VOASE0321_Education Report

21 March 2007

Get A Military Education At the United States Military Academy at West Point
A Look At The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, which can have up to 60 foreign students at any one time.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week, in our series for students who want to study in the United States, we tell about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Cadet basic training

West Point is a four-year school in New York State that educates future Army officers. The students are called cadets. They do not have to pay for their educations. But they must agree to serve on active duty in the Army for at least five years after they graduate.

A young man or woman must be nominated to the academy, usually by a federal or state lawmaker. Nominees also must satisfy the entrance requirements. These include being in excellent physical condition and getting good grades in high school.

About four thousand American cadets are at West Point this year. In addition, fifty-nine cadets from foreign countries are attending.

These international students are nominated by their home governments. They also must satisfy the physical and educational requirements. And they must do well on the TOEFL, the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

Home governments may have to pay up to sixty thousand dollars a year for each student they send to West Point. Among the countries with cadets at the academy this year are Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.

Each year, the United States Defense Department invites countries to nominate students to West Point and to the Navy and Air Force academies. This year, one hundred fifty-nine countries were asked to nominate students for the next school year. Not all countries take part in the program.

We spoke to Major Robert Romans, chief of the international affairs division at West Point, and Major Michael McBride, head of the international cadet program. They say up to sixty foreign cadets at any one time can attend the academy. And they say that interested students must seek information about the program at their local American Embassy. The embassy's Defense Cooperation Office will know how the student can be nominated.

The West Point Web site provides some information about the international cadet program and its requirements. The address is admissions.u-s-m-a.e-d-u.

Our Foreign Student Series continues next week. Scripts are available on the Internet at voaspecialenglish.com.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

Democrats Face Uncertain Vote on War Funding Measure

By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill 20 March 2007

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Democrats in the House of Representatives face uncertainty as they proceed with plans to bring legislation to the floor later this week to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and provide billions in domestic and homeland security needs. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, Democrats need to prevent defections in their own ranks, as they face stiff resistance from minority Republicans to the measure.

A US soldier keeps watch in a Shi'ite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq

Publicly, Democratic leaders continue to express optimism about the upcoming vote, but a different picture emerges when one looks behind the scenes.

The Democratic measure, which totals about $124 billion, with just over $95 billion for war needs, calls for a withdrawal of forces no later than September of 2008, and would require the president to certify that any troops he would deploy to Iraq before then be fully trained and equipped.

For weeks, leaders have had to contend with demands from outspoken war critics on the left of the party who would like to see a timetable that sets an earlier date to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Still others, representing the conservative wing of the party, continue to be wary of setting any certain date.

In a speech on the floor of the House marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, House majority leader Steny Hoyer urged bipartisan support for the measure.

Hoyer challenged Republicans who have disparaged the Democratic legislation.

"The Iraq war is already longer than our participation in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War," he noted. "The specter of five-and-one-half years in Iraq, if our troops remain deployed until August 31 of 2008, can hardly be called a precipitous cut and run."

Minority Leader John Boehner and other Republican leaders predict a united front in their party against the measure.

"We will oppose these efforts to hamstring our generals, our troops on the ground, in their effort, and in their mission, of succeeding in Iraq," said Mr. Boehner.

Republicans issued a statement Tuesday calling the Democratic bill a "political charade" and predicting that it would never be approved in the Senate.

Uncertainty in the Democratic caucus about Thursday's vote was evident in a Tuesday news conference.

Reporters repeatedly pressed Congressman Jim Clyburn and Rahm Emanuel, the Democratic whip and caucus chairman respectively, on how confident they are in getting the 218 votes needed for passage:

CLYBURN: "I would say we are closer to 218 today than we were yesterday, and we will be closer to it tomorrow than we were today."

EMANUEL: "I have no doubt that we will have the votes that we need to pass this legislation."

In the background, Democratic leaders have been busy fighting for every vote possible, amid indications that a group of the most outspoken anti-war Democrats will vote against the bill.

Brian Van Riper

Just 17 Republicans crossed party lines to support a recent Democratic non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's troop surge in Iraq, and only a few are expected to support the Iraq funding measure.

Underscoring the spectrum of views in the House, Democratic and Republican lawmakers went before the Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday to detail more than 30 bills regarding Iraq introduced since January.

John Bruhns

In advance of Thursday's House debate on Iraq-Afghanistan funding, five Iraq war veterans came to the Capitol building to express their support for the Democratic measure, Brian Van Riper and John Bruhns.

RIPER: "We can't sit back as Americans any longer and allow our military to be dragged further into Iraq, what is ultimately becoming a fruitless mission. I don't see an end anywhere in sight."

BRUHNS: "I think it is imperative that we tell the Iraqis that we need benchmarks, we need them to show us that the training wheels have been taken off and our troops aren't carrying the full responsibility."

In a statement marking Monday's fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush urged Congress to approve Iraq-Afghanistan bill, in his words, without strings and without delay, and threatens to veto the legislation as currently written.

Constitutional Showdown Emerging in Attorneys Scandal

By Deborah Tate Capitol Hill 20 March 2007

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President Bush is urging majority Democrats in Congress to accept his offer to allow congressional investigators to interview key aides in private but not under oath about the White House decision to fire eight federal prosecutors. But Democrats are insisting testimony be sworn and in public, as VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

President Bush is warning Democrats against seeking a constitutional showdown on the issue of the dismissals of the U.S. attorneys.

"Initial response by Democrats unfortunately show they are more interested in scoring political points than in learning the facts," said President Bush. "It would be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show-trials, when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents available."

