VOASE0912_The Making of a Nation

12 September 2007

American History Series: How Bush's War on Terror Led to Iraq
The president began making his case about an Iraqi threat in a speech to the U.N. Security Council in September 2002.

Download
Download
Download

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

American troops prepare to invade Iraq from Kuwait

And this is Steve Ember with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English Program about the history of the United States. George W. Bush became president in January two thousand one. Today we tell about the invasion of Iraq that began in March, two thousand three.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Islamic terrorists of the al-Qaida group attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., on September eleventh, two thousand one. After the attacks, the Bush administration supported the policy of preventive war to end threats to its national security. Many of President Bush's top advisers had long supported an invasion of Iraq.

As early as that October, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested that military action against Iraq was possible. Government officials charged that Iraq was linked to terrorist groups like al-Qaida. They noted that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons and said he was trying to develop biological and nuclear weapons.

VOICE TWO:

President Bush gave his yearly State of the Union report to Congress in January two thousand two. He said some nations support terrorist organizations. He said the United States would not wait to be attacked by such groups. Instead, it would strike first at the countries that sheltered them. The president especially noted three nations as supporters of terror. He said North Korea, Iran and Iraq threatened the United States.

PRESIDENT BUSH: “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred."

VOICE ONE:

Iraq had been defeated in the Persian Gulf War of nineteen ninety-one. The United Nations ordered Iraq to destroy all development and supply centers for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The U.N. had sent teams of weapons inspectors to make sure Iraq was following orders. But since nineteen ninety-eight, Iraq had refused to permit U.N. weapons inspection teams into the country.

VOICE TWO:

President Bush and his administration believed Iraq was making or hiding weapons of mass destruction, known as WMDs. He said if the United Nations failed to force Iraq to disarm, the United States might launch a military attack against the country. Mister Bush began making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in a speech to the U.N. Security Council in September, two thousand two.

Then the president asked Congress to pass a resolution giving him power to use military force against Iraq. Congress approved the resolution in October.

In November, Iraq agreed to permit the U.N. weapons inspectors to return. After more investigation, the leader of the inspection team reported to the U.N. in February, two thousand three. He said the team had found no evidence of WMDs. He also said Iraq was not cooperating with efforts to find out if suspected weapons had been destroyed and if weapons programs had been ended.

VOICE ONE:

In January, two thousand three, President Bush used his State of the Union speech to strengthen his case against Iraq. He said British intelligence reported that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium from Africa. Uranium can be used to make nuclear weapons. But several months later, the White House said the intelligence was false.

The president wanted the U.N. to approve military force against Iraq. Britain and Spain also supported military force. They asked the Security Council to pass a resolution approving military action against Iraq. But some important members of the fifteen-member Security Council opposed such action. They included Germany, France and Russia. They said inspections should be increased. They said use of force should be used only as a last choice. The United States withdrew the resolution.

VOICE TWO:

The United States and Britain decided to invade Iraq without U.N. support. Most Americans supported the decision. But there was widespread international opposition. In February, millions of people around the world took part in anti-war protests in hundreds of cities. Some people argued that the United States would be violating international law by invading a nation that was not an immediate threat.

Mister Bush said the war was being launched to prevent Saddam from supplying weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups that might attack the United States or other countries. He also argued that Saddam was an evil dictator who had ordered the killing of thousands of people and should be removed from power.

VOICE ONE:

On March seventeenth, Mister Bush told Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq or face military action. Saddam rejected the demand. U.N. inspection teams left Iraq four days before the American-led invasion, even though they had requested more time to complete their job. Many international leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, criticized the war. They said the weapons inspectors should have been given more time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

On March twentieth, Iraqi time, air strikes by the United States and Britain began the effort called "Operation Iraqi Freedom.” The United States said the war was meant to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism and free the Iraqi people. A number of other countries joined the war effort.

The coalition quickly defeated the Iraqi military. On April ninth, United States forces took control of Baghdad. In a dramatic event on that day, Iraqis and American forces destroyed a large statue of Saddam Hussein in the capital. The allies controlled all major Iraqi cities. Saddam Hussein had disappeared into hiding.

