Reaching Out to the People of Haiti

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A look at some of the international relief efforts for Haiti, and how the earthquake affected New York's Haitian-American community. Transcript of radio broadcast:

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Fritzi Bodenheimer.

MARIO RITTER:

Medical worker Tim Mosher prepares five-year-old Betina Joseph for her evacuation from Port-au-Prince to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia by the aid group Partners in Health

And I'm Mario Ritter. The January twelfth earthquake in Haiti killed or injured hundreds of thousands of people. The quake also left hundreds of thousands homeless as it destroyed much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. This week on our program, we look at some of the efforts to assist Haiti and its people.

(MUSIC)

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

As international medical assistance has flowed into Haiti, some of the injured have been flown out for treatment.

Romel Joseph is a blind, fifty year old violinist with Haitian and American citizenship. He could have had a promising career in the United States. Instead, he returned to Haiti and opened a school in nineteen ninety-one.

At the New Victorian School he has been teaching music to students from poor families. But the building collapsed in the quake. Romel Joseph suffered injuries to an arm and both legs. His pregnant wife died two floors below him. In the eighteen hours until his rescue, he says, he kept his mind on prayer and playing music in his head.

He and other survivors were flown to Florida for emergency treatment at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital. There he received a visit from a group of classically trained middle-school students.

(MUSIC)

ANTOINE JOSEPH: "Having three surgeries last night -- one in my hand and one on each foot -- it's nice to be here. And it's nice to hear live music. Besides, I played a lot of this music, probably the kind when I was under the ground, when I was under there, and so this kind of makes me feel like I'm alive."

The New Victorian School had burned to the ground because of an electrical problem on January twelfth, two thousand. That was exactly ten years to the day of the earthquake that destroyed it again. Romel Joseph rebuilt his school then, and says he plans to do it again.

MARIO RITTER:

The University of Miami was just one of the international groups that sent a team of doctors to Haiti. Medical teams from the United States Department of Health and Human Services have treated thousands of victims. Other patients have been cared for on the United States Navy hospital ship Comfort and other Navy ships sent to Haiti.

But some groups like Doctors Without Borders said patients in field hospitals were dying because of a lack of basic medical supplies like antibiotics. In Washington, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the problem was not getting enough supplies to Haiti. It was getting them delivered to wherever they were needed.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: "It's the ability to get them on a timely basis into Haiti. So they came on ships. They've come on as many planes as possible. But there was so much needed simultaneously."

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Before the disaster, it suffered from high death rates among babies and high rates of H.I.V./AIDS, hepatitis and other communicable diseases.

Kathleen Sebelius says the United States had medical teams in Haiti well before the earthquake and will have them there well after.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: "With more stable infrastructure, once it's rebuilt, with a more robust health system, there's an opportunity to not only deal with the immediate tragedy of the earthquake, but hopefully, some of the longer-term crises that Haitians have experienced day in and day out."

(MUSIC)

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

George Clooney at "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief"

On January twenty-second, a televised concert was held to raise money for earthquake victims in Haiti. It was called "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief." It included performances from Los Angeles, New York and London and live updates from Haiti. Major networks broadcast the concert in the United States and Canada. And viewers around the world saw it on cable and satellite channels and the Internet.

One of the performers was Alicia Keys.

(MUSIC)

Actor George Clooney led the event.

GEORGE CLOONEY: "This is an opportunity to help a neighbor in need, in desperate need, and to do it with swiftness, expertise, generosity and love."

Hollywood stars told stories of survivors and rescue workers in Haiti. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio talked about the medical charity Partners in Health, one of the groups supported by the telethon. He said the doctors, like many relief workers in Haiti, faced a shortage of supplies and had to be creative with the equipment they had.

MARIO RITTER:

Celebrities answered phones as viewers watching the telethon called to make donations.

Actress Reese Witherspoon works the phone bank at the "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief"

REESE WITHERSPOON: "Great, well this is Reese Witherspoon. And we really appreciate your call ... "

The Hollywood volunteers included director Steven Spielberg, actor Mel Gibson and actresses Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon.

Musical performers also included Madonna, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and the Edge. Sheryl Crow performed with Kid Rock and Keith Urban. And Bruce Springsteen sang "We Shall Overcome."

(MUSIC)

Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean spoke of carrying bodies to a cemetery when he returned to Haiti after the quake. He closed the concert with a call to rebuild Haiti. He also sang about the country.

Wyclef Jean performs at "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief"

WYCLEF JEAN: "Earthquake, we see the earth shake, but the soul of the Haitian people, it will never break."

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Organizers said the two-hour broadcast raised more than fifty-seven million dollars in the first day through telephone, online and text. They were still adding up amounts like donations from companies and online music sales on iTunes.

Some of the money raised in the telethon will go to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation. Other charities that will receive money are Oxfam America, the Red Cross, UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Program and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

After the earthquake, President Obama asked former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to raise money for Haiti. The money is for immediate relief and long-term recovery efforts.

(SOUND)

MARIO RITTER:

An estimated one hundred thousand Haitian-Americans live in New York City. Many live in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, including Ruth Lucie. She said that she lost seventeen family members in the quake.

Groups across New York City have been collecting donations for quake victims. At the Bedford Haitian Community Center, American-born Shamir Henri got his own bad news.

SHAMIR HENRI: "I just found out my aunt and her family over there, her kids and her husband, they're homeless. Their house crashed. As for everyone else, I really don't know what's going on. It's crazy, so it's not good. So far we've been collecting food, water, medical supplies, clothing."

Alex Pierre gave money to the relief effort, but says that does not feel like enough.

ALEX PIERRE: "You are feeling hopeless. If I was in Haiti when that happened, when the earthquake happened, I could go and help somebody that's injured. Somebody that passed away, you take them to the cemetery or do something. And here I sit in my living room, there's nothing that I can do. And that's killing me inside. I feel like a zombie because there's nothing that I can do to my people that's struggling."

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Andree La Fleur works at an office operated by Haitian-Americans. They help people with translation services, tutoring, immigration paperwork and other work. She says the earthquake has been personal for her as well. Her six-year-old nephew was killed in the quake.

ANDREE LEFLEUR: "And some of them, they died in the street and the parents don't know where they are. And one day you want to go to the cemetery or something, you can't do it because you don't know where they are. It's very sad, it's very sad. And I don't have words to describe this thing. Nobody in Haiti can forget this day."

Haitians who were in the United States when the earthquake struck will be able to receive temporary protected status, or T.P.S., even if they are in the country illegally. An immigration official in New York, Andrea Quarantillo, explained.

ANDREA QUARANTILLO: "Haitian nationals will be able to remain in the United States legally, be able to obtain authorization to work legally in the United States, be eligible to obtain permission to travel outside the United States, and return to their T.P.S. status."

That means they can travel home to help without fear of being denied re-entry to the United States. Berganette LaPorte was among Haitian immigrants who attended a meeting at the Federal Building in Manhattan where officials explained the program.

BERGANETTE LAPORTE: "It's definitely a relief to us who lives in here because of what's happening, when everything is over we will be able to go back to Haiti without worry, with knowing OK, without nothing bad happening, we'll feel like we're safe over there and then come again back to America safely."

