Are You Into Podcasting? / Music by Bobby Short / A Listener Asks About April Fool's Day

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DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

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

Music by Bobby Short ...

A question from a listener about April Fool’s Day ...

And a report on something called podcasting.

Podcasting

Here is something new: people are listening to the radio without using a radio. They are also producing radio shows to broadcast on the Internet. It is called podcasting. Phoebe Zimmermann explains.

PHOEBE ZIMMERMANN: Podcasting is also called personal radio. A person who has a computer and a special microphone can record a radio show about anything. This technology is new because listeners can put the recording onto portable electronic devices and listen to them away from the computer.

Apple iPod

The name podcasting came from one of these portable electronic devices, the iPod made by the Apple computer company. An iPod is small. It can copy, save and play music and written material. You do not have to have an iPod to listen to the broadcasts; many people also listen to them on a computer with Internet connection.

The new broadcasters enjoy sharing information with their listeners. Many say podcasting is a new form of the Internet Web log or blog. It is another way for a person to offer his or her ideas to anyone who is interested.

People broadcast about many subjects, including religion, their everyday lives or hobbies such as fishing or drinking wine. Right now, a very popular podcast is called “The Dawn and Drew Show”. Dawn and Drew are a young wife and husband who live in the state of Wisconsin. Their show is meant to be funny. In it, they talk about their lives and whatever interests them at that moment. They bring guests to their show, including their parents and other family members.

Not much competition exists right now among the different podcasts. Many people speak on more than one. They are usually friendly. One Web site has a list of the ten most popular podcasts based on votes by listeners. It is called podcast alley dot com. It also lists interesting new podcasts.

Thousands of podcasts are being created all over the world. If you are interested in finding out about them, go to podcastalley.com. That is spelled p-o-d-c-a-s-t-a-l-l-e-y dot com. You can find a podcast that interests you. Or you might try to create your own.

April Fool’s Day

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Myle asks about the history of April Fool’s Day on April first. Today is April Fool’s Day in the United States. It is not an important American holiday like the Fourth of July or Labor Day. It is not observed by schools or the government. It is just a day when people play tricks on each other.

History experts say people have been doing this for a long time. They also say it is difficult to know how it began. Some believe the tradition comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago. Others say the day for fooling began in France in fifteen sixty-four when King Charles changed the yearly calendar. He moved New Year’s Day from April first to January first.

Many people did not know about the change because of the communications problems in those days. Others knew about the change, but refused to accept it. So some people continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April first. Other people called them April Fools and played jokes on them.

The French called them “poissons d’avril” or “April Fish” because young fish are easily caught. This tradition later spread to other countries like Britain. The early settlers from Britain brought April fooling to the American colonies.

Americans today still play tricks on each other on April Fool’s Day. Children might put signs on the backs of their friends that say “kick me” or “hit me.” They might tell their friends that school has been cancelled. Or they might go to a house, ring the doorbell, run away, then yell “April Fool’s!” when the homeowner comes to the door.

We found a Web site that claims to list the top one hundred April Fool’s Day jokes of all time. Maybe you remember this one. It took place on April first, nineteen ninety-six. The Taco Bell fast food company made an announcement in newspaper advertisements. It said it was buying the famous Liberty Bell from the federal government to help reduce the national debt.

The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of America’s most historic treasures. The company said it was re-naming it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” Many people did not realize it was a joke. Hundreds of angry people called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia to protest the action. A few hours later, Taco Bell admitted its April Fool’s joke!

Bobby Short

DOUG JOHNSON: American singer Bobby Short died last week in New York City of the blood disease leukemia. Bobby Short was eighty years old. Gwen Outen tells us about him.

GWEN OUTEN: Bobby Short performed all over the world. He entertained American presidents and European royalty. He was well known for singing the great American songs written by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in two thousand for his album “You’re the Top: The Love Songs of Cole Porter.” Listen as he sings the title song.

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Bobby Short was born in Danville, Illinois. He was the ninth of ten children. As a child, he sang and played the piano to earn money for his family during the great economic Depression in the nineteen thirties. Later, he performed around the United States and in Europe. For more than thirty-five years, Bobby Short performed six nights a week at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City. Here is a song from another Grammy-nominated album, “Late Night at the Cafe Carlyle.”

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Bobby Short wrote two books about his life. He also performed his music and appeared in movies and on television. But he will always be remembered for his sweet, smooth voice. We leave you now with another song from Bobby Short – “Every Time We Say Goodbye.”

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HOST:

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

Our show was written by Ed Stautberg and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

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Walt Disney Company Names New Chief

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I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The Walt Disney Company is the second largest media company in the United States, after Time-Warner. It is worth fifty-seven thousand million dollars.

Walt Disney and his brother Roy started the company by making short animated films called cartoons. In nineteen twenty-eight, the brothers produced “Steamboat Willie,” a cartoon starring Mickey Mouse. The Disney brothers then made several very successful full-length animated cartoon movies. They also began selling products linked to the characters in their movies.

Walt Disney wanted to expand into other forms of entertainment. In nineteen fifty-five, he opened the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California. In nineteen seventy-one, Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida. It is the post popular holiday area in the United States. There are also Disney parks in Tokyo, Japan and Paris, France. Disneyland in Hong Kong is expected to open in September.

Michael Eisner

Walt Disney died in nineteen sixty-six. But the company continued to grow. In nineteen eighty-three, Disney started its own cable television channel. The next year, Michael Eisner became chairman and chief executive.

During the nineteen nineties, Disney grew into a total media company. It bought movie production companies, newspapers and cable television companies. In nineteen ninety-six, Disney bought the American Broadcasting Company, including the cable sports network ESPN.

Mister Eisner remained the company’s top executive. But last year, about forty-five percent of Disney shareholders voted against him. The Disney board of directors removed Mister Eisner from the position of chairman. It replaced him with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Recently, Disney made an agreement with Pixar Animation Studios to make five animated movies. The deal produced the extremely popular films “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” But, in January of last year, talks to extend the agreement failed. Some shareholders blamed Mister Eisner.

In March, the Walt Disney Company announced that Robert Iger would replace Mister Eisner as chief executive. Robert Iger has been president and chief operating officer of the company for the past five years. Mister Iger will begin the top job at Disney on September thirtieth.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. I’m Gwen Outen.

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The American Civil War: An Anti-War Movement Begins in the North

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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Two years of war -- a bitter, bloody civil war -- began to show their effects on both the confederate states of the South and the Union states of the North. That was the story of the American Civil War in the early summer of eighteen-sixty-three.

Both the North and the South began to feel the pinch, the pressure of the costly struggle. The south, however, felt the pressure more severely, because it was weaker in manpower and industrial strength.

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen-sixty-three, the Confederate states were becoming short of supplies. Food and guns were difficult to find to keep the Confederate armies in the field.

Men were also needed. More and more men. here seemed to be no end to the demand for men to fill the places left empty by dead and wounded soldiers.

Many in the south were heavy of heart. And the hope among them slowly started to sink. The war was tiring. Its suffering was more than they could bear. And the situation in the west made matters worse.

Union Armies were on the move in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee. Their successes were becoming a serious threat. They might soon win control of the whole Mississippi river. This would split the states of the Confederacy and might end its
very existence.

Something was needed to raise up the spirits of the south to break the pressure of Union armies.

VOICE ONE:

Robert E. Lee

General Robert E. Lee believed he had the answer: an invasion of the north. This, he felt, would throw fear into the people of the north and weaken the Union war effort.

Lee had organized an army of seventy-five-thousand men at Fredericksburg, Virginia, halfway between Washington and Richmond.

Lee began moving his men June third. They marched northwest into the Shenandoah Valley. The valley led north to the Potomac River. Across the river was the narrow neck of western Maryland, then Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania was the target. Its rich farmland produced plenty of food...enough to feed Lee's hungry army for the summer.

