Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888: She Wrote Her First Book at the Age of 16

mp3 "Little Women" is still one of America's best loved children's books. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program People in America. Every week we tell about a person important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about Louisa May Alcott. She wrote one of America's best loved children's books.

VOICE ONE:

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Louisa May Alcott

In eighteen sixty-eight, an American publisher asked a struggling young writer to write a book for girls. At first, the writer, Louisa May Alcott, was not sure she wanted to do it. She said she never liked girls. And she never knew many, except her sisters. She thought her family's activities and experiences might be interesting to others. But, she said, probably not.

VOICE TWO:

Alcott decided to write the book anyway. She told about her experiences growing up in the northeastern United States during the middle of the nineteenth century. Her book proved to be more than interesting. “Little Women” became one of the most popular children's books in American literature. It has been published in more than fifty languages.

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VOICE ONE:

Louisa May Alcott was born in Pennsylvania in eighteen thirty-two. She was the second of four daughters. She had one older sister, Anna. And two younger sisters, Elizabeth, called Beth, and May. Her parents were Bronson and Abigail Alcott. Her father was an educator and social reformer.

The Alcotts later settled in concord, Massachusetts. Several great American writers were friends of the family. They included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Mister Alcott provided the girls' education. He taught them many subjects. He also made them write about their personal thoughts and experiences.

VOICE TWO:

The Alcotts did not have much money. Louisa worked to help support her family. She tried teaching, sewing, and taking care of children. She did not like any of these Jobs.

Louisa thought of herself as a writer. At the age of sixteen, she wrote her first book. It was called “Flower Fables.” She decided to sell what she wrote. She wrote many kinds of poems, stories, and plays. Her stories were exciting, but unrealistic. She sold them to newspapers and magazines for small amounts of money.

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen sixty-two, during the American Civil War, Louisa May Alcott went to Washington, D.C. She served as a nurse in a military hospital. She cared for sick and wounded soldiers. She wrote letters to her family about her experiences. She included these letters in a book that was published the next year. Critics praised it but it did not bring her much money. And, working in the hospital damaged her health.

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen sixty-five she visited Europe as a helper to an older woman. Alcott hoped to re-gain her health. She spent a long time away from her family. Her health did not improve. But she thought about her writing. When she returned, she agreed to her publisher's request that she write a book for girls based on the life she knew.

“Little Women” was published in eighteen sixty-eight. The book was immediately popular with people of all ages. It brought Alcott fame and a lot of money. She continued writing other popular books for young people. These included “An Old-Fashioned Girl,” “Little Men, and “Eight Cousins.”

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VOICE ONE:

Louisa May Alcott wrote books for adults, as well as children. She published these under another name -- A. M. Barnard. These books were published before “Little Women” made her famous. They were very different from her children's stories. They were about love, power, and unhappiness. They have been published again in the United States.

One book is called “Behind a Mask: The Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott.” The book includes four mystery stories. Another is called “The Lost Stories of Louisa May Alcott.” These stories are about love, betrayal, and illegal drugs.

VOICE TWO:

Alcott wrote a story called “A Long Fatal Love Chase.” It is about an independent young woman. She marries an older man who already has a wife. She flees from him. He follows her throughout Europe. The book tells of insanity, violence, and death. Louisa May Alcott tried to get the book published in eighteen sixty-six. The publisher rejected it. He said it was too shocking.

A man who collected Alcott materials found the unpublished story in a bookstore in New York City. He bought it for about fifty thousand dollars a few years ago. He reportedly sold it to a major American publisher for about one million dollars.

VOICE ONE:

Louisa May Alcott wrote many exciting stories about love. Yet she never married. She continued to support her family during the last years of her life. In fact, she cared for the young daughter of her sister, May, who died in eighteen seventy-nine.

Alcott was involved in the movements to end slavery and to gain voting rights for women. She wrote that "I . . . take more pride in the very small help we Alcotts could give than in all the books I ever wrote. " Louisa May Alcott died in eighteen eighty-eight.

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VOICE TWO:

Louisa May Alcott's most famous book, “Little Women”, tells the story of the March family of Concord, Massachusetts. The story begins during the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. Mister March is away from home. He is with the troops of the Union Army. He is a religious worker. Missus March is raising her four daughters by herself.

The March family is very close. They do many things together. They do not have much money. They suffer shortages caused by the war. Yet they share what they have with people who are in need.

VOICE ONE:

The four daughters are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They are strong, brave, and loving. Jo is the most important person in the book. She is smart. She has a good imagination. She writes stories. And she creates plays that the sisters perform together.

Jo also is independent. She chooses a non-traditional life. She goes to New York to become a writer. There she meets an older man, a professor. She returns home to care for her parents. She writes stories that become very popular. Later, Jo marries the professor. Together, they establish a school.

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VOICE TWO:

The March family in “Little Women” is very much like Louisa May Alcott's family. Her sisters are like the sisters in the book. And the leading person, Jo, is like Louisa. Jo must work to support her family, just as Louisa had to do. One of Jo's jobs is to help a family member, an old woman called Aunt March. Jo does not really like Aunt March. But she loves the old woman's house, especially the large library with hundreds of books. This is how Alcott writes about this place:

VOICE ONE:

"The dim, dusty room. . . the cozy chairs, the globes, and, best of all, the wilderness of books in which she could wander where she liked, made the library a region of bliss to her. The moment Aunt March took her nap, or was busy with company, Jo hurried to this quiet space, and, curling herself up in the easy chair, devoured poetry, romance, history, travels, and pictures, like a regular bookworm. "

All of these wonderful books put great ideas into Jo's head. Jo wanted to do something very wonderful, Alcott writes: "What it was she had no idea as yet, but left it for time to tell her. "

VOICE TWO:

Jo's beloved sister Beth dies young, as Alcott's own sister Beth did. Jo is very unhappy. Her mother tells her to write because that always made her happy. Jo writes a story "that went straight to the hearts of those who read it. " Jo cannot understand how her simple little story became so popular.

Her father explains, "There is truth in it, Jo, that's the secret; . . . You have found your style at last. You wrote with no thought of fame or money, and put your heart into it. . . ; You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. "

VOICE ONE:

Louisa May Alcott's book, “Little Women”, is still extremely popular. Women who read the book when they were young often give it to their daughters. Some famous American women even claim they decided to become writers after reading how Jo March became a writer in “Little Women”.

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VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Paul Thompson. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

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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Peter Drucker, 1909-2005: The Mind of a Management Thinker

mp3 He was a voice for change and new ways of thinking about social and business relations. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

We talked last week about Joseph Juran, an influential American expert in quality control. He died earlier this year at the age of one hundred and three.

Today we talk about another management expert -- or guru as people like to call them. Peter Drucker also lived a long life. He was ninety-five years old when he died in two thousand five.

Peter Drucker

Peter Drucker was an expert on the ways of modern organizations. He liked to share his knowledge not by answering questions but by asking them. For example, he said business people must ask themselves not "What do we want to sell?" but "What do people want to buy?"

He taught at the Claremont Graduate School of Management in California for more than thirty years. He also advised companies. And he wrote for the Wall Street Journal opinion page for twenty years, until nineteen ninety-five. He commented on many economic and management issues.

Peter Drucker was born in Austria. He worked as a reporter in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late nineteen twenties. He also studied international law.

He fled Germany as Adolf Hitler came to power in nineteen thirty-three. Peter Drucker spent four years in Britain as an adviser to investment banks. He then came to the United States.

He used his knowledge of international law to advise American businesses. He developed this advice into books on business methods and management.

In the middle of the nineteen forties, Peter Drucker argued that the desire for profit was central to business efforts. He also warned that rising wages were harming American business.

He was later invited to study General Motors. He wrote about his experiences in "The Concept of the Corporation." In the book, he said workers at all levels should take part in decision-making, not just top managers.

