thumbnail of WGBH Journal; 
     Unemployment Statistics, Workfare Implementation, Stabat Mater Performance,
    Louis Lyons
Transcript
Hide -
If this transcript has significant errors that should be corrected, let us know, so we can add it to FIX IT+
Look at the questionable employment figures. Then we'll hear about the implementation of workfare in Massachusetts. Interview with Boston conductor and to take a look at the news. Our first two features concern the plume in Massachusetts the statistic citing the rates of unemployment local and national level in that they give policymakers some sense of the existing employment situation. What happens then when two sets of statistics are in almost total disagreement. The figures to be taken seriously. Is there a margin of error which needs to be calculation. These questions arise now due to the recent publication of
federal statistics which indicate that unemployment in Boston is a greater problem than among blacks. This finding contradicts figures compiled by a Massachusetts state agency tells us more about the situation in this report. The data that comes out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The thing that most people call the below. Is designed to collect data to produce a state wide unemployment rate and unemployment rate. It's not really designed to be used for cities and towns and then subgroups within cities and towns. And that's really the problem. Last month Mayor Henry W. Meyer of Milwaukee offered a report on unemployment in the Boston area to the national Democratic mayors conference in New York. The Myer report which was compiled from data obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
showed joblessness among white adults higher than among nonwhite adults. The previously unpublished federal figures indicated Boston's 976 white unemployment rate was eleven point two percent while the nonwhite rate was 6.5 percent. Some Massachusetts officials have called the Myers statistics so inaccurate that they should be considered meaningless. The reason the figures are considered so inaccurate is because they've been drawn from too small a population sample to be statistically valid. Figures which appear to be more in line with the actual unemployment situation come from the division of Employment Security the DSH joblessness at a rate of sixteen point two percent for blacks and nine point eight percent for whites. I see. Spoke with Betsy Monsour at the D E S who said the statistics there are only obtained on a citywide basis. I asked her how the B o s approach differed. What you're aiming for is a statistically significant date rate. But that doesn't mean that the city in each and every city and town rate
will be statistically significant. You will generate by definition an unemployment rate for cities and towns but they won't necessarily be distinctly significant and that's what happened in Boston. Any time the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data they. Use caviar saying you have to remember what the survey sample was designed to do. And some data perhaps ought not to be used. Wyndal McDonnell regional commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics expressed what he felt was the reason for such a broad variation between the last Mayor Meyera figures and those released by the DSS. I think you have to look at the that era we came out with an overall 6.5. In the survey which the Census Bureau conducted and tabulated and delivered. But the rain era rain was all from. About 1.9
percent to over 11 percent. That's right. The sample will vary them. And. I think it's everyone most everyone would agree that some statistics are stronger than others. Some families are more adequate than others and that is why we. Tell people in public the error range. In a lot of people may determine the level of confidence. Which you can have in the statistics. So therefore the acoustics released by Mayor Myers. Probably aren't terribly accurate with a range that large one to get a look that they should look at at the average rate. And it also look at the error range and the error range will vary vary greatly. Depending upon the adequacy. Of the sample. Bill Hawkins is an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I asked him if the discrepancies between the DSK years and the BLF data were
unusual. And if this kind of situation occurred in other departments This has been a continuous problem for about eight to 10 years. The whole question of unemployment rate the reliability and characteristics of people who are unemployed. The reliability factor really is important because a wide amount of federal funds allocated on the basis of unemployment rates. And it's been over the course of years that this issues that come to light in terms of whether the statistics are good bad or whatever. And it's been necessary to go back and rethink the whole process and come up with new procedures to approve those. This is. Because there does appear to be a history of wide discrepancy in unemployment figures. I asked Mr. Harkins how the process could be improved or the only way I know to be able to remedy that kind of situation would be to do a survey and unemployment survey within the city of the US MSA of the state now that's something that's been in the pot raise many times that usually put in the context of the cost versus what the benefit would be of doing that if the issue was related to doing analysis and you feel you can do really good analysis without getting an
absolutely reliable unemployment rate. Then there is a real question as to whether a watch costs by doing a survey would be worthwhile if the question is related to the share of a federal fund you'd have to be assured I would think to spend the money that you would get enough payoff in terms of additional federal funds for doing the work. This issue has been raised. Over the last few years a number of times I know in New Jersey it was rare that it went to federal court to question you know the apportionment of money based on the six and the Question of the reliability. Also Michael Hollington been involved with the whole question last year inquired with and introduced a bill to try and expand the national survey to try and come up with better state and local unemployment data. But as far as I understand that Bill had been rejected by the Congress. And so nothing's going on but outside of a you know a survey to do it. You can come up with any one estimate that you can be completely sure that really reflects the situation.
