Rowing for a Cause
(Photo courtesy habitatcrew.com)
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August 20, 2009 4:41 PM Tom Kotula and Jon Hauserman are rowing down the East Coast, building houses at 12 Habitat for Humanity sites along the way.
May 19, 2009 11:30 PM 
This was one of those stories that evolved while we were shooting. Our assignment was to look at the psychological impact of the recession on young people for our network-wide series, "Children of the Recession.” As we conducted background research we chatted with psychologists who spoke to the idea that in the early stages of development any changes can be disruptive to young people. We decided to focus our piece on teenagers for whom "fitting in" is particularly important.
We set out to profile one teenage girl, Kristen Beltran, who lives in Montclair, Calif. When we visited her school, Montclair High School, we saw how schools are becoming the first line of defense for many students when their parents are no longer able to provide as much at home. Our story started to shifted focus a bit to reflect some of the stories we heard at Montclair High.
CBS Evening News Producer Karen Raffensperger had identified Kristen as a person to profile after she came across her blog entries. Kristen vented her frustrations about the impact of the recession on her own life. Her dad (a welder) is not working as much these days and that has strained the family's finances. At 15 years old, she'd love to get a job to help her parents pay some of their bills, but her parents will not let her because they want her to focus on schoolwork.
CBS Evening News Producer Karen Raffensperger had identified Kristen as a person to profile after she came across her blog entries. Kristen vented her frustrations about the impact of the recession on her own life. Her dad (a welder) is not working as much these days and that has strained the family's finances. At 15 years old, she'd love to get a job to help her parents pay some of their bills, but her parents will not let her because they want her to focus on schoolwork.
On the front stoop of their home, Kristen's dad admitted to me that tension is growing within the family. Kristen's mother Betty explained, as we sat around a table in the back yard, that it's "our job as parents to protect our children." For Betty and her husband "protecting the kids" means keeping some of the specifics about family finances between themselves. However, Kristen says that can be counter-productive as she's aware of what is going on and only feels more helpless.
Children Of The Recession: Psychological Impact
(CBS)
We set out to profile one teenage girl, Kristen Beltran, who lives in Montclair, Calif. When we visited her school, Montclair High School, we saw how schools are becoming the first line of defense for many students when their parents are no longer able to provide as much at home. Our story started to shifted focus a bit to reflect some of the stories we heard at Montclair High.
CBS Evening News Producer Karen Raffensperger had identified Kristen as a person to profile after she came across her blog entries. Kristen vented her frustrations about the impact of the recession on her own life. Her dad (a welder) is not working as much these days and that has strained the family's finances. At 15 years old, she'd love to get a job to help her parents pay some of their bills, but her parents will not let her because they want her to focus on schoolwork.
CBS Evening News Producer Karen Raffensperger had identified Kristen as a person to profile after she came across her blog entries. Kristen vented her frustrations about the impact of the recession on her own life. Her dad (a welder) is not working as much these days and that has strained the family's finances. At 15 years old, she'd love to get a job to help her parents pay some of their bills, but her parents will not let her because they want her to focus on schoolwork.
On the front stoop of their home, Kristen's dad admitted to me that tension is growing within the family. Kristen's mother Betty explained, as we sat around a table in the back yard, that it's "our job as parents to protect our children." For Betty and her husband "protecting the kids" means keeping some of the specifics about family finances between themselves. However, Kristen says that can be counter-productive as she's aware of what is going on and only feels more helpless.
January 26, 2009 6:14 PM
The Notebook: Executive Orders
Katie's on assignment. I'm Seth Doane.
It's the latest sign that there's a new sheriff in town. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama has turned back two more Bush Administration policies. One order makes the EPA reconsider whether states may implement tougher auto emissions standards. Environmental groups cheer the move. Automakers, though already skidding on economic black ice, worry how to pay for it.
Last week, Mr. Obama reversed policies on interrogation procedures, Guantanamo Bay, and funding for international groups that provide abortions.
The new president is moving fast on his campaign promises, but it comes with a price. His approval rating is now 68 percent. That's still high, but it's down from 74 percent before the inauguration.
As he makes these tough decisions, Mr. Obama won't please everyone. The honeymoon isn't over, but after all that talk of national unity just last week, the romance might be cooling just a bit.
It's the latest sign that there's a new sheriff in town. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama has turned back two more Bush Administration policies. One order makes the EPA reconsider whether states may implement tougher auto emissions standards. Environmental groups cheer the move. Automakers, though already skidding on economic black ice, worry how to pay for it.
Last week, Mr. Obama reversed policies on interrogation procedures, Guantanamo Bay, and funding for international groups that provide abortions.
The new president is moving fast on his campaign promises, but it comes with a price. His approval rating is now 68 percent. That's still high, but it's down from 74 percent before the inauguration.
As he makes these tough decisions, Mr. Obama won't please everyone. The honeymoon isn't over, but after all that talk of national unity just last week, the romance might be cooling just a bit.