Peter Drucker was a voice for change and new ways of thinking about social and business relations. He used terms like "knowledge workers" and "management goals." He influenced business training and politics with many of his ideas.

Some people said he often only presented information that supported his arguments. But even his critics praised his clear reasoning.

Yet as times changed, so did his thinking. In nineteen ninety-three, he warned that businesses create a market for competitors when they think too much about high profits.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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Strange and Creative? Must Have Been a Film by Johnny Depp, Tim Burton

mp3 A question from China about the movies made by the actor-director team. Also, the paper houses of architect Shigeru Ban. And the folk-influenced music of Jaymay. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we listen to music from singer Jaymay …

Answer a question about actor Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton …

And tell about a man who uses paper to build houses.

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Shigeru Ban

HOST:

Shigeru Ban

Not many people can say they have been inside a house made of paper. The Japanese architect Shigeru Ban makes buildings out of low cost and reusable materials like paper tubes. He has become well known for designing temporary homes for refugees. Shirley Griffith has more.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Shigeru Ban makes buildings that combine modern design with the traditions of his native country, Japan. He has helped redefine permanent and temporary shelters. For example, in nineteen ninety-one, he designed a library for a poet in Japan. Mister Ban created a tall and airy room for a collection of books. This was his first permanent structure built with tubes made from paper. Two years later, Japan allowed the use of paper tubes in its official building rules.

A home library in Japan where the books are not the only thing made of paper

Mister Ban has said that he was first interested in paper materials because they are low cost and easy to use and replace without producing waste.

He has since made many extraordinary structures from paper. These include the Japan Pavilion at the Hanover Expo in Germany in two thousand. This huge covered structure had a curving ceiling whose form was like an ocean wave.

Last year, Mister Ban and his architects built a paper bridge over a river near the town of Remoulin in France. Its design was similar to the nearby Pont du Gard built in ancient Roman times.

In nineteen ninety-four, Shigeru Ban saw pictures of the poorly built shelters in refugee camps in Rwanda. He proposed that the United Nations use paper tube structures instead. His shelter idea was low cost, easy and could be built quickly. And, it was good-looking. Mister Ban has since helped design temporary shelters for earthquake refugees in Kobe, Japan, Turkey and India. He says that the shelters must be beautiful because the refugees have suffered mental damage and need nice places to live.

Shigeru Ban recently spoke at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. He praised a group of architecture students working on ideas for refugee housing.

SHIGERU BAN: “I am very happy you are interested in working in that kind of field. It’s very unusual as architects. Because now there are so many big developers all over the world asking renowned architects to design to make money. But it seems like you are choosing different streams. To work for the general public and even for the victims, that is I think really great.”

Shigeru Ban said his suggestion for the students is to start building their ideas. He said the important thing is to find problems and solve them based on local conditions and the needs of people.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from China. Shen Nan wants to know more about the movies of director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton

The director and actor have worked together on many films. Their first movie together was “Edward Scissorhands” in nineteen ninety. Like many of Tim Burton’s movies, “Edward Scissorhands” is intensely creative and strange.

In it, Johnny Depp plays a young man who has sharp knives instead of hands. He falls in love with a beautiful girl. Depp had to learn to show emotion using only his eyes. So he studied the movies of the great silent film actor Charlie Chaplin.

Johnny Depp has said that when he first met Tim Burton they had an immediate connection and understanding. Their other movies include “Ed Wood," “Sleepy Hollow” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

In the animation movie “Corpse Bride," Depp provides the voice of the main character, Victor Van Dort. Tim Burton has often praised Johnny Depp for his willingness to try new and difficult roles in movies. For example, Depp had never worked on an animation movie, but was excited to try something new.

Johnny Depp faced a whole new level of difficulty in his most recent movie with Tim Burton. In last year’s movie version of the Broadway musical “Sweeney Todd," Depp had to learn how to sing. And the songs for this musical by Stephen Sondheim are not easy to perform.

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Johnny Depp said that singing at first was one of the strangest things he had ever tried. But his efforts were well received. Johnny Depp gained much critical praise for "Sweeney Todd" including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

There is no word currently on any new projects between this popular creative team. But whatever movie Tim Burton and Johnny Depp do next promises to be creative and interesting.

Jaymay

HOST:

Jaymay might sound like the name of a hip-hop performer. In fact, Jaymay is the professional name of twenty-six-year-old singer Jamie Kristine Seerman. This musician from Long Island, New York, writes and sings expressive folk-influenced songs. Critics are praising her clear, sweet voice and lovely music. Faith Lapidus plays three songs from Jaymay’s first full-length album, “Autumn Fallin'.”

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FAITH LAPIDUS:

Jaymay

That was the song “Sea Green, See Blue.” Like many of Jaymay’s songs, this one tells about rejection and the memories of past love. Her music is greatly influenced by the songs of one of her favorite musicians, Bob Dylan.

As a child, Jaymay played the piano and violin. But she did not always want to play music professionally. Jaymay wanted to work in the publishing industry because of her deep love of books. But when she did not find the job she wanted in this business, she started singing at "open mic" events in New York City. An open mic event is a live show where anyone can perform at the microphone.

These events helped Jaymay realize that she wanted to be a performer. She soon became a popular singer in New York. One of her songs caught the attention of people working at iTunes, the Apple company’s online music store. Her song “Gray or Blue” became a top selling song on iTunes.

(MUSIC)

Jaymay says the album “Autumn Fallin'” tells about seven months of life and relationships in New York. Most songs deal with love affairs that are over. But there is also a message of hope in the last song on the album. We leave you with “You Are the Only One I Love.”

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HOST:

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

It was written and produced by Dana Demange. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com.

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

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Some College Recruiters' Actions Raise Concerns

mp3 Second of two reports on the business of bringing together students and schools. Transcript of radio broadcast:

Correction attached

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We started to talk last week about college recruiting companies. Their business is to connect students and schools. Who pays them? It depends. The college might, if the recruiter was working for the college. Or the student might, if the recruiter was working for the student.

Sometimes, recruiters get paid by both sides. They help a student get into a college that was also paying the recruiter.

Such relationships between colleges and recruiters worry some people who work in international education. They question how well the interests of students are being served in finding a college that is best for them. These critics say taking money from colleges limits the information that recruiters provide.

One company that says it only accepts money from students is the American Universities Admission Program. AUAP is based in Florida and has been in business since nineteen ninety-five. President Jean-Noel Prade says it has helped almost three thousand foreign students attend American colleges.

The company charges two thousand five hundred dollars. It suggests four schools where a student is likely to be accepted. Students receive help with the admissions process, and a guarantee that they will be accepted by at least one of the four. If not, Jean Prade says, AUAP returns eighty percent of the money.

Two years ago, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers took AUAP to court. The company was an association member. But it was accused of trademark violations over unapproved use of the association's name. Both sides claimed victory. The company left the association, but a judge denied the association's request for damages.

Free information about American colleges and universities can be found at EducationUSA centers. The State Department has about four hundred fifty of them around the world. Advisers work with students in their search for a school. The centers also have information about financial aid, admissions tests and visa requirements. And some have information programs for students who are preparing to leave for the United States.

The EducationUSA Web site is educationusa.state.gov. For a link, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find other information about getting into an American college or university. Click on the Foreign Student Series link at the bottom of the front page.

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

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Correction: An earlier version of this story said the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers lost its trademark-infringement case against AUAP. Both sides claimed legal victories: the company left the association, but a judge denied the association's request for damages.

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US History: Jefferson, at Inaugural, Urges Unity of Hearts and Minds

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Thomas Jefferson became America's third president in 1801; he called for equal justice for all men no matter their religion, political beliefs or class. Transcript of radio broadcast:

ANNOUNCER:

Thomas Jefferson, by Moses Jacob Ezekiel

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – an American history series in VOA Special English.

