VOASE1030_Health Report

30 October 2007

US Doctor Group Urges Autism Testing for All Babies

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says all children should be tested for autism by the age of two.

Ryan Taylor was diagnosed with autism in 2004; he is shown with his father, Craig, at their home in Connecticut

Autism is a general term for a group of brain disorders that limit the development of social and communication skills. Medical professionals call them autism spectrum disorders.

Experts say autism is permanent and cannot be cured. But there are ways to treat it that they say can reduce the severity. The academy says the earlier treatment begins, the better the results.

The medical group released two reports Monday with detailed information to help doctors identify autism. Chris Johnson at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio was one of the authors. She says doctors should look for signs of autism when they examine babies at eighteen months and twenty-four months.

Doctors traditionally consider the possibility of autism only if a child shows delayed speech or unusually repetitive behaviors. These may be clear signs of it, but they usually do not appear until a child is two or three years old.

Doctor Johnson says the medical profession has learned a lot about earlier signs of autism. She says the identification process can begin in the waiting room at a doctor’s office.

Parents could answer a list of written questions about their baby. Then the doctor could perform tests as simple as observing the baby's ability to follow a moving object with its eyes. Experts say failing to watch a moving object may be a sign of autism.

Doctors and parents can also look for behaviors that are normal in babies under one year of age. For example, does the baby appear to respond to a parent’s voice? Does the baby make eye contact? Does the baby wave or point at things?

Young children usually have a favorite soft object like a stuffed animal or a blanket. But children with autism may like hard objects instead, and want to hold them at all times. They may not turn when a parent says their name or when the parent points at something and says "Look at that."

Doctor Johnson says the goal of the new advice is early intervention instead of the traditional "wait and see" method to identify autism.

The second report from the American Academy of Pediatrics deals with management of autism cases. We will discuss that next week.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Our reports are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1030_Explorations

30 October 2007

How to Build a House With Bales of Straw
Second part of a series of programs on keeping traditional ways alive.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. We continue our series of reports about efforts to keep alive traditional ways of doing things. Today we tell about building homes out of a simple natural material -- straw.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

It was a cold winter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the early nineteen eighties. Athena Swentzell was a student in college there. She owned some property. She wanted her own place to live in but she did not have much money to build a house. The usual building materials of wood, concrete and brick were too costly. So she decided to try to build a house using big rectangular bales of straw, the waste material that remains after wheat and other grains are harvested. She covered the outside of the small house with a cement plaster to keep the straw dry.

Miz Swentzell had never seen or heard of a house built of straw. She thought she had invented the idea and was surprised how livable it was. Later she learned that straw bale houses have been built since the late eighteen hundreds after a machine was invented to form the dry straw into bales. And she learned there are straw bale houses in many countries throughout the world.

VOICE TWO:

A straw bale house at the Canelo Project in Arizona

In nineteen eighty-nine, Bill Steen was taking photographs for a small book about straw bale houses. He met Athena Swentzell after he took a picture of the house she had built.

Athena Swentzell and Bill Steen married and she moved to his home in Canelo, Arizona. They decided to hold a workshop. They wanted to teach other people how to make buildings out of straw bales, clay, sand and water -- materials that are available almost everywhere.

VOICE ONE:

The workshop was a success. Through the years more people became interested in learning how to build a house by hand with natural materials. The Steens's first book, "The Straw Bale House," was published in nineteen ninety-four. Miz Steen says interest really increased after that.

The book demonstrated how to use natural materials throughout a house. It showed how people who are not experts can build straw bale houses. It explained how the thickness of the straw walls kept the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And it showed how beautiful these hand-built houses made of natural materials can be.

VOICE TWO:

In recent years, the interest in straw bale building has spread across the United States and in other countries. Workshops and demonstrations of straw bale building are popular. Many books on the subject have been published, including several more by Athena and Bill Steen.

Straw bales are used in large houses and very small ones, in office buildings and in schools. The structures may have metal or wood supports for the roof with straw bales used to fill the walls. Or the straw bales alone may support the roof. Windows and doorways may be round or unusual shapes. Walls may be gently curved.

A plaster made of clay, lime or cement is used to cover the outside of the straw bale

An imaginative doorway in a straw bale structure

walls. The inside walls are covered with clay and then painted with naturally colored paints made of clay, wheat paste and water. The designs are very creative. The resulting structures look very different from modern buildings with their straight walls of wood, cement or brick. Some small straw bale buildings look like works of art.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the nineteen nineties, Bill and Athena Steen started the Canelo Project. It is a small non-profit organization that aims to connect people, culture and nature. It explores natural building methods that are simple, low cost and pleasing to look at.

