VOA--CONNECT
EPISODE: 34
AIR DATE: 09 07 2018
TRANSCRIPT
FULL TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Opioids in America
((SOT))
I was obviously concerned as to where he had the drugs concealed on him because he came over there to make the transaction and we just drove up too soon.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Summer Fun
((SOT))
Korean Culture Camp, when I was a kid, was my favorite week of the year. And I would say it still is.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Secret Life of T-Rex
((SOT))
A Tyrannosaurus is what we would call an apex predator. It ate whatever it wanted. It probably didn’t get eaten very much.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((Banner:
Living America’s Opioid Nightmare))
((PKG)) OPIOIDS – NASHVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA--PART 2
((Popup Banner
More than 40,000 Americans die each year from opioid overdoses.
VOA looks at three stories from the epidemic))
((Producers: Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Jacquelyn De Phillips))
((Camera: Jeff Swicord, Chris Simkins, Mike Burke))
((Map: Nashville, North Carolina))
*****
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
Heroin was a problem years ago and it's obviously come back. It's pretty bad. It’s all across America. It's hit small rural areas just as much as it is in the bigger cities.
((NATS))
K-Mac: White male, dirty blond, maybe even reddish tinted hair, low cut
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
We have a pipeline running through Nash County in I-95.
((NATS))
K-Mac: We have a lot of narcotics that are trafficked up and down the interstate.
((NATS))
Officer: Oh man, step out for me. I got weed all in here.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
We're not far from I-40 which runs east and west, coming out from Texas and going out to the coast here in North Carolina.
((NATS))
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
My job is to stop the flow of narcotics into Nash County by making arrests.
((NATS))
Officer: You ever been to jail? It’s not like TV.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
and investigating the individuals who are trafficking it into Nash County on up the chain.
((NATS))
Officer: What the ****!
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
You got to keep the pressure on constantly. I mean it's, it's a war. It's a drug war out there.
*****
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Christina came into the Nashville Police Department with her mother one afternoon and she was obviously needing detox.
((NATS))
Nurse: So did you use Heroin?
((Christina, Heroin Addict)): Heroin, Roxies
Nurse: When was the last day to use Heroin?
Christina: Yesterday.
Nurse: And cocaine too?
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
We've had individuals come through our program. We’ve sent them to detox. They decided at that point they didn't want to follow through with their recovery. They returned to the streets. Return to using again. Return to a life of crime.
((NATS))
Bashore: Mom’s here.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Christina left the program after 72 hours. And she signed Against Medical Advise form. We did lose contact with her after that. It’s extremely disappointing when in individual leaves under an AMA because we know that their chances of success to sustain the recovery are close to zero. If she does contact us again, we will help her through the process. I really do hope she makes it.
((NATS))
Mom: That’s part of it, ain’t it?
Christina: Yeah.
*****
((NATS))
K-Mac: Are we relaxing or are we working here?
K-Mac: Look, Josh. Could you, today when we get out there, could you see that deputy Stewart could get at least in a position that when I call out a vehicle we don't let it get away, like two get away.
((Josh Trull, Sergeant, Nash County Sheriff’s Office))
That's kind of hard when your best vehicle you're out there driving is a Tahoe with a dog kennel in the back.
K-Mac: Yeah but if you get…..
Josh: We kinda got screwed a while back and gave up all our good cars. We had this surveillance and now we're stuck with a whole bunch of Chargers. We're chasing people around in dope (cars). I find this ridiculous.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
Okay, can I pass something by y'all? If you see a vehicle approach a known drug residence, exit that vehicle, one passenger run up to this residence, then stay two to three minutes, jump back in the truck, do you need to find traffic violation?
Josh: No. My only question is what's your, what’s your known drug house? How do you know it's a drug house?
((Ronald Stewart, Deputy, Nash County Sheriff’s Office))
That's the thing.
K-Mac: What do mean ‘that’s the thing’?
Josh: I don't know that we've ever stopped recovering live in the house.
K-Mac: Yes we, did we not stalk Cooley that day.
Ronald: Yeah, but we didn't get no dope. We just got a.....
