Immigration, Five-Dollar Dinners, Relationship Closeness

Maternity Tourism and Anchor Babies (1:05) Guest: Andy Semotiuk, Immigration Attorney in the U.S. and Canada, Former UN correspondent  Federal agents swept into several birth centers in Southern California last week said to be connected with multimillion-dollar-businesses that bring pregnant Chinese women into the United States so their babies can be born as U.S. citizens. The investigation could result in the biggest federal criminal case ever against the “anchor baby” or “birth tourism” industry. The search warrants cite suspected visa fraud, tax evasion and harboring illegal immigrants.  “The key thing is the 14th amendment says all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States. That is a pretty fundamental law,” says Semotiuk.  “Coming to America is not a right, it’s a privilege. The concept of coming to the US to come and have a baby,” says Semotiuk, “is not one of the normal reasons that the US gives foreigners to visit the United States. It’s a violation of those privileges.”  “American passport is one of the greatest gifts a person can have,” says Semotiuk.  5-Dollar Dinners (15:51) Guest: Erin Chase, “The Five Dollar Dinner Mom”  Drive through a fast food restaurant and you’re likely to drop at least 5 dollars on a meal. Same is true at just about any lunch place in town. But Erin Chase wanted more of a bargain when feeding her family.  “Back in 2008 when the gas prices initially shot up, our budget was pinched, so we needed to cut back some more,” says Chase.  “Generally I have a couple of kids with food allergies so I can’t just go buy a box of hamburger helper or a packet of ranch. So because of that, I have to cook from scratch,” says Chase.  “I would say almost every week at the drug stores or grocery stores,” says Chase, “there are sales for household products. That is how I save on groceries.”  Coaching Opera Excellence (31:29) Guest: Darrell Babidge, Professor of Voice at BYU  Each Spring, the most talented young opera singers in the country compete in the Metropolitan Opera’s Annual National Council Auditions.  “More successful is being successful in being happy wherever they are. It doesn’t have to be the best opera house that everybody thinks,” says Babidge.  Babidge reflects on his experience as a teacher: “It’s really hard to define but in the moment of teaching and seeing someone progress in the moment it can be quite revelatory.” “I always think that if big voices can use flexibility is a good thing but also using roundness to the sound. If it doesn’t have bloom it’s not very attractive,” says Babidge.  Closeness in Relationships (45:49) Guest: Arthur Aron, Research Professor of Psychology in the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University  A set of 36 questions has been top of mind on Facebook, social media, and the pages of the New York Times for several weeks now.  “Typically they \[relationships] develop by both people sharing personal information,” says Aron.  “If you have been with a person for 40 minutes and you share personal stuff, it’s not hard to find something you like about them,” says Aron.  Chemoresistance (1:17:19) Guests: Josh Andersen, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at BYU  Mike Alder, head of the BYU Technology Transfer Office (techtransfer.byu.edu)  The American Cancer Society estimates more than a million and a half new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year and just over half a million people will die of cancer. One reason the disease is so devastating is that it’s wily. Cancer tumors have proven adept at becoming resistant to chemotherapy treatment. They adapt and keep growing, so doctors have to find other ways to try and eradicate the disease before it kills the patient.  BYU biochemist Josh Andersen and the students in his lab believe they’ve found a way to prevent tumors from becoming resistant to chemotherapy.  “We study the protein called 1433. …We have tried to make direct inhibitors. And we have also tried to look at how this 1433 has been regulated in cells and we have discovered this off switch and so by targeting the regulation you can shut it down,” says Andersen.