VOASE0822_Education Report

22 August 2007

Some (Adults) Call for Shorter Summer Break for US Kids
Why American students traditionally get a long vacation.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The traditional American school year begins in late August or early September. It ends in May or June, followed by summer vacation.

Why such a long break? Because long ago, young people had to help their families harvest the summer crops. At least this is what people today may think.

The reason has more to it. A recent report from an education policy center at Indiana University explored the historical roots of the traditional school calendar.

In the early days of the United States, children were not required by law to attend school. School calendars depended on local needs.

Students in rural areas went to school for no more than six months of the year -- half in the summer, half in the winter. They worked on family farms during the other months.

City schools were often open much longer, some for eleven months of the year. Parents were happy to have a place for their children to go while the parents worked.

National leaders took a fresh look at schools after the Civil War, in the eighteen sixties. They saw a free public education as a way to help support a strong democracy and prepare workers for new industries. Immigration was increasing and so was the student population.

More and more people saw the need for a system of required education. But they had different ideas for the calendar.

Many city schools wanted a shorter year and a longer summer break. The schools were often crowded. There was no modern air conditioning and air pollution from factories was a problem.

Hot days would make it difficult to learn. A long summer break would also give teachers time for other jobs to add to their low pay.

Many rural educators, however, pushed for a longer school year. They thought it would keep children safe from industrial dangers at a time when there were few child-labor laws. They also thought it would lead to a better prepared workforce.

So the traditional school calendar was a compromise, with roots that now go back about a century and a half. The average school year used to be one hundred seventy days. Times have not changed much. Today the common average is one hundred eighty days.

But some experts think the traditional school calendar needs to change because the needs of the nation have changed. This thinking has led some schools to keep students in class longer. More on that next week.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Transcripts are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOASE0821_Health Report

21 August 2007

When Medicines Become a Risky Mix
The dangers of drug interactions.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Many people take several medicines to treat different conditions at the same time.

Each medicine may be safe to use by itself, yet together there could be dangerous or even deadly drug interactions.

One example happened last year. Rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter Gerald Levert died at his home in Ohio. A medical examiner found that the death was accidental, caused by a mixture of medicines. He was forty years old.

The drugs in his blood included the painkillers Vicodin, Percocet and Darvocet as well as the anxiety drug Xanax. These all require a doctor's approval. Other medications that are sold without the need for a prescription from a doctor were also found in his blood.

Earlier this year there was a government report on drug interactions. Researchers said deaths from accidental drug combinations in the United States increased almost seventy percent. That was between nineteen ninety-nine and two thousand four.

In two thousand four, nearly twenty thousand people died from accidental drug poisonings. The problem is now the second most common cause of accidental death in the United States, after motor vehicle accidents.

Harmful drug interactions are a growing problem throughout the world. The increase is partly a result of patients being given more drugs and more combinations of drugs than ever before.

For example, people infected with the AIDS virus often develop tuberculosis. These conditions should be treated together. In some countries, aging populations mean more sickness, which means more need for medicine.

Experts say patients should talk with their doctor and pharmacist before taking new medications. These include drugs that do not require a doctor's approval as well as herbal treatments. Even some foods can interact with medicines in ways that may be helpful or harmful.

Alcohol may be unsafe with medicines including common painkillers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. The combination can raise the risk of liver damage or stomach bleeding.

There are many resources on the Internet about drug interactions. However, it is always a good idea to confirm health information from the Internet with a medical professional.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Brianna Blake.

VOASE0821_Explorations

21 August 2007

Saving Lives and Guiding Ships Along US East Coast
Lighthouses along the coast of North Carolina provide a guiding light to sea travelers.

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VOICE ONE:

This is Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about the lighthouses that protect ships sailing along the coast of North Carolina.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Lighthouses are built along coasts to signal to passing ships. Lighthouses are tall buildings of wood or stone or brick with large bright lights on top. Every night they shine lights to warn ships about dangerous areas where there are rocks, low water levels, or strong currents. The lighthouses along North Carolina’s coast are recognized as signs of safety for travelers at sea.

Over the years, fierce ocean storms have sent many ships crashing into the North Carolina coast. Other boats have been lost in wars. During World War Two, for example, German submarines sank many allied transport ships in that area. History experts say more than six hundred ships have been wrecked near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Storms still uncover the ruins of wrecked ships along the Outer Banks.

The lighthouses shine their signals to prevent more wrecks. Many ships and lives have been saved because of the United States Life Saving Service and workers at lighthouses along the coast.

VOICE TWO:

The Outer Banks is a group of narrow islands stretching along the North Carolina coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands shelter North Carolina’s inland water passages. For thousands of years, these barrier islands have survived severe weather. Every few years, an ocean storm in the North Atlantic Ocean will move through the Outer Banks with destructive force.

Each island of the Outer Banks has its own lighthouse with a special design and history. In addition, each lighthouse has its own signal, which boats see from a distance. The different light signals help sailors identify their position from the land. This helps them judge if they are close to dangerous water passages. Today, the light signals work on an electrical timing system. In the past, workers living in the lighthouses had to turn the lights on and off.

VOICE ONE:

Ocracoke Lighthouse

North Carolina’s simplest lighthouse is on Ocracoke Island in the southern Outer Banks. Ocracoke Lighthouse was built in eighteen twenty-three. It is considered the oldest lighthouse on the Carolina coast. Its signal is a continuous white light, which can be seen almost twenty-five kilometers out at sea. Although the plans used to build Ocracoke lighthouse appear normal, the building was built off-center. As a result, it rises more sharply on one side.

