American Textbooks Are Caught in Diplomatic Fight

Hello, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English!

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report on an international dispute that has reached the American state of Virginia.

“From an American perspective, it’s a little bit frustrating that, you know, our democracy becomes the venue for this battle, and it’s probably not the best way to create your social studies textbooks.”

The dispute involves Japan and South Korea. The two countries have long argued about what to call a waterway that separates them. Recently, a group of Korean-Americans asked lawmakers in Virginia to consider the issue. What the state lawmakers decided to do is the subject of our program today on As It Is.

American Schoolbooks Involved in Diplomatic Dispute

Japan and South Korea have been arguing over the name of a sea in Asia that lies between the two countries. That disagreement has reached the legislature in the American state of Virginia. The dispute went all the way to Virginia’s governor.

What Japan calls “The Sea of Japan,” South Korea calls “The East Sea.” A group of Korean-Americans wants schoolbooks in Virginia to show both names. That has caused a diplomatic battle between the two countries.

It all started when a man named Peter Kim asked his son -- who was in 5th grade -- a question. The answer surprised him.

“I asked him ‘Kris, do you know the name, do you know the sea between South Korea and Japan?’ He said ‘Yes, daddy.’ ‘What’s the name of it?’ He says ‘The Sea of Japan.’ And I got really upset. And, and I checked the textbook and there it was: the Sea of Japan only.”

Mr. Kim was born in South Korea. He says everyone there calls it the East Sea.

Some Korean-American activists say the name “Sea of Japan” dates back to a time when Japan ruled Korea. They say the sea should not have the name given to it during a time when the Japanese military illegally occupied and colonized Korea. Japanese forces took control of Korea in 1910 and ruled the peninsula until the end of World War II in 1945.

Peter Kim appealed to the administration of President Barack Obama for help. He sent the Obama administration a document asking that both names be used. The document contained the signatures of more than 100,000 people.

But administration officials said the United States only recognizes the name “Sea of Japan.” Yet the State Department has noted that South Korea wants to use the name East Sea.

Soon, Mr. Kim learned that he should deal with the issue on a state, not a federal, level. So he formed a group called “The Voice of Korean Americans” and began talking to state lawmakers in Virginia. In February, the Virginia legislature approved a bill requiring future school textbooks to use both names.

State lawmaker Timothy Hugo wrote the bill. VOA spoke with him on the day when Virginia’s House of Delegates approved the measure.

“It was a lot of work. I am glad we got it passed today with over 80 votes in the House of Delegates.”

Large majorities in the House of Delegates and Senate voted to approve the bill.

Governor Signs Bill Requiring Textbooks Use "East Sea"

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe quietly signed the bill into law at the end of March. So, beginning in July, Virginia will be the first state to require that new textbooks include the name “East Sea” in addition to “Sea of Japan.”

Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe of VirginiaDemocratic Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia

It was not a surprise that the governor approved the measure. Last year he wrote a letter in support of the effort by The Voice of Korean-Americans. The Reuters news agency reports there are 82,000 Korean-Americans in Virginia, but just 19,000 ethnic Japanese.

But the Washington Post reported that the governor and his aides attempted to quietly cancel the bill before Virginia legislators voted on it. They felt approval might affect relations and the state’s strong economic ties with Japan. The newspaper reported that soon after Mr. McAuliffe was elected governor last year, he received a letter from the Japanese embassy in Washington, DC. It said a change of the name of the sea in Virginia textbooks could hurt trade between Japan and the state.

The Associated Press reported that Japan’s ambassador to the United States was personally involved in efforts to try to keep the bill from becoming law. Kenichiro Sasae reportedly met with Governor McAuliffe in January to ask him not to sign the measure. The ambassador noted that Japan is the second-largest foreign investor in Virginia. Japanese-owned companies employ 13,000 workers statewide. But Mr. McAuliffe had promised during his election campaign that he would sign a bill and he kept his promise.

The History of the Dispute

James Schoff works at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He explains how the dispute over the name of the waterway first began.

“In 1929 I think it was, the International Hydrographic Organization went around and said ‘We need to, to officially name all the international bodies of, of water,’ and they chose ‘The Sea of Japan.’ This was at a time that Japan was occupying -- colonizing -- Korea, and so Korea felt that they had no voice.”

Sea of Japan or East Sea?Sea of Japan or East Sea?
Last year, the IHO rejected a demand by South Korea to change the name. The IHO will not meet again until 2017.

James Schoff says the Virginia state legislature is not the right place to settle this kind of dispute.

“From an American perspective, it’s a little bit frustrating that, you know, our democracy becomes the venue for this battle and it’s probably not the best way to create your social studies textbooks.”

Mark Keam is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was a supporter of the bill. He came to the United States from Korea when he was 14 years old.

“What they’re saying is Korean history has been somewhat misplaced or misrepresented in the past; let’s make sure that Virginia corrects that.”

There are also efforts in the American states of Georgia, New York and New Jersey to require textbooks to use the name East Sea. Many Korean-Americans live in those areas.

And that’s our program for today. It was based on a report from VOA’s Mariama Diallo and from stories by the Kyodo News Service, Reuters, The Washington Post and the Associated Press.

You can listen to and read the report anytime at our website: learningenglish.voanews.com.

We really do want to hear what you would like to hear about on a future program. Write to us at:

VOA Learning English
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I’m Christopher Cruise.

Thanks for joining us here on The Voice of America!

Women Are Giving Birth at Home – On Purpose!

Empowering. Life-changing. These are two words women often use to describe natural childbirth. Painful would be a third. But that’s a different story.

This story is about midwives in Los Angeles, California. They are trying to bring more women of color into the natural childbirth profession and convince more women to give birth at home.

But the numbers are small.

Only one percent of babies in the United States are born at home. However, interest in home deliveries is on the rise. In Los Angeles, California, for example, some women are choosing to use midwives instead of the usual hospital birth with a doctor.

But first -- what is a midwife? Midwives are specially educated in childbirth. They begin as apprentices or students and then must pass state-issued tests, or Medical Boards.

In 2012, Jasmine Lavender delivered her second child in a bathtub.
​​
“It was an amazing experience. Very empowering. You know, I encouraged to support other moms to have a vaginal births. It was life-changing, to be honest.”

She chose home birth with a midwife because she did not want to repeat the hospital experience she had with her first child.

Ms. Lavender says at that time, the hospital performed an unneeded and hurried medical operation -- a Caesarean section. During the birth she says she felt that her time was running out. And not time on her body’s clock but rather on her doctor’s clock.

But some women, because of medical reasons, need to have a Caesarean section and some simply choose it. It is a personal choice!

Ms. Lavender’s second baby arrived naturally with help from the Community Birth Center in south Los Angeles.

Licensed midwife Racha Lawler established the Center. It provides services to people who might not otherwise receive them. Ms. Lawler says the Center offers some general health services, such as testing for sexually transmitted diseases -- or STDs.

“You know, as a midwife you can draw people’s blood and test people’s blood and test people for STDs. You can, you know, teach women about how their bodies work in regards to their ovulation and fertility. So why not make sure everyone in the community knows that?”

When the Center first opened, there were about 300 licensed midwives in California. Most of them were white. But Racha Lawler hopes to increase by 100 percent the number of midwives of color. She hopes to do this through reaching out to the community and offering free help for students like Tanya Smith-Johnson.

Ms. Smith-Johnson says women of color have a special need of pregnancy and delivery care. According to her, the “stats” which is short for “statistics,” show that women of color need special help when it comes to caring for mothers and babies.

“The stats (the numbers) show women of color, we’re the ones who need maternity care. Our babies die at rates 3 or 4 times that of white women. And one of the solutions to that is having more women of color tend to women like themselves.”

Are home births and natural childbirths more common where you live? This is a great chance for our women listeners to share their thoughts on childbirth in our comment section! But of course, everyone is welcome!

From VOA Learning English, I’m Anna Matteo. ​​ ​​ ​​

Americans Debate Illegal Immigration

Hello, and welcome back. I'm Jim Tedder in Washington. Let's learn some American English and find out some interesting things about our world at the same time. Today we hear about illegal immigration in the United States. This is about people who have come to live in America, but have not obeyed the country's citizenship laws.

Then, we have another story about the U.S. The highest court in the land has just decided that minority students may not get the help they have been given for years, when it comes to getting into college.

Immigration and education ...two very important subjects ...presented in the Learning English style, are coming your way.

The United States has expelled about two million illegal immigrants in the five years since Barack Obama has been president. Some Americans say the Obama administration is too aggressive in enforcing immigration law. But others say it has not been aggressive enough.

Greg Chen is with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He says the Obama administration is expelling illegal immigrants from the country in record numbers.

“Those numbers, under both President Bush and Obama, have increased steadily in the past decade and are currently at a real high point. So overall, it’s important to recognize that the administration has been incredibly robust in its enforcement practices.”

But others say the number of people being expelled is down. Jon Ferre works for the Center for Immigration Studies.

