Lamarzs Wilson was 16 when first arrested. In this interview with Observer reporter Liz Anderson, he speaks about the horrors of prison life and says no teen should be subjected to the adult prison system. Observer video by Cristina Fernandez-Pereda.

Liz Ryan is a Juvenile Justice advocate. She speaks about the disparities among youth of color who are transferred to the adult justice system.

Dwayne Betts was a 16-year-old honors student when he was arrested for carjacking and tried as an adult. He says people who are surprised at his accomplishments after prison should re-think their expectations of the correctional system.

Vienna, Va., residents are likely familiar with Chain Bridge Road as a main artery leading drivers to Tyson’s Corner, home to high-end retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Hermes, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. If there is anything noticeable along this route to shopping heaven, it may be the Westwood Country Club or the expanse of parking lot known as Koons Automotive Group.

Drive too quickly and one will miss the gravel driveway that serves as an entrance to the international headquarters of Rang-A-Rang, a Persian television station operating out of an unassuming red home in this sleepy suburb.

Courtesy of Google Earth

On any given day, Davar Veiseh will greet you at the door. The ranch-style dwelling is Veiseh’s home, after all. Only two rooms – an extension off the main residence and the garage – are reserved for Rang-A-Rang, which broadcasts 24 hours a day through satellite.

“I have what you may call an army of volunteers from around the globe providing me with programming,” Veiseh said.

The programming includes political cartoons and edited pictures of political figures with satirical comments. During open-microphone call-in shows, viewers from around the world and inside Iran will air grievances against the Iranian regime while Veiseh rolls satirical images on the screen.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are often the direct targets of Rang-A-Rang’s stinging satire.

“I’m trying to bring the voice of Iranians up… when other people hear [what the government is doing], little by little I make them ready to organize, contest and condemn what is going on in Iran,” said Veiseh, who is president of the station. He said he does not know when Iranians will be ready to rise up.

Veiseh sought asylum in the United States in 1987 and has been criticizing the Iranian government from abroad since that point. He said his entire family fled Iran and now lives in Texas, Illinois and the Washington, D.C., area.

“I will go there when we free them. But I will stay here permanently. This is my country; I have two countries,” Veiseh said.

Veiseh said his audience is interested in learning about democracy and freedom.

“What it may be like to be able to choose; to choose what you may want to make your living in, to choose your religion, to choose what you do, where you go and who you socialize with; to choose your sexual partner and/or practice your sexual orientation without the fear of being executed for it,” Veiseh said.

He claims Rang-A-Rang’s viewership is in the “upper six figures, potentially seven figures, globally,” but had no documentation available to validate that figure.

Rang-A-Rang is funded through a combination of personal funds, commercial revenue and donations, according to Veiseh. Viewers can donate money to Rang-A-Rang using the PayPal system on the station’s Web site. Veiseh said most commercial time slots are purchased from advertisers in North America because the European and Middle Eastern advertisers are often called and intimidated by the Iranian government.

Veiseh said Rang-A-Rang currently broadcasts from a TelStar satellite, estimating 5 million people in Iran and throughout Europe have access to the channel. He said the angle of the Telestar satellite can give away the location of viewers to the Iranian regime, creating danger for the viewer. He said he plans to switch to the HotBird satellite, which is comprised of eight satellites relatively close to each other. He said that will give viewers greater anonymity.

A man named Sid is an Iranian-American who began working with Rang-A-Rang in 2004. He produces a show for Rang-A-Rang called “Kauveh-ye Auhangar,” which he translates as “Kauveh the Blacksmith.” He supported Veiseh’s assertion that viewers are in danger.

“Iranians inside Iran literally risk their lives and livelihood to receive the signal… Rang-A-Rang is still on TelStar, which requires a larger dish, pointing to a different part of the sky, easily detected by the satellite police. Every so often, the Islamic law enforcement will go on a dish-bash where they literally bust into people’s homes and confiscate and destroy their satellite dishes and equipment,” Sid said.

D.C.-area Iranians may acknowledge they have heard of Rang-A-Rang, but few will openly volunteer their support for the station. One local Iranian-born man who moved to the United States eight years ago agreed to speak about Rang-A-Rang only on the condition of anonymity, and, even then, he was reserved in his comments. He said he has seen the channel two times and does not like it.

“Iranians may not like the current regime, but they like progress. Rang-A-Rang does not acknowledge the progress,” the man said. He mentioned recent advances in the Iranian nuclear program, construction of transportation infrastructure and international athletic accomplishments as examples of positive events that the station does not cover. The man said he was in Iran a few weeks ago.