Ocracoke Island is said to be the place where the pirate Blackbeard lost his head in the early seventeen hundreds. This famous ocean robber was killed in a battle with a British officer more than a century before Ocracoke Lighthouse was build. Lieutenant Robert Maynard was protecting England’s colonial interest in the New World. Historians say he tricked Blackbeard into battle and then cut off his head. Stories passed down through the years say that the spirit of Blackbeard still walks around Ocracoke Island searching for his head.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Many people agree that the most recognized lighthouse in America is at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The building stretches fifty-eight meters in the air – making it the tallest brick lighthouse in the country. It was completed in eighteen seventy. Its signal shines a white light every seven and one-half seconds. Ships thirty-seven kilometers from land are able to see the signal.

Historians believe more people have read about, painted or taken pictures of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse than any other lighthouse in North America. It is the picture on the official documents of the United States Lighthouse Service. It is also a memorial to hundreds of men and women who worked to make North Carolina’s coast safe for sea travelers.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen ninety-nine, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved more than nine hundred meters. Officials wanted to protect the building by moving it farther away from the ocean. Huge lift equipment picked up the more than four thousand ton building and carried it inland. The lighthouse was then lowered onto a new eighteen meter square concrete support structure.

Engineers inspected the repositioned building. They declared that it is standing tall and strong on its new foundation. Visitors can climb to the top of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, but they need to be in good physical condition. This is because two hundred sixty-eight steps lead to the top of North America’s tallest brick lighthouse.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Another lighthouse along North Carolina’s Outer Banks is the Bodie Lighthouse. Its

Bodie Lighthouse

history is quite interesting. The fifth financial inspector of the United States Treasury Department built the first Bodie Lighthouse in eighteen forty-eight.

Stephen Pleasonton’s main concern while building the structure was to save money. As a result, his workers were not permitted to spend enough money to build a safe base. In addition, the building was fitted with a light system that was not considered effective even then. Shortly after it opened, Bodie Island Lighthouse started sinking on one side. Workers soon had to leave it.

Several years later, the United States Congress ordered a new lighthouse be built. In eighteen fifty-two, work began on a new and improved structure. The second Bodie Lighthouse was to be representative of a new look in lighthouses. It was shaped like a circular cone, made of earthen bricks made hard in a fire. Its base was built on supporting bars driven into the earth.

VOICE ONE:

The second Bodie Lighthouse was destroyed in the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers from the South wrecked the building to prevent the Union navy of the North from gaining a position to help its ships. The structure was finally rebuilt and completed in eighteen seventy-two. It rises forty-eight meters in the air.

Today, the Bodie Lighthouse needs several repairs. This is why the building is not open to the public to climb. However, the lighthouse signal is still recognized by passing ships. It is on, off, and on again for two and one-half seconds each time, then off for twenty-two and one-half seconds. Boats up to thirty-three kilometers out at sea are able to recognize the Bodie Lighthouse signal.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The most northern lighthouse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks is at Currituck Beach. Like the other lighthouses along the coast, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse still serves as an aid to sailors. The lighthouse runs its light signal from sunset to sunrise. The signal is three seconds on, seventeen seconds off. The light can be seen as far away as thirty-three kilometers.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse remains unpainted to help tell it apart from other lighthouses along the coast. This also gives visitors a strong sense of the one and one-half million bricks used to build the building, which stands forty-seven meters in the air. The Currituck Beach Lighthouse was completed in eighteen seventy-five. It was the last major brick lighthouse built on the Outer Banks. Visitors are permitted to climb to the top.

VOICE ONE:

Wild horses run free near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Horses are not native to North America. Yet for more than four hundred years, these animals have run unrestricted along the northern Outer Banks. Historians are not sure how the horses first arrived in America. They believe either Spanish or English settlers transported them. The wild horses are called Barbs. They are known for their size, their ability to work hard, their easy movement, and their long lives.

Historians say there was nothing but sea, sand and grass when these Barb horses first arrived on the Outer Banks. A continual increase in summer visitors over the past forty years has made survival for the horses more difficult. Because of this, a group of concerned citizens has built a fence to separate the horses from people. This gives them about six thousand hectares of land to live on. The group is trying to make sure the animals will be permitted to stay on Currituck Beach. Like the lighthouses, the wild Barb horses are a traditional part of life on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Jill Moss and produced by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of America.

North American Leaders Wrap Up Summit

By Paula Wolfson Washington 21 August 2007

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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, center, stands with President Bush, left, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon

The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada have wrapped up a two-day summit at a Canadian resort. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson reports the talks on economic and security matters were overshadowed by a hurricane along Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Hurricane Dean struck the Yucatan region of Mexico in the midst of the summit. The meeting ended with statements of concern and promises of aid.

President Bush said the United States would do all it can to help in relief and recovery. "I want you to know that U.S. agencies are in close touch with the proper Mexican authorities and if you so desire help, we stand ready to help," he said.

The summit schedule was rearranged to get Mexican President Felipe Calderon home as quickly as possible. He told a joint news conference at the end of the talks that the storm spared tourist areas, but resulted in severe damage in poor neighborhoods with few resources to rebuild.

"It went over the poorer Mayan areas, and I have a great deal of concern for the housing and the lack of services in that general area for the indigenous people there. And that will be the main area of concern for us and activity," he said.

The three-way summit was held under the auspices of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, an initiative launched in 2005 to find ways to facilitate the flow of goods and services across safe and secure borders.

As the three leaders prepared to meet at a luxury resort in Quebec province, opponents took to the Internet and broadcast airways warning of a conspiracy to boost big business and create a European Union-type super-government of North America.

