VOASE1021_This Is America

21 October 2007

Dancers, Artists and Merry-Go-Round Lovers Can All Enjoy This Park
Each year a half-million people visit historic Glen Echo Park along the Potomac River in Maryland.

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program we explore the history of Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Maryland.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Merry-go-round at Glen Echo

On a warm autumn day, men and women of all ages are gathered in the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park near Washington, D.C. Some are dressed like professional dancers. Others are in blue jeans. A few have taken off their shoes.

Social dancing is a favorite activity at the park. As the LaSalle Dance Orchestra plays, dancers turn and swing their partners. Some people look as if they have been dancing forever. Others are learners. A few look a little uneasy.

Men make a bridge with their arms and their partners step underneath. Some women have on wide skirts that make a swooshing sound as they pass under the bridge. Colors fade and mix as the beat goes on.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Most of the people brought a partner -- their husband or wife or a friend. A woman is dancing with her young daughter. The woman is beautiful and wears a floor-length dress and long white gloves. The little girl also wears a floor-length dress. She is smiling and laughing. Once or twice the child sits down on the dance floor.

VOICE ONE:

A man steps away from the dance floor to take a break for a few minutes. He explains that he always comes to dance at Glen Echo. But he says he will never compete on any of those dancing shows that have become popular on American television.

Beginners in Spanish Ballroom can get help. There are teachers who give lessons. And there are people known as "dance buddies." These are volunteers who can help newcomers keep in step.

VOICE TWO:

Dance bands at Glen Echo play foxtrot, waltzes and tangos.

(MUSIC)

There is also square dancing and contra dancing. These are group dances that involve changing partners. And bands often play zydeco, Cajun, rock and roll and salsa.

(MUSIC)

This New Year’s Eve, twenty-five dollars will buy a lesson, a night of swing dancing and light refreshments. George Gee and the Jump, Jivin’ Wailers will perform.

VOICE ONE:

The Spanish Ballroom has been restored. But with a little imagination, you can still hear the famous musicians who performed long ago. Bandleaders like Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. Bill Haley and His Comets appeared during the early days of rock 'n' roll.

(MUSIC)

Dance bands at Glen Echo also play in the Bumper Car Pavilion. This was where drivers crashed little cars into each other during Glen Echo’s amusement park days.

VOICE TWO:

Today the arts are a driving force at Glen Echo Park. Visitors can paint, make pottery or improve their photography. Families enjoy children’s plays at the Adventure Theatre and the Puppet Company. There are also seasonal festivals like "Fall Frolic." This day of crafts, theater performances, Halloween activities and dance is set for October twenty-seventh.

Glen Echo Park sits on about four hectares of land along the Potomac River. Each year a half-million people come to the park for events and programs. But some visitors just like to sit in the sun and feed the squirrels.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Two wealthy brothers, Edward and Edwin Baltzley, provided the land for Glen Echo in the nineteenth century. They wanted it to be an education center called a Chautauqua.

Chautauqua was a popular movement in the United States at the time. It gave working people in crowded cities a chance to learn and to experience nature.

The Glen Echo Chautauqua opened in eighteen ninety-one. There were classes in languages, science and other subjects.

VOICE TWO:

A year later, Glen Echo became a home for traveling shows. Then it grew into a small amusement park, and later a bigger amusement park. But not all of its history was fun and games.

For years the park did not admit black people. In nineteen sixty, civil rights activists demonstrated at the park. The next year, Glen Echo opened to everyone.

VOICE ONE:

Five years later, in nineteen sixty-six, there was violence at the park on the day after Easter. Some people called it a race riot.

Whatever it was, it did nothing to help a little park that had been losing popularity anyway. In nineteen sixty-eight, the park closed. Many rides and attractions were sold or destroyed.

VOICE TWO:

The federal government became the owner of the Glen Echo land in nineteen seventy. The government along with neighbors of the park wanted to limit development near the Potomac River.

The National Park Service now operates Glen Echo in cooperation with a group called the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture. The park is in Montgomery County, Maryland. The county created the nonprofit group.

The partnership manages Glen Echo’s programs, fund raising and marketing. The National Park Service takes care of historical presentation, safety, security, resource protection and grounds keeping.

VOICE ONE:

A good way to picture the early days of Glen Echo is to walk around its historic area. The Spanish Ballroom and the Bumper Car Pavilion are part of that area. But there is also the Yellow Barn, now a center for artists.

The Picnic Grove is a popular place for outdoor meals. The Arcade now houses photography projects, art exhibits and theaters instead of games.

And there is the historic Clara Barton House. Clara Barton was the nurse who established the American Red Cross.

VOICE TWO:

The Crystal Pool at Glen Echo Park was big enough to hold three thousand people. Now, instead of water and swimmers, the pool is filled with dirt. Weeds and some wildflowers grow out of the top.