(MUSIC)

MARIO RITTER:

Our program was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Mario Ritter.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

And I'm Fritzi Bodenheimer. Visit us at voaspecialenglish.com for transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs. You can also post comments and get the latest news. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Breathing Easier: The Art of Stove Making

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For more than 30 years, the Aprovecho Research Center has been designing cleaner, low-cost cooking stoves for the developing world. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

StoveTec wood stove

More than three billion people are at risk from indoor air pollution because of the heating or cooking fuels they use. Most live in Africa, India and China. They use biomass fuels like wood, crop waste, animal waste or coal. These solid fuels may be the least costly fuels available. But they are also a major cause of health problems and death.

For more than thirty years, the Aprovecho Research Center has been designing cleaner, low-cost cooking stoves for the developing world. Dean Still is the director of the group which is based in the United States. He notes a World Health Organization estimate that more than one and a half million people a year die from breathing smoke from solid fuels.

DEAN STILL: "And half of the people on planet Earth every day use wood or biomass for cooking. These are the people on Earth who have less money, and the richer people use oil and gas. It's been estimated that wood is running out more quickly than oil and gas. And so it is very important for the poorer people to have very efficient stoves that protect their forests and that protect their health."

Every year Aprovecho holds a "stove camp" at its testing station in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Engineers, inventors, students and others come together to design and test different methods and materials for improving stoves.

Over the years, the group has made stoves using mud, bricks, sheet metal, clay, ceramics and old oil drums. Most of the stoves look like large, deep cooking pots. They have an opening at the bottom for the fire and a place on top to put a pot.

In the late nineteen seventies, Aprovecho produced a popular stove called the Lorena. The Lorena was very good at reducing smoke and warming homes. But new tests years later found that it was not very efficient. The Lorena used twice as much wood as an open fire, and took much longer to heat food.

Since then, Dean Still says they have experimented with countless other designs.

DEAN STILL: "Our goal is to make a very inexpensive stove -- let's say five dollars -- that makes very, very little smoke, so it's safe for health, diminishes global warming and diminishes deforestation. And so it's an ongoing problem to work on."

Aprovecho has now partnered with a stove manufacturer in China. The company is making Aprovecho's first mass produced stoves. They are said to use forty to fifty percent less wood than an open fire, and produce fifty to seventy-five percent less smoke. A company called StoveTec is selling them through its Web site for less than ten dollars. Dean Still says that more than one hundred thousand have been sold so far.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Howard Neuberg.

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Words and Their Stories: Farm Expressions

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English expressions related to agriculture. Transcript of radio broadcast:

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

In the early days of human history, people survived by hunting wild animals, or gathering wild grains and plants for food. Then, some people learned to grow crops and raise animals for food. They were the first farmers.

Since the sixteenth century, the word farm has meant agricultural land. But a much older meaning of the word farm is linked to economics. The word farm comes from the Latin word, firma, which means an unchanging payment.

Experts say the earliest meaning of the English word farm was a yearly payment made as a tax or rent.

Farmers in early England did not own their land. They paid every year to use agricultural lands.

In England, farmers used hawthorn trees along the edges of property. They called this row of hawthorns a hedge.

Hedging fields was how careful farmers marked and protected them.

Soon, people began to use the word hedging to describe steps that could be taken to protect against financial loss.

Hedging is common among gamblers who make large bets. A gambler bets a lot of money on one team. But, to be on the safe side, he also places a smaller bet on the other team, to reduce a possible loss.

You might say that someone is hedging his bet when he invests in several different kinds of businesses. One business may fail, but likely not all.

Farmers know that it is necessary to make hay while the sun shines.

Hay has to be cut and gathered when it is dry. So a wise farmer never postpones gathering his hay when the sun is shining. Rain may soon appear.

A wise person copies the farmer. He works when conditions are right.

A new mother, for example, quickly learns to try to sleep when her baby is quiet, even in the middle of the day. If the mother delays, she may lose her chance to sleep. So, the mother learns to make hay while the sun shines.

Beans are a popular farm crop. But beans are used to describe something of very little value in the expression, not worth a hill of beans. The expression is often used today.

You could say, for example, that a bad idea is not worth a hill of beans.

Language expert Charles Earle Funk said the expression was first used almost seven hundred years ago. He said Robert of Gloucester described a message from the King of Germany to King John of England as altogether not worth a bean.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. Maurice Joyce was the narrator. I'm Shirley Griffith.

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Pioneers Who Shaped the Sounds of Radio

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Lee De Forest, Edwin Armstrong, David Sarnoff, William Paley and Edward Murrow helped develop the broadcast industry. Transcript of radio broadcast:

BARBARA KLEIN:

I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER:

And I’m Steve Ember with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today, we will tell about several men who influenced the development of radio.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Some people say radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi of Italy. Marconi sent the first radio communication signals through the air in eighteen ninety-five. In fact, no one person can be called the inventor of radio. Many people, including several Americans, helped to develop radio. You may not know their names. However, their work affected many people.

Over the years, radio has become one of the most important forms of communication. It can be used for two- way communication, such as between a ship and land. Scientists even use radio to communicate into space. And radio broadcasts let people send words, music and information to any part of the world.

STEVE EMBER:

William Shockley and Lee De Forest

The first experimental radio broadcasts in the United States were made in the early nineteen hundreds. One of the first broadcasts came from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in nineteen ten. It included music by the great singer Enrico Caruso. An American inventor, Lee De Forest, produced that broadcast.

Only a few people could hear the broadcast. Some were people in the New York area who had built radio receivers. Some ships at sea and military radio stations received the broadcast. Many newspapers of the day reported on the event. The name of Lee De Forest became part of broadcasting history.

BARBARA KLEIN:

De Forest developed some of the technology used in early radio. During his lifetime, he invented hundreds of devices that were used in telephones, shortwave radio broadcasts, and similar technology.

His most famous invention was the vacuum tube, or electron tube. In nineteen-oh-six, the electron tube was considered the single most important development in electronics. The device made it possible to strengthen radio signals and to send them over long distances. It was a major reason for the fast growth of the electronics and communications industries in the early part of the twentieth century.

STEVE EMBER:

Edwin Armstrong was another American inventor who was important in the development of electronics and radio communication. Armstrong developed technology that helped to improve radio reception. He discovered ways to limit unwanted radio signals. Edwin Armstrong also was a leader in using radio to reproduce sounds clearly. This process became known as frequency modulation, or FM radio. FM radio provided better sound reproduction and less noise or interference than traditional AM radio. Armstrong also developed radio receivers that became widely used.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

Many experts say station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first American radio station. It broadcast results of the American presidential election in November, nineteen twenty. That is generally considered the start of professional radio broadcasting in the United States.

Soon, radio stations began to appear in other areas. In nineteen twenty-two, two stations in New York State joined together to broadcast the championship game of American baseball. The stations were connected by telephone lines. This permitted them to share the same program. It was one of the first examples of a radio network.

STEVE EMBER:

By the middle of the nineteen-twenties, there were two main radio networks in the United States. The National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, was formed by the Radio Corporation of America. NBC became the first permanent national network. The other network was the Columbia Broadcasting System, called CBS. The networks provided programs to radio stations across the country. Local stations created very few programs. What listeners heard in New York was often heard in Los Angeles, California and other cities.

BARBARA KLEIN:

David Sarnoff was the man responsible for NBC. As a young man, Sarnoff had taught himself Morse code. He got a job with the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company where he worked as a telegraph operator. He was on duty when the passenger ship Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean in nineteen twelve. Sarnoff helped the rescue effort by informing other ships about the accident. He understood that someone using radio could affect many lives. By nineteen twenty-one, Sarnoff was an official of the Radio Corporation of America. He pushed RCA to enter broadcasting. The company soon earned huge profits. Five years later, David Sarnoff helped create NBC. David Sarnoff developed the theory of broadcasting.