VOICE TWO:

Standing in the way of Lee's army was a small Union force at Winchester, in northern Virginia. There were only seven-thousand Union soldiers. And they had no idea that the Confederate army was nearby.

The Confederates easily defeated them. More than half of the Union troops were captured. The others fled.

Now there was nothing to stop Lee from marching into Pennsylvania.

The huge Army of the Potomac was behind him, near Washington. The Union commander, General Hooker, had to keep his army between Lee and Washington to prevent the Confederates from seizing the national capital.

VOICE ONE:

Lee's army crossed western Maryland and entered Pennsylvania. His soldiers found the Pennsylvania countryside very different from Virginia's. Virginia had been a battleground for two years, and the land showed it. Many of its farms had been
destroyed. Its stores were empty.

Pennsylvania had not been touched by the war. Its big farms were rich. Its towns and villages were full of food and goods of all kinds.

The hungry, poorly-clothed soldiers could not believe their eyes. This was the land of the enemy, they cried, and they could take whatever they wished.

But General Lee said "No." He said supplies could be taken only by Confederate supply officers. And he said they must pay -- in Confederate money -- for everything they took.

VOICE TWO:

Lee did not want to anger these people in Pennsylvania. Many of them did not support the Union war effort. Some of the rich farmers said openly that they did not care who won the war. They said they only wanted to be left alone.

Lee was sure that many in the north felt the same way. There had been signs that people were growing tired of the war.

Coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania had shown their feelings toward the war a few months earlier.

They rose up against a new law drafting men into the Union army. The miners did not want to fight. They refused to join the army. They rioted and attacked officials who tried to take them. Soldiers were sent to the mining areas to put down the riots.

VOICE ONE:

Farmers in nearby Ohio also rebelled against the draft law. They refused to be drafted. Instead, they took guns and battled soldiers who came to arrest them.

Feelings against the war were growing stronger, not only in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but also in several other farm states of the north. These areas saw a growing support for a peace party -- a political party opposed to the war.

Leaders of this movement were Democrats called "Copperheads." They got this name because they wore on their coats a copper penny with the head of an Indian.

VOICE TWO:

The chief Copperhead was a former Ohio congressman. His name was Clement Vallandigham.

As a member of Congress, Vallandigham criticized the war and the Republicans. He told them:

"The war for the Union is, in your hands, a most bloody and costly failure. War for the Union was abandoned. And war for the Negro was openly begun with stronger effort than before. With what success." Vallandigham asked. "Let the dead at
Fredericksburg and Vicksburg answer."

Vallandigham said he wanted peace...and he wanted it immediately. He offered a simple program: stop the fighting. Make a ceasefire. And let some friendly foreign nation negotiate peace between north and south.

VOICE ONE:

After he lost his seat in Congress, Vallandigham opened a campaign to become governor of Ohio. He traveled all across the state speaking out against the war. He said Republicans did not want peace. He said they wanted to fight until every black
man was free.

The Union military commander for Ohio was General Ambrose Burnside, a former commander of the Army of the Potomac. After losing the battle of Fredericksburg, Lincoln removed burnside as army commander and sent him to Ohio.

Burnside was worried. Too many people in Ohio opposed the war. He believed that much of what was being said and done in Ohio was close to the crime of treason.

VOICE TWO:

Burnside announced several new measures to quiet the opponents of the war.

One of these orders limited the right of citizens to criticize government military policy. Another declared that statements of support for the enemy would be punished as treason.

Abraham Lincoln

Vallandigham refused to recognize Burnside's right to give such orders to civilians. On May first, he made a campaign speech to a big crowd at Mount Vernon, Ohio. He denounced Burnside's orders and spoke of the President as "King Lincoln. "

Vallandigham claimed that Lincoln was using the war to become a dictator. He said Lincoln did not want peace, that the president had rejected peace offers from the south. Once again, he said the war was not a struggle for the Union, but a fight to free the slaves of the south. And he said men of Ohio who let themselves be drafted into the Union army were no better than slaves themselves.

VOICE ONE:

Burnside had sent several army officers to listen to the speech. When they reported what Vallandigham said, Burnside ordered his arrest. Without question, the man had violated the General's orders.

Late the next night, soldiers went to Vallandigham's home in Dayton. They knocked on the door and said they had come to arrest him.

Vallandigham called for help and refused to let the soldiers enter. They broke down the door, seized him and took him to a military prison in Cincinnati.

A few days later, Vallandigham went on trial before a military court in Cincinnati. That will be our story in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.

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VOICE TWO:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Jack Moyles and Maurice Joyce. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.

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Choosing a U.S. College: Two Schools for Students with Hearing Disorders

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I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our reports for students around the world who want to attend a college or university in the United States. This week, we tell about two schools for students who cannot hear.

One is the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. It is one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology. And it is the world’s first and largest technical college for the deaf or hard of hearing.

The Rochester Institute of Technology has about fifteen thousand students. Almost one hundred of these are international deaf or hard of hearing students. They are from Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

It costs about twenty-five thousand dollars a year for an international undergraduate student to attend the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. International graduate students pay about eighteen thousand dollars a year. Both undergraduate and graduate students can receive financial aid and take part in the university’s student employment program. This program makes it possible for students to work at the university.

More information about the school and its programs can be found on its website at www.ntid.rit.edu

Another American college for the deaf is Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. It is the only university in the world where all programs and services are designed for deaf and hard of hearing students. About two thousand students attend Gallaudet. The cost for international students is about sixteen thousand dollars a year. Financial aid comes in the form of scholarships only.

Most scholarship aid goes to students in financial need who perform extremely well in school. One scholarship for international students is designed to help deaf students from developing countries. TOEFL scores are not required for admission.

Gallaudet University also offers an English Language Institute that teaches English as a second language. But taking part in the program does not guarantee acceptance at the university. Information about these and other programs can be found on the university’s web site at www.gallaudet.edu.

This was week thirty-one of our Foreign Student Series. You can find the other programs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. I’m Gwen Outen.

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Farmers Can Control Insects By Mixing Plants

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I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Last week, we discussed how farmers can control harmful insects by mixing different kinds of plants with the main crop. But there are also other ways to use plants to protect crops without chemicals. Some plants provide food and protection for insects that help control harmful insects.

Organic Gardening magazine, published by the Rodale Institute, once described some examples, such as ladybugs.

Ladybugs are beetles that like crimson clover and hairy vetch. They find food, water and a resting place in the clover and vetch. Ladybug larvae eat harmful aphids. Aphids are tiny insects that feed on many different kinds of crop plants.

Plants also help each other through their root systems.

For example, scientists say the roots of the marigold flower reduce harmful nematode populations in the soil. Nematodes are tiny worms. There are more than ten-thousand different kinds of nematodes. And some of them feed on corn.

Wild mustard is another plant that releases a poison through its roots. This poison kills nematodes. It also kills some kinds of fungi.

A researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said the wild mustard should be cut close to the ground after the first fifteen days. After that, it should be cut once a month. If left to grow freely, wild mustard will compete with the corn for nutrients in the soil.

Canadian researchers discovered that the dandelion weed can protect tomato plants from fusarium disease. Fusarium attacks the plant roots. It reduces the number of tomatoes that the plant produces.

Dandelion roots produce cichoric acid. This acid prevents the disease from getting iron from the soil. Fusarium needs iron to survive.

There are, however, plants that should never be grown together. The roots of the black walnut tree, for example, produce a poison that kills potatoes, peas, tomatoes and peppers.

Dying parts of the brassica family of plants produce a poison that prevents the seeds of some plants from growing. Brassica plants include broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

Plants with small seeds, such as lettuce, are especially affected by the brassica poison. A professor at the University of Connecticut said brassica plants should be removed from the soil after they have produced their crop.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Bob Bowen. Internet users can find the first part of our report at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Gwen Outen.