Mayor White is praised as an illustration on the basis of the Mier report saying that during his term as mayor blacks have exacted cheap previously on acknowledged gains. I asked hearkens how you respond to such optimism. So I think that most politicians governors and mayors tend to deal with the statistics at face value and don't really know the complexities that are involved. You know through some of the discussion with that I think you tend to see the problem with just taking a piece of information and using it as a bellwether of what's going on in the economy. Certainly I know that there are a lot of agencies within the mayor's office and the governor's office that look at these problems in much more detail. OK it would be able to give you a much more substantive answer than just an off the broad response to a particular thing that was cited but I think there's no way people are going to look at statistics and take them at face value when you use them. But with the general consensus nationwide tend to be less important than white than
what I would write. Consider Boston obviously because that is MySpace and has done a good enough job without it. Harkins is not the only one with pessimistic views towards unemployment figures and policies. Workers are now organizing against Carter administration cutbacks and unemployment benefits. Eleven thousand of the 350000 hit by the cutbacks live in Massachusetts and Thursday some were passing out leaflets in front of the Department of Employment Security and Government Center. It is clear that the populace is no longer unmoved by the long stream of unemployment programs funded through the use of complicated formulas whose final estimates are often questionable for GBH Journal. I'm Jim Frieden Berg. On the implementation of their program
Workfare is designed to put 2000 of the 6000 unemployed fathers must participate in 13 weeks of work experience training in order to receive their welfare checks. Great deal of controversy surrounding the program to force people to work for welfare payments just beginning to get underway. Governor Dukakis is long embattled workfare program is finally struggling to a start this week with between five and 10 unemployed welfare fathers scheduled to check in at designated job sites for 13 weeks of work experience. Workfare has undergone some substantial alterations since it was first proposed over a year ago. Most significantly Massachusetts welfare activists and liberal legislators lobbied successfully to pare the program down
from the originally proposed year to a fairly brief 13 weeks. The work itself will be mostly of the unskilled variety. Building Maintenance brush clearing and forestry work painting delivering hot lunches to elderly people in Western Massachusetts. The employers whom state officials will not specifically name will include nonprofit agencies state and federal agencies hospitals and schools in charge of making work fair go is Dick Sullivan head of the Department of Employment securities when staff right now are reviewing the files of about 4000 Father's Day. And what we're doing is reviewing those files to see Should there be something else going on with us Kenny medically and physically is he able to work or should he has a situation change maybe he should get an exemption from registration which we do if that's the case. See if he would appear to be the type of person that would profit from work experience. When we do that we talk to him. And we've
done that for the past two weeks we sent out instructions to feel about three weeks ago we had statewide training for about 400 people had meetings with management staff etc. to get going. We would like to get try and get a geographical match between the Father and the work side so he doesn't have to travel a long way. And also a number of I have interest in different kinds of work all working for different kind of agencies for example. I'm going to try and do what we can to match mine. So you're at the point of matching people to their jobs right. We hope to have I would say we probably have next week probably have five or ten fathers start out on work sites go for February would be to have somewhere between 50 to 75 fathers actually start work sites. So we've been visiting work sites community agencies schools hospitals places like that to see if they are interested in participate in the program see if they could offer the kind of structured worksite that were that were interested in. When we when we have enough of those that will be moving the fathers into into those sites.
