VOASE0203_People In America

03 February 2007

W.E.B. Du Bois, 1868-1963: He Fought for Civil Rights for Black People
He and other black leaders called for complete political, civil and social rights for black Americans.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about W.E.B. Du Bois. He was an African-American writer, teacher and protest leader.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois fought for civil rights for black people in the United States. During the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties, he was the person most responsible for the changes in conditions for black people in American society. He also was responsible for changes in the way they thought about themselves.

William Du Bois was the son of free blacks who lived in a northern state. His mother was Mary Burghardt. His father was Alfred Du Bois. His parents had never been slaves. Nor were their parents. William was born into this free and independent African-American family in eighteen sixty-eight in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

VOICE TWO:

William's mother felt that ability and hard work would lead to success. She urged him to seek an excellent education. In the early part of the century, it was not easy for most black people to get a good education. But William had a good experience in school. His intelligence earned him the respect of other students. He moved quickly through school.

It was in those years in school that William Du Bois learned what he later called the secret of his success. His secret, he said, was to go to bed every night at ten o'clock.

VOICE ONE:

After high school, William decided to attend Fisk University, a college for black students in Nashville, Tennessee. He thought that going to school in a southern state would help him learn more about the life of most black Americans. Most black people lived in the South in those days.

He soon felt the effects of racial prejudice. He found that poor, uneducated white people judged themselves better than he was because they were white and he was black. From that time on, William Du Bois opposed all kinds of racial prejudice. He never missed a chance to express his opinions about race relations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

William Du Bois went to excellent colleges, Harvard University in Massachusetts and the University of Berlin in Germany. He received his doctorate degree in history from Harvard in eighteen ninety-five.

His book, "The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study," was published four years later. It was the first study of a black community in the United States. He became a professor of economics and history at Atlanta University in eighteen ninety-seven. He remained there until nineteen ten.

William Du Bois had believed that education and knowledge could help solve the race problem. But racial prejudice in the United States was causing violence. Mobs of whites killed blacks. Laws provided for separation of the races. Race riots were common.

The situation in the country made Mister Du Bois believe that social change could happen only through protest.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Du Bois's belief in the need for protest clashed with the ideas of the most influential black leader of the time, Booker T. Washington.

Mister Washington urged black people to accept unfair treatment for a time. He said they would improve their condition through hard work and economic gain. He believed that in this way blacks would win the respect of whites.

Mister Du Bois attacked this way of thinking in his famous book, "The Souls of Black Folk." The book was a collection of separate pieces he had written. It was published in nineteen-oh-three.

In the very beginning of "The Souls of Black Folk" he expressed the reason he felt the book was important:

VOICE THREE:

"Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line. "

VOICE TWO:

Later in the book, Mister Du Bois explained the struggle blacks, or Negroes as they then were called, faced in America:

VOICE THREE:

"One ever feels his twoness -- an American, a Negro: two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideas in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. ... He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face."

VOICE ONE:

W.E.B. Du Bois charged that Booker Washington's plan would not free blacks from oppression, but would continue it. The dispute between the two leaders divided blacks into two groups – the "conservative" supporters of Mister Washington and his "extremist" opponents.

In nineteen-oh-five, Mister Du Bois established the Niagara Movement to oppose Mister Washington. He and other black leaders called for complete political, civil and social rights for black Americans.

The organization did not last long. Disputes among its members and a campaign against it by Booker T. Washington kept it from growing. Yet the Niagara Movement led to the creation in nineteen-oh-nine of an organization that would last: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Mister Du Bois became director of research for the organization. He also became editor of the N.A.A.C.P. magazine, "The Crisis."

VOICE TWO:

W.E.B. Du Bois felt that it was good for blacks to be linked through culture and spirit to the home of their ancestors. Throughout his life he was active in the Pan-African movement. Pan-Africanism was the belief that all people who came from Africa had common interests and should work together in their struggle for freedom.

Mister Du Bois believed black Americans should support independence for African nations that were European colonies. He believed that once African nations were free of European control they could be markets for products and services made by black Americans.

He believed that blacks should develop a separate "group economy." A separate market system, he said, could be a weapon for fighting economic injustice against blacks and for improving their poor living conditions.

Mister Du Bois also called for the development of black literature and art. He urged the readers of the N.A.A.C.P. magazine, "The Crisis," to see beauty in black.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen thirty-four, W. E. B. Du Bois resigned from his position at "The Crisis” magazine. It was during the severe economic depression in the United States. He charged that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supported the interests of successful blacks. He said the organization was not concerned with the problems of poorer blacks.

Mister Du Bois returned to Atlanta University, where he had taught before. He remained there as a professor for the next ten years. During this period, he wrote about his involvement in both the African and the African-American struggles for freedom.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-four, Mister Du Bois returned to the N.A.A.C.P. in a research position. Four years later he left after another disagreement with the organization. He became more and more concerned about politics. He wrote:

VOICE THREE:

"As...a citizen of the world as well as of the United States of America, I claim the right to know and think and tell the truth as I see it. I believe in Socialism as well as Democracy. I believe in Communism wherever and whenever men are wise and good enough to achieve it; but I do not believe that all nations will achieve it in the same way or at the same time. I despise men and nations which judge human beings by their color, religious beliefs or income. ... I hate War."

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifty, W. E. B. Du Bois became an official of the Peace Information Center. The organization made public the work other nations were doing to support peace in the world.

The United States government accused the group of supporting the Soviet Union and charged its officials with acting as foreign agents. A federal judge found Mister Du Bois not guilty. But most Americans continued to consider him a criminal. He was treated as if he did not exist.