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The Internet: Linking People in a Way Once Thought Impossible

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VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS.

(Picture - NIH)

Today we present the second part of our series about communications. We tell how computers are linking many millions of people around the world.

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VOICE ONE:

Last week we told about the history of the communication of information. We described how the telegraph was the first important device that could move information quickly from one place to another. And we discussed the beginning of satellite communications.

About six years after the first communications satellite was placed in orbit, the American Department of Defense began developing a new project. It began linking major research universities across the United States. The project began in the early Nineteen-Seventies.

VOICE TWO:

Professors at many American universities do research work for the United States Government. The Department of Defense wanted to link the universities together to help the professors cooperate in their work. Department of Defense officials decided to try to link these universities by computer. The officials believed the computer would make it easier for researchers to send large amounts of information from research center to research center. They believed they could link computers at these universities by telephone.

VOICE ONE:

They were right. It became very easy to pass information from one university to another. University researchers working on the same project could share large amounts of information very quickly. They no longer had to wait several days for the mail to bring a copy of the research reports.

VOICE TWO:

Modems at Penn State University. (Picture - Penn State)

This is how the system works. The computer is linked to a telephone by a device called a modem. The modem changes computer information into electronic messages that are sounds. These messages pass through the telephone equipment to the modem at the other end of the telephone line. This receiving modem changes the sound messages back into information the computer can use. The first modern electronic communication device, the telegraph, sent only one letter of the alphabet at a time. A computer can send thousands of words in a very few seconds.

VOICE ONE:

The link between universities quickly grew to include most research centers and colleges in the United States. These links became a major network. Two or more computers that are linked together form a small network. They may be linked by a wire from one computer to another, or by telephone. A network can grow to almost any size.

For example, let us start with two computers in the same room at a university. They are linked to each other by a wire. In another part of the university, two other computers also are linked using the same method. Then the four are connected with modems and a telephone line used only by the computers. This represents a small local network of four computers.

Now, suppose this local network is linked by its modem through telephone lines to another university that has four computers. Then you have a network of eight computers. The other university can be anywhere, even thousands of kilometers away. These computers now can send any kind of information that can be received by a computer - messages, reports, drawings, pictures, sound recordings. And, the information is exchanged immediately.

VOICE TWO:

Some experts have said it is easier to understand this network of computers if you think of streets in a city. The streets make it possible to travel from one place in the city to another. Major streets called highways connect cities. They make it possible to travel from one city to another.

Computers communicate information in much the same way. Local networks are like the city streets. And communication links between distant local networks are like the major highways. These highways make communication possible between networks in different areas of the world.

VOICE ONE:

In Nineteen-Eighty-One this communication system linked only two-hundred-thirteen computers. Only nine years later, it linked more than three-hundred-fifty-thousand computers. Today experts say there are hundreds of millions of computers connected to networks that provide links with computers around the world. The experts say it is no longer possible to tell how many computers are linked to the information highway. The experts also say the system of computer networks is continuing to grow.

VOICE TWO:

This system of computer networks has had several different names since it began. It is now called the "Internet." Almost every major university in the world is part of the Internet. So are smaller colleges and many public and private schools. Magazines, newspapers, libraries, businesses, government agencies, and people in their homes also are part of the Internet.

VOICE ONE:

Computer experts began to greatly expand the Internet system in the last years of the nineteen-eighties. This expansion was called the World Wide Web. It permits computer users to find and exchange written material and pictures much quicker than the older Internet system. How fast is the World Wide Web part of the Internet system? Here is an example. A computer user in London, England is seeking information about the volcanoes in the American state of Hawaii.

She types in the words “Hawaii” and “volcano” in a World Wide Web search program. Within seconds the computer produces a list. She chooses to examine information from the National Park Service’s headquarters at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The Park Service computer in Hawaii provides information about the huge volcanoes there, and how they were formed. It also has other useful information.

The researcher in London looks at the information. Then she has her computer print a copy of it. Within seconds she has a paper copy of the National Park information including pictures. It has taken her less than five minutes to complete this research.

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VOICE TWO:

The Internet and the World Wide Web have become vehicles for speedy information exchange for most people who can use a computer. Much of the information on the Internet is very valuable. As a research tool, the Internet has no equal.

Suppose you want a copy of this Special English program, EXPLORATIONS. You can find the information by looking for the Voice of America and Special English on the World Wide Web. The electronic address is www dot voa special english dot com. (www.voaspecialenglish.com) You can find written copies of most of our programs and print them for your own use.

Almost any kind of information can be found through the Internet. There are electronic magazines for poetry or children’s stories.

There are areas within this electronic world where you can play games or discuss politics or science. You can find valuable medical information, read history, learn about new farming methods or just about anything that interests you. You can look at and collect the beautiful color pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

You can watch musicians perform their latest songs. You can even join a group that meets electronically to discuss the music of their favorite rock and roll music group.

VOICE ONE:

Who pays for the Internet? That is not easy to explain. Each network, small or large, pays for itself. Networks decide how much their members will pay for their part of the cost of the local service connecting time.

Then all of the large networks decide how much each will pay to be part of the larger network that covers a major area of the country. The area network in turn pays the national network for the service it needs.

Each person who has a computer at home pays a company that lets the computer connect to the Internet. These companies are called Internet service providers. Most charge less than twenty dollars a month for this service.

VOICE TWO:

Next week the EXPLORATIONS program will examine the future of the Internet and the World Wide Web. We will tell about modern technology that lets networks link with telephones that do not need wires.

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VOICE ONE:

This Special English program, EXPLORATIONS, was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Caty Weaver. This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Listen again next week to the Voice of America for the last part of this series about the Information Age.

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Prostate Cancer: What It Is and How Doctors Treat It

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I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

A listener in Vietnam recently asked what causes prostate cancer and how this disease is treated.

Prostate Cells

The prostate gland is part of the reproductive system in males. Scientists are not sure what causes cancer of the prostate. But they have found things that can influence the development.

Men with fathers or brothers who have had prostate cancer are more likely to get the disease. Also, the World Health Organization says diet may affect a man's chances. Prostate cancer appears more common in groups that eat a lot of animal fat, such as red meats and high-fat milk products.

The W.H.O. says about two hundred fifty thousand men each year die from prostate cancer. The death rate is about ten times higher in Europe and North America than in Asia. In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The first is lung cancer from smoking.

The American Cancer Society says exercise might help reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is common in older men. The National Cancer Institute says more than seventy percent of men with the disease are age sixty-five or older.

Most prostate cancers grow slowly. Some never cause any major problems. In these cases, a doctor might suggest simply watching for changes. In other cases, doctors may want to remove the prostate. This is a complex operation.

A third kind of treatment involves the use of high energy X-rays to kill the cancer cells. Or a doctor may place small radioactive seeds in the prostate. Doctors have greater control with this method, so there is less risk of damage to healthy tissue.

Cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland may require more aggressive treatment.

An enlarged prostate can be a sign of cancer. But the prostate normally increases in size as men get older. This can put pressure on the bladder and restrict the flow of waste. It can also affect sexual ability. And it can cause pain in the lower back and upper part of the legs.

Doctors say one of the most important ways to reduce the risk of death from prostate cancer is to find the disease early. A doctor can feel the prostate for any hardness or growth. There is also a blood test to measure levels of a protein that might signal the presence of cancer.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Caty Weaver. I'm Gwen Outen.

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From A to Zinc: The Story of Vitamins

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Bob Doughty with Phoebe Zimmermann, and this is the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS.

VOICE TWO:

This week, a special report all about vitamins. We tell about some of the common ones needed for good health.

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VOICE ONE:

Many jobs must be done with two people. One person takes the lead. The other helps. It is this cooperation that brings success.