“I can tell you no-one in Iran watches Rang-A-Rang. They watch BBC or Voice of America, but they do not watch Rang-A-Rang,” he said.

He also disputed the notion of government censorship.

“The government does not care what you watch. There are no filters,” he said.

Back at Rang-A-Rang, Sid and Veiseh speak of a “silent majority,” those who are watching and listening, ready to mobilize at the right time.

“Davar has built it, and people have come,” Sid said.

Photo by REUTERS
Joggers run past the newly built “bird’s nest” stadium in Beijing.

Olympic dreams are becoming more of a reality for Villanova track-star Michael Kerrigan, but the runner’s journey to get there hasn’t been an easy one, nor is it complete.

Kerrigan is a fifth-year senior from Stroudsburg, Penn. Who, after a successful campaign last spring, decided to go back to Villanova for one more year, racing down his dreams of becoming an Olympic-caliber athlete.

Things heated up for Kerrigan at Swarthmore College’s “Last Chance Meet,” where he broke the four-minute-mile mark, clocking in at three minutes and 59.6 seconds.

At that moment, a culmination of four years of intense training and countless miles were turned into glory, and Kerrigan’s future in the sport became much brighter.

“Swarthmore was special in the sense that all my teammates and family were there, and to break four and everything means something special in the sport,” said Kerrigan.

Kerrigan continued his success two weeks after Swarthmore at the NCAA Regional meet, running 3:46.44 (roughly equivalent to a 4:01 mile) in the 1500 meter preliminary race. He followed that up with a third place finish, running 3:42:.41 (3:57 mile) in the finals and qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Kerrigan’s ability to run well at big meets has translated into successful racing and training this season, and he hopes it will continue into his final season of collegiate track.

“We have about two weeks until Penn Relays, which is always a big deal here, and I’d really like to win a relay before I go,” said Kerrigan. “We got second in the Distance Medley Relay and fifth in the 4×800 meters last year, so my teammates and I are anxious to improve those places.”

After Penn, Kerrigan will switch gears and concentrate on his Olympic goals.

“The focus will be on getting the Olympic trials standard, which is 3:39.0,” Kerrigan said. “I wouldn’t say that is a hard and fast goal, but getting to the Olympic Trials is, so I would say definitely under 3:40 would be ideal.”

While the twilight of Kerrigan’s senior year was successful, there were stretches throughout his collegiate career when things weren’t so glorious. Kerrigan had his share of rough patches, but his character allowed him to push through those hard times.

“Everyone has barriers or low moments in college, myself included, but if you can stay focused and weather the storms, you usually find that those times are a lot harder than the training or the races,” said Kerrigan.

That perseverance and dedication is what Marcus O’Sullivan, head coach of Villanova track, admires about Kerrigan.

When he came to Villanova as a freshman, Kerrigan believed in O’Sullivan’s system, and four years later transformed himself into an elite runner.

“Michael had choices, he could have gone to Notre Dame or Villanova, and he chose Villanova,” said O’Sullivan. “He has been on board since day one.”

As Kerrigan has made his strides, teammate and fellow senior Bobby Curtis has made his own story. Curtis won the Swarthmore meet in three minutes and 57.2 seconds, and is a more popular name in track circles.

While both athletes are fierce competitors, the two teammates hold no rivalry or grudges between them on the track or in training, said Kerrigan.

“Coming in as a freshman I knew about Curtis and the older guys because of the success they had already experienced, but I didn’t even know who Kerrigan was before I got here,” said sophomore teammate Dan Lewis. “But from day one it was clear that Mike was the leader around here.”

Lewis says that Kerrigan has taught him to control his emotions and let the bad races roll, and believes Kerrigan is Olympic-caliber because of his resiliency and leadership.

“Indoors last year his first race was a 4:30 mile, and then he ends up breaking four, that’s pretty unbelievable,” Lewis said. “His outdoor season was like a storybook for him.”

With each swipe of the credit card, Americans fall deeper and deeper into debt. It’s a problem that has been made worse by the weakening economy and the recent housing market crisis.

In a special project by students in Professor Wendell Cochran’s Business and Economic Journalism class and the American Observer, reporters examine the multifaceted aspects of debt.

* Observer contributors Pamela Gruver, Kelly Moynihan, Kristi Warren look at the macroeconomic view of debt to explain how we got to this state. Read their story here.

* Gruver, Moynihan and Warren also have a reference list of terms and characters in the debt debacle. Read it here.

