VOASE0220_Agriculture Report

20 February 2007

Insect Threatens Ash Trees in US
Invasion of the emerald ash borer raises fears that the popular tree could be lost, so experts are collecting seeds for preservation.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A beetle invasion in the United States has killed at least twenty million ash trees. The invasion of the emerald ash borer was first discovered near Detroit, Michigan, in two thousand two. Experts believe the small green insects arrived in the nineteen nineties in shipments of goods from China.

An ash tree in Ohio with its bark cut away to look for signs of the emerald ash borer

The emerald ash borer has destroyed trees in the Midwest and as far east in the United States as Maryland. The insects have also spread as far north as Ontario, Canada.

Ash trees are popular. They grow well in heavy clay soils, and they can survive ice storms well. They produce many leaves, so they provide shade protection from the sun. And in the fall the leaves turn a beautiful gold and purple.

Ash trees can resist many diseases. But they cannot resist the emerald ash borer. It lays eggs on the bark. Then the young larvae drill into and feed on the inner bark. This harms the ability of the tree to transport water and nutrients.

The insect is attacking tree farms and can also spread when logs and firewood are transported.

The United States Department of Agriculture is working to save the ash tree. So are agriculture departments and university extensions in a number of states.

In some places, farmers are using "detection trees." These have an area where bark has been cut away. The area circles the tree and is called a girdle. The girdling process weakens the trees. It makes them easier targets for borers, and shows if the insects are nearby.

Efforts to stop the spread of the emerald ash borer include cutting down affected trees. A tree farmer in Maryland, for example, recently faced the loss of hundreds of trees.

There are worries that the ash tree might disappear unless the invasion is controlled. To prepare for such a possibility, a government laboratory is collecting seeds from ash trees.

David Burgdorf works in East Lansing, Michigan, for the Natural Resources Conservation Service; the service is part of the United States Department of Agriculture. He is asking people to send in ash seeds. The laboratory examines and x-rays the seeds to make sure there are no living borer embryos.

The best seeds are then sent for storage in a seed bank in Fort Collins, Colorado. There, they are dried and frozen at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation. Should the seeds ever be needed, the hope is that scientists might someday develop an ash tree that could resist the little green attackers.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0218_Development Report

18 February 2007

Tree-Growing Campaign Makes for a Greener Niger
How one nation's campaign has saved three million hectares from becoming desert in the Sahel.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The Sahel is the area of Africa that lies between the Sahara desert to the north and more fertile land to the south. The dry plains of the Sahel are mostly treeless. Yet in Niger, one of the nations along the Sahel, millions of trees are now growing.

Researchers have been studying the progress of a re-greening campaign in Niger. Chris Reij is a scientist from the Netherlands. In a message at frameweb.org last February, he described how, in some places, "densities are so high that you almost look at a wall of trees."

A United Nations news service reported in October that Niger's government said the campaign had already reclaimed three million hectares. Teams of workers have used simple methods such as planting trees and protecting natural vegetation to save land from being lost to desert.

Ten to twenty times more trees were reported in parts of southern Niger in two thousand five than there were thirty years earlier.

Some reclaimed land can now be farmed again. The land became infertile during the nineteen seventies and early eighties. But about twenty years ago, local farmers recognized that their once-productive soil was being carried away by severe winds.

Farmers plow their land in Niger

Trees were traditionally cut down for firewood or cleared for agriculture. Instead of clearing trees, farmers began to let them grow among their crops. At the same time, rainfall levels began to rise after a long dry period. Today, the rate of desert expansion in Niger is dropping and the amount of harvested crops is up.

All this was described earlier this month in the New York Times.

Niger is one of the world's poorest countries and its population is growing quickly. Being able to grow more food is important. The trees hold soil in place. They also help keep the ground from getting too dry. And they offer the possibility of extra money from selling branches, leaves and fruit.

Most of the trees are a kind of acacia that people in Niger call the gao tree. The trees are being grown mostly in densely populated areas. As the Times noted, this goes against the traditional thinking that population growth means a loss of trees and destruction of land.

The success of the effort also suggests that earlier damage to the Sahel may not have been permanent. And some say it could put Niger in a better position to deal with whatever effects climate change might bring.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0218_This Is America

18 February 2007

Academy Awards: The Night When the Stars Come Out in Hollywood
Next Sunday is the big night for people who make movies and for people who watch them.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place Sunday in Los Angeles, California. It is the most exciting event of the year for people who make movies and for people who love to watch them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

On February twenty-fifth, actors, directors, producers and other filmmakers will gather in Hollywood, California, the center of the American film industry. They will receive Academy Awards for the best acting, directing, writing, editing, music and other work on movies released last year.