A small building at the Canelo Project done with mostly local materials

Through the Canelo Project, the Steens work with people to create simple, livable shelters using local and natural materials. They are concerned with balancing the wisdom and skills of the past with modern improvements. Bill Steen says they try to match the materials to the skills of people doing the building. Athena Steen says their goal is to keep the materials and tools simple so people can work with family and friends to build their own homes. This way, she says, they feel a connection to their home that is lost when someone else is the builder.

VOICE TWO:

The Steens hold workshops at their home in Canelo, Arizona, in the spring and autumn. They live in the large old house made of adobe that was on the property. The dried clay and straw adobe mixture is the same building material used by people living in dry areas all over the world.

Now, there are about twelve smaller structures used for storing things or for visitors. Some were built to demonstrate new ideas. The small buildings look like the big adobe house but all have straw bales inside the earth covered walls.

VOICE ONE:

People who attend the workshops are from many places including Australia, South Korea, Japan, South America, as well as the United States and Canada. They learn the methods of building with straw bales by helping build a small structure.

One of the workshops is called Straw Bale Comprehensive. It is for people who are seriously considering building a home out of straw bales and want to do much of the work themselves. This week-long class lets people take part in a group project to design and build a small structure.

People learn the methods of building with straw bales. They learn that the straw must be kept completely dry or it will not last. They learn how to put in electricity and plumbing. And they learn how to build roofs that will keep rain from the walls.

VOICE TWO:

Another week-long workshop is called Artistry in Clay and Lime. The Steens show how natural materials can be used to cover walls and floors, build furniture and create paints.

During the workshop, the Steens teach traditional plastering methods used to cover walls in Japan, Mexico, Germany and the American Southwest. And they demonstrate methods and plaster materials they have developed. People learn how to make clay or earth plasters especially for inside walls and lime plasters that are less affected by the weather.

VOICE ONE:

People using straw bales for their main building material often want to use other natural materials inside the building. So the workshop includes information about natural paints that are easy to make and cost very little. These paints of clay or other earth materials provide beautiful colors – warm rich red, brown and gray. Clay paints can be used over almost any wall surface including wood and cement. The workshop also includes ways to make furniture out of clay, straw and local plant materials.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen ninety-five, the Steens began working in Sonora, Mexico. The organization, Save the Children, invited them to help people living in a poor farming community near the city of Obregon build low cost houses.

Athena Steen says the people in the community were not happy at first with the idea of building new houses with straw and clay. They wanted to use modern materials like cement and brick.

Then the Save the Children organization decided it wanted a new office building in Sonora. The Steens and a team of local women and men were trained by two skilled Mexican builders, Emiliano and Teodoro Lopez. They produced an office building of more than four hundred fifty square meters.

VOICE ONE:

They started with a floor plan so the space would meet the organization’s needs. Yet the building itself was designed as it was built. Bill Steen says they all learned and invented together as the building grew, room by room. They worked as friends and equals.

The office building has outside walls made of straw bales to keep the desert heat out. The inside walls are made of straw and clay blocks. The walls are covered in earth plaster with clay from the area in colors of soft yellow, dark red and rich brown.

VOICE TWO:

Straw bale structure being built on a ranch in Sonora, Mexico

The result is a useful and beautiful office building. The women in the poor Mexican village decided they wanted to build their own small houses of the same materials. They worked with the Steens and others who had taken part in their workshops. It was a cooperative community effort, which is the way houses have been built for centuries. They built twelve one-room houses for about five hundred dollars each.

One owner of a new straw bale house said that she always thought she would have to have a lot of money to have something beautiful. "Now I know that is not true," she said. "You just have to be willing to work for it."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano and produced by Mario Ritter. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Listen again next month to EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English for another program about efforts to keep traditional ways alive.

VOASE1029_Agriculture Report

29 October 2007

Growing a Big Pumpkin. A Really Big Pumpkin
Joe Jutras of Rhode Island grew this year's world record-setter, at seven hundred sixty kilograms.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Joe Jutras lives in a small state, Rhode Island, but he thinks big. This year he grew a pumpkin weighing seven hundred sixty kilograms.

Joe Jutras and his winner

His pumpkin broke the world record set in two thousand six. Another Rhode Islander, Ron Wallace, grew last year's champion. That one weighed six hundred eighty-one kilograms.

Huge pumpkins like these can sell for ten thousand dollars. Some people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a single seed.

Sue Jutras explained to us how her husband grew his record pumpkin and a few smaller but still really big ones.

He started the seeds indoors in April. When the third leaf appeared, he planted them outdoors under a temporary shelter. He removed the shelter once the root system began to push against it.

He buried the vines so the root system could continue to grow. He fed the plant a mixture containing fish and seaweed. He worked with his record-breaker twenty to thirty hours each week during the main growing season in July and August.