President Bush responded to the critics, saying they are using scare tactics. "You know, there are some who would like to frighten our fellow citizens into believing that relations between us are harmful for our respective peoples. I just believe they are wrong," he said.

Bilateral meetings were also held at the Montebello resort, giving the leaders a chance to discuss matters that might not be on the full summit agenda.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought up the fate of his forces in Afghanistan during his one-on-one meeting with President Bush. He later told reporters the Canadian parliament will decide if their mission should be extended beyond February 2009. "I think we all can be very proud of the work Canadian troops are doing in Afghanistan. Parliament will make its decision in due course whether it wants to prolong the mission," he said.

A session between President Bush and President Calderon focused largely on combating the drug trade and related violence along the U.S.-Mexican border. Mr. Bush said work is proceeding on a common strategy. He said the United States is committed to the effort, but stressed it will be very different from the American program to fight drug trafficking in Colombia.

"This is different from Plan Colombia. This is a plan that says we have got an issue on our own border. We share a border and therefore it is a joint program. That won't mean a U.S. armed presence in your country. Mexico is plenty capable of handling the problem," he said.

The next North American summit will take place in the United States in 2008.

Mexico Begins to Assess Damage From Hurricane Dean

By Brian Wagner Miami 21 August 2007

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Mexican officials say no casualties have been reported since Hurricane Dean hit the nation's Caribbean coast and moved inland. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports the storm may still be a threat as it continues to move west toward central Mexico.

Aftermath of Hurricane Dean in Chetumal, Mexico, 21 Aug 2007

Officials in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula began assessing the damage from Hurricane Dean after the category 5 storm hit the coastline early Tuesday bringing, winds of 265 kilometers per hour.

The eye of the hurricane first reached land near the Mexican town of Chetumal, where it uprooted trees, snapped power lines and flooded streets. Mexican troops had evacuated some residents in the area ahead of the storm, but others remained in their homes.

During a trip to Canada, where he met with U.S. President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, said he was cutting short the meeting so he could return to Mexico to focus on the disaster. Calderon said he had received no reports of casualties from the hurricane so far.

At a news conference, President Bush told the Mexican leader that Washington was prepared to offer emergency assistance if needed.

"I want you to know that U.S. agencies are in close touch with the proper Mexican authorities, and if you so desire help, we stand ready to help," said President Bush.

Forecasters said the eye of Hurricane Dean followed a path across sparsely populated areas on Mexican coast, and away from population centers such as the resort city of Cancun.

Hugo Camarillo, an employee at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Cancun, said Dean brought strong winds and rain to the area, but caused no real damage.

"As I have heard, there are no damages at any hotel. It is still a little bit cloudy, but the sun is coming out," he said. "The ocean is still dangerous for swimming, but everything is going back to normal."

Camarillo said only 30 guests remained at the hotel while the hurricane passed through, but he said tour groups were expected to begin returning to the beach-side hotel late Tuesday.

The last major hurricane to hit the area was Wilma in 2005, which caused nearly $3 billion in damages on Cancun's coast.

Weather forecasters said hurricane Dean had steadily weakened as it moved over land, and was downgraded to a category one storm with winds of 140 kilometers per hour. But they warned the storm could regain strength as it moved into the Bay of Campeche, on its way to a second landfall in central Mexico, sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Hurricane Dean is blamed for at least 11 deaths in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti and the island of Dominica.

In Florida, the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour landed safely, after officials ordered the crew to end its mission one day early because of weather concerns at mission control in Houston, Texas.

Bush Says Iraqis Will Decide Their Own Future

By Scott Stearns White House 21 August 2007

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U.S. President George Bush says, despite Washington's frustration with the slow pace of political progress in Iraq, it is up to Iraqis to decide the future of their government. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the president is responding to an influential U.S. Senator who says Iraq's parliament should dismiss Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee says Mr. Maliki's government cannot achieve a political settlement, because it is too bound by its own sectarian prejudices.

Michigan Senator Carl Levin wants Iraq's parliament to remove Mr. Maliki's government, because he says it has "totally and utterly failed."

Speaking at a news conference, President Bush replied that it is up to the Iraqi people to determine the future of their government, not American politicians.

President Bush gestures as he responds to a question during the closing news conference at the North American Leaders Summit in Montebello, 21 Aug 2007

"The Iraqi people made a great step toward reconciliation when they passed the most modern constitution in the Middle East," said Mr. Bush. "And now their government has got to perform. And I think there is a certain level of frustration with the leadership."

Responding to reporters' questions in Canada following a meeting with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, Mr. Bush said if Iraq's government does not respond to the demands of the people, the people will replace it.

Senator Levin, a Democrat, visited Iraq with his committee's ranking Republican, Virginia Senator John Warner. In a written statement on Monday, both men said they told Iraqi leaders of the deep impatience of the American people and that time has run out on reaching a political consensus in Baghdad

The lack of political progress in Iraq has overshadowed some recent military accomplishments. Senators Levin and Warner say U.S. reinforcements are having measurable results that are giving Iraqi leaders the opportunity to make political compromises. But the Senators say they are not optimistic about prospects for those compromises.

In talks with American and Iraqi diplomatic and military officials, the senators say they witnessed a "great deal of apprehension regarding the capabilities of the current Iraqi government to shed its sectarian biases and act in a unifying manner."

Demonstrating political progress in Iraq is crucial to the president's report to Congress next month. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and top military commander General David Petraeus will report on the impact of the president's January decision to send more troops to Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Holds High-Level Talks in Syria

By Edward Yeranian Beirut 21 August 2007

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Ties between Iraq and Syria appear to be warming, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pursues a second day of high level meetings with top Syrian officials, including President Bashar al Assad. For VOA, Edward Yeranian reports from Beirut.

