a regular rider, and i went into the station and saw the first poster i had seen, it was incredibly exciting. it is satisfying to know that through the campaign, we are reaching a broader audience. >> for more information about >> i want to welcome all of you
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here this afternoon. this is such a great opportunity to see the new faces that will becoming to city college from the school district. we want to welcome all of you. this is yet another way for us to talk about success and the opportunities we have had in the mayor's office to collaborate with the school district and city college and make sure we are sending more of our kids on to college. in the education adviser and president of the board of education. -- i am the education adviser. it is always my pleasure to be your to make these sorts of announcements because more and more, we realize we cannot do so much of our work without partners. this is a big thank you to microsoft for investing in our kids. before i start, i want to work knowledge a couple of people. our director of san francisco education and a wonderful partner. kimberly is here with her team.
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marie from the school district, and laurie, who heads our bridge to success program. these are folks that are making all of this happened. thank you for being here. i would like to welcome our host and chancellor from city college to welcome you and opened this up, dr. don griffin. [applause] >> thank you for being here today. i hope you are excited about mission campus. this is one of our finest campuses, but do not be fooled -- we have nine others, most of which are larger than this. we are very excited about you being here. one, i think you made a commitment to go to college, and college has made a commitment to you. we are trying to, this summer for the summer bridge, make
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college real for you. in other words, so there is no getting lost or confused about how to get financial aid, counseling, and all those things. this program here is for the students. we have a model at city college -- we have a model at city college -- students first. any of you who want to see me and talk to me, what we have recognized in the city is that unless we can double the number of students actually going through and getting college degrees, we are in trouble. san francisco in connection with all of our partners, city college of san francisco, san francisco state university -- we are dedicated to doubling the number of used that get through college. welcome to all of you who are for dissipating in this, especially to microsoft who has given us $500,000 for you. this is the kind of support that we need to make sure that all of
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our young people can get what you deserve. [applause] let me introduce the man that has been in the forefront to make this happen. i think you already know him since he is one of your own. carlos garcia. [applause] he is the one that says the achievement gap can be eradicated for all of us. he was the visionary that talked about this five or six years ago. he is the guy that kicked this thing off, so we are happy to be in partnership with your leader, carlos garcia. [applause] >> for me, the most exciting things -- and i think for the mayor and all of us here. you look at us up here, lots of people of color.
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unfortunately when you look at our universities and colleges, they do not have all the people of color. it is great to see an audience of people that look like us. it was about time, right? and i do not know about you, but that is what it is all about. not about us being successful. all of us already made it. it is about how we get everybody in this city and community to rally behind the young people like yourself who have a whole future ahead of you, and we have screwed up the plan of for you really bad. you guys are going to have to be 10 times smarter than us because we did not figure it out. it is exciting to be in a place where you folks are going to be in the future and to have the gates foundation stepped up and give you some of the tools. one of the frustrating things for me as a superintendent is i kind of believe we are educating all you young people for a world that just does not exist anymore. things have changed so much. when i was in school, there was not computers.
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things have changed so radically that if you do not have the tools of the world in which you are going to live in, how are you going to compete? one of the things we have been working on together, and it has been great because everybody has said, a "look, it is not about us. it is about what we're going to do in the city to make sure everybody gets the best education to be successful." that is what it is about. it is about you. if i were you guys, i would be pretty turned on to the fact that there are so many people who care about you. when i was in high school getting ready to go to college, there was nobody to support us. now, we have learned from all those bad experiences. we have learned that people are going to be successful, they need to have support not just from the first day but all the way through. so we start to make sure everybody gets there. it is not about graduating from
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high school. it is about graduating from college and finding a career or something you are really passionate and excited about that you're going to do for the rest of your life and you are not going to work saying, "i have to go to work." you will want to go to work because you will find something that makes it exciting for you. i know some people do not believe that. i love my job. i love going to work every day. there are a bunch of headaches and problems. that is great. we get paid to solve them instead of complaining about them. i do not see a room here full of complainers. it is exciting to support you. just go out there and do it. thank you very much. [applause] we are very lucky to have an alumni of our district as well. malia cohen, a supervisor of our district, come on up. supervisor cohen: hello,
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everyone. good afternoon. i was raised in san francisco. i went to lake shore elementary school and low -- bob -- lowell high school. it is always refreshing to see san francisco unified school district students doing well. i am excited to be here. i want to thank our sponsors and city family that came together to make this happen. when i was thinking about my words and what i wanted to deliver and share with you, is that oftentimes, i -- last year when i ran for office, people would say that i was so young, that it was not my time. they would ask how i was going to be able to make a change when basically i was just so young. so last year when i was elected, i was 32 years old. i think i am the youngest member of the board of supervisors. i serve with 10 other
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colleagues, and i represent district 10, the southeast part of the city. i would talk with people during the course of the conversation and remind people that any time any kind of institutional change happens, that it actually happens from a young persons, from the grassroots level on up. if you think about how technology has revolutionized our lives, you think about google and apple -- those were college students that made those changes come about. i am actually standing on the shoulders of giants, giants who were young people. dr. martin luther king was also a young man when he made some of his revolutionary changes to this world, so i want to encourage you to stay vigilant and stay inspired, and i want you to feel supported. i am here to continue to support your education if you need someone to continue to talk to, and allied.