The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. This statue is shaped like a man. It is made of several metals covered with gold. The Oscar is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs less than four kilograms. But the award is extremely valuable for the people who receive it. People who win an Oscar can become much more famous. They can get offers to work in the best movies. They can also earn much more money.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Sharon Leal (l), Beyoncé Knowles, and Anika Noni Rose

The musical "Dreamgirls" received eight Academy Award nominations, the most of any movie released last year. "Dreamgirls" is a film version of a Broadway musical play. It tells about a group of three female singers who became famous during the nineteen sixties. The film's nominations include three for best song and two for acting.

VOICE ONE:

However, many people were surprised that "Dreamgirls" was not nominated for best motion picture. Five others were. They are "Babel," "The Queen," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Little Miss Sunshine." The directors of the first four of these movies also received Academy Award nominations.

"Babel" received seven nominations. It tells three powerful stories that take place in Morocco, Mexico, the United States and Japan. The actors speak five languages. "Babel" shows the terrible results of people not being able to communicate with each other. It was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

"The Queen," directed by Stephen Frears, received six nominations. It combines fact with fiction to tell the story about how the British royal family reacted to the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales, in nineteen ninety-seven.

VOICE TWO:

Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in scene from The Departed

"The Departed" was also nominated for best picture. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it tells a violent story about men divided by power and loyalty. Some of the characters are criminals and others are members of the police force.

"Letters From Iwo Jima" tells about the Japanese soldiers, and their commander, who tried to defend the island from the invasion by United States forces during World War Two. Clint Eastwood directed the Japanese actors, who speak in their native language in the film. Eastwood also directed a movie in English about the American forces fighting on that same island.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is the fifth nominated movie and is the only funny one. It tells about six members of a family with many problems. They travel from Arizona to California so that the seven-year-old daughter can compete in a beauty contest. The members of the family learn to support and trust each other along the way.

A movie about the September eleventh terrorist attacks on the United States, called "United Ninety-three," was not nominated for best picture. But its director, Paul Greengrass, did receive a nomination.

VOICE ONE:

Five actors were nominated for best performance in a leading role. Forest Whitaker was nominated for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Leonardo DiCaprio played a man searching for a rare gem in Africa in "Blood Diamond." Ryan Gosling was a teacher with a drug problem in "Half Nelson."

In the movie "Venus," Peter O'Toole played a very old actor interested in a very young woman. And Will Smith was a homeless father who gets a job in the financial industry in "The Pursuit of Happyness," a movie based on a true story.

VOICE TWO:

Meryl Streep

Five actresses were nominated for best performance in a leading role. For Meryl Streep, it was her fourteenth nomination. She is the most-nominated actor ever and is a two-time Oscar winner. She played a demanding magazine editor in "The Devil Wears Prada."

British actress Helen Mirren was nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen." Two other British actresses were also nominated. Judi Dench played a teacher in "Notes on a Scandal." Kate Winslet was a woman who has a sexual relationship with a neighbor in "Little Children." And Spanish actress Penelope Cruz was nominated for the Spanish-language movie "Volver." She played a woman dealing with some unusual family crises.

VOICE ONE:

A total of twenty actors and actresses were nominated for leading and supporting roles. Among them are five black actors and actresses, two Hispanic actresses and one Japanese actress. Experts say this is the most ethnically diverse group ever nominated for Academy Awards.

In addition, critics highly praised three directors from Mexico. Their movies received a total of sixteen nominations. They are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who was nominated for directing "Babel," Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.

Del Toro directed the Spanish-language film "Pan's Labyrinth," which received six nominations. It deals with the political situation in Spain after that country's civil war. And it shows a young girl's fearful adventures with magical creatures. Cuaron directed "Children of Men," a frightening vision of the future where women are unable to have babies.

All three movies deal with serious subjects in creative ways. The directors are very good friends and often work on each other's movies. One critic called the three directors "the future of movies."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Film poster of 'An Inconvenient Truth'

Five movies were nominated for best documentary feature, a movie about real people or events. They are about serious issues that have gotten a lot of media attention. Former vice president Al Gore's film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," was one of the movies nominated.

Two of the others are about the war in Iraq: "My Country, My Country" and "Iraq in Fragments." Another nominated documentary is "Jesus Camp," a close-up look at a summer camp for Christian children. And the last nominated documentary is "Deliver Us From Evil." It is about a former priest found guilty of sexually abusing children.

VOICE ONE:

More than twenty Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night.

The people who wrote the best screenplays and did the best film and sound editing will receive awards. So will the people who designed the best costumes, makeup and special effects. The composers who wrote the best song and music from a movie will also be honored.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Oscars each year. Almost six thousand people who work in the movie industry belong to the Academy. They nominate candidates for Academy Awards from their own professions.

For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominate directors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members vote to choose the final winners.

VOICE TWO:

The Academy Awards are presented in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Important people in the movie industry attend the ceremony. Crowds of people wait outside the theater. They watch the famous movie stars as they arrive.

The women wear beautiful dresses and costly jewelry provided by famous designers. Camera lights flash. The actors and actresses smile for the photographers and television cameras.