Bush said if the staff of a president operated in constant fear of being hauled before various committees to discuss internal deliberations, the president would not receive candid advice, and the American people would be ill served.

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove

White House lawyer Fred Fielding, in a letter to members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees probing the matter, said he would make available the president's top political advisor, Karl Rove, and former White House lawyer Harriet Miers, for questioning in private and not under oath.

But the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, rejected the offer, saying testimony should be sworn and on the record. In a written statement, he said that is the formula for true accountability.

His comments were echoed by Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat:

"It seems as if the president wants to appear to be cooperative but not really cooperate," said Charles Schumer.

Democrats are looking into whether the firing of the U.S. attorneys was politically motivated.

Mr. Bush told reporters nothing improper was done in dismissing them. But the attorneys who lost their jobs argue that political considerations were behind their ouster.

The controversy has prompted calls from Democrats, and even a few Republicans, for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.

The president reiterated his support for Gonzales.

Earlier, the Senate voted 92 to two to end the Attorney General's ability to appoint U.S. Attorneys without Senate confirmation - a power that was granted to the executive branch in a provision included in the Patriot Act. The measure still needs approval by the House of Representatives.

Congress Probes FBI Abuse of Power in Gaining Personal Data

By Peter Fedynsky Washington 20 March 2007

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U.S. legislators on Tuesday heard first hand the findings of an internal government report, which revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, abused its powers in obtaining personal information during investigations of suspected terrorists. VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports an FBI official acknowledged the revelations have damaged the agency's credibility.

Nearly 80 minutes into the hearing, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers banged the gavel to restore order after a member of the audience briefly disrupted the proceedings.

The comment "We don't trust the FBI!" underscored what the FBI's General Counsel, Valerie Caproni, told the committee earlier in the hearing - that the bureau needs American public support to fight terrorism, particularly in neighborhoods susceptible to radical influence. "We need people in those communities to call us when they hear or see something that looks amiss. We know that we reduce the probability of that call immeasurably, if we lose the confidence of any part of the American public," she said.

That trust, however, has been eroded amid revelations that the FBI may have misused so-called National Security Letters to obtain private information about people, without getting prior approval from a judge or a grand jury.

Controls over how the letters are used was loosened under the so-called Patriot Act, a controversial law passed by Congress to hunt for terrorists in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

FBI officials Valerie Caproni (l) and Glenn Fine

In his testimony, Inspector General Glenn Fine told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI dramatically increased the number of National Security letters in violation of statues, and policies established by the bureau and the U.S. Attorney General. But Fine said the FBI did not intentionally violate the law. "We believe the misuses and problems that we found generally were the problem of mistakes, carelessness, confusion, sloppiness, lack of training, lack of adequate guidance and lack of adequate oversight," he said.

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, however, noted that the FBI was aware of the abuses as early as 2004. The Inspector General conceded that his investigation did not inquire about the actions of individuals. He said it would be appropriate for the FBI to learn exactly who was doing what, when and why, and to hold people accountable for any violations.

Committee member Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat and critic of the Patriot Act, said the FBI abuses could be attributed to the law itself. "It is not enough to mandate that the FBI fix internal management problems and record-keeping, because the statute itself authorizes the unchecked collection of information on innocent Americans," he said.

But Republican Lamar Smith of Texas said the problem is due to poor implementation. "It is clear from the report that these deficiencies are the result of the poor implementation and administration of national security letter authority. In other words, the problem is enforcement of the law, not the law itself," he said.

Members of the Judiciary Committee warned the FBI that it could lose its expanded surveillance authority, if the bureau fails to correct its mistakes.

Pakistan's Leader Faces Political Crisis Over Judge's Removal

By Gary Thomas Washington 20 March 2007

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The abrupt removal of Pakistan's chief justice has sparked a political firestorm around President Pervez Musharraf. Critics charge the president's decision to remove the judge was politically motivated. As VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the opposition, which has been sidelined during General Musharraf's rule, sees some political opportunity in the crisis during an election year.

Pervez Musharraf

Analysts say President Musharraf's suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has presented the Pakistani leader with his biggest political challenge since he took power in a military coup in 1999.

Husain Haqqani, who has been an advisor to two former Pakistani prime ministers, says the president's recent actions have reawakened a sleepy political opposition that had largely been sidelined during President Musharraf's rule - and done so in an election year.

"What he did not realize was that, after seven years in power, the honeymoon is over," said Husain Haqqani. "There are many, many, many causes of resentment, and this has become the lightening rod for those many causes of resentment."

Pakistani lawyers and supporters surround the sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry (2nd R) upon his arrival for a hearing at the Supreme Court in Islamabad, 16 Mar 2007

Chief Justice Chaudhry was suspended from office March 9 for alleged abuse of authority.

Critics claim the suspension was because he questioned the reach of the government's authority, especially with regard to arbitrary detention by the intelligence service.

The government denies any political motivation, but has not made public the charges against Justice Chaudhry.

The removal sparked demonstrations, and police detained hundreds of protesting lawyers and opposition activists.

Employees of Geo TV sits beside the window damaged by riot police in Islamabad, 16 Mar 2007

Seven judges and a deputy attorney general have resigned in protest. A police raid on GEO-TV, an independent television station, sparked further outrage in the streets.

In a lengthy interview with GEO-TV late Monday, President Musharraf said the situation may have been mishandled, but he defended Chief Justice Chaudhry's suspension. He pledged to hold what he called fair and transparent parliamentary elections later this year as scheduled, and denied that he would use the army to impose a state of emergency.