So it is with the human body. Much of our good health depends on the cooperation between substances. When they work together, chemical reactions take place smoothly. Body systems are kept in balance.

Some of the most important helpers in the job of good health are the substances we call vitamins.

VOICE TWO:

The word “vitamin” dates back to Polish scientist Casimir Funk in nineteen-twelve. He was studying a substance in the hull that covers rice. This substance was believed to cure the nervous system disorder beriberi.

Funk believed the substance belonged to a group of chemicals known as amines [uh-MEENS]. He added the Latin "vita" meaning life. So he called the substance a “vitamine” [vita-MEEN] -- an amine necessary for life.

Funk was not able to separate the anti-berberi substance from the rice hulls; it turned out to be thiamine. And later research showed that not all vitamines were amines after all. So the name was shortened to vitamin. But Funk was correct in recognizing the importance.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists have discovered fourteen kinds of vitamins. They are known as vitamins A, the B group, C, D, E and K. Scientists say vitamins act like enzymes. They help carry out chemical changes within cells.

If we do not get enough of the vitamins we need in our food, we are likely to develop a number of diseases.

This brings us back to Polish scientist Casimir Funk and his studies of rice. His experiments were part of a long search for foods that could cure disease.

VOICE TWO:

One of the first people involved in that search was James Lind of Scotland. In the seventeen-forties, Lind was a doctor for the British Navy. He was trying to solve a problem the Navy had been suffering for hundreds of years. The problem was the disease scurvy. So many British sailors had scurvy that the Navy’s fighting strength was very low.

The sailors were weak from continuous bleeding inside their bodies. Their teeth fell out. Even the smallest wound would not heal. Doctor Lind thought the sailors were getting sick because they were unable to eat some kinds of foods when they were at sea for many months.

Doctor Lind divided twelve sailors suffering from scurvy into two groups. He gave each group different foods to eat. One group got oranges and lemons. The other did not.

The men who ate the fruit began to improve within seven days. The other men got weaker and weaker.

Doctor Lind was correct. Eating citrus fruits prevents scurvy.

VOICE ONE:

Other doctors searched for foods that would cure rickets and pellagra. They did not yet understand that they were seeing the problem backwards. That is, it is better to eat vitamin-rich foods to prevent disease instead of eating them to cure disease after it has developed.

Just how do vitamins keep us healthy? Which foods are the best source for different ones? Let us look at some important vitamins for these answers.

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VOICE TWO:

Vitamin A is needed to produce a light-sensitive substance in the eyes. And it helps prevent skin and other tissues from drying out. People who do not get enough vitamin A cannot see well in the dark. They also may develop a condition that dries the eyes, called xerophthalmia [zir-af-THAL-mea]. It can result in infections and lead to blindness.

The best source of vitamin A is fish liver oil. It also is found in the yellow part of eggs. In addition, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and other darkly colored fruits and vegetables contain substances that the body can change into vitamin A.

VOICE ONE:

Vitamin B-one is also called thiamine. It changes starchy foods into energy. It also helps the heart and nervous system work smoothly. Without it, we would be weak and would not grow. We also might develop beriberi.

Thiamine is found not just in whole grains like brown rice, but also in other foods. These include beans and peas, nuts, and meat and fish.

Another B-vitamin is niacin. It helps cells use food energy. It also prevents pellagra, a disease that causes weakness, red skin and stomach problems. Good sources of niacin are meat, fish and green vegetables.

Vitamin B-twelve is needed so folic acid can do its work. Together, they help produce red blood cells. Without them, a person suffers from anemia.

Vitamin B-twelve is found naturally in foods such as eggs, meat, fish and milk products. Folic acid has been shown to prevent birth defects when taken by women of child-bearing age. It is found in green leafy vegetables and other foods including legumes and citrus fruits. It is also added to enriched breads and other products.

The first vitamin discovery in the twenty-first century was made by Japanese researchers in April of two-thousand-three.

They identified a new member of the B-vitamin group. It is a substance known since nineteen-seventy-nine: pyrroloquinoline quinone [pi-RO-lo-QUI-no-leen qui-NOHN], or PDQ. The researchers found that it plays an important part in the reproductive and defense systems in mice. They said the substance is similarly important for people. PDQ is found in fermented soybeans and also in parsley, green tea, green peppers and kiwi fruit.

VOICE TWO:

Vitamin C is necessary for strong bones and teeth, and for healthy blood vessels. It also helps wounds heal quickly. The body stores very little vitamin C. So we must get it every day in foods such as citrus fruits, tomatoes and uncooked cabbage.

Vitamin D increases the amount of calcium in the blood. Calcium is needed for nerve and muscle cells to work normally. It also is needed to build strong bones.

Vitamin D prevents a children’s bone disease called rickets. Ultraviolet rays from the sun change a form of cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D. Another source is fish liver oil. In some countries, milk producers add vitamin D to milk, especially so children will get enough.

Vitamin K is needed for healthy blood. It thickens the blood around a cut to stop bleeding. Bacteria in the intestines normally produce vitamin K. It can also be found in pork and liver and in vegetables like cabbage, kale and spinach.

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VOICE ONE:

So, how do we know how much of each vitamin we need every day? Public health agencies publish lists of suggested amounts.

But some people take pills each day that contain larger amounts of vitamins. They think the extra vitamins will improve their health and protect against disease. Some doctors agree. But many do not. For one thing, they point out that too much of some vitamins can be harmful to healthy people.

For example, too much vitamin A can lead to the bone weakening condition osteoporosis. Too much vitamin B-six can damage the nervous system, causing a loss of feeling in the arms and legs. Too much vitamin E can increase the chances of developing a heart attack or stroke.

VOICE TWO:

Doctors say only people who know that they lack a vitamin should take extra amounts in pills. Some older people, for example, may not have enough vitamin B-twelve. That is because, as people get older, the body loses its ability to take it from foods.

Also, people who do not go outdoors much may need extra vitamin D since the skin makes this vitamin from sunlight.

And, women who may become pregnant need to make sure they get enough folic acid to protect the baby from possible birth defects.

VOICE ONE:

Vitamins are important to our health. But different vitamins are found in different foods -- grains, vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, eggs and milk products. And even foods that contain the same vitamins may have them in different amounts. Nutrition experts say this is why it is important, where possible, to eat a mixture of foods every day, to try to get enough of the vitamins our bodies need.

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Cynthia Kirk. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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TV's 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' / New Rock and Roll Hall of Famers / We Answer a Question About Disney World

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(MUSIC)

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty. On our show this week:

Music by musicians honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame …A question about Disney World... And a report about a popular television show that builds houses for people in need.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

HOST:

Reality television programs are very popular in the United States. Many of these shows involve fierce competition among people who want to win a prize. The competitors often will do anything to win. However, one reality show does good things for people. Sarah Long has this report on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

ANNCR:

The popular television show is in its second season on the ABC network. It was developed from another successful ABC reality show, “Extreme Makeover.” That show provides medical operations, weight loss programs and other beauty help to people who want to look better.

“Extreme Makover: Home Edition” also helps people by improving their homes. The show finds a needy family and sends them away on a holiday. While they are away, the “Home Edition” team tears down and re-builds the family’s house. These building projects would normally take months to complete. But, the show requires the work be done is just one week.

Ty Pennington leads the show’s ten-member team. They include experts in planning, design and building. Pennington is a carpenter. He first gained fame building furniture on the popular home design television show, “Trading Spaces.”

“Home Edition” chooses families who are needy for different reasons. On one program the team made a house bigger for a husband and wife who were expecting three babies. On another episode the designers re-built a house for eight children whose parents had died. On an upcoming show, the team re-designs a house for a man who was blinded by a gun shot.

The final show of last season provided a single mother with a new home. Brook Imbriani had a busy life in California working to support her children and her disabled mother. She also saved the life of a very sick baby by providing her own bone marrow for an operation. The little girl is now four. Her parents nominated Brooke Imbriani for “Home Edition” to say thank you.