During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actresses announce the names of the nominees and the winners. Then the winners go up onto the stage. They thank all the people who helped them win their golden Oscar. Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world will watch them on television Sunday night.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can read our scripts and download audio on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0217_People In America

17 February 2007

Jerome Kern, 1885-1945: The Father of American Musical Theater
Singers still perform Kern's songs today.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about and play music by songwriter Jerome Kern. He was the man who helped invent the modern musical play.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern

Jerome Kern is often called the father of American musical theater. Kern is remembered for the hundreds of songs he wrote for musical plays and movies. Music historians say that Kern gave artistic importance to American popular music for the first time. And, they say, he led the development of the first truly American theater music.

VOICE TWO:

Jerome Kern was born into a middle-class family in New York City in eighteen eighty-five. Jerome’s mother, Fanny, loved the piano. She began to teach Jerome how to play when he was very young. He became a fair piano player but not so good that anyone expected him to become a great musician.

Jerome was a quiet boy and not a top student. When he completed high school, his father said he would have to work in the family’s store. Mister Kern said his son could never make money writing music. But he later came to believe that Jerome might do better in music than in business after all. So he let the boy go to Europe to study music, as almost all serious young musicians did at the time.

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern began his career as a songwriter in theaters in London and New York City. Success came quickly. By the early nineteen twenties, Kern was a successful young composer for Broadway musical comedies. In one three-year period alone, he wrote music for nineteen shows.

Other people wrote the words for Kern's songs. Kern wrote only the music. And he worked with each song until he was satisfied that the music was perfect. He almost never changed his music to fit the words. One of Kern's best-loved songs is "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," sung by Dinah Washington.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Although Kern's songs are easy to remember after hearing a few times, they are not simple. His melodies -- the musical line of the song -- are always inventive, even demanding. An example of his inventiveness is the song "All the Things You Are." Several composers say they consider it the greatest song ever written. Singers continue to like Kern songs because they can be sung in many different ways. The melody remains the same. But different singers can change the feeling of the song completely.

Here are two versions of "All the Things You Are" sung in very different ways by Ella Fitzgerald and Willie Nelson.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Jerome Kern once said he was trying to bring modern art to music. One critic wrote this about his music: Kern's songs are like black and white drawings. They need no color, no decoration. A Kern song is always in balance, perfect in form and pleasing in design. Here is an example, "Why Do I Love You?" played by Andre Previn and friends.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

All but one of Kern's songs were written for musical plays. American musical plays at that time were still usually copied from European ones. Often the stories seemed foolish and the people in them did not seem real. Songs and dances often had no connection to the story.

Kern wanted to try something completely new. He thought a musical play should be a real work of art, not just a collection of songs and dances. He thought songs should help move the action of the play along, by showing a person’s feelings. Kern wanted to do a truly American musical, with real American characters and real situations.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen twenty-seven, he found the story he wanted. It was the book “Show Boat” by American writer Edna Ferber. "Show Boat" takes place in the eighteen eighties on a passenger steam boat that travels along the Mississippi River. The boat is called a show boat because singers and dancers entertain the passengers. The captain of the show boat has a daughter who is a singer on the boat. She falls in love with a man who earns his money by gambling with cards.

VOICE TWO:

The story dealt with some unusually serious issues for a musical. It showed the hard lives of African-Americans in the South. And it showed marriage between people of different races, which was against the law at that time. Although serious in places, “Show Boat” was not a tragedy.

The public and critics loved it. "Show Boat" became the greatest work of American musical theater. Music critics said Kern's effect on musical theater was revolutionary. It was Kern's music that made the show a great success. Perhaps his most famous song was written for "Show Boat." It is called "Ol' Man River. "

It is about what life was like for black people who worked along the Mississippi River. Edna Ferber later remembered her excitement when Kern first played the melody for her. She said her hair stood up, and tears came to her eyes. Listen as Paul Robeson sings the song.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Edna Ferber said it was great music -- music that would live forever. Kern died in nineteen forty-five at the age of sixty. But “Show Boat” has been performed thousands of times all over the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can read scripts and download audio from our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us next week for People in America in VOA Special English.

VOA也过春节吗？

郁闷了。。。昨天的材料VOA官网上没有 广播MP3，等到今天也没有，今天VOA也没放节目，难道老美也过春节去了？
PoEnglish不放假，春节期间继续发布工作，当然前提是建立在VOA不放假的基础上。。。
PoEnglish在此恭祝大家新年快乐！

VOASE0217_In the News

17 February 2007

Harvard Gets a Female President, but Progress Slows at Other Colleges
Drew Gilpin Faust is an expert on the history of the American South; also, an education group releases a study of presidents in US higher education.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Drew Gilpin Faust will be the first president since 1672 without a Harvard degree

On July first, America's oldest university will get its twenty-eighth president but, most notably, its first female president. Historian Drew Gilpin Faust was named this week to lead Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard is three hundred seventy-one years old.