President Bush declares victory in Iraq on the USS Abraham Lincoln

Another dramatic event took place on May first. President Bush landed in a plane onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Then he declared victory.

PRESIDENT BUSH: "Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans… Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

VOICE ONE:

The government in Baghdad had fallen. But a deepening conflict in Iraq lay ahead. American troops and an American inspection team searched Iraq for WMDs. But none were found. That led to accusations against President Bush. Critics of the war said the United States and Britain provided false evidence about Iraqi weapons programs and links to terrorists. They said Mister Bush accepted false or misleading intelligence because he wanted to invade Iraq. More severe critics said he knowingly used false intelligence.

VOICE TWO:

The United States turned its attention to rebuilding Iraq and establishing a new Iraqi government. The Coalition Provisional Authority was created as a temporary government in Iraq. President Bush replaced a general with State Department official Paul Bremer as head of the Authority. The United States remained in control of Iraq until a temporary Iraqi government could be formed. But establishing normal life in Iraq proved difficult.

People rioted and stole things from government buildings, museums, banks and military storage centers. In many places there was little or no electric power, running water or waste removal. The Coalition Provisional Authority dismissed the Iraqi army and the government. Those people now had no jobs.

The presence of foreigners in their country angered many Iraqis. Some denounced what they called the occupation force. Militants attacked coalition troops. They also attacked Iraqis and international organizations seen as cooperating with American forces. In some areas, longtime religious differences between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims became armed disputes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The invasion of Iraq was the most widely and closely reported war in military history. At the start of the war, as many as seven hundred reporters and photographers were living and traveling with the troops. Also, for the first time in history, troops on the front lines were able to provide direct reporting through Web logs, or blogs, they posted on the Internet.

VOICE TWO:

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein after being arrested near his Tikrit home

In December, two thousand three, United States forces captured Saddam Hussein hiding on a farm near Tikrit. Iraqi officials said he would be tried for crimes against the Iraqi people. But the declaration of an end to "major combat operations" and the capture of Saddam did not mean that peace would soon return to Iraq.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program, THE MAKING OF A NATION, was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Jill Moss. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week when we will tell about other major policies during President Bush's first term in office. You can find our series about the history of the United States on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

VOASE0912_Education Report

12 September 2007

Appalachian State in Public Eye After Win Over Michigan
Who would have thought it? Well, some might have. The Mountaineers from North Carolina were two-time national champions at their own division level.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

An exciting start to the college football season: A team that many people never heard of defeats one of the best in the country.

A Michigan player catches the ball, but Appalachian State captured the game

If you follow American sports, then you know we are talking about the Michigan-Appalachian State game. It happened on September first at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, in front of more than one hundred thousand people.

Appalachian State University is in Boone, North Carolina. Its team plays in a stadium that holds about twenty-five thousand people.

The Mountaineers of Appalachian State and the Wolverines of the University of Michigan normally do not even play each other. Michigan is in the newly named Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of college football. Appalachian State plays in the Football Championship Subdivision.

But they decided to meet for the first time. Michigan agreed to pay Appalachian State four hundred thousand dollars, win or lose.

Teams like Michigan need victories, even a victory over a lower division team, to get into big, nationally broadcast bowl games. These games are worth millions of dollars at the end of the season.

Fans expected an easy Michigan win. After all, in the preseason, sports experts had considered Michigan the fifth best college football team in the country.

But Appalachian State is a two-time national champion at its own division level. And its players wanted to show they could play well against a nationally ranked team. And they did.

The final score was Appalachian State thirty-four, Michigan thirty-two. The game quickly became known as one of the greatest upsets in college football history.

The win has brought national attention to Appalachian State. Local stores reported a huge increase in orders for college clothing and other items. And the university chancellor expects more students to seek admission next year.

The university has more than thirteen thousand undergraduates and one thousand six hundred graduate students. It has four colleges and a school of music.

Last Saturday, at home, Appalachian State defeated another North Carolina school, Lenoir-Rhyne College, forty-eight to seven.