"Elections will be held on time. This is my assurance to the nation. [State of] emergency: the army will never be used. This is not their job," said President Musharraf.

"We need to protect ourselves from any negative fallout. Inshallah [as God wills], we will protect ourselves, we will go forward on the course, which is elections this year, when the five-year tenure of the assemblies is completed. I am firmly resolved to do that, and I will do it," he continued.

President Musharraf's term is also up, and he is expected to seek another term from the outgoing parliament and provincial assemblies, which together form an electoral college to choose the president.

Director James Dobbins, of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation, believes the president can ride out the current storm, but adds the clamor for a return to civilian rule will not go away.

"I think, at this stage, one would say it is likely that he will be able to weather it," he said. "The question is whether he draws the right conclusions and begins to move back to the resumption of civilian rule and the strengthening of the rule of law in his country."

Waiting in the wings to see how the crisis develops in this election year are two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Both live in exile, and face arrest on corruption charges if they return to Pakistan.

The Supreme Judicial Council was to hear Justice Chaudhry's case Tuesday, but the hearing has been moved to early next month. The Council, which hears complaints of misconduct by high-ranking judges, could confirm his removal or throw out the charges and reinstate him.

Analysts say Justice Chaudhry's reinstatement would politically weaken President Musharraf, embolden the opposition and strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

Criticism Rises of African Leaders' Silence on Zimbabwe

By Scott Bobb Johannesburg 20 March 2007

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The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has criticized the South African government for failing to use its economic clout to pressure the Zimbabwean government for change. The announcement comes amid renewed protest in South Africa against what is perceived as the silence of African leaders over recent police abuses against opposition leaders in the country. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.

Archbishop Pius Ncube (file photo)

Zimbabwe's Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube Tuesday said South Africa is in a good position to put pressure on Zimbabwe and could force the government to change through sanctions if necessary.

But he said in a statement the South African government is merely watching.

The announcement came as a civic group of exiled Zimbabwean dissidents in South Africa criticized African leaders for remaining silent about the incidents which have brought condemnation from Europe and the United States.

Several dozen opposition leaders ten days ago were beaten while in police custody after they tried to gather for what was termed a prayer rally. One person died in the incident and several others were hospitalized. The group says dozens of other opposition activists have since been arrested.

An analyst with South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, Chris Moroleng, says the confrontation between the Mugabe government and its opponents has entered a new phase.

"They [authorities] are not waiting for incidents to occur but they are preemptively attacking the opposition and civil society before a direct confrontation takes place," he said.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen in bed at a local hospital in Harare, 14 Mar 2007

He says security agents now are also directly targeting the opposition leadership.

The Zimbabwe government accuses the opposition of instigating violence in the country.

President Robert Mugabe has remained defiant in the face of international criticism and indicated in a recent address to members of his ZANU-PF party that he is prepared to continue the crackdown if the protests continue.

"They [the opposition will get arrested and will get bashed by the police," said President Mugabe.

Defenders of South Africa's policy say behind the scenes diplomacy is far more effective than public posturing. And broad economic sanctions would hurt primarily the Zimbabwean people who already are suffering from unemployment, inflation and shortages of food and services.

Analyst Moroleng says there is a growing feeling that African leaders should take stronger public positions even if they do not take punitive measures against Zimbabwe.

"What they should do is not intervene or engage with the Zimbabwean government in a manner that gives a perception of their support of ZANU-PF or of President Mugabe," he said.

He cites as positive steps the recent expressions of concern by the government of South Africa and by the government of Ghana which currently chairs the African Union.

And he notes that the security group of the Southern African Development Community is to meet in a few days to discuss the situation.

WWF Says World's Mightiest Rivers Are at Risk

By Anjana Pasricha New Delhi 20 March 2007

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Bangladeshi woman clean dirty polythene shopping bags in polluted waters of Buriganga river in Dhaka, 19 Mar 2007

The World Wide Fund for Nature says some of the world's mightiest rivers are dying, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people. The conservation group has identified 10 top rivers, and called for governments to step up efforts to preserve them. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, where the WWF issued its study.

They were once mighty freshwater bodies on whose banks human civilizations were born. But now, many of the world's great rivers are threatened by over-extraction of water, climate change, construction of large dams, and pollution.

The World Wide Fund for Nature says rivers at risk are found on almost every continent - the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Ganges and Indus in Asia, the Danube in Europe, the Plata in South America, the Rio Grande in North America, the Nile in Africa, and the Murray-Darling in Australia.

The conservation group says most rivers no longer run freely from source to sea. It says dams are altering their natural flow, industrial effluents have polluted their waters, and 20 percent of the world's 10,000 freshwater species have become extinct.

The threats vary. For example, the Salween in South East Asia is under pressure due to damming, while the Danube is threatened by the dredging and straightening of banks to ease shipping. The Rio Grande in the United States and the Ganges in South Asia are falling victim to over-extraction of water for irrigation and domestic consumption. The Indus faces a threat from climate change because of its high dependency on glacier water.

The WWF's coordinator for freshwater policy, Vidya Moni, outlined some of the problems in New Delhi.

"Large infrastructure was a big threat to the river Nile, there was a big threat to river Danube in terms of pollution which was extensively caused because of industrialization, river Yangtze in China is over-polluted, with coal mining happening on the fringes," she said.