Professor Faust has written several books on her specialty, the history of the American South and the Civil War. She is fifty-nine and attended Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania. She arrived at Harvard six years ago as the founding dean of its Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

She will replace Lawrence Summers who resigned last June after five years as president. His aggressive leadership style was unpopular with professors.

He was widely denounced for comments he made in a speech in two thousand five. He was discussing possible reasons for the small number of women in top jobs in science and mathematics. He suggested that one area that should be considered was the possibility of biological differences between men and women.

He later apologized for his comments. He also asked Professor Faust to help lead committees that were set up to increase the number of female science professors at Harvard.

She will be the first president of Harvard since sixteen seventy-two who did not earn a degree there.

Professor Faust was born Catherine Drew Gilpin. She says her mother told her "this is a man's world" and that the sooner she learned it, the better.

She grew up in a wealthy white family in Virginia. But she rebelled against the way blacks were being treated in the South. As a nine-year-old girl she even wrote to President Dwight Eisenhower urging him to end racial discrimination.

With Professor Faust, women now head four of the eight highly competitive private universities in the Northeast known as the Ivy League.

More women and members of ethnic or racial minority groups hold top positions in American colleges and universities than in the past. In nineteen eight-six, ninety percent of presidents were male and ninety-two percent were white.

But a new report this week says growth in the percentage of women and minority presidents has been slow, especially in the last ten years. The American Council on Education says eighty-six percent of presidents last year were white; seventy-seven percent were male.

The group says women were most likely to head two-year colleges.

But the study also found that on average, presidents have been getting older and staying in their jobs longer. Researchers say the findings suggest that many will soon retire. They say that might, or might not, mean more women and minorities taking their place.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. To learn more about American higher education, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0215_Economics Report

15 February 2007

US Presses Japan on Farm Imports and India on World Trade Talks
Japan is warned that American companies could take their business elsewhere; India is urged to do more to help restart WTO negotiations.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The United States has put new pressure on Japan to import more farm goods from American companies. The American ambassador to Japan said if Japan does not open its markets, then "we will just put our resources in other places."

Thomas Schieffer

Ambassador Thomas Schieffer gave that warning in a speech Wednesday to business leaders in Tokyo.

He also urged the Japanese to permit more foreign investment. Among the most developed countries, Japan still has the lowest level of foreign direct investment in relation to the size of its economy.

Food prices in Japan are among the highest in the world as a result of efforts to protect Japanese farmers. Japan imports more than half of its food. But it places high customs and other restrictions on many products, especially rice, fruit and beef.

Ambassador Schieffer said he recognizes the emotions involved in the debate over widening the market for agricultural imports. He noted that many Japanese still remember when Japan did not produce a lot of food after World War Two.

But he also noted that the average age of a Japanese farmer is seventy. He said Japan will someday have no choice but to accept more imports.

The American ambassador said the dispute over agricultural trade is blocking greater economic cooperation with Japan. But international farm trade was also the main issue that led to the suspension of World Trade Organization talks last year.

This week, American Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was in New Delhi to urge Indian officials to do more to help restart those talks. The United States is India's largest trading partner. But India's governing coalition depends on support from two communist parties that oppose trade liberalization.

Also, developing nations want the United States, the European Union and countries such as Japan to make more cuts in farm protections. They say these give farmers in rich nations an unfair position. The commerce secretary said the United States is willing to compromise. But in return, he said, developing nations must do the same on trade in manufactured goods and services.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the United States had another record trade deficit last year, for the fifth straight year. The deficit in goods and services was more than seven hundred sixty billion dollars. Exports rose faster than imports, but high oil prices added to the deficit. And almost one-third of it was a record trade imbalance with China.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0215_American Mosaic

15 February 2007

On '24,' TV Hero Jack Bauer Fights Terrorists, One Hour at a Time
Also: a dispute heats up over who invented the hamburger. And music from ''Not Too Late,'' Norah Jones' first album to include songs that make political statements.

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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 an American television show …

Play some music from a new album by Norah Jones …

And report about an extremely popular American food.

Hamburger Dispute

Americans love to eat hamburgers -- chopped or ground beef served on bread. Many restaurants in the United States say hamburgers are their most popular food. But no one really seems to know who made the first one. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

History expert Linda Stradley published a hamburger history on the Web site What’s Cooking America. She says sailors who visited the German port city of Hamburg in the eighteen hundreds learned to enjoy ground meat known as Hamburg steak. And German settlers in the United States served ground beef and called it hamburg steak after the German city.

But she says the invention of the modern American hamburger is in dispute. She says one problem is the definition. Is it a hamburger when the meat is placed between two pieces of bread? Or must it be in a kind of bread called a bun? Either way, she tells about a number of people who claim to have served the first hamburger in America. Here are some of them.

The people of Seymour, Wisconsin, say fifteen-year-old Charlie Nagreen sold the first hamburgers in eighteen eighty-five at a local fair. The town holds a yearly hamburger festival to honor him.