K-Mac: He's a drug dealer.
Josh: Somebody called that car out last time, y'all watched his house.
Ronald: Yeah, it was there last time.
Josh: Somebody said that Blair maintenance truck came and left his house.
K-Mac: Ok.
Josh: I never saw the truck.
K-Mac: You're just adding to the probable cause for K-Mac. OK, y'all just adding.
Josh: Yeah. But you're not my ***** prosecutor though.
K-Mac: You don’t.
Josh: If you were, then I would be charging everybody with everything.
K-Mac: But listen, listen. Don't try the cases out there when you going through it. Use your training and experience. Don't try. Don't say well is this something that the DA's office is going to bless. Do what you think is right based on your training experience and let them worry about that later.
*****
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
I'm in favor of the task force. I have an officer that works on that task force as well. But the system doesn't differentiate between someone who has an intention of breaking the law and someone who has a disease.
((NATS))
Bashore: So, Shellie, just tell me why you're here first of all?
((Shellie Inscoe, Arrested by Tar River Drug Task Force)):
I'm here, I have trafficking heroin charges.
Bashore: Okay.
Shellie: Basically, I was in a hotel room. I went to the room to see some friends and, of course, to get high. And I was in there 15 minutes and the police came knocking on the door. And there was a guy in there that had a bunch of drugs. And he like set them on the bed and basically nobody would admit, you know, whose it was, so they charged all of us who were there.
Bashore: Trafficking charges are pretty serious.
Shellie: Yeah.
Bashore: Now when you were using, how many bags were you using a day?
Shellie: When I started IV using, I was doing probably 20 a day, 20 to 30.
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
I think I've probably only not been able to help one person that we've gone over to the jail to work with. There’s a few questions that I usually ask individuals where I can get a pretty good gauge of whether or not they're just trying to say the right things and get out of jail, and not follow through with a treatment plan.
((NATS))
Bashore: And so are you willing to go to a long-term treatment facility?
Shellie: Yes, sir.
Bashore: How long are you willing to go for?
Shellie: Any amount of time. I'm ready to fix my life and you know.
Bashore: Okay. So, most of the places that we recommend individuals to go to are, you know, they are anywhere from six months to two years long.
Shellie: Uh huh.
Bashore: So, you don't have a problem with any of those?
Shellie: No, not at all.
Bashore: Now what kind of family support do you have?
Shellie: None right now.
Bashore: And why is that?
Shellie: Because of the drugs.
Bashore: Okay. Were you lying, stealing?
Shellie: No, I've never stolen anything from my family. Anything like that. They just do not approve of it.
Bashore: Alright. Do they understand the disease itself or they just think it was a choice you made?
Shellie: No. Just a choice.
Bashore: Okay. Do you talk to any of them?
Shellie: No. For the past 10 years, I've had my own place. I've had a car. I've had everything that I always wanted. Up until the past couple of years like I've lost everything. I'm down to nothing now.
Bashore: Okay. Did you have a good relationship?
Shellie: including my family. I have a twin brother. We've always been really close and he wouldn't even speak to me.
Bashore: He won’t even talk to you? Okay. I need you to start working on an autobiography, anywhere from like three to five pages. Talks about your past drug use and then why you want to stop.
Shellie: Okay.
Bashore: In the meantime, I will get some applications for you to fill out for those facilities. And then if you get accepted, then we’ll get a letter from them and then we'll work on through your attorney to try to get your case handled. Usually, I say, usually they can do a couple things. They can defer your charges until you go complete a program, or they can try to get you to plead to a lesser charge. So, not trafficking but, you know, a possession charge and then make it part of your probation that you go and complete a program. So, there's all kinds of options out there but, like I said, I just need to be patient.
Shellie: Okay.
Bashore: Alright?
((Thomas Bashore, Police Chief, Nashville, North Carolina))
Just arresting people and putting them in jail is not going to solve any problems. They're not getting the help that they need in a jail. And then when they get released, they pretty much go back to using again and committing crimes in the community and not getting their lives back into recovery where they need to be.