A tall woman wearing sunglasses remembers that as a small child, she would always ask her mother to let her swim in the pool. But that was at a time when many children were getting sick from polio. Doctors were advising parents to keep their children away from crowds. So her mother always said no.

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Organ music leads visitors to the Dentzel Carousel. Neighbors of Glen Echo Park worked hard to keep it after the park closed. People called it the jewel of the park. A Glen Echo town councilwoman named Nancy Long led a successful drive to buy it back.

Supporters organized to restore the carousel. That project took many years and a lot of money. Now it operates on weekends from May through September.

On an early fall day, the line for this merry-go-round is not too long. Most of the people waiting are little children. But older riders are excited too. The ticket-taker smiles and says not to worry. She says carousels were really created for adults.

VOICE TWO:

There are four ostriches on the carousel. The birds are finely carved and painted. They share the merry-go-round with horses, rabbits, a giraffe, a deer, a lion and a tiger.

The ostriches go up and down as the carousel turns. A few horses away, another adult is riding a rabbit. On a carousel, grabbing the brass ring as you pass it is supposed to win you a prize and a happy future. The man on the rabbit tries to pull the small brass ring but he cannot reach it.

You also try. No one can reach it. It is there only for show. But then, you think maybe the visit to Glen Echo Park is the real brass ring.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can learn more about Glen Echo Park by clicking on a link at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1021_Development Report

21 October 2007

Hunger: New Causes for Same Old Problem
Poverty, disease and conflict have always threatened food security, but now risks also come from rising food prices and climate change.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Three out of four of the world's hungry live in rural areas

The United Nations says more than eight hundred fifty million people do not have enough food. For this year's World Food Day observance last week, VOA reporters examined the current causes of hunger.

Poverty, disease and conflict have historically threatened food security. Now, rising food prices and issues like climate change add to these threats.

A new study warns of future losses in world food production because of crop damage from changes in the weather. William Cline wrote the study from the Center for Global Development in Washington. He says countries closest to the equator will be hardest hit.

For example, he predicts that if nothing is done, global warming could cut India's food production by up to forty percent by the year twenty eighty. Africa and Latin America could lose twenty percent or more.

Governments concerned about global warming and dependence on oil are investing in biofuels from corn and other plants. But Lester Brown at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington says demand for fuel crops is pushing up food prices. He says the world's eight hundred sixty million automobile owners are now in direct competition with the two billion poorest people.

This comes as grain supplies are at their lowest level in years. Experts see a number of reasons. These include not enough investment in agricultural technology. A loss of farmland to development. Droughts and floods made worse by climate change. And, growing competition for water.

Population growth also means a greater demand on food supplies. The United Nations predicts a population of more than eight billion by the year twenty thirty.

By that time, demand for animal products could double, led by growing economies like China and India. Francois Le Gal of the World Bank says climate change and the globalization of trade raise the risk of spreading animal diseases. Experts say most countries are not ready for a health crisis caused by a disease jumping to humans.

And, finally, they say the growing population of cities is adding to the world's hunger problem. Danielle Nierenberg at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington says the poor can spend fifty to eighty percent of their money on food.

She points out that city people do not have farm animals to sell in times of need. So they are especially threatened when prices go up.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss.

VOASE1020_People In America

20 October 2007

Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994: 'The Fastest Woman in the World'
She was the first American woman to win three Gold Medals in one Olympics.

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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 Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph

They called her “the Black Pearl,” “the Black Gazelle” and “the fastest woman in the world.” In nineteen sixty, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She was an extraordinary American athlete. She also did a lot to help young athletes succeed.

Wilma Rudolph was born in nineteen forty, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was born too early and only weighed two kilograms. She had many illnesses when she was very young, including pneumonia and scarlet fever. She also had polio, which damaged her left leg. When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg braces because she could not use that leg.

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph was born into a very large, poor, African-American family. She was the twentieth of twenty-two children. Since she was sick most of the time, her brothers and sisters all helped to take care of her. They took turns rubbing her crippled leg every night. They also made sure she did not try to take off her leg braces. Every week, Wilma's mother drove her to a special doctor eighty kilometers away. Here, she got physical treatments to help heal her leg.

She later said: “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.”

VOICE ONE:

Soon, her family’s attention and care showed results. By the time she was nine years old, she no longer needed her leg braces. Wilma was very happy, because she could now run and play like other children. When she was eleven years old, her brothers set up a basketball hoop in the backyard. After that, she played basketball every day.

As a teenager, Wilma joined the girl’s basketball team at Burt High School. C.C. Gray was the coach who supervised the team. He gave her the nickname “Skeeter.” She did very well in high school basketball. She once scored forty-nine points in one game, which broke the Tennessee state record.

