Five Labor Leaders Who Improved Conditions for American Workers

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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to People in America in VOA Special English. At the beginning of the twentieth century, American laborers often worked long hours for little pay. Many worked under extremely dangerous conditions. About five hundred thousand workers, however, had joined groups called labor unions, hoping to improve their situation.

Today, Rich Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long tell about five labor leaders who worked to improve conditions for American workers.

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VOICE ONE:

Samuel Gompers

In nineteen hundred, the largest national organization of labor unions was the American Federation of Labor. Its head was Samuel Gompers. Gompers had moved to New York with his parents when he was thirteen years old. He was twenty-four when he began working for the local union of cigar makers. He worked for the labor movement for sixty years.

VOICE TWO:

Samuel Gompers had helped create the A.F.L. in the late eighteen eighties. He led the organization for all but one year until his death in nineteen twenty-four. Gompers defined the purpose of the labor movement in America. He also established the method used to solve labor disputes.

Gompers thought unions should work only to increase wages, improve work conditions and stop unfair treatment of workers. He called his method pure and simple unionism.

Samuel Gompers sought immediate change for workers. He used group actions such as strikes as a way to try to force company owners to negotiate.

VOICE ONE:

Gompers was criticized for going to social events with industry leaders, and for compromising too easily with employers. But Gompers believed such actions helped his main goal. He believed if workers were respected, their employers would want to make working conditions better.

Under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, the labor movement won its first small gains. For example, the federal government recognized the right of workers to organize. That happened when union representatives were part of the National War Labor Board during World War One.

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VOICE TWO:

John L. Lewis

John L. Lewis expanded the American labor movement with a campaign he called organizing the unorganized. Lewis was the head of the United Mine Workers of America. He also was the vice-president of the A.F.L.

In nineteen thirty-five, Lewis formed the Committee for Industrial Organization within the A.F.L. He wanted the C.I.O. to organize workers in mass production industries, such as automobile industry. The A.F.L. mainly organized unions of workers who had the same skills. But Lewis believed skilled and unskilled workers in the same industry should be organized into the same union.

Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act in nineteen thirty-five. It gave workers the legal right to join unions and to negotiate with employers. John L. Lewis thought it was the right time to press the large industries to recognize workers' rights.

The A.F.L., however, decided not to support such action and expelled the unions that belonged to the C.I.O. In nineteen thirty-six, the C.I.O. began operating as another national labor organization. Lewis was its leader.

VOICE ONE:

John L. Lewis was an extremely colorful and effective speaker. He had worked as a coal miner and could relate to the most terrible conditions workers faced. More than three million workers joined the C.I.O. in its first year as a separate organization. For the first time, labor won many strikes and permanent improvements in workers conditions.

For many years, presidents, members of Congress, and business leaders considered John L. Lewis the voice of labor. And, American workers saw Lewis as their hero. By the nineteen fifties, the labor movement an established part of American life.

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VOICE TWO:

Walter Reuther

Walter Reuther was the vice president of the C.I.O. under Lewis, and became its president in nineteen fifty-two. Reuther believed unions had a social responsibility. His ideas were partly influenced by his German father who was a socialist.

Walter Reuther was trained to make tools to cut metal. He joined the United Automobile Workers union when it first formed in nineteen thirty-five.

VOICE ONE:

Walter Reuther was president of the United Auto Workers for twenty-three years beginning in nineteen forty-six. He shaped the U.A.W. into one of the most militant and forward-looking unions. He held strikes to gain increased wages for workers, but, at the same time, he expected workers to increase their rate of production. He was the first to link pay raises to productivity increases. Reuther also was greatly concerned about civil rights and the environment.

In nineteen fifty-five, Reuther helped the A.F.L. and C.I.O. re-join as one organization.

Reuther's ideas were recognized worldwide. But they also brought him enemies. He survived three murder attempts. He said: "You have to make up your mind whether you are willing to accept things as they are or whether you are willing to try to change them."

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VOICE TWO:

A. Philip Randolph

A. Philip Randolph is known for combining the labor and civil rights movements. Randolph became involved with unions in nineteen-twenty-five. A group of black workers on passenger trains asked him to organize a union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

Randolph was not a laborer. He was the college educated son of a minister. He published a socialist magazine in New York City. He was known as a fighter for black rights. Randolph strongly believed that economic conditions affected rights and power for African Americans.

For twelve years, Randolph fought the Pullman Company that employed the passenger train workers. In nineteen thirty-five, Pullman finally agreed to negotiate with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Two years later, the porters' union signed the first labor agreement between a company and a black union.

A. Philip Randolph led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters for forty-three years. In nineteen fifty-seven he became vice president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

Randolph used large group protests to change work conditions. He planned marches on the capital in Washington to protest the unequal treatment of black workers by the government.

In nineteen sixty-three, Randolph planned the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. At this huge peaceful gathering, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior made his famous "I have a dream" speech. Within a year the civil rights amendment passed guaranteeing equal rights for blacks and other minorities.

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VOICE ONE:

Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez created the first farmers union in nineteen sixty-two. That union later became the United Farm Workers of America.

Farm workers had been considered too difficult to organize. They worked during growing seasons. Many farm workers did not speak English or were in the country illegally. Farm workers earned only a few dollars each hour. They often lived in mud shelters and had no waste removal systems. Many farm workers were children.

VOICE TWO:

Cesar Chavez went to school for only eight years. But he read a lot. He was greatly influenced by the ideas of famous supporters of non-violence such as Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Chavez led his workers on marches for better pay and conditions. Workers walked hundreds of miles carrying cloth banners with the Spanish words "Viva la Causa" -- long live our cause.

VOICE ONE:

Cesar Chavez created a new strike method called a boycott. People refused to buy products of a company accused of treating farm workers badly. Chavez also publicized the dangers of some farm chemicals. Cesar Chavez improved the conditions of farm workers by making their mistreatment a national issue.

VOICE TWO:

Union membership has dropped sharply since its highpoint in the nineteen forties. Yet conditions for American workers continue to improve as employers realize that treating their workers well is good for business. The efforts of leaders of the American labor movement during the past one hundred years continue to improve the lives of millions of workers.

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ANNOUNCER:

This Special English program was written by Linda Burchill and produced by Paul Thompson. The announcers were Rich Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long. I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another People In America program in VOA Special English.

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Schools Feel Effects of Weak Economy, High Fuel Prices as Classes Begin

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VOICE ONE:

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

VOICE TWO:

One problem for schools is higher costs for bus transportation

And I'm Barbara Klein. A new school year is beginning in the United States. On our program today, we discuss some of the issues facing American education this year.

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VOICE ONE:

The first Monday in September is Labor Day in the United States. It marks the unofficial end of summer and a traditional signal that school is about to start.

But now public schools often begin sometime during August. They have different reasons for starting early.

The Tucson Unified School District in Arizona began classes on August eleventh. Communications Director Chyrl Hill Lander says the earlier start time makes it possible for students to take semester exams before winter vacation in December. She says the school district also wants to follow a calendar similar to that of the nearby University of Arizona.