On March fourth, eighteen-oh-one, Thomas Jefferson walked to the Capitol building in Washington. He was about to be inaugurated as the third president of the United States. He entered the Capitol to the thunder of cannon. All the senators and representatives stood until Jefferson sat down. A few moments later, the newly elected president rose and began to read his inaugural speech. Harry Monroe tells us what he said.

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Friends and fellow citizens: I have been called to the position of chief executive of our country. I must tell you how honored and thankful I am. But I must tell you, too, of my fears.

Yes, I must tell you that the duties of your president are too much for any one man. However, I tell myself that I am not alone. When I see all your faces, I understand the wisdom of those who wrote our Constitution. For in you, the members of Congress, and in the judicial branch of our government, I know that I shall find the strength, the honesty, the courage that I shall need.

We have passed through a hard year of bitter struggle between two political parties. We have shown the world that in America all can speak, write, and think freely. The debate is over. The people have decided. Now is the time for all of us to unite for the good of all.

The majority of the people have won the contest. But we must always remember that there is a minority. True, the majority must rule. But the rule of the majority must be just. The rights of the minority are equal to the rights of the majority, and must be protected with equal laws.

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Let us unite with hearts and minds. Let us have peace and love in our relations with each other. For without peace and love, liberty and life are sad things indeed. Let us remember that the religious freedom which we have in the United States is nothing if we do not have political freedom, if we permit men to be punished because they do not agree with the majority.

For hundreds of years in Europe, men have killed and have been killed in the name of liberty. It is not surprising, then, that even here -- in our peaceful land -- all cannot agree. But it is possible to have different ideas without forgetting our common wish.

Draft of Thomas Jefferson's first inaugural speech

We are all republicans, we are all federalists. Most of us love our country. Most of us want it to grow. There may be among us those who want to end the union of the states, or to end our republican government. Well then, let those men speak freely, without fear. They are wrong. But America is strong enough to let them say what they wish.

When men can think and speak freely, there is no danger to the nation. For those who do not agree with them also have the right to think and speak freely.

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There are some honest Americans who are afraid that a republican government cannot be strong. But I ask these good men one question. Do they want us to destroy a government, which has kept us strong and free for ten years? I hope not.

We have here in the United States the best and strongest government in the world. This is the only nation on the Earth whose citizens know that the government belongs to them.

Then there are some who say that men cannot govern themselves. What do they offer us instead? Government by kings? Are kings men, or are they angels? I will let history answer this question.

Let us keep our union and our government by the people through their elected representatives. We are very fortunate here in the New World.

Three thousand miles of ocean separate us from the wars and the dictatorships of Europe. Here we do not suffer as the people of Europe do. Here we have a great and rich land, with room for a hundred, perhaps a thousand generations of Americans yet to be born.

We -- and the American children who will come after us -- all have equal rights. We honor a man not because of his father, but for what the man is. We do not care what religion a man follows. In this country, men practice religion in many ways. Yet all our religions teach honesty, truth, and the love of man. All worship one God who rules the universe, who wants men to be happy in life.

Yes, we are a fortunate people. What more do we need to make us happy?

We need one more thing, my fellow citizens: a wise government. A government that keeps men from injuring each other. A government that gives men freedom to live and work in peace as they wish, and does not take from them the fruit of their labor. That is good government.

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In my short speech, I cannot tell you all the things that I believe our government should do, and should not do. But I will tell you what I believe to be the most important principles of our government. This is what I believe in:

The north wing of the Capitol housed Congress, the Supreme Court and Library of Congress when the federal government moved to Washington, D.C., in the fall of 1800

The same and equal justice to all men no matter what their religion, their political beliefs, or their class. Peace, trade, and friendship with all nations, but alliances for war with no nations. Support of the rights of the state governments, which are the best defenders of our republic. A strong central government under the Constitution to protect our peace at home and our safety in other parts of the world.

We must keep the right of the people to elect their representatives. This is the safe way to change governments that make mistakes. Without the right of election, we will have bloody revolution. In our election, the majority must rule. This is the lifeblood of a republic. If the majority is not allowed to rule, then we will have dictatorship.

America should have a good volunteer army to protect us in peace and in the first days of war, until we use professional soldiers. But at all times, the civil officers of the government must be first over the military officers.

The rights of man will be of the highest importance in this government. Information, knowledge, and opinions must move easily and swiftly. We will support freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of the person protected by the habeas corpus, and the right to trial by juries that are chosen fairly.

These are the freedoms that brought us through a revolution and that made this nation. Our wise men wrote these freedoms. Our heroes gave their lives for these freedoms. They are the stones on which our political philosophy must be built. If we make the mistake of forgetting them, let us return to them quickly. For only these rights of man can bring us peace, liberty, and safety.

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Well then, my fellow citizens, I go to the position which you have given me. I am no George Washington. I cannot ask you to believe in me as you did in the man who led us through our revolution -- the man who will always be first in the love of our country. I ask only that you give me your support and your strength.

I know that I shall make mistakes. And, even when I am right, there will be men who will say that I am wrong. I ask you to forgive my mistakes which, I promise, will at least be honest mistakes. And I ask you to support me when I am right against the attacks of those who are wrong. Always, my purpose will be to strengthen the happiness and freedom of all Americans -- those who do not agree with me, as well as those who do.

I need you. I go to my work as president of the United States, ready to leave that position when you and the American people decide that there is a better man for it. May the power that leads the universe tell us what is best, and bring to you peace and happiness.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Harold Braverman. Thomas Jefferson's inaugural address was read by Harry Monroe. Next week, we begin the story of Jefferson’s presidency. Join us again for the THE MAKING OF A NATION, an American history series in VOA Special English.
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Why Brain Cancers Like Kennedy's Are Difficult to Treat

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Senator Ted Kennedy, 76 years old, has a glioma in an area where the best way to fight it may be with radiation and chemicals. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Last week doctors in Massachusetts announced that Senator Ted Kennedy has brain cancer.

Ted Kennedy

The news came after he suffered a seizure. Doctors found a glioma, a growth in the supportive tissue of the brain. The glial tissue is where the largest percentage of brain tumors begin.

More than forty percent of growths in the brain are gliomas. But they make up almost eighty percent of cancerous growths, like the malignant glioma that Senator Kennedy has.

Seizures and headaches are common first signs of a glioma.

Cancerous glial tumors generally spread in the brain the way roots spread from a plant. That makes removing the tumor more difficult. A clear border between the cancer and healthy tissue can be difficult to find.

The location of the glioma must also be considered when deciding treatment. Senator Kennedy’s tumor is in the left parietal lobe of the brain. This area is involved in some sensory understanding and spatial recognition, as well as language, reading and vision.

Removal of a glioma from this area can result in speech problems and other disabilities.

Some cancer experts believe that doctors are unlikely to operate on Senator Kennedy. They say the likely treatment is radiation and chemotherapy.

But chemical treatment for brain cancer is complex because of the protective blood-brain barrier. It stops some chemicals from entering the brain, including many chemo drugs.

Radiation treatments for brain cancer have improved a lot in recent years. New methods and equipment can permit extremely localized treatments that are less likely to damage healthy tissue.

Research into brain cancer treatment also includes drug therapy. In two thousand five, a drug called temozolomide was shown to add a few months to the lives of brain cancer patients.

And researchers are studying uses for the cancer drug Avastin. It is already used to treat breast, colon and lung cancer. It starves tumors by blocking blood flow to the growths.

The United States has about ten thousand new cancerous gliomas a year. Half of the people die within fifteen months. Malignant gliomas are more aggressive in older people.

Ted Kennedy is seventy-six years old. The senator competed Monday in the second half of a boat race in Massachusetts, finishing second in his five-boat division.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Transcripts and MP3s of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.

