Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico, Designer Cats, College Lotteries

Puerto Rico After Maria Guest: Charles Venator-Santiago, PhD, Associate Professor, Joint Appointment, Department of Political Science and El Instituto, University of Connecticut A year after Hurricane Maria struck the island, government officials there have now acknowledged the death toll was much, much higher than they originally said. Nearly 3,000 people died in connection with the storm, making it the deadliest natural disaster in America in more than a century. Yes, Puerto Ricans are Americans. And while they struggle to recover from the hurricane’s damage, Puerto Rican officials are also renewing their push for US statehood. President Trump said in an interview with WTAM radio on Monday that he won’t support Puerto Rican statehood, so long as the current leaders are in office. Creating Mini-Leopard House Cats(Creating Mini-Leopard House Cats) Guest: Anthony Hutcherson, Bengal Cat Breeder, Ocelot Enthusiast Humans have lived side by side with cats just about as long as human civilization has existed, at least as far back as 4,000 years in Egypt. And there are plenty of cats to go around: hundreds of thousands of them are euthanized at animal shelters every year. But for some cat enthusiasts, housecats just aren’t exotic enough. Hybrid cat breeders are crossing domestics with wildcats to create tiny – and hopefully tame - versions of big cats that can cost over $10,000 to purchase. Should Elite Colleges Select Applicants by Lottery?(Should Elite Colleges Select Applicants by Lottery) Guest: Barry Schwartz, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Swarthmore College and Visiting Professor at U.C. Berkeley Ambitious high school students around the country have begun preparing their college applications. Many of them will have perfect GPAs, stellar ACT scores and outstanding extracurricular records. With competition so stiff, getting into an elite college can feel like a game of chance. So why not just go with it and make the application process a simple lottery? If you meet the minimum criteria, you get in