VOASE1022_Agriculture Report

22 October 2007

World Bank Urges More Farm Aid; Is Criticized on Own Africa Record
Lender uses its latest World Development Report to call for more investment in agriculture in developing countries. Earlier, the bank faced criticism from its Independent Evaluation Group.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The fall meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund just took place in Washington. Earlier, the bank used its latest World Development Report to call for more investment in agriculture in developing countries.

World Bank Group Chief Economist Francois Bourguignon and Kathy Sierra, vice president of sustainable development, release the World Development Report

The World Bank says agriculture must be at the center of development issues if international goals are to be met. These goals are to cut extreme poverty and hunger in half by two thousand fifteen.

The report says agricultural and rural areas have suffered from underinvestment over the past twenty years. Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas. But the bank says only four percent of official development assistance goes to agriculture in developing countries.

Africa south of the Sahara depends on agriculture for economic growth. The World Bank says public spending there for farming is also just four percent of total government spending and taxes are high.

Recently the World Bank has faced criticism of its assistance to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. That criticism comes in a new report from the bank's own Independent Evaluation Group.

In the nineteen eighties and nineties African governments faced severe financial problems. As a result, the bank urged them to reduce their support for agriculture.

The idea was that market forces would push agricultural growth. But the report says private business failed to replace government support for agriculture. The result? High fertilizer prices, reduced credit and lack of improved seeds.

The report compares agricultural performance between nineteen eighty-seven and two thousand one with levels in South Asia and Latin America. Cereal production in South Asia, for example, increased while poverty levels decreased. But cereal production and poverty levels in southern Africa were unchanged. Cereal production was only one-third the level of Latin America.

In many sub-Saharan nations, more than sixty percent of the people work in agriculture. Yet slow agricultural growth combined with fast population growth means that most countries are still trying to get enough food.

World Bank officials differed with some of the observations in the report. But they say the bank is already investing more in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For links to the report and the management response, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1022_Science In the News

22 October 2007

Musical Training Found Important for Communications Skills
Also: How sleeping for a few minutes during the day can improve your health.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

Researchers believe cello music can help improve communications skills

And I'm Pat Bodnar. This week, we will tell about a new finding about the value of musical training. We will also tell how a short rest during the day can help your heart. And, we tell about an American law that protects all kinds of plants and wildlife.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

American scientists say musical training seems to improve communication skills. They found that developing musical skills involves the same process in the brain as learning how to speak. The scientists say that could help children with learning disabilities.

Nina Kraus is a neurobiologist at Northwestern University in Illinois. She says musical training involves putting together different kinds of information. She says the process involves hearing music, looking at musical notes, touching an instrument and watching other musicians. She says the process is not much different from learning how to speak. Both involve different senses.

VOICE TWO:

Professor Krauss says musical training and learning to speak each make us think about what we are doing. She says speech and music pass through a structure of the nervous system called the brain stem. The brain stem controls our ability to hear.

Until recently, experts have thought the brain stem could not be developed or changed. But Professor Krauss and her team found that musical training can improve a person's brain stem activity. Their study was reported in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences.

VOICE ONE:

The study involved individuals with different levels of musical ability. They were asked to wear an electrical device that measures brain activity. The Individuals wore the electrode while they watched a video of someone speaking and a person playing a musical instrument -- the cello. Professor Krauss says cellos have sound qualities similar to some of the sounds that are important with speech.

The study found that the more years of training people had, the more sensitive they were to the sound and beat of the music. Those who were involved in musical activities were the same people in whom the improvement of sensory events was the strongest.

Professor Kraus says the study shows the importance of musical training to children with learning disabilities. She says using music to improve listening skills could mean they hear sentences and better understand facial expressions.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Medical experts say most Americans do not get enough sleep. They say more Americans need to rest for a short period in the middle of the day. They are advising people to sleep lightly before continuing with other activities.

One study earlier this year found that persons who sleep for a few minutes during the day were less likely to die of heart disease. The study followed more than twenty-three thousand Greek adults for about six years. Adults who rested for half an hour at least three times a week had a thirty-seven percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who did not nap.

Study organizers said the strongest evidence was in working men. The organizers said naps might improve health by reducing tension caused by work.

VOICE ONE:

Some European and Latin American businesses have supported the idea of napping for many years. They urge people to leave work, go home and have a nap before returning. In the United States, some companies let workers rest briefly in their offices. They believe this reduces mistakes and accidents, and also increases the amount of work a person can do.

Sleep experts say it is likely that people make more mistakes at work than at other times. They say people should not carry out important duties when they feel sleepy. And they say the best thing to do is to take a nap. About twenty minutes of rest is all you need. Experts say this provides extra energy and can increase your effectiveness until the end of the day.

But experts warn that a nap should last no more than twenty to thirty minutes. A longer nap will put the body into deep sleep. Waking up will be difficult.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Scientists have known for years that human life on Earth depends on the continued survival of many different kinds of plants, animals and other organisms. That is one reason why governments make laws to protect the environment.