The report says communities living on riverbanks are the worst affected, threatened with loss of their water-based livelihoods, such as fishing and agriculture.

Gurdev Singh is from Punjab state in northern India. He has witnessed the severe degradation in recent decades of the Ganges, which flows by his village.

Singh says the water was once so clear, it was possible to see fish swimming in the river. Now, industrial effluents have polluted the river severely. As a result, crop yields have been reduced, and animals drinking the water turn sick.

The secretary-general of WWF-India, Ravi Singh, has called for governments to radically step up efforts to preserve freshwater sources, and treat river conservation as part of national security and economic policy.

"The risks that we see on these issues are going to multiply unless we change the way we are set today. And these risks are such that [they] are going to affect communities, they are going to effect biodiversity, wild life, climate," said Singh.

WWF says 40 percent of the world's population now lives in river basins that are under stress.

VOASE0320_Health Report

20 March 2007

American Drug Officials Say Some Sleep Drugs May Do More Than Make You Sleep
Food and Drug Administration Orders Drug Makers to Include New Warnings on Some Sleep Medicines.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Representative Patrick Kennedy speaks about health care in 2006, one week after he was sentenced for driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has ordered companies to place strong new warnings on thirteen drugs that treat sleep disorders. It also ordered the makers of the sleeping pills to provide information for patients explaining how to safely use the drugs.

Last Wednesday, the FDA announced that some of these drugs can have unexpected and dangerous effects. These include the risk of life-threatening allergic reactions. They also include rare incidents of strange behavior. These include people cooking food, eating and even driving while asleep. The patients later had no memory of doing these activities while asleep.

Last year, a member of the United States Congress said he had a sleep-driving incident. Patrick Kennedy, a representative from Rhode Island, crashed his car into a security barrier near the building where lawmakers meet. The accident happened in the middle of the night and no one was hurt. Mister Kennedy said he had earlier taken a sleep medicine. He said he was also being treated with a stomach sickness drug that can cause sleepiness.

The Food and Drug Administration did not say in its announcement how many cases of sleep-driving it has documented. However, the New York Times reported last year about people who said they had strange sleep events after taking the drug Ambien. Some reported sleep-driving and sleep-walking. Others said they found evidence after waking in the morning that they had cooked food or eaten in their sleep. But they had no memory of carrying out the activities.

A Food and Drug Administration official says that these serious side effects of sleep disorder drugs appear to be rare. But, he also said there are probably more cases than are reported. He said the agency believes the risk of such behaviors could be reduced if people take the drugs as directed and do not drink alcohol while taking the drugs. The Food and Drug Administration has advised drug companies to carry out studies to investigate the problem.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Our reports and audio links can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. You can send a health question to special@voanews.com. Please remember to include your name and country. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE0320_Explorations

20 March 2007

Self-Taught Artists Around the World Create Powerful and Unusual Art
Outsider artists create visual examples of personal observations, invented worlds, and even severe mental conditions.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

Detail from a drawing by Adolf Wolfli from 1910

And I’m Barbara Klein with Explorations in VOA Special English. Today, we travel to several countries exploring the world of Outsider Art. This powerful form of creative expression usually involves art made outside the limits and rules of official culture.

Often, outsider artists have not been formally trained. They use their skills to create visual examples of personal observations, invented worlds, and even severe mental conditions.

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VOICE ONE:

The Outsider Art movement has many names and forms. Experts debate about the differences between terms such as Naïve Art, Visionary Art, Folk Art, Intuitive Art and Outsider Art. It would be impossible to explain the entire debate, so we will just tell a few stories about some great artists. The art itself will explain what is special about these similar movements.

VOICE TWO:

Mental health experts helped bring public attention to one form of outsider art. For example, in nineteen twenty-one, a Swiss doctor, Walter Morgenthaler published a book about the art of his patient, Adolf Wolfli. Mister Wolfli was one of the early outsider artists who received popular recognition. During his thirty-five years in a mental hospital in Switzerland, Mister Wolfli created twenty-five thousand pages of drawings and stories.

Adolf Wolfli was a poor farm worker who was placed in a mental hospital in eighteen ninety-five. He soon started making color drawings that he organized into books. For example, around nineteen twelve he finished a nine-book series called “From the Cradle to the Grave.” In this work Mister Wolfli turned his sad childhood into a magical travel story. He included detailed drawings of maps, creatures, rulers, and even talking plants to help capture this imaginary world. In other books, he recreated and renamed the world and universe. He described this world using songs, poetry, and drawings.

VOICE ONE:

In the nineteen forties the French artist Jean Dubuffet discovered Mister Wolfli’s works and other artists like him. He called this kind of artwork “Art Brut” which is French for “raw art”. He described Art Brut as being created from pure and real creative forces. He saw outsider artwork as being free from the worries of competition and social acceptance that define the official art world. He argued that the official culture of museums, galleries and artists had lost its power. Art Brut, he said, was still true and powerful art. Jean Dubuffet soon started collecting this kind of art made by mental patients, prisoners and even children. In nineteen seventy-one he donated his personal collection of Art Brut to the city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

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VOICE TWO:

One way to learn more about this movement is to explore its artists. The American Folk Art Museum in New York City has several rich and inventive drawings by the self-taught artist Martin Ramirez. Mister Ramirez was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco in eighteen ninety-five. He left his wife and family in the nineteen twenties to find work in the American state of California.

But the United States was going through the economic problems of the Great Depression. As a result, Martin Ramirez was soon homeless and unable to find work. Police picked him up in Northern California in nineteen thirty-one. He was placed in a mental hospital and told he had a severe mental illness. He spent the next thirty-two years in mental hospitals.