“What we need to see is a serious commitment to immigration enforcement. We need to see deportation numbers actually going up, instead of going down, as they are now. But thus far, the White House just doesn’t seem all that serious about immigration enforcement.”

How can the same numbers be seen so differently? Because of the difference between what the government calls “returns” and “removals.” The number of returns – immigrants seized at the border and sent back home – has dropped over the past 10 years. But the number of removals has risen to an all-time high. The term removals means immigrants who have been officially expelled and barred from returning to the United States.

Jon Ferre is concerned that the combined total of returns and removals is down.

“So if you’re looking at this idea of removals, which is a type of deportation, the numbers do appear to be going up slightly. But if you look at overall deportation numbers, which is removals plus returns, which occur along the border, you see that the numbers are actually going down.”

But Gren Chen says the government is still taking steps against illegal immigration.

“The thing to recognize is that President Obama has increased the border presence and he has made the actual outcomes, the consequences of having been apprehended and deported out of the country, more severe by having a greater number of removals.”

Jim Tom Haynes has worked for a long time as an immigration lawyer. He says fewer new deportation cases are going to immigration courts. Such courts, he adds, already have far more cases than they can deal with.

“The cases that do get into the court are taking years to get through. So I think that you have fewer deportations now simply because the courts can’t process all this work.”

The debate over whether more or less enforcement is needed is likely to influence any effort to reform the U.S. immigration system. It may also affect the result of the congressional elections in November.

Highest Court Makes Major Ruling on Education

The United States Supreme Court ruled in an affirmative action case last week. The Court said the state of Michigan has a right to stop public colleges and universities from considering a person’s race when they decide which students to admit. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has been following the case. June Simms has his report.

The Supreme Court agreed with the right to Michigan voters to bar public colleges and universities from considering race on admissions decisions. Michigan voters approved the ban as an amendment to the state’s constitution in 2006. ​​

Affirmative action programs have long sought to help racial and ethnic minorities compete and gain acceptance to American colleges and universities. But over the years, such programs have also been the subject of much political debate.

Suzanna Sherry is a law professor at the Vanderbilt Law School in Tennessee. She says reaction to the decision may be limited because the court was concerned mainly about the right of voters to express their opinion.

“What the court held is that the voters of Michigan are allowed to decide whether they want affirmative action or not, and that’s really not a ruling on affirmative action. It’s a case about whether affirmative action is required, and the action is no. It’s not required. People can decide, the people of Michigan, can decide not to engage in it.”

The Supreme Court voted six-to-two to support the ban. Justice Sonia Sotomayor was one of the two justices in the minority. She said judges should face the racial inequality that exists in the United States, and not just sit back and wish it away.

The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized the ruling. The group said the Michigan law “unfairly” keeps students from asking universities to consider race in their admissions decisions.

But a group of conservative African-Americans praised the decision. The group is called Project 21. It said the ruling moved the country closer to the ideas expressed by the former civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

California and Washington State have voter-approved laws banning affirmative action in education admissions. A few other states also have laws or executive orders barring race as a consideration.

Bisi Okubadejo is a lawyer. She has represented colleges and universities in civil rights cases. She predicts limited legal effects from the Supreme Court ruling.

“It’s likely that this action by the Supreme Court will bolster other groups that continue to file similar suits. It is not representing a step forward with regard to the use of race, but taken in context I think that any negative effects on diversity and the use of race on campus has already occurred in the states where voters have spoken at the polls.”

Supporters of affirmative action programs say they have helped many minorities. But they note that the number of African-American and Hispanic students has dropped at the University of Michigan since the ban took effect. I’m June Simms.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Before we step aside for more Learning English programs, we invite you to have a piece of birthday cake as we celebrate the birth anniversary of one of America’s greatest song writers and performers.

On this date in 1899, not far from where I am sitting, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born. He started playing music professionally when he was 17. He is, perhaps, best known as the leader of a big band that played his beautiful, complex, and sophisticated kind of jazz. Duke wrote for motion pictures, operas, ballets, and Broadway shows. When “Duke” died in 1974, one of VOA’s own was at his funeral. Willis Conover was there to say goodbye to his good friend.

So we will leave you with the song that “Duke” and Willis made famous. The title says the quickest way to get to Harlem, then the home of so many great jazz clubs in New York City, was to “Take the A Train.”

Herbs and Spices May Be Good for Your Health

From VOA Learning English, this is Science in the News. I’m Faith Lapidus.

And I’m Mario Ritter. Today we tell about herbs and spices, and some of their many uses.

People have been using herbs and spices for thousands of years. Generally, herbs come from the green leaves of plants or vegetables. Spices come from other parts of plants and trees.

Some herbs and spices are valued for their taste. They help to sharpen the taste of many foods. Others are chosen for their smell. Still others were used traditionally for health reasons.

​​​​When people think of improving their diet, they often talk about eating more fruits and vegetables. Others want to eat more fish and less red meat, in addition to reducing the amount of food they eat. But, they can improve their diets even more with just a simple addition.

American researchers have found that a diet rich in spices can help reduce the harmful effects of eating high fat meals. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University reported the findings.

Penn State Associate Professor Sheila West led an investigation of the health effects of a spice-rich diet. Her team knew that a high-fat meal produces high levels of triglycerides, a kind of fat, in the blood.

She said, “If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, compared to a similar meal with no spices added.”

As part of the study, her team prepared meals on two separate days for six men between the ages of 30 and 65. The men were overweight, but healthy.

The researchers added about 30 milliliters of spices to each serving of the test meal, which included chicken curry, Italian herb bread and a cinnamon biscuit. The meal for the control group was the same, but it did not include any spices.

Ann Skulas-Ray also served on the research team. She said the team used paprika, rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves and garlic powder. She said these spices were chosen because they had demonstrated strong antioxidant activity under controlled conditions in a laboratory.

During the experiment, the researchers removed blood from the men every 30 minutes for three hours. They found that antioxidant activity in the blood of the men who ate the spicy meal was 13 percent higher than it was for the men who did not. In addition, insulin activity dropped by about 20 percent in the men who ate the spicy food.

Sheila West says many scientists think that oxidative stress leads to heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. And what exactly is oxidative stress? Think of an apple that has been cut in half and set aside for half an hour or so. The cut side of the apple turns brown. That is a simple explanation of what happens when oxidative stress comes in contact with the inside and outside of our bodies.

Professor West says, “Antioxidants, like spices, may be important in reducing oxidative stress and thus reducing the risk of chronic disease.” She adds that the level of spices used in the study provided the same amount of antioxidants found in 150 milliliters of red wine or about 38 grams of dark chocolate.

Other scientists are helping to uncover the secrets of spices and herbs.
For example, Purdue University researchers in Indiana say red pepper may help people lose weight. They say this could be especially true for people who do not usually add peppers to their food.

The researchers reported on the effects of dried and ground cayenne red pepper in the journal Physiology & Behavior in 2011. They found that small changes in diet, like adding the pepper, may reduce the desire to eat.

Most chili peppers contain capsaicin -- a substance that makes chili peppers taste hot and spicy. Other studies have shown that capsaicin can reduce hunger and burn calories, the energy stored in food.

Twenty-five people of normal weight took part in the study, which lasted six weeks. Thirteen of them liked spicy food. The 12 others did not. The researchers decided how much red pepper each group would receive. One and eight tenths grams of the pepper was given to each person who liked spicy food. The others received three tenths of a gram.

The people who did not normally eat red pepper showed a decreased desire for food. That was especially true for fatty, salty and sweet foods. Purdue University Professor Richard Mattes said the effect may be true only for people who do not usually eat red pepper. He said the effectiveness of the pepper may be lost if spices are normally part of a person’s diet and that more studies must be done.

Other research shows that capsaicin helps suppress the buildup of body fat. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that capsaicin may help to reduce abdominal fat. Study organizers said the reduction possibly takes place because the spice changes some proteins found in fat, causing them to break down the fat.

Scientists have become so interested in the health value of spices that recent discoveries are helping to move spices from traditional medicine into real science.

Researchers in Virginia discovered that curcumin, a substance found in turmeric, stopped the Rift Valley Fever virus from reproducing in infected cells. The sometimes deadly virus is carried by mosquitos. It can affect human beings and some farm animals like cattle and goats.

Aarthi Narayanan is an assistant professor at George Mason University in Virginia. She was the lead investigator in a study of curcumin. She says her team of researchers found the spice may interfere with the way some viruses cause human cells to stop reacting to an infection. She hopes the team can discover drug treatments to defeat several kinds of viruses. And, she says, it is possible curcumin will be part of those cures.

​​A study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry found that curcumin improves the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. And it has possibilities for development into a drug that can help with chemotherapy.

Turmeric comes from a tropical plant common to India. Scientists have been examining its medical possibilities for many years.

Studies show that turmeric’s qualities may help protect against damage to the body’s tissues and other injuries. Researchers also said turmeric may reduce evidence of damage in the brains of patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease. For this reason, the researchers designed a study that examined results from a mental-performance test of older Asian adults.

