This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

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DEVELOPMENT REPORT - August 18, 2003: Heifer International

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Heifer International
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

One of the biggest problems in developing countries is hunger. An organization called Heifer International is working to improve this situation. The organization sends needed farm animals to families and communities around the world.

An American farmer, Dan West, developed the idea for Heifer International in the nineteen-thirties. Mister West was working in Spain where he discovered a need for cows. Many families were starving because of a civil war in that country. So Mister West asked his friends in the United States to send some cows. The first Heifer animals were sent in nineteen-forty-four.

Since that time, more than four-million people in over one-hundred countries have had better lives because of Heifer animals. The organization provides families a chance to feed themselves and become self-supporting. It provides more than twenty kinds of animals, such as sheep, goats, pigs and cows. In one recent year Heifer International helped more than thirty-thousand families in forty-six countries.

To receive a Heifer animal, groups must first explain their needs and goals. They must also make a plan which will allow them to become self-supporting. Local experts usually provide training. The organization says that animals must have food, water, shelter, health care, and the ability to reproduce. Without them, the animals will not remain healthy and productive.

Heifer International also believes that groups must pass on some of their success to others in need. This belief guarantees that each person who takes part in the program also becomes a giver. Every family that receives a Heifer animal must agree to give that animal's first female baby to other people in need. Families must also agree to pass on the skills and training they received from Heifer International. This concept of "passing on the gift" helps communities become self-supporting.

You can learn more about Heifer International and how to request an animal. You can write to the organization at Heifer International, Post Office Box eight-zero-five-eight, Little Rock, Arkansas, seven-two-two-zero-three, U-S-A. Or you can visit the group's Internet web site at www.heifer.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.
※ 修改：upturn于2003-09-01 17:51:27修改本文

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EDUCATION REPORT - August 14, 2003: New Doctorate in Chicano Studies Offered in California
By Jerilyn Watson
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The University of California will offer the nation's first doctoral program in Chicano studies. Chicanos are people of Mexican ancestry who live in the United States. Females are often called Chicanas.

The program will begin in two-thousand-four at the campus in Santa Barbara, north of Los Angeles. Santa Barbara is one of ten campuses in the University of California system.

Chicanos and other Hispanics have recently become the largest minority group in the United States. The Census Bureau estimates the numbers at just under thirty-nine-million as of July of last year. That was more than thirteen percent of the population. Hispanics live all over the country, but half live in California and Texas. Most Hispanics have family roots in Mexico.

Chicano studies is not a new area in education. But the doctoral program at Santa Barbara will greatly expand the possibilities for the most intensive level of study.

Ten years ago, the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at Santa Barbara had three teachers. Today it has twelve. They work with one-hundred-fifty students who have chosen Chicano studies as their major area of study. Many other students from outside the department also take courses there.

A committee led by a former department head, Maria Herrera-Sobek, proposed that the university let students earn a doctorate, or P-h-D, in Chicano studies. The University of California also approved a master's degree program.

Other colleges in the United States also offer courses about the experience of Americans of Spanish-speaking heritage. But most of the students are undergraduates; they do not yet have a college degree.

The University of Texas in Austin, for example, created a Center for Mexican-American Studies in nineteen-seventy. Students can earn an undergraduate degree that centers on public policy and cultural studies. The courses include Mexican American legal history and politics.

The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana, has a new set of courses in its Institute of Latino Studies. These will begin in September. The material in the new courses at Notre Dame will center on Mexican-Americans but also people of other Latin heritage.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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AGRICULTURE REPORT - August 12, 2003: Grafting

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Grafting
By Mario Ritter
We often think of agriculture as planting seeds and harvesting crops. But many crops do not come from seeds. Many kinds of trees and plants are grown from pieces cut from existing trees and plants. This is called grafting.

Farmers cut branches or young growths called buds from one plant and place them on a related kind of plant. The branch or bud that is grafted is called a scion [SY-uhn]. The plant that accepts the graft is called root stock.

Over time, the parts from the two plants grow together. The grafted plant begins to produce the leaves and fruit of the scion, not the root stock.

A graft can be cut in several ways. For example, a cleft graft requires a scion with several buds on it. The bottom of the scion is cut in the shape of the letter V. A place is cut in the root stock to accept the scion. The scion is then securely placed into the cut on the root stock. A growth medium is put on the joint to keep it wet and help the growth.