((NATS))
*****
((NATS))
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
God love those who have the patience to help. I’m very sympathetic. But I’m a cop and I have a different approach and I have a different job.
((NATS))
K-Mac: Look right and left ‘cause I think he dipped off this road.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
We ride around the streets of Nash County.
((NATS))
Police Radio: Headed back toward Church Street?
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
What I characterize as aggressive patrol, looking for individuals who, based on characteristics, we pick up on and we are able to tell that they may be about to commit a narcotics violation.
((NATS))
K-Mac: She made that first left after she got off of Dexter (street).
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
I noticed a white female driving a Jeep Cherokee. She looked like she was, I would call it trolling the streets to look for dealers that stand out on the street corners.
((NATS))
K-Mac: Rommik’s got her, Jason come up quick on the front.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
One of my guys pulled up behind her vehicle to approach. As he did, he immediately noticed off to the left side of his vehicle that this individual was coming through what we call the cut in between the houses. I felt it was important I go over there and kind of figure out who he was.
((NATS))
K-Mac: So, Cory,
Cory: Yes Sir.
K-Mac: ***** Street in *****?
Cory: Yes, that is my address now.
K-MAC: Now, are you Cory? Let me see. Before I ask, I wanna look myself. Are you on federal probation?
Cory: Yes sir
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
I was obviously concerned as to where he had the drugs concealed on him because he came over there to make the transaction and we just drove up too soon.
K-Mac: Open it up, bro. He just swallowed that *****.
Cory: No, I didn’t.
Josh: Probably did.
K-Mac: He had a rocket.
((Kevin (K-Mac) McLaughlin, Commander, Tar River Drug Task Force))
Crack is a beige rock like substance. And it looked like he had some residue on his tongue. And you know I basically told him he'd swallowed it and he denied it. Based off of some other information we received from the female, it was clear without a doubt, unequivocally, that he was about to make a transaction with her.
((NATS))
K-Mac: Man, I was that close.
Josh: Going back.
K-Mac: Going back to federal prison.
Cory: I hear you.
K-Mac: You hear me?
Cory: I hear you.
K-Mac: So I am going to tell you what. I am going to give you a little advice that you probably already know. But if I were you, I wouldn’t be hanging over there on Dexter Street. A man just got killed, not long ago, right? Okay.
K-Mac: You know what they say, catch you later.
Cory: I heard that before.
K-MAC: Get it? Get it?
Suspect: I heard that before.
K-Mac: Get it? Catch you later.
Cory: I’m going to the store. Same thing I was doing before.
K-Mac: I’ll catch you later.
Cory: That never changed.
K-Mac: Alright, Bro.
*****
((Popup Banner
Living America’s Opioid Nightmare
continues on VOA Connect in the weeks to come))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Learning about Robots
((SOT))
When you program the robots, you have to know how fast the robot rolls, how long you want the robot to roll, and together how far the robot will roll. So, that requires multiplication, mathematics and a basic understanding of distance and time.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: What I did this summer))
((PKG)) KOREAN CULTURE CAMP
((Banner: Korean Culture Camp))
((Reporter/Camera: June Soh))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: St. Paul, Minnesota))
((NATS))
((Elain Ekstedt, Director, Korean Culture Camp))
My name is Elain Ekstedt and I am the director of Korean Culture Camp, which is held in Minnesota every summer and has been around for over 40 years. The camp was started in 1977 by parents, mostly Caucasian parents who had adopted children from Korea. And they wanted their children to feel good about their Korean heritage and to experience Korean culture. So, they began a summer camp.
((NATS))
((Peter Yellick, Teen helper, Korean Culture Camp))
I was adopted when I was eight months old. So, I was always self-conscious about like being a Korean adoptee. But, when I like came here, I got to hear and see a bunch of other people who have the same story as I do. And it was really cool because it then helped me accept who I am and it made me proud to be of Korean Heritage.
I kept volunteering because I wanted to help other kids who may have been like me and it was also really fun.