The study involved curry, which contains turmeric. The adults tested were 60 to 93 years old. Those who sometimes ate curry did better on the tests than individuals who rarely or never ate curry. This was also true of those who ate it often or very often.

One spice that often is at the top of a healthy spices list is cinnamon. It comes from the inner bark of several trees and is used in both sweet and savory cooking. For centuries cinnamon has been used in traditional medicine. Now, it is earning respect in the medical field.

German researchers found that cinnamon can reduce blood sugar by 10 percent. They were not sure why, but said it could be that substances in cinnamon activate enzymes that excite insulin receptors. Research also shows the spice can help lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, blood fats that may cause diabetes.

Registered dietician Wendy Bazilian says spices are being considered more seriously because the added taste they bring helps people reduce the salt, fat and sugar in their cooking. She has written a book called, “The Super Foods Rx Diet”, on how people can lose weight by basing their diet on what she calls “super nutrients”. She says she likes oregano, for example, because she considers it a mini salad. She says “one teaspoon has as much antioxidant power as three cups of chopped broccoli.”

But, she says, do not get rid of the broccoli. Instead, eat both.

Herbs and spices are not used just to lessen unwanted chemical effects. They make food taste better. Some spices also destroy bacteria. Spices have long been used to keep food safe to eat.

Spices have influenced world history.

This Science in the News program was written by Milagros Ardin. Our producer was June Simms. I’m Faith Lapidus.

And I’m Mario Ritter. Join us again next week for more news about science on the Voice of America.

'Windy City' Offers Loop, Lakefront, Lots of Things to Enjoy

[Enjoy a high-def "slide show" of Chicago by clicking on the photo at top and then clicking the arrows at right or left of each picture]

From VOA Learning English, welcome to This Is America. I’m Steve Ember. Today, we visit Chicago, Illinois. It is America’s third largest city. It has The Loop…the Lakefront…and lots of exciting things to enjoy. Come along with us, as we visit the “Windy City.”

Chicago has many nicknames besides “The Windy City.” A number of them came from the works of American poet Carl Sandburg, including “Hog Butcher for the World,” “Player with Railroads,” and “City of the Broad Shoulders.”

But many simply – and proudly - call it:
My kind of Town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people, too
People who smile at you

We’re aboard a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train, heading for Chicago’s downtown center known as “The Loop.”

[Train Announcement]
“This is Adams and Wabash. Transfer to Orange and Green Line trains at Adams and Wabash. This is a Brown Line train to Kimball.”

The system, also known simply by the letter "L," carries trains from Chicago’s northern, western, and southern areas, and then makes a complete circle – or loop – of the downtown district, on a large overhead structure, with many station stops, running high above the city streets.

“This is Madison and Wabash.”

There are also two subway lines running under the Loop, which serve additional routes of the city’s extensive rapid transit rail network.
​​
The “L’s” elevated railway loop is bordered by Wabash Avenue on the east, Lake Street and the Chicago River on the north, Wells Street on the west, and Adams Street on the south.

Each station along the “L” provides easy connections to shopping, hotels, restaurants and food stands, entertainment, music and cultural centers, and city and state government offices. The Loop is also the location of the city’s financial district, centered around La Salle Street. The financial district is home to the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Stock Exchange and many banks.

In the Loop, you’ll also find the Willis Tower. It’s the tallest building in Chicago, with its Skydeck observation level providing visitors with exciting views of the city.

‘Chicago Picasso’ - A Nice Gift, But What Does It Represent? ​​

The Chicago Picasso sculpture is a popular destination in the Loop’s Daley Plaza. It was a gift from the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso to the people of Chicago. It’s an eye-catcher and children love to climb on it, but no one seems to know what the sculpture represents.

Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, covered the unveiling of the sculpture in 1967. He wrote: “Interesting design, I’m sure. But the fact is, it has a long stupid face and looks like some giant insect that is about to eat a smaller, weaker insect.”

Well, as we say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Loop district actually extends east to the wide boulevard of Michigan Avenue, with its large stretches of green parkland along the shore of Lake Michigan. It also extends southward, by several blocks, to Roosevelt Road, and westward to the Chicago River.

Chicago Means High Spirits and Civic Pride
The people of Chicago are known for high spirits and a sense of fun and civic pride.

[Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade]
For example, the Chicago River is usually colored bright green to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. On that day, people say, “Everyone in the city is Irish.”

Another fun event – if not for everyone! - happens during Chicago’s often bitterly cold winters. It’s the Polar Plunge “swim” in Lake Michigan. This year, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and 3,000 other people jumped into the icy waters on a day when the air temperature was minus 12 degrees Celsius. The event helped pay for Special Olympics Chicago, a program for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Lakefront Offers Relaxation ​​ ​​

Of course, thousands of people enjoy Lake Michigan during warmer weather. Chicago has that, too! The city stretches along the southwestern side of the lake. The area is inviting to people who enjoy sailing, swimming and other water sports.

People exercise along lakefront bicycle paths. Or they may stretch out on blankets along the wide Oak Street Beach in the Gold Coast neighborhood on Chicago’s Near North Side.

The View from ‘Big John’

There are famous Chicago landmarks nearby, like the stately Drake Hotel. Towering above the beach is another one of Chicago’s modern tall buildings, the John Hancock Center, which also has an observation floor. While not as tall as the Willis Tower, “Big John,” as Chicagoans like to call the Hancock building, offers dramatic views of the shoreline of Lake Michigan, as well as the downtown panorama of Chicago’s many tall buildings that make up its distinctive skyline. The view is especially breathtaking at night! ​​

Lake Michigan is far more than a place to spend one’s free time…or look out over from Big John’s observation deck. Chicago is a major industrial and commercial port. It became a major port when the Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959. The seaway links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, connecting many ports in both the U.S. and Canada.

In addition to its natural beauty, Lake Michigan can bring not only heavy snows and sub-freezing temperatures in winter, but a brutal wind as well.

When the Wind Blows and the Snow Flies… ​​ ​​
​​Over the years, Chicago has built the Pedway, an extensive network of underground pedestrian tunnels in the Loop that provide a more comfortable way to move about when the weather is unfriendly. A portion of the Pedway also connects the Loop with the Lakefront commuter rail stations to the east. The Pedway connects many of the downtown stores, office buildings, hotels, and apartment buildings, and even provides shops and services. So, in many cases, Chicagoans can reach their destinations without too much discomfort from the city’s difficult winters.

But back to Michigan Avenue, which is perhaps the best known street in Chicago. Of course, musically some might argue with that statement…
On State Street, that great street
I just want to say,
They do things they don’t do on Broadway

More from that song later, but, as we were saying, Michigan Avenue…


It Survived the Great Fire of 1871 ​​
​​The Chicago Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue is in the center of what Chicagoans call the Magnificent Mile. Popular stores and large office buildings line the street. The old water tower and nearby pumping station were among the few structures to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Heading downtown on Michigan Avenue, we’ll stop and look up at the Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building, watch the boats on the Chicago River, cross over the river on the Michigan Avenue Bridge, and spend some time relaxing in Millennium Park. The huge park covers 10 hectares, between Michigan and Columbus Drive to the east, and between East Randolph Street on the north and East Monroe on the south. The park took almost nine years to finish and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Millennium Park has one of the largest outdoor sculptures in the world. British artist Anish Kapoor created this 10-ton work of public art. And the Catalan Spanish artist Jaume Plensa designed the Crown Fountain in the park. It may be one of the world’s most unusual fountains. The artist set a pool of water between two tall glass towers. Video images appear on the towers. The images are a series of pictures of objects in nature and people’s faces. The water appears to fall from their mouths. The faces represent the many different groups of people who live in Chicago.

About 45 percent of the population is white. The city also has many African Americans and people of Hispanic ancestry, and a small percentage of Asians. Over the years many immigrants have settled in Chicago. Many people have ethnic roots in Poland, Russia, and other Slavic countries, Germany, Ireland or Italy. But more recent immigrants have come from all over the world.
​​Millennium Park was a dream of former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley. He was elected to the office six times and served just before current mayor Rahm Emanuel took office. Mr. Daley and other city leaders believed a big park would bring more people, more homes and more businesses to the area. Mr. Daley’s father, Richard J. Daley, also served as Chicago’s mayor for many years.

Chicago is often called "the city that works." And the Daleys were known for getting things done. At its best, the city’s political machine has made things work smoothly, without major problems. But at its worst, the buildup of power in one group led to cases of corruption over the years.

Chicago Offers Culture, Music, Art

The Chicago Cultural Center, stands on East Randolph Street at Michigan Avenue. The building that now houses the center was completed in 1897.

Many people probably could spend all day there, and not get tired of it. People say the restored building looks like a home for kings and queens. Some call it “the People’s Palace.” There are white walls made of marble from Carrara, Italy. And there are two domes. The bigger dome is one of the largest Tiffany designs in the world. It rises almost 12 meters above the floor. Artists and musicians present free talks and perform at the cultural center.

Chicago is famous for its music, from rock, blues and jazz, to classical. The Chicago Symphony is considered one of the world’s finest.