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Film Festivals Around the World Celebrate the Art and Industry of Movies

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From Cannes to Cairo, festivals bring the movie industry, media and movie lovers together. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we travel to film festivals around the world to learn about their different histories and goals. Some of the festivals are major competitions, while others are smaller events to help draw attention to more experimental movies.

Some festivals have a set theme or subject matter, while others show a wide selection of movies. These many gatherings are important events for artists, the movie industry, the media and movie lovers.

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VOICE ONE:

One of the most well known film festivals in the world takes place in the French town of Cannes during twelve days in May. The Cannes Film Festival started in nineteen forty-six as a social gathering for showing movies. Later, the popular event developed into an important competition.

Every year, members of the Cannes jury give awards for the best movies, actors and directors out of more than twenty competing movies. This year the jury included American actor and director Sean Penn and Iranian writer and director Marjane Satrapi. The awards were announced Sunday.

VOICE TWO:

French director Laurent Cantet and students from a Paris school with their Palme d'Or for "Entre les Murs," or "The Class"

The French film "Entre les Murs," or "The Class," won the top prize, the Palme d'Or. Laurent Cantet directed this movie about a teacher working in a school with many problems in Paris.

Critics praised the performances of the non-professional actors who play the students.

Benicio Del Toro

Benicio Del Toro was named best actor for playing the revolutionary leader Ernesto Guevara in the movie "Che." Sandra Corveloni won the best actress award for playing a working-class mother in Brazil in the film "Linha de Passe," or "Line of Passage." And Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was honored for his movie about family secrets called “Three Monkeys.”

VOICE ONE:

Visitors to the festival also saw a series of short films, as well as films which did not compete for awards. But the Cannes Film Festival is more than about honoring special movies and seeing famous actors. The Marché du Film is one of the largest movie markets in the world. Each year, more than ten thousand people from almost one hundred countries gather to watch about nine hundred movies. This event helps link people from all areas of the movie industry. And, it helps filmmakers sell their movies to distributors so they can be shown in theaters around the world.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Venice International Film Festival starts in late August. Started in nineteen thirty-two, it is one of the oldest movie festivals in the world. This year, “Burn After Reading” by American directors Joel and Ethan Coen, will open the festival. The movie has several famous American actors including George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt.

VOICE ONE:

The Venice and Cannes film festivals are widely considered “A List” or top festivals. The International Federation of Film Producers Associations lists these festivals as well as twelve others as “Competitive Feature Film Festivals.” Others on this list include festivals in Berlin, Germany; San Sebastian, Spain; Montreal, Canada; Tokyo, Japan; Moscow, Russia and Cairo, Egypt.

VOICE TWO:

In February, a movie by American director Martin Scorsese opened the fifty-eighth Berlin International Film Festival. “Shine A Light” gave an energetic look at the performances of The Rolling Stones rock and roll group. The singer Madonna presented the first movie she directed called “Filth and Wisdom.” Over three hundred eighty other films were presented at this festival. The Brazilian and Argentine movie “The Elite Squad” won the festival’s Golden Bear award.

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VOICE ONE:

Other film festivals have very specialized subjects. For example, in Belgium you can go to the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. For twenty-six years this festival has been showing science fiction and horror movies from around the world.

If this event seems too frightening, you can attend the International Children’s Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. At this event children even get to vote along with adults on which film receives a LUCAS award. In Turkey, the International Istanbul Film Festival shows movies about art, music, dance or literature.

VOICE TWO:

If you like animation movies, you could explore the Hiroshima International Film Festival in Japan or the International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France.

There are also many festivals for documentary movies. In Spain, the International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao is celebrating its fiftieth year. At the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, Canada, the Best International Feature Documentary Award this year went to “The English Surgeon.” This movie tells about a British brain surgeon who helps patients suffering from brain tumors in Ukraine.

SILVERDOCS is an international film festival for documentary films that takes place at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theater. This festival in Silver Spring, Maryland is in its sixth year. The event helps bring attention to documentary films from around the world. Next month, the festival will honor the American director Spike Lee for his work in making powerful movies about social injustice.

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VOICE ONE:

In the United States, two of the most well known film festivals for independent films are the Sundance and Telluride Film Festivals. Movies shown at these events are produced without the support of the major Hollywood studios. Filmmakers often show their movies for the first time to important people in the movie industry. Movie distributors can buy films that otherwise might be undiscovered and show them in theaters. Sometimes movie distributors start pricing wars as they compete to buy the rights to a movie they think will be a financial success.

VOICE TWO:

The Sundance Film Festival is organized by the Sundance Institute. The actor Robert Redford helped start the Institute in the early nineteen eighties. His aim was to create an environment to discover and support new and independent filmmakers. The festival takes place in and around Park City, Utah. The most recent one took place over ten days this past January. The director of the Sundance Film Festival, Geoffrey Gilmore, spoke at the awards ceremony.

GEOFFREY GILMORE:

“And as the festival comes to a close, I am struck by a profound sense of significance and emergence this year. Of another generation of independent filmmakers, of another year of really superb independent film.”

VOICE ONE:

“Trouble the Water” won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for documentary film. It tells how a wife and husband struggled to survive in New Orleans, Louisiana after the destructive effects of Hurricane Katrina.

The prize for best dramatic film went to “Frozen River” directed by Courtney Hunt. This movie is about two poor women trying to bring Chinese immigrants illegally into the United States from Canada. Here, the director talks about her movie.

COURTNEY HUNT:

Courtney Hunt

“This is a story about a white woman and a Mohawk Indian woman who team up to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Canadian border into New York State. It’s a unique situation where a reservation actually straddles the Canadian border and through it runs the St. Lawrence river, which freezes in the winter. And so the way these two smuggle, and the way the smuggling is done there is by driving across the ice. To me, that sort of everyday adventure that pushes people into another realm was fascinating to me. I don’t think you have to have a big international kind of movie with explosions and pyrotechnics and all that to have this sense of adventure.”

VOICE TWO:

This year, the thirty-fifth Telluride Film Festival in Colorado will take place on the weekend of August twenty-ninth. Telluride does not offer a prize. Instead, it is an honor for the makers of movies to be one of the twenty films or fifteen short movies chosen for the festival.

The festival shows all kinds of movies including documentary and animated films. The only requirement is that the movie has not been shown in North America before the festival. A movie shown at Telluride can get important attention from movie industry experts as well as the media. And, the event has an element of surprise. The festival does not announce what movies will be shown until the weekend visitors arrive.

VOICE ONE:

On any given day, a film festival is probably taking place somewhere around the world. And we have only discussed a small number of them. These important and exciting events help to celebrate the art and industry of movies.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

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

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UN Aims to Raise Potatoes' Appeal

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High grain prices and the International Year of the Potato bring greater attention to the vegetable. Transcript of radio broadcast:

Some governments and agricultural experts have this advice to help people deal with high grain prices: Eat more potatoes.

The United Nations has declared two thousand eight the International Year of the Potato. There is even a Web site to help bring more attention to the world’s third most important food crop, after rice and wheat: potato2008.org.

The world produced three hundred twenty million tons of the vegetable last year, about the same as in two thousand five. The top five producers were China, Russia, India, Ukraine and the United States. India hopes to double production in the next five years.

Officials in Bangladesh say that country produced a record eight million tons this season. Prices for rice, the main food crop, have doubled in Bangladesh in the past year. Potatoes now cost much less than rice.

Yet potatoes are not an especially popular food choice in Bangladesh. The government hopes that will change. And some Bangladeshis may have no choice. Soldiers are now being served potatoes as part of their daily food.

The International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, says potatoes could offer better food security for at least twenty Asian countries.

International trade in potatoes currently represents only about six percent of production, so prices are set locally. Potatoes are a good source of nutrients. And farmers can plant them in rotation with grain crops.

The United Nations World Food Program says potatoes can grow in almost any climate. They do not require very much water. And experts say potatoes can produce more food per hectare than wheat or rice.