* Observer contributors and staff members Courtney Albon, Harrison Osborne, Sakina Rangwala, Kaley Walker and Kate Willson examine debt through a series of microeconomic video vignettes looking at debt from the perspective of people fromdiverse backgrounds and coming from different income brackets. Check out the vignettes here.

* Observer contributor Katie Ezekiel explores the world of get-out-of-debt guru Dave Ramsey. Read her story here.

* Observer contributor Katherine Stump follows the Washington Post’s debt-free pundit Michelle Singletary who preaches a strict, no-lunch lifestyle. Read her story here.

* Observer contributor Michael Scher examines the world of credit counseling by for-profit and non-profit groups. Read his story here.

* Observer staff Jihane Abouchabké, Lisa Chiu, Radina Gigova and Ryan Sibley find out what it would mean to the economy if Americans all chopped up their credit cards. View the video here.

*Observer contributor Justin Fanizzi looks at groups that provide faith-based financial advice. Read the story here.

During a recent brunch at an Irish pub in Dupont Circle, artist Tim Conlon looked across the street at the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and pointed out a white building. Years ago, he was with a friend who drew graffiti on it.

After his friend’s nom de graffiti went up, they saw a police officer getting out of a marked secret service police car. They threw their paint cans in the bushes and ran. Conlon found himself in the stairwell of a neighboring church.

Montana spray paint on Sintra panel (72 x 240 in) by Tim Conlon and Dave Hupp. Photo courtesy of National Portrait Gallery.

But Conlon, 33, now sits in a different position. His name “CON” is proudly written in graffiti in the National Portrait Gallery. He has given up painting the streets and in exchange, art collectors are commissioning him to do pieces on their houses.

The exhibit “Recognize: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture” at the Smithsonian is Conlon’s third gallery showing. He also recently had work in the Arlington Arts Center.

Jeffrey Cudlin, at the Arlington Arts Center, said the show has brought a new demographic into the gallery. At least 500 people went to the opening, he said.

“I am delighted with the installation,” Cudlin said.

Conlon likes to visit the Smithsonian and listen to what people say about his work. The other day, he overheard someone say: “I wonder if they caught these guys on the street and made them do this as their punishment.”

“I thought that was a pretty funny one,” the artist said.

Dressed in jeans, a black hoodie, a pair of black and gray sneakers with a few dribbles of red paint, and a baseball cap, Conlon said he is amazed that he doesn’t have more paint on himself.

The oldest of three boys, he was born in southern Maryland and got a degree in Web design. Conlon not only works a 9-to-5 job in project management for a Web development firm, but has a hand in clothing and accessory design and making model trains with graffiti written on them for miniature railroad hobbyists.

The toughest part of being in galleries he said is exposing who he is.

“Graffiti is kind of secretive and all that,” he said.

In the early years, Conlon didn’t feel he had enough control over his craft to just write “CON.” Instead, he stuck to painting characters. It was two or three years into painting before “CON” showed up in blues and grays in the abandoned Lansdowne Skatepark in Baltimore, a favorite place to paint for many graffiti artists stopping in the city.

Tim Conlon working on his art. Photo by Abby Wihl.

Conlon, and the group of friends he paints with, used to track the trains that had their art on them across the United States, encouraging their other friends around the country to look at them and add their art as the trains moved west.

Both Conlon and Dave Hupp, a fellow graffiti artist, view graffiti as a collaborative art form. It is rare for an artist to go out alone.

“We bounce off one another, there is energy,” said Hupp. “Nine out of ten times we go out, we both come away happy with what we did.”

Graffiti traditionally is a temporary art form. It gets painted over not only by city officials and other writers, but is oftentimes redone by the same artist.

“It’s kind of good that it goes away, I’ll look at stuff I did a few years ago, and I’ll cringe,” said Conlon.

Conlon also believes strongly in using graffiti to get to know a city. When he started painting, he talked to other writers, learned each individual city’s style and found the best spots to paint. The approach is disappearing because younger artists aren’t doing as much research; instead, they are copying styles they see on the Internet.

Conlon said a lot of politicians wrongly see cleaning up graffiti as cleaning up crime, and sometimes graffiti artists will comply for awhile. But then “somebody picks up a can,” he said.

For now, Conlon has stopped painting under the orange glow of city lights. But at the opening of the Smithsonian exhibit he had on a train hat that he always wore on painting missions.

“He wore a hat the whole time with his tuxedo,” said his mother, Cathy Conlon.

As for graffiti, Conlon said: “You either love it or you hate it, there is no middle ground.”