HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
(THEME)
This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:
We play music by James Taylor …
Answer a listener’s question about the visa lottery …
And report about American election day next Tuesday.
Election Day
HOST:
Tuesday, November fifth, is election day in the United States.Americans will go to voting places to choose allfour-hundred-thirty-five members of the House of Representatives andthirty-four Senators. They will also elect thirty-six stategovernors and other state and local officials. And voters in fortystates will vote to support or reject financial proposals. Suchelections are always held on the Tuesday after the first Monday inNovember. Shep O’Neal tells us why.
ANNCR:
The decision to hold elections on the first Tuesday after thefirst Monday in November was made by lawmakers many years ago. Itinvolved the general and permanent laws of the United States. Theyare listed and kept in a group of books known as the United StatesCode. The Code is prepared and published by a legal office of theHouse of Representatives.
In eighteen-forty-five, the code established that presidentialelectors would be appointed on the Tuesday after the first Monday inNovember every fourth year. In eighteen-seventy-five, it establishedthe date for electing members to the House of Representatives inevery even-numbered year.
In nineteen-fourteen, it established the date and the time forelecting members to the Senate.
The lawmakers chose early November because most Americans at thattime lived on farms. They thought November was the best time forfarmers and other workers to be able to travel to voting places.Their harvest was finished and the weather was still good enough inmost of the country to permit such travel.
The lawmakers chose Tuesdays because most of the people had totravel long distances to voting places. Monday was not considered agood day for an election. It would have forced people to begin theirtrips on Sunday, the day many people attended church services.
The Federal Election Commission says lawmakers chose the Tuesdayafter the first Monday because they wanted to prevent Election Dayfrom falling on the first of November. There were two reasons forthis. November first is All Saints Day, a holy day for RomanCatholics. Also, most business owners worked on their financialrecords on the first day of each month.
The Federal Election Commission says Congress was worried thatthe economic success or failure of the earlier month could influencethose votes.
Visa Lottery
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Nigeria. PatrickAnyanwu asks about America’s visa lottery program.
Its official name is the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. Eachyear, it offers people around the world the legal right to work andlive permanently in the United States.
The State Department’s National Visa Center supervises theprogram. This year, fifty-thousand people have a chance to win apermit known as an immigrant visa. It also is called a green card.
To be considered, you must have completed high school. Or youmust have two years of recent work experience in a job that requiresat least two years of training or experience.
Also, you or your husband or wife must be from a countrypermitted to take part in the visa lottery. The program is open onlyto people born in countries that have low rates of immigration tothe United States.
The visa lottery is not offered to people born in countries thathave sent more than fifty-thousand immigrants to the United Statesduring the past five years.
These include Britain and its territories except NorthernIreland, Canada, mainland China, Colombia, the Dominican Republicand Haiti. Other countries whose people may not take part are India,Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.Again, people born in these countries may not take part in the visalottery program this year.
The winners of the visa lottery are chosen by a computer program.They are informed by mail. Every one chosen is given a chance torequest the right to work and live permanently in the United States.The winners also are permitted to bring their husband or wife andany unmarried children under the age of twenty-one.
It does not cost any money to enter the diversity visa lotteryprogram. However, the winners must pay for the visa and otherexpenses.The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is open for aone-month period during October. Last year, the National Visa Centeraccepted visa requests from more thansix-million-two-hundred-thousand people.
This year, the visa requests must be received in the UnitedStates by November sixth.
For more information, use a computer search engine and type thewords visa lottery — vi-s-a l-o-t-t-e-r-y. You can also talk withsomeone at the United States embassy or diplomatic office in yourcountry.
October Road
HOST:
American singer and songwriter James Taylor has been recordingand performing music for more than thirty years. He has sold morethan thirty-million records and won many Grammy Awards. Two yearsago, he was named to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and theSongwriters’ Hall of Fame. He recently released his first album infive years. Mary Tillotson tells us about it.
ANNCR:
The album is called “October Road”. James Taylor wrote most ofthe songs. He says that all his songs are personal because they comefrom his life. Here is one of these songs, “On the Fourth of July”.
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Many of the songs on “October Road” are about the competingdesires to stay in one place and to move around. One of these songsis called “My Traveling Star”.
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James Taylor will be traveling for several months to performsongs from his new album. Critics say one of the best of these is aswinging jazz song called “Mean Old Man.” We leave you now withJames Taylor singing that song from his new album, “October Road.”
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. And Ihope you will join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’sradio magazine in Special English.
This AMERICAN MOSAIC program was written by George Grow and NancySteinbach. Our studio engineer was Curtis Bynum. And our producerwas Paul Thompson.