Until the early nineteen nineties, most potatoes were grown in Europe, North America and the former Soviet republics. Person for person, Europeans still eat the most potatoes. But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says production has increased sharply in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The F.A.O. says developing countries grew more potatoes than developed countries for the first time in two thousand five.

That same year, an American-led research team tried to settle the debate over where potatoes came from. They reported that all potatoes today have a single origin in southern Peru. The earliest evidence suggested that farmers developed potatoes from wild plants more than seven thousand years ago.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

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Learning First Aid: What to Do Until You Reach Medical Help

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A guide to common emergencies such as choking, heart stoppage, accidental poisonings and severe bleeding. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, get ready for a short guide to first aid.

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VOICE ONE:

A first aid kit

Doctors in hospital emergency rooms often see accidental poisonings. A frightened parent arrives with a child who swallowed a cleaning liquid. Or perhaps the harmful substance is a medicine. Or it might be a chemical product meant to kill insects. These are common causes of accidental poisoning.

In cases like this, seek medical help as soon as possible. Save the container of whatever caused the poisoning. And look on the container for information about anything that stops the effects of the poison.

Save anything expelled from the mouth of the victim. That way, doctors can examine it.

VOICE TWO:

In the past, some people forced poisoning victims to empty the stomach. They used a liquid, syrup of ipecac, to do this. But an organization of children’s doctors no longer advises parents to keep syrup of ipecac. The American Academy of Pediatrics says some poisons can cause additional damage when they come back up the throat.

VOICE ONE:

Millions of people know a way to save a person who is choking on something trapped in the throat. The method is commonly known as the Heimlich Maneuver or abdominal thrusts.

The American Red Cross says a rescuer should first hit the person on the back five times between the shoulder bones. These back blows may ease the choking. If the airway is still blocked, the Red Cross suggests pushing hard five times along the victim's abdomen. The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hip bones.

VOICE TWO:

You can do these abdominal thrusts by getting directly behind a sitting or standing person. Put your arms around the victim's waist. Close one hand to form a ball. Place it over the upper part of the stomach, below the ribs. Place the other hand on top. Then push forcefully inward and upward. Repeat the abdominal thrusts until the object is expelled from the mouth.

For someone who is pregnant or very fat, place your hands a little higher than with normal abdominal thrusts. Place them at the base of the breastbone -- just above the place where the lowest ribs join. Then begin pushing, as with other victims.

VOICE ONE:

If you are the person choking, you cannot strike your back. But you can still help yourself. Place a closed hand over the middle of your abdomen just above your waist. Take hold of that hand with your other hand. Find a hard surface like a chair and rest your body on it. Then push your closed hand in and up.

Red Cross experts say taking these steps can save many lives. But they also warn that abdominal thrusts are not for people who have almost drowned. They say use of the method could delay other ways to re-start breathing in the victim. Abdominal thrusts should be used only in cases where a near-drowning victim is choking on an object.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It forces air into the lungs and pumps blood and oxygen to the brain. Doctors say C.P.R. greatly increases the chances that a person whose heart stops will survive. It increases the chances that he or she will suffer little or no brain damage.

Recently, the American Heart Association amended its advice about aiding a person suspected of suffering a heart attack. The group says the amendments resulted because studies show that the changed way could be more effective. It also could make people more willing to attempt rescue efforts.

VOICE ONE:

The new American Heart Association method is called “Hands-Only C.P.R.” The group tells how to recognize a person needing C.P.R. The group says the person has collapsed. The patient is unconscious -- unable to communicate or react to surroundings or speech. His or her skin has lost color. The person is not breathing. If such conditions describe the situation, chances are the heart has stopped beating.

The American Heart Association directs advice to people unwilling or unable to perform rescue breathing. Some people fear infection. Others say they are afraid of making the patient worse.

VOICE TWO:

But the lead writer of one of the studies of C.P.R. says a person cannot be worse than dead. Doctor Michael Sayre works at Ohio State University. He strongly urges people in contact with a victim to take action.

Doctor Sayre says call for help, or send someone else. Even if you cannot do mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, you can perform Hands-Only C.P.R. You can do chest compressions that help to keep blood flowing to the brain, heart and other organs.

To perform the compressions, place one hand over the other and press firmly on the center of the victim’s chest. Push down about five centimeters. Aim for one hundred compressions per minute. But Doctor Sayre says you do not need a measuring stick or a timing device.

VOICE ONE:

If the heart does not start beating, continue with chest compressions until help arrives. For a choking victim who is unconscious with no heartbeat, clear the airway first. Then do chest compressions.

Doctor Sayre still suggests that health experts do both the breathing method and chest compressions. He says some victims, including babies, need the mouth-to-mouth breathing with the compressions. Still, the doctor says it is better to do just chest compressions than to do nothing.

C.P.R. is not difficult to learn. Many organizations teach it.

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VOICE TWO:

Most C.P.R. training now includes how to use an automated external defibrillator, or A.E.D. Such devices are increasingly found in public places. A recorded voice guides the user. Defibrillators use electric shocks to correct abnormal heartbeats that can lead to sudden death.

But a recent report compared the effectiveness of defibrillators with rescue efforts by someone skilled at C.P.R. Scientists at the Seattle Institute of Cardiac Research and the University of Washington prepared the report.

VOICE ONE:

The researchers wanted to see if defibrillators could save lives. They studied seven thousand heart patients. Each person taking part had someone available in the home to give C.P.R.

Defibrillators were placed in the homes of half of the patients. In case of emergency, families in the defibrillator group were told to use the device first, before calling for help or performing C.P.R. The other families were told to call emergency services, then use C.P.R. The results were reported after an average of three years. They showed that the defibrillators provided no more protection from death than a person skilled in C.P.R.

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VOICE TWO:

Bacteria can enter the body through even the smallest cut in the skin. So medical experts advise people to treat all wounds. Clean the cut with soap and water. Then cover the wound while it heals.

If bleeding is severe, doctors at the Mayo Clinic health centers suggest several steps. First, if possible, have the person lie down and raise the victim’s legs. Remove dirt from the wound and press on it with a clean cloth or piece of clothing. If you cannot find anything clean, use your hand.

Keep putting pressure on the wound until the bleeding stops or medical help arrives. Do not remove the cloth if the blood comes through it. Instead, put another cloth on top and continue pressure. If the bleeding does not stop with direct pressure, put pressure on the artery that carries blood to the wound.

VOICE ONE:

In the past, people were advised to stop severe bleeding with a tourniquet. This device is made with a stick and a piece of cloth or a belt. But experts now say tourniquets are dangerous because they can crush blood passages and nerves.

If a wound seems infected, let the victim rest. Physical activity can spread the infection. Treat the wound with a mixture of salt and water until medical help arrives. Add nine and one-half milliliters of salt to each liter of boiled water. Place a clean cloth in the mixture and then put the cloth on the wound. But be sure not to burn the skin.

VOICE TWO:

To learn more about first aid, ask a hospital or organization like a Red Cross or Red Crescent Society for information. There may be training classes offered in your area.

If you know first aid treatments, you can be calmer and more helpful in case of emergency.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

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Six Men, a World War, a Pacific Island, and an Image for All Time

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The story of the flag raising captured in 1945 on Iwo Jima by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, and the memorial statue it led to. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember with Faith Lapidus.

This Monday is Memorial Day in the United States. The holiday honors the memory of the nation's military dead.

VOICE TWO:

One way to preserve a memory is with a camera. This week on our program, we tell the story of a famous photograph from World War Two. It led the sculptor Felix de Weldon to create one of the largest free-standing bronze statues in the world.

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VOICE ONE:

Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima is one of the best-known war images

Our story is about one moment in time. Really, one-four-hundredth of a second. That is the amount of time it took Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal to capture a historic image on film.