He needed a forklift truck to carry it to the official weighing. The competition took place a few weeks ago at a fair in Topsfield, Rhode Island.

By the way, Joe Jutras is not a farmer. He operates a woodworking business -- that is, when he is not taking care of his pumpkins.

When Americans, especially children, think of pumpkins, they usually think of Halloween on October thirty-first. Pumpkins are a traditional part of the celebration. People like to cut funny or scary faces into pumpkins and put a candle inside.

Fresh pumpkins might end up as jack-o-lanterns at Halloween. But canned pumpkin meat is popular in pies, breads and other baked goods, and pumpkin seeds are eaten as snacks.

Five states produced more than one hundred million dollars worth of pumpkin last year. The top producers by value were Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and California.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and MP3 files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. We leave you with a song by John McCutcheon called "Pumpkin Man."

VOASE1029_Science In the News

29 October 2007

Study of College Athletes Finds Exercise-Induced Asthma Is Common
Also: Two Americans and a Briton win the Nobel Prize for their work on the duties of individual genes.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

Researchers at Ohio State University studied exercise-induced asthma among top athletes at the school. Ohio State football players practice earlier this year.

And I'm Faith Lapidus. On our program this week, we will tell about the winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine. We will tell about a health problem resulting from physical exercise. We also report on depression in young people and genetic studies of an ancient animal.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The two thousand seven Nobel Prize in medicine will go to three men 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."

Mario Capecchi holds a laboratory mouse

The Karolinska Institute named the winners earlier this month. They are Martin Evans of Britain and two Americans, Mario Capecchi and . They will receive what is officially called the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at a ceremony in Sweden on December tenth. They also will share about one million five hundred thousand dollars in prize money.

VOICE TWO:

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

Martin Evans had the solution. He worked with embryonic stem cells to produce mice that carried new genetic material.

Oliver Smithies

The research greatly expanded knowledge about embryonic development, aging and disease. It also led to a new technology -- gene targeting. 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.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A new study shows the breathing disorder asthma is common among students who take part in college athletic programs. Researchers studied American college athletes for signs of breathing problems. Athletes need skill and strength to compete in a sport. Yet test results suggested that more than one-third of those studied had a condition called exercise-induced asthma. In other words, physical exercise caused their asthma. This was true even among college athletes who had no history of the disorder.

Exercise-induced asthma happens when exercise restricts the flow of air to the lungs. The narrowing and closing of the airway usually begins just after heavy exercise. One sign of exercise-induced asthma is increased amounts of sticky fluid, or mucus, in the airway. Other signs include difficulty breathing and tightness in the chest. Two dangers of the condition are reduced athletic performance and serious breathing problems.

VOICE TWO:

Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center organized the study. They examined one hundred seven student athletes at the university. The athletes were from Ohio State’s top sports teams.

Forty-two of those tested showed signs of exercise-induced asthma. Thirty-six members of that group had no earlier history of the breathing disorder. The researchers say the sex of the athlete and the breathing demands of the sport did not affect the rate of exercise-induced asthma.

Jonathan Parsons was the lead writer of the report. He says college students were tested because many of the reported severe cases of asthma after exercise have involved athletes twenty years of age or younger.

VOICE ONE:

Doctor Parsons says the findings suggest that many athletes do not know they have exercise-induced asthma. He says many parents, trainers and even athletes accept signs of the disorder as normal effects of physical activity.

Other athletes in the study showed signs of breathing problems after exercise. But the researchers say they were not common cases of exercise-induced asthma.

Doctor Parsons says the signs of exercise-induced asthma are not always clear. He says linking the condition to all breathing problems tied to exercise will result in wrong findings. This, he says, is why testing is so important.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

You are listening to the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS. With Bob Doughty, I'm Faith Lapidus in Washington.

(MUSIC)

Depression can cause long periods of sadness and hopelessness, feelings of low self-worth, even physical pain. It is the leading cause of suicide. The World Health Organization says more than one hundred twenty million people worldwide suffer from depression. But many people may not know it can start at a young age.

Recently, researchers in the United States reported on a study of more than three hundred young people. All the patients were twelve to seventeen years of age. They suffered from major depression disorder, the most common form of the disease.

The researchers divided them into three groups. One group received the antidepressant drug Prozac. Another received cognitive behavioral therapy. This kind of treatment teaches patients to recognize and deal with the thoughts that can result from depression. The third group received both cognitive behavioral therapy and the antidepressant drug.

VOICE ONE:

The study found that the combination of treatments was most effective. At twelve weeks, the researchers found reduced levels of depression in all three groups. But they say the group receiving the combined treatments had the greatest reduction. This continued through the end of the nine-month study.