The Wolverines also played again at Michigan Stadium. And they lost for the fourth time in their last four games, this time to the University of Oregon. The score was thirty-nine to seven.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0911_Explorations

12 September 2007

In City by the Bay, Celebrating the History of a Harbor
A visit to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Download
Download
Download

VOICE ONE:

This is Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. This unusual national park celebrates the great harbor of San Francisco, California. It also celebrates the men and women who sailed the ships that made this harbor famous.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our story begins long ago in October, seventeen sixty-nine. A group of Spanish

Gaspar de Portola

explorers have come north from Mexico. They are moving slowly up the coast of the territory of California. The governor of California, Gaspar de Portola, leads the group.

The men and horses are tired. It has been a long trip. Governor de Portola decides to rest for a few days. But he still wants to explore the area. He orders a young man to take some soldiers and search to the north for a few kilometers. The young man is Jose Francisco Ortega.

VOICE TWO:

On the morning of November second, seventeen sixty-nine, Ortega leads his small group of soldiers up a hill. What they see from the top of the hill makes them stop. There, below them, is a body of water. They are looking at a huge bay. Its waters seem to stretch for many kilometers to the north, south and east. The waters are very calm.

When the small group of soldiers reports to Governor de Portola, they are excited. They tell him of a huge natural harbor. A Spanish religious worker reports the harbor is so large it could hold all of the ships of Europe.

VOICE ONE:

Six years after the huge bay was discovered, the Spanish ship San Carlos is sailing north along the coast of California. Juan Manuel de Ayala commands the ship. As the little ship sails along the coast, one of the crew reports to de Ayala. He says there is a huge opening in the landmass several kilometers wide.

De Ayala orders the San Carlos to sail carefully into the opening. A crewmember reports the water in the opening is more than one hundred twenty meters deep. Slowly the little ship enters the huge natural harbor.

For more than a month, de Ayala and his crew will sail their little ship around the huge bay. They make maps and study the area. They discover the bay is more than eighty kilometers long and from three to nineteen kilometers wide. On September eighteenth, seventeen seventy-five, the San Carlos leaves the great bay. The San Carlos was the first ship to enter what would become San Francisco Bay.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Spanish exploration was the beginning of the history of San Francisco harbor. That long history is celebrated at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

The park’s main visitor center and museum is only a few hundred meters from the waters of the great harbor. The main building and the surrounding area are part of the history of the city and its link with the Pacific Ocean. It is a memorial to the great ships and those who sailed them.

The Maritime National Park was designed to tell the story of the huge harbor. It also tells of the importance of the bay to the city of San Francisco, the state of California and the United States.

VOICE ONE:

The visitor center holds many objects linked to the past of the great harbor. There are small ships, ship equipment, and hundreds of beautiful old photographs. Many of the photographs from about eighteen forty-nine show thousands of sailing ships surrounding the city of San Francisco. This is when gold was discovered in California. Thousands of people came looking for gold and wealth.

Many visitors also stop to look at a large painting of a huge sailing ship. The painting shows the ship fighting against an angry ocean. Blue and green waters break against the side of the ship. Men high up in the ship’s masts are trying to control the sails. It is a painting of a ship named the “Balclutha." The ship was built in Scotland in eighteen eighty-six.

Visitors learn that the Balclutha fought storms around the tip of South America on its first trip. It reached the harbor of San Francisco after one hundred forty days at sea. It carried a cargo of coal from Britain.

The Balclutha

Visitors who look at the painting can go out the front door of the visitor center and see the real Balclutha. The Balclutha is the largest of almost one hundred ships and boats that are part of the Maritime National Park.

VOICE TWO:

People walking near Fisherman’s Wharf often do not believe their eyes when they first see the Balclutha. Almost everyone stops and looks at the huge ship. Many people take photographs.

The Balclutha is more than ninety-one meters long. The three tall masts that once carried its sails reach forty-four meters into the sky. It seems to be an object from the past that has arrived in modern San Francisco.

The great ship looks almost new. Several years ago, more than one million dollars was spent to repair and paint the Balclutha. Now, more than two hundred thousand people a year visit the ship. The visitors learn how the Balclutha once traveled the world carrying cargo. They can see a photograph of the first crew of the Balclutha. That crew sailed it into San Francisco harbor with a cargo of coal more than one hundred years ago.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Balclutha is perhaps the most popular ship with visitors to the Maritime Park. However they can also visit several others ships. These are also very important to the history of the great harbor. But not all of these ships are open to the public. One that is open is a small steam-powered workboat that was built in nineteen-oh-seven.