The photograph shows six men and an American flag during a battle in World War Two. Joe Rosenthal took it on February twenty-third, nineteen forty-five, on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. Japanese forces held the island. American Marines were trying to capture it.

On the fourth day of battle, Marines fought to the top of Mount Suribachi, the tallest mountain on Iwo Jima. A small American flag was sent to the top. The Marines placed the flagpole in the ground.

VOICE TWO:

But the small flag could not be seen clearly far below. Commanding officers ordered the Marines to replace it with a much larger one. Joe Rosenthal wanted to make a picture of the event. So he took his camera and began to climb slowly up the mountain.

When he reached the top, Marines were tying the larger flag to a heavy pole. Joe Rosenthal backed away from the group and began talking to another photographer.

A minute later, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. “There it goes!” he said. He swung his camera up, following the movement of the flag, and pressed the button that took the picture.

VOICE ONE:

Six men are in the photograph. But only four of them are clearly seen.

In the front is Harlon Block, a Marine from Yorktown, Texas. Next is John Bradley. His face is the only one in the picture. He was a Navy corpsman; his job was to treat the wounded.

Also in the picture is Franklin Sousley, a Marine from Hilltop, Kentucky. And all the way at the left is Ira Hayes, a Marine, and an American Indian. The heavy pole holding the flag had just left his hand when the picture was taken.

Behind these four men are two other Marines. They cannot be seen as clearly. They are Rene Gagnon of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Mike Strank. He lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but was born in Jarabenia, in what was then Czechoslovakia.

VOICE TWO:

The next day, Joe Rosenthal’s film went by airplane to the island of Guam where it was developed and printed.

The pictures were given to Associated Press photo editor John Bodkin. It was his job to decide which ones to send to the United States. They would go on a machine that sent images by radio.

As histories tell it, he looked and looked at the first photograph, and said: “This is one for all time.” Within minutes he sent the picture of the six men raising the flag to the Associated Press headquarters in New York.

From there, the photograph went to newspapers across the United States. Most decided to print a huge copy on their front page.

VOICE ONE:

Associated Press Photographer Joe Rosenthal

Most photo experts will tell you that the picture Joe Rosenthal made is almost perfect. The camera catches the flag as it rises. The flagpole cuts across the photograph. Winds blow against the flag.

The experts also say you must look at the picture as the American public saw it in nineteen forty-five. The world had been at war for years. Victory was not yet certain. Many people worried about family members. Many had a deep fear of the enemy.

The picture shows strength and courage. It suggests that six young men are working together to defeat the enemy. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph seemed to say: the battle may not be over, but we are winning.

It was the very image of a future American victory.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In Washington, D.C., Felix de Weldon saw the photograph in the newspapers. Born in Austria, he came to the United States and was an artist in the Navy.

Many years later he would say, “I had been an artist all my life. When I first saw it I recognized the power of this photograph. I could not take my eyes from it. I looked at the photograph for some hours and then began working.”

Seventy-two hours later, Felix de Weldon had made a small statue of Joe Rosethal’s picture. Within days, members of Congress had seen the small statue. Many began to call for a huge statue. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the Marine Corps to send home the men who had raised the flag.

VOICE ONE:

By then, however, it was too late. Mike Strank, Harlon Block and Franklin Sousley were dead. They were among the more than six-thousand Marines killed on Iwo Jima.

Navy Corpsman John Bradley had been severely wounded. But he, Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes returned to the United States.

People said they were heroes. The three men said they had done nothing but help put up a flag. But Joe Rosenthal’s photograph was so powerful, nothing would change people's minds.

Felix de Weldon soon made a life-size copy of the statue. He carefully copied the faces of the three survivors. He used all the photographs he could find for the three who had been killed.

His statue helped pay for America’s war effort. The statue and the three survivors traveled from city to city to raise money.

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VOICE TWO:

Joe Rosenthal’s photograph became more and more famous. His work earned the Pulitzer Prize.

There was public demand to put the image on a postal stamp. In July of nineteen forty-five, the government agreed. More than one-hundred-thirty-seven-million were printed.

People also demanded a huge statue of the six Marines.

In nineteen forty-six, Felix de Weldon started all over again. First he made a statue out of plaster. Then he used the plaster form as a guide to make the final statue out of bronze metal.

Again, he called on the three survivors. Felix de Weldon wanted to make sure he had them correct.

VOICE ONE:

The Marine Corps War Memorial has become known as the Iwo Jima statue in Arlington, Virginia

It took Felix de Weldon nine years to complete the statue. The memorial honors all members of the United States Marine Corps who died in battle since the American Revolution.

On November tenth, nineteen fifty-four, President Dwight Eisenhower led ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. The burial grounds are across the Potomac River from Washington.

Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley attended the ceremonies. It was their last time together. Ira Hayes died three months later.

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VOICE TWO:

Millions of people have come to see the statue that Felix de Weldon made. It stands in a grassy area along a busy road at the edge of Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia. The statue weighs more than twenty-tons.

Each man is almost ten meters tall. They seem about to move. Their bodies push forward as they struggle to raise the flag. Their clothes show the bones and muscles underneath. Their faces show the hard work.

Joe Rosenthal died in 2006. He was 94.

Many visitors say it is an emotional experience. People stand and look up at the six men. And, they take pictures, just as Joe Rosenthal did on February twenty-third, nineteen forty-five.

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VOICE ONE:

John Bradley was the last to die of the six men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima that day. He died in nineteen ninety-four. Felix de Weldon died in two thousand three. And Joe Rosenthal died in two thousand six.

Soon after the photograph from Mount Suribachi was published, some people began to dispute it. They suggested that Joe Rosenthal had placed everyone where he wanted them, and then took the photo. Joe Rosenthal always said that was not true.

Experts in photography say it is easy to tell that the photo was not posed. They say no photographer would make a picture that hides almost all of the people’s faces. And they say no photographer would have two of the people nearly hidden.

You can decide for yourself. A copy of Joe Rosenthal’s photograph, and a picture of Felix de Weldon’s statue, can be found at voaspecialenglish.com.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. Archives of our programs, with transcripts and MP3s, are at voaspecialenglish.com. We hope you can join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Three Water and Sanitation Projects in India Win Online Search

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The winners of a competition held by two groups, Global Water Challenge and Ashoka’s Changemakers will each get $5,000. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A billion people live without a safe water supply. Two and a half billion, or more than forty percent of all people, have no place to use a safe toilet. Recently on the Internet there was a competition to look for creative local solutions to water and sanitation needs.

Two organizations, Ashoka’s Changemakers and Global Water Challenge, organized the worldwide search. Global Water Challenge is a coalition of twenty-two groups working for change in water and sanitation.

Ashoka is a group for social entrepreneurs, people who look for creative solutions to social problems. Its Changemakers.net Web site is an online community where competitions are held. Anyone can vote or provide ideas and resources.

The search for water and sanitation projects received more than two hundred fifty proposals from fifty-four countries. Judges chose nine finalists in April. Then, visitors to the site voted for three winners. All three are from India. Each will receive five thousand dollars from Global Water Challenge.

Himanshu Parikh Consulting Engineers won for a sanitation project called Slum Networking. It involves looking for natural solutions like gravity-based, house-to-house water and sanitation connections in poor areas.

The project began in the cities of Indore, Baroda, Ahmedabad and Bhopal. Now the aim is to extend it to rural areas.

The Naandi Foundation won for a project for safe drinking water in two states, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. Villagers get clean water at purification centers. Then they sell the bottled water within their communities for small amounts of money.

The third winner is a group leading a sanitation project in Maharashtra and Gujarat states. Swayam Shikshan Prayog works with local governments and women’s groups to change local behaviors and improve sanitation.

Tanvi Nagpal heads the water and sanitation program at Global Water Challenge. She says the Coca Cola Company has given one million dollars to expand several of the proposals in the competition.