In the United States, a major environmental law is the Endangered Species Act of Nineteen Seventy-Three. Earlier laws provided only limited ways to protect native animals considered in danger.

A conference in nineteen seventy-three led to a treaty that restricted international buying and selling of plants and animals believed to be harmed by trade. Later that year, the United States Congress approved the Endangered Species Act.

VOICE ONE:

The law expanded America's list of threatened animal species to include foreign animals. It defined the words endangered and threatened. The law extended protection to plants and other organisms. It also required federal agencies to carry out programs to help guarantee the survival of endangered and threatened species. Federal agencies were also barred from taking any step that would harm a listed species or destroy or change its living area.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service calls the Endangered Species Act one of the most far-reaching wildlife conservation laws ever approved. Its purpose is to protect endangered and threatened species and their environments. It also requires the government to take action to help such species.

VOICE TWO:

To get this protection, a plant or animal species must be added to the Federal list of wildlife and plants said to be in the greatest need of help. Each species is listed as either endangered or threatened. The two words describe two levels of threat. An endangered species is one that is close to disappearing from all or much of its living area. One that is threatened will likely become endangered if nothing is done.

A species is added to the list when scientists have confirmed that its survival is threatened. The threats may include the destruction of its environment, disease and too much hunting or fishing.

Government action is taken within one year of the proposal. The final listing of each proposed species may be published, withdrawn or extended.

VOICE ONE:

After a species has been added to the list, it can receive government protection. This includes prevention of harmful activities and restrictions on taking, transporting or selling a species. Officials say they want to increase the population of the listed species to a level where federal protection is no longer required.

One recent success story took place earlier this year. In June, the Department of the Interior announced that it was removing the bald eagle from the list.

Federal protection has helped the bald eagle population increase in the United States

Officials say the bald eagle was one of the first species protected under the Endangered Species Act. But action was taken to help it much earlier. Beginning in nineteen-forty, federal laws made it illegal to kill a bald eagle. But continued use of the insect poison DDT after World War Two made the birds' eggs unable to produce young. This reduced the number of bald eagles in the wild.

VOICE TWO:

The government banned the use of DDT in nineteen seventy-two. And federal agencies began other efforts to save the bald eagle. The results were so good that in nineteen ninety-five, officials lowered the threat level for the bald eagle from endangered to threatened.

In nineteen sixty-three, only four hundred seventeen breeding pairs of bald eagles were known to exist in the lower forty-eight United States. Each breeding pair consisted of a fully-grown male and a female. Today, the forty-eight states are home to more than nine thousand pairs. Officials say the bald eagle in Alaska has never needed protection. They say between fifty and seventy thousand bald eagles live there.

The bald eagle will continue to enjoy federal protection under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of Nineteen Forty. That law makes it illegal to kill, sell or in any other way hurt eagles, their nests or eggs. But American officials say they are now sure about the future security of the bald eagle.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by SooJee Han and Nancy Steinbach. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Pat Bodnar. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE1021_This Is America

21 October 2007

Dancers, Artists and Merry-Go-Round Lovers Can All Enjoy This Park
Each year a half-million people visit historic Glen Echo Park along the Potomac River in Maryland.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program we explore the history of Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Maryland.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Merry-go-round at Glen Echo

On a warm autumn day, men and women of all ages are gathered in the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park near Washington, D.C. Some are dressed like professional dancers. Others are in blue jeans. A few have taken off their shoes.

Social dancing is a favorite activity at the park. As the LaSalle Dance Orchestra plays, dancers turn and swing their partners. Some people look as if they have been dancing forever. Others are learners. A few look a little uneasy.

Men make a bridge with their arms and their partners step underneath. Some women have on wide skirts that make a swooshing sound as they pass under the bridge. Colors fade and mix as the beat goes on.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Most of the people brought a partner -- their husband or wife or a friend. A woman is dancing with her young daughter. The woman is beautiful and wears a floor-length dress and long white gloves. The little girl also wears a floor-length dress. She is smiling and laughing. Once or twice the child sits down on the dance floor.

VOICE ONE:

A man steps away from the dance floor to take a break for a few minutes. He explains that he always comes to dance at Glen Echo. But he says he will never compete on any of those dancing shows that have become popular on American television.

Beginners in Spanish Ballroom can get help. There are teachers who give lessons. And there are people known as "dance buddies." These are volunteers who can help newcomers keep in step.

VOICE TWO:

Dance bands at Glen Echo play foxtrot, waltzes and tangos.

(MUSIC)

There is also square dancing and contra dancing. These are group dances that involve changing partners. And bands often play zydeco, Cajun, rock and roll and salsa.

(MUSIC)

This New Year’s Eve, twenty-five dollars will buy a lesson, a night of swing dancing and light refreshments. George Gee and the Jump, Jivin’ Wailers will perform.

VOICE ONE:

The Spanish Ballroom has been restored. But with a little imagination, you can still hear the famous musicians who performed long ago. Bandleaders like Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. Bill Haley and His Comets appeared during the early days of rock 'n' roll.