Urging Syrian support in efforts to curb violence in his country, Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki is in Damascus to meet with Syrian officials to discuss security and economic relations.

Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa,left, and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in Damascus, 21 Aug 2007

It is Maliki's first visit to Syria since he took office last year. Baghdad and Washington have accused Iraq's neighbor of failing to rein in the flow of militants and weapons across the border. Syria denies this.

Maliki gave an assessment of relations between Iraq and Syria.

He says talks and dialogue between Iraq and Syrian officials are taking a spirit of cooperation and relations must evolve towards uniting views and goals, with cooperation in confronting those difficulties facing us

Syria's Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri told Maliki that he must set a timetable for the withdrawal of "U.S. occupation forces," before Iraq can be stabilized.

U.S. troops, writes Syria's official news agency SANA, have "drawn radical forces to Iraq and ignited waves of violence."

Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Babakir Zebari, accompanying Mr. Maliki, claims that infiltration from Syria into Iraq is down by 60 percent in recent weeks.

Mohammed al Habash, a member of the Syrian Parliament from the ruling Ba'ath Party told al Arabiya TV that Iraq, "must seize the initiative."

He says the Iraqis, if they increase their control of national affairs, and cooperate with the real powers in the region, may be able to alleviate the catastrophic state of affairs that have befallen their country, but he didn't think that Syria possesses a magic bullet to resolve things, but by cooperating, they can help.

Al Jazeera reports that Assad and Maliki engaged in lengthy and detailed discussions on security, trade and refugees.

Syria, according to some reports, is now home to more than a million Iraqi refugees.

Damascus has repeatedly pleaded with international humanitarian agencies to help alleviate the burden of Iraqi refugees to its economy.

The Arab daily Asharqalawsat also reports that both countries are discussing the reopening of the Banyas oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria, closed in 1980.

Iraq's Minister of Commerce argues that trade relations between Baghdad and Damascus have deteriorated dramatically since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and must improve.

VOASE0820_Science In the News

20 August 2007

Six Diseases of the Liver, Six Different Viruses, One Name: Hepatitis
Millions of people get hepatitis. Some become very sick. Others never even know they are infected.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. This week, we will tell about six diseases of the liver. The six diseases come from six different viruses. Doctors have one name for all of them: hepatitis.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The liver is in the upper right part of the stomach area. This dark red organ is big -- it weighs more than one kilogram. And it has a big job. The liver helps clean the blood and fight infection. It also helps break down food and store energy until the body needs it.

Hepatitis destroys liver cells. Some kinds of hepatitis are much more serious than others. Scientists have identified the six kinds of hepatitis with the letters A, B, C, D, E and G. Which kind a person has can only be known from tests for antibodies in the blood.

Antibodies are special proteins that the body's natural defense system produces in answer to a threat. Identify the antibody and you identify the threat.

VOICE TWO:

Hundreds of people waited for hepatitis vaccinations at a hospital in Massachusetts in 2004 after an employee at a local restaurant developed hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A is usually spread through human waste in water or food. It is in the same group of viruses as those that cause the disease polio.

The hepatitis A virus causes high body temperature, weakness and pain. It causes problems with the stomach and intestines, making it difficult to eat or break down food. Also, the skin of a person with hepatitis may become yellow. This is a sign that the liver is not operating normally.

To help prevent the spread of hepatitis A, people should wash their hands after they use the restroom or change a baby's diaper. People should also wash their hands before they eat or prepare food.

VOICE ONE:

Hand washing can prevent the spread of hepatitis A

Hepatitis A can spread quickly to hundreds or thousands of people. But the virus is deadly in less than one percent of cases. Many people infected with the virus never even get sick. But those who do generally recover within two months.

The World Health Organization says hepatitis A is often found in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. People who have had hepatitis A cannot get it again. There is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis A. America's Centers for Disease Control says the vaccine is the best way to protect against the disease.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The World Health Organization says hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind. W.H.O. officials say two billion people are infected with the hepatitis B virus. More than three hundred fifty million of those infected have lifelong infections. The highest rates are in developing countries.

This virus is in the same group as the herpes and smallpox viruses. Hepatitis B vaccines have been given since the early nineteen eighties. The W-H-O says the vaccine is ninety five percent effective in preventing the development of infection in both children and adults.

VOICE ONE:

Hepatitis B spreads when blood from an infected person enters the body of another person. An infected mother can infect her baby. The virus can also spread through sex, and if people share injection devices.

Blood products from an infected person can spread hepatitis B. People also can get infected if they share personal-care products that might have blood on them. Examples include toothbrushes and hair-cutting equipment like razors.

VOICE TWO:

Worldwide, most hepatitis B infections are found in children. Young children are the ones most likely to develop a lifelong, or chronic, infection. The risk of such an infection is small for children older than four years.

About ninety percent of babies infected with hepatitis B during the first year develop chronic infections. Such persons are at high risk of death from liver disease or liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is considered to be the first medicine that can protect people against liver cancer.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Hepatitis C is even more dangerous. Like hepatitis B, it spreads when blood from an infected person enters someone who is not infected. The hepatitis C virus belongs to the same group of viruses as yellow fever and West Nile virus.

Most people infected with hepatitis C develop chronic infections, often without any signs. They are at high risk for liver disease and liver cancer.