VOICE ONE:

But there is a happier side to his tragic story. Mister Ramirez might not have been able to express himself in English, but he could do so with his art. In the late nineteen thirties, he started to collect small pieces of paper including food paper packaging, paper cups and book pages. On the large paper surfaces he pieced together, he drew pictures using colors he made from crushed pencils and crayons.

Detail from "Untitled (Caballero)" by Martin Ramirez. Made around 1950.

Over the years, Mister Ramirez drew hundreds of detailed pictures. The horse and rider is one subject he repeatedly drew. He also drew trains and tunnels. His strong repeating lines show depth and motion. Some of his trains come out of mountains, while others go over bridges.

In the early nineteen fifties, a professor of psychology and art named Tarmo Pasto visited Martin Ramirez. Professor Pasto recognized the artistic value of Mister Ramirez's drawings. He gave him art supplies and even organized exhibitions of his work. Most importantly, he made sure Ramirez's art survived and was not thrown away by hospital workers. The extraordinarily skillful and powerful drawings of Martin Ramirez are now a cultural treasure.

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VOICE TWO:

Many outsider artists have very successful careers during their lifetime. The artist known as Mister Imagination was born Gregory Warmack in nineteen forty-eight in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in a poor family. As a young man he made jewelry out of thrown away objects and sold it in local restaurants. One night he was robbed and shot twice in the stomach. At the hospital he fell into a coma and was unable to communicate.

Detail of "Button Cane with Self-Portrait" by Mr. Imagination

He had a dreamlike vision of a bright light. He later said it represented artists from the past entering his body and mind to guide him. He decided that art would be his life goal and soon changed his name to Mister Imagination. He makes artistic statues from bottle caps and other found objects. They have been shown in galleries and museums across the United States.

These include the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. This museum has more than four thousand pieces by what it calls "visionary" artists. About fifty works are shown at any one time in its permanent collection.

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VOICE ONE:

Ku Shu-Lan also enjoyed public recognition of her creations. She was born in nineteen nineteen in the Shaanxi area of China. Like many women in the area, Ku Shu-Lan was very skillful at the art of paper cutting. She often had visions of a magical goddess covered in flowers coming to her in a garden. She said the woman was herself, the paper-cutting goddess. Ku Shu-Lan lived with her husband in a cave carved from earth.

There was not much color in her life, so she made her own. She covered the walls of her home with her richly colored cutouts of this goddess. Some of her images have thousands of finely cut shapes. They are so detailed it is hard to believe the images are not painted. In nineteen ninety-six, Ku Shu-Lan fell and hurt herself. She was in a coma and was not able to communicate for several weeks. Her family started to plan for her burial. But, she later woke up. The first thing she asked for was a pair of scissors so she could start another paper creation.

VOICE TWO:

Ferdinand Cheval's Ideal Palace

Other outsider artists use their skills to create entire environments. For example, in Hauterives, France, you can see the Ideal Palace made by a mailman named Ferdinand Cheval. One day in eighteen seventy-nine while delivering mail Mister Cheval found a rock with a strange shape. He decided it was a sign that he needed to make his dream of being a building designer a reality. He spent the next thirty-four years of his life collecting stones and building a wildly imaginative palace building. Mister Cheval mixed periods and styles of Chinese, North African, and Northern European architecture. Today, people can visit this building to experience this mailman's hard work and creativity.

VOICE ONE:

Helen Martins created a whole other kind of magical environment in the town of Nieu-Bethesda, South Africa. In nineteen forty-five, Miz Martins found that the world looked gray and colorless. She decided she needed to brighten her life. So, at the age of forty-seven she started to glue crushed colored glass in special designs on every surface in her house. Then, she started making statues out of cement material and glass. She read poetry, religious books, and art history to find ideas for her creations. Helen Martins hired two workers to help her create her Owl House and the surrounding Camel Yard.

VOICE TWO:

By the time of her death in nineteen seventy-six, the yard had more than three hundred statues of animals and imaginary creatures. All of them face east toward the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Visitors can enjoy the brightness and color of the universe she created. Like Helen Martins, outsider artists add new life, imagination and skill to the world of creative expression.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein. You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

Rising Oil Prices Fuel Corn Tortilla Price Hike

By Peter Fedynsky Washington 20 March 2007

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Rising world oil prices have sparked interest in alternative fuels, such as ethanol, which can be produced from corn. This has raised demand for the grain, which, in turn, has increased its price as food. VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports that higher prices may not be the only cost associated with corn-based ethanol.

People march in Mexico City to protest recent tortilla price increases, 31 Jan 2007

In January, demonstrators in Mexico converged on the capital to protest the spiraling cost of tortillas, a Mexican national staple made from corn. In response, the country's president, Felipe Calderon, signed an agreement to stabilize tortilla prices.

President Calderon says the 13-point agreement is aimed at protecting Mexican families and the economy from further price hikes on corn.

Mexican tortilla prices have skyrocketed more than 700 percent since 1994. Experts say this is due in part to increased demand for corn to produce ethanol.

Speaking at a recent Capitol Hill news conference in Washington Daniel De La Torre Ugarte, from the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee, warned that price hikes are but one effect of rising demand for corn. He says it can have consequences for agriculture as well.

"Not only because it jeopardizes food security in many countries, but because, at the same time, it also creates a new incentive to expand production to areas that may not be suitable for the crop," said Daniel De La Torre Ugarte. "So, we are going to put undue pressure on natural resources to try to respond with a larger production for corn."