Grafting can join scions with desirable qualities to root stock that is strong and resists disease and insects. Smaller trees can be grafted with older scions. The American Environmental Protection Agency says grafting can reduce the need for poisons on crops. The E-P-A found that grafting stronger plants cost less than using chemicals. Also, many poisons are dangerous to the environment and people.

Agriculture could not exist as we know it without grafting. Many fruits and nuts have been improved this way. Some common fruit trees such as sweet cherries and McIntosh apples have to be grafted.

Bing cherries, for example, are one of the most popular kinds of cherries. But a Bing cherry tree is not grown from seed. Branches that produce Bing cherries must be grafted onto root stock. All sweet cherries on the market are grown this way.

And then there are seedless fruits like navel oranges and seedless watermelons. Have you ever wondered how farmers grow them? The answer is, through grafting.

The grapefruit tree is another plant that depends on grafting to reproduce. Grapes, apples, pears and also flowers can be improved through grafting. In an age of high-technology agriculture, grafting is a low-technology method that remains extremely important.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.

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DEVELOPMENT REPORT - August 11, 2003: Double-Drum Sawdust Stove

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Double-Drum Sawdust Stove
By Gary Garriott
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Sawdust is what remains after trees and logs are cut up into boards for building houses and other structures. In many parts of the world, sawdust is considered waste. It is thrown away or left for the rain to wash away.

Sawdust is hard to burn, so it is not often thought of as a fuel. Yet it is possible to burn sawdust to provide heat or to cook food. One way is to build a stove from two large containers or drums. To build one, place a one-hundred liter drum inside a two-hundred-liter drum. The smaller drum is held in place by a false floor that connects to the larger drum.

Three metal legs support the large drum. The legs hold the structure above the ground. Beneath the false floor is a space where the sawdust fuel is placed. There are holes in the false floor allowing air to pass through.

As the sawdust burns, smoke passes from the small drum that does not have a cover to the larger drum that is covered. Pipes are placed in the wall of the outside drum to carry smoke outside. The space for the fuel and the holes in the pipes can be changed if more or less heat is desired.

To make the fuel, place the sawdust inside a round, wooden container that is about one meter across. Leave a hole in the middle. Make the sawdust hard by hitting it over and over again with a stick or stone. Then remove the wooden container very carefully.

The sawdust keeps the same shape it had when it was inside the wooden container. Place small pieces of paper into the hole. When the paper is lighted with fire from a match, the sawdust around it begins to burn. It is important that the sawdust be as dry as possible. With dry sawdust, this stove can heat a small room for six to eight hours.

During the first two hours of burning, there is enough heat at the center of the cover on the larger drum to boil water or to cook food. In addition to sawdust, other kinds of waste from sawmills can be burned in the stove.

You can get more information about this kind of stove from the group Volunteers in Technical Assistance. You can contact VITA through the Internet at www.vita.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Gary Garriott.

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ENVIRONMENT REPORT - August 8, 2003: Study Finds Huge Drop in Caribbean Coral
ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Study Finds Huge Drop in Caribbean Coral
By Caty Weaver
This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

A new study shows an eighty percent decrease of hard coral in the Caribbean Sea over the past thirty years. Scientists from the University of East Anglia and the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research, both in Britain, did the study. They published their findings in Science.

Coral is made up of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of organisms called polyps. Each is covered with cells filled with poison. The coral uses the poison to defend itself and to capture its food.

Hard coral is what covers reefs. Soft coral, like sponges and sea fans, live on hard coral.

In the nineteen-seventies, hard coral covered about fifty percent of the average reef in the Caribbean. Today, the researchers say, the cover is down to ten percent. They say it appears nothing like this has happened before for at least three-thousand years.

Ocean biologist Isabelle Cote took part in the study. She says the scientists knew there were serious problems with the Caribbean reef system, but what they found surprised them. They based their findings on sixty-five earlier studies that examined more than two-hundred-sixty areas of reef in the Caribbean Sea.

At first, the scientists were trying to learn the amount of destruction that ocean storms had caused to coral reefs over the years. But the researchers decided they had to widen their study. Mizz Cote says they needed to be able to compare storm damage with damage from other forces.

The study found that weather conditions have played a part in the decrease of Caribbean coral. But the scientists say human activity has been at least as equally destructive.

Overfishing is one problem. Fish eat plants that live on coral. The fish help keep a balance in the plant life. When too many fish are caught, some plants may spread too fast and kill the coral.

Pollution is also a problem. So too, they say, is the flow of soil into rivers that feed the sea. This includes soil from forests that have been cut down.