The World Health Organization says about one hundred eighty million people are infected with hepatitis C. The W.H.O. reports that as many as four million more become infected each year. And it says that one hundred thirty million of those with the disease may develop diseases of the liver, including liver cancer. The W.H.O. says the highest rates of infection are in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

VOICE TWO:

Scientists have been working to develop a vaccine against hepatitis C. The virus was first observed in nineteen seventy-four. But it was not officially recognized as a new kind of hepatitis until nineteen eighty-nine.

The Centers for Disease Control says about four million Americans have been infected with hepatitis C. It says that those especially at risk include persons who inject themselves with drugs and those who received blood or blood products before nineteen ninety.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Hepatitis D is also spread through blood, but only infects people who already have hepatitis B. The virus greatly increases the chance of severe liver damage. Experts say hepatitis D infects about fifteen million people around the world.

Doctors say the best way to prevent hepatitis D is to get vaccine that protects against Hepatitis B. Doctors can treat some cases of hepatitis B, C and D. The drugs used are very costly, however. But they are less costly than another treatment possibility: getting a new liver.

VOICE TWO:

The fifth virus is hepatitis E. Experts say it spreads the same way as hepatitis A -- through infectious waste. Cases often result from polluted supplies of drinking water. Medical science recognized hepatitis E as a separate disease in nineteen eighty.

Hepatitis E is also found in animal waste. Studies have shown that the virus can infect many kinds of animals, including cows, monkeys and pigs.

VOICE ONE:

The W.H.O. says many hepatitis E cases have been reported in Central and Southeast Asia, North and West Africa and Mexico.

No vaccines or medicines are effective against hepatitis E. Most people recover, usually in several weeks or months. But the disease can cause liver damage. And, in some cases, hepatitis E can be deadly.

The virus is especially dangerous to pregnant women. Twenty percent of women with hepatitis E die in the last three months of pregnancy.

VOICE TWO:

Scientists discovered yet another kind of hepatitis in the nineteen nineties. It has been named hepatitis G. The hepatitis G virus is totally different from any of the other hepatitis viruses.

Donald Poretz is an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He says the hepatitis G virus is spread through blood and blood products. But he says the virus has not yet been found to cause any real disease.

VOICE ONE:

There are no cures for any kind of hepatitis. The only way to protect against infection is to receive vaccines against hepatitis A and B, and avoid contact with the other viruses. And that may be very difficult.

Remember that some kinds of hepatitis spread through sex or sharing needles. Blood products should be carefully tested for hepatitis. People in high-risk groups and those who have had hepatitis should not give blood. They also should not agree to provide their organs to others after they die. Donated organs can also spread hepatitis.

VOICE TWO:

Health experts say people can take other steps people to protect themselves. These include always washing your hands with soap and water after using the restroom. Also, wash your hands after changing a baby's diaper and before preparing or eating food.

Experts also say travelers should not drink water of unknown quality when visiting foreign or unknown areas. Visitors to such areas also should avoid eating uncooked fruits and vegetables. And, again, do not forget to wash your hands!

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. You can download transcripts and audio of our programs, at voaspecialenglish.com. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0820_Agriculture Report

20 August 2007

The Fight Over Farm Subsidies
Negotiators will meet next month in Geneva to discuss compromise proposals for agricultural and industrial goods.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Two words are enough to start a debate: farm subsidies.

Farmers who are subsidized by their governments usually receive direct payments or loans. Domestic subsidies provide support within a farmer's own country. Export subsidies help them sell their products in other countries, often at a lower price.

Developing nations criticize export subsidies in the United States and other wealthy countries. They say the result is that their own farmers are often unable to compete on the world market.

The dispute over subsidies is one of the major barriers to a new agreement for the World Trade Organization. Negotiators will meet again next month in Geneva to discuss compromise proposals for agricultural and industrial goods.

One version written last month calls for the United States to lower its subsidies. In return, big developing countries like China, India and Brazil would make larger reductions in taxes on industries.

But in Washington, the House of Representatives recently passed a farm bill that would continue high-paying subsidies. These go mostly to farmers in the Midwest and South who grow corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans. The bill would also add money for growers of fruits and vegetables.

The bill now goes to the Senate. President Bush has threatened to veto it. He opposes subsidies for farmers currently receiving high prices for crops like corn and soybeans.

Today's farm subsidies have roots in the Great Depression.

In nineteen thirty-three, Congress passed a law that paid farmers not to plant on some of their land. The idea was to control crop supplies and support prices, while protecting the soil.

Since nineteen thirty-three, legislation known as the farm bill has come before Congress about every five years for renewal.

After the nineteen sixties, aid to farmers increased. In nineteen ninety-six, Congress passed the Freedom to Farm Act. This law removed the requirement to leave areas of land unplanted in order to receive government money.

Economist and author James Weaver thinks political pressure on Congress will make big cuts in subsidies unlikely anytime soon. He says most farmers with high subsidies like the system the way it is. The amount received is based on production area. So the wealthiest farmers with the most land often receive the most money.

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

VOASE0819_Development Report

19 August 2007

Building a Windbreak to Protect Crops
Barriers of trees and other plants seem to work best when they let a little wind pass through.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A windbreak of trees

Farmers use different kinds of soil conservation methods to protect their land from damage by farming and the forces of nature. One important form of soil conservation is the use of windbreaks.

Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants with many leaves. Farmers plant them in lines around their fields.

Windbreaks stop the wind from blowing soil away. They also keep the wind from destroying or damaging crops. They are very important for growing grains, such as wheat.

There have been studies done on windbreaks in parts of West Africa, for example. These found that grain harvests can be twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks compared to fields without such protection.

However, windbreaks seem to work best when they allow a little wind to pass through. If the wall of trees and plants stops wind completely, then violent air motions will take place close to the ground. These motions will lift soil into the air where it will be blown away.