(MUSIC)

Dance bands at Glen Echo also play in the Bumper Car Pavilion. This was where drivers crashed little cars into each other during Glen Echo’s amusement park days.

VOICE TWO:

Today the arts are a driving force at Glen Echo Park. Visitors can paint, make pottery or improve their photography. Families enjoy children’s plays at the Adventure Theatre and the Puppet Company. There are also seasonal festivals like "Fall Frolic." This day of crafts, theater performances, Halloween activities and dance is set for October twenty-seventh.

Glen Echo Park sits on about four hectares of land along the Potomac River. Each year a half-million people come to the park for events and programs. But some visitors just like to sit in the sun and feed the squirrels.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Two wealthy brothers, Edward and Edwin Baltzley, provided the land for Glen Echo in the nineteenth century. They wanted it to be an education center called a Chautauqua.

Chautauqua was a popular movement in the United States at the time. It gave working people in crowded cities a chance to learn and to experience nature.

The Glen Echo Chautauqua opened in eighteen ninety-one. There were classes in languages, science and other subjects.

VOICE TWO:

A year later, Glen Echo became a home for traveling shows. Then it grew into a small amusement park, and later a bigger amusement park. But not all of its history was fun and games.

For years the park did not admit black people. In nineteen sixty, civil rights activists demonstrated at the park. The next year, Glen Echo opened to everyone.

VOICE ONE:

Five years later, in nineteen sixty-six, there was violence at the park on the day after Easter. Some people called it a race riot.

Whatever it was, it did nothing to help a little park that had been losing popularity anyway. In nineteen sixty-eight, the park closed. Many rides and attractions were sold or destroyed.

VOICE TWO:

The federal government became the owner of the Glen Echo land in nineteen seventy. The government along with neighbors of the park wanted to limit development near the Potomac River.

The National Park Service now operates Glen Echo in cooperation with a group called the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture. The park is in Montgomery County, Maryland. The county created the nonprofit group.

The partnership manages Glen Echo’s programs, fund raising and marketing. The National Park Service takes care of historical presentation, safety, security, resource protection and grounds keeping.

VOICE ONE:

A good way to picture the early days of Glen Echo is to walk around its historic area. The Spanish Ballroom and the Bumper Car Pavilion are part of that area. But there is also the Yellow Barn, now a center for artists.

The Picnic Grove is a popular place for outdoor meals. The Arcade now houses photography projects, art exhibits and theaters instead of games.

And there is the historic Clara Barton House. Clara Barton was the nurse who established the American Red Cross.

VOICE TWO:

The Crystal Pool at Glen Echo Park was big enough to hold three thousand people. Now, instead of water and swimmers, the pool is filled with dirt. Weeds and some wildflowers grow out of the top.

A tall woman wearing sunglasses remembers that as a small child, she would always ask her mother to let her swim in the pool. But that was at a time when many children were getting sick from polio. Doctors were advising parents to keep their children away from crowds. So her mother always said no.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Organ music leads visitors to the Dentzel Carousel. Neighbors of Glen Echo Park worked hard to keep it after the park closed. People called it the jewel of the park. A Glen Echo town councilwoman named Nancy Long led a successful drive to buy it back.

Supporters organized to restore the carousel. That project took many years and a lot of money. Now it operates on weekends from May through September.

On an early fall day, the line for this merry-go-round is not too long. Most of the people waiting are little children. But older riders are excited too. The ticket-taker smiles and says not to worry. She says carousels were really created for adults.

VOICE TWO:

There are four ostriches on the carousel. The birds are finely carved and painted. They share the merry-go-round with horses, rabbits, a giraffe, a deer, a lion and a tiger.

The ostriches go up and down as the carousel turns. A few horses away, another adult is riding a rabbit. On a carousel, grabbing the brass ring as you pass it is supposed to win you a prize and a happy future. The man on the rabbit tries to pull the small brass ring but he cannot reach it.

You also try. No one can reach it. It is there only for show. But then, you think maybe the visit to Glen Echo Park is the real brass ring.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can learn more about Glen Echo Park by clicking on a link at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1021_Development Report

21 October 2007

Hunger: New Causes for Same Old Problem
Poverty, disease and conflict have always threatened food security, but now risks also come from rising food prices and climate change.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Three out of four of the world's hungry live in rural areas

The United Nations says more than eight hundred fifty million people do not have enough food. For this year's World Food Day observance last week, VOA reporters examined the current causes of hunger.

Poverty, disease and conflict have historically threatened food security. Now, rising food prices and issues like climate change add to these threats.

A new study warns of future losses in world food production because of crop damage from changes in the weather. William Cline wrote the study from the Center for Global Development in Washington. He says countries closest to the equator will be hardest hit.

For example, he predicts that if nothing is done, global warming could cut India's food production by up to forty percent by the year twenty eighty. Africa and Latin America could lose twenty percent or more.

Governments concerned about global warming and dependence on oil are investing in biofuels from corn and other plants. But Lester Brown at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington says demand for fuel crops is pushing up food prices. He says the world's eight hundred sixty million automobile owners are now in direct competition with the two billion poorest people.