For coral cells to build a reef takes tens of thousands of years. Scientists say healthy reefs are not only important for nature. The many different kinds of marine life may also provide materials for new medicines.

The scientists who did the study say there are signs of recovery in some areas of the Caribbean. But they say they do not know if this new coral will be able to survive any better.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by Caty Weaver.

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AGRICULTURE REPORT - August 5, 2003: Growing Carrots
By Bob Bowen
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Carrots are grown on farms and in small family gardens throughout the world. They are easy to raise and easy to harvest. They have a pleasing taste. And, they contain a lot of carotene which the body changes into Vitamin A.

When people think about carrots, they usually create a mental picture of a long, thin, orange-colored vegetable. But, carrots come in many different sizes and shapes. And not all carrots are orange.

For example, Paris Market carrots are about five centimeters around. Imperator carrots are thin and about twenty-five centimeters long. And Belgian White carrots are white.

For the best results, carrots should be grown in sandy soil that does not hold water for a long time. The soil also should have no rocks.

To prepare your carrot garden, dig up the soil, loosen it, and turn it over. Then, mix some dead plant material or animal waste. Do not add any additional chemical fertilizers.

Weather, soil condition, and age affect the way carrots taste. Experts say warm days, cool nights, and a medium soil temperature are the best conditions for growing great tasting carrots.

Carrots need time to develop their full sugar content. This gives them their taste. If they are harvested too early they will not have enough sugar. However, carrots become wood-like and loose their sweetness if you wait too long to remove them from the ground.

The best way to judge if a carrot is ready to be harvested is by its color. Usually, the brighter the color, the better the taste.

Most people do not know that carrots can be grown during the winter months. If the winter is not cold enough to freeze the ground, you can grow and harvest carrots the same way as you do during the summer months.

If the ground does freeze in your part of the world, simply cover your carrot garden with a thick layer of leaves or straw. This will prevent the ground from freezing. You can remove the ground cover and harvest the carrots as they are needed.

Carrots are prepared and eaten many different ways. They are cut in thin pieces and added to other vegetables. They are cooked by themselves or added to meat in stews. Or, they are washed, and eaten just as they come out of the ground.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Bob Bowen.

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DEVELOPMENT REPORT - August 4, 2003: Storing Drinking Water
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Safe drinking water has always been rare and valuable. Throughout the world, drinking water has to be stored for periods of low rainfall. Tanks or other containers for water storage must be ready long before a dry season begins.

For hundreds of years different kinds of materials have been used to build water storage containers. In many areas of the world, small lakes or reservoirs formed by dirt walls provide drinking water for villagers during the long dry season. In western Sudan, the thick part of the baobob tree is removed to store water collected during the short rainy season in that country.

Bricks and concrete are among the modern materials used today to build storage containers for water. A solid rock can be used as the bottom of a water tank. However, a mixture of rock and soil should not be used. The soil will settle down, but the rock will not. The water will leak out.

Ferro-cement structures are popular in some developing countries, especially in India. Ferro-cement is made by pouring a sand and cement mixture over a skeleton form made of steel rods, pipe, or chicken wire. It creates a structure that is lightweight yet keeps in water. The walls of ferro-cement structures are usually thin, which means that they can be used in building different shapes such as circles.

Wood also can be used for water storage structures. Cypress, fir, pine and redwood are some of the kinds of trees that have been used. Wooden tanks do not require special care, although their average lifetime is shorter than tanks made with concrete or steel. Any chemicals used to keep the wood from being ruined must not be poisonous substances.

Water in uncovered storage tanks or reservoirs can become unsafe. Small green plants called algae can grow in large amounts near the surface. The algae may help bacteria continue to grow, even if chemicals such as chlorine are added to the water to kill the bacteria. Uncovered water also can be polluted by birds, animals or humans.

You can learn more about storing water for drinking through the Volunteers in Technical Assistance, or VITA. VITA is on the Internet at www.vita.org.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Gary Garriott.

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ENVIRONMENT REPORT - August 1, 2003: Dispute Over Water Levels Along the Missouri River
ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Dispute Over Water Levels Along the Missouri River
By Caty Weaver
This is the VOA Special English Environment Report.

Last month a judge ordered the United States Army Corps of Engineers to begin to lower water levels along the Missouri River. The federal judge threatened hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines each day the corps did not obey. Environmental groups want the water lowered by dams to protect some kinds of birds and fish.

But the army engineers, who operate the dams, say they must keep the water deep enough for shipping. A judge in Nebraska late last year ordered them to do that. The engineers say the ruling last month to lower the river or face huge fines conflicts with that order.