In nineteen sixty-one, at the age of ninety-two, Mister Du Bois joined the Communist party of the United States. Then he and his second wife moved to Ghana in West Africa. He gave up his American citizenship a year later. He died in Ghana on August twenty-seventh, nineteen sixty-three.

His death was announced the next day to a huge crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands of blacks and whites had gathered for the March on Washington to seek improved civil rights in the United States. W. E. B. Du Bois had helped make that march possible.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Vivian Chakarian and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week to another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

VOASE0202_In the News

03 February 2007

Super Bowl Coaches Make History Before First Pass Is Thrown
Indianapolis' Dungy, Chicago's Smith become first black coaches to lead teams to the big game. Big not just for the players, but also for sports gamblers.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This Sunday is the biggest sporting event of the year for Americans: the Super Bowl. More than ninety million people in the United States watched the National Football League championship game on television last year. That was several million more than voted in the November elections.

There are thirty-two teams in the league. They battle each other through a sixteen-game season, and then playoffs. This year the Chicago Bears face the Indianapolis Colts for the championship. The Colts are favored to win.

Lovie Smith, left, head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts

But something is already different about this year's game. In the N.F.L., about seventy percent of the players are black. Yet that was true of just seven of the thirty-two head coaches this season. In the forty-one year history of the Super Bowl, no African-American coach has ever led a team to the big game. This year, all that has changed.

Bears head coach Lovie Smith and Colts head coach Tony Dungy are both black. They are close friends known for their calmness on the field and respectful treatment of their players. Both men also share a strong Christian faith, which they often talk about with reporters.

Lovie Smith has said he looks forward to the day when it is no longer news that a Super Bowl team is coached by an African-American.

This year the Super Bowl is in Miami, Florida. But the state that profits most will likely be Nevada. Nevada is the only state where widespread betting on sports is legal. And more bets are placed on the Super Bowl than any other single sports event.

The State Gaming Control Board estimates that more than one hundred million dollars could be bet in Nevada casinos on this year's game. That would top last year's record-setting ninety-four and a half million.

Most Internet gambling is illegal in the United States. And the government has succeeded in making it more difficult for Americans to use foreign gambling sites.

But experts believe that five to six billion dollars is bet illegally on the game in the United States. That includes small bets with friends or at work, but it also includes bets placed with a local bookmaker. Hundreds of different kinds of bets are made on the Super Bowl, way beyond simply trying to guess which team will win.

CBS television will broadcast the game this year. People watch the Super Bowl -- or at least parts of it -- not just to see the players, but also the famous performers at halftime. Even the specially produced commercials throughout the game are popular. Advertisers can pay two and a half million dollars or more for thirty seconds of airtime.

Some people think it is not enough that Super Bowl Sunday has become a national celebration. There is an online petition campaign by a group of men in North Carolina to make it a national holiday, followed on Monday by a "day of observation."

IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English was written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0201_Economics Report

01 February 2007

Computers: A New Windows, and a New Way to Make Processors
Microsoft releases Vista, its first new operating system since 2001. Intel and IBM each announce, on the same day, the biggest change in transistor design in 40 years.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Events for the launch of Vista included dancers on the wall of a New York building

This week, with dancers and other events, Microsoft launched the general release of its new operating system for personal computers. Windows Vista became available in more than seventy countries.

This is the first new version since Windows XP in two thousand one. But the long-delayed release did not create nearly as much excitement as there was twelve years ago for Windows 95.

Vista is designed to make it easier to search for files on a computer. The appearance has also been improved. And Microsoft says the new system offers better security. Just how much better remains to be proven.

Most PCs use Windows. But people who may want to buy the new version for an existing computer first have to make sure that the machine can support it. This is true especially if a computer is older than a year or two.

Apple plans to release its new operating system, called Leopard, this spring. But many industry experts say the future of software may be in providing services over the Internet, the way Google does now. That means a move away from loading lots of programs onto individual computers.

Vista is not the only news in computer technology right now. Engineers have discovered how to use new materials to make the brains of a computer.

On January twenty-seventh, Intel announced the biggest change in forty years in the way processors are made. The company says the transistors in its next generation of processors will be made using hafnium, a kind of metal, instead of silicon. Intel says it will also use a secret combination of metals.

Transistors control the flow of electrical current. The new transistors will be the smallest yet, just forty-five nanometers, or forty-five billionths of a meter. Two thousand of them could fit across a human hair. Hundreds of millions will go onto the new processors.

Intel says the new technology will increase performance and use less power. It says it expects to begin production in the second half of this year.

Intel's new design uses what is known as "high-k metal gate" technology. But IBM made a similar announcement on the same day as Intel.

IBM said it has developed such technology for use in chip circuits as small as forty-five nanometers. The company worked with Intel's biggest competitor, AMD, along with Sony and Toshiba. IBM says products with the new technology will go on sale in two thousand eight.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

VOASE0201_American Mosaic

01 February 2007

Lemonade Stands Carry on Girl's Effort to Raise Money to Fight Cancer
Also: a listener in Russia asks which states are the most popular to live in, and music from an album recorded to aid the women of Darfur, Sudan.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We answer a question about popular American states…

Play some music recorded to help women in Darfur, Sudan…

And report about a little girl's efforts to find a cure for cancer.