This was very different from the communication between two people speaking to each other on a telephone. Radio meant that someone could speak to millions of people.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER:

William S. Paley developed another radio network. In nineteen twenty-eight, Paley left his family's business. He spent several hundred thousand dollars on several radio stations. These stations became known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. Paley's friends and advisers told him that he had made a huge mistake. They said his dream of building a large and important radio network would never come true. Paley did not listen to them. Instead, he went to see the heads of some of the largest American companies to get their financial support for his network.

Then, Paley searched for the best people he could find to produce the radio shows and news programming he wanted. He paid them well. William Paley was always looking for people with special skills. One night, he attended a show by the popular Tommy Dorsey Band. A young man with the group sang during the performance. His name was Frank Sinatra. Sinatra soon had his own program with CBS, Paley's radio network.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN:

Radio was extremely popular in the United States between the late nineteen twenties and the early nineteen fifties. This period is known as the Golden Age of Broadcasting.

During this period, families gathered in their living rooms every night to listen to radio shows. Children hurried from school to hear shows created for them. In the daytime, millions of women listened to radio plays called soap operas. They were called soap operas because companies that make soap paid for the shows.

STEVE EMBER:

Radio influenced the way many people felt about their community and the world. It permitted them to sit at home and hear what was happening in other areas. During World War Two, people could hear the voices of world leaders, such as American President Franklin Roosevelt.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: “When the dictators -- if the dictators -- are ready to make war upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part. They did not wait for Norway or Belgium or the Netherlands to commit an act of war.”

Edward R. Murrow

BARBARA KLEIN:

Listeners also could hear the voices of reporters covering World War Two. Edward R. Murrow became famous for reporting about the war. People sometimes could hear guns and bombs exploding during his report.

EDWARD R. MURROW: “The plane is still very high and it’s quite clear that he’s not coming in for his bombing run…Earlier this evening we could hear occasional—again, those were explosions overhead. Earlier this evening, we heard a number of bombs go sliding and slithering across, to fall several blocks away.”

STEVE EMBER:

In nineteen thirty-seven, Edward R. Murrow was the only representative of CBS in Europe. Murrow built a team of news reporters whose names would become well known to listeners. Murrow and reporter William Shirer made broadcasting history in nineteen thirty-eight. They organized a special broadcast with European reaction to the seizure of Austria by Nazi Germany. The show had reports from London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. It was a huge success.

BARBARA KLEIN:

In the United States, the rise of television in the nineteen fifties ended the Golden Age of Radio Broadcasting. More and more people started to watch television. Most of the popular shows disappeared from radio.

Many people believed television would cause radio broadcasting to become unimportant. However, the number of radio listeners continues to grow. Most experts say radio will continue to be important during this century.

STEVE EMBER:

This program was written by George Grow. It was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

BARBARA KLEIN:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Obama Urges His Party Not to 'Run for the Hills'

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In his first State of the Union speech, the president urged Democrats to stay strong following Republican gains. He says his top priority is creating jobs. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

President Obama gave his first State of the Union speech Wednesday night. He talked mostly about the economy, and he repeated some of his message the next day in Florida.

BARACK OBAMA: "The worst of the storm has passed. But I think all of you understand the devastation remains. One in ten Americans still can't find work. That's why creating jobs has to be our number one priority in two thousand and ten."

President Obama just before delivering his State of the Union speech to Congress

His speech to both houses of Congress followed a defeat last week for his Democratic Party. The Republicans won a special Senate election in Massachusetts. They now have enough seats to block legislation in the Senate.

Independent voters helped elect President Obama but have since turned away from the Democrats. Congressional elections are this November.

BARACK OBAMA: "I know it's an election year. And after last week, it's clear that campaign fever has come even earlier than usual. But we still need to govern. To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills."

To help create jobs, he urged the Senate to join the House of Representatives in passing a second economic stimulus bill.

BARACK OBAMA: "People are out of work. They are hurting. They need our help and I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay."

He also called for a three-year freeze on some federal spending. And he set a goal to double American exports over the next five years.

Speaking to Democratic lawmakers after his speech

In addition, he said he takes his share of the blame for not explaining health care proposals more clearly to the public. But he added:

BARACK OBAMA: "Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people."

President Obama again promised to remove all American combat troops from Iraq by the end of August. He predicted success in Afghanistan. And he had a warning for nations that violate international agreements "in pursuit of nuclear weapons." He said that is why North Korea now faces stronger sanctions.

BARACK OBAMA: "And as Iran's leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: they, too, will face growing consequences. That is a promise."

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell giving the Republican response in the state capital, Richmond

The new governor of Virginia gave the Republican response to the State of the Union speech. Bob McDonnell said Democrats are spending too much and creating a level of debt that cannot be supported.

BOB MCDONNELL: "What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class."

On Friday President Obama proposed tax credits for every new employee that a business hires this year. He also joined House Republicans for a sometimes tense meeting at their yearly gathering.

And the Commerce Department reported that economic growth at the end of two thousand nine was the fastest in six years. This early estimate was higher than expected. However, it was largely the result of businesses cutting their supplies of unsold goods at a slower rate.

Investments in equipment rose sharply. But consumer spending increased just two percent. Still, a private report said consumer confidence in the economy reached a two-year high this month.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. For more news, and for transcripts and MP3s of our reports, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Mario Ritter.

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For Youths in US, a Jump in Media Use

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A survey finds that children and teens are doing even more multi-tasking, and that heavy users are more likely to do poorly in school. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

American children and teenagers have increased their use of entertainment media by more than one hour a day in the last five years. On an average day they now spend seven and a half hours using media.

These are the findings of a new survey. It included devices like TVs, computers, mobile phones and MP3 players, but also media like books and magazines. It did not count media use for school.

Vicky Rideout at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group, wrote the report. She was surprised that kids could fit even more media time into their day.

She found that they spent ten hours and forty-five minutes if you counted each device individually. But children multi-task a lot, and Vicky Rideout says this is not necessarily a good thing.

VICKY RIDEOUT: "People who study the brain will tell you that you can't actually multi-task in that way. You're really switching back and forth sequentially from different tasks, just doing it rapidly, and that you don't really do either task as well as you would do them if you did them one at a time."

The study suggests a link between heavy media use and lower performance in school. About one-fourth of those who used media the least reported that their grades were mostly average or below. But that was true of half the heavy media users.

So where are the parents? Children who had any rule limiting the use of any kind of media were exposed to an average of about three hours less media a day. But only one-third of children had to follow any rules.

Girls spent more time than boys on social networking sites, listening to music and reading. Boys spent more time on video games -- an average of forty-eight minutes more a day than girls.

VICKY RIDEOUT: "It looks like the girls just sort of lose interest in the games and they drop off and start doing other things, whereas the boys' interest remains strong."

Some other findings: Time spent reading books has not dropped in the last five years. But time with newspapers and magazines has, though some reading now takes place online.

Blacks and Hispanics use media over four hours more a day than other groups. And for all children, media use appears to reach its highest point between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Vicky Rideout will try to explain these findings in future research.

The report is based on more than two thousand students ages eight to eighteen. They took a written survey in class through May of last year.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. How much media use do you think is enough for children? Post your comments at voaspecialenglish.com, and you can find transcripts and captioned videos of our reports. I'm Mario Ritter.