VOICE TWO:

Many schools in Virginia still open the day after Labor Day. But the public schools in Montgomery County, in the southwestern part of Virginia, began classes on August twentieth. Human Resources Director Mark Pashier says his county has been opening schools in August for at least the past eight years.

The main reason, he says, is the Standards of Learning tests that schoolchildren in Virginia take every spring. School officials want the students to have the most time to prepare for them -- which means starting the year before Labor Day.

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VOICE ONE:

The federal government plays an important part in American education. For example, the government provides money for research, early childhood programs and going to college. In fact, the credit crisis over the past year has increased the importance of federal student loans and other financial aid. Some private companies have left the student loan business.

VOICE TWO:

The government also enforces federal laws against discrimination in schools. An example is a nineteen seventy-two law called Title Nine. Under that law, no one can be excluded on the basis of sex from any education program or activity receiving federal aid. One major effect was to expand sports programs for girls.

VOICE ONE:

President Bush discusses the No Child Left Behind law during a visit to Horace Greeley Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois, in January

More recently, the Bush administration expanded student testing requirements as part of efforts to force public schools to improve.

Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act of Two Thousand One, President George Bush's education policy. He leaves office in January, but the law has no end date and does not require re-approval by Congress.

VOICE TWO:

Federal involvement in education policy has grown but still remains limited. There is no national education system, no requirements for what to teach. Education has always been considered mainly a local issue.

Each state and local government has its own rules and guidelines. This explains why school calendars are different across the fifty states.

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VOICE ONE:

The weak economy and rising prices for goods and services will be producing some noticeable changes this year.

Most states require public schools to provide transportation to and from school for students who need it. But high fuel prices have been cutting into school budgets. Some students will have to walk farther to get the bus because of service reductions. Others will have to walk or ride their bike to school or make other transportation plans.

To save money on bus fuel, some districts are lengthening the school day and having students go only four days a week instead of five. The Maccray school district in Minnesota is trying a four-day week beginning this school year. The superintendent says the move should save the district at least sixty-five thousand dollars in transportation costs.

VOICE TWO:

The American Association of School Administrators asked school chiefs across the country what their districts were doing about these high costs. The group released the survey results in July. Fourteen districts reported moving to a four-day school week. Eighty-two others said they were seriously considering it.

Also, more than two hundred districts reported reducing their use of heat and air conditioning in schools to save money. Ninety-five others said they were considering it.

VOICE ONE:

The cost of food service is another issue for schools. The problem is not just higher food prices but also higher prices for plastic goods made from oil. The School Nutrition Association says many administrators decided at the end of the last school year in June to increase the price of school lunches.

A survey in May and June of this year found that about one hundred fifty districts are raising meal prices by an average of sixteen percent. About sixty districts had already increased lunch prices during the two thousand seven-two thousand eight school year.

VOICE TWO:

Charles Lane-Bey said a weak economy led him to a Salvation Army thrift store in Chicago for back-to-school clothes for sons Kimani, left, and Edward

High oil prices, the weak economy and the housing market collapse are also having other effects. Stores launched back-to-school specials earlier this year, giving parents a chance to search longer for lower prices. More families than last year planned to buy online -- a way to compare prices and save fuel.

In July the National Retail Federation, a business group, released findings from its yearly survey of back-to-school spending. The survey found that spending levels for clothing, shoes and school supplies would remain about the same as last year.

But many parents planned to spend some of their tax rebate check on electronics like computers and cell phones. Tax rebates went out to millions of Americans as a way to pump money into the economy.

VOICE ONE:

The survey found that the average family with school-aged children would spend about six hundred dollars on school-related purchases this year. The estimate was thirty dollars higher than last year.

But back-to-college spending was expected to drop by seven percent, after five years of strong sales. The survey also found that fifty-four percent of college students were saving money by living with their parents this year. Just below fifty percent lived at home last year.

The National Retail Federation predicted a combined fifty-one billion dollars in back-to-college and back-to-school spending this year.

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VOICE TWO:

Across the United States the legal age to drink alcohol is twenty-one. But some college and university presidents have recently signed a statement. The statement says: "It's time to rethink the drinking age. Twenty-one is not working." At least one hundred twenty-eight presidents have signed it so far.

The statement calls on elected officials to support a public debate over the twenty-one year old drinking age. It also calls on officials to "invite new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol."

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen eighty-four Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The law threatened states with a ten percent cut in federal highway money if they set their drinking age lower than twenty-one.

The college presidents say a culture of dangerous and secretive "binge drinking" has developed and often takes place off campus. They say adults under twenty-one have the right to vote, serve on juries and join the military "but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer."

The statement does not say what the legal drinking age should be. But many of the presidents who signed it said they think people should be permitted to drink at eighteen.

VOICE TWO:

Groups opposed to lowering the drinking age quickly criticized the statement signed by the college and university presidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the current drinking age has reduced traffic deaths involving drivers eighteen to twenty-one by thirteen percent. Its latest study says alcohol-related traffic deaths last year among all age groups were down almost four percent from the year before.

The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving says the twenty-one year old drinking age has saved twenty-five thousand lives since nineteen eighty-four.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police also expressed strong opposition to the idea of lowering the drinking age. It says drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one are involved in fifteen percent of all alcohol-related traffic deaths. It says lowering the drinking age would only raise that number.

VOICE ONE:

Some colleges are promising stronger enforcement of alcohol policies this year in an effort to reduce drinking-related problems.

One reason students may drink a lot is because they think everyone does it. Yet researchers find that students in general drink less than their friends think. Some schools, including the University of Virginia, have found that one way to reduce drinking is to present students with the facts.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Saving Reindeer -- and a Community -- in Mongolia

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

In far northern Mongolia, the survival of the smallest ethnic group in the country depends on reindeer.

Morgan Keay, right, with members of the Tsaatan community in Mongolia

An American named Morgan Keay visited the Tsaatan community when she was studying in Mongolia in two thousand two. Leaders told her that the animals were not healthy and the number of reindeer was getting too small to support the community.

When she left, the chief gave her his grandfather's smoking pipe. That way she would remember the Tsaatan and try to help them. The Tsaatan have about five hundred members. About half are reindeer herders up in the Taiga mountains. The other half live in a town.

Back in the United States, Morgan Keay and a friend who had also studied in Mongolia started an organization. They named it Itgel -- the Mongolian word for hope.

The Itgel Foundation has helped bring foreign scientists to Mongolia to research and treat reindeer diseases. Itgel also helped Tsaatan workers build a community and visitor center. The building includes guest rooms for tourists.

The Tsaatan not only work as guides, they now provide all services for travelers. The community works in partnership with international tour operators. Those tour operators had formerly been in control of the services.

Tsaatan volunteers and members of the Itgel Foundation in front of the community and visitor center

People in the community designed the center, which they also own and manage. Before the visitor center was built, families earned an average of one hundred dollars a year. Now Morgan Keay says the average is three to four times that. Money also goes into a community fund.

Four years ago the Tsaatan had fewer than five hundred reindeer. Now Morgan Keay says the herd has just reached nine hundred.