The Hercules

This small boat is named the Hercules. The Hercules is a tugboat. Until nineteen twenty-four it pulled ships around the harbor. It pulled huge amounts of wood from trees from the city of Seattle, Washington in the north all the way to Panama. And it moved cargo from place to place within San Francisco harbor.

VOICE TWO:

Another boat popular with visitors is the Eureka. It was built in eighteen ninety. It is the largest wooden ship still floating today. The Eureka was a ferryboat. It carried people and cars across San Francisco bay. It did this until the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge were built.

The C.A. Thayer is another sailing ship. It was built in eighteen ninety-five. It carried wood from trees along the Pacific Coast from the state of Washington to California. Later it was used as a fishing boat. It is one of only two West Coast lumber ships in existence. A few years ago, it was badly in need of repair. The park decided to rebuild the ship using traditional materials.

The work began in two thousand three. The C.A. Thayer returned to its home in the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in April two thousand seven. The superintendent of the park, Kate Richardson, said the project "preserved an important piece of history and culture."

VOICE ONE:

A much smaller sailing ship is called the Alma. Sailors called this kind of ship a scow. It usually had only two crewmembers and perhaps a boy who was learning how to work on a boat. The Alma was the kind of small ship used during the California Gold Rush. It delivered cargo across the great harbor and up rivers. Ships like the Alma carried almost everything -- bricks, salt, lumber, grain, food. The little ships could carry as much cargo as a large modern truck.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park also has a very unusual looking museum. It is a large building that almost looks like a ship. The museum is filled with interesting equipment. One room has been made to look like a ship’s radio room.

Radio operators show visitors how the equipment was used. One of the most interesting objects in the museum is a small sailboat only large enough for one person. It is only five-and-one-half meters long. The little boat is named Mermaid. In nineteen sixty-two, Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie sailed the Mermaid alone across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to San Francisco. No one had ever done such a thing before.

VOICE ONE:

From the top of the building, visitors can watch the ships of the world sail in and out of the great harbor. Visitors to the San Francisco Maritime National Park learn that the history of the harbor is important to the past. And the work of San Francisco harbor continues into the future.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program in VOA Special English.

VOASE0911_Health Report

11 September 2007

Gaining Weight as Friends, and Maybe Losing It Too
By Researchers say that if social ties help make obesity acceptable, then they could also be influential in fighting the fat.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

When one person gains weight, their close friends often follow. Researchers have just offered evidence in a study that says obesity appears to spread through social ties. But the findings might also offer hope.

A fitness class in Pennsylvania

If friends help make obesity acceptable, then they might also be influential in losing the fat. The researchers note that support groups are already an effective tool in dealing with other socially influenced problems, like alcoholism.

The findings appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers used information collected from twelve thousand people. It was collected between nineteen seventy-one and two thousand three as part of the Framingham Heart Study.

The information was highly detailed. There was even contact information for close friends of the people in the study.

The researchers examined more than forty thousand social ties. They found that a person's chances of becoming severely overweight increased by fifty-seven percent if a friend had become obese.

A sister or brother of a person who became obese had a forty percent increased chance of becoming obese. The risk for a wife or husband was a little less than that.

Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School was a lead investigator in the study. He says there is a direct causal relationship between a person getting fat and being followed in weight gain by a friend.

The study found that the sex of the friends was also an influence. In same-sex friendships, a person had a seventy-one percent increased risk of becoming obese. Men had a forty-four percent increased risk of becoming obese after weight gain in a brother. In sisters, it was sixty-seven percent.

The researchers also considered the effect of where people lived in relation to each other. James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, was the other lead investigator. He says a friend who lives a few hundred kilometers away has as much influence as one in the same neighborhood. He says the study demonstrates the need to consider that a major part of people's health is tied to their social connections.

Both investigators say their research shows that obesity is not just a private medical issue, but a public health problem.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0910_Science In the News

10 September 2007

For Epilepsy, Treatment Choices Have Grown, but Drugs Are First Step
By Medical science has developed many treatments for epilepsy. But most sufferers in developing countries receive no treatment for their seizures.