This was the first time Global Water Challenge has been involved in an online search. Tanvi Nagpal says the organization may hold another competition in the coming years to look for other inventive ideas.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

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Back, Shoulders and Chest: A Pat on the Back for a Job Well Done

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Now, the VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

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There are many American expressions that use parts of the body. These include the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and even the heart. Today we will tell you some expressions that use other body parts – the back, shoulders and chest.

When I am facing a lot of pressure at work, my back and neck will start to hurt. Sometimes, this tension is the result of too much work. I have too many things to do because my supervisor is on my back all the time. In other words, my employer is always telling me to do things.

Sometimes, I want to tell my employer to get off my back! I want her to stop criticizing me and making too many demands on my time. I can not say this, however. I would never turn my back on her and refuse to help when there is a need. If I did refuse to help, my supervisor might say bad things about me behind my back. She might criticize me when I am not present. This would surely be a stab in the back. It is never kind to unfairly harm or say bad things about other people.

Sometimes, when I am very productive in my job, my employer gives me a pat on the back. She praises my work. She might even say “I will scratch your back if you will scratch mine.” This means she will do something for me, if I do something helpful for her in exchange. Such an offer usually comes straight from the shoulder. My supervisor has a very direct, open and honest way of speaking.

I know that my employer carries a lot on her shoulders. She is responsible for many things at the office. And because she is so important, she sometimes gets to rub shoulders with the top officials. She gets to spend time with some very important people.

I believe the top official values my supervisor. He never gives her the cold shoulder. He is never unfriendly to her. He always treats her like she is an important part of the organization.

I also value my supervisor. In fact, I think she is very effective in her job. Of course, I could yell my opinion at the top of my lungs, or as loudly as I possibly could. It might even feel good to get my emotions off my chest. It is always helpful to tell people how you feel so that your emotions do not trouble you.

But it is not necessary for me to praise my supervisor. Most of my co-workers feel the exact same way about her. So, I think I will just save my breath. I will keep silent because talking or repeating myself will not do any good.

(MUSIC)

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus.

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Edward R. Murrow, 1908-1965: The Famous Radio and Television Reporter Helped Create Modern News Broadcasting

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Murrow developed the CBS television shows "See It Now" and "Person to Person." Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today, we tell the story of Edward R. Murrow, a famous radio and television broadcaster. He helped create and develop modern news broadcasting.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Edward R. Murrow

Egbert Roscoe Murrow was born in nineteen-oh-eight in the state of North Carolina. His parents lived on a farm in an area called Polecat Creek. The Murrows were members of the Quakers, a religious group known for its humanitarian activities and opposition to war. When he was a boy, the Murrow family moved across the country. They settled in the western state of Washington, near the border with Canada.

VOICE TWO:

In college, Egbert Murrow changed his name to Edward. He completed his college education at Washington State College in nineteen thirty. Edward was active in college politics. He served as president of the National Student Federation. He organized debates and other events for the student organization. He also traveled throughout the United States and Europe.

Ed Murrow joined the Institute of International Education in nineteen thirty-two. He served as assistant director of the group. During this period, he married a young woman he had met at a student conference. Her name was Janet Brewster. They later had one child, a son.

VOICE ONE:

Edward R. Murrow accepted a job with the Columbia Broadcasting System in nineteen thirty-five. His job was to get famous people to speak on CBS radio programs. Two years later, Murrow was named director of the CBS European office and moved to London, England. His job was to get European officials and experts to provide comments for CBS broadcasts. Murrow was twenty-nine years old and the company’s only representative in Europe.

VOICE TWO:

The situation in Europe was becoming tense. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party had come to power in Germany. Up until that time, radio news in the United States was mostly opinions, or commentary. CBS officials were concerned about permitting news broadcasts by reporters.

Murrow offered a job to William L. Shirer, a newspaper reporter. The two men wanted to do something different. They wanted to present radio reports about what they had seen and heard.

In March, nineteen thirty-eight, the two men made radio broadcasting history. They produced a thirty-minute broadcast to report on the seizure of Austria by Nazi Germany. That meant getting people in Berlin and other European capitals to comment on the news story.

Murrow traveled to Vienna to report on Nazi forces entering the Austrian capital. The broadcast also included reports from London, Berlin, Paris, France and Rome, Italy. It was a huge success.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Murrow returned to London and continued his broadcasts as World War Two started. He opened the reports with the words, “This is London.” Murrow was an excellent reporter who chose his words with great skill. His reports seemed to bring the war home to Americans.

For example, he described the Battle of Britain as he saw and experienced it. In some of his reports, listeners could hear the sound of bomb explosions or air raid warnings. Once, Murrow broadcast from the top of a building and described what he saw. Here is part of one report from August thirty-first, nineteen thirty-nine. Murrow describes plans by British officials to move children away from coastal areas:

EDWARD R. MURROW :

"School children will be taken by their teachers to homes in safer districts where they will be housed by people who have already offered to receive them and look after them. All parents of school children are strongly urged to let their children go. Parents will be told where their children are as soon as they reach their new homes."

VOICE TWO:

Murrow organized a team of reporters whose names would become well known to American listeners. They included Charles Collingwood, Robert Trout, Eric Severeid, and Howard K. Smith. The team had eleven members. They were called “the Murrow boys.” They reported news from the major European capitals. Their reports were heard on the CBS radio program “World News Roundup.” These men established the traditions of broadcast journalism.

Most of the reporters had worked for newspapers or magazines. They had learned to work quickly and clearly, much needed qualities in radio. The Murrow boys were to have a powerful effect on American broadcasting for years to come.

Edward R. Murrow took his listeners places they had never been. He let them experience things they could not imagine. For example, after World War Two, he was among the first Allied reporters to visit the Buchenwald prison camp operated by the Nazis in Germany during the war. This is how he described the prisoners there:

EDWARD R. MURROW:

“As we walked into the courtyard, a man fell dead. Two others, they must have been over sixty, were crawling toward the latrine. I saw it, but will not describe it. In another part of the camp, they showed me the children, hundreds of them. Some were only six. One rolled up his sleeve and showed me his number. It was tattooed on his arm.”

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Murrow was famous when he returned home to the United States after the war. His work in Europe guaranteed him a place in the history of news reporting. He was appointed vice president of News at CBS in nineteen forty-six. However, he resigned from the position the following year and returned to broadcasting.

Murrow recorded a series of record albums with a producer, Fred Friendly. The series was called “I Can Hear It Now.” These programs presented historical events through recordings of speeches and news broadcasts. Later, Murrow and Friendly developed a similar weekly radio show. It was called “Hear It Now.”

VOICE TWO:

In the United States, the rise of television in the nineteen fifties ended the period called the Golden Age of Radio Broadcasting. Most of the popular shows disappeared from radio. More and more people started watching television. So Ed Murrow and his boys moved to television. He joined with Fred Friendly to create the series “See It Now.” This show lasted from nineteen fifty-one to nineteen fifty-eight. The first “See It Now” showed the first television pictures broadcast from both coasts. It showed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.

Senator Joseph McCarthy

In one program, “See It Now” examined accusations made by Senator Joseph McCarthy. He had accused government officials of being supporters or members of the Communist Party. The program showed that Senator McCarthy had no real evidence for the accusations. Some people say the program helped to end the senator’s hunt for Communists. Experts say the program was important in the history of television.

Other broadcasts on “See It Now” concerned important issues of race, war and government dishonesty.

VOICE ONE:

Murrow also started another television show called “Person to Person.” He spoke with famous people in their homes. One program visited Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The show also visited actress Marilyn Monroe, actor Marlon Brando and Senator John F. Kennedy.

Ed Murrow also produced a number of special investigative programs for CBS. One such program was called “Harvest of Shame.” It showed the hard lives and poor living conditions of farm workers who move from place to place. Some people say this broadcast was so powerful that it influenced American lawmakers to pass measures to protect these migrant workers.