The American television industry honored the show last year. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program. Now the show is one of the ten most popular shows on American television.

Disney World

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nguyen Thanh Duc asks about Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney

Disney World is the work of American movie producer Walt Disney. He first produced animated movies known as cartoons. A cartoon is a series of drawings on film. In a finished movie, cartoon people and animals appear to move. They speak with voices recorded by actors.

Walt Disney’s cartoons were a huge success. He created imaginary creatures that are still popular today. They include Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Dumbo and Bambi. Later, he produced live action films and television shows.

In nineteen fifty-five, Walt Disney opened the Disneyland entertainment park near Los Angeles, California. It re-created places from Disney movies. It also showed places as Walt Disney imagined them, like a town in the old American West and a world of the future.

Disneyland was so successful that Walt Disney planned a second park, Walt Disney World. It opened near Orlando, Florida in nineteen seventy-one, five years after Walt Disney died. It is larger than Disneyland and has more activities. It includes an amusement park, hotels, campgrounds, golf courses and shopping villages. Later, Disney World added more theme parks, such as the Animal Kingdom and EPCOT, the Experimental Community of Tomorrow.

EPCOT Center opened in nineteen eighty-two. It includes places that represent the cultures of eleven countries around the world. For example, the area called Britain includes a drinking place, a park and shops that sell British products. At night, people gather around a lake at Epcot Center and watch a fireworks show. EPCOT also includes examples of technology today and in the future. Its newest ride, called Mission Space, re-creates a space launch.

Today, Walt Disney World is considered the most popular vacation place in the world. The Disney Company also operates similar parks in Europe and Asia. This year, the Disney Company is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Disneyland. The company says every Disney park around the world will celebrate with new attractions and shows.

New Members of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

HOST:

Several famous recording artists were named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week during a ceremony in New York City. The Hall of Fame honors recording artists for their importance and influence in rock and roll. Musicians can become members twenty-five years after their first recordings. Faith Lapidus tells us about the new members this year.

ANNCR:

Chrissie Hynde

The group called the Pretenders became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. American singer Chrissie Hynde formed the band in England. Many of its other members have since died. Here is one of the Pretenders’ rock and roll hit songs, “Back on the Chain Gang.”

(MUSIC)

Two other groups were chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One is U2. The other is the O’Jays.

Soul singer and songwriter Percy Sledge also became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. Music experts say he will be forever known for this song, “When A Man Loves A Woman.”

(MUSIC)

Blues musician Buddy Guy also became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Critics have called him blues music’s most electrifying guitar player. They say he has moved the blues forward without losing sight of where it came from. We leave you now with the recording that won a Grammy award for Buddy Guy in nineteen ninety-one. It is “Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Bob Doughty. I hope you enjoyed our program this week. Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Caty Weaver, who was also our producer. Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

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Penobscot Indians in Maine See New Hope for Economic Future

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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. In two thousand three we did a program on the Penobscot Indians in Maine. Today we revisit the tribe to report on some new possibilities for their economic future.

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VOICE ONE:

The Penobscot Indian Nation is among hundreds of Native American tribes recognized by the federal government. These tribes have treaties with the government. Those treaties establish special rights for America’s remaining Indians as nations within a nation.

The Penobscot Nation has about three thousand members. Five hundred or so live on Indian Island in the Penobscot River in Maine. Most others live in different parts of that small state in the Northeast.

Cross the bridge from the mainland to Indian Island, and you enter the heart of the Penobscot Indian Nation. Homes stand along with trees of all kinds. The island is not far from the Great North Woods.

During the warmer months, Indian Island is very green. In winter, there is snow. Temperatures can drop far below freezing.

VOICE TWO:

Many years ago, the Penobscot Indians began to lose their traditional ways to support themselves. Dams went up along the Penobscot River where they fished. As manufacturing arrived, some fish and animals along the river disappeared. Many of the Indians could find work only in low-paying industries. Others could not find jobs at all.

Poverty has been a common problem for years for American Indian tribes. Now, many have found a way to earn money and reduce their dependence on federal aid. They operate casinos on, and in some cases off, tribal lands. These operations collected eighteen-and-a-half thousand million dollars last year.

That is the estimate of the National Indian Gaming Association. It was a ten percent increase from the year before. The group says Indian casinos have created more than half a million jobs, three out of four held by non-Indians.

But in two thousand three, voters in Maine rejected a proposed casino that the Penobscot Nation and another tribe wanted to operate. That casino would have been off what is officially recognized as tribal land.

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VOICE ONE:

The Penobscot Indians have tried other ways to earn money. One idea has been to sell traditional Indian canoes made by hand. But a tribal official says each small boat takes several people four hundred hours.

Now, the Penobscot may get more chances for factory work. The Maine Technology Institute has awarded two hundred thousand dollars to the Penobscot and four other tribes in the state.

An agreement among state officials, the tribes and a Maine manufacturing group made this award possible. The director of the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership says the Defense Department might provide the Indians with factory work.

VOICE TWO:

And there are other economic hopes. The Penobscot may open a non-traditional kind of drug store to sell medicines imported from Canada. Maine is on the border with Canada. Medicines, even American-made drugs, often cost far less in Canada than in the United States.

The Penobscot would order prescription drugs from Canada under a plan announced by Maine Governor John Baldacci. So far, drug safety officials in the United States government have rejected similar plans by other states. But some states and cities are not honoring the government’s wishes. They are suggesting that their citizens buy medicines over the Internet from Canada.

VOICE ONE:

Technically, it is illegal for Americans to go to Canada to bring back medicine. Yet many older people do just that.

Maine Senator Olympia Snowe and senators from other states have proposed a measure in Congress. It would permit the purchase of medicines from Canada and other nations.

The United States government has said it could not guarantee the safety and effectiveness of imported drugs. But the drugs would be inspected under this proposed legislation.

VOICE TWO:

The proposed mail-order business in Maine is part of an effort by that state to reduce the cost of prescription medicines. Maine says it will campaign to get poor people to use the service once the Penobscot store is ready.

The poor receive government help with medical costs. The state health department says the plan, if successful, could save millions of dollars during the next two years.

VOICE ONE:

The Penobscot would sell the medicines to individuals and drug stores in Maine. Under the governor's plan, those stores would sell the drugs at reduced prices. Drug stores argue that this plan would rob them of profits.

The Penobscot would operate the store on Indian Island. An old storage building is being improved for this purpose. The nearby community of Old Town, Maine, will ask the state for four hundred thousand dollars for the restoration.

Penobscot Chief Jim Sappier says the tribe will not make a lot of money. But he says the plan will create jobs. Forty Penobscot could be working in the drug store within a year.

VOICE TWO:

The possibility of a new industry is not the only good news. There is a plan to re-connect the Penobscot River with the Atlantic Ocean. This connection had always provided the Indians with excellent fishing and hunting. Then came development and manufacturing.

Last June the Penobscot River Restoration Project received almost one million dollars in federal money. The goal is to improve more than eight hundred kilometers of river and the area into which it drains. Removing dams will let Atlantic salmon back into the river along with ten other kinds of fish.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

For now, members of the Penobscot Indian Nation go on with their lives much as usual. Children go to the elementary school on Indian Island. Young people attend events at the Boys and Girls Club. Not long ago, some local volunteers collected more than three thousand dollars for the club. To raise the money, they jumped into a pool of water in temperatures of minus twenty-one degrees Celsius.

VOICE TWO:

If you visit Indian Island, one of the first buildings you see is the Penobscot Nation Museum.

As you step through the door, you feel as though you have entered the past. A world of traditional culture surrounds you. You pass walking sticks and ceremonial clubs. There are also snow sticks. People use these to play a game in the snow. Tribal artists have carved beautiful designs into the objects in the exhibits.