Last year, the Tsaatan learned that the government of Mongolia planned to spend one and a half million dollars on their community. But no one had talked to the Tsaatan about the plans. The Itgel Foundation organized a meeting between community members and government representatives.

Morgan Keay says the Tsaatan are becoming economically independent for the first time. The Mongolian government is now considering a development plan written by the community. The plan deals with education, health, the environment and economics.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Karen Leggett. For pictures, transcripts and MP3 archives of our reports, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

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High Fuel Prices Drive Manufacturing Closer to Home

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Cargo containers are loaded onto a ship at the Port of Miami

In the last thirty years, American businesses have increasingly used suppliers in China and all over the world. This helped fuel a current account deficit of seven hundred thirty-one billion dollars last year. The current account is a measure of the difference between a country's income and its current spending.

Even so, many companies profited by importing goods from foreign suppliers as world trade barriers fell and oil prices were low. But wage costs have risen in China. And now, with oil so costly, many economists wonder how wise it is to make products far from home markets.

A recent report by Jeff Rubin and Benjamin Tal at the Canadian bank CIBC said shipping inflation is taking the place of the old trade tariffs. For example, in the year two thousand, the cost to send a twelve-meter shipping container from Shanghai to the American East Coast was three thousand dollars. Now the cost has risen to eight thousand dollars.

High transportation costs have already affected China's foreign trade. The rate of export growth decreased from about twenty-seven percent a year ago to twenty-two percent in the first half of this year.

To cut transportation costs, some companies are opening factories in countries where they sell their products. Sweden's Ikea, the world's largest seller of home furniture, just opened its first factory in the United States in Virginia.

Countries like the United States that have lost manufacturing jobs to foreign competition could see some of those jobs return. But a new report says American businesses are also looking at other ways to deal with high fuel prices. The report is from a transportation research company based in London, Eyefortransport.

It says that for years the industry has tried to reduce costs by moving goods through the supply chain as quickly as possible. Now, high fuel costs are making some companies restructure their operations. Fewer but larger loads are being shipped.

And companies are moving more goods by rail and by water, along coasts and inland waterways. Not only does that save fuel, the report says, it also helps shippers and carriers improve their "green" image.

With these changes, it says, American manufacturers are looking for low-cost countries closer to home -- known as near shoring. At the same time, there appears to be a common belief in the industry that some carriers are raising fuel charges just to increase profits.

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

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In New York City, Waterfalls as Public Art (and a Plumber's Dream)

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson.

Today we play music from the British band Coldplay ...

Answer a question about the circus …

And tell about a wet and wild public art project in New York City.

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New York City Waterfalls

HOST:

Visitors to New York City this summer have the chance to see four special art installations that are making a big splash. The Public Art Fund group hired Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson to create the New York City Waterfalls. Faith Lapidus has more about this interesting public art project in the East River.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Olafur Eliasson's waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge

The four New York City Waterfalls range in height from twenty-seven to thirty-six meters tall. They are made from common industrial materials like scaffolding, pumps and piping. One waterfall is under the Brooklyn Bridge, while another flows between Piers Four and Five in Brooklyn. There is one on Pier Thirty-five in Manhattan, and another on the north side of Governors Island. Together, these waterfalls move one hundred thirty-two thousand liters of water a minute.

The public art project cost more than fifteen million dollars and took two years to plan.

There are several ways to get a good look at the waterfalls. The New York City Department of Transportation organized a bicycle route that suggests riding across the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Or you can sit and enjoy looking at them from several parks. You can even see some of them while riding some public transportation trains between Manhattan and Brooklyn. We decided to take a Circle Line boat tour to fully experience the view from the water.

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TOUR GUIDE: "Now, here we go into the East River, looking for waterfalls. They are the work of the artist forty-one-year-old Olafur Eliasson, born in Denmark, grew up in Iceland and now works in his studio in Berlin. He heads up a team of thirty. Not just artists but mechanics, architects and even plumbers."

Olafur Eliasson chose the form of the waterfall because he says it is easily recognizable. He wanted people to think of the water of the East River as more than just a simple surface surrounded by buildings. He wanted people to have a nature-based experience within a city environment. He said by lifting the water up into falls, he called attention to the physical presence of the water. He wanted people to see the natural forces of gravity, wind and daylight changing the water.

At the opening ceremony in June, Eliasson said the waterfalls are about public space and belong to the people of New York City. The falls were carefully built so that they do not harm organisms living in the river. The materials used to make the falls will be reused. And the waterfalls are temporary. Visitors have until October thirteenth to enjoy this unusual public art project.

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History of the Circus

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes from Ukraine. Olga wants to know more about the history of the circus.

During the civilization of ancient Rome, the circus was a building for large events. These included horse racing, athletic competitions and wild animal hunts.

The eighteenth century British horse expert Philip Astley is often called the creator of the modern circus. He opened a riding school in London where he also performed dangerous tricks for the public. His shows grew to include performances by acrobats, jugglers, clowns and strong men.

Circuses are usually performed in a circular area called a ring. In fact, the word "circus" comes from the Latin word for "circle." Circuses became very popular in Europe during the nineteenth century. Some European cities still have circus buildings which date from this period. These include Paris, France; Stockholm, Sweden, and Blackpool, England.

In the United States, P.T. Barnum developed a circus show that included animals performing tricks and people with unusual skills. P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus began in eighteen seventy. At the time, it was the largest circus in American history. Two years later Barnum was calling his circus "The Greatest Show on Earth."

The two most famous American circuses were Barnum and Bailey and the Ringling Brothers. By nineteen hundred seven, the two companies merged into one. But they performed separately for twelve years.

A circus performance with Gunther Gebel-Williams

It was a major event when a circus such as Ringling Brothers came to perform in a city or town. During the early twentieth century, this circus required about one hundred railroad cars to carry equipment, one thousand workers and hundreds of animals.

Some of Ringling's most famous circus performers included the acrobat Lillian Leitzel, the clown Lou Jacobs and the animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams.

Today, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus has two separate shows which travel across the United States by train. Another smaller show travels by truck.

Several other groups have reinvented the circus with artistic performances that do not include animals. These include the Cirque du Soleil from Canada, Circus Baobab from Guinea and the Pickle Circus in San Francisco, California.

Coldplay

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Coldplay

HOST:

The British rock band Coldplay is making history with its fourth album, "Viva la Vida." The album sold more than seven hundred thousand copies in the United States during the first week it was released in June. It also became the most paid-for downloaded album in history. Barbara Klein plays three songs from this popular record.

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BARBARA KLEIN:

That was the song "Lost." It is a good example of Coldplay's skill in creating dramatic rock melodies that are hard to forget. The lead singer, Chris Martin, often sings in a warm and recognizable high, falsetto voice. The title "Viva la Vida" or "long live life" comes from a painting by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Chris Martin says he has great respect for the boldness of her work.

Coldplay said it wanted to try something different with "Viva la Vida." The album includes heavier drum sounds and more serious songs. The band hired the famous record producer Brian Eno to help them with the album. Eno is best known for working with the Irish rock group U2. Here is the song "Strawberry Swing."