Ugarte is not opposed to bio-fuels as such. Nor is Alexandra Spieldoch, from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But Spieldoch warns of the consequences of over-reliance on a single crop.

"Corn mono-cropping is already eroding U.S. farmland," said Alexandra Spieldoch. "It's water intensive. It increases the amounts of herbicides. It's not considered viable in the long term."

Spieldoch adds, corn prices are not driven by ethanol alone. She says the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, as well as U.S. farm subsidies have forced Mexico - a traditional corn exporter - to import the commodity from the United States.

Former Mexican congressman Victor Quintana says NAFTA has favored corporate agribusiness at the expense of poor Mexican farmers, who then seek a better living across the border.

Quintana says that, for each 30-ton container of corn exported to Mexico, the United States receives two undocumented migrants from the Mexican countryside.

Philip Levy, a former member of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers and currently a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, acknowledges the displacement of many Mexican farmers. But he says free trade has helped Mexico as a whole.

"When you're talking about what's good or bad for a country in trade, you have to be careful, and we're seeing this in Mexico right now," he said. "If you are a producer of corn, no matter what the cause, high corn prices are welcome. You want it. If you are a consumer of corn, high corn prices are bad. And you don't want it."

Levy says the demand for ethanol could become so high that no American corn will be exported. This, he says, will encourage Mexican corn production to meet the demand for tortillas, so that, in the end, free trade will provide consumers with food and fuel. And Philip Levy agrees with critics who caution that the rush toward ethanol must not come at the expense of the environment.

Rice Presses Hamas to Renounce Violence

By David Gollust Washington 19 March 2007

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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the new Palestinian unity government should unequivocally renounce violence to gain international recognition and enter peace talks with Israel. Rice conferred with top European Union officials on the new Palestinian cabinet, whose leader has called for continued "resistance" against Israel. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration is taking a somewhat more conciliatory approach to the new Palestinian government, saying it will have contacts with non-Hamas members of the cabinet.

But it is standing by its insistence that a Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements if it is to expect international aid and be part of a regional peace process.

Condoleezza Rice (l) and Javier Solana at the State Department in Washington, DC

The formation of the new Palestinian government was a key issue in a day-long dialogue here by Secretary Rice and key officials of the European Union, including chief diplomat Javier Solana.

Solana expressed seeming eagerness by the Europeans to work with the new government, saying he hoped it would at least incrementally accept peacemaking terms of the international Middle East "Quartet," which includes the EU, Russia and the United Nations as well as the United States.

In the meantime, Solana suggested the actions of the unity government are more important that its rhetoric:

"We would like to continue working with the Palestinian people," said Javier Solana. "We are not going to let the Palestinian people down, and we hope very much to follow in great detail the facts, the deeds that this government behaves. It's much more important what they do that what they say at this point in time."

Secretary Rice however, seized on the declaration by the new government's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh - a holdover from the previous Hamas-led government - reaffirming the Palestinian's "right to resistance" against Israeli occupation:

"I'm not going to try and interpret what the right of resistance means," said Condoleezza Rice. "But I'll tell you, it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of resistance. So I would put the question to the Palestinian government and to its prime minister. Do you mean the right of resistance by violence? And let's get an answer."

The comments here came as the military wing of Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack Monday that wounded an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza strip, the first such act since the unity government took office Saturday.

Israel denounced the attack, saying it showed the new coalition was flouting the will of the international community, while the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack called the incident clearly disturbing and unacceptable.

Earlier McCormack confirmed that unlike the U.S. political boycott of the previous Hamas-led Palestinian government, the United States is prepared to talk to non-Hamas members of the new cabinet.

He mentioned in particular the new finance minister, Salam Fayyad of the mainstream Fatah party, a U.S. educated economist with whom the United States had close ties before the Hamas election victory early last year.

Rice also discussed the new Palestinian government in a telephone conference call Monday with other principals of the Quartet.

A formal Quartet statement is expected Tuesday, which McCormack said would reaffirm a collective ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government unless it met all its terms for dialogue.

Rice is due to begin another mission to the Middle East at the end of this week that will include separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and talks in Cairo with foreign ministers of moderate Arab states.

UN Chief 'Encouraged' By North Korea Talks

By Peter Heinlein United Nations 19 March 2007

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is encouraged by North Korea's apparent willingness to dismantle its nuclear weapons. In an exclusive VOA interview, Mr. Ban discussed his back stage role in the ongoing six-party talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Correspondent Peter Heinlein spoke to the secretary-general, and files this report.

Ban Ki-moon

As a former South Korean foreign minister, Mr. Ban is intimately familiar with the six-party talks involving South and North Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States. But since he took over as U.N. secretary-general in January, he no longer has an active role in the talks.

Nevertheless, Mr. Ban told VOA he is watching developments carefully, and working behind the scenes to ensure the success of efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

"I have been closely monitoring, in my capacity as secretary-general of the United Nations, using my experience and know-how dealing with the North Korea nuclear issue," said Mr. Ban. "It was a very encouraging development of the situation when the six parties have agreed on these nuclear issues and denuclearization process."

Mr. Ban says his efforts include close contacts with many of the principals in the six-party talks, which resumed Monday in Beijing.

"I have been trying my best, first, to facilitate the ongoing peace process," said U.N. secretary-general. "I met the chief negotiator of the United States."