Download
Download
Download

VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will examine the brain disorder known as epilepsy. Many people do not understand epilepsy. They may consider it a mental disability or even a sign of evil. Medical experts are working to understand more about epilepsy and improve the lives of those who suffer from it.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Chief Justice John Roberts leaves a hospital in July, one day after he suffered a seizure

On July thirtieth, the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, fell near his summer home in Maine. Doctors said the fall was the result of a brain seizure. But they could find no physical cause.

A seizure is a sudden attack that may affect a person's mind or body for a short period. Mister Roberts suffered a similar seizure in nineteen ninety-three. Experts say a person who has suffered two or more such attacks is considered to have epilepsy. But just what is epilepsy and how is it treated?

VOICE TWO:

Epilepsy is a medical condition. A seizure happens when a sudden increase of electrical activity interferes with normal operations in the brain.

Nerve cells use electrical particles to communicate with each other. Millions of electrical particles pass between nerve cells in the brain. When the brain has a sudden burst of electricity, the body experiences physical changes that are called epileptic seizures. Victims can shake uncontrollably for brief periods. They also can temporarily lose the ability to communicate or think clearly.

VOICE ONE:

Different kinds of seizures result when different parts of the brain are affected. If electrical activity increases in only one area of the brain, the person will have what is called a partial seizure. Many times, a person may suffer a partial seizure and not know it. They might note strange feelings in an arm or leg. They also might hear noises or look straight ahead for a few minutes.

Sometimes the person will have an uncontrolled movement, like turning the head to one side. Most partial seizures last less than ninety seconds. So it is not always possible for others to recognize them as signs of a disorder.

The most famous kind of epileptic seizure is called a grand mal seizure. A person experiencing this kind of seizure will fall to the ground. His or her body will become firm and start to shake. After a few minutes, the patient will stop moving, appear awake and realize what has happened. He or she may move slowly for about thirty minutes. Some grand mal seizures start with partial seizures and become worse.

VOICE TWO:

Experts report different reasons why an individual may suffer epileptic seizures. For example, head injuries or a lack of oxygen at birth may damage the electrical system in the brain. Other causes are poisoning and high body temperatures.

Older adults may develop epilepsy because of an infection, stroke or Alzheimer's disease. But experts say the cause of the disorder is unknown in more than half of all cases.

The World Health Organization estimates that fifty million people around the world have epilepsy. At least half of all sufferers are children and young people. The W.H.O. says many people in developing countries suffer from epilepsy as a result of local conditions. In those areas, people have a greater chance of experiencing a medical condition or disease that can lead to permanent brain damage.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The World Health Organization says most people with epilepsy receive no treatment. Yet many treatments for the disorder are available.

First, a doctor must decide the cause of a patient’s seizures. The doctor will ask the patient what it felt like before, during and after the seizure. The doctor then may order tests to measure electrical signals from brain cells. Other tests may be used to look for any other conditions that may be causing the seizures. Some machines can even find the brain areas where seizures are produced.

VOICE TWO:

Generally, the first treatment choice for epilepsy is medicine. The Epilepsy Foundation says different kinds of medicines can stop or control different kinds of seizures. These drugs work best only after they reach what experts call a desired level in the body. That level has to be continually present for seizures to be controlled.

It might take months to identify the right drug to control the disorder because each one may cause other problems. These include weight gain or loss, eye or stomach problems, sleepiness and loss of balance. Some people may suffer depression, or have problems thinking or talking as a result of taking some drugs.

VOICE ONE:

Another treatment for epilepsy is an operation to remove the part of the brain suspected of causing the seizures. This is done only when medicines fail to control the disorder. One requirement for the operation is that the part of the brain responsible can be removed without damaging speech, memory or other abilities.

Doctors can perform other kinds of brain operations. One can block the spread of electrical activity in the brain. Such operations are performed only at special medical centers. The Epilepsy Foundation says more operations are being done now because new information has increased their safety. Still, some people get no help from operations and others continue to need medication for their seizures.