Alex's Lemonade Stand

HOST:

Six years ago, four-year-old Alexandra Scott started selling a lemon drink in front of her house near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She wanted to earn money to give to childhood cancer research. Alexandra suffered from a kind of cancer called neuroblastoma. She died in two thousand four. But the effort she started is still raising money for cancer research. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Alexandra Scott

Alexandra Scott held a lemonade sale outside her house every year until her death. She also influenced others to give money to fight cancers that affect children.

The program that young Alexandra started is called Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Its Web site says that more than four thousand lemonade stands have been held throughout the United States to raise money for cancer research. Children, families, retired people, and college students organize these events.

Alex wanted to raise one million dollars to help find a cure for children’s cancers. When she died in two thousand four, she knew that her goal was near. Her charity had raised more than nine hundred thousand dollars. Earlier this month, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation announced that it had given more than ten million dollars to help children with cancer.

The foundation supports cancer research in thirty hospitals throughout the United States. It provides money to develop improved cancer treatments for children. Money goes to experienced researchers working on cancer cures as well as new researchers with promising ideas.

Much of the money collected by Alex’s lemonade stands is in small amounts and comes from children. Alex’s mother and father lead the Foundation today. They told reporters one reason for its success is because children feel good when they can help other children. And they say that no amount is too small to help the more than twelve thousand children in the United States who are found to have cancer every year.

Popular American States

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from of Moscow, Russia. Kirill Lelin wants to know which American states are the most popular to live in. In general, the states that have warm weather are the fastest growing in population. Many people who retire from their jobs want to live in an area that has nice weather.

The United States Census Bureau takes an official count of the nation's population every ten years. But it also takes estimates of population growth within states each year.

The Census Bureau released its most recent estimates in December of last year. The estimates show that the western state of California still has the largest population. It has more than thirty-six million people. The western state of Texas has more than twenty-three million people. About nineteen million people live in the eastern state of New York. And about eighteen million people live in the southern state of Florida.

The Census Bureau's recent estimates show that the western part of the country has been growing the fastest. The South was next.

Texas gained more people than any other state between July of two thousand five and July of two thousand six. Texas gained almost five hundred eighty thousand people. Florida had the second highest increase. And California had the third. Both Florida and California gained more than three hundred thousand people.

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona, America's fastest-growing state

Two states in the Southwest also gained in population. Arizona was the country's fastest-growing state, followed by Nevada. The populations of the two states grew by about three and one-half percent.

Some of the nation's population movement was caused by Hurricane Katrina. That storm in August, two thousand five, hit the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It caused many deaths and major destruction. Louisiana lost more than two hundred thousand people during the one-year period. That number represents a loss of almost five percent of the state's total population before the hurricane.

Music To Help Women in Sudan

(MUSIC)

HOST:

In recent years there have been many aid efforts to help the people of the Darfur area of Sudan. Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts offers its help through a new album. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

During the nineteen eighties, humanitarian worker Linda Mason operated an aid program in Sudan. Last year, she returned to Sudan with a group called Mercy Corps to investigate war crimes in Darfur. They spoke to women who were victims of war. And they gave the Sudanese women music written by students at the Berklee College of Music. Miz Mason's husband, Roger Brown, is president of the college.

Berklee College of Music wanted to do more to help. The college held a songwriting competition. The winners of the competition recorded songs for an album called “We Are All Connected: Berklee College of Music Reaches Out to the Women of Darfur.”

It is a collection of jazz, country, gospel and spoken word. Money from the sale of the CD will help women and children in Darfur. Here Abria Smith performs her song “Love Myself Instead.”

(MUSIC)

During Linda Mason’s trip to Sudan, she recorded Darfurian women singing their traditional songs. Michael Conrad heard their emotional singing and used some of it in his song. The words in “Side by Side” mean “Sing with me, stand with me, so that we can create world peace.”

(MUSIC)

We leave you with another song from “We Are All Connected: Berklee College of Music Reaches Out to the Women of Darfur.” Here is “Women of Darfur,” written by Dave Weigert.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Brianna Blake, Lawan Davis and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

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

VOASE0131_The Making of a Nation

31 January 2007

From Europe to Asia to Washington, Truman Faced Communist Fears, Real or Imagined
Harry Truman knew sending ground forces into Korea could start World War Three; at home, Senator Joseph McCarthy had Americans worried with accusations of communists in the US government.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Doug Johnson.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

And this is Phil Murray with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Harry Truman, then vice president, right, with President Franklin Roosevelt in November 1944. Five months later, Roosevelt died.

Before the election of nineteen forty-eight, Harry Truman sometimes was called an accidental president. That meant the citizens had not elected him to lead the nation. He became America's thirty-third president because he was vice president when Franklin Roosevelt died. Today, we tell about President Truman and events during his second term in office.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-eight, Harry Truman had been America's leader for more than three years. The people now voted for his return to office. They chose him over Republican Party candidate, Thomas Dewey, governor of New York. The voters also elected a Congress with a majority from Mister Truman's Democratic Party.

The president might have expected such a Congress to support his policies. It did not, however, always support him. Time after time, Democrats from the southern part of the United States joined with conservative Republicans in voting. Together, these lawmakers defeated some of Truman's most important proposals. This included a bill for health care insurance for every American.

VOICE ONE:

Fear of communism was a major issue during Truman's second term. After World War Two, Americans watched as communists took control of one east European nation after another. They watched as China became communist. They watched as the leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin, made it clear that he wanted communists to rule the world.

At this tense time, there were charges that communists held important jobs in the government of the United States. Many citizens accepted the charges. The fear of communism, real or imagined, threatened the American legal tradition that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

VOICE TWO:

A Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, led the search for communists in America. In speeches and congressional hearings, he accused hundreds of people of being communists or communist supporters. His targets included the Department of State, the Army and the entertainment industry in Hollywood.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Senator McCarthy often had little evidence to support his accusations. Many of his charges would not have been accepted in a court of law. But the rules governing congressional hearings were different. So he was able to make his accusations freely.