This comes as grain supplies are at their lowest level in years. Experts see a number of reasons. These include not enough investment in agricultural technology. A loss of farmland to development. Droughts and floods made worse by climate change. And, growing competition for water.

Population growth also means a greater demand on food supplies. The United Nations predicts a population of more than eight billion by the year twenty thirty.

By that time, demand for animal products could double, led by growing economies like China and India. Francois Le Gal of the World Bank says climate change and the globalization of trade raise the risk of spreading animal diseases. Experts say most countries are not ready for a health crisis caused by a disease jumping to humans.

And, finally, they say the growing population of cities is adding to the world's hunger problem. Danielle Nierenberg at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington says the poor can spend fifty to eighty percent of their money on food.

She points out that city people do not have farm animals to sell in times of need. So they are especially threatened when prices go up.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss.

VOASE1020_People In America

20 October 2007

Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994: 'The Fastest Woman in the World'
She was the first American woman to win three Gold Medals in one Olympics.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph

They called her “the Black Pearl,” “the Black Gazelle” and “the fastest woman in the world.” In nineteen sixty, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She was an extraordinary American athlete. She also did a lot to help young athletes succeed.

Wilma Rudolph was born in nineteen forty, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was born too early and only weighed two kilograms. She had many illnesses when she was very young, including pneumonia and scarlet fever. She also had polio, which damaged her left leg. When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg braces because she could not use that leg.

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph was born into a very large, poor, African-American family. She was the twentieth of twenty-two children. Since she was sick most of the time, her brothers and sisters all helped to take care of her. They took turns rubbing her crippled leg every night. They also made sure she did not try to take off her leg braces. Every week, Wilma's mother drove her to a special doctor eighty kilometers away. Here, she got physical treatments to help heal her leg.

She later said: “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.”

VOICE ONE:

Soon, her family’s attention and care showed results. By the time she was nine years old, she no longer needed her leg braces. Wilma was very happy, because she could now run and play like other children. When she was eleven years old, her brothers set up a basketball hoop in the backyard. After that, she played basketball every day.

As a teenager, Wilma joined the girl’s basketball team at Burt High School. C.C. Gray was the coach who supervised the team. He gave her the nickname “Skeeter.” She did very well in high school basketball. She once scored forty-nine points in one game, which broke the Tennessee state record.

Many people noted that Wilma was a very good basketball player and a very good athlete. One of these people was Ed Temple, who coached the track team of runners at Tennessee State University. Ed Temple asked C.C. Gray to organize a girl’s track team at the high school. He thought Wilma Rudolph would make a very good runner. She did very well on the new track team.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph went to her first Olympic Games when she was sixteen years old and still in high school. She competed in the nineteen fifty-six games in Melbourne, Australia. She was the youngest member of the United States team. She won a bronze medal, or third place, in the sprint relay event.

In nineteen fifty-seven, Wilma Rudolph started Tennessee State University, where she joined the track team. The coach, Ed Temple, worked very hard for the girls on the team. He drove them to track competitions and made improvements to the running track with his own money. However, he was not an easy coach. For example, he would make the members of the team run one extra time around the track for every minute they were late to practice.

Wilma Rudolph trained hard while in college. She did very well at her track competitions against teams from other colleges. In nineteen sixty, she set the world record for the fastest time in the two thousand meter event. She said: “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.”

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph wins the 200 meter race at the Rome Olympics in 1960

That same year, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics again, this time in Rome, Italy. She won two gold medals -- first place -- in the one hundred meter and the two hundred meter races. She set a new Olympic record of twenty-three point two seconds for the two hundred meter dash.

Her team also won the gold medal in the four hundred meter sprint relay event, setting a world record of forty-four point five seconds. These three gold medals made her one of the most popular athletes at the Rome games. These victories made people call her the “world’s fastest woman.”

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph received a lot of attention from the press and the public, but she did not forget her teammates. She said that her favorite event was the relay, because she could share the victory with her teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones. All four women were from Tennessee State University.

Wilma Rudolph with her three gold medals

The Associated Press named Rudolph the U.S. Female Athlete of the year. She also appeared on television many times. Sports fans in the United States and all over the world loved and respected her. She said: “The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph was a fine example for many people inside and outside the world of sports. She supported the civil rights movement -- the struggle for equality between white and black people. When she came home from the Olympics, she told the governor of Tennessee that she would not attend a celebration where white and black people were separated. As a result, her homecoming parade and dinner were the first events in her hometown of Clarksville that white people and black people were able to attend together.

After she retired from sports, Wilma Rudolph completed her education at Tennessee State University. She got her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and became a teacher. She returned to coach the track team at Burt High School. She also worked as a commentator for women’s track competitions on national television. In nineteen sixty-three she married her high school boyfriend Robert Eldridge. They had four children, but later ended their marriage.

Wilma Rudolph won many important athletic awards. She was voted into the Black Athlete’s Hall of Fame and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. She was also voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. In nineteen seventy-seven, she wrote a book about her life called “Wilma.” She wrote about her childhood problems and her athletic successes. NBC later made the book into a movie for television.