VOICE ONE:

You see baskets made of sweet grass and from trees that grow on the Penobscot land. There are drums and jewelry -- necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. And there are moccasin shoes made of animal skin and trimmed with beads. The objects in the museum describe a way of life that began thousands of years before European explorers arrived.

Much of the Penobscot homeland once extended north to what is now Canada. Today many Penobscot Indians live in the same area where their ancestors lived.

In earlier spring times, the Penobscot followed the river to the Atlantic coast. They caught salmon and other fish. And they caught shellfish. When fall came, they hunted elk, moose, deer and smaller animals along the river.

VOICE TWO:

Members of Indian nations are United States citizens. They have most of the same duties and responsibilities as other Americans. But they also make rules for themselves.

A tribal council governs the Penobscot reservation and provides local services. A chief, called a sagama, heads this group.

The word Penobscot is usually defined in English as "a rocky place." There is a traditional story that the people tell about their creation.

VOICE ONE:

Long ago, a group of people lived along a stream. Then a huge frog came and drank most of the water in the stream. The people began to suffer. But after a while, a hero with great power made himself into a giant. This man pulled up a big pine tree and struck the frog.

The frog exploded. The water inside fell into the hole left by the pine tree. It became a river. This river had a place where the water ran over big white rocks. The people took their name from that place. They were the Penobscot Nation.

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. Internet users can learn more about the Penobscot at penobscotnation.org. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Faith Lapidus. To send us e-mail, write to special@voanews.com. To find us online, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

Please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Solar Cookers in Developing Countries

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I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Millions of people around the world cook their food over a smoky fire every day. It is often difficult to find wood for the fire. People who do not have wood must spend large amounts of money on cooking fuel. However, there is a much easier way to cook food using energy from the sun.

Solar cookers, or ovens, have been used for centuries. A Swiss scientist made the first solar oven in seventeen sixty-seven. Today, people are using solar cookers in many countries around the world. People use solar ovens to cook food and to heat drinking water to kill bacteria and other harmful organisms.

There are three kinds of solar ovens. The first is a box cooker. It is designed with a special wall that shines or reflects sunlight into the box. Heat gets trapped under a piece of glass or plastic covering the top of the cooker. A box oven is effective for slow cooking of large amounts of food.

The second kind of solar oven is a panel cooker. It includes several flat walls, or panels, that directly reflect the sun’s light onto the food. The food is inside a separate container of plastic or glass that traps heat energy. People can build panel cookers quickly and with very few supplies. They do not cost much. In Kenya, for example, panel cookers are being manufactured for just two dollars.

The third kind of solar oven is a parabolic cooker. It has rounded walls that aim sunlight directly into the bottom of the oven. Food cooks quickly in parabolic ovens. However, these cookers are hard to make. They must be re-aimed often to follow the sun. Parabolic cookers can also cause burns and eye injuries if they are not used correctly.

You can make solar ovens from boxes or heavy paper. They will not catch fire. Paper burns at two hundred thirty-two degrees Celsius. A solar cooker never gets that hot. Solar ovens cook food at low temperatures over long periods of time. This permits people to leave food to cook while they do other things.

To learn more about solar cooking, you can write to Solar Cookers International. The address is nineteen nineteen Twenty-First Street, Sacramento, California, nine-five-eight-one-four, USA. Or you can visit the group’s Internet Web site. The address is www.solarcooking.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I’m Gwen Outen.

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'I Love Lucy': Lucille Ball and the Early TV Situation Comedy

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VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about the much-loved performer Lucille Ball. Her famous television series, “I Love Lucy,” was first broadcast in nineteen-fifty-one.

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VOICE ONE:

Lucille Ball

The “I Love Lucy” show was a huge success. It was the most popular television show of the Nineteen-fifties. The kind of television program Mizz Ball helped develop is called a situation comedy. Some television experts give her credit for inventing this kind of series. Today, some of the most popular television programs in America are situation comedies.

VOICE TWO:

One reason for the great popularity of “I Love Lucy” may have been its real-life connection with Miz Ball’s family. On the show, she was Lucy, the wife of Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban musician. Ricky was played by band leader Desi Arnaz, who was Lucille Ball’s husband in real life. The show combined issues common to the life of married people living in the city with musical performances and comic theater.

Often, a show would include a part with Mister Arnaz acting seriously while Miz Ball added a funny element. In the following piece, Mister Arnaz tries to sing normally and Miz Ball adds the comedy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Also on the “I Love Lucy” show were Vivian Vance and William Frawley. Miz Vance played Ethel Mertz and Mister Frawley played Ethel’s husband, Fred Mertz. On the show, the Mertzes were friends of the Ricardos and owned the building in which they all lived.

Fred Mertz loved baseball, which was America’s most popular sport at the time. “I Love Lucy,” often showed Fred Mertz intensely watching baseball or some other sport like boxing while Ethel added her own funny comments:

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

A well-known story about the “I Love Lucy Show” concerns the birth of the Arnaz’s son, Desi Junior. Officials of the broadcasting company wondered what to do when Miz Ball became pregnant in nineteen-fifty-two. Miz Ball explains that her husband, Desi, came up with a solution:

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VOICE ONE:

Miz Ball’s pregnancy was made part of the show. In fact, critics say the show in which Lucy Ricardo tells Ricky that she is pregnant is one of the best. In it, Lucy goes to the entertainment place where Ricky’s band is playing to tell him that they are going to have a baby. Ricky suddenly understands that he is going to be a father after Lucy secretly requests the song, “We’re having a Baby:”

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VOICE ONE:

Miz Ball gave birth to her second child on the same day that Lucy Ricardo gave birth. In fact, Desi Junior’s birth date was planned to happen on the same day as the broadcast.

The show in which Lucy gave birth was one of the most popular television programs ever broadcast in America.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The success of the “I Love Lucy” show did not come early in Lucille Ball’s life, or easily. Instead, it was the result of years of hard work.

Miz Ball was born near Jamestown, New York, in nineteen-eleven. She tried to get into show business at an early age. Early on, she went to the same acting school as the famous actress Bette Davis. However, she left when she was told that she did not have enough acting ability.

In the early Nineteen-Thirties, she moved to Hollywood. She appeared in a number of movies, but was not well known.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-forty, she met the leader of a musical group who had been born in Cuba. His full name was Desiderio Alberto Arnaz de Acha the Third. They worked together in a movie and married soon after they met. For the next ten years, she appeared in movies and on radio. He travelled a lot with his band.

In Nineteen-Fifty, the broadcasting company, CBS, decided to make a television program based on the radio show, “My Favorite Husband.” Lucille Ball was the star of the radio show. She wanted Mister Arnaz to play the part of her husband on the television show. CBS rejected the idea. But, she refused to give up. She and Desi travelled around the country performing in a show together to prove that they would do well on television. Their show was a success. CBS offered them both jobs.

VOICE TWO:

Miz Ball had another demand. She wanted her show to be a production of the best quality. Early television pictures were not of good quality. Miz Ball wanted her program to be filmed, which would improve the picture, and then broadcast later. Yet she wanted people to watch the program as it was being filmed so the sound of their reactions could be captured.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Miz Ball also wanted to film the shows in Hollywood. CBS did not want the extra costs. So, Miz Ball and Mister Arnaz agreed to work for less pay. In exchange, CBS let them own the program. That agreement made them owners of what would become one of the most successful programs on television.

VOICE ONE:

During the fifties, Miz Ball won almost every honor there was for television actors including several Emmy Awards. Yet, even the most popular performers could not escape the political realities of the time. Conservative lawmakers accused Lucille Ball of being a communist. The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept a secret record of information about her, just as it did about many Hollywood actors at that time.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Arnaz supervised their company, Desilu Productions. The company produced sixteen different television programs and ran three production centers, called studios.