The study did not include an untreated control group. So there is no way to know for sure if it was the treatment that eased the depression.

The findings by Duke University researchers appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry. America's National Institute of Mental Health paid for the study.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

An international team of scientists has recovered genetic information from hairs of ancient wooly mammoths. The scientists say the genetic material will provide valuable information about an animal alive today -- the elephant. They say it may also help in the study of mammoths and other ancient animals.

Mammoths lived on Earth thirty thousand to sixty thousand years ago. They are ancestors of modern African and Indian elephants.

Most of the hairs in the study came from a frozen mammoth. Its remains were found in the Siberia area of Russia in seventeen ninety-nine. For the past two centuries, the hair remains were stored at room temperature at the Zoological Museum in Saint Petersburg.

VOICE ONE:

Stephan Schuster was part of the team that made a genetic map from the mammoth hair remains. He works at Pennsylvania State University in the United States.

Professor Schuster says no team member thought it would be possible to get usable genetic material from the hair remains. He says the scientists had thought that removing the hairs from a cold climate would have destroyed every gene. Yet the scientists found genetic information in even the smallest piece of hair.

Professor Schuster notes that scientists are able to collect genes from the bones of dinosaurs. That is how they know about the age and development of the ancient creatures. But he adds that genetic studies of dinosaur bones are costly and difficult. The bones have very small holes. It is difficult to separate the genes scientists want to study from bacteria, plant and other material.

VOICE TWO:

Professor Schuster says genetic testing of hair is simple and does not cost much. He says his team found the bacteria on the outer end of the hair remains. The scientists were able to the outer end whiter while the other end remained undamaged. After removing the bacteria, the scientists were able to observe very pure genetic material from the mammoth.

Professor Schuster says this kind of test can be performed on something as small as a single hair. And he says the scientists found usable genes along the complete hair, not just the hair root closest to the skin.

Professor Schuster says the genetic map will tell scientists a lot about the development of Indian and African elephants. He says it may provide clues about how long it took before they separated and their last common ancestor. A report describing the study was published in Science magazine.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Lawan Davis, SooJee Han and Caty Weaver. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. 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.

VOASE1028_This Is America

28 October 2007

What Is Your Favorite Song About Autumn?
Here are some favorite songs about autumn.

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Autumn leaves in Pennsylvania

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. It is autumn in the northern part of the world. So it is time to play some of our favorite songs about this season.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People have written and recorded hundreds of songs about autumn. Many of these songs express sadness that summer is over. The days are shorter. It is getting darker earlier each day. The weather is cooler. The skies are gray. Birds fly south because they know winter is coming. The leaves turn colors of red and gold and then die, falling to the ground. Some songs about autumn also express the sadness of lost love.

Mary Dawson, in her Internet Writing Journal, writes that this season influenced songwriters to write some of the greatest songs of all time. Here are some of our favorite songs about autumn.

VOICE TWO:

"September Song" by Kurt Weill is one of the most well known, and saddest, songs about the season. It was introduced back in nineteen thirty-eight in the Broadway musical "Knickerbocker Holiday." Many people have recorded this song. Probably the most famous version is sung by Frank Sinatra.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Another famous song about this season is "Autumn Leaves." This song also expresses sad emotions. It was first introduced in a French movie in nineteen forty-six. Later, the famous American songwriter Johnny Mercer was asked to write English words to the music. Since then, many artists have recorded it. Here is a lovely version by Eva Cassidy from her album "Songbird."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Moody Blues are a British rock band that first became famous in the nineteen sixties. They also recorded a song about fallen leaves, darker days and lost love. It is called "Forever Autumn."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Here is another sad song about things that happen in autumn. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is by the band Green Day from their album "American Idiot." The song is about the death of a father.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The rock group the White Stripes has a song called "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," from their album "White Blood Cells." Jack White sings about a woman who did not wait for him while he was away.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

But not all the songs about autumn are sad. Here is a more hopeful song, James Taylor's "October Road" from his album by the same name. The song is about leaving the big city for the countryside, going home again after a long time away.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

For people who live in New York City, autumn is an exciting time of the year. New plays open in theaters on Broadway. The season also brings the promise of new love. Vernon Duke wrote the song "Autumn in New York" in nineteen thirty-four. Many famous artists have recorded it. We leave you with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing this famous song.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can hear other American songs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts and audio archives of our programs. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1028_Development Report

28 October 2007

Science Journals Examine Poverty and Development
Last week, journals around the world joined together to publish articles related to the subject.

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An Afghan begger sleeps on a street in Kabul. By 2015, the United Nations hopes to cut in half the number of people living on less than one dollar a day.