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Coldplay has used creative methods to advertise the album. For one week, they released the song "Violet Hill" free of charge on the Internet. They also gave free performances in New York City, Barcelona, Spain, and London, England. Coldplay even appeared in an advertisement for the iTunes online music store. We leave you with "Viva la Vida," the title song of Coldplay's best-selling album.

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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.

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

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Minding the Summer Learning Gap

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Each new school year brings fresh reminders of what educators call the summer learning gap. Some call it the summer learning setback. Put simply, it means the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget.

Some schools let students take summer classes online. Scott Landry, 14, of Massachusetts did that last summer.

The only thing they might gain is weight. Recent studies show that children gain weight more quickly in the summer than when they are in school.

Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar. Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation.

Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states.

But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school.

Brenda McLaughlin is research director at the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University. She says studies of year-round schooling have not found strong learning gains.

Last year, a study at Ohio State University reported that year-round students did not learn any more than other students. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said "year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback. They simply spread it out across the year."

Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help.

But calling them "summer school" could be a problem. The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, recently wrote about this issue on his blog.

He said that in American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood. He said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term summer school. They said it created an image of children being forced to do work they missed during the school year.

The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp," "enrichment," "extra time" and "hands-on learning."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Join us Monday for a back-to-school report on THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Jim Tedder.

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American History Series: War of 1812 Ends, but Fighting Continues

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

Most recently in our series, we have been talking about the War of Eighteen Twelve between the United States and Britain. In the summer of eighteen fourteen, the two countries opened peace talks at Ghent, in Belgium. But Britain was in no hurry to agree on a peace treaty. This week, Maurice Joyce and Stuart Spencer tell us about how the War of Eighteen Twelve ended.

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VOICE ONE:

British forces were planning several campaigns in the United States later in the year. Successful military campaigns could force the United States to accept the kind of treaty Britain wanted.

British representatives to the talks demanded that the United States give control of its Northwest Territory to the Indians. They also asked that the United States give part of the state of Maine to Canada, and make other changes in the border.

VOICE TWO:

John Quincy Adams

United States representatives were led by John Quincy Adams, son of former president John Adams. They made equally tough demands. The United States wanted payment for damages suffered during the war. It also demanded that Britain stop seizing American seamen for the British navy. And the United States wanted all of Canada.

The British representatives said they could not even discuss the question of impressing Americans into the British navy.

John Quincy Adams had little hope the talks would succeed. The Americans would surrender none of their territory. Old John Adams, the former president, told President James Madison: "I would continue this war forever before surrendering an acre of America."

His son, John Quincy, did not believe the British would reduce any of their demands. But another of the Americans at Ghent, House Speaker Henry Clay, felt differently. Clay was right. After Britain received word that its military campaigns had failed at Baltimore and Plattsburgh, its representatives became easier to negotiate with. They dropped the demand that the United States give the Northwest Territory to the Indians.

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VOICE ONE:

Britain still hoped for military successes in America. The British government asked the Duke of Wellington to lead British forces in Canada. The duke had won important victories in the war against Napoleon. Perhaps he could do the same in America. The duke was offered the power to continue the war or to make peace.

Wellington told the government he would go to America if requested. But he refused to promise any success. He said it was not a new general that Britain needed in America, but naval control of the Great Lakes that separated the United States from Canada.

"The question is," Wellington said, "can we get this naval control? If we cannot, then I will do you no good in America. I think," said Wellington, "that you might as well sign a peace treaty with the United States now. I think you have no right to demand any territory from the United States. The failure of the British military campaigns in America gives you no right to make such demands."

VOICE TWO:

Detail of Amedee Forestier's "A Hundred Years Peace. The Signature of the Treaty of Ghent between Great Britain and the United States of America"

The British government accepted this advice from its top military expert. It ordered the British representatives at Ghent to drop the demands for American territory. The Americans then dropped their demands for Canadian territory.

The things that led to the war no longer existed. Britain's war with France had caused the British and French to interfere with neutral American trade. And Britain had needed men for its navy. Now, the war with France was over. No longer was there any reason to interfere with the trade of any nation. And no longer was there any need to seize Americans for service in the British navy.

On the day before Christmas, eighteen fourteen, the United States and Britain signed a simple treaty. In it, each side agreed to stop fighting. They agreed to settle all their differences at future negotiations.

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VOICE ONE:

The war had ended. But one more battle was to be fought before news of the peace treaty reached the United States.

During the autumn of eighteen fourteen, British soldiers at Jamaica began preparing for an attack against New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Late in November, this force of about seven thousand five hundred men sailed from Jamaica to New Orleans.

The British soldiers were commanded by General Sir Edward Pakenham. The general did not take his men directly to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Instead, they sailed across a lake east of the city.

Early during the afternoon of December twenty-third, General Andrew Jackson, the commander of American forces at New Orleans, learned the British force was near.

VOICE TWO:

General Jackson was a good soldier and a great leader of men. He fought in the Revolutionary War, then studied law. He moved west to Nashville, Tennessee. The general also served in both houses of the United States Congress.

When war broke out in eighteen twelve, he was elected general of a group of volunteer soldiers from Tennessee. Jackson was a rough man. His soldiers feared and respected him. They called him "Old Hickory,” because he seemed as tough as hickory wood.

Jackson was given responsibility for defending the Gulf coast. Earlier in the year, he had attacked Pensacola, in east Florida, and forced out several hundred British marines. Jackson believed the British would attack Mobile before attacking New Orleans. He left part of his forces at Mobile and took the others to the mouth of the Mississippi.

VOICE ONE:

Engraving of Andrew Jackson commanding American troops in the Battle of New Orleans

Jackson was a sick man when he got to New Orleans. And what he found made him feel no better. Little had been done to prepare for the expected British attack. Jackson declared martial law and began building the city's defenses.

Most of the work on the defenses had been completed when Jackson got word that the British were only a few kilometers from New Orleans. "Gentlemen," Jackson told his officers, "the British are below. We must fight them tonight."

The British soldiers rested. They believed it would be easy to capture the city the next day. But Jackson rushed up guns and men, and attacked the British by surprise just after dark. Then, the Americans retreated to a place about eight kilometers south of the city.

VOICE TWO:

Jackson had chosen this place carefully. On the right was the Mississippi River. On the left was a swamp -- mud and water that could not be crossed. In front of the American soldiers was an open field.

For two weeks, the British soldiers waited. They tested the American defenses at several places, but found no weaknesses. Every day, Jackson had his men improve their positions. At night, small groups of Jackson's soldiers would slip across the field and silently attack British soldiers guarding the other side.

Finally, on January eighth, the British attacked. They expected the Americans to flee in the face of their strong attack. But the Americans stood firm.

Jackson's artillery fired into the enemy. When the British got as close as one hundred fifty meters, the Americans began to fire their long rifles. The rain of bullets and shells was deadly. General Pakenham was wounded twice and then killed by a shell that exploded near him. Only one British soldier reached the top of the American defenses.