And if you like jazz and blues, be sure to visit Rush Street.
[Lurlean Hunter sings]
If you could see me now, you’d know how blue I’ve been

Many great musicians of the past played in clubs there, and the tradition continues today.

Perhaps then you’d realize, I’m still in love with you

There is even a famous musical named “Chicago.” The actor, dancer and film director Bob Fosse was born in Chicago. He created dance routines for the musical, written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. The show opened on New York’s Broadway in 1975.

It had to do with Chicago’s colorful lawless era of the 1920s.

It starred Broadway greats Gwen Verdon, Jerry Ohrbach…and Chita Rivera.
Come on Babe, why don’t we paint the town
And all that jazz
I’m gonna rouge my knees and pull my stockings down
And all that jazz
Start the car, I know a whoopee spot
Where the gin is cold but the piano’s hot
It’s just a noisy hall where there’s a nightly brawl
And all that jazz

Well, now, as you can probably imagine, a city with so much to offer as Chicago, cannot really be sampled in just one program. So we will definitely come back another time…and show you more!

The L as Movie Star ​​

We started our visit today by riding the L into Chicago’s Loop. The L is so much a part of Chicago that it’s not surprising to see it in many movies set in the “Windy City.”
​​
Film director Andrew Davis grew up in Chicago. He used the L in films including “The Package,” “Code of Silence,” “Above the Law,” and, of course, “The Fugitive.”

[Andrew Davis talks about filming “The Fugitive”]

“This is done on a moving train at night, back and forth, in a loop around The Loop. I’ve had a lot of experience shooting on the L’s in Chicago. Almost all of my films I’ve done there have the L as part of the fabric, and they were very cooperative with us.”

[From “The Fugitive” (Movie, 1993)]
L Motorman: "Next stop, Balbo Station, Balbo"
Andreas Katsoulas (the one-armed man): “This is my stop.”
Harrison Ford (Richard Kimble): “This is my stop, too.”
Transit Policeman: “Kimble!” [Gunshots]
[L Train goes into emergency stop as Kimble pulls emergency handle]
Harrison Ford (Kimble): “You missed your stop!”

Andrew Davis: “I love you, Chicago!”

So do we! This program was written by Jerilyn Watson, who grew up in Chicago, and by yours truly Steve Ember, who likes to visit, ride the L, look at the exciting mix of architecture, and take pictures in the “Windy City” whenever he can. Join us again next week for another This is America from VOA Learning English.

Frank Sinatra sings “Chicago”
Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town
Chicago, Chicago, I’ll show you around
I love it
Bet your bottom dollar, you’ll lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago
The town that [evangelist] Billy Sunday couldn’t shut down
On State Street, that great street, I just want to say,
They do things they don’t do on Broadway
They have the time, the time of their life
I saw a man, he danced with his wife
In Chicago, Chicago, my home town. ​​ ​​

New Opportunities Open for Foreign Engineering Students

Hello again, and welcome to As It Is. I’m Jonathan Evans in Washington.

Today on the program, we tell you how one talented dancer performing in a famous New York theater is sharing his abilities with children in Africa. But first, American colleges and universities have a new program to give foreign engineering students a chance to study and work in the United States. VOA reporter Karen Legett has more.

New Opportunities for Foreign Engineering Students

It is called the Charles M. Vest Grand Challenges for Engineering International Scholarship Program. The grand challenges are 14 big problems that could be solved by engineers in the 21st century. They include making energy from the sun more economical, providing more clean water, preventing nuclear terror, and making better medicines.

Eight American universities each offered one Vest scholarship in 2014. Rich Miller is the president of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts. He talks about the type of Vest scholars Olin College is seeking.

“The concept is to try to find very highly gifted individuals who are likely to make a difference in their generation. They are up-and-comers. People who are in graduate school now who have ambitions to make a difference on a large scale… We believe that the next generation, in order to achieve that vision, are going to have to work across the globe.”

The first class of Vest scholars has already been selected. Applicants must propose a one-year research and study plan connected to one of the grand challenges. Applications for the next class are being accepted now at www.vestscholars.org.

Another program for young, foreign engineers is Frontiers of Engineering organized by the National Academy of Engineering. Young engineers from 30 to 45 years old come together to listen to presentations about the newest developments in all types of engineering.

Two engineers who study earthquakes in the United States and India met at a Frontiers of Engineering meeting in the United States in 2012. Nicolas Luco with the United States Geological Survey talked about designing nuclear power plants that can withstand earthquakes.

…”make sure that you design for some ground motion that has a small chance of happening. We want to be pretty conservative. This newer method goes beyond that and says we really want to quantify what is the chance of damage to the power plant, what level of round shaking should we design for.”

C.S. Manohar is an engineer from Bangalore, India, who listened to Mr. Luco and invited him to come to India. Both of these engineers want stronger building rules to deal with the risk of earthquakes in all buildings, not just nuclear power plants.
These engineers are now looking for money to pay for further cooperation. But already Mr. Manohar says,

“Actually it has not translated into any specific action, but the mere awareness is also very important.”

Building awareness and connections is what the Frontiers of Engineering program is all about. The Frontiers of Engineering meetings are planned for and by younger engineers. There is a meeting in India in May, one in Japan in June and one in California in September.

I’m Karen Leggett.

And I’m Jonathan Evans. You are listening to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

Many dancers and actors dream of performing on Broadway in New York City. One American dancer is living his dream. But he also shares his talents by teaching students in Rwanda. Bob Doughty has more.

A Dance Education for Children

American LaMar Baylor spends most of his time in New York City. He works as a performer in the Broadway musical “The Lion King.” But since 2011, he has also spent weeks in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. There he teaches dance to boys who live on the street.

His teaching is part of an effort by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company. The project helps young people learn more about dance – and learn how to behave in a classroom environment.
LaMar Baylor describes his students as genocide survivors. They have lost all of their families. Some have been in jail. Others have sold their bodies for sex.

“They have been through things that no one should ever have to go through.”

He says dance classes provide the children with structured learning and self-expression that they have never had before.

Rebecca Davis is the founder and director of the dance company. She says she got the idea for the project after she visited Rwanda in 2008. She remembers meeting a large number of street children who were dancing. And, she thought that dance could be used to get them off the street and into a safer place.

Rebecca Davis believes that learning to dance is a step toward education.

“When you start to play music in Rwanda, these kids come out of nowhere and they enter the center. And it’s because of dance that they have a way of exchanging their physicality, their survival skills that they learn on the street, and their strength, into something that is actually artistic and aesthetic.”

She says children can take classes in information and technology after they have learned to attend classes and follow directions.

The boys who win scholarships are sent to the Sonrise Boarding School. About 30 boys have won this kind of financial aid.

She says all the students are male because few girls in Rwanda live freely on the street.

The Rwanda program is the largest one set up by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company. But Ms. Davis has also set up a dance program in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Guinea. About 2,000 children in the three countries have taken part in the project since it was launched in 2010.

As for LaMar Baylor, he knows from his own experience how dance can lead to a better life. He is from Camden, New Jersey. Camden has sometimes been called America’s poorest and most dangerous city. Mr. Baylor says that, growing up in Camden, it took a long time for him to find out what he wanted to do. He now thinks dancing saved his life.

I’m Bob Doughty.

And that’s our program for today. Be sure to join again tomorrow for another As It Is. I’m Jonathan Evans. Thanks for listening. ​​ ​​

Bigwig and Top Banana

Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.


Some expressions describe people who are important -- or who at least think they are. One such expression is bigwig.

In the 17th century, important men in Europe began to wear false hair, called wigs. As years passed, wigs began to get bigger. The size of a man's wig depended on how important he was. The more important he was -- or thought he was -- the bigger the wig he wore. Some wigs were so large they covered a man's shoulders or back.

Today, the expression "bigwig" is used to make fun of a person who feels important. People never tell someone he is a bigwig. They only use the expression behind his back.

"Big wheel" is another way to describe an important person. A big wheel may be the head of a company, a political leader, a famous movie star. They are big wheels because they are powerful. What they do affects many people. Big wheels give the orders. Other people carry them out. As in many machines, a big wheel makes the little wheels turn.

Big wheel became a popular expression after World War II. It probably comes from an expression used for many years by people who fix parts of cars and trucks. They said a person "rolled a big wheel" if he was important and had influence.

The top of something is the highest part. So it is not surprising that top is part of another expression that describes an important person. The expression is top banana. A "top banana" is the leading person in a comedy show. The funniest comedian is called "the top banana." The next is "second banana." And so on.

Why a banana? A comedy act in earlier days often included a part where one of the comedians would hit the others over the head with a soft object. The object was shaped like the yellow fruit: the banana.

Top banana still is used mainly in show business. Yet the expression can also be used to describe the top person in any area.

A "kingpin" is another word for an important person. The expression comes from the game of bowling. The kingpin is the number one pin. If hit correctly with the bowling ball, the kingpin will make all the other nine pins fall. And that is the object of the game.