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Last Monday, science journals around the world published what was called a "Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development." Organizers at the Council of Science Editors said the project involved two hundred thirty-five journals from thirty-seven countries.

The council said the goal was to increase interest and research in the subject and to spread the results as widely as possible. It said the journals were publishing more than seven hundred fifty articles involving eighty-seven countries in all parts of the world.

A partial list of the articles is on the Council of Science Editors' Web site. The group has urged all journals that published articles to make them available free to the public.

This is the third time a global theme issue has been published. The first issue in nineteen ninety-six dealt with worldwide threats from diseases. Thirty-six journals published articles. The second issue in nineteen ninety-seven was on aging. Articles appeared in ninety-seven journals.

The editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, organized the two earlier issues. JAMA published several articles for the newest one. The research examined how knowledge about effective health interventions can be put to use locally to help the poor.

Other widely read journals that published articles included Science, Nature and The Lancet. The project also included journals on medicine and biology from the Public Library of Science. That nonprofit organization publishes its journals free of charge on the Internet.

The United States National Institutes of Health held an event to launch the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. A group of experts from N.I.H. and the Council of Science Editors chose seven articles for recognition. The subjects included childbirth safety, H.I.V./AIDS, malaria treatment and the effects of influenza on children.

The United Nations recognized the link between health and development in the Millennium Development Goals approved in September of two thousand. But many experts believe the targets for health improvements will not be reached at current rates of progress.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For a link to the list of journals that took part in the global theme issue, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1027_People In America

27 October 2007

Walt Disney, 1901-1966: It All Started with a Mouse
Disney's popular cartoon movies led to huge and successful entertainment parks.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Ray Freeman with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell about a person who was important in the history of the United States. Today, we tell about Walt Disney and the movie company he created.

(MUSIC: "When You Wish Upon a Star)

VOICE ONE:

Walt Disney

That was the song "When You Wish Upon a Star." It is from Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio." For many people, it is the song most often linked with Walt Disney and his work. The song is about dreams -- and making dreams come true. That is what the Walt Disney Company tries to do. It produces movies that capture the imagination of children and adults all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Millions of people have seen Disney films and television programs. They have made friends with all the Disney heroes: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan. Millions more have visited the company's major entertainment parks. There is Disneyland in California. Disney World in Florida. Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. Euro Disney in France.

Probably no other company has pleased so many children. It is not surprising that it has been called a dream factory.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois in nineteen-oh-one. His family moved to the state of Missouri. He grew up on a farm there. At the age of sixteen, Disney began to study art in Chicago. Four years later, he joined the Kansas City Film Ad Company. He helped make cartoon advertisements to be shown in movie theaters. Advertisements help sell products.

In nineteen twenty-three, Walt Disney moved to Hollywood, California to join his brother Roy. He wanted to be a movie producer or director. But he failed to find a job. So he decided to make animated movies. In them, drawings are made to move in a lifelike way. We call them cartoons. Disney the artist wanted to bring his pictures to life.

VOICE TWO:

A cartoon is a series of pictures on film. Each picture is a little different from the one before. Each shows a tiny change in movement. When we see the movie, the pictures seem to be alive. The cartoon people and animals move. They speak with voices recorded by real actors.

Disney opened his first movie company in the back of an office. For several years, he struggled to earn enough money to pay his expenses. He believed that cartoon movies could be as popular as movies made with actors. To do this, he decided he needed a cartoon hero. Help for his idea came from an unexpected place.

VOICE ONE:

Walt Disney drawing

Disney worked with Ub Iwerks, another young artist. They often saw mice running in and out of the old building where they worked. So they drew a cartoon mouse. It was not exactly like a real mouse. For one thing, it stood on two legs like a human.

It had big eyes and ears. And it wore white gloves on its hands. The artists called him "Mickey." Earlier filmmakers had found that animals were easier to use in cartoons than people. Mickey Mouse was drawn with a series of circles. He was perfect for animation.

The public first saw Mickey Mouse in a movie called "Steamboat Willie." Walt Disney himself provided the voice for Mickey Mouse. The film was produced in nineteen twenty-eight. It was a huge success.

VOICE TWO:

Mickey Mouse appeared in hundreds of cartoons during the years that followed. He became known all over the world. In Japan, he was called "Miki Kuchi." In Italy, he was "Topolino." In Latin America, he was "Raton Miquelito." Mickey soon was joined by several other cartoon creatures. One was the female mouse called "Minnie." Another was the duck named "Donald," with his sailor clothes and funny voice. And there was the dog called Pluto.

VOICE ONE:

Mickey Mouse cartoons were extremely popular. But Walt Disney wanted to make other kinds of animated movies, too. In the middle nineteen thirties, he was working on his first long movie.