People in Akron, Ohio, agree that the hamburger was invented in eighteen eighty-five. But they say the inventors were Frank and Charles Menches. They say the brothers put the meat between two pieces of bread at a traveling fair.

Other claims include the family of Louis Lassen. They are still making hamburgers in New Haven, Connecticut. And people in Athens, Texas, say Fletch Davis, who owned a restaurant, sold the first hamburger.

The modern hamburger became popular after it was served at the Saint Louis World’s Fair in nineteen-oh-four. But the Bilby family in the state of Oklahoma says their grandfather Oscar served the first hamburger thirteen years before that. They claim he was the first to put the meat in a bun.

Because of this claim, the governor of Oklahoma declared the city of Tulsa to be the birthplace of the hamburger. But the Library of Congress has honored Louis Lassen as the inventor of the hamburger.

As recently as last month, language expert Barry Popik wrote about the issue. He says that states should drop claims to be the home of the hamburger because no one really knows who served the first one.

"24"

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Osaka, Japan. Fumio Nishimoto says the television show "24” is popular in Japan and wants to know more about it.

"24" is also still very popular in the United States. The show is now in its sixth year on the Fox Television network. Some critics think more Americans will watch the show this season than ever before.

"24" stars Kiefer Sutherland (pictured) as Jack Bauer, an anti-terrorism agent of the United States government. Jack Bauer has fought nuclear threats, suicide bombers and kidnappers who have seized people he loves.

His work has resulted in the death of his wife and the end of his relationship with his daughter. It also places him in danger and in severe pain.

"24" is what is called a concept show. It uses one interesting artistic device. Each episode covers one hour in Jack Bauer’s life. And the episodes are all connected. So a full season of “24” completes one twenty-four hour day.

Early on, some critics thought the twenty-four hour idea would get tiresome. But, the show continues to be popular among critics and viewers.

"24" deals with current issues and often disputed ones as well. For example, the use of torture as a method for gaining information is a major subject on the show. Other subjects are religious freedom and constitutional rights in the United States. And almost every episode includes some kind of disloyalty or violating a trust.

Imagine Television, Real Time Productions and Fox Television jointly produce "24." The show has received many honors, including an Emmy award last year for Outstanding Drama Series. Keifer Sutherland also received a two thousand six Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. He had been nominated every year since the show began.

Here is a tense moment from "24":

ANNOUNCER: "The following takes place between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m."

MILO PRESSMAN: "[Phone rings.] Pressman."

JACK BAUER: "They've dumped the car. They must have switched vehicles."

MILO PRESSMAN: "From the underpass they could've merged directly onto any one of six local roads or highways. There's just no way of tracking them without knowing exactly which vehicle they're in."

JACK BAUER: "Damn it, Milo. They could be anywhere. Just find them and get back to me."

Norah Jones' New Album

Jazz and pop singer Norah Jones is the top-selling female artist of the twenty-first century. She has sold more than thirty million records around the world. Now the twenty-seven-year-old singer has released her third album, called "Not Too Late." Faith Lapidus tells us about it.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Norah Jones has a voice and singing style that is all her own. It is warm and emotional. Her first two albums were extremely popular. "Come Away With Me" was released in two thousand two. It sold ten million copies in the United States alone. Her second album, "Feels Like Home," was released two years later. Both albums include beautiful songs about love and relationships. Jones or members of her band wrote a few of the songs.

Norah Jones' third album, "Not Too Late," is different from her first two. She wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album. The songs are sadder and more serious. This one is called "Thinking About You." It is about ending a relationship.

(MUSIC)

"Not Too Late" is also different from Jones' first two albums because it includes songs that make political statements. This song expresses her unhappiness with the results of the presidential election of two thousand four. It is called "My Dear Country."

(MUSIC)

Norah Jones plays piano and guitar on her latest album. She recorded the songs for the album in a studio in her home in New York City. We leave you now with a song from "Not Too Late" that sounds like the music of New Orleans. It is called "Sinkin' Soon."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Shelley Gollust, Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who also was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

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

VOASE0214_The Making of a Nation

14 February 2007

US History: Conflict in Korea Spills Over Into Eisenhower's Presidency
The United States and 20 other United Nations members were providing troops, equipment and medical aid to South Korea.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Doug Johnson.

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)

Today we tell about the Korean War.

VOICE ONE:

President Dwight Eisenhower

The biggest problem facing Dwight Eisenhower when he became president of the United States was the continuing conflict in Korea.

Eisenhower was elected in November nineteen fifty-two. At the time, the United States had been helping South Korea fight North Korea for more than two years. About twenty other members of the United Nations were helping South Korea, too. They provided troops, equipment, and medical aid.

VOICE TWO:

During the last days of the American presidential election campaign, Eisenhower announced that he would go to Korea. He thought such a trip would help end the war. Eisenhower kept his promise. He went to Korea after he won the election, but before he was sworn-in as president. Yet there was no permanent peace in Korea until July of the next year, nineteen fifty-three.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The war started when North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Both sides believed they should control all of the country.