Some people denounced as communists lost their jobs. Some had to use false names to get work. A few went to jail briefly for refusing to cooperate with him.

Joseph McCarthy continued his anti-communist investigations for several years. By the early nineteen fifties, more people began to question his methods. Critics said he had violated democratic traditions. In nineteen fifty-four, the Senate voted to condemn his actions. Soon after, he became sick with cancer, and his political life ended. He died in nineteen fifty-seven.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In addition to the problems caused by the fear of communism at home, President Truman had to deal with the threat of communism in other countries.

He agreed to send American aid to Greece and Turkey. He also supported continuing the Marshall Plan. This plan had helped rebuild the economies of Western Europe after World War Two. Historians agree that it prevented Western Europe from becoming communist.

VOICE TWO:

The defense of Western Europe against communism led president Truman to support the North Atlantic Treaty. This treaty formed NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in nineteen forty-nine. In the beginning, NATO included the United States, Britain, Canada, France and eight other nations. More nations joined later.

The NATO treaty stated that a military attack on any member would be considered an attack on all of them.

Truman named General Dwight Eisenhower to be supreme commander of the new organization. General Eisenhower had been supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe in World War Two.

VOICE ONE:

President Truman believed that other problems in the world could be settled by cooperative international efforts. In his swearing-in speech in nineteen forty-nine, he urged the United States to lend money to other countries to aid their development. He also wanted to share American science and technology.

Months later, Congress approved twenty-five thousand million dollars for the first part of this program.

In nineteen fifty-one, President Truman asked Congress to establish a new foreign aid program. The aid was for some countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and South Asia, and Latin America. These countries were threatened by communist forces. President Truman believed the United States would be stronger if its allies were stronger.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Harry Truman supported and used military power throughout his presidency.

On June twenty-fifth, nineteen fifty, forces from North Korea invaded South Korea. Two days later, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution on the conflict. It urged UN members to help South Korea resist the invasion. President Truman approved sending American planes and ships. Then he approved sending American ground forces.

The president knew his decision could start World War Three if the Soviet Union entered the war on the side of North Korea. Yet he felt the United States had to act. Later, he said it was the most difficult decision he made as president.

VOICE ONE:

President Truman honors General Douglas MacArthur with a Distinguished Service Medal in October 1950. Six months later, the president dismissed him.

General Douglas MacArthur was named commander of all United Nations forces in South Korea. By the autumn of nineteen fifty, the UN forces had pushed the North Koreans back across the border. People talked hopefully of ending the war by the Christmas holiday on December twenty-fifth.

In late November, however, troops from China joined the North Koreans. Thousands of Chinese soldiers helped push the UN troops south. General MacArthur wanted to attack Chinese bases in Manchuria. President Truman said no. The fighting must not spread outside Korea. Again he feared that such a decision might start another world war.

VOICE TWO:

General MacArthur believed he could end the war quickly if he could do what he wanted. So he publicly denounced the American policy. In April nineteen fifty-one, the president dismissed him.

Some citizens approved. They believed a military leader must obey his commander in chief. Others, however, supported General MacArthur. Millions greeted him when he returned to the United States.

VOICE ONE:

Most of the fighting in the Korean war took place along the geographic line known as the thirty-eighth parallel. This line formed the border between the North and South. Many victories were only temporary. One side would capture a hill. Then the other side would recapture it.

Ceasefire talks began in July nineteen fifty-one. But the negotiations failed to make progress. By the time the conflict ended two years later, millions of soldiers on both sides had been killed or wounded.

VOICE TWO:

Nineteen fifty-two would be a presidential election year in the United States. Harry Truman was losing popularity because of the Korean War. At the same time, the military hero of World War Two, General Dwight Eisenhower, was thinking about running for president.

The need to make difficult choices had made Harry Truman's presidency among the most decisive in American history. In March, he made another important decision. He announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election.

Truman said: "I have served my country. I do not think it my duty to spend another four years in the White House."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Phil Murray. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE0131_Education Report

31 January 2007

A College Handbook Just for International Students
The College Board's International Student Handbook provides information about American schools and is available online.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our Foreign Student Series this week with a report on the International Student Handbook. This publication can be a useful guide if you are interested in attending a college or university in the United States. The College Board organization publishes a new one every year. In it, students may find much of the information they need to know about higher education in America.

The International Student Handbook explains the higher education system and how to apply to schools. It explains the different costs and the kinds of financial aid available to foreign students. The handbook also gives information about admissions tests.

The material is organized for undergraduate and graduate students. Information is provided about almost three thousand two-year and four-year schools.

A printed copy of the International Student Handbook costs about thirty dollars if you purchase it through the College Board Web site. You might find it for less at a site like Amazon. Or, for twelve dollars at the College Board site, you can read an electronic version and print out a copy. The online handbook also includes links to more information. The Web site is collegeboard.com.

We began our Foreign Student Series in September. So far, we have explored the American higher education system and government rules for coming to the United States. We have also talked about admission tests, the costs of an education and the different kinds of financial aid available.

Some of our reports have been based on questions from our listeners. We welcome questions, and are happy to see all the interest in our series. But please understand that we can only answer general questions. We cannot tell you how to get into the school of your choice or what you should study to be prepared.