It was about a lovely young girl, her cruel stepmother, and the handsome prince who saves her. It was "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." "Snow White" was completed in nineteen thirty-seven after three years of work. It was the first full-length animated movie to be produced by a studio. It became one of Hollywood's most successful movies.

VOICE TWO:

Movie experts say Walt Disney was responsible for the development of the art of animation. Disney's artists tried to put life into every drawing. That meant they had to feel all the emotions of the cartoon creatures. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Fear. The artists looked in a mirror and expressed each emotion. A smile. Tears. A red face. Wide eyes. Then they drew that look on the face of each cartoon creature.

VOICE ONE:

Many movie experts say Disney's art of animation reached its highest point in nineteen forty with the movie "Pinocchio." The story is about a wooden toy that comes to life as a little boy.

Disney's artists drew two-and-one-half million pictures to make "Pinocchio." The artists drew flat pictures. Yet they created a look of space and solid objects. "Pinocchio" was an imaginary world. Yet it looked very real. Disney made other extremely popular animated movies in the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties. They include "Fantasia," "Dumbo," "Bambi," "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland," "Peter Pan," "Lady and the Tramp," and "Sleeping Beauty." These movies are still popular today.

VOICE TWO:

In addition to cartoons, Walt Disney produced many movies and television programs with real actors. He also produced movies about wild animals in their natural surroundings. Real or imaginary, all his programs had similar ideas. In most of them, innocence, loyalty and family love were threatened by evil forces. Sad things sometimes happened. But there were always funny incidents and creatures. In the end, good always won over evil. Disney won thirty-two Academy Awards for his movies and for scientific and technical inventions in filmmaking.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Walt Disney with models of Disneyland

In nineteen fifty-five, Walt Disney opened an entertainment park not far from Hollywood, California. He called it "Disneyland." He wanted it to be the happiest place on Earth. Disneyland recreated imaginary places from Disney movies. It also recreated real places -- as Disney imagined them. For example, one area looked like a nineteenth century town in the American West. Another looked like the world of the future.

Disneyland also had exciting rides. Children could fly on an elephant. Or spin in a teacup. Or climb a mountain. Or float on a jungle river. And -- best of all -- children got to meet Mickey Mouse himself. Actors dressed as Mickey and all the Disney cartoon creatures walked around the park shaking hands.

VOICE TWO:

Some critics said Disneyland was just a huge money machine. They said it cost so much money that many families could not go. And they said it did not represent the best of American culture. But most visitors loved it. They came from near and far to see it. Presidents of the United States. Leaders of other countries. And families from around the world.

Disneyland was so successful that Disney developed plans for a second entertainment and educational park to be built in Florida. The project, Walt Disney World, opened in Florida in nineteen seventy-one, after Disney's death.

The man who started it all, Walt Disney, died in nineteen sixty-six. But the company he began continues to help people escape the problems of life through its movies and entertainment parks.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Ray Freeman. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE1026_In the News

26 October 2007

How the Job Description for US President Has Gotten Longer Over Time
A listener in Cambodia asks about the duties and responsibilities of the president.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

The White House

A listener in Cambodia heard our recent call for questions about the process of electing an American president. Tath Sok in Phnom Penh wants to know about the duties and responsibilities of the president.

This question touches on a continual debate in American society. The separation of powers in the federal government was designed to create a system of checks and balances. Experts could argue for hours about the limits to the powers of the president, Congress and the courts. But we just wanted a few facts, so we looked in the World Book Encyclopedia.

The Constitution gives the president the duties of chief administrator of the nation and commander of the armed forces. But developments including court decisions, laws and customs have expanded those duties. Today the president has seven major areas of responsibility.

First, as chief executive, the president is responsible for enforcing federal actions and developing federal policies. The president is also responsible for preparing the national budget and appointing federal officials.

The president nominates cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and other officials who must be confirmed by the Senate. There are other jobs in government agencies that the president can fill without Senate approval.

As commander in chief, the president shares some military powers with Congress. Under the Constitution only Congress has the power to declare war.

The president also serves as foreign policy director, as the encyclopedia calls it. For this job, the Constitution gives the president the power to appoint ambassadors, make treaties and receive foreign diplomats. Treaties and appointments of ambassadors require Senate approval.

As legislative leader, the president has influence over many laws passed by Congress. The president has the power to veto any bill. But if a vetoed bill is passed again, this time by a two-thirds majority in both houses, the bill can still become law.

The president is also the head of a political party and has responsibilities as popular leader and chief of state.

So these are the main duties of the president. But our listener in Cambodia would also like to know how much the president earns. The job currently pays four hundred thousand dollars a year.

Just this week, in a blog at washingtonpost.com, political reporter Peter Baker wrote about the current debate over presidential powers. He noted criticisms of President Bush's claims of powers by Hillary Clinton, the Supreme Court and others.