The dream of a united Korea was a powerful one.

From nineteen-ten until World War Two, Japan ruled Korea. In an agreement at the end of the war, Soviet troops occupied the North. They accepted the surrender of Japanese troops and set up a military government. American troops did the same in the South. The border dividing north and south was the geographic line known as the thirty-eighth parallel.

VOICE TWO:

A few years later, the United Nations General Assembly ordered free elections for all of Korea. With U.N. help, the South established the Republic of Korea. Syngman Rhee was elected the first president.

On the other side of the thirty-eighth parallel, however, the Soviets refused to permit U.N. election officials to enter the North. They established a communist government there, called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Il-sung was named premier.

VOICE ONE:

Five years after the end of World War Two, the United States had withdrawn almost all its troops from South Korea. It was not clear if America would defend the South from attack. South Korea had an army. But it was smaller and less powerful than the North Korean army.

North Korea decided the time was right to invade. On June twenty-fifth, nineteen fifty, North Korean soldiers crossed the thirty-eighth parallel.

The U.N. Security Council demanded that they go back. Two days later, it approved military support for South Korea. The Soviet delegate had boycotted the meeting that day. If he had been present, the resolution would have been defeated.

VOICE TWO:

The U.N. demand did not stop the North Korean troops. They continued to push south. In a week, they were on the edge of the capital, Seoul.

America's president at that time, Harry Truman, ordered air and sea support for South Korea. A few days later, he announced that American ground forces would be sent, too. Truman wanted an American to command U.N. troops in Korea. The U.N. approved his choice: General Douglas MacArthur.

VOICE ONE:

Week after week, more U.N. forces arrived. Yet by August, they had been pushed back to the Pusan perimeter. This was a battle line around an area near the port city of Pusan in the southeast corner of Korea.

North Korean forces tried to break through the Pusan perimeter. They began a major attack August sixth. They lost many men, however. By the end of the month, they withdrew.

VOICE TWO:

The next month, general MacArthur directed a surprise landing of troops in South Korea. They arrived at the port of Inchon on the northwest coast.

The landing was extremely dangerous. The daily change in the level of the sea was as much as nine meters. The boats had to get close to shore and land at high tide. If they waited too long, the water level would drop, and they would be trapped in the mud with little protection. The soldiers on the boats would be easy targets.

VOICE ONE:

American troops storming the beach at Inchon on September 15, 1950

The landing at Inchon was successful. The additional troops quickly divided the North Korean forces, which had been stretched from north to south. At the same time, UN air and sea power destroyed the northern army's lines of communication.

On October first, South Korean troops moved into North Korea. They captured the capital, Pyongyang. Then they moved toward the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. China warned against moving closer to the border. General MacArthur ordered the troops to continue their attacks. He repeatedly said he did not believe that China would enter the war in force.

VOICE TWO:

He was wrong. Several hundred thousand Chinese soldiers crossed into North Korea in October and November. Still, General MacArthur thought the war would be over by the Christmas holiday, December twenty-fifth.

This was not to happen. The U.N. troops were forced to withdraw from Pyongyang. And, by the day before Christmas, there had been a huge withdrawal by sea from the coastal city of Hungnam.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In the first days of nineteen fifty-one, the North Koreans recaptured Seoul. The U.N. troops withdrew about forty kilometers south of the city. They reorganized and, two months later, took control of Seoul again.

Then the war changed. The two sides began fighting along a line north of the thirty-eighth parallel. They exchanged control of the same territory over and over again. Men were dying, but no one was winning. The cost in lives was huge.

VOICE TWO:

General MacArthur had wanted to cross into China and drop bombs on Manchuria. He also had wanted to use Nationalist Chinese troops against the communists.

President Truman feared that these actions might start another world war. He would not take this chance. When MacArthur disagreed with his policies in public, Truman dismissed him.

VOICE ONE:

In June, nineteen fifty-one, the Soviet delegate to the United Nations proposed a ceasefire for Korea. Peace talks began, first at Kaesong, then at Panmunjom. By November, hope was strong for a settlement. But negotiators could not agree about several issues, including the return of prisoners. The U.N. demanded that prisoners of war be permitted to choose if they wanted to go home.

The different issues could not be resolved after more than a year. Finally, in October nineteen fifty-two, the peace talks were suspended.

VOICE TWO:

Fighting continued during the negotiations. As it did, President Truman lost support. This was one reason why he decided not to run for re-election. The new president, Dwight Eisenhower, took office in January nineteen fifty-three.

Eisenhower had campaigned to end the war. He was willing to use severe measures to do this. Years later, he wrote that he secretly threatened to expand the war and use nuclear weapons if the Soviets did not help restart the peace talks.

VOICE ONE:

Such measures were not necessary. In a few months, North Korea accepted an earlier U.N. offer to trade prisoners who were sick or wounded. The two sides finally signed a peace treaty on July twenty-seventh, nineteen fifty-three.