Dick Sullivan. Interestingly enough many welfare department and Department of Employment Security employees who will be doing all that screening and interviewing of welfare fathers are themselves dissatisfied with the work their program employs contacted on Friday described two separate staff meetings one in early December and one last Wednesday where the workers were instructed in how to implement workfare said one employee of the December meeting. People felt very angry that workfare was just another burden for them that it was a lot more work. So in another of last Wednesday's meeting it was pretty fiery The renegades all shouted this employee added that she would try to get the fathers in her caseload some sort of subsidized employment slot and only send them to the work experience program. If there were no other alternative. I don't want to say that I don't intend to cooperate she said. But we all have a certain amount of autonomy in this job. More direct opposition to workfare will continue to come from the anti workfare coalition. Mike handler of the coalition says the group hopes to file two
lawsuits as well as picketing workfare job sites and offering support services to the men participating in the workfare program. We will be providing to any individual worker program or is going to be put into it. Advice on his appeal rights. What conditions under which he can appeal and we hope to stop the implementation of program through an organized appeal process. In addition to which at some point when we have a substantial body of information we will then decide on a legal test suit against the program itself. There is basic conceptions is one the appropriateness of the program for the individual as if it's really going to do what the state says. Then you could go into basic workers rights minimum wage requirements training requirements things like that. All of which we really feel are weak and that the state will not be able to deliver on the
promises that they put forth in their proposals. Then there is from the coalition's point of view as a as an organizing operation we will attempt to identify individuals and individual placements. And let people know that we're available. There will also do mass organizing of individuals to stop this program. That would involve protests pickets various work sites involved developing a workers organization of these people to develop some of their basic rights or rights to a decent wage a living wage a right to good training etc. so it would be a support group for these people and hopefully made up of these people will be in the program. My Candler. The success or failure of workfare in Massachusetts could have impact nationally with a comprehensive national welfare reform bill in the works. The U.S. Labor Department has asked Brandeis University to study work there to see said one department official quote whether it's something we could
duplicate elsewhere and whether it makes good public policy to expand the idea for GBH journal I mean the sense. The American premiere of your original version of Haydn's stop at Mada can be heard on Sunday February 12th at King's Chapel. The conductor of the concert will be DANIEL PINK on the Katniss isn't here today but he left us with an interview which he conducted with Daniel Pink last week. People are always talking about standing in the shoes of an illustrious predecessor. And our
guest for this brief conversation is doing precisely that. The guest is Daniel Pink I'm the illustrious predecessor is Francis of Haydn. And we'll just turn the microphone over to Dan Pinkham to explain the circumstances really. That's kind of a hard act to follow. Wasn't expecting under direction like that. I think Bill is probably referring to the fact that on the 12th of February we're doing a performance of a stock Mattera hiden and we were kind of excited about this because it looks as though we're going to be doing the first performance at least since the 18th century of the original version of this work. This is a little work. I was a little in the performing forces because it's big and Lanka's Nady minute piece. But it's a work for four solo voices four part chorus strings oboes bassoon an organ. In other words it's just the kind of size of performing forces that we can manage to
fit into the choir loft King's Chapel you know. Also true that King's Chapel is pretty nearly the same size as the chapel of St.. I'm indebted to my friend and colleague Thomas Dunn from the and and Haydn Society who tells me yes just that that having visited the little church and I finished out last year last summer he says yes in fact the size is very comparable The shape is quite different. But he says it thinks it's he thinks it's unlikely that they have that they would have had a chorus and a larger than what we were using and he didn't say one extra thing about having visited that celebrated little church where Haydn. Was music director of course. He said that in that church Haydn is buried. And that round the marble surrounding the cause of the grave. There are four works of Haydn and the titles of these are incised in the marble and they are the season's
creation Seven Last Words. All three are very familiar and not him. And I think it's a place that's worth three of us now because we've got to make sure that Haydn himself chose those four but at least it showed that his contemporaries figured that this was important work. It was the work which made Haydn an international success. It was written in 70 67 which would have made about 35 which is quite early on for the big choral were exactly right. This piece was very very popular in fanciful big orchestrations in the 19th century a fate which curiously enough rather paralleled that of Messiah. Oh all the added excretions resides exactly extra orchestra Yes or this. There were one of Haydn students made a big fancy version and there are lots of other ones and it's this work in this version that the piece was known
and in fact was recorded about 20 25 years ago. Then Robbins Landon and I mean one of the big four I'm sure that's right. And then London at that time I realized that that there had been an original version because he spoke about it as I recall and then he was responsible for finding in Saint Michael's Church book which is a town next large town next to it as to where it didn't work. If they found a copy a manuscript copy of this is this is kind of a triumph for Robin's land and it is not good and I think we perhaps should explain if there are any of our listeners who are not familiar with the name that they see robins Landon is the great guidance color of the day. Exactly. I brushed during storm has again taken over the top of the noses two weeks ago and is piling up fresh problems for traffic commuting and all outside activity. The news of President Sadat's weekend in Washington is that he made no news
like Sherlock Holmes case of the barking dog that failed to block President Carter kept Sadat away from the Sunday television shows and both and spoke for both of them that they committed themselves to unremitting efforts for peace. But Sadat had a press conference today and has two more days to present his case to the American public before he leaves Wednesday. The Vietnam government is back now in from its position that the United States had no right to expel its delegate to the United Nations. So there will be no test of this unprecedented action. The delegate was repeating his defiance of the expulsion order on the charge of spying when handed an order from Hanoi recalling him. The United Nations had not taken any position on this. The widespread boycott of the municipal elections in Nicaragua yesterday continued the general strike in protest over the murder Jan. 10 of presents for Moses leading critic 52 candidates in yesterday's election of the Conservative party withdrew.