But he also wrote about the long history of battles over presidential powers, or what is known as "executive privilege." Presidents have expanded their powers during wartime and also during times of peace. Peter Baker noted that before Thomas Jefferson was president, he was an activist for limited central government. But then he more than doubled the size of the country on his own with the purchase of the Louisiana territory.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOASE1024_Education Report

24 October 2007

Weighing the Idea of a Year Off Before College
Some students use the time to explore professional interests. Others see a 'gap year' as a chance to recover after high school.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

In Britain and other countries, young people sometimes take a "gap year," a year off between high school and college. This idea never gained a big following in the United States. Recent news reports have suggested that interest may be growing, though there are no official numbers.

Charles Deacon is the dean of admissions at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He estimates that in the current first-year class of one thousand six hundred students, only about twenty-five decided to take a year off. He says this number has not changed much over the years.

Mister Deacon says the most common reason is to have a chance to travel. But he says international students may take a gap year to meet requirements at home for military duty.

Some high school graduates see a year off as a chance to recover after twelve years of required education. But it can also give students a chance to explore their interests. Students who think they want to be doctors, for example, could learn about the profession by volunteering in a hospital for a year.

Many colleges and universities support gap-year projects by permitting students to delay their admission. Experts say students can grow emotionally and intellectually as they work at something they enjoy.

The Harvard admissions office has an essay on its Web site called "Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation." It praises the idea of taking time off to step back, think and enjoy gaining life experiences outside the pressure of studies. It also notes that students are sometimes admitted to Harvard or other colleges in part because they did something unusual with that time.

Of course, a gap year is not for everyone. Students might miss their friends who go on directly to college. And parents might worry that their children will decide not to go to college once they take time off.

Another concern is money. A year off, away from home, can be costly.

Holly Bull is the president of the Center for Interim Programs. Her company specializes in helping students plan their gap year. She notes that several books have been written about this subject. She says these books along with media attention and the availability of information on the Internet have increased interest in the idea of a year off.

And she points out that many gap-year programs cost far less than a year of college.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. I'm Jim Tedder in Washington.

VOASE1025_Economics Report

25 October 2007

Microsoft, the EU and Facebook
Software maker ends appeals of European orders to share information with competitors. Separately, Microsoft is buying a small interest in social site Facebook, which it values at $15 billion.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, Microsoft agreed to end its fight against European Union competition officials. The world's largest software company withdrew its remaining appeals at a European court.

European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes negotiated the agreement with Microsoft

Microsoft has faced record European Union fines and may still owe more. But it says it wants to put its energies into meeting its legal duties and strengthening its relationship with the European Commission.

In two thousand four, the commission ordered Microsoft to share information with competitors. This information would help them develop software for server computers to "interoperate," or work easily, with Windows.

Windows is the Microsoft operating system found on more than ninety percent of personal computers. The company argued that it needed to protect trade secrets.

But now, Microsoft has agreed to share secret information with developers for a one-time payment of ten thousand euros. That is about fourteen thousand dollars at current exchange rates.

Microsoft also wanted to charge competitors almost six percent of the sales from products that use its information. But in the end it agreed to charge less than half a percent for worldwide use.

The European Union began to investigate Microsoft in nineteen ninety-eight after Sun Microsystems accused the company of being anti-competitive. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, fought back. But last month, it lost a big ruling. The second-highest court in the European Union agreed that Microsoft abused its market position.

In a separate case, Microsoft decided last week not to appeal a thirty-four million dollar fine by the Fair Trade Commission in South Korea.

But Microsoft could at least claim a victory in one of its efforts to expand its Internet business. This week it won the right to invest in Facebook and to expand an advertising partnership with the social networking site. Facebook chose Microsoft over Google, the leading Internet search company.

Microsoft will invest two hundred forty million dollars to buy a one and one-half percent interest. Microsoft values Facebook at fifteen billion dollars. Facebook reportedly expects about one hundred fifty million dollars in revenue this year. The company will be four years old in February and says the site has almost fifty million active users.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Our reports are online with transcripts at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Jim Tedder.

VOASE1025_American Mosaic

25 October 2007

Day of the Dead Honors Loved Ones Who Died, and Celebrates the Living
Also: A listener in Egypt would like to know more about actress Julianne Moore. And songs from the latest album by British singer Annie Lennox.

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Correction attached

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty. On our show this week:

We listen to some music from Annie Lennox …

Answer a question about an American actress …

And report about a holiday that honors the dead.