VOICE TWO:

Rudolph said her greatest success was creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation in nineteen eighty-one. This organization helped children in local communities to become athletes. She always wanted to help young athletes recognize how much they could succeed in their lives.

She said: “The triumph can’t be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.”

Rudolph also influenced many athletes. One of them was another African American runner, Florence Griffith Joyner. In nineteen eighty-eight, Griffith Joyner became the second American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She went on to win a total of six Olympic medals. Wilma Rudolph was very happy to see other African American female athletes succeed. She said: “I thought I’d never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph died of brain cancer in nineteen ninety-four in Nashville, Tennessee. She was fifty-four years old. She influenced athletes, African Americans and women around the world. She was an important example of how anyone can overcome barriers and make their dreams come true. Her nineteen sixty Olympics teammate, Bill Mulliken, said: "She was beautiful; she was nice, and she was the best."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1019_In the News

19 October 2007

As Communist Party Meets in Beijing, Eyes Look to 2012 Change
sults of the 17th national congress will guide China for the next five years, and intensify predictions about who will be its next president.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

The opening ceremony of the 17th Communist Party Congress in the Great Hall of the People

China's Communist Party is meeting this week in Beijing. More than two thousand delegates are electing party leaders and deciding policies that will guide China for the next five years. The seventeenth party congress comes at a time of increasing social unrest in China.

The meeting opened on Monday and will end on Sunday. Party congresses are held every five years. Much of the discussion is held in secret.

The delegates are expected to elect President Hu Jintao to a second five-year term. The results of the party congress will intensify predictions about China's next leaders after Mister Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao retire in five years.

President Hu Jintao

In his opening speech on Monday, the president included among his goals a promise to fight corruption. Some political observers, however, noted that corruption can be especially difficult to fight in a one-party form of government. There are few checks and balances on local officials.

Other problems caused by twenty years of fast economic growth in China include pollution, high prices and disputes over land. Violent protests and riots have taken place in rural areas.

Officials heavily increased security in Beijing for the party congress. Human rights groups say several dissidents and other activists have been detained or questioned in recent weeks.

Last week, twelve thousand people signed an open letter demanding reforms and help for their problems. Activists say the leader of the group was detained.

Past congresses have resulted in major changes in the party.

For example, at the seventh party congress in nineteen forty-five, Mao Zedong's "thought" became the official thinking of the party. At the nineteen eighty-two meeting, Deng Xiaoping’s form of socialism started the economic reforms that continue to drive China’s growth.

The Communist Party has ruled China since nineteen forty-nine. That was when the People's Liberation Army defeated the Chinese Nationalists in a civil war. The Nationalists fled to Formosa, now called Taiwan.

In recent months tensions between China and Taiwan have increased following Taiwan's latest attempt to join the United Nations. China considers Taiwan a part of Chinese territory awaiting reunification – by force, if necessary.

In his speech Monday, President Hu warned Taiwan against declaring independence. But the statement differed from past speeches. It did not directly threaten the use of force to bring Taiwan under Chinese rule.

President Hu also called for negotiations on a peace agreement if Taiwan accepts the idea of "one China."

A Taiwanese spokesman said Taiwan will not talk with a government that suppresses Tibet, kills its own citizens and supports the military rulers in Burma. And President Chen Shui-bian said a peace treaty based on the "one China" idea would really be a surrender agreement.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1018_Economics Report

18 October 2007

2007 Nobel in Economics: Designing Better Markets
Three Americans -- including the oldest-ever Nobel Prize winner -- will share award for creating mechanism design theory.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Many things perform effectively but not efficiently. To be efficient means to produce a desired effect with as little waste as possible.

How can markets be designed to make them more efficient? This is a question that the three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in economics have tried to answer. They established mechanism design theory.

Leonid Hurwicz

It began with work by Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota in nineteen sixty. Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago further developed it.

The three Americans will share the award worth about one and a half million dollars. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners this week.

In everyday life, there are many things that get in the way of efficient markets. There may not be true competition. Buyers and sellers may keep some information private from each other. Also, the production and use of goods may result in outcomes like pollution or social costs.

Eric Maskin

Mechanism design theory permits economists to identify situations where markets work well and where they do not. For example, it shows why an auction is generally the most efficient way to sell many kinds of goods.

In fact, experts say the theory explains why a version called a double auction is often the best way to trade. In a double auction, buyers and sellers both make price bids.

The Swedish academy says the theory also explains why there is often no good market solution to providing some goods, like uncrowded roads.

Mechanism design theory is part of the wider economic idea of game theory and it has many uses -- including in political science.

Roger Myerson

Roger Myerson even built a mathematical model for elections. He found a voting system that he says would have helped Florida avoid its problems in the two thousand presidential election.

The Nobel Prize award ceremonies will take place on December tenth. The official name of the economics award is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Swedish central bank created the prize in nineteen sixty-eight.