October 9, 2008 5:19 PM
Healthcare And The Hickory House
Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
It’s a great luxury to be given six minutes in a network newscast to really delve into an issue. I was assigned to look into the issue of healthcare. But, even with six minutes – we’re just hinting at some of the highlights of these very complex health insurance proposals. We take the plans at face-value and look at both of them as they’re set-out by the presidential candidates.
My producers Kevin Finnegan and Heather Tesoriero found The Hickory House in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and some of its employees, as subjects for our piece. The folks at the Hickory House were fantastic to work with and, incidentally, the food is quite good too. I think, the people we were talking with – Candy, Lisa and Randy – were compelling and have stories of the healthcare predicaments so many Americans find themselves in.
Randy, who has worked at the restaurant for roughly two decades, really wishes that providing healthcare plans was easier for them. As insurance premiums have skyrocketed over recent years, the Hickory House has had to ...
(CBS)
My producers Kevin Finnegan and Heather Tesoriero found The Hickory House in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and some of its employees, as subjects for our piece. The folks at the Hickory House were fantastic to work with and, incidentally, the food is quite good too. I think, the people we were talking with – Candy, Lisa and Randy – were compelling and have stories of the healthcare predicaments so many Americans find themselves in.
Randy, who has worked at the restaurant for roughly two decades, really wishes that providing healthcare plans was easier for them. As insurance premiums have skyrocketed over recent years, the Hickory House has had to ...
October 1, 2008 6:04 PM
"Sleeping In The Dirt"
Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
There is no way to avoid the news of our struggling economy. For months in our series “The Other America” we’ve been chronicling the tough time that Americans are having as they try to pay their bills and juggle responsibilities. So, when our LA Bureau Chief pointed to a story about the tent city that sprung up in Reno, Nevada, we knew that it was something we should look into.
This spring, right in the middle of downtown Reno, a tent city started to crop up. It started with just a few tents scattered along the railway tracks. But as more people started to set up camp the city decided they needed to organize the tents, establish some rules, and provide what services they could. Now, roughly 170 people call this “tent city” home.
Organizers say that the people living here are a combination of the chronically homeless and the “newly” homeless. One city official suggested that it was roughly a 50-50 mix (chronically homeless vs. newly homeless) but that an exact number was hard to determine. The so-called “newly” homeless are recent casualties of this tough economy. These are folks who were living paycheck to paycheck and may have lost their jobs or had expenses that became too costly to bear. Many of the people living in tent city are looking for work but cannot find it. Others are working but not making enough to move out of a tent.
In our story on the Evening News, you'll meet ...
(CBS)
This spring, right in the middle of downtown Reno, a tent city started to crop up. It started with just a few tents scattered along the railway tracks. But as more people started to set up camp the city decided they needed to organize the tents, establish some rules, and provide what services they could. Now, roughly 170 people call this “tent city” home.
Organizers say that the people living here are a combination of the chronically homeless and the “newly” homeless. One city official suggested that it was roughly a 50-50 mix (chronically homeless vs. newly homeless) but that an exact number was hard to determine. The so-called “newly” homeless are recent casualties of this tough economy. These are folks who were living paycheck to paycheck and may have lost their jobs or had expenses that became too costly to bear. Many of the people living in tent city are looking for work but cannot find it. Others are working but not making enough to move out of a tent.
In our story on the Evening News, you'll meet ...
August 20, 2008 7:15 PM
A Younger Face Of "The Other America"
Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
We set out this week to show a younger face of "The Other America." While so many Americans are thinking about "back to school" shopping, how do you afford to buy school clothes and supplies when you already have trouble paying the bills?
That's the problem Melody Morrow faces as a single mom with three kids. Her home is in foreclosure proceedings, and Melody has been forced to take pay-cuts at work in order to keep her job.
Meanwhile, the bills have stacked up and her ex-husband hasn't kept up with child support payments. For the Morrows, finding extra money for new clothes and school supplies simply wasn't an option this year. That is until Melody's daughter, Shelby, decided ....
(CBS)
That's the problem Melody Morrow faces as a single mom with three kids. Her home is in foreclosure proceedings, and Melody has been forced to take pay-cuts at work in order to keep her job.
Meanwhile, the bills have stacked up and her ex-husband hasn't kept up with child support payments. For the Morrows, finding extra money for new clothes and school supplies simply wasn't an option this year. That is until Melody's daughter, Shelby, decided ....
August 14, 2008 12:13 PM Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
I was assigned to go to Shenandoah, Penn., about a month after the beating, and subsequent death, of Luis Ramirez. Ramirez was an illegal immigrant. His death sent shockwaves through the community and the media descended on this small town to try to figure out why this happened and question whether it could happen again. (I had a number of meals at the local Mexican restaurant – where the waitress told me that I was hardly the only reporter to make a stop there.)
Most of the folks we spoke with believed Ramirez’s death was a “terrible mistake.” Many called it a “fight … gone badly,” and said his death was an accident. One townsperson blamed it on “the drink." The boys implicated had, reportedly, been drinking before the fight.
A number of teenagers in town vouched that those charged with the crime (four boys from the local high school – all on the football team) were “good boys” and said ...