So, the most important person in a project or business is the kingpin. If the kingpin is removed, the business or project is likely to fail.

Kingpin is often used to describe an important criminal, or the leader of a criminal gang. A newspaper may report, for example, that "police have arrested the suspected kingpin of a car-stealing operation."

This VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories was written by Marilyn Christiano.

I'm Warren Scheer.

Security Concerns Raised on Obama’s Asian Trip

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

It has been nearly three years since President Barack Obama announced what has been called the “Asia pivot.” The term describes increasing attention on East Asia and the Pacific after reducing American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This week, President Obama left Washington for a weeklong trip to four Asian countries. The trip aimed to re-state U.S. support for the security of Asian allies and for reducing trade barriers among Pacific nations.

Mr. Obama arrived in Japan Wednesday at a time when a number of allies are concerned about China’s military expansion. Many Japanese have noted the failure of the Obama administration to act on its threats to attack Syria. They have seen the administration’s unwillingness to provide military aid to Ukraine. The Japanese are worried that the United States may not come to Japan’s aid.


President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on April 24, 2014.President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on April 24, 2014.
On Thursday, the president said the U.S. would honor a defense treaty with Japan if China seizes a disputed group of islands. The islands are known as Senkaku in Japan and as Diaoyu in China. Mr. Obama spoke after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“The treaty between the United States and Japan preceded my birth, so obviously this isn't a red line that I'm drawing. It is the standard interpretation over multiple administrations of the terms of the alliance, which is that territories under the administration of Japan are covered under the treaty. There's no shift in position. There's no red line that's been drawn. We're simply applying the treaty.”

But in Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman noted that nothing has changed. The official said, “the Diaoyu Islands are China’s inherent territory” and the country would protect its “sovereignty and maritime rights.”


At his meetings in Tokyo, President Obama urged Japan to speed up talks for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The partnership would create a free trade zone among Pacific countries. The negotiations were slowed down over Japanese taxes on agricultural products.

On Friday, the U.S president was in Seoul for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. At a joint press conference, Mr. Obama said America would never back away from its promise to help South Korea. He also said the two countries will stand “shoulder to shoulder” against any incitement by North Korea. Earlier he gave a warning to the North against carrying out another nuclear test.

After two days in Seoul, Mr. Obama will visit Malaysia and then the Philippines. Territorial disputes with China and U.S. military cooperation will again come up for discussion.

This is President Obama’s fifth visit to Asia since taking office in 2009. Susan Rice is his National Security Advisor. Speaking before the Asian tour, she presented the trip as a chance to declare U.S. focus on Asia and the Pacific.

“Whether it ought to be viewed as a containment of China, I would say this trip has a very positive, affirmative agenda and that is how we are looking at it - as an opportunity to solidify and modernize our alliances and partnerships; as an opportunity to advance our economic agenda.”

And that’s In The News from VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

Dry Weather and 'Dirty' Farming Affect Food Supplies

From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is! I’m Anna Matteo.

Today’s “As It Is” is all about farming and food – something we can’t live without. A report shows that industrial farmers may be making growing condition more difficult for themselves.

But first, we talk about the weather. There’s an old joke. When you don’t know what to talk about, you talk about the weather! But, when the weather affects how much you spend on food or if you even have food … then people actually want to talk about the weather.

And people in the U.S. are talking about California’s lack of rainfall – or drought. Record-low rainfall in that state could affect food prices in America. And like a rock thrown into a pond -- it could have a “ripple effect” on food prices all around the world.

Here’s Caty Weaver with more on that story.

California Drought Will Lead to Higher Food Prices

In the Central Valley of California, farmers are reducing crop size because they do not have enough water. Last year, California had the least amount of rain since officials began keeping records. And it may be just as bad this year.

Reservoirs are areas where water is stored. In California, some reservoirs are empty. The amount of snow in the Sierra Mountains is 75 percent below normal. This mountain snow melts in the spring and fills rivers. The water is used by farmers.
​​But now, farmers are warning of the possibility of another “Dust Bowl,” like the one of the 1930s. Severe droughts and dust storms covered American farmlands and few crops grew.

Farmers in California produce almost half of U.S. fruits and vegetables. Much of it comes from the Central Valley.

Dan Errotabere is a third generation California farmer. He grows tomatoes, walnuts, garlic and other crops in Fresno County. He says the federal agency that controls the amount of water released from dams and rivers has stopped giving him water. He and other farmers say officials are not correctly administering the water system.

“The last couple of years -- dry years, including, coupled with severe environmental restrictions -- has now presented us with a zero allocation year.”
​​Farmers may not be able to plant crops on more than 200,000 hectares of farmland in the Central Valley this spring. Mr. Errotabere will plant crops on just 80 percent of his farmland. He has enough work for only 15 of his 25 workers.

Federal and state officials sometimes reduce the amount of water to farmers even in years with normal rainfall levels. The officials must supply water to the Sacramento River Delta which is home to several endangered species.

Long-term solutions include conservation, recycling waste water and, building “desalinization centers.” These centers remove salt from seawater so it can be used on farms. Farmers say better administration of the state’s water system could also help solve the crisis.

I’m Caty Weaver.

And I’m Anna Matteo. You are listening to As It Is.

Dirty Farming Will Lead to Climate Change

Agriculture is, by its nature – dirty. But it is also dirty. Industrial agriculture produces a lot of the greenhouse gasses that scientists link to rising temperatures and climate change. And climate change can hurt growing seasons. And that hurts food supplies. So, if industrial agriculture wants more production, it had better clean up its act.

Karen Leggett has more on a report that looks at farming practices and their effect on growing crops.

The Worldwatch Institute in Washington says high temperatures and unpredictable weather are disrupting agriculture in many parts of the world. It suggests ways that the agriculture industry could reduce its own effects on the environment.

The report is called "Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production." Danielle Nierenberg from the research group Food Tank was one of its authors.

“Because industrial agriculture tends to be very resource-intensive, it uses a lot of fossil fuels, it’s a huge contributor to climate change. Anywhere from 25 to 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the agriculture sector. If you look at all the ingredients that really go into making food -- fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotic use, transportation, processing facilities -- all those things are very dependent on fossil fuels."

Ms. Nierenberg says animal production has an especially big effect on the environment. She notes that the amount of meat being eaten in countries like Brazil, China and India is growing. As a result, more industrial animal facilities or factory farms are being built in the developing world. Those big farms need fossil fuel inputs to operate, and they require long-distance transportation, she says, "so all those things can contribute to climate change."

The report recommends six land and water use practices that it says are sustainable. These include growing trees on farmland to reduce soil erosion and planting cover crops to make soil less vulnerable to drought, heat and pests. Ms. Nierenberg says urban farming can help, as well.

“Growing more food in cities can reduce transportation costs. So, urban residents can buy very locally from rooftops or backyards in their communities. So you’re reducing transportation. You’re making a city more green and helping sequester carbon so that it’s not just a concrete jungle, but a place that really supports food production.”
Other recommended practices include recycling wastewater in cities, drip irrigation, and catching and storing rainwater. Another recommendation is to replace chemical fertilizer with animal waste.

I’m Karen Leggett.

And I’m Anna Matteo. And that’s As It Is for today! Has the weather affected food prices where you live? Have your food bills gone up recently? What about the farming industry in your part of the world? Tell us about it all in our comment section.

And join us tomorrow for another As It Is. ​​

Bangladesh Building Collapse Leads to Safety Measures

Hello and welcome back to the program that helps you learn and improve your American English. I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Today we return to Bangladesh, one year after a terrible accident. How have things changed since many people lost their lives?

Then we’re off to New York City for an international automobile show that features electric-powered cars that are made to be more environment friendly.

Let’s get started!

It has been one year since a deadly building collapse in Bangladesh. More than 1,100 factory workers were killed in the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, near the capital, Dhaka. Since then, efforts to improve safety have begun. But many families of victims are in need of financial help. And hundreds of survivors remain unemployed.
Jonathan Evans has more on the story.

Rezwan Selim is the owner of the Softex Sweater plant. For 15 years, his company manufactured clothing in a rented building in Dhaka. But in March, production halted when international inspectors told him to stop work because the factory was not structurally safe.

The closure is a result of an agreement called the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. One hundred fifty retail businesses signed the accord after the building collapse last year. Many of the companies are based in Europe.

The Rana Plaza had structural problems, with cracks appearing in the building. But garment workers were told to continue making clothing. Hundreds were crushed to death or injured when the building collapsed.

The disaster put pressure on clothing retailers to make sure that the garment factories making their products are safe. The accord led to measures designed to protect garment workers. Inspectors have examined about 300 of the 1,500 buildings they plan to inspect by September. Eight have been completely or partially closed in an effort to prevent another Rana Plaza-like accident.

The accord is not the only effort to improve building safety. More than 20 American and Canadian retailers are leading a similar effort. And the group has ordered one factory to close.

Rob Wayss is the executive director of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. He says the factory closures are a sign that change is taking place. But he admits that there has been some resistance.