Leo Hurwicz was born in Russia in nineteen seventeen. He developed new ways to understand markets. He began his work after World War Two. At ninety years old, he is the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOASE1018_American Mosaic

18 October 2007

A Record Company Gives Listeners a World of Different Musical Traditions

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We listen to some music from a record company that helps listeners explore different musical traditions …

And we answer a question about Wal-Mart stores.

Wal-Mart

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Foqrul Islam asks about the huge American discount store called Wal-Mart.

The first Wal-Mart store opened in nineteen sixty-two in Arkansas. Businessman Sam Walton believed a store could succeed by selling more products at lower prices than other stores.

His idea proved correct. Lower prices brought more people into the store and resulted in more sales. Within five years, the company had twenty-four stores in Arkansas. Wal-Mart expanded outside the state in nineteen sixty-eight, and began trading stock in nineteen seventy-two. Wal-Mart opened its first international store in Mexico in nineteen ninety-one.

Today, Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in the world. It sells more than three hundred billion dollars worth of goods in more than six thousand stores. It employs almost two million people in thirteen countries.

People shop at Wal-Mart mainly for the low prices. The stores also offer many different kinds of products, from food to furniture to clothing. However, some people refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. They say the company pays low wages, is not fair to women and treats its workers poorly.

Wal-Mart also has been criticized for opposing unions and buying many of its products outside the United States. Many Americans oppose the building of Wal-Mart stores in their communities because they say the huge stores ruin local businesses.

Wal-Mart has had other problems recently. Last year, the company closed its stores in Germany and South Korea because of poor sales. In August, Wal-Mart announced that sales at stores open for at least a year increased only about two percent in the business period that ended in June. That was the worst showing in the company’s history. And its share price on the stock exchange has not increased since two thousand.

Recent news reports say Wal-Mart is trying to improve the public's ideas about the company by becoming more environmentally friendly. Last month, Wal-Mart announced that it is joining with the Carbon Disclosure Project to measure the amount of energy used to create the products it sells.

Officials say Wal-Mart wants its suppliers to reduce the amount of harmful gases they release into the atmosphere. And they say that Wal-Mart wants other large companies to do the same.

Putumayo World Music

HOST:

Putumayo World Music helps listeners explore different musical traditions. The record company recently released an album called “World Hits.” The eleven songs on this album are world music songs that became internationally successful. They are called "crossover hits" because of their popularity in both local and international markets. Putumayo says the songs show that people love good music no matter where it comes from. Barbara Klein has more.

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BARBARA KLEIN:

That was the song “7 Seconds” performed by the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour and the Swedish-born singer Neneh Cherry. Youssou N’Dour was born and raised in Dakar. He started singing as a young man and soon became one of the most popular singers in Senegal. Later, he performed around Europe and recorded songs with the famous singers Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. The song “7 Seconds” sold over two million copies around the world, making it one of Youssou N’Dour’s most financially successful single recordings.

Putumayo World Music also has an interesting success story. Dan Storper started the company in nineteen seventy-five. He owned several Putumayo stores that sold handmade clothing and objects from South America and other parts of the world.

By the early nineteen nineties, Mister Storper had seven stores. One day he heard African singers performing outside in a park in San Francisco, California. He bought their album and started playing it in his stores. His workers and customers loved the music. Dan Storper soon started Putumayo World Records to support international musicians and introduce people to new musical traditions.

The company has released one hundred fifty recordings. Some albums include the songs of one artist. Other albums combine different artists from one area of the world.

The company’s goal is to make music that is “guaranteed to make you feel good.” Dan Storper sold his stores in nineteen ninety-seven and now works on his music business full-time. He says that great music helps connect people to other cultures in a good way. He says this helps people see past the bad images of war, poverty and disease that are so often in the news.

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That was the song “(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back” performed by Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Peter Tosh was one of the most popular reggae musicians in Jamaica. He and a group of reggae musicians including Bob Marley created the band called the Wailers in the nineteen sixties. When Peter Tosh left the Wailers, he continued recording on his own. His performance at the One Love Peace Concert in nineteen seventy-eight caught the attention of Mick Jagger. Peter Tosh soon started recording and performing with the Rolling Stones.

Since its beginning, Putumayo has taken on other projects. In two thousand, the company started a one-hour-long weekly radio show called Putumayo World Music Hour. The show plays music from different cultures by unknown as well as famous artists. Over one hundred fifty radio stations around the world broadcast the music show. The company even makes a series of world music records for children on its Putumayo Kids label.

Putumayo also gives money to non-profit organizations around the world. For example, part of the profit from the “World Hits” record will be given to World Learning. This international organization supports intercultural learning and economic development through its training and education programs.

We leave you with the song “Lambada.” It was first recorded by a Bolivian band. This version was made in nineteen eighty-nine by the French band Kaoma. The song is performed by the Brazilian singer Loalwa Braz. “Lambada” became a huge hit, first in France and then around the world. Its lively beat makes you want to get up and start dancing.

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

VOASE1017_The Making of a Nation

17 October 2007

American History Series: A Difficult Life for English Settlers
Survival required help from American Indians. Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in the New World, and tobacco became a profitable crop.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long with the MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today, we tell about the first permanent English settlements in North America.