In Nineteen-Sixty, Lucille Ball and Mister Arnaz legally ended their marriage. Mister Arnaz sold his part of the company to his ex-wife. Miz Ball became the first woman to head a major production company. It was one of the biggest in Hollywood.

Miz Ball also was the star of several other shows of her own. “The Lucy Show” was broadcast from nineteen-sixty-two to nineteen-sixty-eight. “Here’s Lucy” followed until nineteen-seventy-four. Miz Ball later sold her production company to Paramount Studios.

VOICE ONE:

“I Love Lucy” showed Miz Ball at her best. Mister Arnaz added something that was unusual for American television at the time. Many of the songs on the show were in Spanish. One song, “Babalu,” is popularly connected with “I Love Lucy”. Its words are Spanish and its sound is Latin American. It is this mixture along with the excellent performances that made the show special:

(SOUND )

VOICE TWO:

Miz Ball died in nineteen-eighty-nine after a heart operation. Yet, she still makes people laugh. Her programs are rebroadcast on television and there are hundreds of Internet sites about her. After all these years, everyone still loves Lucy.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written by Mario Ritter and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

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

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Biltmore Estate: A Visit to the Historic Home in North Carolina

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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. This week, Rich Kleinfeldt and Shirley Griffith are your guides as we take you to the Biltmore Estate. This huge home was built more than a century ago near the mountains of North Carolina.

VOICE ONE:

An estate is a property, usually large, owned by one person or a family. The man who owned the Biltmore estate in North Carolina was George Vanderbilt. He was born in eighteen-sixty-two and died in nineteen-fourteen. His father and grandfather were two of the richest and most powerful businessmen in America. They made their money in shipping and railroads.

Biltmore Estate Reflecting Pool

When his father died, George Vanderbilt received millions of dollars. He chose to spend a good deal of that money building his home in North Carolina. More than one-thousand people began the work on it in eighteen-eighty-nine. The structure was ready six years later in December eighteen-ninety-five. Biltmore is now open to the public. It is well worth a visit. So, close your eyes and imagine you are going there.

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VOICE TWO:

Our car has just turned off one of the main roads in the city of Asheville, North Carolina. We have entered a private road that leads to the main house on the Biltmore Estate. The sides of the road are lined with trees.

When we leave the car, we walk through a wooded area. The air is clean. It smells of flowers. The trees are dark and very large. They block us from seeing anything. At last we come to an open area and turn to the right. The main house is several hundred meters in front of us.

VOICE ONE:

Biltmore is huge. It looks like a king's palace. It measures two-hundred-thirty-eight meters from side to side. It is the color of milk, with maybe just a little chocolate added to make it light brown. As we walk closer, it seems to grow bigger and bigger. It has hundreds of windows. Strange stone creatures look down from the top. They seem to be guarding the house.

Two big stone lions guard the front door. Biltmore really has two front doors. The first is made of glass and black iron.

We pass through it to a second door. This one is made of rich dark wood. Both doors are several meters high. The opening is big enough for perhaps six people to walk through, side-by-side.

VOICE TWO:

Biltmore Estate Front View

A book has been written about the Biltmore estate. It includes many pictures of the house, other buildings, gardens and the Vanderbilt family. The book says the house has two-hundred-fifty rooms. We cannot see and count them all. Only sixty-five are open to the public.

One room that can be seen looks like a garden. It is alive with flowers. In the center is a statue with water running from it. When we look up, we see the sky through hundreds of windows. Eight big lights hang from the top.

Then we come to a room in which dinner can be served to many guests. The table is large enough for more than sixty people. The top of this room is more than twenty-one meters high. The walls are covered with cloth pictures, flags, and the heads of wild animals.

VOICE ONE:

Each room at Biltmore is more beautiful than the last. Many include paintings by famous artists, like French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and American artist John Singer Sargent. The chairs, beds, and other furniture were made by artists who worked in wood, leather, glass, marble, and cloth.

One room was designed for reading. It contains more than twenty-three-thousand books in eight languages. Stairs on the side of the room permit visitors to reach books that are kept near the top. The paintings in this reading room are beautiful, too.

VOICE TWO:

Later, we visit rooms below ground level. The people who worked for the Vanderbilt family lived in this lower part.

The Vanderbilts employed about eighty people to take care of the house. This included cooks, bakers, and house cleaners. Other workers took care of the many horses the Vanderbilts owned. Many of these workers lived in the main house, but some lived in the nearby town.

One of the biggest rooms below ground level is the kitchen. And there are separate rooms for keeping food fresh and cold, and for washing the Vanderbilt's clothes.

Past these rooms we find an indoor swimming pool. This area has several separate small rooms where guests could change into swimming clothes.

VOICE ONE:

We finally come back to the front door of the house. Yet there is still much to see at the Biltmore estate.

To the left of the front door, about fifty meters away, is where the Vanderbilt family kept its horses. It is no longer used for horses, however. It now has several small stores that sell gifts to visitors. Visitors can also enjoy a meal or buy cold drinks and ice cream.

Biltmore Estate in the Fall

VOICE TWO:

In addition to seeing the main house at Biltmore, you can walk through the gardens. Hundreds of different flowers grow there. A big stone and glass building holds young plants before they are placed in the ground outside. Past the gardens is the dark, green forest. Trees seem to grow everywhere. The place seems wild. At the same time, there is a feeling of calm order.

There was once a dairy farm on the Biltmore estate. It is gone now. The milk cows were sold. Some of the land was planted with grapes. And the cow barn was turned into a building for making wine.

VOICE ONE:

As we continue to walk, we come to an unusual house in the forest. The road on which we are walking passes through the house. The house was used many years ago by the gate keeper. Visitors traveled from this gate house to the main house. The distance between the two is almost five kilometers. The trees surrounding Biltmore look like a natural forest.

Yet all of the area was planned, built, and planted by the men who designed the estate. None of it is natural.

Now you may have begun to wonder about the history of Biltmore. Who designed it? How did they plan it? How and why was it built?

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Biltmore estate was the idea of George Vanderbilt. The buildings were designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Mr. Hunt was one of the most famous building designers of his day. He designed and helped build several other big homes in the United States. Several of them were for other members of the Vanderbilt family. Mr. Hunt also designed the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

VOICE ONE:

Another famous man of the time designed the gardens at Biltmore. He was Frederick Law Olmsted. He is most famous for designing central park in New York City and the grounds around the capitol building in Washington, D.C. One of Mr. Olmsted's first projects at Biltmore was to plant and grow the millions of flowers that would be used for the gardens there.

VOICE TWO:

Another man named Gifford Pinchot was also part of the team that designed Biltmore. While there, he started the first scientifically managed forest in the United States. He cut diseased or dead trees and planted new ones. He improved the growth of many kinds of trees. It is because of his work that the wild forest at Biltmore has an ordered and peaceful look.

Gifford Pinchot left Biltmore to start the school of forestry at Yale University. Later he helped to establish the United States Forest Service.

Biltmore is surrounded by more than one-thousand eight-hundred hectares of forest. The forest provides a wood crop that helps pay the costs of operating the estate. It was the work begun by Gifford Pinchot that makes this possible.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Today, Biltmore belongs to the grandchildren of George Vanderbilt. However, it is no longer used as a private home.

Many years ago, the family decided to open it to the public. Visitors help pay the cost of caring for and operating it.

Biltmore employs more than six-hundred-fifty people who work in the house and gardens.

The family says George Vanderbilt liked to have guests at Biltmore. They say he enjoyed showing it to others. Now, each year, about seven-hundred fifty-thousand people visit the Vanderbilt home in Asheville, North Carolina. The family says their grandfather would have liked that.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Paul Thompson and read by Rich Kleinfeldt and Shirley Griffith. I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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March 9, 2005 - Interview with an English Learner in Iran

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AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: an interview with one of our listeners in Iran.