“I think in some ways, in many ways, though it is unfortunate, the requirement that suspension of production and evacuation of factory buildings is another indicator that progress is being made. There is a price tag on the fixes, and so there has been, I think, a little bit of anxiety and a little bit of an effort to try to push it back or slow it down.”

Bangladesh is the second largest supplier of clothing in the world. Critics warned last year that retailers would reduce their presence in Bangladesh because of the disaster. But activists say this has not happened, and business expanded over the past year. The activists are calling on garment factory owners to do more to improve the industry.

The attention since the building collapse has put pressure on the government to improve working conditions for garment workers. The lowest monthly wage has been raised from $36 to $68. And Bangladesh has passed a law enabling workers to form labor unions.

However, many people feel that the condition of those who were working in Rana Plaza has been overlooked. The question is whether the Rana Plaza disaster will become a turning point for the garment industry, or will it be business as usual?

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Electric Cars on Display at Big Auto Show

The 2014 New York International Auto Show is underway at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center. This year, many automakers are demonstrating electric-powered or hybrid vehicles to meet a growing demand for cars that are friendly to the environment. Experts believe more people will want these new kinds of transportation, but there are still some technological problems to solve. Steve Ember, who just loves cars, joins us with more.

The Japanese automaker Toyota manufactures a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The car is said to start quickly, offer a smooth ride and produce no carbon monoxide gas. Wade Hoyt works for Toyota Motors.

“ ​​We think that hydrogen is the future of electric vehicles because they’re so much more convenient. And the way it works is the hydrogen wants to combine with the oxygen in the air. It forms H2O, which is water vapor, is the only exhaust, so it’s a true zero emissions vehicle. And you get electricity out of that combination.”

Few automakers are producing electric and hybrid vehicles. Hybrids depend on at least two power sources, like electricity and traditional fuel. At the auto show, Ford demonstrated an all-electric powered Ford Focus. Chevrolet spoke about the environment-friendly qualities of its Volt.

Electric cars are easy on the environment. And they can also offer strong performance. Tesla Motors showed a car that can go from zero to about 100 kilometers an hour in 3.7 seconds. The car has a top speed of just over 200 kilometers an hour.

Electric cars can start up quickly on the road because their motors offer more torque than comparable gasoline engines. Torque is a turning or twisting force in the engine.

But the move from gasoline to electric cars is a slow process, says James Bell of General Motors.

“I think the mistake that many people in the industry and in the media maybe thought was that – you know, when the Nissan Leaf came out or the Chevrolet Volt – was that suddenly people would drop their gasoline powered cars and rush for them. No, it’s not that way. This is going to be a slow evolution, but it’s also a ‘Pandora’s Box’ moment. It’s not going to go back in. Electrified vehicles are the way to meet those emissions in the future.”

More than 60 million cars are produced worldwide each year. But only one million of them are electric vehicles or hybrids. But last year, the number of such cars rose 100 percent.
​​
Automakers still do not earn a profit on electric cars because of the high cost of battery technology. For example, Tesla’s battery costs $50,000. That represents about half of the vehicle’s total selling price. But manufacturers pay the costs because they believe electric vehicles are an important part of the industry’s future.

Matt Miller is a reporter for Bloomberg News. He says a mixture of old and new technology is a winning combination.

“Really, the key for the future, I think, is hybrid technology, so rather than having a car like a Tesla, that’s completely electric power, you have a car like the BMW I-3 or I-8, which has a small gasoline motor to help charge the battery when it’s needed and electric motors to drive.”

The issue is to produce a car with a long, low-cost battery life. This will enable the driver to travel a long way before having to add more electricity. Automakers expect many millions of Americans will then decide to move from a traditional car to an electric or hybrid vehicle. I’m Steve Ember.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. More Learning English programs are headed your way, and there is world news at the beginning of the hour. We’ll see you tomorrow on VOA. ​​

Vietnam Says No to Asian Games

Hello and welcome back. I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. We invite you to listen carefully to learn about the world. And you can improve your American English reading and speaking at the same time.

Today we talk about sports and Vietnam. The country recently said, “thanks,” but “no thanks,” regarding the Asian games. We’ll tell you why.

Then we say happy birthday (number 450) to English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote some of the most memorable words ever put on paper. But one acting group in the United States is putting on his plays …without speaking! How is that possible?

Stay with us and discover our world …As It Is.

Last week, the government in Vietnam surprised some observers with its decision not to hold the Asian Games in 2019. However, many people inside the country have welcomed the decision. Reporter Marianne Brown is in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. June Simms has her story.

Vietnamese fans at any big football match can show lots of energy when supporting their country at international sporting events. Football generally creates the most excitement. Vietnamese often wear the colors of top teams, like Manchester United and Barcelona, on their motorbikes and clothing. But other sports, like badminton, are also popular.

That is why the Vietnamese government’s decision not to hold the 2019 Asian Games came as a surprise to many observers. One of them is Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert from the University of New South Wales.

“This is a country that likes to be a centerpiece, and that is sports mad. It just surprised me because Vietnam usually, is always, grabs these opportunities to showcase itself.”

However, the reaction from inside the country suggests that many Vietnamese had expected the decision. In a statement last week, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam did not have enough experience at hosting large sporting events.

The statement said that hosting an international sporting event can “contribute to social-economic development, promoting the country’s images and increasing its position.” But if the event is not successful, “the effects will be reversed.”

Hanoi won the right to host the Asian games in 2012, beating the Indonesian city of Surabaya. But some Vietnamese criticized the expected costs.

Local media have estimated the cost of holding the 2019 games at $150 million. But some reports set the price much higher.

The decision led some people to say that Vietnam was concerned about bad publicity after Russia’s experience with the Winter Olympics in Sochi. But Professor Thayer does not think this was likely.

“Who except for a handful of people would be worried about the expense? You know, I mean, high speed rail, that’s an expense that the Prime Minister loses. But on the Asian Games, it would be circuses for the masses.”

Hoang Quoc Vinh is director of international cooperation at the Viet Nam Sports Administration. He told VOA that the government has invested a lot in this area, especially in supporting young people. In his words, it is a “pity” Vietnam is not hosting the Asian Games. He described the feeling as being like when a football is almost inside the goal, but suddenly changes direction and finally lands outside the net.

In the past, two other countries decided against the Asian Games: South Korea in 1970; and Pakistan in 1978. I’m June Simms.

Could You Please Speak A Little Louder?

Today, April 23rd, marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of playwright William Shakespeare. An American theater company recently marked Shakespeare’s birthday with a revival, or new production, of his play Hamlet. But this version of the play is performed without spoken words. Caty Weaver has more.

Synetic Theater Company is based in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Paata Tsikurishvili and his wife Irina launched the company 12 years ago. The Tsikurishvilis moved to the United States from Georgia in the 1990s. They starred as Hamlet and Ophelia in Synetic’s first silent version of Hamlet.

Paata Tsikurishvili says that is how the critically praised “Silent Shakespeare” series began.

“Hamlet opened the door for us in a theater community and brought us many awards and recognition. That was a start for Synetic Theater that spread the word about the theater company that we are doing Shakespeare without text, which is unusual and the same time very accessible.”

The company uses music, dance and facial expressions to tell the story.

This time, Irina appeared in the play as Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother. She says that Shakespearian language is widely understood and permits a lot of creativity.

“We’ve done so many different ways Shakespeare. We’ve done Shakespeare in (the) Twenties. Recently, we’ve done Twelfth Night; we had also Shakespeare on the sand. It was King Lear. And we’ve done The Tempest on the water.”
​​​Actor Alex Mills has performed in many Synetic productions. He says playing the part of Hamlet was difficult, and a huge responsibility.

“For Paata to pass it along to me, having it been a role that he developed originally, in a way it feels like passing along a torch, you know, entrusting me to carry that role in the show.”


The part of Ophelia was a childhood dream for 20-year-old Irina Kavsdze.

“My first interaction with Shakespeare was silent. Before I started reading Shakespeare on my own or in school, I saw this Hamlet for the first time. I was nine years old. I hadn’t read any other Shakespeare.”

Since opening in 2002, the Synetic Theater Company has received 24 Helen Hayes Awards and 92 nominations. The awards recognize theater excellence in the Washington, D.C. area. Victor Shargai is chairman of the awards committee.

“What they have done for Washington theater is really very, very important. For national theater, for the entire country.”

In January, Washingtonian magazine honored Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili as “Washingtonians of the Year” for their work in the local theater community. I’m Caty Weaver.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Whenever I think about Shakespeare, I remember the line from Hamlet.

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

I have always thought it meant to be honest with yourself. What do you think it means? Send us an email or a letter with your ideas.

That’s all for now, but more Learning English programs are coming up. And there is world news at the beginning of the hour on VOA. ​​

'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too' Bring Whigs to White House

From VOA Learning English, welcome to The Making of a Nation, our weekly program of American history for people learning American English. I’m Steve Ember.