The treaty provided for the exchange of about ninety thousand prisoners of war. It also permitted prisoners to choose if they wanted to go home.

VOICE TWO:

The war in Korea damaged almost all of the country. As many as two million people may have died, including many civilians.

After the war, the United States provided hundreds of thousands of soldiers to help the South guard against attack from the north.

Half a century has passed since the truce. Yet Korea is still divided. And many of the same issues still threaten the Korean people, and the world.

(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.

VOASE0214_Education Report

14 February 2007

Helping Foreign Students in the US Feel at Home
A college's international student office is a good place to start getting to know the country. Part 24 of our Foreign Student Series.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A college is more than just classrooms and laboratories. It represents a working community with a population that can be greater than that of many towns. And college communities have to deal with many of the same issues and problems as the general society around them.

Indiana University in Bloomington

All this can be a little scary, especially if a student is new not only to a college but also to the country. This week in our Foreign Student Series, the subject is college support services for students who come to the United States.

The school we have chosen for our example this week is Indiana University in Bloomington. About ten percent of its almost forty thousand students are from other countries.

The Office of International Services at Indiana University provides assistance to foreign students and scholars. For example, the office organizes a special week-long conference for new foreign students before the start of each semester.

The conference is called the New International Student Orientation. It provides information about classes, social clubs and health services. New foreign students also take placement examinations and a required English language test.

Also, the office of international student services organizes programs to help foreign students feel more at home in the United States. For example, the office works with a group called Bloomington Worldwide Friendship. This group helps international students at the university meet and get to know people who live in Bloomington.

The university also has advisers who explain the rules of student life and try to help international students feel at ease.

Most American colleges and universities have a similar office for students from other countries. These offices can help guide students through the steps to come to the United States. Later, they can provide support so the students become involved in school life and make American friends.

The job is not always easy when students want to spend their free time with friends from their own country or group. But an international student office is one of the best places to start getting to know a new country and its people.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series is available on the Internet -- with MP3 files and transcripts -- at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.

VOASE0213_Health Report

13 February 2007

Study Warns of Heart Disease Danger From Dirty Air
Some experts say findings from 65,000 American women show that current pollution limits may not be strong enough.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A woman wears a face mask to protect her from polluted air in Lanzhou, China, in December

A new study shows that air pollution may be more of a risk for heart disease than scientists have thought. The research involved more than sixty-five thousand women in the United States.

Kristin Miller, a doctoral student at the University of Washington in Seattle, was the lead author of the study. She says the study showed that disease risk was related not just to which city a woman lived in, but also where in the city.

The study found that estimates of the effects of air pollution were often larger within cities than between cities. Yet averages between cities have served as the main measure of the long-term effects of pollutants.

The new findings lead some experts to suggest that current pollution limits may not be strong enough.

The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. The scientists examined rates of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events in women with long-term exposure to air pollution. The cardiovascular system is the heart and all of the passages that carry blood throughout the body.

The study involved women over the age of fifty who had no sign of cardiovascular disease at the start of the research. The study followed the women for as long as nine years to see how many developed cardiovascular problems.

The researchers used information from a government project, the Women's Health Initiative.

The researchers also examined levels of fine particles in the air in thirty-six areas across the country. That information came from the Environmental Protection Agency. The extremely small particles come from industrial smoke and traffic along with things like wood-burning fireplaces in houses.

In the study, every ten-microgram increase in pollution was linked to a twenty-four percent increase in the risk of a cardiovascular event. But it was related to a seventy-six percent increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

But just how do particles in the air damage the cardiovascular system? Douglas Dockery and Peter Stone at Harvard University in Massachusetts offer some theories in a related report. They say the particles may cause the lungs to swell and release chemicals from the pollutants into the blood. The chemicals then could damage the heart.

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

VOASE0213_Explorations

13 February 2007

Press Freedom: Is It Alive and Well in the World?
Last year was the deadliest year for reporters in more than ten years.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about freedom of the press around the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Reporters in Harare, Zimbabwe, march last year as part of World Press Freedom Day

In a perfect democracy, the news media serve as an independent observer of government and society. Without the media, citizens would remain uninformed about public officials and their behavior. However, in many countries, corrupt individuals and groups repress, jail or even kill journalists who report information about the misuse of political power.

In nineteen forty-eight, the United Nations approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One part of it says everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression and to hold opinions without interference. Also included is the freedom to seek, receive and share information and ideas through any media, including across national borders.

VOICE TWO:

Reporters Without Borders studies press freedom around the world and releases a report every December. The group said last year was the most dangerous year for reporters in more than ten years. Two thousand six had the highest number of deaths of reporters in one year since nineteen ninety-four. Reporters Without Borders said eighty-one journalists were killed for reasons related to their jobs. At least thirty-two media assistants were killed while performing their jobs or expressing their opinion. Fifty-six journalists were kidnapped during the year.