All we can do is suggest that students who are interested in a school should carefully read its Web site or printed materials. Then send an e-mail or letter to the admissions office with any questions you have. There may also be a special office for international students.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Send your questions to special@voanews.com. And remember to include your name and country. Our series continues next week, and all of the earlier reports can be found with transcripts and MP3 files at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0130_Health Report

30 January 2007

In the Mind of an Amnesiac, It Seems the Future May Suffer, Too
A British study finds that victims of memory loss from a brain injury are trapped in the present.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Amnesia is a loss of memory. But scientists in Britain have found that it can mean a loss of imagination as well.

They asked amnesia patients in a study to imagine new experiences and then describe them. The researchers say the patients could not describe what they saw in their minds to the same extent as people without memory loss.

Eleanor Maguire at the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging at University College London was a leader of the study. She says it shows amnesiacs as people trapped in the present. They cannot look back at their past nor ahead to what the future might look like.

The five amnesiacs in the study all had serious damage to the hippocampus. This part of the brain is believed to process experiences into memories. But scientists disagree about the extent to which it also stores memories.

All five amnesiacs were men. They were compared with a control group of ten men who had no injury to their hippocampus.

The researchers asked all of the men in the study to imagine themselves in different situations. For example, they were asked to picture themselves on a sandy beach along a tropical coast -- or in a museum with lots to see.

The men in the control group gave descriptions rich in detail. One man described the heat of the sun on the beach, an old fishing boat on the water and big brown rocks. He described how to his left the beach curved around and became a point with wooden buildings on it. And his description continued.

But the amnesiacs were far more basic in what they saw. One said he could not see anything except the blue of the sky. He could hear seagulls and feel the sand. But when asked if he was seeing this in his mind's eye, he answered: "No, the only thing I can see is blue."

The scientists rated answers based on spatial references -- where objects were described in relation to each other. They also rated answers for any descriptions of people or animals, for sensory descriptions and for emotions or actions.

The control group rated higher in all areas. The amnesiacs rated lower especially in terms of spatial references and emotions. The findings could show that the hippocampus has more to do with imagination and memories than scientists may have ever imagined.

The findings appear in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in the United States.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Mario Ritter.

VOASE0130_Explorations

30 January 2007

Learning at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
About eighty thousand people who live in the Washington area belong to the Smithsonian Resident Associates Program.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we present another in our series about continuing education programs for older Americans. We tell about the Smithsonian Associates.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Every day, thousands of people walk along the grassy area in the center of Washington D.C. called the National Mall. They are on their way to visit the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. Visitors of all ages want to see and learn from the millions of objects that are part of the Smithsonian’s collection.

Some adults enter a small building next to the Smithsonian’s red brick castle on the Mall. Many are carrying notebooks and pens. Others are carrying bags of art supplies. Most of them are older and have retired from their jobs.

Ripley Center

They are going to underground classrooms in the S. Dillon Ripley Center to continue their education. They are learning about such subjects as history, science and international issues. Or they are developing new skills in areas such as photography, drawing or making jewelry.

VOICE TWO:

S. Dillon Ripley was head of the Smithsonian Institution from nineteen sixty-four to nineteen eighty-four. He wanted to expand the Smithsonian through programs that bring the museums to life so people could learn and have fun doing it. His purpose, he said, was to “change the image of the place as a dusty attic populated solely by researchers counting beetles.”

During his twenty years in office, Secretary Ripley added seven research facilities and eight museums including the National Air and Space Museum. He started the Smithsonian Magazine that is read by people around the world. In nineteen sixty-five, he began a public education program, the Smithsonian Associates. He believed the Smithsonian should be educating the public at the same time it supported independent scientific research.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Since it began, the Smithsonian Associates has provided thousands of educational and cultural programs. Each year the organization offers almost one thousand activities to people who live in the Washington area. The activities include classes, talks, performances, films and trips.

The Smithsonian Associates education program was an experimental idea when Mister Ripley began it. Today it is a proven success. It is the nation’s largest museum-based continuing education program.

VOICE TWO:

About eighty thousand individuals who live in the Washington area belong to the Smithsonian Resident Associates Program. They pay every year to be members. Every month they receive a magazine describing programs offered during the coming months. Members pay for the classes or lectures. The cost for classes is much less than it would be to take them at a university. Many of the Smithsonian events offer speakers or performers who do not appear anywhere else in the Washington area.

About half of the resident Smithsonian Associates members are age fifty-eight or older. Christine Cimino is a public affairs officer for the organization. She says many of its programs are aimed at older members who have more time to attend the events.

Members of the Associates are highly educated. Ninety-five percent of them have graduated from college.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Smithsonian Institution is the largest museum complex in the world. Its collections cover almost every possible subject. So do the educational programs of the Smithsonian Associates. The major areas of interest are art and architecture, food, history, literature, science and religion.

Christine Cimino says that programs about art have been the most popular. History is second, followed by science programs. Many people are interested in studio arts where they learn how to make art, not just look at it.

Painting, drawing, quilting and photography classes have been offered for years. Classes in digital photography have been added recently and are filled with members of all ages. Some adults decide after they retire that they want to improve their photographs. So they take one of the many photography classes the Smithsonian Associates offers. People taking the classes can use a large darkroom for developing and printing photographs and a computer laboratory for digital media.

VOICE TWO:

Many subjects have been included in the Smithsonian Associates program for years – such as Greek history, the Bible and new discoveries in archeology. Other subjects are newer and are linked to changes in popular culture.

For example, Miz Cimino says more self-help talks and classes are being offered now. She says older members are interested in learning about what they should do to keep their memories sharp.