In November of 1840, the American people elected William Henry Harrison as their ninth president. Harrison was a retired general and a well-known Indian fighter. Many people considered him a hero for his victory over Native Americans at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

​​Americans elected John Tyler as Harrison’s vice president. The two men ran on the campaign slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!” ​​ ​​Harrison was the first president from the Whig party. Some Whig leaders, including Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, believed they could control the newly elected president.

Harrison asked Daniel Webster to edit the speech he planned to give after the swearing-in ceremonies. Webster removed some material from the inaugural speech and suggested other changes.

The inauguration took place on March 4, 1841. It was the coldest inaugural day in the nation's history. Harrison spoke on the front steps of the Capitol building. He gave the longest inaugural address of any president. It lasted almost two hours.

But Harrison did not wear a winter overcoat or hat. He got sick, probably from standing so long outside in the cold. Rest was his best treatment. But the new president was so busy, he had little time to rest.

Harrison Dies After One Month as President

Harrison's health grew worse. Late in March 1841, he developed pneumonia. Doctors did everything they could to cure him. But nothing seemed to help. On April 4, exactly one month after he became president, William Henry Harrison died.

Vice President John Tyler was then at his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. Daniel Webster, the new secretary of state, sent his son on horseback to tell Tyler of the president's death.

The vice president was shocked. He had not even known that Harrison was sick. Two hours after he received the news, Tyler was on his way to Washington.
There was some question about Tyler's official duties. Harrison’s death marked the first time that a president had died in office. No one was sure what the Constitution meant when it said that the powers of a deceased president should go to the vice president.
Eventually, Tyler, Webster and other cabinet members decided that Tyler should be president and serve until the next election.

“That was a very controversial claim. Because people said no, he’s not the president, he’s an acting president. He’s just temporarily filling the office, but he’s not president.”

Historian Michael Holt taught at the University of Virginia. He says although not everyone supported John Tyler’s claim, he set an important example. He showed how power could transfer peacefully to the vice president after a U.S. president died in office.

John Tyler Becomes President

Tyler was sworn-in as the nation’s 10th president on April 6, 1841. He was 51 years old. No other man had become president at such an early age.

Tyler was a slave-holding southerner. He was born and grew up in the same part of Virginia as William Henry Harrison. His father was a wealthy landowner and judge who had been a friend of Thomas Jefferson.

Tyler completed studies at the College of William and Mary, and became a lawyer. He entered politics and served in the Virginia state legislature. Then he was elected a member of Congress and, later, governor of Virginia. He also served as a member of the United States Senate.

Tyler believed strongly in the rights of the states. As a congressman and a senator, he had voted against every attempt to give more power to the federal government. In fact, historian Michael Holt says that in many ways, Tyler was more like a member of the Democrats -- the opposing party at the time.

“He favored the typical position of Democrats on what we could call domestic policy, which is ‘that government is best which governs least.’ So the less federal domestic policy you have trying to generate economic growth or improve society or whatever, the better.”

In comparison, many Whig Party members firmly supported the ideas of a national bank, a protective tax on imports, and federal spending to improve transportation in the states. Tyler was just as firmly against these ideas.

At the same time, many Democrats did not like the president either.

“Most Democrats regarded him as a traitor who had jumped from the Jackson party and joined the Whigs, however temporarily.”
​​Michael Holt says even Tyler’s appearance made him seem difficult and unpleasant.

“You look at this guy and he’s sort of aesthetically thin, and with sunken cheeks, and a long pointed nose. He just looks like he’s unhappy with the world.”

Support for National Bank Costs Tyler Support

President Tyler quickly became even more unpopular over the issue of a new national bank. He wanted to establish such a bank in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC. The national bank could open offices in a state, but only if the state approved.

Tyler’s proposal was not the kind of bank most Whigs in Congress supported. They wanted no limits of any kind on the power of a national bank to open offices anywhere in the country.

Whigs in Congress suggested a compromise: bank offices would be permitted in any state where the state legislature did not immediately refuse permission.
But President Tyler vetoed the compromise. He sent the bank bill back to Congress.

The congressmen wrote another bill. They said it was exactly what the president wanted. But the president did not agree. He said the states must have the right to approve or reject bank offices.

He said this second bill would also be vetoed unless changes were made in it. The changes were not made. And Tyler did as he said he would do. He vetoed it.

The decision created a crisis in the cabinet. All the president’s advisors but one — Daniel Webster — resigned.

Michael Holt says that, several days later, most cabinet members and a large group of other Whig congressmen voted to expel Tyler from the party.

“And they read this paper saying he’s no Whig, don’t blame us for all his vetoes.”

Harrison appointed a new cabinet of Whigs he hoped would be more friendly to him. But after a while, they too resigned. Michael Holt says Tyler made more changes in his cabinet than any other U.S. president.

Tyler Faces Other Crises

President Tyler struggled with his party over other issues. One was about import taxes.

Two years into Tyler’s presidency, the government found itself short of money. It was spending more than it had. Congress decided that import taxes should be raised, some even higher than 20 percent.


But President Tyler vetoed the bill. He said it was wrong to raise the tax so high and, at the same time, continue to give the states money from land sales. He said the federal government itself needed the land-sale money.

Michael Holt says once again, the Whigs were angry. Their party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House, but they could not reach their goals.

“The Whigs were elected with this agenda that they wanted Congress to pass, that they had promised would rescue the country from a very serious depression. And this included a new national bank, higher tariffs, distribution of federal revenues from public land sales.”

President Tyler, he adds, frustrated the entire Whig legislative program.

It was clear the Whigs would not nominate him for the next election. So Tyler turned his attention to the Democrats. He hoped they would ask him to be their presidential candidate in 1844.

Tyler Seeks Support from Democrats

Tyler began appointing Democratic advisors to his cabinet. And he gave his support to one of the Democrats’ causes: making Texas a state in the Union.
Texas was an independent nation at the time. Some Americans wanted to bring Texas into the United States to further expand the country. But others were afraid that the territory would permit slavery. They wanted to keep an equal balance between slave-holding and non-slave-holding states.

President Tyler had the opposite fear. Michael Holt explains that Tyler was afraid that Texas would remain an independent republic and abolish slavery there.

“He and other southerners thought that was a terrible idea. But he also believed that this is what’s going to put him in the history books. He’s going to be responsible for adding this enormous republic of Texas -- although it wasn’t quite as big as what they claimed -- to the United States.”

The election of 1844 and the question of Texas statehood will be our story next week.

I'm Steve Ember, inviting you to join us next time for The Making of a Nation - American history from VOA Learning English. ​​

Agent Orange Removal Continues in Vietnam

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the program that helps you learn and improve your American English. I’m Jim Tedder in Washington.

Today we return to Southeast Asia to hear about efforts to remove a dangerous chemical that was used during the Vietnam War.

Then …to the moon! In fact …into the moon. NASA has sent a spacecraft crashing into our nightly neighbor to study …of all things …dust! If you stay with us, you’ll find out why.

As It Is …from VOA …is on the air.

Officials from the United States and Vietnam attended a ceremony last weekend at a former U.S. air base in central Vietnam. The event marked a new step in efforts to clean up a chemical used by American forces during the Vietnam War. The U.S. military used the chemical, known as Agent Orange, to destroy plants and trees. Agent Orange has been linked to some forms of cancer and other health problems. Jonathan Evans tells us more.

​​The U.S. military used Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to destroy tree cover for communist troops. However, the herbicide releases a poisonous byproduct or dioxin. It has been linked to diseases such as diabetes, cancer and birth defects.

Last Saturday, officials from both countries met at the Da Nang air base, where Agent Orange was once stored. The base is one of 28 dioxin hotspots in Vietnam. Officials plan to clean up the polluted soil in the affected areas by cooking it at high temperatures.

David Shear is the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam. He spoke about the clean-up process.

"We built a containment structure roughly the size of a football field and filled it with 45,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil...Beginning today the contaminated soil will be heated to extremely high temperatures to destroy dioxin. After approximately four months the soil will be tested to confirm that the project cleanup goals have been achieved."

Patrick Leahy is a Senator from the American state of Vermont. He says the Agent Orange project has four goals.

"First to eliminate the danger from dioxin to people living here. Second to show that for so many years, the US didn’t ignore this problem, we returned to take care of it. Third, our two countries can work together on a problem that for more than three decades was an obstacle for better relations. Fourth to improve services for people with disabilities regardless of the cause, including what may have been caused by Agent Orange."

Repairing relations has been an important issue for the U.S. and Vietnam since the two sides re-established ties nearly 20 years ago. The cleanup is a sign of progress in cooperation between the two governments. Ambassador Shear spoke about this cooperation during his speech at the event.

"President Obama and President Sang inaugurated the new US-Vietnam comprehensive partnership last summer. I can think of no better example for our growing friendship than this project."

The United States continues to provide money for the Agent Orange cleanup and projects to help people with disabilities in Vietnam. But the U.S. has never admitted responsibility for health problems caused by dioxin.

Carl Thayer is a professor from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

"America is trying to avoid all the one-to-one compensation cases by arguing the scientific basis is not clear, you have no basis, you don’t know what the genetics of the people were to begin with. That’s what a good defense lawyer would do."