A Town's "Terrible Mistake"
(CBS)
I was assigned to go to Shenandoah, Penn., about a month after the beating, and subsequent death, of Luis Ramirez. Ramirez was an illegal immigrant. His death sent shockwaves through the community and the media descended on this small town to try to figure out why this happened and question whether it could happen again. (I had a number of meals at the local Mexican restaurant – where the waitress told me that I was hardly the only reporter to make a stop there.)
Most of the folks we spoke with believed Ramirez’s death was a “terrible mistake.” Many called it a “fight … gone badly,” and said his death was an accident. One townsperson blamed it on “the drink." The boys implicated had, reportedly, been drinking before the fight.
A number of teenagers in town vouched that those charged with the crime (four boys from the local high school – all on the football team) were “good boys” and said ...
August 6, 2008 11:36 AM Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
The Hudy family is living on the edge. Their electricity was supposed to be turned off this week (they got a two-week extension) and their house goes to auction next week because they're going into foreclosure. They're having a hard time keeping food on the table… and trouble knowing what to do next.
For me, the most interesting part of my job is that the camera and my CBS News credentials are a passport into someone's life. I had talked with the Hudys early in the week and by the end of the week – there I was… standing in their living room in Endicott, New York.
In just a couple of days together I learned more about the Hudys than I'm sure some of their close friends know. They opened up to me and there were tears and also concern about being so candid with me. They explained that not only was it humbling to admit that they need help… and to tell a national audience about it… but to know that they're opening up themselves to critique from total strangers.
While we together there was this constant sense of juggling – wondering which ball might drop. Through their ordeal – which has stretched more than two years - they've both lost weight and, at just 37, Mark's hair has started to go gray.
A Family On The Edge
(CBS)
The Hudy family is living on the edge. Their electricity was supposed to be turned off this week (they got a two-week extension) and their house goes to auction next week because they're going into foreclosure. They're having a hard time keeping food on the table… and trouble knowing what to do next.
For me, the most interesting part of my job is that the camera and my CBS News credentials are a passport into someone's life. I had talked with the Hudys early in the week and by the end of the week – there I was… standing in their living room in Endicott, New York.
In just a couple of days together I learned more about the Hudys than I'm sure some of their close friends know. They opened up to me and there were tears and also concern about being so candid with me. They explained that not only was it humbling to admit that they need help… and to tell a national audience about it… but to know that they're opening up themselves to critique from total strangers.
While we together there was this constant sense of juggling – wondering which ball might drop. Through their ordeal – which has stretched more than two years - they've both lost weight and, at just 37, Mark's hair has started to go gray.
July 23, 2008 5:56 PM Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
I’ve wanted to work on a story about dental care in the United States for a number of months, because so many Americans simply can’t afford it. The issue has a direct correlation to one’s ability to get work. If you’re missing teeth, it can be hard to get a job – thus impossible to be insured. It's all a vicious cycle.
I started doing research around the beginning of the year and was surprised to learn just how many Americans live in “dental shortage areas,” where there are simply not enough dentists to fill the need. As the economy makes everyday life more difficult, even where there are enough dentists, it’s getting tougher for people to afford care. Even “basic” services are becoming a luxury for many ...
When Basic Care Is A Luxury
(CBS)
I’ve wanted to work on a story about dental care in the United States for a number of months, because so many Americans simply can’t afford it. The issue has a direct correlation to one’s ability to get work. If you’re missing teeth, it can be hard to get a job – thus impossible to be insured. It's all a vicious cycle.
I started doing research around the beginning of the year and was surprised to learn just how many Americans live in “dental shortage areas,” where there are simply not enough dentists to fill the need. As the economy makes everyday life more difficult, even where there are enough dentists, it’s getting tougher for people to afford care. Even “basic” services are becoming a luxury for many ...
July 17, 2008 2:20 PM Seth Doane is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
One of my producers, Alberto Moya, found this wonderful story of Jorge Munoz and his unwavering determination to offer help to some folks that are struggling in his community of Queens, N.Y.
The mission behind these “Other America” stories is to chronicle the tough economic times more and more Americans for facing. This story shows one part of "The Other America” helping another part of "The Other America.”
Jorge Munoz is hardly wealthy. As a school bus driver he makes just more than $600 a week when he has work. Jorge says it’s a stretch to cover his own bills. But for the last three years – yes, three (!) – he has been using upwards of half of his own paycheck to buy food for those less fortunate than he is.
A Meal They Can Count On
(CBS)
One of my producers, Alberto Moya, found this wonderful story of Jorge Munoz and his unwavering determination to offer help to some folks that are struggling in his community of Queens, N.Y.
The mission behind these “Other America” stories is to chronicle the tough economic times more and more Americans for facing. This story shows one part of "The Other America” helping another part of "The Other America.”
Jorge Munoz is hardly wealthy. As a school bus driver he makes just more than $600 a week when he has work. Jorge says it’s a stretch to cover his own bills. But for the last three years – yes, three (!) – he has been using upwards of half of his own paycheck to buy food for those less fortunate than he is.
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