RS: Atefeh is a university student. She's studying English literature, so she reads a lot of classic books. But, like any young person, she's also tuned in to the latest slang.

AA: How do we know? Well, when we began our conversation and asked her "what's up?" instead of saying "not much, just relaxing," this was her reply:

ATEFEH: "Just chillin'."

RS: "Just chilling -- is that what you just said?" [llaughter]

ATEFEH: "I learned this from your program."

RS: "Well, what do you like about studying English? What is it, is it a ... "

ATEFEH: "Oh, no, actually I love the language. I love studying anything in English, actually any program on TV that is in English I watch it and I love it."

RS: "And it's something that you are obviously very good at."

ATEFEH: "Thank you. It's interesting to know that there is a big paper on my wall, and I write every new word that I learn every day. And I try to memorize them and memorize their usage, and then I highlight the words that I learn."

AA: "What are a few new words you've added to that wall."

ATEFEH: "Well, for example, 'bleak mood,' B-L-E-A-K M-O-O-D."

RS: "Ah, bleak mood."

AA: "What do you think that means."

ATEFEH: "It means a cold and cheerless behavior, actually, a kind of [inaudible.]"

RS: "That's right."

AA: "That's a ... "

RS: "That's a great expression. I mean, that's a very descriptive way of describing how somebody feels. If it's bleak, it's definitely not, it's definitely ... "

AA: "Where did you hear bleak mood?"

RS: "Or read."

ATEFEH: "I read it in a book. The book was called 'Chicken Soup for the Soul.'"

RS: "'Chicken Soup for the Soul' ... "

AA: "That's a very popular series of books."

ATEFEH: "Yes."

AA: "So what's another word that's on your wall?"

ATEFEH: "A beautiful word that was very funny to me was 'bunny.'"

RS: "Bunny ... "

ATEFEH: "B-U-N-N-Y."

RS: "OK, like a rabbit."

AA: "A rabbit."

ATEFEH: "Yes, a rabbit for a child. Actually a child uses this word, I think."

RS: "You know, another thing that you might be interested in is that sometimes, incorrectly, we say 'well, that's a bunny rabbit.' We use both of those words together -- that's incorrect in English because ... "

AA: "It's redundant."

RS: "... it's redundant. A bunny is a rabbit."

AA: "Now is there another word or two from your wall that you ... "

ATEFEH: "Yes, there's another expression: 'not to be on speaking terms.'"

RS: "'Not to be on speaking terms.' Now what do you think that means?"

ATEFEH: "Well, it means that we're not talking to each other anymore, we're not friends anymore."

RS: "Right, and somebody might say, 'well, why didn't you say hello to him?' and you would say?"

ATEFEH: "We're not on speaking terms."

AA: "That's right."

RS: "'We're not on speaking terms.' Exactly. Now, your English is quite good and you were telling us a little bit about how you are actually getting to a higher level. You have your wall where you write your expressions, and you also read a lot."

ATEFEH: "Yes, you know, actually I'm studying English literature, and they have emphasis on the literature actually, the literary works, Shakespeare's works or other things. But the phonology is very difficult for me. But I think I have to improve my GE, I mean General English. That is quite -- it's not that difficult, because I love it."

AA: "Oh, well that's good to hear."

RS: "It's been delightful talking to you."

AA: "Yes!"

RS: "Keep going with that wall. It sounds like you could definitely paper your house with new English expressions."

ATEFEH: "My Mom is always complaining about the wall. She says that 'you're just making the wall dirty, the room ugly,' such things."

AA: "Wait, you don't write on the wall itself, do you? You're writing on a piece of paper, or ... "

ATEFEH: "It's a paper."

RS: "Well, tell your mother that Avi and I say that you should keep those papers up there because you'll learn English more fluently."

ATEFEH: "OK, my Mom is hearing you!" [laughter]

AA: An English literature student named Atefeh, on the phone with us from Iran. She says that once she graduates, she wants to go on for a master's degree and then a Ph.D.

RS: We wish her luck. And we'd like to invite other listeners to tell us their strategies for learning English. We will share the responses in a future Wordmaster program. Our e-mail address is word@voanews.com.

AA: And, if you'd like help learning English, you can download over three hundred of our segments at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

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March 2, 2005 - Linguistic Profiling

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AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: linguistic profiling.

WALT WOLFRAM: "What I mean by linguistic profiling is to hear a voice and on the basis of that voice make a judgment about that person which would sort of rate them or exclude them or in some sense not treat them fairly."

RS: Linguist Walt Wolfram at North Carolina State University says this sort of thing happens all the time. For example, he notes that Americans tend to think of people from New York City and the South as sounding less educated than others. Unless you ask a New Yorker or a Southerner, that is.

AA: Lately, Professor Wolfram has been working on a series of television documentaries. The aim is to help take some of the social stigma out of language differences in America.

WALT WOLFRAM: "What's taught in terms of the English language is always going to be taught in some sort of dialect framework. So for example, where is there no dialect of English? The Midwest certainly has a dialect. I may not be as salient as Southern dialect, but it's still dialect.

"So it's actually, although most learners of English as a second language aren't aware of this, it's virtually impossible to learn English without learning some dialect of English."

AA: "Well, I'm curious what you think of this fairly recent development of American companies putting call centers in India, using Indian workers to answer technical questions, and computer support and so forth. And the workers are being taught American English, they're being shown American programs. In some cases they're supposed to tell customers that they're actually in the United States. And I guess there's been some anger at outsourcing or offshoring of jobs, but what do you think about this, and ... "

WALT WOLFRAM: "Well, I mean that's a perfect example of linguistic profiling, in a sense. So, for example, if an American calls up and they hear an Indian accent, you know, even though the speaker may have been a native speaker of English, which is often the case, there's a certain kind of prejudice that they have.

"What we're trying to do in our series of documentaries is to show the American public, and particularly in the state of North Carolina where most of them have aired, what we're trying to do is show them how linked language is with cultural background, how natural language differences are as a part of different cultural experiences, and how this is something that should be accepted -- and in fact embraced -- as a part of cultural heritage, rather than rejected as not standard English and therefore not worthy for mainstream uses.

"So, for example, we've done documentaries on mountain speech; we've done documentaries on Outer Banks speech, you know, coastal speech; we've done documentaries of sort of the whole state of North Carolina, showing African American dialects and so forth. And the point of our documentaries is to counter some of the illegitimate feelings and reactions that people have to these varieties when they hear them."

AA: "And what's been the reaction to programs that take that position?"

WALT WOLFRAM: "So far the reaction has been very positive. I mean, we've gotten very few complaints that our programs are trying to simply encourage bad speech."

RS: "Now, are these programs being used in the public schools?"

WALT WOLFRAM: "Yes, actually we have an experimental program in middle schools where we use vignettes from these programs to educate students about language differences as a part of cultural differences."

RS: "And how are the kids responding?"

WALT WOLFRAM: "The kids love it. The fact of the matter is, people find language differences intriguing. They don't always view them fairly. But they sort of stop and listen and people speak differently. And if you can sort of take that plum and dangle it before kids and then run with it, they find it really an engaging activity."

AA: Walt Wolfram is the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor in the English Department at North Carolina State University. His accent, in case you're wondering, is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

RS: That's Wordmaster for this week. Our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. And you can download all of our segments at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "The English Language"/Winston Slade (Southern country singer) 1997

I've searched the dictionary, every page in my thesaurus Trying to find the words to fit into this chorus And I can say I love but I want to say so much more I don't think the English language has the words I'm looking for

So I go oh-ee oh-ee oh-ee oh-ee ooo-ee ooo-ee ooo Aa-aa baby, I've got it bad for you Oh-ee oh-ee oh-ee ooo-ee ooo-ee ooo And that's about as close as words can come

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