((NATS))
((Elain Ekstedt, Director, Korean Culture Camp))
We had families coming from all over the United States and we still have families that come from out of state. It’s a family event. The whole family comes. The parents pay for their children to come and they come and volunteer. So this year we have 235 campers but we have 250 volunteers to take care of them. Most of the volunteers are the parents of the campers. It becomes a whole family experience. Those campers grow up. After they’re no longer campers, then they become teen helpers. We have a hundred teen helpers in our camps this year. And then after they’re teen helpers, they can become young adult volunteers, and we actually have people who come back to our camp every year.
((NATS))
((Kevin Cunningham, Volunteer, Korean Culture Camp))
My name is Kevin Cunningham. I was adopted from South Korea when I was six months old. I’ve been at Korean Culture Camp for 22 years. Korean Culture Camp, when I was a kid, was my favorite week of the year. And I would say it still is as an adult because now I get to come back and see all the kids doing what I did, going to the class and learning about language, history and doing Taekwondo together and, of course, eating lunch together was always really fun.
((NATS))
((Hong Joo Lee, Education Director, Korean Culture Camp))
My name is Hong Joo Lee. I recruit teachers and most of the teachers are also current teachers at the public school or a private school. I love to see those kids who are excited about what they are doing here, what are they learning. So, that’s why I’ve been here for 14 years. That makes me really happy.
((NATS))
((Elain Ekstedt, Director, Korean Culture Camp))
My daughter now is on the board and helps with the leadership of the camp. It’s now three generations and that’s true for many. Our campers have grown up and they’ve got married and they have children and so our self-esteem classes have changed. It is not so much about adoption anymore. It’s about feeling good about being Korean, having a Korean heritage.
((NATS))
((PKG)) ROBOTIC CAMP GIRLS
((Banner: Robotics Camp))
((Reporter/Camera: Cristina Caicedo Smit))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Gaithersburg, Maryland))
((NATS))
((Banner: The SparkIT summer camp encourages young girls to pursue STEM careers))
((NATS))
((Cindy Shi, SparkIT Robotics))
My name is Cindy Shi and I am the teacher and leader of SparkIT Robotics program.
((NATS))
((Cindy Shi, SparkIT Robotics))
At SparkIT Robotics, I teach girls how to program using robotics and I think it’s very important for girls to do this because it’s innovative, but also a very interesting way for girls to program. So, all of SparkIT Robotics program is catered towards girls 10-15 years old because I think it is the best time for girls to learn.
((NATS))
((Wendy Shi, SparkIT Robotics))
When you program the robots, you have to know how fast the robot rolls, how long you want the robot to roll, and together how far the robot will roll. So, that requires multiplication, mathematics and a basic understanding of distance and time.
((NATS))
((Shradha Roud, SparkIT student))
Sometimes they are accurate, but sometimes they’re not that accurate. So, when we have to program it, we have to like try it out a lot of times.
((Cindy Shi, SparkIT Robotics))
The biggest challenge is that girls have the mental thinking that they are not capable, or they are not good or smart enough, and that is definitely not true. And I think that’s the main problem that girls have, is that they think that technology is often for boys.
((Nishka Ponnapureddy, SparkIT student))
Well, I’ve always liked coding and I’ve done Lego robotics, and then when I heard about this program, I’m like, wow, coding seems fun.
((Cindy Shi, SparkIT Robotics))
At the end of the program, I want the girls to take home the idea that they are good enough and that they are smart and capable enough to pursue STEM and technology in the future.
((SparkIT student))
I really want to be a math professor in college.
((Reporter))
How old are you?
((Student))
I’m eight years old.
((PKG)) SU INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ORIENTATION
((Banner: And now back to school))
((Reporter/Camera: Esha Sarai))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Houston, Texas))
((Banner: International students at Rice University learn about American college life during orientation week before the 2018 school year begins.))
((NATS))
((VICTORIA GRAJA, STUDENT FROM ECUADOR))
Well, in orientation I have found information that will be really important for me.
((KONSTANTIN GEORGIEV, STUDENT FROM BULGARIA))
They are helping us go through all the health insurances and immigration stuff, so I mean it is useful to me.