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VOICE ONE:

England was the first country to compete with Spain for claims in the New World, although it was too weak to do this openly at first. But Queen Elizabeth of England supported such explorations as early as the fifteen seventies.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert led the first English settlement efforts. He did not establish any lasting settlement. He died as he was returning to England.

Gilbert's half brother Sir Walter Raleigh continued his work. Raleigh sent a number of ships to explore the east coast of North America. He called the land Virginia to honor England's unmarried Queen Elizabeth.

In fifteen eighty-five, about one-hundred men settled on Roanoke Island, off the coast of the present day state of North Carolina. These settlers returned to England a year later. Another group went to Roanoke the next year. This group included a number of women and children. But the supply ships Raleigh sent to the colony failed to arrive. When help got there in fifteen-ninety, none of the settlers could be found.

History experts still are not sure what happened. Some research suggests that at least some of the settlers became part of the Indian tribe that lived in the area.

VOICE TWO:

One reason for the delay in getting supplies to Roanoke was the attack of the Spanish Navy against England in fifteen eighty-eight. King Phillip of Spain had decided to invade England. But the small English ships combined with a fierce storm defeated the huge Spanish fleet. As a result, Spain was no longer able to block English exploration.

England discovered that supporting colonies so far away was extremely costly. So Queen Elizabeth took no more action to do this. It was not until after her death in sixteen-oh-three that England began serious efforts to start colonies in America.

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VOICE ONE:

In sixteen-oh-six, the new English King, James the First, gave two business groups permission to establish colonies in Virginia, the area claimed by England. Companies were organized to carry out the move.

View of historic Jamestown

The London Company sent one hundred settlers to Virginia in sixteen-oh-six. The group landed there in May, sixteen-oh-seven and founded Jamestown. It was the first permanent English colony in the new world.

The colony seemed about to fail from the start. The settlers did not plant their crops in time so they soon had no food. Their leaders lacked the farming and building skills needed to survive on the land. More than half the settlers died during the first winter.

VOICE TWO:

The businessmen controlling the colony from London knew nothing about living in such a wild place. They wanted the settlers to search for gold, and explore local rivers in hopes of finding a way to the East. One settler knew this was wrong. His name was Captain John Smith. He helped the colonists build houses and grow food by learning from the local Indians. Still, the Jamestown settlers continued to die each year from disease, lack of food and Indian attacks.

The London Company sent six thousand settlers to Virginia between sixteen-oh-six and sixteen twenty-two. More than four thousand died during that time.

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VOICE ONE:

A cooking fire in a re-creation of a Powhatan Indian village

History experts say that all the settlers surely would have died without the help of the local Powhatan Indians. The Indians gave the settlers food. They taught them how to live in the forest. And the Powhatan Indians showed the settlers how to plant new crops and how to clear the land for building.

The settlers accepted the Indians' help. Then, however, the settlers took whatever else they wanted by force. In sixteen twenty-two, the local Indians attacked the settlers for interfering with Indian land. Three hundred forty settlers died. The colonists answered the attack by destroying the Indian tribes living along Virginia's coast.

The settlers recognized that they would have to grow their own food and survive on their own without help from England or anyone else. The Jamestown colony was clearly established by sixteen twenty-four. It was even beginning to earn money by growing and selling a new crop, tobacco.

VOICE TWO:

The other early English settlements in North America were much to the north of Virginia, in the present state of Massachusetts. The people who settled there left England for different reasons than those who settled in Jamestown. The Virginia settlers were looking for ways to earn money for English businesses. The settlers in Massachusetts were seeking religious freedom.

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VOICE ONE:

King Henry the Eighth of England had separated from the Roman Catholic Church. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth, established the Protestant religion in England. It was called the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, however, was similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church.

Not all Protestants liked this. Some wanted to leave the Anglican Church and form religious groups of their own. In sixteen-oh-six, members of one such group in the town of Scrooby did separate from the Anglican Church. About one hundred twenty-five people left England for Holland. They found problems there too, so they decided to move again...to the New World.

These people were called pilgrims, because that is the name given to people who travel for religious purposes.

VOICE TWO:

An artist's depiction of the Mayflower

About thirty-five pilgrims were among the passengers on a ship called the Mayflower in sixteen twenty. It left England to go to Virginia. But the Mayflower never reached Virginia. Instead, it landed to the north, on Cape Cod Bay. The group decided to stay there instead of trying to find Jamestown.

The pilgrims and the others on the Mayflower saw a need for rules that would help them live together peacefully. They believed they were not under English control since they did not land in Virginia. So they wrote a plan of government, called the Mayflower Compact. It was the first such plan ever developed in the New World.

They elected a man called William Bradford as the first governor of their Plymouth Colony. We know about the first thirty years of the Plymouth Colony because William Bradford described it in his book, Of Plymouth Plantation.

As happened in Jamestown, about half the settlers in Plymouth died the first winter. The survivors were surprised to find an Indian who spoke English. His name was Squanto. He had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and had lived in England before returning to his people.