Adults who are about to retire want to know about ways to improve their financial situation. Those who have already retired want to find out about interesting places for travel. People of all ages are interested in programs about cooking and new restaurants in the area. And classes about ways to deal with the tension of daily life are popular with everyone.

The people who teach the classes are experts in their subjects. Many have written books. They come from all over the United States and from other countries. After they speak, members of the Associates can ask them questions and buy their books. Miz Cimino says classes used to meet for a few hours each week for six weeks. But now, many classes are held in one day, during a weekend, or four nights in one week. The reason, she says, is that people are too busy –- even adults who have retired.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In one month’s time, the Smithsonian Associates offers a huge selection of education programs. It is possible to find a class, a lecture or a performance to attend almost every day of the month.

For example, a two-day seminar about Genghis Kahn’s Mongolia was offered on the first weekend of one month. The next Saturday, there were three all-day seminars -- the Origins of the Bible, Russian Art, and the Neuroscience of Human Relationships. Other weekend seminars later that same month included How to Make the Most of Your Memory; America’s Constitution; and Space, Time and the Multiverse.

VOICE TWO:

Single lectures during that month covered many other subjects: The Voyage of the Mayflower in Sixteen Twenty. The American Air Campaign Against Nazi Germany. Tasting Portuguese Wine. Mysteries of the Middle Ages. Deepak Chopra on Life After Death. A reading of Homer’s poem, the "Odyssey," at the Embassy of Greece.

A series of once a week classes meeting that month provided Smithsonian Associates members with a chance for more in-depth learning. There were classes about The Golden Age of Cities, American Popular Music, and The Art of Thinking. One class was The Power of Ritual in Religion. Each week a different expert discussed the important ceremonies and principles of the five major religions: Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Buddhist.

Studio Arts classes included Architectural Photography, Beginning Drawing and Sumi-E and Shodo: Traditional Japanese Ink Painting and Calligraphy. There were also several trips that month. Members could visit nearby Civil War battlefields. Fly to Niagara Falls for a day. Or explore glass factories in West Virginia for four days. At night, they could hear Music of the Jazz Masters, R. Carlos Nakai’s Magic Flute or classical music by the Twentieth Century Consort.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Several groups of adults are leaving the Smithsonian Associates classrooms in the Ripley Center. They are busy commenting on what they learned that day. The discussions continue as the older students walk across the Mall to return to their homes.

A man carrying brushes and an almost finished oil painting says he is having fun learning to paint. He wanted to try it for years but never had the time when he was younger. A woman carrying a notebook says she was worried she would miss the excitement of work when she retired. But she says continuing to learn through Smithsonian Associates programs makes life interesting and keeps her feeling young.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

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

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can find more about continuing education programs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

VOASE0129_Science In the News

29 January 2007

When It Comes to Learning, Babies Found to Hit the Ground Running
New studies offer better understanding of babies and intelligence.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Faith Lapidus. On our program this week, we discuss recent findings about how intelligence develops in babies.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Not long ago, many people believed that babies only wanted food and to be kept warm and dry. Some people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old.

Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life. The National Institute of Child Health and Development is a federal government agency. Its goal is to indentify which experiences can influence healthy development in human beings.

Research scientists at the institute note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other humans.

VOICE TWO:

The American researchers say this ability to learn exists in a baby even before birth. They say newborn babies can recognize and understand sounds they heard while they were still developing inside their mothers.

One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story.

On the day the baby was born, the researchers tested to find out if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while inside his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.

The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.

VOICE ONE:

Many experts say the first years of a child’s life are important for all later development. An American study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children.

The study involved more than one thousand two-hundred mothers and children. Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. They observed the mothers playing with their children four times during this period.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.

The children of depressed women did not do as well on tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly on tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.

These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the general health of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when the women suffered from depression.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Another study suggests that low-birth weight babies with no evidence of disability may be more likely than other children to have physical and mental problems. The study results were published last October in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

American researchers studied nearly five hundred boys and girls. They were born in, or admitted to, one of three hospitals in New Jersey between nineteen eighty-four and nineteen eighty-seven. At birth, each child weighed less than two thousand grams.

The boys and girls had an average age of sixteen years at the time of the study. They were asked to complete intelligence and motor skill tests in their homes. Their test results were compared with those of other children their age.

The study found that the young people with low birth weight often had more problems with motor skills than others. A motor skill is a skill that requires a living thing to use its skeletal muscles effectively. Motor problems were more common among males, those with injured nerve tissue in the brain, and those who had been connected to oxygen supplies for days as a baby.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The most intensive period of language and speech development is during the first three years of a child's life. This is the time when the brain is developing. Language and communication skills are believed to develop best in an environment that is rich with sounds and sights. Also, the child should repeatedly hear the speech and language of other people.

America's National Institutes of Health says evidence suggests there are important periods of speech and language development in children. This means the brain is best able to learn a language during this period. Officials say the ability to learn a language will be more difficult if these periods pass without early contact with a language.

VOICE ONE:

The first signs of communication happen during the first few days of life when a baby learns that crying will bring food and attention. Research shows that most children recognize the general sounds of their native language by six months of age. At that time, a baby also usually begins to make sounds. These sounds become a kind of nonsense speech over time.

By the end of the first year, most children are able to say a few simple words. But they may not understand the meaning of their words. By eighteen months of age, most children can say eight to ten words. By two years, most children are able to form simple statements, or sentences. By ages three, four and five, the number of words a child can understand quickly increases. It is at this age that children begin to understand the rules of language.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.

Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality childcare center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.