"I have discussed this matter with Secretary of State, Dr. Rice, and many other senior officials of other governments," he added.

The secretary-general said he was pleased at the landmark 'aid-for disarmament' deal reached among the six parties February 13 in Beijing. According to the terms of that deal, North Korea agreed to dismantle all nuclear weapons and materials in return for economic and security assistance.

Secretary-General Ban called Pyongyang's decision to accept the deal 'good policy'.

"It's always good for the parties to engage in direct dialogue in a bilateral setting or a multilateral setting. And it is also encouraging that North Korea has decided to engage in dialogue. It was I think a good policy for them," Mr. Ban said.

The secretary-general also expressed satisfaction that the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, has also had good discussions with North Korean authorities about implementing the February 13th deal.

If followed, the agreement would lead to North Korea getting out of the nuclear weapons business entirely, normalizing relations with longtime enemies Japan and the United States, and possibly ending 53 years of stalemate that has existed since the Korean War ended without a peace agreement.

But the chief U.S. delegate at the six-party talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill recently cautioned against being overly optimistic about the early successes. He likened the process to a video game that gets more and more difficult as you move on to higher and higher levels.

Bush Says Fight in Iraq 'Can Be Won'

By Paula Wolfson White House 19 March 2007

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George W. Bush speech on Iraq war anniversary, 19 Mar. 2007

U.S. President George Bush Monday asked Americans for their continued support for U.S. efforts in Iraq. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports from the White House, where the president made a brief televised statement on the status of the war, now entering its fifth year.

President Bush says the latest security sweep in Baghdad and al-Anbar province is showing signs of progress. At the same time, he urges patience, saying success in Iraq will take months, not weeks.

"Fewer than half the troop reinforcements we are sending have arrived in Baghdad," Mr. Bush says. "The new strategy will need more time to take effect. And there will be good days, and there will be bad days."

In his brief statement marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, Mr. Bush acknowledged the toll the war has taken.

"Four years after this war began, the fight is difficult, but it can be won," Mr. Bush says. "It will be won, if we have the courage and the resolve to see it through."

Once again, the president took issue with moves in the Democratic party-controlled Congress to set a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by September 2008, as part of an emergency funding bill. He urged lawmakers to approve his request for emergency funding to meet this year's war expenses without conditions and without delay.

"It could be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq, and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home," Mr. Bush says. "That may be satisfying in the short run. But I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating."

A few hours earlier, President Bush took part in a closed-door meeting on Iraq with members of his national security team, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He also conferred via teleconference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

VOASE0319_Science In the News

19 March 2007

Stopping Bird Flu
International organizations are working hard to understand, prevent and treat bird flu.

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VOICE ONE:

An Afghan Agricultural Ministry worker holds two chickens caught in a house on the outskirts of Kabul, March 22, 2006

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Faith Lapidus. Today we continue a series of reports about the disease bird flu. This report will tell about work on medicines to protect people against the disease. We will also tell about efforts to stop bird flu from spreading.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Experts at the World Health Organization believe the world is closer to a pandemic of the influenza virus than at any time since nineteen sixty-eight. A pandemic happens when a new flu virus spreads quickly to people in many different parts of the world. A pandemic can cause many people to become sick or die. The worst pandemic of the twentieth century killed forty million to fifty million people during World War One.

W.H.O. officials use a six-level warning system to tell the world about the threat of a pandemic. Right now, we are at level three for the deadly H-five N-one bird flu virus. This means that the virus rarely spreads from person to person.

VOICE TWO:

One of the most important activities for the W.H.O. is to lead development of medicines to protect people from bird flu. A Global Vaccine Action Plan written last year says the world must act now if it is to be prepared for a possible flu pandemic. The plan says up to ten billion dollars will be needed to research and produce enough bird flu vaccines for all the people in the world.

In the United States, government health advisers urged federal officials last month to approve the first such medicine. Doctors said the bird flu vaccine is safe, but would not protect most people against the disease. They said production of the medicine would be a good start until more effective vaccines can be developed.

VOICE ONE:

W.H.O. officials say at least sixteen manufacturers are working to develop vaccines against the deadly H-five-N-one virus. More than forty tests of possible vaccines have been completed or are continuing. However, it takes a long time to test, approve and manufacture a vaccine. Then the medicine must be given to people around the world.

Poor countries want to make sure they are able to get or manufacture some of the bird flu vaccine. There is also testing of medicines to treat persons infected with the virus. Some tests have shown that a medicine called Tamiflu can increase the survival rates of those infected.

VOICE TWO:

The W.H.O. has one hundred twelve centers watching for reports of influenza. When a new virus appears, it should be reported immediately so that it can be stopped before spreading to other countries.

Some countries have not been willing to report or provide new viruses quickly to the W.H.O. Indonesia announced last month that it would only share its bird flu virus with organizations or persons who agree not to use the virus for profit. Indonesia later agreed to share the virus, but only after establishment of rules to guarantee a lost-cost vaccine to developing countries.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A Vietnamese man feeds ducks at his private farm in Phu Xuyen district

By March first, one hundred sixty-seven people had died of bird flu in twelve countries in Asia and Africa. Many of those who became sick or died had touched infected or dead farm birds. Bird flu killed more people last year than the combined total for two thousand four and two thousand five.

International agencies and non-governmental organizations are leading many efforts to stop the spread of bird flu. They are working to prevent a pandemic and help developing countries become better prepared to fight the disease. Right now, the W.H.O. says most countries are not prepared for a pandemic.