In 2004, a group of Vietnamese took legal action against the chemical companies that produced Agent Orange. But a U.S. federal judge dismissed the case. The judge ruled that the use of Agent Orange did not violate international law at the time it was used.

Nguyen Chi Vinh is Vietnam's Vice Minister of National Defense. He believes the Agent Orange project is an opportunity to look to the future.

He says he believes the success of the Agent Orange project does not depend on fixing past issues, but on opening a new road for the future. I’m Jonathan Evans.

The Moon is a Dusty Place

Recently, the American space agency, NASA, directed one of its spacecraft to crash on the moon. The spacecraft was known as the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE.

Before the crashing on the moon’s surface, NASA scientists collected information from LADEE. Mario Ritter likes looking at the moon, and he tells us about some early findings.

NASA launched the spacecraft from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 6, 2013. A Minotaur V rocket carried LADEE into space.

“Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Zero. Ignition and lift off of Minotaur V with LADEE, pursuing a mission of moon dust and the lunar atmosphere…”
​​LADEE has been orbiting the moon since last October. The tube-shaped vehicle was about the size of a vending machine, with solar equipment on its sides. The goal was to study dust in the moon’s atmosphere. Butler Hine is project manager with NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. Speaking by Skype, he says LADEE began taking measurements at 250 kilometers above the moon’s surface.


“And as we got lower into the science orbit, the dust density just kept increasing.”

So where does all that dust come from? And how does it move around on the moon? To answer those questions, LADEE’s instruments made about 700,000 measurements.

“And one of the things that we saw is that it is almost a continuous shroud around the moon, and some of the production of the dust is done by meteorite impacts to the moon, and that’s kind of a continuous rain on the moon. And so the source of the dust is kind of a continuous thing.”

Butler Hine says a moon-based observatory would have to deal with all the dust. But he thinks the dust would not cause problems for spacecraft or human activity on the surface.

“And what we’ve seen so far is that while there’s a lot of dust, the levels are high, we haven’t seen any indication that that level of dust is a hazard at all. We haven’t seen any degradation of our spacecraft systems, for instance, and the dust levels that we do detect wouldn’t pose a significant risk to any future mission.”

LADEE found evidence of neon, argon, methane, carbon dioxide and other substances. It also successfully tested a broadband communication system between Earth and the moon. Butler Hine thinks LADEE’s space bus design could be copied for other missions.

“The spacecraft can be put together in different ways, depending on the type of mission. So for instance, this bus (design) can be configured as a lunar orbiter, which is what LADEE is…It’s designed for the environment anywhere between the Earth orbit and Mars orbit. It’s even designed as a lunar lander configuration. So you can take some of the bus modules, put them together in a fashion where it could land on the moon.”

NASA scientists were concerned about a lunar eclipse during LADEE’s final days. During this period, the solar equipment was in total darkness. For four hours, the spacecraft had to depend on battery power to protect its systems from freezing.

“We basically prepared the spacecraft ahead of the eclipse, where we turned off the science instruments to conserve power. We turned on and off different heaters or configured them to go on and off and then we let it fly through the eclipse.”

But LADEE did not need much more power. The spacecraft was programmed to crash on the far side of the moon, far from the historic areas where astronauts have landed. It continued to gather and send information to Earth in its final days. I’m Mario Ritter.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. That’s all for today, but don’t go away. There are more Learning English programs yet to come, and world news at the beginning of the hour on VOA. ​​

New York City Muslims Welcome End of Spying Unit

Hello and welcome back. I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Let’s work together to improve your American English, and learn about important things at the same time. Today we hear from some Muslims in New York City, who say they are happy that an official spying program has ended.

Then we are off to Thailand, where two reporters have written something that has gotten them into deep trouble with the government.

As It Is …from VOA …is on the air.

The New York City Police Department has canceled the work of a group that spied on Muslims in their religious centers and community gathering places.

The group’s purpose was to gather intelligence on possible terrorist plans and plots. It was established in 2003. Michael Bloomberg then served as mayor of New York City.
The city’s Muslims have long said that the police group violated their constitutional rights. They said the police were profiling them – judging whole groups of people based on unfair descriptions of their religion, ethnicity and race.

Maimuna Abdul-Hakim is a member of Harlem’s Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and the mother three children. Like most New York citizens, she believed that the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the U.S. demanded increased protection against terrorism.

But she was surprised to learn that the Demographics Unit of the New York Police Department were using her mosque to secretly gather information.

She says she feels better now that the Unit’s work has ended.

“Especially since I’ve been here my whole life and I have children who come here. And, you know, not knowing who these people are, we are kind of like a close community. It puts my guard up …So, I’m happy. It’s about about time.”

Abdul Sabir is a religious Muslim who cleans the mosque. He also welcomes the closing of the Demographics Unit.

“I was very relieved. They are starting to see that we are very peaceful people. There is no need really to spy on us. Islam stands for peace…”

Imam Al Hajj Talib Abdur al Rashid is president of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York. He says the city’s Muslim religious leadership deeply distrusts New York City’s former police commissioner, Raymond Kelly.

He says many leaders have tried continually over the years to have good relations with the police department, called the NYPD. But he said many have expressed anger that the police spied on them all the time they worked closely with Mr. Kelly.

The imam said there was a feeling that the police had used the leaders and the mosque to get information. And he said the spying did not find any terrorist plots.

“And, as you know, the NYPD surveillance program did not turn up one single lead in all of that looking and all that spying on people.”

But the imam says he now feels hopeful that the current New York mayor, Bill de Blasio, has ended intelligence gathering by the Demographics Unit. He took note of the mayor’s promise to work to end religious, ethnic and racial profiling and the fact that he has been in office a short time.

Still, the imam says he is unsure how Mayor de Blasio’s action will develop into public policy.

“There is a real challenge to come up with a 21st century policy or policing for New York – one that ensures public safety without violating people’s civil and human rights.”

The imam said public officials get paid to meet such goals.

Muslim community activists note promises of the mayor’s office and the police to build trust. But the activists also say that true healing can come only when they feel satisfied that no city agency or officials will do official profiling.

And for their part, officials continue to repeat their promises to do everything necessary and legal to protect all New York citizens from terrorism.

Media Freedom Questioned in Thailand

Two reporters in Thailand are facing criminal charges for publishing a story about Thai security forces. The story said Thai forces were involved in moving, or trafficking, Rohingya Muslims from Burma. The story was first produced by Reuters news agency. It won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting last week for its coverage of the Rohingya issue. Media observers consider the case a test for media freedom in Thailand. Mario Ritter tells us more.

​​Thai reporter Chutima Sidasathian and Australian editor Alan Morison face charges brought by the Royal Thai Navy. The charges include criminal defamation, or harmful misrepresentation, and breaking Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act.

The two have reported for a long time on the situation of the Rohingya minority in Burma. Their work appeared on the online news service Phuketwan. Alan Morison is a former newspaper editor in Melbourne, Australia. He established the website more than five years ago.

Mr. Morison says the charges are questionable and appear aimed at the reporter Chutima Sidasathian. She assisted other reporters including those from Reuters on the story.

Last July, Chutima and Morison published a news story that included some material from Reuters. It said some naval security forces worked with traffickers for profit as many Rohingya were fleeing Burma.

Outbreaks of ethnic conflict in recent years have led to thousands of Rohingya fleeing Burma, often by boat. The group is an ethnic minority denied citizenship in Burma.

Last week, Reuters won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of stories about the struggle of many Rohingya to leave Burma and find refuge in other countries. The report accused Thai naval forces and police of cooperating with human traffickers to send the Rohingya to jungle camps until their families can pay to free them.

Alan Morison criticized the case against Chutima Sidasathian. He also praised Reuters for its award. But, he said the news agency had failed to support the Phuketwan service in the case.

London-based Reuters has not commented on the charges against the two reporters. The Royal Thai Navy has not acted against Reuters.

Alan Morison blames a mistranslation of the English language report published in Phutketwan. He says the Thai Navy’s legal action is an attempt to close down the website because of its coverage of the Rohingya over several years.

“It is all about one paragraph from Reuters that has been mistranslated by the Royal Thai Navy, it’s a paragraph in which the Royal Thai Navy wasn’t mentioned in the original English version. And yet in the Thai version that was presented to police, the Royal Thai Navy is mentioned three times.”

Both reporters have received the support of many groups including the International Commission of Jurists, U.N. rights groups and Thailand’s Human Rights commission.

Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson says the Royal Thai navy appears to be seeking to pressure Phutketwan.

Both reporters could face five years in prison for computer crimes charges and two years for the defamation charges. The media freedom group Reporters Without Borders rates media freedom in countries around the world. Its World Press Freedom Index places Thailand at a rank of 130 out of 180 countries. I’m Mario Ritter.

And I’m Jim Tedder in Washington. Thank you for spending some time with us. More Learning English programs are just seconds away, and world news follows at the beginning of the hour. ​​