VOICE ONE:

The British finally retreated. They left behind more than two thousand dead and wounded. Five hundred other British soldiers had been captured. Thirteen Americans were killed. It was a great victory for the United States, but one that was not necessary. The war had ended, by treaty, two weeks earlier.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Maurice Joyce and Stuart Spencer. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION – an American history series in VOA Special English.
___

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Brain Aneurysms: Rare but Usually Deadly If They Burst

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

We often hear the term brain aneurysm. Joe Biden had two of them twenty years ago. Doctors saved his life. Now the sixty-five year old senator from Delaware has just been named the vice presidential choice of Democrat Barack Obama.

Ohio's first black congresswoman, however, was not so lucky. Fifty-eight year old Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones died last week within hours after a brain aneurysm burst. Doctors said she may have had no warning, which would not be unusual.

A magnetic resonance image of a brain with a huge aneurysm, the black spot in the center

A brain aneurysm is a weak or thin area along an artery wall in the brain. It can become so thin that it ruptures and bleeds. The most common form looks like a small, round berry hanging from the artery.

The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota says as many as fifteen million people in the United States, or five percent, have a berry aneurysm. Fewer than thirty thousand will ever suffer a rupture.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that forty percent of victims die within twenty-four hours. Another twenty-five percent die within six months.

People may live a long and healthy life and never know they have an aneurysm. But sometimes, if it gets big enough, it can cause pain or other problems that lead to its discovery.

In Joe Biden's case, his neck hurt for several weeks. Doctors thought he had a pinched nerve and a virus. But in February of nineteen eighty-eight, tests showed a leaking artery at the base of his brain. Doctors operated successfully, and again three months later for an aneurysm in another area.

Janet Sutherland is director of the Chicago chapter of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, a support group. She describes what happened when she suffered a rupture in March of two thousand four.

It began with the worst headache ever. She called emergency services. Rescuers found her collapsed in her kitchen.

The operation was a success. But she was in a coma for three weeks. She woke up blind and unable to move. She had two surgeries to return her sight and another to correct a second aneurysm. She spent five months in the hospital and many months in physical therapy.

Today Janet Sutherland can walk again, and says she can see better than ever.

Experts say most brain aneurysms happen in people born with an abnormality in an artery wall. Other causes can include head injuries, high blood pressure, infections, tobacco use and use of stimulant drugs.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

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How English Became a Modern Language

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VOICE ONE:

This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we present the second of our two programs about the history of the English Language.

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VOICE ONE:

William the Conqueror

Last week, we told how the English language developed as a result of several invasions of Britain. The first involved three tribes called the Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons. A mix of their languages produced a language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. It sounded very much like German. Only a few words remained from the Celts who had lived in Britain

Two more invasions added words to Old English. The Vikings of Denmark, Norway and Sweden arrived in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The next invasion took place in the year ten sixty-six. French forces from Normandy were led by a man known as William the Conqueror.

The Norman rulers added many words to English. The words "parliament," "jury," "justice," and others that deal with law come from the Norman rulers.

VOICE TWO:

Over time, the different languages combined to result in what English experts call Middle English. While Middle English still sounds similar to German, it also begins to sound like Modern English.

Here Warren Scheer reads the very beginning of Geoffrey Chaucer's great poem, "The Canterbury Tales" as it was written in Middle English.

VOICE THREE:

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heath…

VOICE ONE:

Chaucer wrote that poem in the late thirteen hundreds. It was written in the language of the people. The rulers of Britain at that time still spoke the Norman French they brought with them in ten sixty-six.

The kings of Britain did not speak the language of the people until the early fourteen hundreds. Slowly, Norman French was used less and less until it disappeared.

VOICE TWO:

The English language was strongly influenced by an event that took place more than one thousand four hundred years ago. In the year five ninety-seven, the Roman Catholic Church began its attempt to make Christianity the religion of Britain.

The language of the Catholic Church was Latin. Latin was not spoken as a language in any country at that time. But it was still used by some people.

Latin made it possible for a church member from Rome to speak to a church member from Britain. Educated people from different countries could communicate using Latin.

Latin had a great effect on the English language. Here are a few examples. The Latin word "discus" became several words in English including "disk," "dish," and "desk." The Latin word "quietus" became the English word "quiet." Some English names of plants such as ginger and trees such as cedar come from Latin. So do some medical words such as cancer.

VOICE ONE:

English is a little like a living thing that continues to grow. English began to grow more quickly when William Caxton returned to Britain in the year fourteen seventy-six. He had been in Holland and other areas of Europe where he had learned printing. He returned to Britain with the first printing press.

The printing press made it possible for almost anyone to buy a book. It helped spread education and the English language.

VOICE TWO:

Slowly, during the fifteen hundreds, English became the modern language we would recognize. English speakers today would be able to communicate with English speakers in the last part of the sixteenth century.

It was during this time period that the greatest writer in English produced his work. His name was William Shakespeare. His plays continue to be printed, acted in theaters, and seen in motion pictures almost four hundred years after his death.

VOICE ONE:

William Shakespeare

Experts say that Shakespeare's work was written to be performed on the stage, not to be read. Yet every sound of his words can produce word pictures, and provide feelings of anger, fear and laughter. Shakespeare's famous play "Romeo and Juliet" is so sad that people cry when they see this famous story.

The story of the power-hungry King Richard the Third is another very popular play by Shakespeare. Listen as Shep O'Neal reads the beginning of "Richard the Third."

VOICE FOUR:

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;

Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;

Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,

Our dreadful marches to delightful measures ...

VOICE TWO:

The development of the English language took a giant step just nine years before the death of William Shakespeare. Three small British ships crossed the Atlantic Ocean in sixteen-oh-seven. They landed in an area that would later become the southern American state of Virginia. They began the first of several British colonies. The name of the first small colony was Jamestown.

In time, people in these new colonies began to call areas of their new land by words borrowed from the native people they found living there. For example, many of the great rivers in the United States are taken from American Indian words. The Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Missouri are examples.

Other Native American words included "moccasin", the kind of shoe made of animal skin that Indians wore on their feet. This borrowing or adding of foreign words to English was a way of expanding the language. The names of three days of the week are good examples of this. The people from Northern Europe honored three gods with a special day each week. The gods were Odin, Thor and Freya. Odin's-day became Wednesday in English, Thor's-day became Thursday and Freya's-day became Friday.

VOICE ONE:

Britain had other colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and India. The English language also became part of these colonies. These colonies are now independent, but English still is one of the languages spoken. And the English language grew as words from the native languages were added.

For example, the word "shampoo" for soap for the hair came from India. "Banana" is believed to be from Africa.

Experts cannot explain many English words. For hundreds of years, a dog was called a "hound." The word is still used but not as commonly as the word "dog." Experts do not know where the word "dog" came from or when. English speakers just started using it. Other words whose origins are unknown include "fun," "bad," and "big."

VOICE TWO:

English speakers also continue to invent new words by linking old words together. A good example is the words "motor" and "hotel." Many years ago some one linked them together into the word "motel." A motel is a small hotel near a road where people travelling in cars can stay for the night.