The Pilgrims believed Squanto was sent to them from God. He made it possible for them to communicate with the native people. He showed them the best places to fish, what kind of crops to plant and how to grow them. He provided them with all kinds of information they needed to survive. The settlers invited the Indians to a feast in the month of November to celebrate their successes and to thank Squanto for his help. Americans remember that celebration every year when they observe the Thanksgiving holiday.

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VOICE ONE:

Other English settlers began arriving in the area now called New England. One large group was called the Puritans. Like the pilgrims, the Puritans did not agree with the Anglican Church. But they did not want to separate from it. The Puritans wanted to change it to make it more holy. Their desire for this change made them unwelcome in England.

The first ship carrying Puritans left England for America in sixteen thirty. By the end of that summer, one thousand Puritans had landed in the northeastern part of the new country. The new English King, Charles, had given permission for them to settle the Massachusetts Bay area.

VOICE TWO:

The Puritans began leaving England in large groups. Between sixteen thirty and sixteen forty, twenty thousand sailed for New England. They risked their lives on the dangerous trip. They wanted to live among people who believed as they did, people who honored the rules of the Bible. Puritans believed that the Bible was the word of God.

The Puritans and other Europeans, however, found a very different people in the New World. They were America's native Indians. That will be our story next week.

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VOICE ONE:

This MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Rich Kleinfeldt

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another Voice of America Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE1017_Education Report

17 October 2007

Colleges See Green in Sustainability Studies
Schools around the US are developing new programs related to the environment.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We talked last week about a movement to build environmentally friendly school buildings in the United States. Today we look at the spread of "green" studies in higher education.

Dominican University of California has what it calls the Green MBA program. John Stayton, left, is the director.

Many colleges and universities around the country now offer programs in sustainability studies. These programs combine environmental science, social science, economics, agriculture, renewable energy and other subjects.

Antioch University in New Hampshire and Maharishi University of Management in Iowa are just two of the schools with sustainability programs. At Dominican University of California, near San Francisco, students can receive a master's of business administration in sustainable enterprise. School officials say their Green MBA brings together the aims of the financial world with those of the social justice and environmental movements.

This year, Arizona State University opened its Global Institute of Sustainability. The aim is to do research across many departments, then bring that information to schools, businesses and industries.

Arizona State has also launched a School of Sustainability. Like many sustainability programs, this one grew out of an existing environmental studies program.

The school is just starting its first academic year. Students can take courses towards a master's degree or a doctorate in sustainability. And the school will soon offer undergraduate programs.

Officials say the School of Sustainability aims to educate a new generation of leaders to solve environmental, social and economic problems.

But experts sometimes question whether students who study sustainability will be able to sustain themselves by finding jobs.

Charles Redman is the director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. He says more and more local governments around the country are forming sustainability committees that need environmental experts. And he says companies increasingly want experts who know how to make businesses as environmentally responsible as possible.

He cannot talk yet about graduates of his own school, since it has just started. But he says he does know that among colleges and universities, there is a high demand for professors who can teach sustainability.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. Last week's report about green schools can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1016_Health Report

16 October 2007

Of 'Knockout' Mice and the Men Who Developed Them
The three winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine found a way to target individual genes for study.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

This year's Nobel Prize in medicine will go to three researchers who found a way to learn about the duties of individual genes. They discovered how to inactivate, or knock out, single genes in laboratory animals. The result is known as "knockout mice."

The Karolinska Institute named the winners last week. Two Americans, Mario

Mario Capecchi holds a laboratory mouse

Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, will share the one and one-half million dollar prize with Martin Evans of Britain. They will receive what is officially called the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December tenth.

In the nineteen eighties, Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies both studied cells in mice to find how to target individual genes for changes. But the kinds of cells they independently studied could not be used to create gene-targeted animals.

Martin Evans had the solution. He developed embryonic stem cells that could produce mice that carried new genetic material.

The research greatly expanded knowledge about embryonic development as well as aging and disease. It led to a new technology -- gene targeting. And this has already produced five hundred mouse models of human conditions.

Knockout mice are used for general research and for the development of new treatments. International efforts aim to make them available in the near future for all genes.

Mario Capecchi is a researcher at the University of Utah. He was born in Italy in nineteen thirty-seven. He was homeless and on his own for years as a young boy.

His mother had been sent to a Nazi German death camp. But she survived, and after she was freed she found him in a hospital. He was nine years old and being treated for severe malnutrition.

They came to the United States where he entered school for the first time. Later, he became an American citizen.

Oliver Smithies

Oliver Smithies was born in Britain in nineteen twenty-five and also became an American citizen. He is a professor at the University of North Carolina. And, at age fifty, he learned to fly. He flies a motor glider and small airplanes.

Martin Evans was born in nineteen forty-one, also in Britain. He is director of the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University in Wales. He called winning the Nobel Prize "a boyhood dream come true."

And that's the VOA Special English Health report, written by Caty Weaver. Transcripts and MP3 files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.