Tanya Ott
Tanya Ott is a part-time editor at WBHM and instructor for the University of Alabama's journalism department. She hosts a podcast on business strategy and emerging technologies and trains public radio newsrooms around the country. Over her 30+ year career, she has reported for Marketplace, NPR and other networks and worked at local stations in Florida, Colorado, Georgia and Alabama, including as WBHM's news director from 2002-2013.
Street Smart
Rush hour in the Birmingham-metro area now averages 6 hours per day. You've no doubt been caught in the gridlock either on 280 or I-65 or U.S. 31. From 1992 to 2002, the delay per traveler increased from 11 hours per year to 26 hours per year! But Gabriel Roth says there's a solution. He's the editor of a new book called 'Street Smart' that advocates 'privatizing' roads. You get your electricity and telephone service from private companies - why not transit? Roth explained the concept to WBHM's Tanya Ott.
Organ Donation
Today, thanks to medical advances, most kidney transplants are successful. But people continue to die every day because of organ shortages. A recent survey indicates that as many as 40% of potential kidney donors decide not to donate because of financial concerns. But one UAB doctor is proposing a system that he says could help solve the shortage problem.
Elder Exploitation
Each year in the U.S., an estimated 5 million older adults become victims of financial abuse. In 2004, older consumers reported 152 million dollars in fraud-related losses. But most of these crimes - particularly those committed by family members - go unreported. Brigid Galloway reports on how UAB doctors and the Department of Senior Services are finding unique ways to address the complex issue of financial exploitation.
Selling Geology’s Gems
The rise in oil prices is fueling a tremendous demand for oil industry workers. Among the beneficiaries: geology graduates trained to find new drilling sites. There's just one problem: geology is a tough sell to the college crowd. But officials at the University of Alabama recently launched a program to try to chisel away at geology's one-dimensional image.
On The Line: Election 2006
On June 6th Alabama voters go the polls to choose candidates for Governor and vote on a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage. On Tuesday, May 30th, at 6:30 p.m. we took your questions and comments about the election, the legislature, and political reform.
Latino Mental Health
The immigration protests in Birmingham and around the country have put a very public face on what has traditionally been a very private community. If you ask activists, they'll tell you many Hispanics have been isolated from mainstream society because of cultural reasons -- Fear of authority, language barriers, along with strong -- and sometimes isolating -- family bonds. That's also why domestic violence is such a difficult problem for the community, according to mental health experts working with immigrated hispanics. We sent John Sepulvado into the community to find out what's being done to curb abuse in Latino households.
Kenyan Student Group
UAB has a very visible international student population at the graduate level -- but increasingly, more undergrads are coming from other countries. And the largest group of foreign undergrads comes from - of all places - Kenya. WBHM's Roseanne Pereira spoke with UAB student Pauline Kamau about her efforts to bridge the divide between the US and the African nation.
International Women
Ever since September 11, 2001, enrollment of foreign graduate students in U.S. schools has been in decline. Until this academic year, when there was a slight uptick in the numbers. Foreign students play a vital role in higher education, particularly in some of the sciences, where they serve as researchers and instructors at higher rates than American-born students. The students are mostly male, and some bring with them families from their home countries. The transition to a new culture can be a challenge for many wives, as WBHM's Roseanne Pereira reports.
Hurricane Katrina: Asian-American’s Mental Health
The plan for crisis counselors is almost always the same: get in -assess -and refer. Some joke they're the commandos of the mental health world, running to the front lines to help people who are trapped by really bad circumstances. And in South Alabama, that bad circumstance was Hurricane Katrina. Most counselors say they've been successful in helping people that need or want care -- As long as you don't count the Asian Community.
Lobbying the Statehouse
From 1995 to 2004, companies and special interest groups spent nearly a billion dollars lobbying state legislators... and that number may actually be much higher, because eight states don't track overall spending on lobbying. Alabama is one of those states - -and try as they might, critics have been unable to pass legislation that would require more reporting on lobbyist efforts. WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
Peace in the South
Immigration reform rallies across the country continue to attract thousands of marchers-drawing comparisons to the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s and anti-Vietnam war rallies just a few years later. While attention to immigration issues has escalated in recent weeks, anti-war rallies have faded to the background. WBHM's Roseanne Pereira met up with peace activists from Birmingham to see firsthand how the peace movement is faring in the South.
Autism & Diet
The numbers continue to astonish. More than a half million Americans are diagnosed with some form of Autism. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 166 children have the disorder. Some say special diets can help a child recover, even lead to a reversal of diagnosis. Donna Francavilla explores this controversial issue.
Home Mental Health Care
Each year millions of family members find themselves caring for the physical needs of a loved one at home. Often times, it can be frustrating, time consuming and confusing. However, if that family member also suffers from a mental illness, those feeling are magnified, and you can add frightening, bewildering and hopeless. Historically, the primary caregiver feels alone, with no one to talk to, no place to turn. But as Les Lovoy reports, there is hope for both the patients, and the primary care givers.
No Child Left Behind: Year 4
No Child Left Behind has been on the books now for four years and the jury is still mixed on its success. A new study released this week by the non-profit independent group Center on Education Policy finds that NCLB, as it's known, is having a significant impact on students and educators. On the one hand, schools are more effectively using test data to adjust teaching. At the same time, though, they're reducing instructional time in other subjects to make more time for reading and math.