VOICE TWO:

Another treatment is called vagus nerve stimulation. It is used in adults and young people who have partial seizures that are not controlled in other ways.

Vagus nerve stimulators are used for long-term treatment of epilepsy and other disorders

In this treatment, electrical energy enters the brain through the vagus nerve in the neck. The electricity comes from a small power supply placed under the skin in the chest. Medical experts set the device to provide a small amount of energy every few minutes. The patient can also send a few seconds of energy through the nerve if he or she feels that a seizure is near. This has been known to stop a seizure.

The Epilepsy Foundation says this treatment may cause an uneasy or uncomfortable feeling in the throat of the patient. The group says most people who use this treatment suffer fewer seizures. Some patients report increased effectiveness over time. The foundation says people using vagus nerve stimulation still must take anti-seizure medicines. But the amount may decrease as the treatment continues.

VOICE ONE:

People with epilepsy may be able to control their seizures by controlling what they eat. The ketogenic diet is very high in fats and low in carbohydrates. It makes the body burn fat for energy instead of sugar.

This diet requires family cooperation if the patient is a child. It also requires trained medical supervision. The patient must be in a hospital for the first part of the treatment. And the amount of food and liquid the patient can have at each meal must be carefully weighed for each individual. The patient should obey the dietary restrictions for at least one month before experts know if the treatment is successful.

VOICE TWO:

The Epilepsy Foundation says about one third of children on the ketogenic diet become seizure-free or almost seizure free. Another third improve but still experience some seizures. The others cannot continue with the diet or it has no effect on their seizures.

Experts say a child should follow the dietary restrictions for about two years if the treatment is successfully controlling seizures. Then, other food may be eaten in small amounts to see if the seizures can still be controlled.

Other effects of the diet include digestive problems, loss of fluids in the body, and development of kidney stones or gall stones. Thinning bones, an inflamed pancreas and eye problems are other possible effects. Another danger of the diet is that high levels of fat could develop in the blood.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People being treated for epilepsy in one of these ways can still suffer an unexpected seizure. So what can you do if you see someone in this situation? Experts say the most important thing is to keep the patient safe until the seizure stops.

Stay with the patient. Clear the area of anything that could hurt the patient and put something soft under the head. If you can, turn the body on one side. Do not force the mouth open or hold the person down. The seizure will stop on its own. Then speak to the person calmly and offer help to get home.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Bob Doughty. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0910_Agriculture Report

10 September 2007

Strip Cropping as a Way to Increase Cowpea Production
Farmers in northern Nigeria learn a method used in many countries to provide bigger crops and protect soil.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Strip cropping

Nigeria is the world's largest cowpea producer. Cowpeas are also called black-eyed peas. But there is always room for improvement.

Recently, before the start of another farming season, some farmers in northern Nigeria received training in ways to increase production.

The Institute for International and Tropical Agriculture organized the training in Kano. Extension agents also attended. So did representatives of the United States Agency for International Development and the Kano State Agricultural Development Authority.

The program included training in strip cropping. This means repeatedly planting two rows of cereals followed by four rows of cowpeas.

Strip cropping is generally done on slopes, or hilly areas. Farmers in many countries use this traditional method with a number of crops. Experts say it can provide bigger crops and protect soil from damage by wind and water.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization suggests using strip cropping with the alternating of crops. That is, not growing the same crop again and again. The F.A.O. says combining these methods can reduce insect pests and fungi.

Farmers in the Americas also use strip cropping to reduce erosion. One example is on Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Colorful rows of crops look like an artist designed them. Agricultural specialists on the island say the strip-cropping method works well with potatoes. They say it can reduce erosion rates over hilly areas far better than simply changing crops.

At their training in Kano, the farmers also learned about a method called triple bagging to store cowpeas. The system uses three fifty kilogram plastic bags. The cowpeas are placed in the first one, which is then put inside the other two. Insects are not likely to get through all three bags. Cowpeas can be stored this way for five months without the need to use preservatives.

The farmers also learned how to use the sun to kill insects that invade cowpeas before storage. The cowpeas are placed on a black plastic sheet under the heat of the sun. Later, the produce is moved into metal cans without any air inside.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. You can learn more about agricultural methods at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.