Many people noted that Wilma was a very good basketball player and a very good athlete. One of these people was Ed Temple, who coached the track team of runners at Tennessee State University. Ed Temple asked C.C. Gray to organize a girl’s track team at the high school. He thought Wilma Rudolph would make a very good runner. She did very well on the new track team.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph went to her first Olympic Games when she was sixteen years old and still in high school. She competed in the nineteen fifty-six games in Melbourne, Australia. She was the youngest member of the United States team. She won a bronze medal, or third place, in the sprint relay event.

In nineteen fifty-seven, Wilma Rudolph started Tennessee State University, where she joined the track team. The coach, Ed Temple, worked very hard for the girls on the team. He drove them to track competitions and made improvements to the running track with his own money. However, he was not an easy coach. For example, he would make the members of the team run one extra time around the track for every minute they were late to practice.

Wilma Rudolph trained hard while in college. She did very well at her track competitions against teams from other colleges. In nineteen sixty, she set the world record for the fastest time in the two thousand meter event. She said: “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.”

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph wins the 200 meter race at the Rome Olympics in 1960

That same year, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics again, this time in Rome, Italy. She won two gold medals -- first place -- in the one hundred meter and the two hundred meter races. She set a new Olympic record of twenty-three point two seconds for the two hundred meter dash.

Her team also won the gold medal in the four hundred meter sprint relay event, setting a world record of forty-four point five seconds. These three gold medals made her one of the most popular athletes at the Rome games. These victories made people call her the “world’s fastest woman.”

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

Wilma Rudolph received a lot of attention from the press and the public, but she did not forget her teammates. She said that her favorite event was the relay, because she could share the victory with her teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones. All four women were from Tennessee State University.

Wilma Rudolph with her three gold medals

The Associated Press named Rudolph the U.S. Female Athlete of the year. She also appeared on television many times. Sports fans in the United States and all over the world loved and respected her. She said: “The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph was a fine example for many people inside and outside the world of sports. She supported the civil rights movement -- the struggle for equality between white and black people. When she came home from the Olympics, she told the governor of Tennessee that she would not attend a celebration where white and black people were separated. As a result, her homecoming parade and dinner were the first events in her hometown of Clarksville that white people and black people were able to attend together.

After she retired from sports, Wilma Rudolph completed her education at Tennessee State University. She got her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and became a teacher. She returned to coach the track team at Burt High School. She also worked as a commentator for women’s track competitions on national television. In nineteen sixty-three she married her high school boyfriend Robert Eldridge. They had four children, but later ended their marriage.

Wilma Rudolph won many important athletic awards. She was voted into the Black Athlete’s Hall of Fame and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. She was also voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. In nineteen seventy-seven, she wrote a book about her life called “Wilma.” She wrote about her childhood problems and her athletic successes. NBC later made the book into a movie for television.

VOICE TWO:

Rudolph said her greatest success was creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation in nineteen eighty-one. This organization helped children in local communities to become athletes. She always wanted to help young athletes recognize how much they could succeed in their lives.

She said: “The triumph can’t be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.”

Rudolph also influenced many athletes. One of them was another African American runner, Florence Griffith Joyner. In nineteen eighty-eight, Griffith Joyner became the second American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She went on to win a total of six Olympic medals. Wilma Rudolph was very happy to see other African American female athletes succeed. She said: “I thought I’d never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Wilma Rudolph died of brain cancer in nineteen ninety-four in Nashville, Tennessee. She was fifty-four years old. She influenced athletes, African Americans and women around the world. She was an important example of how anyone can overcome barriers and make their dreams come true. Her nineteen sixty Olympics teammate, Bill Mulliken, said: "She was beautiful; she was nice, and she was the best."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE1019_In the News

19 October 2007

As Communist Party Meets in Beijing, Eyes Look to 2012 Change
sults of the 17th national congress will guide China for the next five years, and intensify predictions about who will be its next president.

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

The opening ceremony of the 17th Communist Party Congress in the Great Hall of the People

China's Communist Party is meeting this week in Beijing. More than two thousand delegates are electing party leaders and deciding policies that will guide China for the next five years. The seventeenth party congress comes at a time of increasing social unrest in China.

The meeting opened on Monday and will end on Sunday. Party congresses are held every five years. Much of the discussion is held in secret.

The delegates are expected to elect President Hu Jintao to a second five-year term. The results of the party congress will intensify predictions about China's next leaders after Mister Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao retire in five years.

President Hu Jintao

In his opening speech on Monday, the president included among his goals a promise to fight corruption. Some political observers, however, noted that corruption can be especially difficult to fight in a one-party form of government. There are few checks and balances on local officials.

Other problems caused by twenty years of fast economic growth in China include pollution, high prices and disputes over land. Violent protests and riots have taken place in rural areas.

Officials heavily increased security in Beijing for the party congress. Human rights groups say several dissidents and other activists have been detained or questioned in recent weeks.

Last week, twelve thousand people signed an open letter demanding reforms and help for their problems. Activists say the leader of the group was detained.

Past congresses have resulted in major changes in the party.