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New Museum to Honor Power of a Sit-In Protest

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Also: A question from India about what is the favorite winter sport in America. And music by Jason Mraz. Transcript of radio broadcast:

DOUG JOHNSON:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson.

This week on our program we listen to music from singer/songwriter Jason Mraz.

And answer a question about Americans' favorite winter sports .

But first, a report on the anniversary of the Greensboro sit-in and the opening of a civil rights museum to honor it.

(MUSIC)

Greensboro Sit-In

DOUG JOHNSON:

Monday marks the fiftieth anniversary of a very famous civil rights protest in the United States --- the Greensboro sit-in. On February first, nineteen sixty, four black college students took seats at a restaurant counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. The counter was for white people only.

The young men were refused service but they refused to leave. They returned to the store with other protesters day after day. Their sit-ins brought police and national attention. Now a new museum opens to remember and celebrate the event. Faith Lapidus has our story.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Their names were Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and David Richmond. They were first-year students at North Carolina A&T University. The young men asked for coffee at the F.W. Woolworth store lunch counter. They were asked to leave the store. The young men refused. They remained seated until the store closed.

Lunch counter and stools that the four protesters in Greensboro sat on

When they returned to the university, the four students called on others to join them the next day at Woolworth's. They returned to the lunch counter with four black women. They sat there for four hours. No one would serve them. Some white customers made angry comments. Newspaper and television reporters appeared. So did the local police.

The next day more than sixty black students took every seat at the lunch counter. Some of the protesters were from a local high school. The protesters demanded that the Woolworth Company permit blacks and whites to eat at its lunch counters.

By the end of March, similar sit-ins were taking place in fifty-five cities in thirteen states.

Sit-ins are a powerful form of non-violent resistance. The Greensboro sit-in was not the first in the United States. But it was the most influential at the time. President Dwight Eisenhower announced his sympathy for the protesters. He said they were acting for the "equality that they are guaranteed by the Constitution."

The sit-ins were successful. Within the next year or two many lunch counters and other public places permitted blacks and whites together in many southern towns. And the protests helped pass the Civil Rights Act of Nineteen Sixty-Four.

On Monday in Greensboro, officials will open the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The museum is in the former F.W.Woolworth store. The sixteen exhibits include a film recreation of the sit-in story as well as the four counter seats used by the first four protesters.

(MUSIC)

Americans' Favorite Winter Sport

DOUG JOHNSON:

Our listener question this week comes from Kerala state, India. Muhammad wants to know Americans' favorite winter sport.

We are not sure if Muhammad means the favorite sport to watch or to play so we will include both.

Several popular professional sports, including football, are played in winter. The National Football League will hold its championship game on February seventh. The Indianapolis Colts will play the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Members of the New Orleans Saints doing exercises Thursday in Louisiana

Most sports experts believe football is the favorite sport to watch in the United States. Since nineteen ninety-four, the sports broadcasting network ESPN has been studying the subject. Their experts ask tens of thousands of Americans what sporting events they like to watch best. This includes attending the event and watching it on television at home. National Football League competition has finished in first place for many years.

However, both professional and college basketball always rates in the top five. Basketball competition starts in autumn and continues throughout the winter into spring.

One of America's favorite spectator sports takes place almost all year long. NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, has huge live and television audiences. The races take place mainly in the warm southern states. Probably the most famous NASCAR race is the Daytona Five Hundred. It takes place every February in Daytona Beach, Florida. About two hundred thousand people attend the race. Millions more watch it on television.

The winter sports Americans like to take part in often depend on where they live. Many Americans love to downhill ski, for example. But only people who live near snowy mountainous areas can ski a lot.

Ice skating and the game of ice hockey are also popular winter sports. There are many indoor ice rinks in America. So skaters can be active all year round.

The same is true of many sports normally thought of as warm weather activities. Indoor tennis courts, soccer fields and rock climbing centers permit people to take part in these sports in all seasons.

(MUSIC)

Jason Mraz

DOUG JOHNSON:

Other listeners have asked about American singer and songwriter Jason Mraz. Fritzi Bodenheimer tells about him and plays some of his music.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER:

Jason Mraz grew up in Mechanicsville, Virginia. He performed in musical theater in high school. He went on to study musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. But he dropped out one year later after someone gave him a guitar. He learned to play the instrument and began writing songs.

Jason Mraz

He is known for writing meaningful songs. His relaxed, easy sound includes influences of pop, folk and hip-hop music. And when he performs he connects with his audience. He sings a strong message of being thankful.

In two thousand two, he released his first album, "Waiting for My Rocket to Come." It included the hit song "Remedy (I Won't Worry.)"

Jason Mraz became very popular following the release of his third studio album in two thousand eight. It is called "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things." Two songs on the album received Grammy nominations. Music critics say Jason Mraz sings with a pure and clear tone on the song "Make it Mine."

(MUSIC)

"Lucky" is another hit song from "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things." Jason Mraz performs the song with singer Colbie Caillat.

(MUSIC)

Jason Mraz has gained a huge international following with his song "I'm Yours." It has been played millions of times on the Internet. It is a happy song about being open to love and life's possibilities. You may find yourself singing along.

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON:

I'm Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Lawan Davis and Caty Weaver, who was also the producer. For transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also post comments.

Do you have a question about people, places or things in America? Send it to mosaic@voanews.com and we may answer it on this show.

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

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Students' Writing and the Web: Motivator or OMG?

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Some teachers blame the Internet for an increase in spelling and grammar errors. But language experts praise it for making communication more expressive. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Web browsers first appeared on computers in the early nineteen nineties. Since then, the Internet has greatly changed the way people communicate. But some teachers think the changes are not all for the better.

Eleanor Johnson is an English professor at Columbia University in New York.

The Internet is adding to vocabulary but, some argue, at a cost

ELEANOR JOHNSON: "I think that text messaging has made students believe that it's far more acceptable than it actually is to just make screamingly atrocious spelling and grammatical errors."

She says her students over the past several years have increasingly used less formal English in their writing. She says words and phrases like "guy" and "you know" now appear in research papers.

And she now has to talk about another problem in class, she says -- incorrect word use. For example, a student says "preclude" instead of "precede" when talking about one event coming before another. It sounds like precede but it means prevent.

Professor Johnson suspects a strong link between the rise of instant and casual communication online and an increase in writing mistakes. But she admits there may not be much scientific evidence, at least not yet.

David Crystal is a British linguist who has written more than one hundred books, including the book "Language and the Internet." He says the actively changing nature of the Internet makes it difficult to stay current in studying its effects. But he believes its influence on language is small.

DAVID CRYSTAL: "The main effect of the Internet on language has been to increase the expressive richness of language, providing the language with a new set of communicative dimensions that haven't existed in the past."

Erin Jansen is founder of Netlingo, an online dictionary of Internet and text messaging terms. She says the new technology has not changed existing language but has greatly added to the vocabulary. "Basically it's a freedom of expression," she says.

And what about teachers who find these new kinds of mistakes in spelling and grammar in their students' work. What is her message to them?

ERIN JANSEN: "I always advocate, don't get angry or upset about that, get creative. If it's helping the kids write more or communicate more in their first draft, that's great. That's what teachers and educators want, is to get kids communicating."

But Erin Jansen and David Crystal agree with Eleanor Johnson on at least one thing. Teachers need to make sure students understand the uses and rules of language.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Lawan Davis, with reporting by Rachel Abrams. We want to know what you have to say about the effects of the Internet on language and writing. Post your comments at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

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American History Series: Trial of Andrew Johnson

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Congress acted in 1868 after the president dismissed the secretary of war. But the Senate found him not guilty by a single vote. Transcript of radio broadcast:

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

The Civil War ended in eighteen sixty-five. After that, tensions grew between Congress and the new president, Andrew Johnson.