Day of the Dead

HOST:

An altar at the National Museum of the American Indian

On October thirty-first, many Americans will celebrate Halloween. On that night, people dress up in special clothing to look like scary creatures such as monsters, witches or ghosts. Many children will go door to door in their neighborhoods to “trick or treat” and collect sweets. But for people from Mexico and Central America, this day marks the beginning of celebrations for “Dia de Los Muertos”, or “Day of the Dead.” Barbara Klein tells us about it.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Day of the Dead honors the memory of loved ones who have died while also celebrating the continuation of life. The ancient tradition started among the native cultures of Mexico. It has its roots in an Aztec tradition of honoring and remembering the dead.

When the Spanish came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they celebrated the Christian holiday of All Saint’s Day in which dead loved ones are also honored. Day of the Dead developed into a combination of both traditions.

People celebrate Day of the Dead on November first and second. Families visit the burial places of their loved ones and make their graves beautiful. They place orange marigold flowers and lighted candles. They bring special food and drinks and spend the night celebrating and telling stories with other members of their community.

Traditional food includes tamales and “pan de muerto,” a sweetened bread formed in the shape of a person. Friends and family exchange presents such as “calaveras," sugar candies in the form of a skeleton head. Families have special places in their homes called altars. Here they place flowers, candles and photographs of the loved one being remembered.

Many families from Mexico and Central America keep the tradition alive in the United States. For example, in San Francisco, California, a large community celebration will take place November second. Local artists will create five large public altars. People from around the city will place flowers, photographs and food on the altars.

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona will also celebrate the day with Mexican music and an altar. And, across the street from VOA in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of the American Indian will hold Day of the Dead celebrations this weekend. There will be food, storytelling and music and dance performances.

Julianne Moore

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Egypt. Ashraf Yusif Ewiss wants to know about the American actress Julianne Moore. She has become famous for her skillful acting, good looks and striking red hair.

Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith in nineteen sixty. Because her father worked for the United States military, Julie and her brother and sister moved often when they were young. Julie graduated from the American High School in Frankfurt, Germany before attending Boston University in Massachusetts.

Julianne Moore

Moore first found work as an actress in the daily television series “As the World Turns.” Several years later, she started to appear in movies. She had supporting roles in popular movies such as “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”, “Benny and Joon” and “The Fugitive.”

In nineteen ninety-three she had a small role in “Short Cuts” directed by the famous American director Robert Altman. Her performance received great critical praise. Soon, she started getting roles in larger Hollywood movies. These include “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Hannibal.” Julianne Moore has appeared in more than forty movies. They include large expensive movies as well as smaller independent art films.

Moore has been nominated four times for the Academy Award. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “Boogie Nights” and “The Hours.” She received Best Actress nominations for “The End of the Affair” and “Far From Heaven.”

Julianne Moore lives in New York City with her husband, the movie director Bart Freundlich. They met ten years ago during the filming of his movie “The Myth of Fingerprints.” The couple has two young children, a son and a daughter. Moore is also one of the busiest American actresses. She will be appearing in three movies this year -- "Next," "I'm Not There" and "Savage Grace."

Julianne Moore is currently making the movie “Blindness," directed by Fernando Meirelles. It is based on the book by Brazilian writer José Saramago. “Blindness” is expected to be released next September.

Annie Lennox

HOST:

Annie Lennox

The British singer Annie Lennox has been making records for over twenty-five years. She started her musical career with the famous band the Eurythmics. Now she has been recording on her own. Lennox made her latest album, “Songs of Mass Destruction,” to honor all the humanitarian workers and peace activists around the world. Faith Lapidus has more.

(MUSIC: "Coloured Bedspread")

FAITH LAPIDUS:

That was the song “Coloured Bedspread.” It gives a good example of Annie Lennox’ strong and emotional voice. “Songs of Mass Destruction” is the last album Lennox will make under her record deal with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. She says she is very glad to have had the record deal. She says in the past, musicians needed record contracts to guarantee future business.

But now she can make any kind of music she wants. She says she might like to work with other singers or maybe even make an album of folk or Latin music.

This fall, Annie Lennox will be performing her new songs in sixteen concerts across North America. Here is the energetic beat of “Ghosts in My Machine." It tells about how painful memories are hard to forget.

(MUSIC)

Annie Lennox wrote one song on the album to bring attention to preventing pregnant women with HIV/AIDS from spreading the disease to their babies. If you listen carefully, you can hear the voices of twenty-three famous female performers. They include Madonna, Faith Hill and Bonnie Raitt. Annie Lennox says she asked the women to join her to make a strong political statement. By writing the song, she says she is empowering those women who do not have an international voice. We leave you with “Sing”.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Bob Doughty. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written and produced by Dana Demange. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven, U.S.A.

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

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Correction: This program describes writer José Saramago as Brazilian. He is Portuguese.