Other words come from the first letters of names of groups or devices. A device to find objects that cannot be seen called Radio Detecting and Ranging became "Radar." The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is usually called NATO.

Experts say that English has more words that explain the same thing than any other language. For example, the words "large," "huge," "vast," "massive," and "enormous" all mean something really "big."

VOICE ONE:

People often ask how many words there are in the English language. Well, no one really knows. The Oxford English Dictionary lists about six hundred fifteen thousand words. Yet the many scientific words not in the dictionary could increase the number to almost one million.

And experts are never really sure how to count English words. For example, the word "mouse." A mouse is a small creature from the rodent family. But "mouse" has another very different meaning. A "mouse" is also a hand-held device used to help control a computer. If you are counting words do you count "mouse" two times?

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VOICE TWO:

Visitors to the Voice of America hear people speaking more than forty different languages. Most broadcasters at VOA come from countries where these languages are spoken. International organizations such as VOA would find it impossible to operate without a second language all the people speak.

The language that permits VOA to work is English. It is not unusual to see someone from the Mandarin Service talking to someone from the Urdu Service, both speaking English. English is becoming the common language of millions of people worldwide, helping speakers of many different languages communicate.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

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

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When It Comes to Gesturing, Don't Believe Everything You Hear

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AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: more of our discussion of gesture language.

RS: We don't mean formal sign language taught to deaf people, but the way we use our hands either with spoken language or in place of it. Think of the Olympics. With so many speakers of different languages coming together, hands and arms must really get a workout.

AA: As we said last week, a new study has found evidence that when speakers of different languages have to communicate only with gestures, they naturally follow a subject-object-verb, or S.O.V., word order, regardless of the rules of their spoken language.

RS: We discussed the findings and about gesturing in general with the lead author, University of Chicago psychology professor Susan Goldin-Meadow.

SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW: "The lore is that northern Europeans gesture less than southern Europeans. But in fact, when people have done the studies, what they find is that northern Europeans gesture small and southern Europeans gesture big. So they gesture, you know, using their entire bodies and they use all of their hands, not just their fingers, and so it's much more visible.

"They also have more conventional gestures like emblems like an OK or a thumbs-up. But it's not clear that they gesture more than northern Europeans.

"You use gestures along with the structure of your language, and consistently with the structure of your language. And since the language is different structure, the gestures also differ."

AA: "For example?"

SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW: "When people talk about the action of rolling down a hill, we say rolling down all in one phrase. And our gesture tends to be a rolling down phrase, so you can move your hand in a circle while moving it down.

"In Turkish, those two bits of information are put in separate phrases and their gestures tend to be separate. So, for example, you might do a little rolling motion -- a sort of round, rotating motion and then do a movement down. So they separate the meanings into two separate gestures."

AA: "Well, it's funny, because that's exactly what Rosanne was doing here in the studio when you said rolling down a hill, she started moving her finger around, but I don't know if you were going down at the same time or not."

SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW: "Well, as an English speaker, you're likely to go down at the same time. If you're a Turkish speaker, you're likely to do the rolling and then do the down."

RS: "So are gestures a universal language, or is it 'gesture as a foreign language'?"

SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW: "Well, gestures when used with speech are not universal. They look different and they fit with the language that you're using, the speech that you're using. Now what I think we've discovered, in a sense, is that when you take speech away and you force people to gesture, there may then be a universal language.

"We had thought that gesture language that you create when you're forced not to speak would be influenced by the gestures that you produce along with your speech. But at least from our studies it doesn't look like that's true. It looks like the gestures that you produce when you're told not to talk look the same across the globe."

RS: "What do you hope to do with this information and the findings from the study?"

SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW: "Well, I think the information that we find out about the deaf children that I study can be used to perhaps educate deaf children, both who are learning sign language and who are learning spoken language.

"It is also possible that this particular order we've discovered could be something that's quite easy to access. So, for example, if a child were having difficulty acquiring language, maybe if we put it in the form -- even if they're learning English, which has an S.V.O. order, maybe if we put their first sentences into an S.O.V. order, maybe it would be easier for them to grasp.

"So I think what we've found is that there's something here that's cognitively really basic, and that maybe you can make use of that in situations where communication is difficult. Either perhaps in a situation like what you're talking about at the Olympics, or in a situation where a child is having trouble learning how to speak."

AA: Susan Goldin-Meadow is a psychology professor at the University of Chicago who focuses on language development in children. Her new study is titled "The Natural Order of Events: How Speakers of Different Languages Represent Events Nonverbally." It was published in the July 1st Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

RS: And that's WORDMASTER for this week. You can find the first part of our interview at voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

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Locavores Like Their Food Close to Home

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A locavore is someone who eats foods produced locally. Locavores usually define local as within one hundred sixty kilometers. This new term grew out of a reaction to the long distances that food now commonly travels from farm to table.

Local is a popular word these days in food advertising. Some American stores, when they buy locally, however they define it, may even identify the farm.

Ron Samascott organizes apples at a farmers market in New York

Farmers markets are also popular. These are often held once a week, usually in a big outdoor space. And some people grow their own food at home or in community gardens.

Locally grown food can cost more but locavores find it more satisfying. Not just the taste, but the fact that they are supporting local producers.

And some believe eating local is healthier. This may be true in terms of freshness, but it also depends on how the food was produced.

Restaurants are also joining the local food movement. Last year the National Restaurant Association reported big demand for locally grown produce.

And local food is involved in another movement -- "slow food." The group Slow Food USA is part of the movement that started in Italy in answer to fast food. The aim is to honor the tradition of foods prepared and enjoyed with time and care, like a fine wine.

The city of Sonoma, California, is getting in the spirit of the local food movement. The city is located in the wine-making Sonoma Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. Next week, the City Council is expected to approve changes to make it easier to raise chickens and rabbits on smaller properties.

No one is sure how many people want to. But anyone with a single family house and a fenced backyard could keep as many as sixteen chickens and eight rabbits. Larger properties could have more. Either way, a permit and inspection would be required.

Residents could sell eggs but not meat -- that is, if the animals are used for meat. City officials did research about other places with similar rules. They learned that people often end up giving their chickens names and treating them like pets.

If that happens, Sonoma residents will have no trouble finding boy names for roosters. Under the proposed new rules, the city will not permit any roosters other than those now living there.

City officials want to avoid early morning wake-up calls for the neighbors. As one Sonoma official explained: "You don't need a rooster to have eggs."

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

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Scientists Discover New Gorilla Population in Republic of Congo

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week, we tell about a discovery of gorillas in the Republic of Congo and the loss of Bengal tigers in Nepal. We also tell about a famous heart surgeon and what you need to know about your heart.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A female western lowland gorilla at Washington's National Zoo

Deep in the forests in the northern part of the Republic of Congo, scientists have made a surprising discovery. Researchers discovered more than one hundred twenty-five thousand critically endangered western lowland gorillas.

In the nineteen eighties, scientists estimated that the total population of western lowland gorillas in Central Africa was fewer than one hundred thousand. Since then however, the scientists believed this number had been reduced by at least half. They thought the animals were being killed off by hunters and disease, especially the deadly Ebola virus.