Domestic Abuse and Mental Illness
Although the term 'domestic violence' is a fairly modern one, the dark secret of such abuse has affected families throughout human history...and no country, or culture, or socio-economic group is immune. But while the problem remains, one aspect of it -- the secrecy -- has changed dramatically in recent years, as Dale Short reports.
Making Sense of Mental Health: Rebecca’s Story
Women with Turner's Syndrome live with symptoms including infertility, depression and health problems, such as brittle bones and heart ailments. Rebecca Shaney wasn't diagnosed with Turner's until she was 28, and ever since she's had a hard time finding a job. She shares her experience through an audio diary...
The Pentecostal Century
The last 50 years have seen an explosive spread of pentecostal and charismatic religion around the world. Former University of Alabama at Birmingham history department chairman David Harrell has studied and written extensively about the trend. He's on the UAB campus this week sharing his observations with students and WBHM's Tanya Ott. Click here to hear
From BSC to Saturn’s Moon
The scientific world is abuzz about the possibility of liquid reserves on a moon of Saturn. Research published in the journal Science documents Yellowstone-like geysers spewing from the moon. Birmingham-Southern College physics professor Duane Pontius was part of the research team that made the discovery.
Making Sense of Mental Health: On the Line
Underlying many of Alabama's societal challenges, from homelessness to prison overcrowding to school failure to unemployment, is undiagnosed or mistreated mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that only one-third of Americans with mental health problems get care. Monday, March 13th, WBHM will conclude our year-long special project Making Sense of Mental Health with a live call-in program. We'll talk to mental health experts and consumers, and we'll take your phone calls.
Alabama Church Fires: Community Reaction
State and federal investigators continue sifting through the rubble of ten Alabama churches, looking for clues of who set them ablaze. Meantime, rumors are starting to circulate amongst residents in Alabama's rural towns, as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports.
Alabama Church Fires
Hundreds of state and federal investigators are working in Alabama to find the person or people responsible for a string of church fires through the central part of the state. So far, 9 churches have burned. Five are confirmed arsons, and investigators say the other four have similar M.O.'s. WBHM's Tanya Ott is following the story.
Katrina: Kids Mental Health
Thousands of Mississippi and Louisiana school kids remain in Alabama - displaced by Hurricane Katrina. And while the flurry of newspaper and television stories about storm victims has largely died down, mental health workers say there's still a lot of work to do to help children regain a sense of normalcy. WBHM's Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith reports.
Root Shock
Clean-up and rebuilding efforts continue across regions of the hurricane-wracked Gulf Coast. As expected, the mental health needs of evacuees are a big concern, especially as reports surface about surging suicide rates in the affected areas. The ordeal has left invisible, but long-term emotional scars on many survivors, as reporter Dale Short explains.
Women Leaders
The Black Belt of the Deep South got its name from the dark, rich soil, that made cotton king and fueled the institution of slavery. Today the area remains predominantly African American. It's also one of the poorest regions in the nation. One group in Alabama believes it can change the economics of the Black Belt - by getting more women into leadership positions in the state. WBHM's Tanya Ott explains.
Remembering a Soldier: Stephen White
Talladega, Alabama, has laid to rest its first soldier to die in Iraq. Sergeant First Class Stephen White and four other soldiers died January fifth in Najaf when a roadside bomb destroyed the HumVee they were riding in. His death hit his family and community particularly hard, because White was a 20-year veteran who had planned to retire. From member station WBHM in Birmingham, Tanya Ott reports.
Autism: Treatment
Autism is one of the most heart-breaking childhood disorders. It's characterized, in part, by severe social withdrawal and sensory intolerance. Thirty years ago, one in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism; today, it's fewer than one in a thousand. Experts agree that some children can be helped if you catch the disorder early, but they're not so unified on the best methods. Karen Brown continues a two-part series - focusing today on treatment for autism.
Autism: Diagnosis
More children are being diagnosed with autism than ever before. Recent journal studies show rates three to four time higher than 30 years ago. As researchers ponder reasons for the trend - some say it's greater awareness, others blame environmental factors - parents and doctors are learning to pick up the early signs of autism... and debating when it's appropriate to make the diagnosis. Karen Brown reports.
Medicare & Mental Health
Medicare's new drug benefit has gotten of to a rocky start. Alabama state officials say hundreds of people are being turned away or charged far too much for drugs at local pharmacies. And mental health advocates worry the glitch could have long term ramifications. WBHM's Capitol Hill correspondent Benjamin Shaw reports.
Play Therapy
Digging in the sand - playing with dolls and action figures - for children these are fun activities to pass time either alone or with friends. But in recent years a growing number of psychologists and psychiatrists have recognized that play can also be therapeutic. These professionals have developed a new method of therapy, called play therapy, to help children cope with trauma in their lives. Ryan Mills explains.
Holiday Blues
While the Christmas season is often a time of great joy and happiness, it can also bring about feelings of gloom and depression. If you're feeling a touch of 'the holiday blues,' you're not alone. WBHM reporter Frank Thompson has more on this all-too-common seasonal phenomenon:
Lawyer Assistance Program
In a study of 105 professions, lawyers ranked number one in the incidence of depression. Male lawyers are two times more likely to commit suicide than the general male population. And substance abuse rates are also higher in the legal field than in many other fields. The stats are getting the attention of the Alabama Bar Association. Frank Thompson reports.
Meth Bill
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping new policies on methamphetamine enforcement. But as Laura Strickler reports from WBHM's Capitol Hill Bureau the vehicle for the meth legislation - the Patriot Act - faces a rough road in the Senate.