For example, at the seventh party congress in nineteen forty-five, Mao Zedong's "thought" became the official thinking of the party. At the nineteen eighty-two meeting, Deng Xiaoping’s form of socialism started the economic reforms that continue to drive China’s growth.

The Communist Party has ruled China since nineteen forty-nine. That was when the People's Liberation Army defeated the Chinese Nationalists in a civil war. The Nationalists fled to Formosa, now called Taiwan.

In recent months tensions between China and Taiwan have increased following Taiwan's latest attempt to join the United Nations. China considers Taiwan a part of Chinese territory awaiting reunification – by force, if necessary.

In his speech Monday, President Hu warned Taiwan against declaring independence. But the statement differed from past speeches. It did not directly threaten the use of force to bring Taiwan under Chinese rule.

President Hu also called for negotiations on a peace agreement if Taiwan accepts the idea of "one China."

A Taiwanese spokesman said Taiwan will not talk with a government that suppresses Tibet, kills its own citizens and supports the military rulers in Burma. And President Chen Shui-bian said a peace treaty based on the "one China" idea would really be a surrender agreement.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

VOASE1018_Economics Report

18 October 2007

2007 Nobel in Economics: Designing Better Markets
Three Americans -- including the oldest-ever Nobel Prize winner -- will share award for creating mechanism design theory.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Many things perform effectively but not efficiently. To be efficient means to produce a desired effect with as little waste as possible.

How can markets be designed to make them more efficient? This is a question that the three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in economics have tried to answer. They established mechanism design theory.

Leonid Hurwicz

It began with work by Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota in nineteen sixty. Eric Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Roger Myerson of the University of Chicago further developed it.

The three Americans will share the award worth about one and a half million dollars. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners this week.

In everyday life, there are many things that get in the way of efficient markets. There may not be true competition. Buyers and sellers may keep some information private from each other. Also, the production and use of goods may result in outcomes like pollution or social costs.

Eric Maskin

Mechanism design theory permits economists to identify situations where markets work well and where they do not. For example, it shows why an auction is generally the most efficient way to sell many kinds of goods.

In fact, experts say the theory explains why a version called a double auction is often the best way to trade. In a double auction, buyers and sellers both make price bids.

The Swedish academy says the theory also explains why there is often no good market solution to providing some goods, like uncrowded roads.

Mechanism design theory is part of the wider economic idea of game theory and it has many uses -- including in political science.

Roger Myerson

Roger Myerson even built a mathematical model for elections. He found a voting system that he says would have helped Florida avoid its problems in the two thousand presidential election.

The Nobel Prize award ceremonies will take place on December tenth. The official name of the economics award is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Swedish central bank created the prize in nineteen sixty-eight.

Leo Hurwicz was born in Russia in nineteen seventeen. He developed new ways to understand markets. He began his work after World War Two. At ninety years old, he is the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOASE1018_American Mosaic

18 October 2007

A Record Company Gives Listeners a World of Different Musical Traditions

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

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

We listen to some music from a record company that helps listeners explore different musical traditions …

And we answer a question about Wal-Mart stores.

Wal-Mart

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Foqrul Islam asks about the huge American discount store called Wal-Mart.

The first Wal-Mart store opened in nineteen sixty-two in Arkansas. Businessman Sam Walton believed a store could succeed by selling more products at lower prices than other stores.

His idea proved correct. Lower prices brought more people into the store and resulted in more sales. Within five years, the company had twenty-four stores in Arkansas. Wal-Mart expanded outside the state in nineteen sixty-eight, and began trading stock in nineteen seventy-two. Wal-Mart opened its first international store in Mexico in nineteen ninety-one.

Today, Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in the world. It sells more than three hundred billion dollars worth of goods in more than six thousand stores. It employs almost two million people in thirteen countries.

People shop at Wal-Mart mainly for the low prices. The stores also offer many different kinds of products, from food to furniture to clothing. However, some people refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. They say the company pays low wages, is not fair to women and treats its workers poorly.

Wal-Mart also has been criticized for opposing unions and buying many of its products outside the United States. Many Americans oppose the building of Wal-Mart stores in their communities because they say the huge stores ruin local businesses.

Wal-Mart has had other problems recently. Last year, the company closed its stores in Germany and South Korea because of poor sales. In August, Wal-Mart announced that sales at stores open for at least a year increased only about two percent in the business period that ended in June. That was the worst showing in the company’s history. And its share price on the stock exchange has not increased since two thousand.

Recent news reports say Wal-Mart is trying to improve the public's ideas about the company by becoming more environmentally friendly. Last month, Wal-Mart announced that it is joining with the Carbon Disclosure Project to measure the amount of energy used to create the products it sells.

Officials say Wal-Mart wants its suppliers to reduce the amount of harmful gases they release into the atmosphere. And they say that Wal-Mart wants other large companies to do the same.