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i make myself and my staff 100% available to you, but we are here to talk about technology and the commitment and the impact that technology has on education. i opened with an example of google and how it was a young college students that revolutionized how we communicate. and i hope that the next great application will come from the hearts and minds of some of the young folks in this room or maybe the next new piece of technology, which will revolutionize how we speak to each other, not just here locally but globally, or come from some great mind right here in this room, this institution. i am very excited to be here. thank you, michael stott, for your contribution to the students, and i also consider this to be an investment, so we have to make good on their return that our community is investing in us. so i am here, and i applaud you.
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thank you very much. [applause] >> next up, i have the pleasure -- actually, i have the pleasure to introduce him. mayor ed lee. he is a delight to work for. i was telling him last night that he has a high emotional intelligence. of course, he is intellectually savvy, but that is only half of the equation. what good is being smart if you are not able to apply and relate to people? this man has a big heart. he is very intelligent and very knowledgeable about the city workings and very sensitive to the needs of -- too many of us in this room, particularly the southeast part of the city. of course he cares about all of san francisco, but i believe he has a special place in his heart for us in the southeast.
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without further ado, please put your hands together and welcome ed lee. mayor lee: thank you all for being here today. let me first of all congratulate all of you for moving on from high school. that is still a wonderful thing, right? you are there. now, you get to make all the decisions. you get to be responsible for your decisions. i want to welcome you to a new club. i want to welcome you to the million-dollar club. you are today members of the million-dollar club. you know what? that is going to be the difference. it is going to be the difference between those that stayed and did not do anything after high school and those that graduate from college. $1 million in salary difference if you have a college degree. so welcome. you are all millionaires. just stick with it.
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you do not know it now, but you will stick with it. malia was saying earlier, and i believe what she says is really true -- it is kind of different because you may think you are on your own, but when i went to college, a lot of people invested in me. i got some serious scholarships. i do not know about you, but i grow up in public housing in seattle, washington. i had to make that adjustment. i did not know if i was going to make it or not. i just work hard to see what happens. but in college, i got some people to invest in me. some serious scholarships, just like some of the investments being made to you today from microsoft and other places. and to think differently than you are not really there on your own any more. you have people watching you, people believing i knew, people thinking that if you are succeeding, a lot of other people are going to succeed.
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think about that for a moment. you take these scholarships. you take microsoft's investment in you. you possibly may get a laptop, but you also may earn some scholarships here. that no longer means you just getting money. it also means people believe in you. they actually put their faith that you are going to succeed. what i thought about that for a moment, i decided to do it because it was not just for me anymore but all the people who believe that i will succeed. i will do it for them and if i can believe in myself and do it, other people can as well. with the help with the school district, with microsoft working with us, with the educational fund, and beyond 12 and the nonprofit we have to identify things that other people have said, years ago, the kind of
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prevented them from being successful. we have that all here. we have been identifying it to make it easier so you do not have to deal with it the first time. you can ask what is going to happen, how you cope with it, and how you get around stuff that will be in your way so you can be successful and show other people their investment in new is a good one. every major league player, every successful person has had someone else invest in them. right now, we believe in you. i will tell you right now, i am investing in new. as the mayor of san francisco, i am looking at you right now, and i will look at you as people can succeed me in this job. i believe you can do it. i know you can if you just put your mind to it, and you do not get distracted from the naysayers, people who do not want you to succeed, or the events that may happen when there is family or friends that distract you.
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keep focused. keep your mind set on what your doing. and unless the investment people have made in new -- under is the investment people have made in you. i think you will get into the $10 million club. that is what i am trying to do. with that, i promise to make the city welcome you to -- when you have that degree, to make sure we have the jobs. i am trying to make the city successful. i am trying to make sure muni is on time. but i am also trying to make sure great companies like microsoft, like twitter, like zynga -- all these multimillion- dollar companies about to go public -- i want them to hire you. they will only look at you if you have that degree and that focus. keep this in mind -- other people who did not listen to this and did not know people