For this reason, a windbreak is best if it has only sixty to eighty percent of the trees and plants needed to make a solid line.

An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to ten times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak.

There should be at least two lines in each windbreak. One line should be large trees. The second line, right next to it, can be shorter trees and other plants with leaves. Locally grown trees and plants are best for windbreaks.

Windbreaks not only protect land and crops from the wind. They can also provide wood products. These include wood for fuel and longer pieces for making fences.

You can get more information about windbreaks and other forms of soil conservation from the group Volunteers in Technical Assistance. VITA is part of EnterpriseWorks/VITA, on the Web at enterpriseworks.org.

Internet users can read and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish dot com. And if you have a question, write to VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., two-zero-two-three-seven U.S.A. Or send e-mail to special@voanews.com and make sure to include your name and where you are from. We might be able to answer your question on the air, but we cannot answer questions personally.

And that's the VOA Special Development Report, written by Gary Garriott. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0819_This Is America

19 August 2007

Chicago: Some Big Places to See in the 'City of the Big Shoulders'
Come along to a huge park, a cultural center known as “the People’s Palace,” and more, in the nation’s third largest city.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. This week: some places to see in Chicago.

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VOICE ONE:

Early last century, the poet Carl Sandburg described Chicago, Illinois, as the “City of the Big Shoulders.” That still seems right. Chicago does a lot of things in a big way.

For example, the city is a big transportation center in the Midwest for trains, trucks, ships and planes.

Manufacturing is one of the biggest industries in Chicago.

And Chicago has one of America’s busiest ports. The city stretches for about forty kilometers along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in nineteen fifty-nine. It connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

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VOICE TWO:

Chicago is big on music. Visitors can find all kinds, from classical to hip-hop. Some of the best places for jazz and blues are along Rush Street.

There are lots of things to see and hear in Chicago.

At the Art Institute of Chicago, people can see fine Asian art and much more.

At the Museum of Science and Industry, visitors crowd a working coal mine and a World War Two submarine.

At the Adler Planetarium, people see stars and learn about space. And at the Shedd Aquarium, they see colorful fish and learn about life under the sea.

VOICE ONE:

The Sears Tower

Not surprisingly Chicago has a lot of big buildings. The two tallest are the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Building.

Many people take architectural tours around Chicago. There are many interesting landmarks and building designs to see.

The Wrigley Building, near the Chicago River, opened in the early nineteen twenties. This office building is hard to miss. It is bright white.

Downtown Chicago, the business center, is known as the Loop. There are many offices and stores. The Loop includes the financial district around LaSalle Street. The financial district is home to the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Stock Exchange and many banks.

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VOICE TWO:

Another big thing to see, and feel, is the weather. After all, another name for Chicago is the "Windy City." People turn their shoulders to the strong winds off Lake Michigan. In winter, Chicago gets a lot of snow; in summer, the weather is hot and sticky.

Almost three million people live in Chicago. Chicago is America's third largest city, after New York and Los Angeles. More than nine million people live in surrounding communities.

Over the years many immigrants have settled in Chicago. Many of its people have ethnic roots in Poland, Germany, Ireland and Italy. More recent immigrants have come from all over the world.

Today just under half the population of the city of Chicago is non-Hispanic white. The city has large black and Hispanic populations. Four percent of the people are Asian.

VOICE ONE:

Millenium Park, Chicago

When people in Chicago want to be outdoors, one place to go is Millennium Park. In this City of Big Shoulders, almost everything about Millennium Park is big. It covers ten hectares. It took almost nine years to finish.

Millennium Park is on Michigan Avenue near Lake Michigan. It officially opened in two thousand four. It cost four hundred seventy-five million dollars.

Millennium Park has gardens and places for music, dance and ice skating. It also has one of the largest outdoor sculptures in the world. Anish Kapoor of Britain created this work of public art. It weighs one hundred ten tons.

A huge rounded form of shiny steel captures a looking-glass image of the Chicago skyline and the clouds above. The sculpture is called “Cloud Gate.”

VOICE TWO:

The Spanish artist Jaume Plensa designed the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. The fountain is surely one of the most unusual in the world.

The artist set a pool of water between two tall glass towers. Video images appear on the towers. The images are a series of pictures of nature and people’s faces. The water appears to pour from their mouths. The faces represent the many different people of Chicago.

VOICE ONE:

Millennium Park has music in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The architect Frank Gehry designed this modern-looking structure. It can seat four thousand people under its open-top steel ribbons. There is also an area called the Great Lawn to listen to the music. The sound system makes the music seem like it is coming from inside a concert hall.

The pavilion is a home for the Grant Park Music Festival. Listen as the Grant Park Symphony plays “Julius Caesar: Symphonic Epilogue After Shakespeare," Opus Twenty-eight, composed by Robert Kurka.

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VOICE TWO:

McCormick Place, Chicago

In warm weather, people eat outdoors in the McCormick Tribune Plaza and Ice Rink in Millennium Park. In winter, skaters come out to enjoy the ice.

Visitors can also walk and ride bicycles in several areas of the plaza.

An indoor space has room for three hundred bicycles. There are also places where people who ride their bikes to work can clean up and change clothes.

Another part of Millennium Park is the Lurie Garden. This one-hectare area is bordered by what is called the "Shoulder Hedge." Trees almost five meters tall form a living wall around the garden.

"Shoulder" in this case is meant to honor the poet Carl Sandburg. One hundred thirty-eight kinds of plants grow in the Lurie Garden.