Washington has kept hands off some of this crisis and this is big news in Nicaragua for 40 years a samosa family dictatorship has enjoyed Washington support in all its crises. The director of the Nicaraguan Development Institute tells The New York Times correspondent that two years ago the Somoza opponent would have blamed the United States for the assassination that set off a national protest which this time as had no attendant wave of anti-Americanism. However State Department criticized some US's violations of human rights early in the Carter administration. The evening newspaper is ailing a victim of the changing patterns of our lives. The weekend news bears on the troubles of the evening paper. Chicago's only evening paper the once distinguished Daily News is closing and Washington's evening paper the stuff is sold for timing by the Texas millionaire who has not millions into an attempt to revive it since he bought it only four years ago.
The sale of a star a time has an interesting fillip for the star's highly successful morning contemporary The Post owns Newsweek both time in The Post also on broadcast stations and related enterprises. In short they become conglomerates and increasingly typical condition of our communications. Typical to the weekends reduction of the number of independently owned newspapers. How the 52 papers a changed hands last year 42 were evening most were acquired by chains. Gannett Newhouse Scripps Howard Knight Cox Hearst the ten leading chains own 200 newspapers and mostly big city for a while Star on Daily News have been published more than a hundred years and so the earlier more vigorous days each in the same family. They have a telly rundown later generations the Noyes family owners of the staff lack the journalistic instinct and enterprise of its founders and the Daily News had been merchandised in a series of sales the past 40 years. But the story of
The Daily News has been a brilliant page in the history of journalism in its first 50 years under Victor Larsen It won a worldwide reputation for the distinction of its foreign service. This was continued under Walter Strong with such correspondence as Paul Scott Myra Edgar and from our John Gunther Raymond Graham swaying and on the home front it enjoyed a golden era. Under a great city or Henry Justin Smith with Ben Hecht And Carl Sandburg among its local staff. Now in recent years the work of such reporters Edwin Leahy and Bob Casey at home and George Weller in Kai's beach a broad sustained its high reputation. Chicago still had two evening in two morning papers when the death of Publisher Frank Knox opened the Daily News to Jack Knight's acquisition as a glittering prize to add to his string of papers in Miami Detroit Charlotte and Akron. He put his paper under an economizing at the base of Walters whose philosophy was that anything written
could be cut. LIPPMAN columns this cost the paper its star reporter Bob Casey who's parting shot became an axiom you can't do it with asterisks. When I quit Chicago in 1959 Marshall Field stepped in to salvage salvage that area news field and finance the morning paper The Sun Times that had been started to give the new deal a Chicago voice against the comics Tribune The Sun-Times had been highly successful. But the problems of the evening paper frustrated even such heroic measures as buying up suburban papers that threatened to drain off circulation and advertising finally two years ago the foreign service was given up altogether its remaining correspondents brought home. But that wasn't enough. You can't read a paper while commuting by auto as you couldn't train a man driving home can turn the car radio over the news and anticipate the evening television news and time to read the morning paper that is left home for his wife. The morning paper
was always more complete it had all night to round up the day's doings. The evening paper had to go to press before the end of the court day or the legislative day and too early for most sports news if it held for the final stock market its trucks were delayed by clog city traffic in reaching the suburbs and the suburbs shopping centers now provide advertising revenue for the local paper that covers its school committee and City Hall is a metropolitan paper cannot for its whole area. So the tendency is with a community morning paper who well knows but his hometown paper. So that's the saga of the evening newspaper. An endangered species. And that's TV for today. The show was produced by Marcia Hirtz
have a very good evening and drive very carefully. Thank
you.
Series
WGBH Journal
Episode
Unemployment Statistics, Workfare Implementation, Stabat Mater Performance, Louis Lyons
Producing Organization
WGBH Educational Foundation
Contributing Organization
WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/15-90dv4hj2
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/15-90dv4hj2).
Description
Series Description
WGBH Journal is a magazine featuring segments on local news and current events.
Description
Engineer: Moran
Created Date
1978-02-06
Genres
News
Magazine
Topics
News
Media type
Sound
Duration
00:31:32
Embed Code
Copy and paste this HTML to include AAPB content on your blog or webpage.
Credits
Producing Organization: WGBH Educational Foundation
Production Unit: Radio
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WGBH
Identifier: 78-0160-02-06-001 (WGBH Item ID)
Format: 1/4 inch audio tape
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:27:00
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “WGBH Journal; Unemployment Statistics, Workfare Implementation, Stabat Mater Performance, Louis Lyons ,” 1978-02-06, WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 28, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-90dv4hj2.
MLA: “WGBH Journal; Unemployment Statistics, Workfare Implementation, Stabat Mater Performance, Louis Lyons .” 1978-02-06. WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 28, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-90dv4hj2>.
APA: WGBH Journal; Unemployment Statistics, Workfare Implementation, Stabat Mater Performance, Louis Lyons . Boston, MA: WGBH, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-90dv4hj2