The Republican Party was still new. It was formed to oppose slavery. Radical members of the party controlled Congress. They wanted strong policies to punish the southern states that left the Union and lost the war.

Standing in the way of the Republicans was Andrew Johnson, a Democrat. The president opposed radical efforts to force solutions on the South. He vetoed a number of programs that he thought interfered with rights given to the states by the Constitution.

This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe continue the story of President Andrew Johnson.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Andrew Johnson

In the congressional elections of eighteen sixty-six, radicals won firm control of both houses of Congress. They were able to pass a number of bills over the president's veto. But Johnson refused to stand aside in the face of radical attempts to seize all powers of government.

This conflict between Johnson and the Congress caused much bitterness. Finally, the radicals decided to get him out of the way. For the first time in American history, Congress would try to remove the President from office.

Under the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to bring charges against the president. The Senate acts as the jury to decide if the president is guilty of the charges. The chief justice of the United States serves as judge.

If two-thirds of the senators find the president guilty, he can be removed from office.

VOICE TWO:

Thaddeus Stevens speaks during the debate over impeachment in the House of Representatives

Radicals in the House of Representatives brought eleven charges against President Johnson.

Most of the charges were based on Johnson's removal from office of his secretary of war. Radicals charged that this violated a new law. The law said the president could not remove a cabinet officer without approval by the Senate.

Johnson refused to recognize the law. He said it was not constitutional.

Radicals in the House of Representatives also charged Johnson with criticizing Congress. They said his statements dishonored Congress and the presidency.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The great impeachment trial began on March fifth, eighteen sixty-eight. The president refused to attend. But his lawyers were there to defend him.

One by one, the senators swore an oath to be just. They promised to make a fair and honest decision on the guilt or innocence of Andrew Johnson.

A congressman from Massachusetts opened the case for the radicals. He told the senators not to think of themselves as members of any court. He said the Senate was a political body that was being asked to settle a political question. Was Johnson the right man for the White House? He said it was clear that Johnson wanted to overthrow Congress.

Other radical Republicans then joined him in condemning Johnson. They made many charges. But they offered little evidence to support the charges.

VOICE TWO:

Johnson's lawyers called for facts, instead of emotion. They said the Constitution required the radicals to prove that the president had committed serious crimes. Andrew Johnson had committed no crime, they said. This was purely a political trial.

They warned of serious damage to the American form of government if the president was removed for political reasons. No future president would be safe, they said, if opposed by a majority of the House and two-thirds of the Senate.

VOICE ONE:

The impeachment trial

The trial went on day after day. The decision would be close. Fifty-four senators would be voting. Thirty-six votes of guilty were needed to remove the president from office.

It soon became clear that the radicals had thirty-five of these votes. Only seven senators remained undecided. If one of the seven voted guilty, Johnson would be removed.

Radicals put great pressure on the seven men. They tried to buy their votes. Party leaders threatened them. Supporters in the senators' home states were told to write hundreds of letters demanding that Johnson be found guilty.

VOICE TWO:

A senator from Maine was one who felt the pressure. But he refused to let it force him to do what others wished. He answered one letter this way:

"Sir, I wish you and all my other friends to know that I, not they, am sitting in judgment upon the president. I, not they, have sworn to do impartial justice. I, not they, am responsible to God and man for my action and its results."

A senator from Kansas was another who refused to let pressure decide his vote. He said, "I trust that I shall have the courage to vote as I judge best."

VOICE ONE:

In the final days before the vote, six of the seven remaining Republican senators let it be known that they would vote not guilty. But the senator from Kansas still refused to say what his vote would be. His was the only vote still in question. His vote would decide the issue.

Now, the pressure on him increased. His brother was offered twenty thousand dollars for information about how the senator would vote. Everywhere he turned, he found someone demanding that he vote guilty.

The vote took place on May sixteenth. Every seat in the big Senate room was filled. The chief justice began to call on the senators. One by one, they answered guilty or not guilty. Finally, he called the name of the senator from Kansas.

VOICE TWO:

The vote of Senator Edmund Ross of Kansas saved the presidency of Andrew Johnson

The senator stood up. He looked about him. Every voice was still. Every eye was upon him.

"It was like looking down into an open grave," he said later. "Friendship, position, wealth -- everything that makes life desirable to an ambitious man -- were about to be swept away by my answer."

He spoke softly. Many could not hear him. The chief justice asked him to repeat his vote. This time, the answer was clearly heard across the room: "Not guilty."

VOICE ONE:

The trial was all but done. Remaining senators voted as expected. The chief justice announced the result. On the first charge, thirty-five senators voted that President Johnson was guilty. Nineteen voted that he was not guilty. The radicals had failed by one vote.

When the Senate voted on the other charges, the result was the same. The radicals could not get the two-thirds majority they needed. President Johnson was declared not guilty.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Radical leaders and newspapers bitterly denounced the small group of Republican senators who refused to vote guilty. They called them traitors. Friends and supporters condemned them. None was re-elected to the Senate or to any other government office.

It was a heavy price to pay. And yet, they were sure they had done the right thing. The senator from Kansas told his wife, "The millions of men cursing me today will bless me tomorrow for having saved the country from the greatest threat it ever faced."

VOICE ONE:

He was right. The trial of Andrew Johnson was an important turning point in the making of the American nation.

His removal from office would have established the idea that the president could serve only with the approval of Congress. The president would have become, in effect, a prime minister. He would have to depend on the support of Congress to remain in office. Johnson's victory kept alive the idea of an independent presidency.

However, the vote did not end the conflict between Congress and the White House over the future of the South.

That will be our story in the next program of THE MAKING OF A NATION.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by David Jarmul and Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe. Transcripts, podcasts and historical images from our series are at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also comment on our programs. And you can follow us on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

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Less Salt Can Mean More Life

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A new study shows a cut of three grams of salt a day prevent tens of thousands of deaths among Americans Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States.

Whatever salt you use, less of it could be good for your health

The result: thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings.

Researchers found it could prevent one hundred thousand heart attacks and ninety-two thousand deaths every year.

The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo at the University of California San Francisco, was the lead author. She says people would not even notice a difference in taste with three grams, or one-half teaspoon, less salt per day. The team also included researchers at Stanford and Columbia University.

Each gram of salt contains four hundred milligrams of sodium, which is how foods may list their salt content.

The government says the average American man eats ten grams of salt a day. The American Heart Association advises no more than three grams for healthy people. It says salt in the American diet has increased fifty percent since the nineteen seventies, while blood pressures have also risen. Less salt can mean a lower blood pressure.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading an effort called the National Salt Reduction Initiative. The idea is to put pressure on food companies and restaurants. Critics call it government interference.

Mayor Bloomberg has already succeeded in other areas, like requiring fast food places in the city to list calorie information. Now a study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute shows how that idea can influence what parents order for their children.

Ninety-nine parents of three to six year olds took part. Half had McDonald's menus clearly showing how many calories were in each food. The other half got menus without the calorie information.

Parents given the counts chose an average of one hundred two fewer calories when asked what they would order for their children. Yet there was no difference in calories between the two groups for foods that the parents would have chosen for themselves.