VOICE ONE:

Many people enjoy the activities at Millennium Park. But critics wonder why the city needed a park so big and costly. They say the city should have spent the money instead on its more than six hundred public schools. They say it could have helped the poor.

Twenty-one percent of people in the city of Chicago were living below the poverty level in two thousand four. The official poverty rate nationally that year was about thirteen percent.

VOICE TWO:

Other people say Millennium Park has improved the appearance of the area where it was built. The mayor and many other city leaders believed a big park would bring more people, more homes and more businesses to the area.

Mayor Richard M. Daley is the son of former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. The father is still remembered for his control over the local Democratic Party organization. The city has not elected a Republican mayor since nineteen fifteen.

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VOICE ONE:

Another big development, the Chicago Cultural Center, stands across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park. It contains the city's official Visitor Information Center. It is also a showplace for the arts.

The building that now houses the cultural center was completed in eighteen ninety-seven. It held the first permanent collection of the Chicago Public Library. It served as library headquarters until nineteen ninety-one.

There are white walls made of marble from Carrara, Italy. And there are two Tiffany domes. The bigger dome is one of the largest Tiffany designs in the world. It rises almost twelve meters above the floor.

People say the restored Chicago Cultural Center looks like a home for kings and queens. Some call it “the People’s Palace.”

VOICE TWO:

Visitors can listen to all kinds of music at the Chicago Cultural Center. For example, Monday through Friday, there are free LunchBreak Concerts. Listen now to Middle Eastern music performed by Safwan Matni, a popular LunchBreak Concert guest artist.

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Dancers from Hubbard Street Two in Chicago have also performed at the Cultural Center. Hubbard Street Two is a six-member dance group. It trains promising dancers between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five. They perform works by young choreographers.

VOICE ONE:

Carl Sandburg would probably not have been surprised by big projects like the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park. The poet wrote: “Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive … ”

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Faith Lapidus. Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. And join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. We leave you with Frank Sinatra singing about "My Kind of Town."

VOASE0818_People In America

18 August 2007

Edward Teller, 1908-2003: "Father of the Hydrogen Bomb"
He was one of the best-known American scientists of the twentieth century.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA from VOA Special English. Today, we tell about Edward Teller. He was one of the best-known American scientists of the twentieth century.

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VOICE ONE:

Edward Teller was often called the "father of the hydrogen bomb.” However, he

Edward Teller

reportedly did not like that name. Teller helped develop the first nuclear weapons. Later, he was an activist for a strong national defense. He was an important influence on America’s defense and energy policies.

Experts say Teller’s strong support for defense resulted from experiences that helped shape his opinion of world events. One was the rise of the Nazi party while he lived in Germany during the nineteen thirties.

VOICE TWO:

Edward Teller was born in Budapest, Hungary in nineteen-oh-eight. His father was a lawyer and his mother had strong musical abilities. His parents and teachers recognized at an early age that Edward was excellent in mathematics. Yet his father was unhappy when Edward said he wanted to be a mathematician. He told his son that mathematicians had trouble earning money. So Edward agreed to study chemistry. He went to Leipzig, Germany for his university education. While in Germany, Edward was in a streetcar accident. One of his feet was cut off. He had to wear a man-made, replacement foot for the rest of his life.

VOICE ONE:

One of Teller’s professors in Leipzig was Werner Heisenberg. Heisenberg helped invent the theory called quantum mechanics. This theory involves the study of matter and radiation at an atomic level. It was one of the most important theories in twentieth century science. In nineteen thirty-two, Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize for physics for developing the theory. Later he worked in Germany’s nuclear research program.

Edward Teller received a doctorate in physics from the University of Leipzig in nineteen thirty. He was a professor at the University of Gottingen for three years.

In nineteen thirty-three, Adolf Hitler became Germany’s Chancellor. Hitler and his Nazi Party organized a campaign against Jews and other minorities. This forced Teller and a number of other Jewish scientists to flee Germany. Teller and his wife, Mici, came to the United States in nineteen thirty-five. They became American citizens six years later.

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VOICE TWO:

By the late nineteen thirties, scientists in several countries were learning how to split the nuclei of atoms. They discovered that this nuclear fission releases huge amounts of energy and could be used to create a powerful new weapon. Some scientists in the United States feared that Germany was developing an atomic bomb and would be the first to use it as a weapon. One of those who believed this was a friend of Teller’s, Leo Szilard. Like Teller, Szilard was a scientist who had left Hungary and come to live in the United States.

Szilard believed that the United States should have its own program to develop atomic weapons. He wanted to get American officials interested in such a program. He decided to seek help from the world’s most famous scientist, Albert Einstein.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen thirty-nine, Szilard prepared a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt for Einstein to sign. The letter urged the need for an atomic weapons program. Szilard decided to visit Einstein at his summer home near New York City. But Szilard could not drive a car, so he asked his friend Teller to drive them to Einstein’s home. Einstein signed the letter. It led to a secret American program to develop an atomic bomb. This program was called the Manhattan Project.

To carry out the program, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory was secretly established in the southwestern state of New Mexico in nineteen forty-two. This was during World War Two. The United States wanted to build an atomic bomb before Germany or Japan did. Teller joined the project along with America’s other top scientists. He and his wife brought their one-hundred-year-old piano to the New Mexico desert. Teller often stayed up late, playing music written by Mozart and other famous composers.

VOICE TWO:

Edward Teller hoped to design a hydrogen fusion bomb, a device he called the “super.” The idea for the hydrogen bomb came from another scientist, Enrico Fermi. Fermi suggested that the fusion of hydrogen atoms might create an even more powerful force than splitting them. Teller quickly accepted the idea.