Putumayo World Music

HOST:

Putumayo World Music helps listeners explore different musical traditions. The record company recently released an album called “World Hits.” The eleven songs on this album are world music songs that became internationally successful. They are called "crossover hits" because of their popularity in both local and international markets. Putumayo says the songs show that people love good music no matter where it comes from. Barbara Klein has more.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

That was the song “7 Seconds” performed by the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour and the Swedish-born singer Neneh Cherry. Youssou N’Dour was born and raised in Dakar. He started singing as a young man and soon became one of the most popular singers in Senegal. Later, he performed around Europe and recorded songs with the famous singers Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. The song “7 Seconds” sold over two million copies around the world, making it one of Youssou N’Dour’s most financially successful single recordings.

Putumayo World Music also has an interesting success story. Dan Storper started the company in nineteen seventy-five. He owned several Putumayo stores that sold handmade clothing and objects from South America and other parts of the world.

By the early nineteen nineties, Mister Storper had seven stores. One day he heard African singers performing outside in a park in San Francisco, California. He bought their album and started playing it in his stores. His workers and customers loved the music. Dan Storper soon started Putumayo World Records to support international musicians and introduce people to new musical traditions.

The company has released one hundred fifty recordings. Some albums include the songs of one artist. Other albums combine different artists from one area of the world.

The company’s goal is to make music that is “guaranteed to make you feel good.” Dan Storper sold his stores in nineteen ninety-seven and now works on his music business full-time. He says that great music helps connect people to other cultures in a good way. He says this helps people see past the bad images of war, poverty and disease that are so often in the news.

(MUSIC)

That was the song “(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back” performed by Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Peter Tosh was one of the most popular reggae musicians in Jamaica. He and a group of reggae musicians including Bob Marley created the band called the Wailers in the nineteen sixties. When Peter Tosh left the Wailers, he continued recording on his own. His performance at the One Love Peace Concert in nineteen seventy-eight caught the attention of Mick Jagger. Peter Tosh soon started recording and performing with the Rolling Stones.

Since its beginning, Putumayo has taken on other projects. In two thousand, the company started a one-hour-long weekly radio show called Putumayo World Music Hour. The show plays music from different cultures by unknown as well as famous artists. Over one hundred fifty radio stations around the world broadcast the music show. The company even makes a series of world music records for children on its Putumayo Kids label.

Putumayo also gives money to non-profit organizations around the world. For example, part of the profit from the “World Hits” record will be given to World Learning. This international organization supports intercultural learning and economic development through its training and education programs.

We leave you with the song “Lambada.” It was first recorded by a Bolivian band. This version was made in nineteen eighty-nine by the French band Kaoma. The song is performed by the Brazilian singer Loalwa Braz. “Lambada” became a huge hit, first in France and then around the world. Its lively beat makes you want to get up and start dancing.

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer.

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

VOASE1017_The Making of a Nation

17 October 2007

American History Series: A Difficult Life for English Settlers
Survival required help from American Indians. Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in the New World, and tobacco became a profitable crop.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long with the MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today, we tell about the first permanent English settlements in North America.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

England was the first country to compete with Spain for claims in the New World, although it was too weak to do this openly at first. But Queen Elizabeth of England supported such explorations as early as the fifteen seventies.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert led the first English settlement efforts. He did not establish any lasting settlement. He died as he was returning to England.

Gilbert's half brother Sir Walter Raleigh continued his work. Raleigh sent a number of ships to explore the east coast of North America. He called the land Virginia to honor England's unmarried Queen Elizabeth.

In fifteen eighty-five, about one-hundred men settled on Roanoke Island, off the coast of the present day state of North Carolina. These settlers returned to England a year later. Another group went to Roanoke the next year. This group included a number of women and children. But the supply ships Raleigh sent to the colony failed to arrive. When help got there in fifteen-ninety, none of the settlers could be found.

History experts still are not sure what happened. Some research suggests that at least some of the settlers became part of the Indian tribe that lived in the area.

VOICE TWO:

One reason for the delay in getting supplies to Roanoke was the attack of the Spanish Navy against England in fifteen eighty-eight. King Phillip of Spain had decided to invade England. But the small English ships combined with a fierce storm defeated the huge Spanish fleet. As a result, Spain was no longer able to block English exploration.

England discovered that supporting colonies so far away was extremely costly. So Queen Elizabeth took no more action to do this. It was not until after her death in sixteen-oh-three that England began serious efforts to start colonies in America.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In sixteen-oh-six, the new English King, James the First, gave two business groups permission to establish colonies in Virginia, the area claimed by England. Companies were organized to carry out the move.

View of historic Jamestown

The London Company sent one hundred settlers to Virginia in sixteen-oh-six. The group landed there in May, sixteen-oh-seven and founded Jamestown. It was the first permanent English colony in the new world.

