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March 3, 2008
Soundbites

Crisis in Kenya is a draw
Godfrey Mwampemba “Gado” was in the thick of Kenya’s current political crisis as a commentator and “because where I live in Nairobi was 200 meters from the opposition headquarters,” the editorial cartoonist said in his Feb. 26 Halle Institute talk, “Cartooning in Conflict.”

A slideshow of Gado’s cartoons covered pre-election to aftermath. “Because editorial cartooning is pretty much a confrontational art, I’m more comfortable when offending people,” he said. But after the election, the media tried to be sensitive, resulting in “many fights with my editors.”

Gado’s cartoons reflect questions about democracy in Africa and the roots of Kenya’s problems: corruption, tribalism and inequality. — Leslie King

Writer’s strike: Claim to creativity
After 100 days on the picket lines, Hollywood scriptwriters have headed back to work, now with a foothold in the digital age.

Three Writers Guild of America panelists discussed the strike at a Feb. 20 event hosted by Emory’s theater, film studies and creative writing departments.

A major victory for the WGA was staking a claim to the growing revenue from video streaming and Internet downloading.

“Prior to the strike, the writers guild had absolutely no jurisdiction over the Net,” explained “All My Children” writer Courtney Bugler.

During the strike, many producers used “scabs,” or non-WGA writers. Bugler explained the industry was taking a lesson from the mid-1990s, when the televised O. J. Simpson trial lured away viewers with more drama than anything on daytime T.V.

Quipped screenwriter Jason Dolan: “I never knew O.J. killed soap operas too.” — Kim Urquhart

PCSW opens up in forum
Citing “the enormous privilege of leading the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in its thirty-first year,” Chair Susan Carini kicked off the annual Open Forum, which informs the public about the commission’s history and mission.

The current scope of work includes an ambitious strategic plan under way for all women at Emory. Junior Chair Joyce King referenced George Bernard Shaw to explain her involvement in the commission: “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.” — Susan Carini