VOICE TWO:

The new population count was the result of intensive work by the Wildlife Conservation Society, based in New York City, and scientists of the Republic of Congo. They searched rainforests and swamps, looking for gorilla nests.

Gorillas build beds, or nests, for sleeping each night. They use leaves and other parts of trees. The researchers use the number of nests they find to help estimate the local gorilla population. They found some forests had population densities that were among the highest ever recorded. The researchers studied an area of forty-seven thousand square kilometers. They announced the results of their population count at a meeting of the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

VOICE ONE:

The scientists say the higher number of gorillas is the result of efforts by the Republic of Congo to take care of its protected areas. The gorillas have also done well because they live in areas far away from people. And they have plenty to eat. Wildlife Conservation Society President Steven Sanderson said the success of the gorillas is proof that humans can help protect animal species in danger of disappearing.

Western lowland gorillas are one of four recognized gorilla subspecies. Other subspecies include mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, and Cross River gorillas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers all of the subspecies to be critically endangered, except for the eastern lowland gorillas. That subspecies is considered endangered.

Researchers at the meeting in Scotland warned about the dangers that continue to threaten gorillas. They say almost fifty percent of the world's species of primates are in danger of disappearing, especially in Asia. This is because the areas in which they live are being destroyed. And many animals are illegally hunted as food.

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VOICE TWO:

Bengal tiger cub

That was some good news about gorillas. But we have some bad news about tigers. Three years ago, between twenty and fifty Bengal tigers lived in the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal. But this year, researchers reported evidence of only six to fourteen tigers. The Nepalese government announced the decrease of the tiger population last month. The wildlife reserve measures about thirty thousand hectares. It is the world's third largest living area for the big cats.

VOICE ONE:

Nepalese national parks and conservation officials called the situation very serious. They said illegal hunting is the major cause of tigers disappearing from this protected area.

The World Wildlife Fund did most of the study about the tigers. The findings were based on pictures taken by camera traps from January to April. The camera traps contain devices that take a picture when they sense movement in the forest. Researchers used two cameras to take pictures of the tigers from both sides. But the cameras also photographed the hunters who killed the tigers and removed their remains.

VOICE TWO:

The Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve is on the border with India. World Wildlife Fund officials say this makes it easy to illegally transport protected wildlife. Very little of the tigers' remains are found because all of the animal's parts are valuable in the illegal wildlife trade.

Jon Miceler heads the World Wildlife Fund's Eastern Himalayas Program. Mister Miceler said that in May, two tiger skins were seized from the Nepalese border town of Dhangadi. So were thirty-two kilograms of tiger bones.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Miceler says the loss of tigers is linked to a powerful international criminal group that controls the illegal wildlife trade. Only about two thousand to four thousand Bengal tigers survive in the wild.

Most live in forests in central and south India, Bhutan, and the Himalayan foothills of India and Nepal. Bengal tigers also live in China, Bangladesh and Burma. The World Wildlife Fund says populations of all kinds of tigers have decreased by ninety-five percent over the past one hundred years. And three kinds of tigers have disappeared.

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VOICE TWO:

President Bush talks with Michael DeBakey in April during a ceremony honoring him with the Congressional Gold Medal

Famous American heart surgeon Michael DeBakey died last month. He was ninety-nine years old. He performed more than sixty thousand operations during his long career. As a medical student in nineteen thirty-one, he invented the roller pump. Years later doctors used it for blood transfusions during heart operations. The roller pump became a major part of the heart-lung machine. The machine pumps oxygen-rich blood to the brain and other organs so doctors can operate on the heart.

Michael DeBakey was a pioneer of open-heart surgery. The name means that doctors open the chest and perform surgery on the heart. Doctors may or may not open the heart as well.

VOICE ONE:

Doctor DeBakey developed a way to replace or repair blood vessels with Dacron, a stretchy manmade material. He continued to improve on the process. Today the DeBakey artificial graft is used around the world. He was also a pioneer in artificial hearts, heart transplants and recording surgeries on film. During World War Two in the nineteen forties, he helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH.

Michael DeBakey saved many lives during his long career as a heart surgeon. One life he helped save was his own. Two years ago he had a damaged aorta, which carries blood from the heart to the body. Surgeons repaired it with an operation he developed long ago.

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VOICE TWO:

Speaking of hearts, here is some information about that complex organ and how to keep it healthy. The heart has four parts. As the heart beats, it pumps blood through these chambers and the blood vessels in the body. The body is estimated to have at least ninety-six thousand kilometers of blood vessels. That is about the same as two and a half times around the Earth. But blood goes the distance in about twenty seconds on its way back to the heart. Each day the heart pumps about eight thousand liters of blood.

The blood feeds the brain and other organs with oxygen and nutrients. It also carries away carbon dioxide and other waste. The heart pumps by expanding and contracting of muscle. In a healthy adult, the heart beats an average of seventy-two times a minute -- about one hundred thousand times a day.

VOICE ONE:

Rates of heart disease started growing sharply in the second half of the twentieth century. As machines did more and more work, people did less and less. Not only did physical activity decrease, but people started eating more processed foods.

Experts say a diet low in fats and high in fruits, vegetables, proteins and whole grains may help reduce the risk of heart disease. At least thirty minutes a day of physical activity, enough to work up a sweat, can also help. A good night's sleep is also important for good health.

Cardiovascular disease is caused by disorders of the heart and blood vessels. It includes heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure. The World Health Organization says there are three major causes of cardiovascular disease: tobacco use, physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet. The W.H.O. says cardiovascular disease is the world's leading cause of death.

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VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson, Caty Weaver and Brianna Blake, who also was our producer. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Bob Doughty. You can read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us next week for more news about science in VOA Special English.

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Fall Guy: He Took the Blame for Someone Else

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

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Every week at this time, the Voice of America tells about popular words and expressions used in the United States. Some expressions have made a jump from sports events to everyday life. One such expression is fall guy. A fall guy is the person who someone decides will be the loser or victim.

The first fall guys were men who wrestled for money. At the end of the nineteenth century, wrestling was a very popular sport in the United States. Wrestling competitions were held not only in big cities, but also at country fairs and traveling shows. As the sport became more popular, it became less and less of a sport. Many of the matches were fixed. The wrestlers knew -- before the match -- which one of them would be the winner.

The goal in wrestling is to hold your opponent's shoulders down against the floor. This is called a fall. Sometimes, one of the wrestlers would be paid before the match to take the fall. He would agreed to be the loser...the fall guy.

Today, a fall guy is anyone who is tricked into taking the blame for the crime or wrongdoing of someone else. There are fall guys in many situations -- people who publicly take the blame when something goes wrong.

A fall guy takes the rap for something wrong or illegal. He accepts responsibility and punishment for what someone else did. The fall guy may have been involved in the situation, but was not the person who should be blamed.

The word rap has meant blame for several hundred years. The expression to take the rap first was used about one hundred years ago.

Another similar expression is bum rap. A person receives a bum rap if he is found guilty of a crime...but is really innocent.