The colony seemed about to fail from the start. The settlers did not plant their crops in time so they soon had no food. Their leaders lacked the farming and building skills needed to survive on the land. More than half the settlers died during the first winter.

VOICE TWO:

The businessmen controlling the colony from London knew nothing about living in such a wild place. They wanted the settlers to search for gold, and explore local rivers in hopes of finding a way to the East. One settler knew this was wrong. His name was Captain John Smith. He helped the colonists build houses and grow food by learning from the local Indians. Still, the Jamestown settlers continued to die each year from disease, lack of food and Indian attacks.

The London Company sent six thousand settlers to Virginia between sixteen-oh-six and sixteen twenty-two. More than four thousand died during that time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A cooking fire in a re-creation of a Powhatan Indian village

History experts say that all the settlers surely would have died without the help of the local Powhatan Indians. The Indians gave the settlers food. They taught them how to live in the forest. And the Powhatan Indians showed the settlers how to plant new crops and how to clear the land for building.

The settlers accepted the Indians' help. Then, however, the settlers took whatever else they wanted by force. In sixteen twenty-two, the local Indians attacked the settlers for interfering with Indian land. Three hundred forty settlers died. The colonists answered the attack by destroying the Indian tribes living along Virginia's coast.

The settlers recognized that they would have to grow their own food and survive on their own without help from England or anyone else. The Jamestown colony was clearly established by sixteen twenty-four. It was even beginning to earn money by growing and selling a new crop, tobacco.

VOICE TWO:

The other early English settlements in North America were much to the north of Virginia, in the present state of Massachusetts. The people who settled there left England for different reasons than those who settled in Jamestown. The Virginia settlers were looking for ways to earn money for English businesses. The settlers in Massachusetts were seeking religious freedom.

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VOICE ONE:

King Henry the Eighth of England had separated from the Roman Catholic Church. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth, established the Protestant religion in England. It was called the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, however, was similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church.

Not all Protestants liked this. Some wanted to leave the Anglican Church and form religious groups of their own. In sixteen-oh-six, members of one such group in the town of Scrooby did separate from the Anglican Church. About one hundred twenty-five people left England for Holland. They found problems there too, so they decided to move again...to the New World.

These people were called pilgrims, because that is the name given to people who travel for religious purposes.

VOICE TWO:

An artist's depiction of the Mayflower

About thirty-five pilgrims were among the passengers on a ship called the Mayflower in sixteen twenty. It left England to go to Virginia. But the Mayflower never reached Virginia. Instead, it landed to the north, on Cape Cod Bay. The group decided to stay there instead of trying to find Jamestown.

The pilgrims and the others on the Mayflower saw a need for rules that would help them live together peacefully. They believed they were not under English control since they did not land in Virginia. So they wrote a plan of government, called the Mayflower Compact. It was the first such plan ever developed in the New World.

They elected a man called William Bradford as the first governor of their Plymouth Colony. We know about the first thirty years of the Plymouth Colony because William Bradford described it in his book, Of Plymouth Plantation.

As happened in Jamestown, about half the settlers in Plymouth died the first winter. The survivors were surprised to find an Indian who spoke English. His name was Squanto. He had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and had lived in England before returning to his people.

The Pilgrims believed Squanto was sent to them from God. He made it possible for them to communicate with the native people. He showed them the best places to fish, what kind of crops to plant and how to grow them. He provided them with all kinds of information they needed to survive. The settlers invited the Indians to a feast in the month of November to celebrate their successes and to thank Squanto for his help. Americans remember that celebration every year when they observe the Thanksgiving holiday.

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VOICE ONE:

Other English settlers began arriving in the area now called New England. One large group was called the Puritans. Like the pilgrims, the Puritans did not agree with the Anglican Church. But they did not want to separate from it. The Puritans wanted to change it to make it more holy. Their desire for this change made them unwelcome in England.

The first ship carrying Puritans left England for America in sixteen thirty. By the end of that summer, one thousand Puritans had landed in the northeastern part of the new country. The new English King, Charles, had given permission for them to settle the Massachusetts Bay area.

VOICE TWO:

The Puritans began leaving England in large groups. Between sixteen thirty and sixteen forty, twenty thousand sailed for New England. They risked their lives on the dangerous trip. They wanted to live among people who believed as they did, people who honored the rules of the Bible. Puritans believed that the Bible was the word of God.

The Puritans and other Europeans, however, found a very different people in the New World. They were America's native Indians. That will be our story next week.

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VOICE ONE:

This MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Rich Kleinfeldt

VOICE TWO:

And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another Voice of America Special English program about the history of the United States.

VOASE1017_Education Report

17 October 2007

Colleges See Green in Sustainability Studies
Schools around the US are developing new programs related to the environment.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We talked last week about a movement to build environmentally friendly school buildings in the United States. Today we look at the spread of "green" studies in higher education.

Dominican University of California has what it calls the Green MBA program. John Stayton, left, is the director.

