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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — a VOA Special English program aboutmusic and American life. And we answer your questions.
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This is Doug Johnson. This week – we answer a listener who wantsto know how many giant pandas are in the United States. And we playsome music by Simon and Garfunkel as they get ready for anotherreunion.
But first – a report about a cross-country demonstration.
Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
HOST:
A demonstration called the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride endsSaturday. Organizers say they expect thousands of supporters togather in New York at the final stop. The ride took place to callfor equal rights for all people in the United States. This includesworkers who are in the country illegally. Faith Lapidus has details.
ANNCR:
Eighteen buses left from differentparts of the United States last month to cross the country witharound nine-hundred people. Planners organized visits to more thanone-hundred towns and cities, including Washington D.C.
Labor unions and groups active for the rights of immigrants wereamong the organizers. Supporters also included community andreligious groups and some elected officials. Planners of theImmigrant Workers Freedom Ride took the idea from the Freedom Ridesof the nineteen-sixties. Those rides were to fight for civil rightsfor blacks in the South.
The riders of today hope the public and Congress will supportlegal rights for workers who entered the country illegally.
They also called for labor protections for immigrant workers. Andthey want immigration policies changed so families can reunite inless time. The demonstrators also say the government should do moreto honor the civil rights of immigrants.
Organizers of the ride say immigrants often take low paying jobsthat others do not want. They say workers may lose their jobs ifthey demand fair treatment from employers. Also, they say manyimmigrants are afraid to report crimes because they are in thecountry illegally. The government says the country has abouteight-million illegal immigrants. Some groups say more.
Leaders of organized labor say immigrant workers are a growingand important part of the American economy. But the event also hadcritics who want to restrict immigration. Critics say illegalimmigrants take jobs away from legal ones and add to the use ofpublic services.
The terrorist attacks of September eleventh, two-thousand-one,ended immigration reform efforts by lawmakers. But now, severalmembers of Congress are trying again. Political experts sayimmigration laws are not likely to change in the near future. ButFreedom Ride organizers say they hope their event will increasediscussion of this issue in the presidential campaign. The electionis in November of next year.
Giant Pandas
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from Shandong Province,China. Dong Ning asks about the giant pandas on loan from China tothe United States.
Currently, there are ten giant pandas in American zoos. Four arein San Diego, California. Two are in Memphis, Tennessee. Two are inWashington, D.C. And two are in Atlanta, Georgia.
People love to watch the giant pandas at play. Theseblack-and-white bears come from central China. Only aboutone-thousand are still in the wild.
American zoos are helping withefforts to save the giant pandas. The two in Washington at theNational Zoo are Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) and Tian Tian (te-YENte-YEN). These young pandas have become interested in each other.But zoo scientists say Mei Xiang has not become pregnant yet.
Across the country, in San Diego, Bai Yun (by-YOON) gave birth inlate August. The baby weighed about one-hundred-fifty grams atbirth. He now weighs more than nine-hundred grams. And he measuresabout thirty centimeters from his nose to the end of his short tail.The baby will not get a name until he is one-hundred days old.
American zoos pay China one-million dollars a year for the loanof two breeding pandas. The zoos also pay up to six-hundred-thousanddollars for every baby that is born. Once the baby is three yearsold, it must be sent to China.
Later this month, a San Diego panda is expected to travel to herancestral homeland. Hua Mei (hwa-MAY) is the first giant panda bornin the United States to survive to adulthood.
Simon and Garfunkel Reunion
HOST:
Later this month, Paul Simon andArt Garfunkel begin a series of reunion concerts. The last time thetwo singers traveled together was twenty years ago. They plan toperform in more than thirty cities in North America. And they saythe concerts will include the songs that made them famous in thenineteen-sixties. Bob Doughty has more.
ANNCR:
Paul Simon began to write songs at the age of fourteen. He andhis school friend Art Garfunkel recorded their first song innineteen-fifty-eight.
In the sixties, they became popular singers of folk rock. Youngpeople liked the feelings in the songs Paul Simon wrote. They alsoliked the beauty of Art Garfunkel’s voice. Together, Simon andGarfunkel produced one best-selling album after another. Their firstbig hit was “The Sound of Silence.”
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Simon and Garfunkel gained more fans after their music appearedin “The Graduate,” a popular movie. One of the best remembered songsfrom the movie was “Scarborough Fair.”
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Simon and Garfunkel broke up in nineteen-seventy, after theyrecorded “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Art Garfunkel appeared inmovies and recorded by himself. Paul Simon also recorded alone. Theyhave performed together at times. But Paul Simon recently told areporter they never could have made a bigger success than “BridgeOver Troubled Water.” We leave you now with the title song from thealbum.
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HOST:
Before we go, we want to talk about a recall. This one affectsthe two-wheeled vehicle called the Segway Human Transporter. Twoweeks ago we answered a listener in Iran who asked about the Segway.Well, last week, owners learned that when the battery power getslow, the rider can fall off. About six-thousand are in use. TheSegway company offered a free computer fix.
This is Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Jill Moss, NancySteinbach and Paul Thompson, who is also our producer. Our engineerwas Vosco Volaric. And our e-mail address is mosaic@voanews.com.Join us again next week for American Mosaic — VOA’s radio magazinein Special English!