VOICE TWO:

The United States is working with the W.H.O. and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to fight bird flu in other countries. America's Agency for International Development has sent two hundred thousand boxes of personal protective equipment to seventy-one countries. The agency has also prepared boxes of equipment to test for bird flu and clean the areas where it has been found.

Doctors who treat animals in high-risk countries are being trained at a laboratory in the American state of Iowa. They are learning how to test animals to confirm the presence of the H-five N-one virus.

Last year, American doctors helped the Food and Agriculture Organization open a new Crisis Management Center in Rome, Italy. The center helps to organize efforts against bird flu and other major emergencies involving animal health or food.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Leaders of some international organizations say poor countries need more money and technical support from wealthy countries. Some experts say bird flu is out of control in parts of Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria. They say these countries need stronger health care systems for people and animals.

Personal communication and groups working together have been important in spreading information about bird flu. When the virus was discovered in Nigeria, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worked with local groups to tell people about the disease. Nigerians had to be prepared to eat fewer eggs and less meat if many farm birds were to be killed.

Farmers in Nigeria were given information about how to prevent the spread of bird flu. Thousands of people were trained to go from house to house to talk about the disease. The group Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organization and Nigeria's Ministry of Health assisted with these efforts.

VOICE TWO:

Many organizations have created messages to educate people about bird flu. The United Nations Children’s Agency produced a television announcement with the movie star Jackie Chan. He made paper birds with children while he was telling them about bird flu…

(SOUND)

CHAN: "Some birds can pass on a horrible new disease called bird flu. If we are in contact with sick birds we can get very ill. That’s why you should not touch or play with any birds right now, especially if they look sick. Got it?"

CHILDREN: "YES!"

VOICE TWO:

The Jackie Chan announcement has been shown on television stations in Nigeria, Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam. It has been broadcast in many different languages. The United Nations Children’s Agency, the World Bank and other organizations are also producing bird flu announcements for Nigerian radio stations in several local languages.

VOICE ONE:

In Africa, the Academy for Educational Development has created a colorful picture book for children. The book is called Zandi’s Song. Zandi is a fifteen-year old girl who raises chickens with her mother. She learns about bird flu from news reports and from her teacher at school. Zandi solves many problems during the story. She helps other children tell everyone in her village how to stop the spread of bird flu. She also persuades an important member of her family to let her to continue going to school. The book and other teaching materials are available on the Internet.

A chicken trader holds up a bird to be sold at a market in Lagos, Nigeria

In some countries, radio announcements have a different message. In Uganda, the announcements told people not to be afraid of farm birds. They also urged Ugandans to continue eating chicken since there was no bird flu at that time in the country. Many farmers there depend on chickens for their earnings. The birds are also an important part of the local diet.

VOICE TWO:

When bird flu appears for the first time on a farm, the best way to stop the virus is to kill all the birds in the area as quickly as possible. The World Bank says farmers will report sick animals faster if they know they will be paid quickly for their losses.

The World Bank wrote a report on the best ways to help farmers whose birds have been infected. The report says countries at risk of bird flu should have a simple plan that states exactly who will be paid, how much they will receive and who will make the payments. The report also states that farmers should be paid within twenty-four hours of killing their birds.

VOICE ONE:

International organizations are working to educate people about bird flu and leading research into its causes. They are also working on prevention and treatment of bird flu, and raising money to help poor countries fight the disease. Yet the first line of defense in each community is each person who raises or works with farm birds.

Next month, we will tell about the steps individuals can take to help stop the spread of bird flu.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Karen Leggett. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week at this time for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0319_Agriculture Report

19 March 2007

Americans Warned of Higher Food Prices as Corn Goes to Ethanol
Meat producers are facing sharply higher feed costs. But farmers are expected to plant more corn.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The United States Department of Agriculture says high demand for ethanol fuel made from corn will mean higher meat prices. In its monthly crop report on March ninth, the department said feed costs are rising for cows, pigs and poultry birds. Corn, or maize, is their main feed.

Corn has been selling at more than three dollars a bushel. Last year, the average was two dollars.

Corn harvest in Columbia, Missouri

The government says ethanol is using twenty percent of the American corn crop from last year. With this year's harvests, the amount is expected to reach twenty-five percent.

The National Chicken Council has objected to Congress about the situation. The council is a trade organization that represents the industry. It says the feed cost of the chicken industry alone has risen by forty percent.

In January, Tyson Foods, the world's biggest meat processor, reported its first profitable three-month period in a year. But the head of the Arkansas company warned that sharply higher corn prices have become a "major issue" for the food industry. Richard Bond says people will have to pay more for food because companies will be forced to pass along rising costs.

But Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner says demand for corn will probably get farmers to plant more corn. A University of Missouri Extension official says ethanol could bring the biggest change in American agriculture since farmers began planting soybeans.

Some economists have suggested that land from the Conservation Reserve Program should be used for additional corn production. But the Agriculture Department says only a limited area of land will be released for use over the next four years. The program supports the planting of things like native grasses or trees to reduce the loss of soil from croplands.

The department has appointed a committee to study the needs of biofuel producers. These are fuels like ethanol that are made from renewable resources.

On March ninth, the United States and Brazil signed a cooperation agreement on biofuels technology. The signing took place in Sao Paulo during the first stop on a trip by President Bush to Latin America. Seventy percent of the world's ethanol supply comes from the United States and Brazil. But while most American ethanol is made from corn, most Brazilian ethanol is from sugar cane.

And that's VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and audio files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Shep O'Neal.