Many colleges and universities around the country now offer programs in sustainability studies. These programs combine environmental science, social science, economics, agriculture, renewable energy and other subjects.

Antioch University in New Hampshire and Maharishi University of Management in Iowa are just two of the schools with sustainability programs. At Dominican University of California, near San Francisco, students can receive a master's of business administration in sustainable enterprise. School officials say their Green MBA brings together the aims of the financial world with those of the social justice and environmental movements.

This year, Arizona State University opened its Global Institute of Sustainability. The aim is to do research across many departments, then bring that information to schools, businesses and industries.

Arizona State has also launched a School of Sustainability. Like many sustainability programs, this one grew out of an existing environmental studies program.

The school is just starting its first academic year. Students can take courses towards a master's degree or a doctorate in sustainability. And the school will soon offer undergraduate programs.

Officials say the School of Sustainability aims to educate a new generation of leaders to solve environmental, social and economic problems.

But experts sometimes question whether students who study sustainability will be able to sustain themselves by finding jobs.

Charles Redman is the director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. He says more and more local governments around the country are forming sustainability committees that need environmental experts. And he says companies increasingly want experts who know how to make businesses as environmentally responsible as possible.

He cannot talk yet about graduates of his own school, since it has just started. But he says he does know that among colleges and universities, there is a high demand for professors who can teach sustainability.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Dana Demange. Last week's report about green schools can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE1016_Health Report

16 October 2007

Of 'Knockout' Mice and the Men Who Developed Them
The three winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine found a way to target individual genes for study.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

This year's Nobel Prize in medicine will go to three researchers who found a way to learn about the duties of individual genes. They discovered how to inactivate, or knock out, single genes in laboratory animals. The result is known as "knockout mice."

The Karolinska Institute named the winners last week. Two Americans, Mario

Mario Capecchi holds a laboratory mouse

Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, will share the one and one-half million dollar prize with Martin Evans of Britain. They will receive what is officially called the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on December tenth.

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

Martin Evans had the solution. He developed embryonic stem cells that could produce mice that carried new genetic material.

The research greatly expanded knowledge about embryonic development as well as aging and disease. It led to a new technology -- gene targeting. And this has already produced five hundred mouse models of human conditions.

Knockout mice are used for general research and for the development of new treatments. International efforts aim to make them available in the near future for all genes.

Mario Capecchi is a researcher at the University of Utah. He was born in Italy in nineteen thirty-seven. He was homeless and on his own for years as a young boy.

His mother had been sent to a Nazi German death camp. But she survived, and after she was freed she found him in a hospital. He was nine years old and being treated for severe malnutrition.

They came to the United States where he entered school for the first time. Later, he became an American citizen.

Oliver Smithies

Oliver Smithies was born in Britain in nineteen twenty-five and also became an American citizen. He is a professor at the University of North Carolina. And, at age fifty, he learned to fly. He flies a motor glider and small airplanes.

Martin Evans was born in nineteen forty-one, also in Britain. He is director of the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University in Wales. He called winning the Nobel Prize "a boyhood dream come true."

And that's the VOA Special English Health report, written by Caty Weaver. Transcripts and MP3 files of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOASE1016_Explorations

16 October 2007

National Aviation Hall of Fame in Ohio Honors Leaders in Flight
Almost 200 people, some famous, some not so famous, are in the Hall of Fame. Five more were honored this year, including Steve Fossett, who disappeared last month while flying a small plane in Nevada.

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about some men and women who are members of the National Aviation Hall of Fame. They have been honored for what they did for flying.

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VOICE ONE:

The National Aviation Hall of Fame is in Dayton, Ohio. It opened in nineteen sixty-two. Since that time, the Hall of Fame has honored one hundred ninety-five men and women for their work in aviation. Five new members were honored this year. They are Walter Boyne, Evelyn Bryan Johnson, Sally Ride, Frederick Smith and Steve Fossett.

VOICE TWO:

Walter Boyne is a retired Air Force pilot. He is a former director of the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. He has written more than five hundred reports and more than thirty books about aviation.

Evelyn Bryan Johnson is a flight teacher. She has completed more hours in flight and trained more pilots than any other woman in the world.

Sally Ride

Sally Ride became America's first female astronaut as a flight engineer on the Space Shuttle Challenger in nineteen eighty-three. She also flew on Challenger the following year. She is also an activist for improving science education for young girls.

Frederick Smith is a former Marine Corps pilot. In nineteen seventy-one, he started the Federal Express Corporation. The company soon began using airplanes to fly letters and packages to twenty-five cities. Today, FedEx serves more than two hundred countries and territories around the world. The company has more than two hundred eighty thousand employees.

