Which Way, L.A.?

School Mascots Bill

School board meetings on the budget, teacher cutbacks or facilities may draw a few spectators, but the suggestion of changing a high school mascot has them hanging from the rafters. The heated issue is normally left to local officials, but a bill about to go before the state Assembly would make California the first state to ban all Indian team mascots from public schools. Are such mascots a violation of civil rights or political correctness gone too far? We hear about emotional attachments, cultural sensitivity, ethnic pride and public perceptions from the author of Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian Mascots, a Native American member of the Alliance Against Racial Mascots, and the athletic director of the Alta Loma High School Braves. Managing Editor Kyle McKinnon guest hosts. Reporter's Notebook: UCLA Presents Retrospective of Cinematographer Conrad Hall Conrad Hall is best known in Hollywood for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, In Cold Blood and American Beauty. The cinematographer who has taken home two Oscars, and been nominated nine times, is the focus of a UCLA retrospective through June 2 at James Bridges Theater. Hall joins us for a chat about films and filmmaking.