The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the childcare center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.

VOICE ONE:

Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child care program did much better in tests.

The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the childcare center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.

VOICE TWO:

A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills.

The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to be attending college or to have completed college.

In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.

The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.

The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0129_Agriculture Report

29 January 2007

A Crop of Publications for Farmers
A lot of information is available for free on the Internet.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Looking for some reading material about farming?

One place to look is the science magazine of the United States Department of Agriculture. The descriptions of work by the department's Agricultural Research Service can be complex. But the monthly magazine, called Agricultural Research, is generally easy to understand without having to be a scientist.

Subjects in January included how researchers in the state of Mississippi have identified tens of thousands of genes in catfish. The American industry in farm-raised catfish is worth billions of dollars. That includes processors, feed producers and other related industries. Learning the secrets of the catfish genome could lead to increased quality and production.

Paid subscriptions to Agricultural Research are available for printed copies. But an electronic version of the magazine is free of charge on the Internet. The easiest way to find the address is to do a search for the words "Agricultural Research magazine."

Many universities in the United States have agricultural extension services that provide information and advice. The Extension Service at Oregon State University, for example, has a new publication for small farms. This is available online for free at smallfarms.oregonstate.edu.

The Fruit Growers News is a monthly publication from the Great American Publishing Company of Sparta, Michigan. Growers get industry news along with advice and information from experts. Some of the articles can be read for free at fruitgrowersnews.com.

The Vegetable Growers News, a related publication at vegetablegrowersnews.com, also offers some of its material free on the Web.

And so does a business magazine from Great American Publishing called Spudman, Voice of the Potato Industry. It deals with new products and methods and tells about research. The Web site is spudman.com.

For almost one hundred twenty-five years, Grit was a newspaper produced in Pennsylvania. Now Grit is a colorful magazine out of Kansas. It deals with many subjects, from how to care for baby goats to how to choose the right tractor to drive around the farm. These are just two of the stories in the current Grit. Some articles can be read free of charge at grit.com.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Links to all of these publications can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0128_This Is America

28 January 2007

Defining a Hero: When the Worst Events Bring Out the Best in People
Stories of bravery, including New York's "Subway Superhero," Wesley Autrey, who risked his life to save a man from being crushed by a train.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Mario Ritter. Every society has its heroes. This week on our program, we present several stories of heroism in action.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

We start in New York City earlier this month -- January fourth, to be exact. Two friends, Julio Gonzalez and Pedro Nevarez, were standing on the street talking. Suddenly, people in a nearby apartment building screamed for help.

A three-year-old boy was hanging from the steps of the fire escape outside the building. Timothy Addo was twelve meters above the ground, and scared.

The men saw that he was going to fall. The two mechanics ran across the street and positioned themselves to catch him.

VOICE TWO:

They got there just in time. Timothy lost his hold and dropped. His feet hit Mister Nevarez and pushed him over onto the sidewalk. But the little boy landed in the arms of Mister Gonzalez, who also fell. Timothy was shaken by the experience, but he was safe.

Experts in human behavior tell us that some situations bring out the best in people. But something made this event all the more newsworthy. Just two days earlier, New York City had another accidental hero.

VOICE ONE:

Wesley Autrey is a ten-year member of the Construction and General Building Laborers union. Construction workers have to think fast: one wrong move and they might fall off a building.

But his act of heroism took place underground. The fifty-year-old former Navy sailor was waiting for a subway train in Harlem. He was with his two young daughters, ages four and six.

Mister Autrey and two women waiting for the train saw that a young man nearby appeared to be having a seizure. They tried to help him, but the man fell onto the tracks.

VOICE TWO:

Wesley Autrey saw the light of an oncoming train. Still, he threw himself down, onto the man, in the space between the rails. It was too late for the train to stop. Several of the cars rolled over them, close enough to Mister Autrey's head to leave a grease mark on his hat.

His two daughters watched in terror as all this happened. But their father and the man he had just saved were safe. And lucky. A little more than a half-meter separated the ground from the underside of the train. In some systems, the trains ride closer to the rail bed.

VOICE ONE:

Wesley Autrey, center, and his daughters react to the medal he received during a news conference at City Hall in New York, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007

Wesley Autrey received the city's highest honor, the Bronze Medallion. Said Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "His courageous rescue of a complete stranger is a reminder of how we are surrounded by everyday heroes in New York City."

Businessman Donald Trump presented Mister Autrey with ten thousand dollars. And there have been other rewards and honors.

But Wesley Autrey says he is not a hero. In his words: "What I did is something that any and every New Yorker should do."

VOICE TWO:

Last Tuesday, the "Subway Superhero" and his two daughters were in Washington. They were among the guests of first lady Laura Bush as the president gave his State of the Union speech to Congress.

Less than two weeks after Wesley Autrey's act of bravery, Daniel Fitzpatrick saved a woman in the New York subway. The woman may have been trying to kill herself.

Daniel Fitzpatrick is an emergency medical technician with the New York Fire Department. But the thirty-eight-year-old rescuer was off duty when he saw the woman walk down a subway catwalk. The catwalk passes close to the trains.

Mister Fitzpatrick followed the woman even though a train was coming. He pressed her against a wall. The woman was large and struggling. He kept hold of her. But there was another problem: his head was in the path of the oncoming train.

VOICE ONE:

Luckily, another man who had been talking to Mister Fitzpatrick ran after him and held his head back, out of the way of the train. The woman was taken to a hospital.