VOICE TWO:

Murrow’s reporting and choice of subjects often led to disputes with his supervisors at CBS. After John F.Kennedy was elected president, he asked the newsman to lead the United States Information Agency. Murrow served as the agency’s director from nineteen sixty-one to nineteen sixty-four. Then he retired from the job. Murrow was sick with lung cancer. He had smoked cigarettes for much of his life. He died in nineteen sixty-five at his farm in Pawling, New York. He was fifty-seven years old.

By the time he died, Murrow had won all of the top awards given to reporters. He also received honors from five colleges. President Lyndon Johnson gave him the Medal of Freedom. That is the highest honor a president can give to an American citizen.

Today, Edward R. Murrow is remembered for his influence on broadcasting and the quality of his reporting. Former CBS chairman William Paley once said Murrow was a man made for his time and work. Paley called him a student, a thinker and, at heart, a poet of mankind. As a result, he said, Murrow was a great reporter.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was our producer. I’m Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Joseph Juran, 1904-2008: A Life of Quality Control

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The American popularized what is often called the "80-20 rule," and helped the Japanese improve their products. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Recently the business world lost a leader in quality control. Joseph Juran died at the age of one hundred and three. He developed ideas that are still important today to improving the quality of products.

Joseph Juran

Joseph Juran was born in Braila, Romania. His family came to the United States in nineteen twelve when he was eight. They settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He studied electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota. He was also the school champion at the game of chess. After college, the Western Electric Company put him to work on mathematical methods of quality control.

He became interested in the idea he termed "vital few and trivial many." This idea is popularly known as the "eighty-twenty rule." It could mean, for example, that eighty percent of manufacturing problems result from twenty percent of the causes.

He named it the "Pareto principle," for the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. A century ago, Pareto observed that eighty percent of the wealth in Italy went to twenty percent of the population.

But Joseph Juran came to recognize that he had misnamed this principle. He knew that unequal distribution had long been observed in other areas, not just wealth. Yet he gave Pareto credit for identifying it as "universal" when, it seemed, he could have taken the credit himself. He could have called it, he said, the Juran principle.

In nineteen fifty-one, he published his "Quality Control Handbook." This influential book especially interested the Japanese. He was invited to teach in Japan, and he advised some of its largest companies. The Japanese also had help from another American, William Edwards Deming. The two experts helped Japan become a world leader in quality control.

In nineteen sixty-four Joseph Juran published "Managerial Breakthrough." This book formed the basis of several other strategies to reduce manufacturing mistakes and cut waste. Among them are the methods known as Six Sigma and lean management.

In nineteen seventy-nine, Joseph Juran established the Juran Institute in Connecticut. It works with organizations that want to improve quality. But the main purpose of the institute, he said, is to improve society.

Joseph Juran died on February twenty-eighth in Rye, New York. That was where he lived with Sadie Juran, his wife of eighty-one years.

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

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Country Music: Chesney Sees 'Complete Disrespect' in Web Voting

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Also: Charles Simic decides against seeking another year as U.S. poet laureate. And a question from Japan about the nation's Founding Fathers -- and Founding Mothers. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we tell about some country music award winners ...

Answer a listener’s question about the founding fathers, and mothers, of the United States ...

And report on the nation’s poet laureate.

(MUSIC)

Charles Simic

HOST:

Charles Simic has served as America’s poet laureate for almost a year. He says he will not seek a second year because he wants to spend more time writing. Barbara Klein tells about the man and his poetry.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Charles Simic

Charles Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in nineteen thirty-eight. He says he spent his early years avoiding bombs dropped by German and Allied forces during World War Two. He became one of the millions of displaced persons.

He said the experience provided him with his own little story of bad luck as well as those of many other people. His poem, “Prodigy,” speaks of his wartime life. Here he reads it:

CHARLES SIMIC:

"I grew up bent over
a chessboard.

I loved the word endgame.

All my cousins looked worried.

It was a small house
near a Roman graveyard.
Planes and tanks
shook its windowpanes.

A retired professor of astronomy
taught me how to play.

That must have been in 1944.

In the set we were using,
the paint had almost chipped off
the black pieces.

The white King was missing
and had to be substituted for.

I’m told but do not believe
that that summer I witnessed
men hung from telephone poles.

I remember my mother
blindfolding me a lot.
She had a way of tucking my head
suddenly under her overcoat.

In chess, too, the professor told me,
the masters play blindfolded,
the great ones on several boards
at the same time."

Charles Simic came to the United States when he was sixteen years old. He lived with his parents in Chicago, Illinois. His first book of poems was published when he was just twenty-one. He served in the Army and later graduated from New York University. Mister Simic is a retired professor of American literature and creative writing at the University of New Hampshire, the state where he still lives. He also writes essays about art, ideas and beliefs and music.

The poet can speak several languages. He has translated poetry by writers in French, Serbian and other languages. Mister Simic said being poet laureate of the United States was an especially great honor because, he said, “I am an immigrant boy who didn’t speak English until I was fifteen.”

Charles Simic has written more than twenty books of poetry. He has won a MacArthur Fellowship and a Pulitzer Prize. The same day he was named Poet Laureate he won the Wallace Stevens Award for Mastery in the Art of Poetry. The award, given by the Academy of American Poets, comes with a one hundred thousand dollar prize.

Last month, Charles Simic published a new book of poetry called “That Little Something.”

America’s Founding Parents

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Japan. Fumio Nishimoto and his students want to know about America's Founding Fathers -- and Founding Mothers.

Most Americans know about their country's Founding Fathers who created and established the new government of the United States. These included the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. This document announced the American colonies' separation from England in seventeen seventy-six. The Founding Fathers also included men who fought in the American Revolutionary War to win independence. And they included the men who helped write the United States Constitution in seventeen eighty-seven.

The most famous Founding Fathers included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin.

Most of the Founding Fathers had wives, mothers, sisters and daughters who also played important parts in the birth of the new nation. These women defended their homes during the war. They supervised their husbands' businesses, provided them with political advice and supported their efforts.

Who were these Founding Mothers? Reporter Cokie Roberts wrote a book about them called "Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation."

Miz Roberts studied the personal letters and private writings of these women to tell their stories. She writes about Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, the wives of the country's first and second presidents. During the Revolutionary War, Martha Washington helped the troops survive a severe winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She treated their wounds, made clothing for them and kept them from leaving.

Miz Roberts also writes about some women who were not as well known. For example, Deborah Read Franklin was the wife of Benjamin Franklin. While her husband was serving in Europe, she supervised the postal service and her husband's businesses and properties in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also used a gun to protect the Franklin house against an angry crowd.

Cokie Roberts writes that the efforts of these women for their families and their country were just as important to building the new nation as the rebellion that established it.

Country Music Awards

HOST:

The Academy of Country Music held its forty-third yearly awards ceremony Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the first time, fans picked the winner of the top award through voting over the Internet. Mario Ritter tells about the winners and plays some of their music.

(MUSIC: "Better as a Memory")

MARIO RITTER:

Kenny Chesney

That was Kenny Chesney, winner of the Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year award for the fourth time in four years. He welcomed the praise and thanked his fans. But he criticized the new method for choosing the winner of the big award.

Chesney said the online voting showed "complete disrespect" for the artists. He said it turns the award into a “sweepstakes to see who can push people’s buttons the hardest on the Internet.”

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley won as best female vocalist and best male vocalist for a second year. Here they sing “Oh Love.”

(MUSIC)

Miranda Lambert was honored with the award for album of the year for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Listen to the title song from that album.

(MUSIC)

Finally, the band Sugarland won the Academy of Country Music award for best single record and song of the year. We leave you with “Stay.”

(MUSIC)

HOST:

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

It was written by Shelley Gollust and Caty Weaver, who was also our producer. Charles Simic’s reading was provided by the Poetry Foundation. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

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

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