However, the director of the Manhattan Project disagreed. J. Robert Oppenheimer wanted his team of scientists to develop an atomic bomb, not a hydrogen bomb. The Manhattan project succeeded in developing the world’s first atomic bomb. Its energy came from splitting the nuclei of uranium atoms.

VOICE ONE:

Edward Teller was among the scientists who gathered to see the world’s first atomic test explosion. They watched as a huge cloud rose from the New Mexico desert on July sixteenth, ninety forty-five. By that time, the war in Europe was over. The Germans had never come close to creating an atomic bomb. But the war with Japan continued. In an effort to end the war, United States planes dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August sixth. Japan surrendered within days to end World War Two.

VOICE TWO:

After the war, Edward Teller taught at the University of Chicago in Illinois. Many scientists who helped develop the atomic bomb returned to civilian jobs. Some had problems with moral issues.

Years later, Teller wondered if the United States could have shown Japanese leaders the power of the atom without destroying the two cities. Teller said he regretted that he and other scientists did not seek to demonstrate American power in some other way to influence Japan to end the war. Teller said: “If we could have ended the war by showing the power of science without killing a single person, all of us would be happier, more reasonable and much more safe.”

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VOICE ONE:

The United States tested the first hydrogen bomb in 1952

In nineteen forty-nine, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. Suddenly, the United States faced its own threat of nuclear attack. Edward Teller believed the country needed a hydrogen bomb for defense. President Harry Truman agreed. Teller returned to Los Alamos and worked to develop the hydrogen bomb. Scientists tested the bomb in the Pacific Ocean in nineteen fifty-two.

VOICE TWO:

As the United States and the Soviet Union built more nuclear bombs, Edward Teller called for a second national nuclear weapons laboratory. The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory opened near San Francisco, California in nineteen fifty-two. Teller worked as an advisor there. He served as director from nineteen fifty-eight to nineteen sixty. Then he became a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. In the nineteen sixties, opponents of the Vietnam War criticized Teller for his work in developing nuclear weapons.

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VOICE ONE:

Edward Teller spent the rest of his life on matters of war and peace. He believed that the security of the United States depended on strong national defense. In nineteen eighty, Teller said he believed nuclear war with the Soviet Union was possible. He said: “ I cannot just go back to physics because I believe that to prevent another war happens to be … more important.”

In the nineteen eighties, Teller argued for a missile-defense system for the United States. Teller strongly supported President Ronald Reagan’s proposed Strategic Defense Initiative. It called for space satellites armed with lasers to destroy possible nuclear missiles directed at the United States.

This program became known as “Star Wars.” Critics said it would cost too much money to develop and would not work. It was never built. However, President Bush has renewed the idea of establishing a missile-defense system to protect the United States.

VOICE TWO:

Edward Teller receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 26, 2003. With him is Shirley Petty of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director's Office.

Edward Teller received many honors during his life. In two thousand three, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. That same year, Teller suffered a stroke. He died at his home on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He was ninety-five years old. Until his last days, Edward Teller continued to support the idea of a system to defend the country against a danger he helped create.

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VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by George Grow and produced by Lawan Davis. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America.

UN Observes Fourth Anniversary of Baghdad Headquarters Bombing

By Suzanne Presto New York 17 August 2007

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The United Nations held a ceremony Friday to mark the fourth anniversary of the deadly bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Twenty two people were killed in the August 19 attack, and more than 150 others were wounded, leading the U.N. to substantially reduce its mission in Iraq. VOA's Suzanne Presto reports from the United Nations bureau in New York.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (l) and staff in New York, 17 Aug 2007, commemorate the fourth anniversary of the bombing of the headquarters in Baghdad

Behind the U.N. singers at the organization's headquarters, sunlight filtered through the Peace Window, a brilliant blue stained-glass work by the late Marc Chagall.

U.N. officials, staffers, loved ones of the victims and survivors gathered before a memorial plaque honoring those killed in the 2003 attack.

Nearby, the torn U.N. flag that once flew over the organization's Baghdad office is mounted on the wall.

Survivors laid a wreath of violet and yellow flowers before the plaque after victims' names were read out loud.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the August 19 attack was one of the U.N.'s "darkest days."

"Four years on, our hearts remain heavy," said the U.N. chief. "We have lost colleagues before in the line of duty. But this was the first time the United Nations was deliberately targeted on such a massive scale."

Mr. Ban says the attack shattered any illusion that U.N. ideals and impartiality would permit the body to escape violence in Iraq.

Still, he said, the U.N.'s commitment to peace remains unchanged.

"Today, those very ideals, the same resolve, guide our work for peace whether in Darfur or in Delhi, or in Beirut or in Baghdad," siad Mr. Ban.

Mr. Ban says such a commitment is evident in the U.N. plan to expand its role in Iraq through the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, or UNAMI. He says such work honors those who were killed in the terrorist attack, including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

"The Security Council's recent decision to renew and strengthen UNAMI's mandate is an opportunity to carry forward the work of Sergio Vieira de Mello and his colleagues," he said. "Yet I understand the fears and concerns some staff may have about any expansion. That is why I affirm to you today that any such measure remains strictly subject to conditions on the ground. Your safety is and always will be a a paramount concern."

Depending on the security situation, the U.N. Mission in Iraq is expected to increase from 55 to 95 international employees. The organization will play a larger role in brokering political dialogue inside Iraq and winning support from Iraq's neighbors for the country's security.

A U.N. spokeswoman Friday said an investigation into the August 2003 bombing is complete. She says the report identifies the attackers and explains how the bombing was carried out. She adds that findings will be made public after the victims' families are informed.