VOICE ONE:

Steve Fossett was one of the world's greatest adventurers. He held more than one

Steve Fossett

hundred aviation records. He held several world records for his flights in balloons, gliders and powered aircraft. In two thousand two, he became the first person to travel around the world alone in a hot-air balloon. Three years later, he became the first person to fly around the world alone in an airplane, without stopping or refueling. Last year, he made the longest nonstop flight in aviation history in a lightweight experimental airplane.

But on September third, Fossett disappeared while flying a small plane on what was supposed to be a short flight in the state of Nevada. Rescue teams on the ground and in the air searched for the missing pilot in the deserts and mountains of Nevada for several weeks.

They were not able to find the pilot or his plane. They suspended the official search on October third. Steve Fossett was sixty-three years old.

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VOICE TWO:

Throughout the years, the National Aviation Hall of Fame has honored famous heroes of aviation. The first two people chosen as members were Orville and Wilbur Wright. They lived and worked in Dayton, Ohio. The Wright Brothers were the first humans to make and fly a powered aircraft. Their story is well known. Another early member of the Aviation Hall of Fame is Charles Lindbergh. His record-setting flight across the Atlantic Ocean began on May twentieth, nineteen twenty-seven.

Neil Armstrong is another member of the Aviation Hall of Fame. He was the first human to walk on the moon. The story of the Apollo Eleven landing on the moon is also well known. However, other members of the Aviation Hall of Fame are not as famous. We will tell you about some of these people.

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VOICE ONE:

Have you ever heard the name Edwin Link? Probably not. Yet many pilots know

Edwin Link

him. Mister Link was a pioneer in flight training. He invented a machine that helped teach new pilots to fly. Edwin Link became a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame in nineteen seventy-six.

The device he invented is called the Link Trainer. Link Trainers did not really fly. But they were designed to copy flight. New pilots could use flight controls and instruments as if they were inside a real plane. A new pilot learned how to fly in the air by flying a Link Trainer that never left the ground.

The Link Company improved their trainers over time. More experienced pilots used them to learn to fly using only flight instruments to find their way. Edwin Link made it possible for many pilots to learn difficult skills in complete safety.

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VOICE TWO:

Just south of the city of San Diego, California is a small hill that looks toward the Pacific Ocean. A huge airplane wing rises out of the ground there. It is a monument to John Montgomery, another member of the Aviation Hall of Fame.

Not many people remember John Montgomery now. Yet many aviation experts believe he was the father of basic flying. He flew in gliders -- aircraft that have no power.

John Montgomery built gliders for more than twenty years. He died in a glider accident in nineteen eleven. Mister Montgomery made most of his flights before anyone understood how to control an aircraft in flight.

Mister Montgomery’s study of flight and his attempts at flying led the way for the many others who followed. He became a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame in nineteen seventy-three.

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VOICE ONE:

Giuseppe Bellanca is another name you probably do not know. He became a member of the Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety-three. He came to the United States from Sicily in nineteen eleven. Mister Bellanca designed and built airplanes for the Wright Aircraft Company in the eastern state of New Jersey.

Charles Lindbergh decided to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen twenty-seven. He wanted to use a Wright-Bellanca aircraft. Mister Lindbergh met with Giuseppe Bellanca. Mister Bellanca said his airplane could make the flight. He was very excited about Lindbergh’s plan. The Wright Company, however, did not approve of him using one of the company’s planes. Company officials thought Mister Lindbergh might fail. Charles Lindbergh had to find a different airplane to make his famous flight.

Later, a Wright-Bellanca airplane was the first to fly the Atlantic Ocean in both directions. And, in nineteen thirty-one, Giuseppe Bellanca designed and built an airplane that became the first to fly across the Pacific Ocean without stopping. It was called the Miss Veedol. It flew from Samishiro Beach, Japan, to the town of Wenatchee in the western state of Washington. Clyde Pangborn was the pilot of Miss Veedol. He is remembered more in Japan than he is in the United States. He became a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame in nineteen ninety-five.

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VOICE TWO:

Charles E. Taylor

Only a few aviation experts can tell you about Charles E. Taylor. His friends called him “Charlie.” He became a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame in nineteen sixty-five.

On December seventeenth, nineteen-oh-three, Orville Wright became the first human to fly in a powered aircraft. Orville and his brother Wilber designed and built the aircraft. Charlie Taylor built the small gasoline engine they used.

The three men designed the engine. They drew pictures on pieces of paper. Then Charlie Taylor built the needed part. He made the complete engine in only six weeks using almost no equipment. Today, you can see the Wright airplane when you visit the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Just to the left of the controls is Charlie Taylor’s very important engine.

VOICE ONE:

Many of the men and women in the Aviation Hall of Fame designed, built and flew different kinds of airplanes. Some are honored for their service to the United States in time of war. Some are honored for the famous aircraft they designed. Others for the aviation companies they started.

Members of the Aviation Hall of Fame helped make flying safe for the public. Some were killed in their efforts to improve aviation. And some of those honored have led the way to the exploration of space.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can learn about other American heroes on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.