Last week, still another judge blocked the fines temporarily. That judge is to decide all the current legal actions concerning water levels on the Missouri River.

The Missouri is the longest river in the United States, at a little more than four-thousand-kilometers. It begins in Montana and flows through North and South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. It ends in Missouri, where the waters enter the Mississippi River.

For many years, the Army Corp of Engineers has operated major dams along the Missouri. Environmental groups want the engineers to change the way they operate the dams.

Two kinds of birds on the federal list of endangered species live on small islands of sand in the river. These sandbars are underwater during nesting season under the current rules for the dams. The corps established these guidelines in1979. At that time, the birds and a species of fish also at issue were not yet on the endangered list.

Last year the National Research Council said the dam system has hurt the ecosystem. The council is a private group that advises Congress. Scientists called for some natural river flow to be re-established to help repair damage. But their report also called for a balance between environmental and economic goals.

Critics of lowered water levels include shipping companies and farmers. These critics say the first job of the Army Corps of Engineers is to support shipping on the Missouri. They say changes could lead to flooded crops and homes.

The army engineers have been working on a new water-control plan for fourteen years. They say the plan will be ready next year.

This VOA Special English Environment Report was written by Caty Weaver.


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EDUCATION REPORT - July 31, 2003: 'High School Early College'

EDUCATION REPORT - 'High School Early College'
By Jerilyn Watson
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

In2001, Bard College in New York State and the New York City Board of Education created an unusual school for the city. It is called Bard High School Early College.

Now, two years later, Bard High School Early College has graduated its first students. Ninety-three young people received their high school diploma. But, at the same time, most also received a degree called an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means they have also completed two years of college work.

Most of the students will enter four-year colleges in the fall. And most will be able to finish college early because they already have their Associate of Arts degree. This means they will also save money on their education.

The Bard program is designed for students ready to start college work at around the age of sixteen. Its creators believe that many young people are prepared for college by that age. They believe this is true of average as well as top students. They believe that four years of high school can waste time.

The best students in many traditional American high schools now study subjects taught on the college level. But every student at Bard is expected to do college-level work.

Bard High School Early College is the first of more than one-hundred similar high schools to be established over time. They will be created partly with money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife will provide four-hundred-thousand dollars from their foundation to help start each school.

The goal is to set up small schools that will give students from poor families a better chance for a college education. Experts say many young people who attend huge high schools in big cities do not learn much. Many drop out of school.

Four of the new "high school early colleges" are to open this fall with Gates Foundation money. An educational group called the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation established the schools. Two are in New York City. The others are in New Orleans, Louisiana, and in Los Angeles, California. They will not award associate degrees. But they will support students doing college-level work.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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HEALTH REPORT - July 30, 2003: Fats and Alzheimer's Disease

HEALTH REPORT - Fats and Alzheimer's Disease
By Nancy Steinbach
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A medical study says foods rich in a kind of fat may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a slowly increasing brain disorder, usually found in older people. It affects about twelve-million people around the world. There is no cure.

The researchers found that the people who ate fish at least once a week had a sixty percent lower chance of developing Alzheimer's than those who did not. Oily fish like salmon have omega three fatty acids. This fat has been shown to reduce the chance of heart disease. Nuts and some kind of oils also contain this kind of fat. One of the researchers said these fatty acids are also found in brain cells and may protect them from Alzheimer's.

Researchers at the Rush-Presbyterian-Saint Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, carried out the new study of fats and Alzheimer's. They published the results in the Archives of Neurology.

The study involved more than eight-hundred people between the ages of sixty-five and ninety-four. None showed any signs of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers asked them about the foods they ate and followed them for about four years. By the end of the study, one-hundred-thirty-one, or sixteen percent, had developed Alzheimer's disease.

Victims of the disease lose the ability to take care of themselves. At first, they forget simple things, like where they put something, or a person's name. They forget more and more as time passes. They do not recognize the faces of family members. Then they forget who they are. Finally, they remember nothing. Victims of Alzheimer's die from the disease. But it is as if their brains die before their bodies.

In February the researchers published other results from the same study. These showed that the people who ate a lot of animal fat had two times the chance of developing Alzheimer's than those who ate small amounts.

The researchers said all these findings confirm other studies that link Alzheimer's disease and foods that increase the level of cholesterol in the blood. But they also said more research must be done to prove that this link exists. Until then, they said, people still have many good reasons to eat less animal fat and more fruits, vegetables and fish.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.