Study leader Pooja Tandon says even small calorie reductions on a regular basis can prevent weight gain over time. The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. What do you think is a government's duty on issues like salt or fats? Let us know at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

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A Museum Better Known as the US Capitol

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The building's art and sculpture collections tell a story about the country's history. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is one of the most recognized buildings in the world. Its design was influenced by the classical buildings of ancient Greece and Rome.

The United States Congress meets in the Capitol. The building was created as a physical representation of democracy. But it is also a museum filled with art and sculpture that tell about America's social and political history.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A drawing of the Capitol dome from 1859

Our story begins on the Caribbean island of Tortola during the hot summer of seventeen ninety-two. William Thornton is hard at work on a set of building drawings. Mister Thornton came from a family of wealthy landowners who grew sugar on the island. He was trained as a doctor. But he had many interests including history, mechanics, government and building design. Mister Thornton was working to complete drawings for the design of the United States Capitol.

VOICE TWO:

A few months earlier, the government of President George Washington had started a contest for the best design for the Capitol. William Thornton wanted the building to express the democratic goals of this young country. It would be a physical version of America's constitution. His design was influenced by the Parthenon in Rome, Italy and the Louvre museum in Paris, France.

William Thornton sent his building design to federal officials in Washington with a letter. "I have made my drawings with the greatest accuracy, and the most minute attention", he wrote. "In an affair of so much consequence to the dignity of the United States," it was his request that "you will not be hasty in deciding."

President Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson selected a later version of Mister Thornton's design for the Capitol. George Washington praised the design for its "grandeur, simplicity, and beauty."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Over the centuries, the United States Capitol has had many changes and additions. Many architects have worked on its extensions. But just as important as the building's design are the priceless collections of art and sculpture inside. They tell a detailed story about different events in America's past. And, they provide an interesting commentary on how America's government, people, and artists have chosen to represent their history.

We asked Barbara Wolanin to take us through several important rooms to learn more about the building's art and statue collection. She is the curator for the Architect of the Capitol.

BARBARA WOLANIN: "The Capitol, from the very beginning, the architects envisioned art sculpture for it, paintings for it. They were really built in as part of the architecture in each of the different construction stages of the Capitol."

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

The inside of the Capitol dome

We start in the most beautiful room, the Rotunda. This large circular room inside the Capitol's tall white dome measures over fifty-four meters high. It was completed in eighteen twenty-four.

The room connects the Senate side of the building with the House of Representatives side. So, it is both the physical and symbolic center of the building. Visiting the room is a wonderful experience. The room has a feeling of solidity and permanence, but it also is a celebration of light and airiness.

BARBARA WOLANIN: "We're in the Rotunda, right in the center of the United States Capitol, and starting from the top down, the very top is the fresco painting called the "Apotheosis of Washington". It was painted by a Roman-born artist Constantino Brumidi in eighteen sixty-five, at the end of the Civil War."

VOICE ONE:

At the top of the dome is a colorful painting showing groups of people arranged in a circular shape. George Washington sits in the center of the painting, with women representing Liberty and Victory at his sides.

BARBARA WOLANIN: "He's the one in the lavender lap robe. And he's rising up into the heavens. Apotheosis means being raised to the level of an ideal or a god."

VOICE TWO:

Painting at the top of the dome

It might seem strange today to show an American president as a god. But during the nineteenth century, Americans greatly loved and respected President Washington. This included Americans from both the North and South after the Civil War. Several Roman gods are also in the painting. They are holding examples of American technologies of the time.

BARBARA WOLANIN: "They are mixed in with new American technology, the latest inventions. Like Ceres there is sitting on a McCormick reaper, which is the new way for reaping grain quickly. And Neptune with a Trident is helping lay the trans-Atlantic cable which was just being laid when he was painting this."

VOICE ONE:

The artist Constantino Brumidi finished this huge work in only eleven months. He also painted much of the frieze that extends along the Rotunda walls under the room's thirty-six windows. A frieze is a long stretch of surface that has been painted or sculpted. This one tells the history of America. The people in the frieze are painted to look three- dimensional, like sculptures.

Below the frieze, eight huge historical paintings hang on the curved walls. Four paintings tell about the events of the Revolutionary War in the late eighteenth century. The four others show examples of early explorations of the country. These include the landing of explorer Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the Mississippi River.

VOICE TWO:

Sculptures are another important part of the room's decoration. One marble sculpture of Abraham Lincoln was created in eighteen seventy-one, after his death. Vinnie Ream made the sculpture. She was the first woman hired by the government to create a work of art. She was only eighteen years old when she was asked to make the statue.

Another marble statue nearby honors three women who fought for voting rights for women. Adelaide Johnson made this sculpture.

BARBARA WOLANIN: "'Portrait Monument' has just an amazing history too. This is also by a woman artist. And it was commissioned by the National Woman's Party in nineteen twenty after women finally got the vote."

VOICE ONE:

The sculpted forms of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott seem to be coming up out of the huge piece of stone.

Behind them, a fourth form rises out of the uncut stone. Adelaide Johnson said this unfinished area was meant to show that the struggle for women's equality was not over.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Many of the statues in this room and others throughout the Capitol are part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The collection was established in eighteen sixty-four. Congress invited each state to send two statues to the collection.

The statues can represent a very famous person, such as an American president. Or, they can represent someone less well known but historically important. States can also replace an older statue with a new one. It has taken a long time to complete the collection. The one hundredth statue arrived in two thousand five.

VOICE ONE:

Barbara Wolanin takes us into the National Statuary Hall. This large room was a meeting room for the House of Representatives until eighteen fifty-seven.

Huey Long

BARBARA WOLANIN: "This room, at the time it was built was considered the most beautiful room in the whole country. Benjamin Henry Latrobe was the architect and he really tried to make it as fine as he could. He was very interested in the classical architectures. So he wanted columns and he had these special capitals for the columns carved in Carrara, Italy based on ancient designs."

As you can guess from the room's name, it now houses many statues from the national collection. For example, there is a marble statue of Sam Houston, a leader who fought for independence for the state of Texas. One of the state of Louisiana's statues is a bronze representation of the politician Huey Long.

VOICE TWO:

The newest building extension of the Capitol is the Capitol Visitor Center. These large underground rooms were completed in December of two thousand eight. The goal is to enrich the experience of the more than two million people who visit the Capitol every year.

The Visitor Center is filled with water fountains, skylights, historical exhibits, a restaurant — and more statues. A bronze statue of the Hawaiian ruler King Kamehameha is hard to miss. His clothing is almost completely covered in gold. Every year in June, Hawaiians come to the Capitol to honor this ancient ruler.

VOICE ONE:

Helen Keller

The newest statue in the national collection is from Alabama. It shows the deaf and blind activist and writer Helen Keller as a young child. It is also the smallest statue in the collection.

But the biggest statue in the room is not part of the Statuary Collection. It is a plaster form that was used to make the bronze statue of Freedom that stands on the dome of the Capitol high above the city. Freedom is represented as a strong woman wearing the flowing clothing of ancient Rome. She measures over five meters tall.

If you stand under a skylight in the Visitor Center, you can see the bronze statue of Freedom high up on the dome outside. She is watching over the Capitol building as it continues to represent America's history, government and people.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

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

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Next week, we visit another important art collection, at the Vatican in Italy. You can comment on this and other programs on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

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In Consumer Electronics, the Money Is on 3-D and All Things Wireless

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The electronics industry saw sales drop by 8 percent last year. This year, smartphones, digital tablets and 3-D TVs could get the public buying again. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. This week, we look at the newest devices demonstrated at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show. The show offered a look at what could be the most popular electronic products this year.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Consumer Electronics Show is the world's biggest technology trade show. Industry representatives and reporters gather at CES each January to see the next, must-have electronic devices for the coming year.