VOICE ONE:

An Iraqi reporter walks past a wall of photos honoring Iraqi journalists who have lost their lives in the war

Iraq was the world's most dangerous country for the media for the fourth straight year. Sixty-four journalists and media assistants were killed there last year. The second most dangerous country for the media was Mexico. Nine journalists were killed there last year while reporting stories about the drug trade and social violence. The Philippines was third on the list with six journalists killed. Reporters Without Borders also noted attacks on journalists in Russia, Turkmenistan, Lebanon and Bangladesh. It said thirty Internet Web writers were arrested and held for several weeks in countries including China, Syria and Iran.

VOICE TWO:

Vincent Brossel works for Reporters Without Borders. He told VOA that one very important story did not get enough attention -- the shooting death of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Politkovskaya worked for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. She was well known for her reporting on Chechnya. She was also an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his policies in the rebellious Russian territory. A report by Politkovskaya on torture in Chechnya was to be published just two days before her murder in Moscow in October.

A mourner holds a picture of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya during a gathering in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin in November

Mister Brossel accused Mister Putin of not doing enough to punish Politkovskaya’s killers. Mister Brossel also noted that twenty-one other journalists have been killed since President Putin has been in power in Russia. And he said those responsible have not been put in jail.

VOICE ONE:

Journalists around the world face many risks while trying to do their jobs. Independent reporter Madi Ceesay says Gambia is one of the worst nations in Africa for the press. Mister Ceesay was arrested and jailed in two thousand and two thousand six in his native Gambia. He said his arrest sent a message of fear to other Gambian reporters. He told VOA that Gambian officials consider independent journalists linked to political enemies instead of voices for the oppressed. Mister Ceesay was in the United States recently to receive a Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Christopher Simpson is a journalism professor at American University in Washington, D.C. He told VOA that the United States is generally safe for journalists. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution includes the statement that Congress shall make no laws that reduce or limit freedom of speech or freedom of the press.

Experts say that in a democracy like the United States, the press has two jobs. One job is to inform the public. The other is to observe and investigate government activities. This relationship between the government and the press can be difficult or even hostile at times. Issues of national security often cause increased tensions between the media and government.

VOICE ONE:

Modern technology has changed the way journalists cover the news. Information now spreads quickly because of the Internet computer system and satellite television. As a result, public opinion has changed about what news is and how reporters do their jobs.

Jim Van Nostrand is an editor for McClatchy Interactive. It is part of the McClatchy Company, one of the top newspaper businesses in the United States. Mister Van Nostrand says the old newspaper model provided only one-way communication. The newspaper printed a story and the people read it. Now, people can play a part in the reporting process. The power of the Internet is changing the way newspapers deliver their product and their relationship with readers. With the Internet, people can get news immediately. They can send comments and questions. They can help a news organization shape the way it reports the news.

VOICE TWO:

But modern technology has also created problems for the news industry. In recent years, the number of newspapers sold in the United States has been dropping by as much as two percent every year. More and more people are getting information from the Internet. Print news organizations, especially newspapers, are seeing their profits drop and their readership disappear. Most people either love or hate how technology is changing the news industry. Yet experts agree these changes have helped strengthen freedom, democracy and human rights. This is because societies now have more information to consider.

VOICE ONE:

Jeffrey Dvorkin is with the Committee of Concerned Journalists. He told VOA that governments sometimes change policies because of news on the Internet. For example, in two thousand five, a video on the Internet showed police abusing an ethnic Chinese woman detained in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The incident had an international effect. Malaysia’s home minister launched an investigation after China expressed concern.

VOICE TWO:

Some experts say the spread of information over the Internet and by satellite television has also helped strengthen human rights movements. Professor Simpson told VOA that non-governmental groups are collecting and broadcasting information about people’s lives to show extreme poverty and police abuse.

Some experts believe this is why the Internet is restricted in places like China, and repressive governments ban satellite television. Still, new satellite television stations in several countries show that the world is ready for more news and information. Professor Simpson says the expansion of information helps increase democracy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Satellite television and other modern technology to send information cost a lot of money. This is one reason why media ownership has changed in the United States. More and more news organizations are coming under the control of a small group of huge mass media companies.

Fifty years ago, many American newspapers and broadcast stations were owned by local companies. This is no longer the case, said Jeffrey Dvorkin of the Committee of Concerned Journalists. Now, five large corporations own most of the news media in the United States. And, he said the corporations are under continuous pressure to guarantee large profits to their shareholders.

VOICE TWO:

The news industry, like any other, must aim to make profits. But, Mister Dvorkin questioned whether this push for greater profitability in the news industry has affected the quality of journalism. Technology has provided more choices of where to get news. But, Mister Dvorkin noted there are also fewer independent organizations doing independent reporting than ever before.

He also said the news media are special because they have an important responsibility in a democracy. He said journalism should inform people about issues that concern them as citizens of their community, their country and the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

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