((NATS))
((TAKUDZWA TAPFUMA, STUDENT FROM ZIMBABWE))
I think the office of International Student Services really showed that there’s a lot to learn, even if you hav been living in the United States for a while. Just how to adjust to this new intellectual environment.
((VICTORIA GRAJA, STUDENT FROM ECUADOR))
I decided to come to Rice because, well, I had to take into account different aspects such as weather. I don’t like cold weather.
((ARINA ZAYTSEVA, STUDENT FROM RUSSIA))
It’s very hot, very humid. I’m from the North. I was born in the North, so it’s a drastic change.
((SANTIAGO LOPEZ ALVAREZ, STUDENT FROM COLOMBIA))
Of course family and friends are a big deal and you always miss them, but one thing that I miss the most, and that’s kind of like my recurrent topic every time I meet a new person, is the weather.
((KONSTANTIN GEORGIEV, STUDENT FROM BULGARIA))
I’m thinking that probably at some point the usual nostalgia about food is going to kick in, which is probably the most normal thing ever.
((NATS))
((TAKUDZWA TAPFUMA, STUDENT FROM ZIMBABWE))
Houston, I had heard a lot of great things about Houston. I had not been to this part of the country, specifically Texas.
((ARINA ZAYTSEVA, STUDENT FROM RUSSIA))
I never knew that I am coming to Texas, but yeah, here I am.
((NATS))
((SANTIAGO LOPEZ ALVAREZ, STUDENT FROM COLOMBIA))
I encourage everyone who’s considering coming to the States to pursue graduate education, to give it a try. The international component of the programs is one of the main strengths of this country. They do want to have you here. They do want to have international students and American students. They want to get in touch with you. They want to meet you and that is really cool. And I know it’s expensive but if you’re smart and you work hard, you can get a scholarship and you might end up here like me without paying not even for your flight. So, just go for it.
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
Nations T.Rex
((SOT))
They stand about sixteen feet tall and they could weigh anywhere from five to ten tons.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) SMITHSONIAN DINOSUAR
((Banner: T.Rex King Bone))
((Reporter: Deborah Block))
((Camera: Mike Burke))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Locater: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.))
((Banner: The museum will open a new hall featuring a T.rex fossilized skeleton (called Nation’s T.rex) discovered in Montana in 1989))
((NATS))
((MATTHEW CARRANO, CURATOR OF DINOSAURS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY))
This particular specimen is actually a pretty scientifically important specimen. When it was discovered in 1989-1990, it was the first specimen where the arm had been known. So, we always knew T.rex had a very small arm, but we’d never really seen it all. So, this is the first time we ever saw it. The biggest advances for dinosaur paleontology in the last 20 years have been around the biology of dinosaurs. We’ve started to understand how to answer questions about how they grew, how they lived, how they ate, all the things that have to do with a living animal.
((NATS))
((MATTHEW CARRANO, CURATOR OF DINOSAURS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY))
Well, we now are able to look inside the bones of dinosaurs and understand how old these individuals were when they died. And what that gives us is a series of stages of their lifetime. So, what we now know is that dinosaurs went through a growth spurt, just like humans do. They started out very small, hatched from eggs, and they were teenagers. They grew very, very quickly. By the time they were about 20, they were pretty much full sized. And after that, although they, you know, got a little bit longer, and a little bit taller, mostly they just got bigger. So, they would sort of bulk up. A Tyrannosaurus is what we would call an apex predator. It ate whatever it wanted. It probably didn’t get eaten very much. It does have these fantastic six-inch teeth that we know were capable of punching through solid bone. So, dinosaurs to us now are much more about living animals than they used to be, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many things we don’t know about their biology. We still don’t know what color they were. We don’t know the sounds they made. We don’t know what they smelled like. All the basic things you take for granted about living animals are actually the hardest things for paleontologists to learn about extinct ones. T.rex, of course, is really the centerpiece of this hall, and it’s certainly the centerpiece dinosaur for us. But we have things that had armor, plant eaters, meat eaters, things that lived 200 million years ago, to things that lived ‘only’ 66 million years ago. So, they’re going to get a real sense of just how many different kinds of dinosaurs there were on Earth.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