This year, the show took place between January seventh and tenth in Las Vegas, Nevada. A record three hundred thirty businesses attended for the first time. These can be manufacturers or suppliers who sell products from other companies. In all, there were over twenty thousand new products from more than two thousand five hundred businesses.

The Consumer Electronics Association produces CES. It is the largest trade show of any kind in North America -- with over one hundred thirty thousand square meters of exhibition space.

VOICE TWO:

The electronics industry is hoping a new crop of products will help it recover from an eight percent decrease in sales last year. The biggest attention-getters were the latest 3-Dimensional high definition televisions.

Tara Dunion is a spokeswoman for the CES. She says 3-D televisions promise to bring the intense experience from movie theaters to the home. The huge popularity of 3-D films like "Avatar," "Up" and "Monsters vs. Aliens" has many people willing to buy this costly, developing technology.

Dreamworks Animation made "Monsters vs. Aliens" and the popular Shrek series. The company announced last year that it would only make 3-D films in the future. And, television networks ESPN and Discovery Communications say they plan to operate television channels in 3-D. Big TV manufacturers like LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung have all developed their own products.

CES attendees use 3-D glasses to play a game

VOICE ONE:

If you have seen a 3-D movie, you already know that you need special eyeglasses to watch. Some 3-D TVs do not require special glasses. But experts say it will be years until such technology is ready for the general market.

The latest 3-D TVs work by dividing picture images in two, one for each eye. When each eye sees very similar, but different versions of an image, the brain thinks it is seeing depth, or three dimensions.

Dividing the image can be done in two ways -- both using special eyeglasses. One 3-D technology uses low-cost polarized glasses. Each side of these devices blocks a set of images that appear in a different form of polarized light. So each eye sees a slightly different image, producing the 3-D effect. But TV receivers that use what is called a passive glasses system are costly.

VOICE TWO:

An active glasses system requires electronic glasses that are wirelessly connected to the television. A signal from the TV tells each side of the glasses when to turn on and off, showing each eye slightly different images that create the sense of depth. The switching happens so fast that the images appear continuous.

Active eyeglasses cost more -- about one hundred dollars each. But the technology for such receivers is not too different from current flat screen TVs.

There were examples of both technologies at the twenty-ten International CES. There were even 3-D TVs that require no glasses at all. But 3-D TVs are expected to cost a lot – with one selling for several thousand dollars. Still, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that more than four million 3-D TV sets will be sold this year.

(MUSIC)

A Samsung e-reader on display at CES

VOICE ONE:

Digital tablets and eBook readers could also be popular this year. These easy-to-hold devices let you read and watch media or search the Internet and order products. Dell and Hewlett-Packard exhibited new tablet devices at CES.

Lenovo demonstrated a product that can be used as two computing devices. The IdeaPad U-One Hybrid is a notebook computer, which has a removable screen that becomes a digital tablet. Amazon showed versions of its popular Kindle eBook reader. Barnes & Noble, Samsung, Sony and other companies also showed models of eBook readers.

VOICE TWO:

But Apple made the biggest news when it announced that it would offer its own digital tablet this year. Apple did not show the product at CES, but industry watchers are extremely interested. Media reports say Apple plans to announce the tablet, possibly called the iSlate, later this month.

Like netbooks, tablets are less costly ways to use the World Wide Web and digital information. Some experts think these easily carried devices could represent the future of computing. But their lower price means smaller profits for manufacturers and sellers.

VOICE ONE:

Wireless telephones could be a big part of the electronics industry's return to growth. At the start of CES, Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro made some predictions. He said fifty-two million wireless phones will be sold in the United States this year.

Smartphones represent over thirty percent of the market. They are phones that search the Web, send messages and carry out applications. Their share of all mobile phones is only expected to grow.

VOICE TWO:

Google launched its Nexus One smartphone, which the company calls a "superphone," at CES. This is Google's first attempt to sell its own electronic device. Nexus One will directly compete with Apple's popular iPhone. It uses Google's Android mobile operating system and is meant to work easily with Google's Web-based services.

Nexus One, though, is not the only new smartphone that uses Android. Several big phonemakers are coming out with Android-based mobile phones.

And, there is another group of mobile devices to watch for: Smartbooks. These are smaller and cost less than netbooks, while still having a keyboard. They are meant for looking at Web pages and placing information on Twitter. Manufacturers are still developing smartbooks. But they are products to watch in the future.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Sustainable technologies have been a growing part of the International Consumer Electronics Show for years. The CES has an area for companies to demonstrate products that save energy, reduce waste and reuse materials.

Show spokeswoman Jennifer Bemisderfer says the Sustainable Planet Tech Zone is four times bigger than last year. Among the products were TVs that use light emitting diodes, or LEDs, to save energy. Some manufacturers are increasingly interested in what has been called cradle to cradle technology. Jennifer Bemisderfer says this involves thinking about a product's whole lifetime:

JENNIFER BEMISDERFER: "When those products are at the end of their useful life, how are they going to be broken down? How are we going to get some of the essential elements out of those products and have them reused in the manufacturing process?"

VOICE TWO:

Many of the products shown at CES require wireless connections to the Internet. Julius Genachowski is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which supervises broadcasting and communications. Mister Genachowski spoke at the show about the technical problems that wireless devices present.

He says they depend on a limited number of radio wavelengths. But he says the problem can be solved. And, he hopes to increase wireless Internet access across the United States.

Mister Genachowski told CES that wireless technology, or broadband, can be an engine of economic growth. And, he noted its importance to the country's social goals.

JULIUS GENACHOWSKI: "Promoting our common goals around education, health care, energy, public safety, and, I think in each of those areas, you actually see on the floor here new innovative ideas to take advantage of this general purposes technology that broadband is, and apply it to provide better services at lower cost in each of these areas."

Mister Genachowski said government has a limited part in technology development. He said most investment is private. But he said his agency hopes to support progress by getting investors interested in new technologies.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written and produced by Mario Ritter with reporting by Mike O'Sullivan in Las Vegas. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

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

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New Understanding of How Plants Use Water

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Discovery may help engineer better plants. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Scientists have discovered more details about how plants use water. Their findings could help to engineer plants that grow better and more effectively in conditions with higher levels of carbon dioxide.

Plants naturally take in carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis, the process of changing light energy to chemical energy. The carbon dioxide enters the plants through tiny holes or pores on the surface of leaves.

However, each time a plant takes in one molecule of carbon dioxide gas, it loses hundreds of water molecules.

Scientists say plants lose ninety-five percent of the water they take in through these pores. Some plants' pores can tighten to save water during conditions of high carbon dioxide. Other plants are not able to do this as well. Now, scientists know how these tiny pores tighten in plants.

Julian Schroeder is a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego. Mister Schroeder says that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are much higher now than they were in the past. However, he says, many plants are not closing their pores in order to hold in more water.

He and his team have identified proteins that control the tightening of a plant's pores. The proteins are enzymes called carbonic anhydrases. The findings were published last month in the journal Nature Cell Biology. Mister Schroeder believes the enzymes could be changed in some plants to increase their ability to store water.

The researchers added carbonic anhydrase genes to plants that do not react to higher levels of carbon dioxide. They observed that for every molecule of carbon dioxide taken in by the plants, they lost forty-four percent less water.