Sometimes, a fall guy may not realize he is the fall guy until he is the victim of a bum rap. In that case, he may feel that he has been framed. To frame someone is to create false evidence to make an innocent person seem guilty.

Some word experts say the expression to frame someone comes from the way wood must be fitted closely around a painting or photograph to frame it. In the same way, evidence must be designed perfectly if it is to frame an innocent person to make him or her seem guilty.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. This is Warren Scheer.

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Democrats Gather in Denver to Nominate Obama and Biden

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Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden Saturday in Springfield, Illinois, at their first appearance as running mates

And I'm Steve Ember. This week, the Democrats meet to nominate Barack Obama for president and his choice for vice president. The announcement Saturday of his choice of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware included an Obama campaign text message to supporters.

Next week is the Republican nominating convention. John McCain is expected to announce his running mate this Friday.

Today on our program we look at the conventions and their history.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Democratic National Convention opens Monday in Denver, in the western state of Colorado. Organizers of the four-day event expect fifty thousand people.

Workers ready the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, for the Democratic convention

Denver, a kilometer and a half above sea level, is called the "Mile-High City." The last time Denver hosted a national political convention was the Democratic convention one hundred years ago. Denver residents brought snow from the Rocky Mountains so the delegates could have a snowball fight.

VOICE TWO:

The Republican National Convention will take place from September first through the fourth in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the Midwest. Minneapolis and Saint Paul are known as the Twin Cities. Party leaders expect forty-five thousand delegates, party officials, media people and others.

Minnesota last hosted a national political convention in eighteen ninety-two, and that year it was also the Republicans.

VOICE ONE:

Protesters on Sunday, a day before the opening of the Democratic convention

Political protests are expected during both conventions. Denver has established a protest area. Activists say the area is too far from the convention to be meaningful.

Some people think the possibility of protests may increase television ratings for the conventions. But viewing of the conventions has fallen over the years. Broadcast TV networks now limit their live coverage mainly to the major speeches in the evening.

Speakers on Monday night in Denver will include Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

VOICE TWO:

American political parties hold conventions every four years to nominate candidates for president and vice president. But the conventions are also a time to take care of other business. Party members approve a campaign platform -- a statement of goals and positions on issues.

They also elect the party's national committee and approve rules for the nominating process for the next election. They listen to speeches. And they get to enjoy entertainment, parties and four days of national attention.

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VOICE ONE:

Congressional leaders used to choose presidential nominees. It became clear that a new system was needed. The first national convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland, in eighteen thirty-one. It was held by a party that no longer exists -- the Anti-Masonic Party.

The first Democratic convention took place a year later, in eighteen thirty-two. The modern Republican Party was not formed until the eighteen fifties.

One of the rules approved at that first Democratic convention was the two-thirds rule. It required a nominee to receive the votes of two-thirds of the convention delegates. The two-thirds rule lasted for just over a century, until nineteen thirty-six. Now, only a simple majority is needed to nominate a candidate -- Democrat or Republican.

VOICE TWO:

Another rule approved at that first Democratic convention was the unit rule. It required all the delegates in a state to support the winner in that state.

The Democrats ended the unit rule in nineteen sixty-eight. The Republicans, however, continue to use the winner-take-all system in some states.

VOICE ONE:

The nominating process at the convention involves a huge gathering of delegates, grouped by states and territories. One by one, each delegation is called to announce its votes.

In the past, many ballots were needed to choose a candidate. Between ballots, political deal makers would negotiate with the delegations for support. For example, it took fifty-nine votes to choose Senator Stephen Douglas as the Democratic nominee in eighteen sixty.

Sometimes a "dark horse" would appear. This is a candidate who has little or no support at the start of the convention but wins the nomination.

VOICE TWO:

Historians point to James Polk in eighteen forty-four as an example of a dark horse candidate. Polk's name was not placed into the voting until the eighth ballot. The Democrat was nominated on the ninth vote, and Americans elected him president that November.

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VOICE ONE:

The presidential nominating conventions bring news media from around the world. But the meetings are now carefully directed and the results of the balloting are no longer a surprise.

Changes took place following the nineteen sixty-eight Democratic convention in Chicago. At that time, many Democrats supported Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota. He was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War. But Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the nomination because he controlled a majority of the delegates.

Historians say anger about the situation was one of the reasons for the rioting that took place at the Chicago convention. The Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, went on to defeat Humphrey for the presidency.

VOICE TWO:

During the convention, Democratic Party officials appointed a committee to find a new way to choose nominees. Until then, the results of state primary elections were advisory only. Delegates did not have to follow the wishes of party members in their state.

After nineteen sixty-eight, the Democratic and Republican parties decided to make the primary results binding on delegates.

Senator John McCain

So primaries and caucus meetings can now decide the nominees long before the conventions. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, for example, secured enough delegates in March to receive his party's nomination next week.

Yet, as this year's Democratic primary season showed, there is still room for a long and lively campaign.

VOICE ONE:

Delegates awarded to a candidate based on state results are called pledged delegates. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won more of them than Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. But he did not win enough to secure the nomination with pledged delegates alone.

What will give him the majority to be nominated this week is the promised support of "superdelegates." These are hundreds of party leaders and elected Democrats who have the right to vote as they wish. The party created superdelegates in the early nineteen eighties.

But the Democrats will still place Hillary Clinton's name in nomination, calling it a way to honor her. The plan, jointly announced this month by the Obama and Clinton campaigns, is part of an attempt to unite the party. Senator Clinton will also speak during the convention.

VOICE TWO:

The convention will close Thursday night with Senator Obama's acceptance speech. The speech has been moved to Denver's outdoor football stadium which holds more than seventy-five thousand people.

The last time a major presidential candidate did something like this was at the nineteen sixty Democratic convention. John Kennedy gave his acceptance speech at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

VOICE ONE:

Conventions include a keynote speaker. Being chosen to give one of these speeches can help bring a rising politician to national attention. Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic convention in Boston four years ago. At that time he was a state senator running for the United States Senate.

This year the keynote speaker for the Democrats will be former Virginia governor Mark Warner, a current candidate for the Senate. He will speak Tuesday night, the same night as Hillary Clinton.

One leading Democrat who has announced he will not attend the convention is John Edwards. The former candidate in this year's presidential campaign recently admitted that he cheated on his wife.

VOICE TWO:

The Republican convention is next week at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota

For the Republicans, opening-night speakers next Monday will include President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Also on the list is Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. He was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee with Al Gore in two thousand. Senator Lieberman is now an independent who has been talked about as a possible running mate with John McCain.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and presidential candidate, will give the keynote speech on Tuesday. Cindy McCain, the candidate's wife, will speak the next night.

So will Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the nation's first governor whose family comes from India.

John McCain will give his acceptance speech next Thursday on the last night of the convention.

VOICE ONE:

James McCann is a political science professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He says convention speeches are a way to begin the party's general election campaign. If done well, he says, they will present the issues in a way that will help the party gain support between now and the election, on November fourth.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. For VOA coverage of the conventions, and for transcripts and MP3s of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. And join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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