Daniel Fitzpatrick used to be a finance officer in business. He says he decided to change careers when he saw rescuers at work after hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in two thousand one.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This month was the twenty-fifth anniversary of a plane crash during a snowstorm in Washington, D.C. On January thirteenth, nineteen eighty-two, a passenger plane hit a bridge over the Potomac River.

The plane had just taken off for Florida. With it wings weighed down with ice, the plane failed to climb quickly enough. It crashed into Fourteenth Street Bridge and then dropped into the Potomac. Parts of the river were covered in ice.

Seventy-nine passengers and crew were on the flight. Only five of them survived. Four people on the bridge were also killed.

VOICE ONE:

One of the passengers on the plane came to be called the "unknown hero." He could have been saved, but he repeatedly handed a helicopter rescue line to others. Then, when the helicopter came back for him, he was gone in the icy waters.

The unknown hero was later identified as Arland Williams Junior, a bank examiner. He was the only victim of the Air Florida crash whose death was blamed on drowning.

The bridge was renamed in his honor. And President Ronald Reagan presented the Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal to the family of Arland Williams.

VOICE TWO:

Someone else who received a Gold Lifesaving Medal was Roger Olian, a sheet-metal worker in Washington. Roger Olian jumped into the river with the end of a lifeline that people on shore had made out of clothes and other materials.

Unable to see through the snowstorm, he followed the screams of the survivors. He reached people hanging onto the broken tail of the plane.

The storm and heavy traffic slowed the arrival of emergency services.

VOICE ONE:

Don Usher was a helicopter pilot with the United States Park Police. He flew close to the water and ice, through the blinding snow, to look for survivors. With him was Gene Windsor, a Park Police officer with special medical training.

It was almost impossible to see. But they rescued two people who could hold onto the helicopter lifeline long enough to be pulled to shore. Mister Windsor also jumped into the water to save one woman too weak to hold the line.

The National Transportation Safety Board recognized the actions of the only crew member who survived the crash. Flight attendant Kelly Duncan gave the only flotation device she could find to someone else.

VOICE TWO:

From the side of the river, a federal worker named Lenny Skutnik saw another woman in the water. He jumped into the river, swam to her and got her to shore.

The rescue was filmed and shown on the news. Two weeks later, President Reagan introduced Lenny Skutnik during his State of the Union speech to Congress.

Mister Skutnik received a Gold Lifesaving Medal from the Coast Guard. But to this day, as he told the Washington Post, he says he was not a hero, just someone who helped another human being.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

On January eleventh, at the White House, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to the parents of Marine Corporal Jason Dunham. The Medal of Honor is the military's highest award for bravery.

Corporal Dunham died in April of two thousand four during a fight with an attacker in western Iraq, near the Syrian border. As they struggled, Corporal Dunham saw a hand grenade that was about to explode.

He jumped on it to save other Marines. He used his helmet and his body to try to contain the explosion. He died of his wounds a week later. But the president said Corporal Dunham saved the lives of two of his men.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Bush also noted that Corporal Dunham had signed on for two extra months in Iraq to stay with the Marines under his command.

Corporal Jason Dunham of Scio, New York, was twenty-two years old. He was the second person to receive a Medal of Honor in the Iraq war. The first was Army Sergeant Paul Smith, killed in two thousand three. He was organizing a defense to protect other soldiers from an attack near Baghdad International Airport.

VOICE ONE:

In two thousand five, Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester became the first woman soldier since World War Two to receive the Silver Star. She earned it as a military police officer in Iraq with the Kentucky National Guard. Sergeant Hester helped lead a defense against a large group of attackers.

That same battle led to a Bronze Star for another woman in the Kentucky National Guard. Specialist Ashley Pullen risked her life to help severely wounded soldiers under fire.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Mario Ritter.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Be sure to join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0128_Development Report

28 January 2007

Good Advice From the World Bank -- With Some Exceptions
An independent study, requested by a bank official, found that the bank sometimes ignored research that did not support its policies, especially on globalization.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Bank lends money to developing countries but also considers itself a "knowledge bank." Its advice can influence government policies as well as its own future policies.

An Indonesian woman and her husband searching the trash

The question is, how valuable is that advice? Not even the bank's chief economist, Senior Vice President Francois Bourguignon, could answer that.

So he asked a group of economists, led by Angus Deaton at Princeton University, to do an independent study. They examined all research activities carried out by the World Bank between nineteen ninety-eight and two thousand five.

Last September, they reported finding many valuable studies. But they also found that advice from the bank was not always balanced. They said the bank sometimes gave greater weight to information that supported its positions and ignored other findings.

Professor Deaton tells us this was especially true with research on the relationship between globalization and poverty reduction. He says the bank has a right to defend its own policies. But he says untested research cannot be used as evidence that policies work.

Over the years, the World Bank has been a research leader in measuring poverty and inequality. Still, the economists found some studies poorly organized or based on old research methods. They also found the bank's Web site difficult to use.

Angus Deaton says the bank needs a research-based ability to learn from its projects and policies. Without that, he says, it cannot remain the world's leading development agency.

The report says the World Bank should create an independent research group, protected against any political influences. The bank now spends two and one-half percent of its administrative budget on research. Professor Deaton says this is too low, given all the research the bank has to do. He says the need for high-quality advice will only grow as the world becomes richer, and the need for lending shrinks.

Chief economist Francois Bourguignon says research at the bank is a complex process that requires compromises. Yet even with their criticisms, he noted that the economists rated sixty-one percent of the studies they read as being of higher quality. An additional twenty-eight percent were rated average.

He says the advice in the report will be extremely valuable to the bank.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For links to the report and the chief economist's response, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.