The scientists say the photosynthesis process continued normally in these plants. They say this suggests that changing plants to save more water will not affect plant growth. This method might be used to help engineer food crops that are resistant to extremely dry conditions. The discovery could help farmers meet a growing demand for food as water supplies decrease. However, the scientists say more research is needed.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture report, written by Brianna Blake. For transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports, visit us on the Web at voaspecialenglish.com.

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Steps Urged to Prevent Snakebites, Improve Treatments

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About 5.5 million people a year are bitten. The W.H.O. now recognizes snakebite as a neglected tropical disease. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A Western Diamondback rattlesnake in Cave Creek, Arizona

Snakes bite an estimated five and a half million people worldwide each year. Experts say tens of thousands of people die from venom poisoning.

An untreated or incorrectly treated bite might require the removal of a bitten foot, for example, or an arm. Each year around four hundred thousand amputations are the result of snakebites.

Last year, for the first time, the World Health Organization added snakebites to its list of "neglected tropical diseases." This recognition aims to bring greater attention to the problem.

Scientists know of about three thousand kinds of snakes. About six hundred of them are venomous. These are most often found in rural areas in tropical climates.

Asia and Africa have the highest number of snakebites -- together about four million a year. Latin America and islands in the South Pacific follow.

The highest number of victims are agricultural workers. Snakebites are also common among fishermen, hunters and children. Many victims live in areas with poor or non-existent health care systems and where antivenom treatments are often not available.

Antivenom is the only cure. But experts say antivenom technologies and their use need to be improved. Problems include a shortage of manufacturers and the high cost of treatment.

Also, there is a widespread lack of knowledge among local health workers about how to use antivenoms. The treatments can cause dangerous and even deadly reactions if not used carefully.

Antivenom contains proteins from animals such as horses or sheep. The animals are injected repeatedly with one or more different snake venoms to produce immunity.The Lancet medical journal recently published a series of reports on snakebite prevention and treatment. David Warrell at the University of Oxford in England co-wrote one of them. He praised efforts by the W.H.O. to establish common practices for the production, regulation and control of antivenom. But he says more must be done.

The authors say community education programs could help prevent snakebites by teaching people how to avoid them. They also suggest actions like providing protective boots to wear while working in fields, and not sleeping on the ground.

Also important is providing information about where dangerous snakes are most likely to live and when they are most active.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. MP3s, transcripts and broadcasts of our reports are available at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Christopher Cruise.

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Seeking 'Cultural Equity' in Musical Traditions

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Second of two programs about the Lomaxes, a family of folklorists who collected American songs. But some of the practices of their time have led to criticism. Transcript of radio broadcast:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we finish the story of the Lomax family. They were an influential family of musical folklorists.

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VOICE ONE:

Alan Lomax in the Caribbean in 1962

We talked last week about John Avery Lomax and his work collecting American folk songs. He collected thousands of songs in the nineteen twenties, thirties and forties to save for future generations. His son Alan soon joined him, and continued collecting music after his father died in nineteen forty-eight.

Like his father, Alan Lomax went to work for the Library of Congress, where he directed the Folk Archive. He also produced a series of radio programs on American folk music. And he wrote one of the most influential books on early jazz, "Mister Jelly Roll." It was the result of hours of recorded discussions with New Orleans jazz great Jelly Roll Morton.

(MUSIC)

In the nineteen fifties Alan Lomax published a series of books about world folk music. Later, he won a National Book Critics Circle award for "The Land Where the Blues Began," published in nineteen ninety-three.

He received the National Medal of Arts from President Ronald Reagan and a Library of Congress Living Legend Award. The recording industry honored his lifetime work with a Grammy Award after he died in two thousand two.

Songs from his collections were used in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Here is a song called "Po' Lazarus."

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VOICE TWO:

Dick Weissman is author of the book "Which Side Are You On? An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America." In it, he says it was the usual practice for folklorists to copyright songs that they collected. The copyright holder owns the rights to the song for a period governed by law.

In the nineteen forties and fifties, the publisher and songwriter equally shared income from record sales. That could include people like the Lomaxes who copyrighted a new arrangement of an old folk song.

Some of the songs collected by the Lomaxes became popular records. For example, Lead Belly's "Good Night, Irene" became a huge hit for the folk group the Weavers. That was in nineteen forty-nine, a year after John Lomax died.

The copyrights to these songs were held not only by the singers but also by his son Alan. Other musicians like Harry Belafonte and the Kingston Trio also recorded songs for which Alan Lomax shared in the copyright.

VOICE ONE:

Some observers have criticized Alan Lomax and his father for earning money from the traditional music they collected, including from black musicians in the South.

Ted Gioia is author of "Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music."

One example he uses in his two thousand eight book is Huddie Ledbetter, the singer and guitarist known as Lead Belly. The author says Lead Belly's contract with the Lomaxes' prevented him from being represented by anyone else for five years.

In the nineteen fifties Alan Lomax traveled to Europe where he collected folk music. Ted Gioia says the folklorist largely paid for his travels with royalty money from the Weavers' recording of "Good Night, Irene."

The author notes that Alan Lomax apparently claimed composer credit on about eight hundred songs. But to be fair, he says the Lomaxes did nothing illegal -- they were not the only ones holding copyrights to folk songs. Many performers who have recorded traditional material have listed themselves as the composer.

Still, Ted Gioia calls Alan Lomax the self-appointed "custodian of America's music traditions." He also points to his position with the Library of Congress. The author argues that the folklorist should have aimed for "a higher standard of ethics in such matters."

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VOICE TWO:

The Lomax family's involvement with folk music also included John Lomax's youngest child, Bess. Bess Lomax helped her father with his folk music collection.

In the nineteen forties, she joined the Almanac Singers. The group was active in the social protest and union movements of the time.

Different members came and went from the Almanac Singers. They included Bess' brother Alan as well as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Baldwin "Butch" Hawes, who became her husband.

Here she sings a song called "I Never Will Marry."

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VOICE ONE:

In nineteen forty-nine she and Jacqueline Steiner wrote new words to an old song. It became a campaign song for Walter O'Brien, a Progressive Party candidate for mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. One of his promises was to fight a fare increase on what was known as the M.T.A. subway system.

In the song, a man named Charlie has to ride forever because he does not have enough money to leave the train. Here are Bess Lomax, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger:

(MUSIC)

Walter O'Brien lost the race. But the song became a lasting hit with a version recorded in nineteen fifty-nine by the Kingston Trio.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Bess Lomax Hawes

Bess Lomax Hawes later taught music and became an anthropology professor in California. In the nineteen seventies, she worked at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. She went on to direct the folk arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts. In nineteen ninety-three President Bill Clinton awarded her the National Medal of Arts. She died in two thousand nine.

VOICE ONE:

Dan Sheehy at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage says the influence of the Lomax family can still be felt. And not just with music, but also other areas of culture. Modern folklorists use new technology like social media and the Internet to do their work, Dan Sheehy says. But they continue to pursue a goal set by the Lomaxes.

DANIEL SHEEHY: "Following Alan Lomax's philosophy that he sometimes called 'cultural equity.' That is, seeing what we didn't see on television. What we didn't see on the big stages. What we didn't hear on the radio and on major recordings. And finding ways to help those voices, those songs, those stories, those craft traditions make it into the lives of a much broader public."

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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 Doug Johnson. You can find the first part of our program about the Lomax family at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also post comments and subscribe to podcasts. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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